Gwen Elise

About Gwen Elise

Gwen is an avid traveler who feels most at home in Kentucky and Argentina. Her closet is full of dark dresses, and her walls are papered in colorful maps. She likes to make puns, read, write, and translate to and from Spanish, and she misses Vassar College, her alma mater, which helped her get better at all of those things.

College Note-Taking Tips — Here we are: one month into the semester. The work is starting to pile up, and professors are giving mention to looming midterms. It’s not too late to take charge of your study habits, and note-taking plays a big role in that. Use one notebook per course. Keep your notes […]

12 Tips to Help You Master the Art of Note-Taking in College

This entry was posted in Study Skills on September 26, 2016 by Gwen Elise

Should You Take a SAT Subject Test? — As someone who writes a lot about college admissions, I have to come clean. Back when I was a senior in high school, I knew none of it. I was wildly unprepared for the college application process. Not only was I behind in most of the things I should have […]

Should You Take Any SAT Subject Tests?

This entry was posted in Admissions on September 19, 2016 by Gwen Elise

Maintaining a healthy relationship takes work, but doing so long distance is a whole different ball game. How do things work out when one partner leaves to study abroad and the other is stuck on campus? A lot of times, they don’t work out at all. They flop right out […]

Is Your Relationship Ready for a Study Abroad Term?

This entry was posted in Love and Relationships on September 12, 2016 by Gwen Elise

How to Make a Good College Resume — Some students write their first résumés in high school to get after-school jobs or to apply to certain colleges. But the stakes are higher once you have that high school diploma. You’re an adult now, and your résumé needs to look like an adult’s if you want jobs, scholarships, and […]

Extreme Makeover: College Résumé Edition

This entry was posted in Career on September 6, 2016 by Gwen Elise

How to Win at the College Fair — If you’re a high school student, your mailbox has surely been flooded with colorful college brochures. The pictures of their campuses start to blend together. Guy throwing Frisbee on the quad. Professor pensively listening to a student. Woman at library poring over her books. What college does that describe? According […]

How to Win at the College Fair

This entry was posted in Admissions on August 26, 2016 by Gwen Elise

How to Maintain a Long-Distance Relationship During Study Abroad — I studied abroad in Buenos Aires and quickly made friends with the other Americans who were set to be there for the entire school year. Jared (not his real name) was among them. He was sporty, goofy, and mischievous, and my friend group liked to have him around. We sent […]

Making a Long-Distance Relationship Work during Study Abroad

This entry was posted in Love and Relationships on August 17, 2016 by Gwen Elise

Mistakes not to Make when Choosing Classes in College to Make Your Class Schedule — Making your class schedule is first and foremost about picking the classes that fulfill your general education and major requirements. Then, you have to make sure that you don’t have any scheduling conflicts. That’s easy enough, but deciding which classes will best stimulate your mind can be a lot more […]

Six Mistakes I Made When Making My Class Schedule

This entry was posted in Study Skills on August 9, 2016 by Gwen Elise

Seven Reasons to Consider Applying Early Action — Early action (EA) is an admissions policy that allows prospective freshmen to get a head start on the college application process. By submitting EA applications well before the regular application deadline, you can receive your admissions decision (an acceptance, a rejection, or a maybe) in December of your senior year. […]

Seven Reasons to Consider Applying to College Early Action

This entry was posted in Admissions on August 1, 2016 by Gwen Elise

How to make a good high school résumé — If this were a television show, I’d be pulling up to an unassuming student’s school right now in a crew van. With my cameramen right behind me, I’d jump out of the car, hustle to the classroom, and tear the poor kid’s résumé from his hand. “We have a lot […]

Extreme Makeover: High School Résumé Edition

This entry was posted in Finishing High School on July 26, 2016 by Gwen Elise

A Quick History of Independence Day — Fourth of July festivities encompass everything great about summer: backyard barbecues, pool parties, big scoops of homemade ice cream, and watching lightning bugs warm up the sky for terrific fireworks shows. Back in 1776, Founding Father John Adams actually predicted we’d celebrate this way. He told his wife that the […]

Shorter Than Your Textbook: A Quick History of Independence Day

This entry was posted in Recreation on July 4, 2016 by Gwen Elise

Dressing Respectfully: What to Wear When Traveling Abroad — I’m just your average white girl. My hair is neither blonde nor brown, and I am neither short nor tall. Many of my clothes come from Target, and I speak an unaccented “American” English. For better or for worse, I blend in when I’m in the United States. That all […]

Dressing Respectfully While Traveling Abroad

This entry was posted in Travel on June 29, 2016 by Gwen Elise

How to Find a Summer Job in High School — Anyone in college admissions will wax poetic about summer jobs. With a summer job, high school students beef up their résumés, use their brains over the summers, and acquire new skills. Students who keep with their summer jobs during the school year are even more impressive. They prove they can […]

Finding a Summer Job in High School

This entry was posted in Finishing High School on June 24, 2016 by Gwen Elise