Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz

The Five Biggest Mistakes Students Make When Choosing a College

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz Okay, you're a senior and getting ready to apply to colleges, but the question is which colleges? Some students begin thinking about colleges their sophomore year, but most students avoid the topic until the ... Read >

Soon-To-Be-College-Freshmen: How To Make Your First Semester at College a Success

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz You've already faced one of life's biggest challenges: getting into college. You did it! Congratulations! The next challenge is to take full advantage of everything your college has to offer, get good grad... Read >

Who Are You? The Most Important Question in College Admissions!

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz When I start working with students in the college admissions process, at the very first meeting I ask parents to identify a series of nouns, adjectives, adjective phrases, or even little stories (just positiv... Read >

Testing/Schmesting Part IV: Test Optional Colleges

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz Students applying to four-year colleges and universities have a number of challenges to face. First is figuring out which colleges you want to apply to; second is completing the application forms themselves ... Read >

Testing/Schmesting Part III: PSAT/SAT and PLAN/ACT

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz In this article, I discuss the two families of standardized tests: the PSAT/SAT offered by College Board and the PLAN/ACT offered by American College Testing. While an increasing number of colleges and univer... Read >

Testing/Schmesting Part 2: SAT Subject Tests

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz Before we deal with AP Tests, let's do a review of what Advanced Placement (AP) courses are all about, especially how they differ from other regular high school courses? College Board, the organization tha... Read >

High School Students! So What Are You Doing This Summer?

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz When you were in grammar school and junior high, on the first day of school, what did teachers ask you the moment you walked into their classrooms? Remember? "What did you do this summer?" Most of the t... Read >

Final Decision Letters From College Admissions Offices: What You Need To Know

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz Once upon a time (aka, just a few years ago), the word was out that the heft of an envelope from a college admissions office was a big hint as to what their admission decision was for you. The bigger the enve... Read >

"I Didn't Get Into A College, But I Think Should Have"

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz What You Need To Know To Appeal A College Admissions Denial Appealing a college admissions denial is very tricky. Most students don't appeal for one very simple reason: the chances of getting a denial reve... Read >

I've Been Waitlisted At A College...What do I Do Now?

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz You've gone through the process of selecting and applying to colleges and then you receive a letter from a college that says you are waitlisted. What does this mean? What do you do? This message puts yo... Read >

The Admission Decision Letters Are In! How Do You Make Your Final College Choice?

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz Congratulations! You've been accepted to three colleges! Now you have to make a decision. How do you decide on one college when all of the choices are good ones? Well, there are a series of things you can ... Read >

College Admissions Interviews

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz Some colleges offer interviews, many don't. Private colleges tend to be more open to interviews than large public universities. If a college on your list offers the possibility, it's in your best interests to... Read >

College Visits Are An Important Part Of The College Admissions Process

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz Often I am asked by students and parents about the value of visiting colleges. What I say is that if at all possible, college visits should be a part of every student's admissions process. You can take a tou... Read >

Choosing To Apply In An Early Application Program Is A Matter For Your Head And Your Heart

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz Applying Early can have a major impact on your college admissions results. So before you decide to do that, you need to understand what the programs are, as well as the implications for your choosing to part... Read >

What You Need to Know About Developing Relationships With College Admissions Offices

Copyright (c) 2010 Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz Did you know that some colleges have computer programs that track how much contact individual students have with them? And did you know that this tracking could later on influence whether or not they get acce... Read >