Interview with Caroline Koppelman, Founder and CEO of The Koppelman Group

Today we’re speaking with Caroline Koppelman, Founder and CEO of The Koppelman Group, and the leading expert on legacy admissions in the United States. Caroline works with high-achieving families navigating highly competitive college admissions.

Franchise Ventures: Your work is in college admissions, but a lot of our readers think in terms of building and running businesses. Do you see overlap between admissions strategy and business strategy?

Caroline: Definitely. What surprises people is how much admissions success comes down to planning and follow-through, not one big moment or choice. The families who do best approach the process deliberately. They make decisions early, they stay consistent, and they don’t improvise at the last minute. That’s not so different from running a business where consistency and building a strategy matters more than occasional flashes of brilliance.

Franchise Ventures: There’s an assumption that legacy applicants have a built-in advantage. How does that assumption compare to what you actually see?

Caroline: Legacy status can help open a door, but it doesn’t carry someone through the process. I see families assume legacy will do more work than it actually does, which can lead to sloppy decision-making. It’s similar to assuming a recognizable brand will guarantee success. Without substance and execution, advantages don’t go very far.

Franchise Ventures: What does a well-run admissions process look like from your perspective?

Caroline: It looks organized. Deadlines are taken seriously. Choices are intentional. There’s a clear story being built over time, not just a big scramble at the end of the game. When families treat admissions as something that unfolds over years, not months or weeks, the results are almost always stronger.

Franchise Ventures: Where do families tend to get tripped up?

Caroline: Overconfidence is a big one, especially with legacy families. People rely on what worked in the past or on someone else’s experience. But admissions changes constantly, and the field looks nothing like it did 10, 15, or 20 years ago. The families who struggle most are often the ones who don’t adjust their approach as the landscape shifts.

Franchise Ventures: How do you advise legacy families to think about their position today?

Caroline: I tell them to treat legacy as one piece of context, not a guarantee. It’s part of the picture, but it doesn’t replace preparation or effort. Families who understand that tend to make better decisions from the start.

Franchise Ventures: What lessons from your work apply beyond college admissions?

Caroline: The idea that good outcomes come from steady, thoughtful work. Whether you’re building a business or guiding a student, relying on assumptions instead of planning usually leads to disappointment.

Franchise Ventures: Final question – why is this perspective especially relevant right now?

Caroline: Because everything is more competitive. There’s less room for mistakes, and fewer safety nets. People who take the time to understand how a system actually works – and who plan accordingly – are the ones who tend to come out ahead.
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As the leading expert on legacy admissions in the United States, Caroline Koppelman brings a clear-eyed perspective to a process often misunderstood as advantage-driven. Her work shows that, in admissions as in business, consistent planning and execution matter far more than reputation alone.