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Caroline Koppelman
Ultimate Guide to Letters of Continued Interest ...

Getting waitlisted or deferred from your dream school is hard. We know it’s hard! You feel rejected, but it’s this weird non-rejection rejection that can leave you feeling lost and confused. And while a lot of things in college admissions are totally out of your control, there is something you can do if you’ve been waitlisted or deferred to give yourself another chance. A letter of continued interest, sometimes known as a waitlist letter or deferral letter, is one of the few, actionable things you can control when admissions decisions seem so out of your control. It’s your only chance to make a good second impression, and we help students write them every single year.

Caroline Koppelman
Ultimate Guide to Getting Waitlisted 2025

Getting waitlisted is the ultimate limbo – it’s not not a rejection, but it’s not a full-on denial, either. And depending on your circumstances, you could be feeling everything from mild disappointment to full-on panic. Don’t get yourself into a tizzy just yet, because there are things you can do to give yourself a shot at getting off the waitlist and make sure that you have a plan in place for the next year.

Caroline Koppelman
Best Early Decision II (ED2) Schools 2024-2025

Hey, look, sometimes ED doesn’t work out the way we want it to, and we have to change strategies. If you just got rejected or deferred from your ED/EA option, we’d like to introduce you to our good friend, Early Decision 2. ED2 is just as binding as ED, and it signals to the school that you are serious about attending that school, and guess what? Schools like when you’re serious about them.

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.

nescac

College Athletic Recruiting for Tufts

Tufts Univeristy is a private research institution located a hop, skip, and a jump away from Boston. They used to be a small liberal arts school, but decided to start offering PhD’s in the 70s, and now have approximately 7k undergrads and 7k grad students. They’re huge into STEM, with top-notch undergrad and grad programs in chemistry, biology, and biomedical engineering. They also do a lot of crossover programs with the New England Conservatory of Music, MIT, and Harvard. Tufts is part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and competes in D3 sports with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Williams. Unlike many of their NESCAC cohorts, Tufts isn’t an overwhelmingly athletic school, but it is one of the top athletic programs in D3 sports. Also, their mascot is an elephant named Jumbo. We found this disturbing information about Jumbo’s lore:

College Athletic Recruiting for Wesleyan

Wesleyan University, located in Middletown, Connecticut, is a private liberal arts university with a little bit of a STEM bent. It’s also an incredibly academic school–several studies from 2008 found that undergraduates from Wesleyan were 2nd in the country for pursuing PhDs among all liberal arts schools. It’s also a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and competes in D3 sports with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, and Williams. Approximately 25% of students at Wesleyan play a varsity sport, making it one of the less sporty schools in NESCAC, despite the fact they were an original member of the NCAA.

Sports Recruiting for NESCAC Schools

The New England Small College Athletic Conference is made up of eleven top-tier liberal arts colleges and universities in the US, including Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Williams. Some of these schools are known as Hidden or Little Ivies, and some are more competitive than others to gain admission to. However, these schools also all have pretty robust athletics departments, even though they’re D3. If you’re interested in attending one of these small liberal arts schools and want to leverage your athletic ability to give your application that push: keep reading. 

College Athletic Recruiting at Bowdoin College

Bowdoin. It’s a top liberal arts school in Brunswick, Maine. Their crest is made up almost entirely of a creepy-looking sun. Their mascot is the polar bear. Last year, their acceptance rate went up .3%, from 8.8% to 9.1%. Basically a cakewalk now. They’re also known for having a pretty sporty campus, with 45% of the student body participating in varsity athletics. If you play a niche sport like women’s ice hockey or nordic skiing, you might want to take your skills to Bowdoin, and you might think your involvement in sport could give you a leg up in the admissions process. Not necessarily, but let’s talk about it.