Director of College Counseling
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Clark University
Master of Science in Professional Communication, Clark University
Stephanie Shandra joined the school’s faculty as College Admissions Counselor in September of 2009. Her title was recently changed to Director of College Counseling.
At MMI, Mrs. Shandra is responsible for providing post-secondary educational and career guidance to students. She helps students understand, identify and evaluate their post-secondary options while guiding them and their families through all aspects of the admission, financial aid, and scholarship application processes. She teaches courses in College and Career Counseling in 10 th and 11 th grades and a Senior Seminar Course. She delivers presentations to students and their families every year regarding post-secondary planning, college admissions, and financial aid. In addition to serving as Director of College Counseling, Mrs. Shandra serves as MMI’s Testing Coordinator and Advanced Placement Coordinator.
Before joining the MMI faculty, Mrs. Shandra was Guidance Coordinator of the Upward Bound Program at Wilkes University where she was responsible for advising and counseling high school students and their families on the college application and financial aid processes. Previously, Mrs. Shandra was also Assistant Director of Admission at St. Leo University in Florida and worked as an Admissions Counselor in the Clark University Admissions Office.
Mrs. Shandra earned a Master of Science in Professional Communication and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. She served on various counselor advisory boards for universities such as Lebanon Valley College, Washington and Jefferson College, and the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the Association of College Counselors at Independent Schools, and the Pennsylvania Association for College Admission Counseling (PACAC), where she previously served as Chair of the Professional Development Committee. She presents at numerous regional, state, and national conferences and workshops, sharing her passion and dedication to the college admission profession. In 2014, Mrs. Shandra received the Counselor who Changes Lives award by the Colleges that Change Lives organization. In 2020, she received the Pennsylvania Association for College Admission Counseling’s, William R. McClintock, Jr. Service Award recognizing her unwavering loyalty to the profession, leadership to PACAC, and continued work on behalf of students to ensure access to post-secondary education.
Mrs. Shandra states, “MMI is a very special place where everyone values the importance of consistently putting your best foot forward, whether in the classroom, on the field, or in the community.” Outside of work, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and their son.
Mrs. Shandra considers herself a lifelong learner. One of her favorite quotes comes former Carnegie Mellon University Professor, Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture: “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”
To contact Mrs. Shandra, please email her at sshandra@mmiprep.org.