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.

liberal arts

The Best Majors at Kenyon College

Kenyon College is a small liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio with 200 years of history and under 2,000 students. 100% of students live on campus, nurturing a fully-immersive and inclusive residential community. The college has a deep commitment to multi-disciplinary learning and cross-disciplinary mastery, with students layering literature over science, and math over philosophy to gain a deeper understanding of the world. Overarching everything Kenyon offers is a passion for the written word, and Kenyon expects all of their students to graduate as strong writers regardless of their major.

Applying to Bates as an International Student

Bates is a small liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine, a city of nearly 40,000 along the Androscoggin River. Directly across the river is Auburn, a city of over 25,000. Despite being a few hours from the closest major airport, Bates has become a popular option for international applicants for reasons we’re going to explore in this post, along with some tips, tricks, and must-know details that will help you as you apply.

How to Transfer to Wesleyan

Wesleyan University is a small, private, liberal arts college in Middletown, Connecticut. A liberal arts school not named after the town it’s in? Unheard of. Wesleyan started out as a men’s college, tried to admit women for a bit in the late 1800s (the “Wesleyan Experiment), then suspended that program in 1912 for sexist reasons (“losing their masculine edge”), but finally became co-ed in 1970.

How to Transfer to Tufts

Tufts University, located just outside of Boston, is a private research university with a liberal arts feel. Because of its proximity to all the other Boston (and near-Boston, wink wink) schools, Tufts has a ton of programs/affiliations/and crossover opportunities with schools in the area. Since the school did start as a liberal arts college, majors like econ, psych, poli sci, and international relations reign supreme.

How to Transfer to Swarthmore

Swarthmore College is a formerly Quaker, private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. We’re shocked – a liberal arts school named after the town it’s in! Who’d have thought?? Anyways, Swarthmore is part of the Quaker and Tri-College consortiums (consortii?) which means you can take classes at UPenn, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford.

How to Transfer to Pomona

Pomona College is a small liberal arts school located in Claremont, California. It’s a part of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of schools that all share resources (and a campus!), made up of Pomona (duh), Claremont McKenna, Scripps, Pitzer, and Harvey Mudd. Each school has their own vibe and focus, but Pomona definitely has a broader liberal arts focus.

How to Get into Wesleyan University

Wesleyan is a small liberal arts school in Middletown, Connecticut. While it was initially a Methodist boys' school, it is now both secular and co-ed. Wesleyan offers more than 47 majors to its around 3,000 students. The University has eight colleges and eight academic centers. They have great financial aid and meet full demonstrated need.

How to Transfer to Oberlin

Oberlin College in (you guessed it) Oberlin, Ohio (groundbreaking) is a small, private liberal arts school and music conservatory. Founded in 1833, Oberlin is the oldest co-ed school in the United States, the first college to admit Black students (1835), and the first college to admit women (1837), so it’s safe to assume that progressive politics and student activism are a huge part of the school’s culture.

How to Transfer to Pitzer

Pitzer College is a small liberal arts school located in Claremont, California, and it’s a part of the Claremont Colleges – a unique consortium of 5 undergrad colleges that share resources and a campus, but each school kinda has their own flavor. Pitzer is known for the social sciences, behavioral sciences, international programs, and media studies. It’s also a really progressive school with a huge social justice focus.

How to Get into Trinity

First off, we hope you are in the right place. This blog is about how to get into Trinity College in Connecticut. There are a lot of schools called Trinity, so if you have questions about the one in Dublin or the University in Texas (or even the evangelical school in Florida- mostly no judgment,) we are happy to help, but you won’t find it here.

How to Transfer to Harvey Mudd

Harvey Mudd College is a small liberal arts school located in Claremont, California, and it’s a part of the Claremont Colleges – a unique consortium of 5 undergrad colleges that share resources and a campus. Harvey Mudd is the STEM Claremont College, with the most popular degrees being computer science, engineering, and math. If you’re looking for a stellar liberal arts school to get a well-rounded STEM education, then Harvey Mudd’s your ticket.

How to Get into Hamilton

Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, New York. Named for Alexander Hamilton, you know, the “not giving up my shot” guy, the college is a quintessential Northeastern small school. Hamilton offers an open curriculum and over 50 areas of study. Impressively, 72% of their classes have fewer than 19 students, and 28% have fewer than 9. Hamilton also meets their students' total demonstrated financial need, which is pretty awesome.

How to Get into Middlebury

If you are looking at iconic Northeastern small schools, you have probably already checked out Middlebury. This private liberal arts school in Vermont is mainly known for its language, environmental studies, and international studies programs– but it has 45 majors available for its roughly 2,800 undergraduate students. They are also popular for their winter term, a one-month semester where students concentrate on a course or do an internship.

How to Transfer to Colgate University

Located in Hamilton, New York, Colgate University is a small, private liberal arts college that’s considered both a Hidden and a Little Ivy. And yes, it’s named after the toothpaste Colgate. Like a lot of the liberal arts colleges of the Northeast, the most popular majors are econ, poli sci, English, psych, and bio – also known as the most popular majors across the board.