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?

pre-law

Best Extracurriculars for Pre-Law

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you are here to learn about the best extracurriculars you can do if you’re interested in law. The courtroom is a fascinating place full of challenges and puzzles as you figure out how to use the law to help your client. Even when they aren’t in the courtroom, lawyers have to know how to use the tools available to them to get the best result for their client; and that requires them to really know and understand their field.

Best Colleges if you want to be a Lawyer

The requirements to apply to law school are less specific than for medical school programs, so “pre-law” is more of an idea than it is a strict program. At most undergraduate colleges, and all of the top ones, there is no such program as ‘pre-law,’ but there are some things that undergraduate students can do to make themselves more attractive to law schools when it comes time to apply.

What Classes Should I Take in High School to Become a Lawyer?

Getting into law school? What like it’s hard? Ok, in all seriousness, it is. While many decide in college that they want to go to Law School and become a lawyer, more and more students are figuring out that this is their path earlier. We work with high school students all the time who hope to become lawyers and they always ask us “what can I do in high school to become a lawyer?” It’s kind of a hard question to answer. But we like to start by suggesting classes and clubs that will build the right set of skills to become a lawyer. Let’s break down what those classes look like.  

Classes to Take in High School for Lawyer

Are you dreaming of being a lawyer? It’s a great profession. However, unlike becoming an engineer or a historian, there isn’t one specific major you need to do in college to become a lawyer. Some schools have a “pre-law” track, but you can major in almost anything before going to law school. Popular majors for hopeful lawyers include History, Political Science, Criminal Justice, Sociology, and more. Since there is no one track for lawyers in college, there is no set list of classes you need to take in high school. That being said, there are some classes that you should consider taking that will not only look good to colleges but give you important skills that will help you on your path to being a lawyer.