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?

chemistry

11th Grade College Strategy For Chemistry Students

Are you intrigued by the idea of pioneering the next scientific breakthrough—or perhaps just fascinated by the allure of controlled explosions? From pharmaceutical research to environmental science, the applications of chemistry are vast, offering ample opportunities for those captivated by the wonders of the natural world. If you're considering a future in chemistry, a robust education is essential—and that's where we step in.

10th Grade College Strategy for Chemistry

Trying to be the next Marie Curie or Robert Bunson (yes… THAT Bunson. No, not the Muppet. The guy with the burners.)? Maybe you dream of being a pharmacist (a very stable job!) or a CSI tech. Or maybe chemistry was just your favorite class this year. Or maybe you don’t even know exactly what you wanna do, but you know that you like science and want to study it in college. You’re in the right place.

Best Colleges for Chemistry

We all know what chemistry is, we all take it in high school, and it’s not a major that needs a lot of explanation. But college-level chemistry is a very different animal than what you took as a high school student. The best undergraduate chemistry programs in America train scientific powerhouses who go on to make major breakthroughs, lead large companies, and guide our society toward a better future.