Caroline Koppelman
Best Early Decision II (ED2) Schools 2024-2025

Hey, look, sometimes ED doesn’t work out the way we want it to, and we have to change strategies. If you just got rejected or deferred from your ED/EA option, we’d like to introduce you to our good friend, Early Decision 2. ED2 is just as binding as ED, and it signals to the school that you are serious about attending that school, and guess what? Schools like when you’re serious about them.

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.

How to Transfer to USC 2024-2025

If you are California dreaming, transferring to USC might be an excellent option for you. The University of Southern California is a private research institution in the heart of Los Angeles. It is especially known for its film and media programs (c’mon, it's in LA) but has a lot of great programs—we mean a lot. They have over 350 majors and minors.

How to Transfer to Columbia University 2024-2025

Columbia University welcomes “over 125 transfer students each year,” to Columbia College and Columbia Engineering. The Ivy League schools loves transfer students, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get in. In the 2022-2023 application cycle, 3,254 students applied to transfer and only 10% were admitted. This is, however, higher than many of the other Ivies, which makes Columbia a strong transfer option for top students looking for a bigger challenge at the college level.

How to Transfer to Vanderbilt 2024-2025

Do you currently feel isolated or stuck in a tiny, rural college town? Maybe you’re out in California or the Northeast, but you feel the South calling to you like a distant banjo on the wind. If you want to be in a bigger city (the Music City, as some say) and want a prestigious mid-sized school, then Vanderbilt might be the option for you.

How to Transfer to Johns Hopkins 2024-2025

The first-year acceptance rate for applicants to Johns Hopkins is under 8%. This has led many students to think about transferring to Johns Hopkins as an easier way into a prestigious university. However, this isn’t grounded firmly in statistical reality. In this post we’ll break down how to successfully apply to Johns Hopkins as a transfer, defying statistics along the way.

How to Transfer to Brown University 2024-2025

So, you want to transfer to the Ivy League? We aren’t going to lie—it takes a lot of work, but it isn’t impossible, and Brown is a great choice. The seventh-oldest college in America, Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Like most of the Ivy League, they are super selective when it comes to admissions.

How to Transfer to Boston University (BU) 2024-2025

Boston University (BU) is a large, private research university located in… Boston, MA. We know. Shocking! However, you might be more shocked to find out it was originally in Vermont. Crazy. BU has about 18k undergrads, and has strong STEM and business/econ programs. If you’re looking for a big school with big resources, an urban location, and some really cool study abroad options, BU might be your girl.

How to Transfer to Amherst College 2024-2025

Amherst College is a small liberal arts school in (you guessed it) Amherst, MA; think the middle of Massachusetts. The town of Amherst is a true college town with Amherst College, UMass Amherst, and Hampshire College all calling it home. Amherst is arguably the most elite of any of the nearby schools, and Amherst students can take classes at UMass, Hampshire, Smith College, and Mount Holyoke College (all nearby). However, what pulls many to Amherst is the fully open curriculum. Yes, that means no core classes.

How to Transfer to New York University (NYU) 2024-2025

Feeling stuck at your current school? Want to escape your college town and flee to the big city? Maybe you’re looking to design your own major, go to a top business school, become the next Timothee, or want to study abroad as much as you can. Then you’re in the right place because we’re talking about transferring to New York University.

How to Transfer to Duke University 2024-2025

Less than 100 students transfer into Duke each year. Most come in as sophomores, after one year of college at a different institution. A handful enter as juniors, but Duke prioritizes sophomore transfers. To be considered a transfer by Duke, you have to have been enrolled in a college or university in the past four years, and will have at least one full year of transferrable credits under your belt by the time you would enroll at Duke. “Early college,” or taking college courses while in high school does not qualify you as a transfer — you must apply as a first year.

How to Transfer to Barnard College 2024-2025

Barnard is both a top women’s college in the United States, and a top college regardless of gender or identity limitations. It’s also a great college to apply to for transfer. While the recent first-year acceptance rate has been a mere 9%, the transfer admissions acceptance rate is about 20%. Barnard accepts transfer applicants for Fall Term or Spring Term admission, and the respective due dates are March 1 and November 1. While far more students apply for Fall admission, there isn’t an advantage, historically, to applying for the Spring over the Fall, as they have been accepting the same percentage in each.

How to Transfer to the University of Michigan (UMich) 2024-2025

The University of Michigan, or UMich, is a large, public research university in Ann Arbor, MI. Michigan is a hard to get into school, with a first-year acceptance rate of around 18%, but out-of-state is much lower. However! If you’re interested in transferring, you picked a pretty transfer-friendly school. They have around a 40% transfer acceptance rate, but that doesn’t mean it’s the easiest school in the world to get into. Admission as a transfer is still highly competitive and requires you to have good grades and strong engagement with your current school’s culture.

Early Decision II (ED2) Application Strategy and Advice for Claremont McKenna 2024-2025

Whenever we work with students, we strongly suggest they apply to an ED2 school if their ED/EA plans don’t go their way AND they have a school they love that has ED2. If you are looking for a great small school that offers ED2, Claremont McKenna is an excellent choice! Claremont McKenna College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It is one of five small schools in the Claremont Colleges consortium. CMC is an elite small school, and if you are serious about going there, applying ED2 might help you get accepted.

Early Decision II (ED2) Application Strategy and Advice for Wake Forest 2024-2025

In the words of Wake Forest, applying Early Decision II is “the opportunity to show your interest in and commitment to us.” They care a lot about how much you care about them. That said, Wake Forest says that Early Decision applicants aren’t given preference in admissions. Statistically, though, that isn’t really the case.

Early Decision II (ED2) Application Strategy and Advice for Wellesley 2024-2025

Wellesley is a private liberal arts school in Wellesley, Massachusetts known for their liberal arts curriculum. They’ve got a 30% ED acceptance rate, and a 14% overall acceptance rate, and about 1/3rd of their incoming class comes from the ED/ED2 pool, which means if you’re looking for a solid ED2 option, Wellesley might be your gal.