Meet Maureen Hinkis
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Sign UpAt the ripe, old age of 16, Maureen became her own college counselor. Her high school counselor seemed to be “phoning it in”, so she took initiative, did some research, and counseled her way into her dream school: The College of William & Mary. After earning her B.A. in History there, she co-founded Tribe College Outreach, a mentorship program that paired undergraduates with local high school students to help them through the college admission process. She then moved on to Hunter College to receive her M.S. in Elementary Education, and shortly after, was selected from a pool of 35,000 applicants for Teach for America. As a part of that initiative, she taught for two years at La Cima Elementary in Brooklyn, a NYC public school in a low-income community.
Maureen has served as a school counselor and intervention coordinator for Uncommon Schools North Star Academy in Newark, NJ, where she founded their Comprehensive School Counseling program; served as a case manager; and managed academic, personal, and crisis counseling services to support students. Most recently, she taught Social Studies at Forte Preparatory Charter School in Queens, NY.
When Maureen is not assisting students and engaging young minds, she is doing yoga, hiking, bowling (something she claims to be awful at—we doubt it!), and hanging out with her rescue dog, Gemma.
Education & Experience
- M.Ed., School Counseling, Columbia University
- M.S., Elementary Education, Hunter College
- B.A., History, The College of William & Mary
- Social Studies Teacher, Forte Preparatory Charter School, Queens, NY
- Counselor & Intervention Coordinator, Uncommon Schools North Star Academy, Newark, NJ
Professional Organization Memberships
What are people saying about Collegewise?
My Collegewise counselor helped me find the dream school I didn't even know existed, and then gave me the tools to create my best application possible.
P. Charbonneau
Occidental College
Our son wasn't sure where he wanted to go to school. His counselor made the whole process as simple and stress-free as possible, and did a fantastic job helping him come up with a variety of schools to consider. In the end, she was right—our son loved his chosen school as soon as he stepped foot onto campus. Without her suggestion, I don't think we ever would have considered that school!
K. Lobisser, Parent of T. Lobisser
Loyola University Chicago
My counselor was a huge help with straightening out my words for the college essay, just helping it flow right and get across what I wanted to say.
E. O'Neill
University of New Haven
I got into college because of Collegewise. If I hadn't had someone to keep me organized and on top of my applications, they wouldn't have been nearly as high quality as they were. My college application process was almost completely stress-free…thank you so much for everything you did!
Megan Porter
Arizona State University – Barrett Honors College
Collegewise was great! My counselor was always there for me and gave me a lot of useful advice, contacts, ideas, and even videos on how to have a better interview.
D. Mallarino
University of Toronto
Collegewise was extremely helpful, and I felt really good about my application. I would have never known where—or how—to apply without them. They made the application process much easier to understand. Best decision!