The mission of Collegewise is to be the most trusted source of expert advice to help students access the transformative power of higher education.

Our vision is to improve the lives of students today so they can improve the world tomorrow.

The mission of Collegewise is to be the most trusted source of expert advice to help students access the transformative power of higher education.

Our vision is to improve the lives of students today so they can improve the world tomorrow.

How It All Began
  • Kevin McMullin founded Collegewise in Irvine, California, in 1999. For too many families, the college admissions process was overwhelming, stressful, and ultimately unsuccessful.

  • Collegewise was built on the belief that students can get admitted to their dream college and still have some fun in their college admissions journey. More than 20 years after Kevin met with his first student, Collegewise is the nation’s largest college admissions organization.

What We Care About
  • Our most important work is sharing quality information with each of our families, combating fear with facts, empowering students to take ownership of this important step in their education, and making sure that wherever they land, they can articulate why they’re there, what they will contribute, and what they want to get out of the experience. 

  • Whether you hire one of our counselors or tutors, read our book, use our proprietary platform, or browse our free resources, we’re here to inject sanity and perspective into the process that allows you to achieve strong admissions outcomes.

In Our Communities
  • As leading experts in college admissions, we are woven into the very fabric of the communities we serve.

  • We speak at hundreds of high schools and local events each year. Hundreds of thousands of people read our newsletters, blog, book, and watch our videos.

  • We are proud to partner with organizations like Reach Higher, Michelle Obama's education initiative, and do our best to give back through our scholarship program.

26,000+
  • students

  • admitted

97%
  • of students accepted

  • to their top 3 schools

23+
  • years of admissions

  • experience

9 of 10

  • families recommend

  • us to their friends

Our People

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Anjali Bhatia

Chief Executive Officer

Anjali is a mission-driven CEO with a lifelong passion for helping students build the right skillsets. She's held a number of executive leadership positions within education over the last 12 years. Anjali holds her MBA from The Wharton School, where she received the Joseph Wharton Fellowship. She completed her undergraduate degree at Duke University, where she was the recipient of the full merit scholarship, the Robertson Scholarship. Outside of Collegewise? She is a tea sommelier and loves spending time with her daughter!

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Kevin McMullin

Chief Education Officer

Kevin McMullin is the founder and Chief Education Officer at Collegewise. He has delivered over 500 presentations to discuss college admissions planning, employee engagement, and small business success. As long as the speeches don’t require Kevin to solve any math problems, he always does a bang-up job. Kevin graduated from UC Irvine with majors in English and history (where Kevin also answered, “What will you do with those majors?” approximately 783 times), and he has a college admissions counseling certificate from UCLA.

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Arun Ponnusamy

Chief Academic Officer

Arun is regarded as one of America’s foremost admissions experts. He evaluated the files of over 7,500 seniors through nine application cycles for three highly selective colleges: the University of Chicago (his alma mater), Caltech, and UCLA. Since joining Collegewise, Arun has guided hundreds of students into their dream colleges. He also conducts professional development sessions and speaks at seminars attended by thousands of families annually.

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Paul Kanarek

Chief of Staff

Given Paul’s academic record in high school, his mother would be the first to tell you that there wasn’t the remotest chance of his launching a career in education. Paul proved her wrong when he co-founded the California branch of The Princeton Review in 1983. He has since become a globally recognized expert in the fields of both standardized testing and college admissions. He joined Collegewise in 2015, and he is practically giddy at the opportunity to help families genuinely enjoy finding a great college fit.

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Allison Lopour

Chief People Officer

After graduating from the University of Redlands, Allison worked as an admissions officer there before joining Collegewise in 2007. Since then, she has helped more than 500 students find and apply to the right colleges, and she has been hiring, training, and supporting new Collegewisers for the last 5 years. In her spare time, Allison enjoys watching bad TV, listening to Taylor Swift, and telling her daughters that she’s not a regular mom, she’s a cool mom.

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Ashley Nieblas

Dean of Counseling

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Casey Near

Dean of Counselor Development

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Mamie Cosentino

Dean of Affiliates & Managing Editor

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Cortney Flint

Program Advisor

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Jaclyn Muralla

Program Advisor

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Andrea Johnson

Program Advisor

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Morgan Dance

Program Advisor

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Olivia Vail

Financial Operations Manager

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Carol Chimento

Director of Operations

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Stefanie Toye

Dean of Tutoring

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Michal Goldstein

Director of Tutoring

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Jon Silber

Program Advisor

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Sherrylynn Hough

Accounting Manager

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Jordan Kanarek

Director of Counseling

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Katie Sprague

Director of Counselor Development

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