About

I have been tutoring students in the SATs (and more currently the ACTs) for about 22 years. Licensed in English and Social Studies from grades 7 – 12, I take a passionate interest in all that concerns teenagers, especially their path to college, including testing, applications, choosing colleges to apply to, and application essays (yes, I do help lots of kids to think of topics and get them out on paper). Over the years, I’ve taught many hundred students and I’ve loved nearly all of them! Although I’m located in northern Westchester County, NY, my students have come from the tri-state area. I’ve even tutored kids in Alaska and Florida by phone, but there’s nothing like getting to know a teenager in person.

Comments (6)

6 Comments »

Hi,
I am an exchange student from Brazil and I would like to apply for some American universities. I already took the SAT (690-Math, 540-Critical Reading, 470-Writting), SAT II (630-Math Level 2, 740-Spanish) and the TOEFL (97-iBT). I want to study architecture. So what do you think about my grades? Do I have a good grade to join an American University? Which universities would be better for me?

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Comment by JL — December 6, 2009 @ 8:42 pm | Reply
- Congratulations! You’re doing very nicely. One thing that impresses American universities even more than high standardized test scores is high grades throughout your high school years (the last 3 – 4 years of school). They also like to know what else you do with your time, other than studying. They appreciate involvement in sports, school clubs (especially in which you’ve taken leadership roles), community service (doing charity work for others without pay), or an interesting part-time job. Without knowing those things, I really can’t give you a list, but there will be many universities for which you might qualify. The best way to get a starting list of schools is to go to http://www.princetonreview.com and search for something called counselor-o-matic or finding colleges. The site is free and extensive. Counselor-o-matic will ask you questions about your grades, your interests, your intended major, and more. Complete the quiz, and you will get a short list of good match schools, reach schools, and safety schools. If you click on each category for more schools, you’ll have a long list in each category of schools that might interest you. Start checking out each school online, and you’ll find you have many, many options. I wrote in my blog about how to evaluate schools online. Poke around, and you’ll find the right posting. Good luck to you!
  
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  Comment by highschool2college — December 6, 2009 @ 11:00 pm | Reply
Wendy,
As a writer and the mother of a rising senior and junior, I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your blog. Your advice is down to earth, practical, doable and a pleasure to read. Keep up the good work!

Jill

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Comment by Jill Max — July 2, 2010 @ 7:20 am | Reply
- One uncomfortable feature of writing a blog is I’m never quite sure if people are out there and can make use of the information. Thanks SO much for letting me know!
  
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  Comment by highschool2college — July 2, 2010 @ 1:56 pm | Reply
I would love to agree with you about your assertions regarding Mrs. Garvin. I truly would. However, the cold, hard truth is that Ortiz, Garcia, Gil, and Calcines ALL complained of their annoyance of having to teach us grammar in English so they could then teach us Spanish grammar.

And it’s true. I flew through Dr. Clew’s grammar tests, and not because I learned them from Garvin nor in English. In her GT classes, we quoted her parts of speech, but in Spanish.

Mr. Weed gave me an automatic A for a semester for hoodwinking Garvin with a two page computer program to write poetry. She incorporated the poems into her lesson plans and spoke of the sensitivity of the poet.

I think my favorite was

Daughter
Hot, Stupid
Running, running, running
Dry, cold
Daughter

I and another one about a toaster and a sweaty cat from the same program some 25+ years ago.

Garvin reads the bookjacket for an “official” interpretation of a book. She can’t do it herself. Unless it’s blessed by the politburo of the self-appointed inteligentsia, it’s not her interpretation.

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Comment by Paul Dobias — April 28, 2011 @ 10:17 pm | Reply
- As they say, to each his own. Grammar should be introduced in elementary school and taught throughout junior high/middle school. By the time one arrives in high school, it should be expected that one knows one’s parts of speech. It’s hardly the fault of 11th grade English – or Spanish – teachers that students arrive in their classes without a basic grasp of grammar. I can see how proud you still are years later of your taking advantage of the good nature of a teacher who tried to encourage creative thinking. Congrats.
  
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  Comment by highschool2college — April 28, 2011 @ 10:59 pm | Reply