Shandra L McDonald

Podcaster | Public Servant | Student Success Strategist | Lifelong Learner | Determined

Shandra L. McDonald, DPA, is a student success strategist. She's an Upward Bound Alumni and a former Educational Opportunity Program student. She’s passionate about helping college freshman survive and thrive during their first year of college so that they can graduate within 5 years. She knows first-hand what it is like to struggle academically as a college freshman. Completely overwhelmed her first year of college, she often felt like giving up. She had a difficult time adjusting to the fast pace and the workload. She eventually developed strategies to improve her grades because she knew that a college education was her ticket to a better life. She’s on a mission to teach self-awareness and her SELF-Discipline System to college freshmen.

Dr. McDonald's strategy took her from clueless to Cum Laude. She's earned three college degrees (Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, Master of Public Administration, and Doctor of Public Administration), entered Federal service under the Outstanding Scholars Program, served as an adjunct professor, and appears as a guest lecturer. She is the author of Academic Survival: Simple Strategies for Improving Your Grades, contributing author of the textbook Government at Work: Policy Making in the Twenty-First-Century Congress, and host of the Academic Survival Podcast.