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.

english

9th Grade Summer Plans: English Major Edition

Remember 1972, when rock legend Alice Cooper infamously sang, “School’s out for summer! School’s out forever!?” Well, while we love the liberatory spirit and undeniably sick electric guitar backing this song, we are here to be the voice of reason and say: No, Alice Cooper, that’s not true. Think of the children! School’s out for summer — but school is not out forever.

The Best Extracurriculars for English Majors

If you’re thinking of becoming a teacher, writer, journalist, academic, or researcher, or even just love reading, you may be considering majoring in English in college. Since you’ve been taking English classes since practically your first day of school, you may be thinking you don’t have to do much to make yourself look like a strong applicant. Get good grades, take additional classes, and read an extra book or two — right? Well, we wish it was that simple. The ubiquity of English courses is actually what makes standing out as a prospective English major quite difficult. Everyone is studying nearly the same topics and reading nearly the same books, so it’s hard to colleges to differentiate you from anyone else unless you do something to stand out beyond the confines of your in-school curriculum.

English Major Strategy: How to Stand Out

Fun Fact: English is one of the most popular humanities majors for students to list when applying to college. It has also been the default major for students who don’t know what they want to study, aren’t STEM-y, and don’t want to click “undecided” (which, by the way, is something you should never do). So, there are a lot of people selecting it and, if you truly do want to study English, it is important that you make yourself stand out from the pack. Here are some things that you can do before writing your application and in your application itself to ensure your application makes a serious impact. 

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.

How to Build Out Your Extracurriculars for English

Twain. Dickinson. Christie. Dickens. Hemingway. Vonnegut. You’ve read them all and maybe even have some hot takes. Some people like to act like being an English major is code for undeclared, but we vehemently disagree. If you can’t tell from our use of five-dollar words, we have great respect for the academics who navigate the written word. And English is a highly applicable major to other fields. Obviously, famous writers take the #1 spot in the major, but you’d be among astronauts, politicians, lawyers, scientists, actors, comedians, directors, CEOs, and doctors.