INDEPENDENT EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT

Dr. Shawn Marie Garrett has always felt passionately about education and educational equity. Dr. Garrett attended public schools in her K-12 years and remains a strong supporter of public education. She served as President of her local district's Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) in the 2021-22 school year and actively volunteers for and contributes to a variety of nonprofit educational organizations.

Dr. Garrett believes teaching and learning are the most rewarding human pursuits, and that opportunities to learn should be extended equally. She has taught and counseled teens and young adults, both in and out of the classroom, throughout her career, both independently and through faculty service to institutions including Yale University, Barnard College, Columbia University, Stony Brook University, and private secondary schools. She was honored to receive the Gladys Brooks Award for Excellence in Teaching and a nomination for the Emily Gregory Teaching Award at Barnard College, among other recognitions of her writing and teaching.

Since 2019, Dr. Garrett has served as an independent educational consultant, guiding high school students and their families towards successful transitions from high school to the colleges (or transfer colleges) of their choice. She works primarily with people aged 14 - 22 in:

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• achieving college readiness, access, and success;

• finding, creating, and developing meaningful extracurricular activities, internships, jobs, and passion projects; 

• acquiring college-level research, writing, and speaking skills (as a TED-Ed Club facilitator, Dr. Garrett supports students in developing TED Talks on topics of their choosing);

• successfully completing application processes (for summer programs, STEM and humanities competitions, publication opportunities, undergraduate study, transfer, and scholarships).

Dr. Garrett serves as Director of Educational Consulting for GPS Academy Little Neck, the Long Island office of a private global firm (Linghang International Education Group, Inc.).

She also runs Long Island Scholars a 501(c)(3) which supports under-resourced public high school students in Nassau and Suffolk Counties and in Brooklyn and Queens in college and career readiness and access. Students receive individualized coaching in:

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• researching, developing, preparing and applying for pre-college activities, programs, competitions;

• developing and writing their resumes;

• approaching college admissions (applications, essays, and financial aid) strategically;

• planning and preparing for standardized tests; 

• planning and preparing for International Baccalaureate exams;

• writing effectively in multiple genres for high school, college, career.

2022-23 Admissions Outcomes

Admissions outcomes for students Dr. Garrett supported through the 2022-23 admissions cycle through programs run by Long Island Scholars (nonprofit), GPS Academy Little Neck (private), "College Essay Guy" Ethan Sawyer's Matchlighters Scholars program (nonprofit) and Questbridge National College Match (nonprofit). Among the 34 students Dr. Garrett mentored through the 2022-23 cycle, 31 are people of color and 15 are the first in their families to attend college:

Babson College

Binghamton University, SUNY

Boston College

Brandeis University

Case Western Reserve University

Cornell University (College of Arts and Sciences; College of Human Ecology; College of Agriculture and Life Scienes; Engineering)

Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY

Fordham University

Georgia Institute of Technology

Hofstra University (4+4: BS-BA/MD program)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

New York University

Northeastern University

Pennsylvania State University

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rochester Institute of Technology

Stony Brook University, SUNY

Syracuse University

Tufts University

University of Albany, SUNY

University of Binghamton, SUNY

University of Buffalo, SUNY

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Davis

University of California, Irvine

University of California, San Diego

University of California, Santa Barbara

University of Michigan

University of Pennsylvania

University of Rochester

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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