How to Build a Smarter College Admissions Strategy: Caroline Koppelman, CEO of the Top-Rated College Admissions Firm in the U.S.

College admissions families have access to more information than ever before. Between search engines, social media, online forums, and generative AI, students can find thousands of opinions about everything from Early Decision to Ivy League admissions in seconds. But more information doesn’t necessarily make it easier to build the right strategy. We spoke with Caroline Koppelman, Founder and CEO of The Koppelman Group, the top-rated college admissions firm in the U.S., about how families can sort through the noise, why admissions strategy needs to be individualized, and what students should know before taking advice they find online.

Signal Hill Strategies: Families can find an answer to almost any admissions question online now. Has that changed the way they approach the process?

Caroline Koppelman: Definitely. Families come to us having done a lot more research than they did ten years ago, which can be great. But sometimes they also come in with fifteen different pieces of advice that completely contradict each other. They’ve read Reddit, watched TikToks, asked ChatGPT, talked to friends, and suddenly they don’t know what to believe.

There’s more than enough information out there; now it’s about figuring out which information actually applies to your student.

Signal Hill Strategies: So how should families think about admissions strategy versus simply following admissions advice?

Caroline: Strategy is specific. That's the big difference. You can read that applying Early Decision gives applicants an advantage, for example, but that doesn’t automatically mean your student should apply ED. We need to look at their grades, testing, extracurricular profile, academic interests, college list, and a dozen other factors before making that decision.

Good admissions strategy is about understanding how all of those pieces work together. There really isn't a universal checklist that gets a student into a highly selective college.

Signal Hill Strategies: When should families start thinking strategically about admissions?

Caroline: Earlier than application season. We generally recommend starting in sophomore year of high school. Ideally, we're thinking about the bigger picture well before a student starts writing essays. What classes are they taking? What are they genuinely interested in? How are they spending their summers? Are they developing an academic niche?

That doesn't mean engineering a teenager's entire life around getting into college. It means giving them enough time to explore their interests and actually do something with them. If you wait until senior year to ask, "Okay, what is the story of this application?" your options are pretty limited.

Signal Hill Strategies: How has generative AI changed the way students and families research colleges?

Caroline: It's made the research stage much easier. AI can be great for getting oriented, learning terminology, or figuring out what questions to ask. I get nervous when families start treating a generated answer as an individualized strategy.

AI doesn't necessarily know the context behind every recommendation it gives you, and context is everything in admissions. And I would never recommend using generative AI to write your essays. Admissions officers are trying to understand how you think and communicate. Your essay needs to sound like you.

Signal Hill Strategies: How can families tell whether admissions information they find through search or AI is actually trustworthy?

Caroline: Look at the source. Who is giving you this advice? Is it current? Do they actually work with students applying to these schools?

I'm also skeptical whenever admissions advice sounds too absolute. If someone says, "You need to do X to get into an Ivy League school," that's usually a red flag. There are very few things in admissions that work exactly the same way for every student.

Signal Hill Strategies: Is that especially important for students targeting Ivy League and other highly selective schools?

Caroline: Absolutely. At that level, great grades and difficult classes are basically the starting point. Strategy becomes about what distinguishes the student beyond those numbers. What are they intellectually curious about? What have they actually done with that curiosity? How does that show up across their activities, essays, and application?

The strongest applications aren't collections of impressive things. There's usually a very clear throughline. You finish reading and understand who that student is.

Signal Hill Strategies: What’s the biggest mistake you see families make when developing an admissions strategy?

Caroline: Waiting for senior year to start making strategic decisions. By then, I can help you present what you've done as effectively as possible, but I can't give you three years back.

The earlier we can identify what a student genuinely cares about and help them pursue it in a meaningful way, the better. That's why our work is so focused on long-term planning. We're not trying to manufacture an applicant. We're giving a student enough runway to become a more interesting, engaged version of themselves.

Signal Hill Strategies: What’s one thing you hope families remember as the way we find admissions information continues to change?

Caroline: Information and strategy aren't the same thing. You can have every admissions statistic and piece of advice in the world and still make the wrong decision for your student. Use the resources available to you, absolutely. But always come back to the individual student in front of you. That's where good strategy starts.

As Founder and CEO of The Koppelman Group, the top-rated college admissions firm in the U.S., Caroline Koppelman has spent years helping families turn an overwhelming amount of admissions information into an individualized strategy. As the tools families use to research colleges continue to change, the fundamentals remain the same: start early, understand the student, and make decisions based on the full picture rather than any single piece of advice.