Maxene Fabe Mulford

MA, English, University of Pennsylvania

BA, English, University of Cincinnati

The ultra competitive, classical, six-year college prep public high school I attended in Cincinnati embedded in me a permanent savvy sixth sense when it comes to SATs, stats and forms. There were 23 National Merit Scholarship semifinalists in my graduating class of 304. Still we had our share of nervous breakdowns and bulimia even then. I know, up close, the needless stress all that can engender.

Fortunately, growing up in the Midwest also taught me there were saner ways to choose a college. My own children attended the University of Texas @ Austin and the University of Iowa. I consider my “heartland” point of view to be my greatest asset.

In 1997, my Aristotelian training in English, American Lit, my talents as a creative writer, teacher, and editor, and my laid-back “take” on today’s college-admissions craziness, coalesced when the fresh, clear thinking editorial suggestions I gave to Anand Ahuja, the son of my former next-door neighbors, proved instrumental to his gaining admission to Princeton (BSE, ‘02) and again to Harvard (MBA, ‘09). We formed Uniquely U. College Essay Consultants together. Anand has moved on.

But hundreds of happy UU alums later, I am still in awe of the empowering impact that my 3-phase process has had on helping high school seniors collect, connect, and convey their unique narratives, then confidently choose their futures.