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?

finance

9th Grade Summer Plans: Finance Major Edition

If you’ve been following our 9th Grade Summer Plans series on the blog, you probably realize that this is our third post on a seemingly related course of study after Business and Economics. Do we really need another, you might ask? Well, yes, actually, unless you want to be responsible for the next Big Short. Some of you were born during the mortgage crisis of 2005 (congrats), and we don’t want to test our luck here.

Impressive High School Internships in Finance

Applying to colleges can be a big task. These days, with Ivy League schools (and even non-Ivies!) boasting single-digit acceptance rates, it can feel challenging to get ahead of the competition. Internships are a great opportunity to build something meaningful on your resume. But we recommend against going for a major company everyone’s heard of.

Best Colleges if you Want to be a Banker

If you’re considering a career in finance, you don’t need a degree in finance, economics, or banking — but having one will help you skip a few rungs of the ladder after graduation. Majoring in a finance topic will give you priority for internships and you’ll be an early pick in interviews. This is for two reasons. First, you’ll have the book smarts for the job. Perhaps even more importantly, being on a finance track will put you on the path of the types of people you need to build relationships with to succeed in finance professional. Being a banker is all about relationships, and it’s never too early to start building the right ones.

Best Undergraduate Colleges for Investment Banking Jobs

Investment Banking is a great path for those who want one thing: intellectually stimulating work money. It’s not the right industry for everyone, but those that want to pursue it tend to be hungry and ready to do what it takes. We conducted a Linkedin search of current employees at the top banks in the country and searched by school to see which ones were top feeders to each. (*Disclaimer: employees appeared in our search if they had the school name on their profile. It’s possible some attended graduate school or even received certifications.)

Best Undergraduate Colleges for Investment Banking Internships

If you’re someone who knows at the age of 17 that they are dead set on making a lot of money, investment banking is probably a good path for you. But it’s not for the faint of heart. Being a first-year analyst at a major bank can be beyond grueling and many people burn out or decide they’re unfulfilled along the way. Those who stick it out are rewarded in ~dividends.~ So, if you’re looking forward to the luxurious life, you might want to consider applying to one of these schools that feed some of the nation’s most competitive I-Banking internships.