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?

additional information

How to Write a Common App Essay about Incarcerated Parents

We get it. The college admissions game can put a lot of pressure on you to spill your guts about your most impactful traumas and experiences in your Common App essay. While some students may genuinely wish to tell their story, many more feel compelled to do so merely because they think they have to. So, we started a series on how to tackle those big topics in your Common App essay, and now we’re talking about how to write a Common App essay about having a parent in jail. First, if you find yourself in this situation, we hope you’re doing okay, and we understand the difficulties and uncertainties you must face. We genuinely hope that you have access to support, that you are coping well, and that your well-being is being prioritized. If you need help writing this essay, please reach out here.

What Goes in the Additional Information Section of the Common App?

There are 24 subsections of the Common App, not including the dozens of other ones within the specific college apps themselves. Thankfully, most of them are straightforward, like activities, grades, testing, demographic data, etc. However, there is one section that seems to trip up even the most resolute high-achieving high school student: the additional information section.

When to Use the Additional Information Section of the Common App

If you are already looking through the common app, first off--we love that for you, you probably have seen the section called “Additional information.” It’s the final section and honestly, many students don’t even need to open it. While you might not use it, it’s helpful to know what it is and what it’s all about. That’s where this blog comes in.

Common Application Essay Question About the Coronavirus/COVID-19

On May 12th, College Board announced that the 2020-2021 Common App application would be different. In addition to the standard Additional Information section, there will be an additional optional 250-word question focused on COVID-19. We think this is a very important and necessary move to make the college application process fairer. All students are dealing with extraordinary circumstances, and many need room to explain how their situation is particularly trying.

The Additional Information Section of the Common App

Based on conversations that we’ve had with our clients and email submissions from our blog readers, there seems to be some confusion about the intended use of the additional information section on the common app website. Let us start by saying that this blog post will give you guidelines as to what should and should not be included in this section, but we don’t know your life. You should use your best judgment, but before you start writing make sure you’re not just capitalizing on the extra space because you ran out of words elsewhere.

How To Explain Special Circumstances for Poor Academic Performance in High School

This is a great question that many students and parents have. Every life and path is completely different, and everyone has a different story to tell. A lot can happen in 1 month, much less 4 years, and we completely understand that sometimes life happens in an unexpected way and as such, affects your ability to perform to the best of your ability in school. Not only do we understand this, but colleges understand this as well. As with every other part of your application, it’s important to be mindful of how you present the facts and that you do so in such a way that explains rather than excuses. It’s a fine line to tow, and here’s what we suggest.