The Garden State is about to sprout a Collegewise office, as we’ve just officially hired Rhiannon Schade to open our Short Hills, New Jersey office.
Who is Rhiannon?
Rhiannon graduated summa cum laude from UC Santa Cruz (go Banana Slugs!), where she was also quite the intrepid tour guide (she even won an award for her guiding!). She went on to earn a master's degree in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a graduate assistant in the admissions office. With multiple degrees (and a scarily impressive number of awards) in hand, she then became an admissions officer at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, where she's spent the last year.
Why did we pick Rhiannon?
We’re all about matchmaking here, as anyone who reads this blog knows. Rhiannon didn’t just talk about matchmaking during our chats. As she described it, she opted for fit over prestige at both her undergraduate and graduate universities (she turned down UCLA for UC Santa Cruz and Harvard for Penn). But I don’t think I can explain the fit nearly as well as Rhiannon did in her cover letter.
I am not one of those jaded admissions people who is leaving "this side of the desk" because I'm tired of it…I love the work that I do, but I do not love having a vested interest in a decision that should reside with the student. I handpicked Collegewise because you get it. You, more than any other company I know, understand that students will flourish when they go to the college that aligns best with their interests, skills and personal preferences.
Matchmaking–and flattery–like that will get you everywhere here.
Another matchmaker joins our ranks
Rhiannon and her husband are packing up their belongings and heading to New Jersey. She’ll be joining a fresh crop of Collegewise matchmakers for training the week after the Fourth of July, then getting to work opening our Short Hills office and helping students see for themselves just how happy and successful someone can be when they attend the right college and make the most of what’s available while there.
So everyone, welcome Rhiannon to Collegewise! Let's do some matchmaking in the Garden State.