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?

Caroline Koppelman
How to Write an Amazing and Unique Common App ...

If you’re here, you’ve likely already taken a look at the Common App essay options, felt a little bit of existential doom, and fought the urge to take a long nap (and honestly? Relatable).

Caroline Koppelman
The Best Guide to College Application ...

No two college supplements are the same, but there is one question that shows up again and again. Why our school? If you are applying to multiple schools with supplements you will probably have to write multiple essays on this exact topic (no, you can’t just reuse the same one). While word counts and specifics can vary, these essays always follow a similar structure and goal. After reading this blog post you’ll be set to answer all of them.

creative writing

The Best Places for High School Students to Publish Short Stories

At The Koppelman Group, we love working with student writers. After grades and activities, college applications are really just one enormous writing project, after all. While our number one goal is to help kids get into their dream colleges, we also want our students to become better writers, storytellers, and, essentially, communicators, outside of their college applications.

Best Colleges for Creative Writing in California

If you’re thinking of pursuing a career that involves writing — whether in publishing, academia, corporate, or with a nonprofit — you may be thinking about majoring in creative writing in college. As you start looking around for options, you’ll quickly learn that most colleges and universities actually don’t offer creative writing as a major, or even as a minor or concentration. A formal writing program, like Creative Writing, is more uncommon than it is common, so it takes some hunting to find a school that’s a perfect social fit and has the program you want.

Best Colleges for Creative Writing and Film

There are some majors that you can pretty well count on at nearly any college: Biology, Math, English, History, and a smattering of foreign languages, to name a few. But there are other subjects that you can’t necessarily expect to have as options, and we aren’t talking about Underwater Basket Weaving. Creative Writing is one of those majors that students expect to see as an option in college, but that is actually a rare one. Film, too, is one of those subjects that you need to make sure is an option at your prospective colleges if you are even considering pursuing it. Not having access to your preferred major is one of the top reasons for transferring, and that could generally have been avoided with proper research and planning during the application process.

How to Major in Creative Writing in College & the Best Creative Writing Undergraduate Schools

Creative writing isn’t the most popular major, but those who pursue it are uniquely passionate. In a world where the written word seems to be declining in importance, the decision to commit four years to studying a craft that some feel to be an artifact takes commitment, drive, and a sense of purpose that is rare anywhere, let alone among teenagers.