Debra Resnicoff BA, MFA, LMSW

Debra has specialized in college and graduate application and essay strategies for over fifteen years. She emphasizes a holistic admissions strategy that follows a roadmap of student personality, interests, accomplishments, goals, and dreams. Her student-focused approach offers encouragement and emphasizes unique qualities and strengths. This tried-and-true method combines exploratory writing, discussions, and rigorous drafting. Her students’ essays are vivid and tell well-crafted stories that illustrate character and curiosity. Debra spends significant care to show students how they fit different schools and majors, supporting a healthy admissions process that emphasizes lowering stress while setting high goals.

A graduate of Columbia University, Debra is a published author and produced screenwriter. For ten years she was a Creative Writing Instructor in the Columbia University High School Program. Her training in writing, theater, and film lends itself to a fun, creative learning experience. Recent graduate-level training in clinical counseling allows Debra to effectively support families who have encountered learning and behavioral challenges. She brings a depth of experience with second-language learners as well as international and first-generation students. When she is not working with students, she can be found walking in Central Park with her Jack Russell terrier Scooby.

Debra’s students have been accepted to all eight Ivy League universities and highly sought-after institutions including Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Duke, UVA, NYU, Vanderbilt, UMich, Wash U in St. Louis, Tulane, Williams, Georgetown, Northwestern, University of Chicago, Oxford, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, UCLA, and Berkeley. An average of 80 percent of Debra’s students have been accepted via early decision or early action, while the remaining 20 percent were offered admission to a second or third choice.