Preparing the next generation of leaders

CollegeXceed provides comprehensive educational guidance and support to students seeking to attend competitive colleges and universities worldwide.

OUR SERVICES

Founded by two educational consultants with extensive experience in domestic and international college counseling, CollegeXceed is a boutique college counseling firm based in the Southeastern United States that specializes in providing strategic academic advising and assistance to bright and motivated students. Our practice focuses on both undergraduate and graduate admissions, including transfer admissions, and gap-year planning when appropriate.

Utilizing a comprehensive bundle of services, our goal is to use our expertise and experience to successfully guide students through the application process and help them maximize their college options. So as to ensure that all students are given the individual attention they deserve, the firm strictly limits the number of families that it works with each application season.

Our work, which is personalized for each student based on his or her needs, typically consists of the following components:

STUDENT ASSESSMENT

Using a variety of career/personality inventories (MBTI, SII, etc.), we help students identify their interests and learning styles, allowing them to more effectively select majors and colleges that best suit their needs.

ACADEMIC PLANNING

After our initial meetings and review of all applicable documents, we will seek to outline any means by which students can enrich their application profile, such as specific coursework, research projects, internships or volunteer work.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

An accurate assessment of each student’s competitive strengths and weaknesses is essential to generating an appropriate and successful college list. By reviewing student transcripts, test scores, and extracurricular achievements and comparing this information to the applicant pool at select colleges, we then are able to generate a competitive profile.

COLLEGE SELECTION

Utilizing the student’s interests and competitive profile, we then compile a list of suggested colleges and universities that represent the best match between his/her credentials and the institutions’ admissions standards and offerings; we then assist the families in researching and selecting target schools until a balanced college list has been created.

STRATEGIC GUIDANCE

Using extensive institutional data and analytics (including departmental and ED/EA admission rates), we create a personalized application plan for each student to ensure their college list is appropriately focused and seeks to capitalize on early admission opportunities.

APPLICATION ASSISTANCE

Through our widely-used application management platform, we assist students in completing and submitting every part of their college applications, from tracking deadlines to confirming with schools that all required documents have been received.

ESSAY EDITING

As a critical part of the application, significant time is spent on essays and other required supplements. We help identify appropriate essay topics, assist in developing compelling content, and review essays for clarity and grammatical errors,

EXTRACURRICULARS

To present each student’s activities in the most effective manner possible, we advise applicants on how to best describe their various honors, skills, and extracurricular achievements on applications, as well as help create a professional activity resume.

INTERVIEW PREP

We also provide extensive interview coaching and mock interview sessions, focusing on proper preparation, interview etiquette, what questions to expect, what questions to ask, and how to make a positive impression.

SUCCESS COACHING

Upon completion of the application process, we provide all students and parents with specific insights and strategies (including course selection when applicable) to maximize their chances of academic success during their first scholastic year.

Student Assessment

Using a variety of career and personality inventories (MBTI, SII, etc.), we help students identify their interests and learning styles, allowing them to more effectively select the majors and colleges that will best suit their needs.

Academic Planning

After our initial meetings and a review of all applicable documents, we will seek to outline any means by which students can enrich their application profile, such as specific coursework, research projects, internships or volunteer work.

Competitive Analysis

A thorough and accurate assessment of each student’s competitive strengths and weaknesses is essential to creating an appropriate and successful college list. By reviewing transcripts, test scores, and extracurriculars and comparing this information to the applicant pool at select colleges we then generate a competitive profile.

College Selection

Utilizing the student’s interests and competitive profile, we compile a list of suggested colleges and universities that represent the best match between his/her credentials and the institutions’ admissions standards and offerings; we then assist the families in researching and selecting target schools until a balanced college list has been created.

Strategic Guidance

Using extensive institutional data and analytics (including departmental and ED/EA admission rates), we create a personalized application plan for each student to ensure that their college list is balanced and that seeks to capitalize on any early admission opportunities.

Application Assistance

Through our widely-used application management platform, we are able to assist students in completing and submitting every part of their college applications, from tracking deadlines to confirming with schools that all required documents have been received.

Essay Editing

As it is a critical part of the application, significant time is spent on essays and other required supplements. We work with students to identify appropriate essay topics, assist them in developing compelling content, and review essays for clarity and grammatical errors.

Extracurriculars

With the goal of presenting each student’s accomplishments in the most effective manner possible, we advise applicants on how to best describe their various honors, skills, and extracurricular activities on applications, as well as help create a professional activity resume.

Recommendations

We assist students in securing personal and highly supportive recommendation letters from their current teachers and counselors, as required by many highly competitive colleges and universities.

Success Coaching

We believe that each student's college admission should be just the first step on a long and rewarding journey; as such, we provide all of our clients with one-on-one coaching that gives then specific tips and techniques that have been demonstrated to improve their chances of academic success.

Interviews

We provide extensive interview coaching and mock interview sessions, focusing on proper preparation, interview etiquette, what questions to expect, what questions to ask, and how to make a positive impression.

College Decisions

As applicants begin to receive decisions, we work with them to evaluate their admission offers and help them to select the college or university that best aligns with their individual interests and needs.

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OUR TEAM

Ms. Takacs is a licensed counselor and social worker based out of Charlottesville, Virginia who has worked in the field of college admissions for two decades, most recently as an international college counselor at Singapore American School and Tanglin Trust School, and as Director of College Counseling at a therapeutic college preparatory boarding school in Virginia.

In her counseling roles she have overseen all aspects of the college admissions and post-graduation processes for 1700+ students. She has experience with a wide range of public and private universities as well as private secondary schools, transfer and graduate school admissions, and gap year planning. She also keeps a current understanding of university application systems around the world including the Canada, UK/Scotland/Ireland, Netherlands, Australia and Asia. Additionally, she has co-chaired a formal Mentor Year Program for the International Association of College Counseling (for which she was awarded NACAC's Rising Star Award in 2022).

Ms. Takacs holds a masters degree in Higher Education from the University of Virginia, a masters degree in Social Work/Children Youth and Families from Case Western Reserve University, and a Certificate of College Counseling from UCLA.

She is a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC),the International Association for College Admission Counseling (IACAC), the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), and the Gap Year Association.

Malissa Takacs, M.Ed., M.S.S.A, L.S.W.
Co-Founder & Consultant

An experienced educator and licensed attorney based out of the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, Mr. Merritt has worked directly with thousands of students and parents over the past 25 years. Having served as both a Founder and Dean of Faculty for a college preparatory therapeutic boarding school in Virginia as well as Managing Partner of Educational Management Services, LLC, Mr. Merritt possesses extensive knowledge of undergraduate and graduate school admissions and has helped both traditional and nontraditional students gain acceptance to over 500 colleges and universities.

In addition to graduate studies in history, political science and international law at the University of Oxford and Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Mr. Merritt holds a Master of Arts in Education from Columbia University, a Master of Business Administration from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, a Master of Science in Applied Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School.

Mr. Merritt is also a former member of the Higher Education Consultants Association (HECA), the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling (SACAC), the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the American College Counseling Association (ACCA), and the National College Advocacy Group (NCAG).

Justin Merritt, M.A., M.B.A., M.S., J.D.
Co-Founder & Consultant

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PROVEN RESULTS

Our team has worked with families from more than 20 countries on five continents, and over the years our services have proven to be exceptionally effective in creating academic opportunities for young men and women of all ability levels and backgrounds. As such, we are proud to note that the students that we have worked with have received over $50 million in merit-based scholarship offers, and have been accepted to over 600 colleges and universities worldwide, including the following schools:

ATTORNEYS