Author Archive: James Maroney

Episode 1:
In this episode James Maroney interviews Kevin Phillips, the Vice President of Enrollment Management at the University of New haven.

Episode 2:
In this episode James interviews Christina Hamilton, the Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Sacred Heart University.

Episode 3:
In this episode James interviews Keirsten Sires, the CEO of Lock [...]

• SAT Versus ACT
• Understanding College Financial Aid
• Using Your Summer Wisely
• College Search in the Time of Covid

Check out episodes of the First Choice Five.  College Planning in Five Minutes or Less!

• Episode 1 –  In this episode James Maroney tackles the myth of the well-rounded student.
• Episode 2 –  In this episode James Maroney talks about what to write about, or not write about, in your college essay.
• Episode 3 –  In this episode James Maroney talks about the difference between Early Decision and Early Action.

Last edition, I started sharing some of my observations of families who (in my opinion) successfully navigated the test preparation, college selection, and college admission processes.  In this edition, I would like to share a few more observations on how some of these parents best helped their students to succeed.

One factor that can negatively impact a student’s SAT or ACT score is the stress of taking a timed test.  Many of us know smart students who excel in their classes yet do not perform well on tests.  While there are strategies that can be utilized to help mitigate the stress, parents should be realistic about how much improvement they can expect to see from their students’ scores.  Adding on the pressure of an unrealistic parental expectation is rarely helpful to already anxious kids.  In fact, often is has quite the opposite effect.  Try to avoid the trap of comparing your [...]

This is the second podcast in an informative series presented for the benefit for college bound students or students thinking of attending college. The tips and ideas presented are guaranteed to help anyone get closer to being accepted by their first choice college.

In this episode James speaks to Christina Hamilton, director of admissions at Sacred Heart University.

Listen to episode 2 below:

At First Choice, our driving mission is to give students greater opportunities in their lives. We have a number of approaches and products, but primarily we do this by helping our students better prepare and conquer the one piece of their admissions package that can be improved in a tight time frame – their SAT and ACT scores. Unlike GPAs, community service, or extra-curricular activities, their standardized test scores are snapshots of single moments in their academic careers. Because of this, we can coach them to success by emphasizing both test preparedness (strategies for approaching the test, as well as how to handle time and anxiety pressures) and subject matter expertise.  Each student has different needs within both areas, and creating concrete improvement requires commitment by the student and tailored instruction by our tutors. I am always on the look out for tips, tricks, approaches, or materials that can [...]

As parents, our goal is to teach our children how to make good decisions.  When the time comes, we have to trust that we have raised them well and given them all the tools that they need to make those choices themselves.  Many parents ask me, “How do I get my kid to choose the right college?  How do I make sure they do the right thing?”  I always hesitate to give parenting advice – my personal parenting mantra is “therapists need work too” – when there probably is no parenting choice that couldn’t end up in counseling!  So, instead of giving a list of SAT prep tips for parents, allow me to share my observations of the families who (in my experience) have most successfully navigated the test [...]