Caroline Koppelman
Why This College Essay Question Guide and ...

Why do you want to go to school here? If there’s one prompt you are certain to write more than once, it’s this one. This prompt comes in a few different flavors, but at the end of the day, they all want to know why their school is the perfect school for you and why you’re the perfect student for them. No pressure or anything.

Caroline Koppelman
Official Common App Essay Guide 2024-2025

We’ve spent the last few weeks breaking down the Common App essay prompt by prompt, and today we’re going to give you our ultimate guide to writing the Common App essay. There might be seven different prompts, but ultimately, all schools want the same thing from their applicants’ Common App essays: a story.

Caroline Koppelman
Rejected Early Decision from Columbia 2023

Getting a rejection in the Early Decision round is definitely not easy. But the good news is, it’s really just the start, and that one rejection has no bearing on how you’re going to do with other, similarly competitive schools. The thing about Early Decision is it comes alone and it comes first. It’s sometimes easier to tolerate a rejection when it’s preceded by several acceptance letters. College admissions are extraordinarily competitive these days and the Ivies are just more competitive than any other time or place in history. That’s it. It doesn’t get harder. And Columbia in particular has just a 4% acceptance rate! So, if you’ve been rejected in the Early Decision round, don’t despair. We have some advice about how you might go forward. (And don’t worry, it’s really not that much more work!)

Caroline Koppelman
Deferred by Harvard — Now What? (2023-24)

If you’ve been deferred by Harvard, you are not alone. Harvard is notorious at this point for deferring an enormous percentage of early admission applicants. While most elite colleges with early admissions programs, like early decision and early action, only defer students they are seriously considering for the next freshman class, the statistics Harvard has released on early admission suggest that they take a very different approach.

Caroline Koppelman
Writing the “Why This College” Essay

Even though every college has slightly different supplementary application materials, you’ll likely run into a variation of one question more than any other: “Why do you want to attend this school in particular?” It’s every institution’s way of saying, Let’s cut to the chase. Why us?

early decision two

Early Decision 2021 Statistics

We are kind of numbers nerds. Seriously, we love pouring over data, especially the type of data that helps us prepare for next year’s college application season. By now, colleges have chosen their early decision admissions and many have shared that data online. We love to track this data and look for trends that might help our students make decisions in the future. This year was a bit of a mixed bag. So let’s look at the number for this year’s ED admissions.

Should I Apply Early Decision 2 To Syracuse?

Submitting an Early Decision 2 application is a good option for those students who didn’t get into their ED1 pick and/or missed the ED1 deadline at their dream school. Over the past few years, we’ve seen more and more schools add in Early Decision 2 options, and it’s worth taking advantage of if you’re serious about attending Syracuse.

Should I Apply EDII (Early Decision 2)?

Over the last few years, Early Decision II, or EDII, has risen from a rare option offered by few schools and known by a relative handful of students to a well-known route to admissions. Even until recently, students rarely came to us with EDII in mind. And yet, quite predictably, as more schools have added EDII to their roster of admissions options, more students have jumped at the opportunity.

Early Decision 2 School List 2020

Early Decision II is an option that only some schools offer. While we suggest that you do your own research, we’ve put together the below ~non-exhaustive~ list of schools with an Early Decision II application option. In most cases, it’s binding and falls in January. It’s a good option for those students who weren’t quite ready to commit in October / November, but are now ready to decide on an early decision school. We’ve included links to the websites of the colleges so that you can look into the deadlines and necessary supplemental materials.

When Is The Last Time I Can Take The SAT or SAT 2 For Early Decision Schools?

Early decision school applications are due in the beginning in November on either November 1st or November 15th. Early decision has increased in popularity over the past few years as many people believe that there is a significant advantage to applying early. While there are certainly advantages and disadvantages to applying ED, we always want to make sure our students know about the different testing deadlines. Can they take a November SAT and have it count? Do they have to send the scores directly?

Should I Apply Early Decision to College?

When you apply to a school Early Decision you are making an unbreakable commitment. You’re telling the school, “you’re my first choice and if I get in I promise to attend.” There’s basically no caveats, exemptions, or options. If you apply to a school Early Decision and you get in, you’re going. If this sounds a little scary, that’s because it should be. Choosing to apply early is a big decision with ramifications for you long beyond the college process. It’s vital to thoroughly weigh the pros and cons. Early decision isn’t for everyone, and often times when students apply ED for the wrong reasons the college process can become even more stressful. 

The Difference Between Early Decisions 1 & 2, Restrictive Early Action, and Early Action

Early Decision (ED), Early Decision II (ED II), Early Action (EA), Restrictive Early Action (REA). All of these are ways students can apply to a school before Regular Decision. But, it is easy to get lost in a sea of abbreviations, overlapping deadlines, and indecipherable admission statistics. So we’re going to go through and outline the differences between these programs, what they mean, and the various deadlines.