My Journey - How to Pay for College

Paul Kanarek is celebrating his 40th year in the education space; he was the founder of The Princeton Review in California in 1983. During that time, he mentored Kevin McMullin, his protégé who went on to start Collegewise in 1999. Paul recognized just how valuable college admissions support can be and jumped in to support Collegewise as CEO from 2013 to 2017. 

Paul loves nothing more than sharing information on the college admissions and assessment landscape. Widely quoted in all major newspapers, Paul has appeared on numerous television shows and has spoken about U.S. college admissions all over the world on behalf of Collegewise. He is renowned for his lively, insightful, and inspiring talks. 

Can’t place his accent after you hear him speak? He grew up in the UK, South Africa, and the U.S. He currently lives on a ranch with 23 (yes, 23!) different animals. 

Ashley Meyer has been working in college admissions for the past decade: both as a college admission officer at Georgia Tech and as the director of college counseling at a private school in Atlanta. She got her start talking about college as a tour guide at the University of South Carolina and bolstered her knowledge with an M.Ed., in higher education from Harvard. She joined Collegewise to help take the stress out of the process and to provide down-to-earth advice to students and families. Her students have been accepted to Harvard, Yale, Columbia, University of Chicago, Cornell, Brown, NYU, Georgetown, Notre Dame, University of Michigan, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Emory, and many more!

As a critical languages scholar for the U.S. Department of State, she has also spent significant time in China and loves traveling abroad whenever her schedule allows. When she’s not talking about college, she enjoys trying Atlanta’s best restaurants, seeking out the best playgrounds with her two toddlers, and cheering for the many teams she supports (but most of all, the Gamecocks).

Mo Dyson is an absolute nerd on all things financial aid for higher education. Simply put, he loves jumping into the (often tangled) weeds of how financial aid is structured and how it differs from school to school. He leads the Collegewise financial aid division, previously having worked in financial aid and admissions offices at Harvey Mudd and Pomona. As a Collegewise financial aid advisor, he guides students who are completing the FAFSA and CSS forms, and applying for merit scholarships. Mo’s students have been admitted with financial aid to Vanderbilt, Tufts,

University of Richmond, Whitman College, Northeastern, University of Michigan, University of Rochester, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, University of South Florida, Duke, Columbia, Wellesley, USC, and many more.

While originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mo has called Southern California home for more than a decade, after leaving the U.S. Marine Corps and attending Pomona College. In his free time, you can find Mo traveling, scouting out breakfast places that offer a cup of good, strong coffee, or on the couch with the family cat, a good book, and his kids.