Author Archive: James Maroney

Interested in a career within animation?  In this episode James speaks to professor of computer animation, Bill Tessier.

Bill has worked on scores of Hollywood feature films including: Stuart Little 2, Open Season, Bee Movie, Kung fu Panda 2, Frozen, Polar Express and many more.

Bill has guided dozens of students into the field of animation.  In this podcast he speak about what students need to focus on to get an internship in animation, doing work to get up to a professional level and more.

Topics include:

• Bill’s recommended books for learning animation
• Extra programs for aspiring animators
• What students should be doing
• Advice to progress in the industry
• and more!

Online College Planning gives guidance and insight to make informed decisions to students academic future. They are active in developing new and innovative solutions [...]

Often, students and parents ask admissions officers what do they prefer to see on a transcript. “Is it better to show an A in honors classes over a B in AP classes or vice versa?” The answer is ‘it depends.’

It ‘depends’ on the type of school you’re considering. While most schools, as defined by USNWR of top 30, prefer that you take the most rigorous and challenging curriculum, the answer should be quite obvious; ‘excel and get A’s in all coursework.’

This recommendation is advised in the context of the competition. If you’re applying to schools that practice highly selective admissions, where the admit rate is less than 20%, presenting your consistent performance and demonstrated success for the past three years of high school would be ideal. Consider the fact that at these schools, many enrolled students will have an unweighted GPA of 4.0 and 1500+ on their SATs. Putting your best foot forward [...]

Summer always seems to fly by faster each year. We always have such great plans to get everything done, and then next thing you know it’s September again! This month, we’re going to focus on what things students who are entering their junior year of high school should be thinking about. Junior year is one of the most important ones for the college admissions process, since it will be the last full year of grades that will be seen before decisions are made. In addition, work that students do now can lighten the load of what they need to do later on, when the pressure is higher.

First, they should make sure that they are in all the right classes for the school year. Ideally, colleges want to see students challenge themselves by taking the hardest classes that they they can thrive in. It’s a careful balance – you don’t want to overface yourself and [...]

It is hard to believe, but summer is here, and with it comes changing schedules and a break in the routine. It’s easy to let the weeks slip by, but remember that summer never seems to be as long as we expect! For rising seniors, the summer is a critical time – this is your chance to get ahead on all your college applications. Students can officially access the Common Application starting in August, however that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do before then. First off, rising seniors should make sure to check out the essay topics for this year’s Common App Essay (find them on commonapp.org). Use the summer to work on this. Keep in mind that this is a personal essay, and so it may take some time to get it right. The best essays are almost never the first draft that you write. Give yourself plenty of time to brainstorm and try [...]



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Interested in a career within the veterinary field?  In this episode James speaks to former professor of veterinary pathology Dave Malarkey.  They discuss what got Dave into the veterinary profession and what students today can do to start planning their career working with animals.

Topics include:

• Choosing and applying for a good vet school
• Training/intern opportunities
• What students should be doing
• Advice to progress in the industry
• and more!

Online College Planning gives guidance and insight to make informed decisions to students academic future. They are active in developing new and innovative solutions to help families in the college planning process.

The in school SAT will take place on April 24, so I thought I would use this column to give you some quick, last minute tips.  The reality is, there is no easy fix to improving your test scores. The students that improve the most are the ones who start preparing early and put serious effort into practicing.  There’s no shortcut to hard work! Still, there are a few tips that I’ve picked up from years of tutoring that I’m going to share with you. I’m hoping at least a few of them will be new to you.