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?

hidden gems

Hidden Gem: Skidmore College

For our next Hidden Gems spotlight, we are focusing on Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. As a school of about 2,600, Skidmore stands out as a true hub of liberal arts brilliance. We spoke to a number of Skidmore alums to write this article and based on our conversations with them we’re focusing on the following aspects: the faculty, location, and unique academic departments.

Hidden Gem: Wheaton College

To continue our Hidden Gems series, we’re focusing on Wheaton College in Norton, MA (not to be confused with the Christian liberal arts Wheaton College in Wheaton, OH). Wheaton is a liberal arts school of about 1,600 students. It’s beautiful, it’s in a great location, and we want to shed some light on it for you. Wheaton made the news recently with the college’s announcement of its Refugee Scholarship, so you might be familiar with the name already.

Hidden Gem: Connecticut College

For the start of our Hidden Gems series, we’re spotlighting Connecticut College. Hidden Gems are colleges that aren’t on the top of everyone’s mind: they’re non-Ivy League schools that are often overlooked, but shouldn’t be. We’ve decided to do a series on colleges like these because when we help students form their college lists, they always miss or disregard schools that would be great fits but the name isn’t Harvard or the school isn’t necessarily ranked high by US News & World Report. These Hidden Gem schools have a lot of amazing programs and features that are snubbed. We’re here to change that, and as a result, change your perception of which schools do and don’t belong on your college list.