Our Team

We are all college experts and admissions strategists who bring clarity and impact to the confusing process of college admissions. 

We see ourselves as your knight, your champion and your protector. We merge these roles into a singular strategy to help the students realize and represent the best and most competitive version of themselves in the application process.
Our Services
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Admissions Experts | Dedicated advisors

Rebeca G. Palacio

Partner | Advisor
Rebeca’s career “beat" has always been education access. She’s worked in a variety of fields all centred around education access, be it development finance, state or federal policy or at the district level. 

She has led academic studies nationally, implemented college access supports in various public school districts in FL, worked with the Early College schools implementation project in New York City, conducted research for a national access partnership in TN, and led education policy initiatives in NC. 

To that end, she has presented at dozens of national conferences, facilitated admissions workshops, sat on various non-profit boards and served on several national advisory boards. 

Her experience in college admissions ranges from Duke University to Rice University. In between, she had long stints at Barnard College, Vanderbilt University and Yale University. 

She has helped countless students earn full scholarships to highly selective schools, honor college spots at state schools and everything everywhere in between. 

Rebeca meets each student, parent, counselor, and politician where they are and helps make the complicated world of college access simple. 

Her B.A. is in Sociology/Spanish/Race and Ethnic Studies from Smith College. She studied Public Policy and Administration at Columbia University with a mix of coursework from Teacher’s College, Columbia’s business school, and its law school.
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Alison Rabil

Financial Aid Advisor
Alison started in financial aid over 30 years ago and is committed to helping students and families find the best college financial fit available. 

She holds a doctorate from Columbia University and has worked at large public institutions, including Appalachian State and Texas Tech, as well as at highly selective institutions such as Duke University, Barnard College, and Johns Hopkins University. 

Alison's top priority is to remove the stress from the financial aid process and make an affordable college education a reality for every family.
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Maren Scoggins

Partner | Advisor
Maren holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical and Chemical Engineering and minors in Math and Chemistry. She additionally has her MBA from Vanderbilt University with concentrations in Operations and Strategy. 

Her career reflects a unique blend of analytical precision and creative expression, shaped by her professional experience in both STEM fields and the Arts. 

A classically trained pianist and former professional golfer, she also volunteers for Musicfest Northwest as a Board Member and operations expert for their annual music festival for the arts. 

As a founding partner at Paladin College Advisory, Maren specializes in guiding dancers and musicians through the college admissions process—whether they are pursuing a Conservatory education or seeking a program that balances rigorous academics with artistic training. 

Having navigated the academic and audition process with her own child and supported others on similar journeys, she brings a deeply personal and informed perspective to her work. She has served on local education boards and now dedicates her efforts to helping performing and visual arts students chart their complex college pathways. 

With her engineering background, she also supports students interested in STEAM programs, offering insight into the intersection of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.
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Johanna Braff

Tutoring Advisor
Johanna is a middle school and high school teacher of Latin and Greek at The Dalton School in New York City.

She received her BA from Swarthmore College in Latin and Greek, her two MA'S from the University of Maryland in Classics and City University of New York, Graduate Center where she continued with her graduate studies. 

At Maryland, she was awarded a Teaching Assistantship and the Award for Teaching Excellence in 2008.

While Johanna teaches full time, her true passion lies in education and specifically in tutoring students one-on-one. 

She has tutored Latin, Greek, English writing and reading comprehension, middle school math, and test preparation, including SSAT/ISEE/ SAT/ ACT and knows schools' and teachers' expectations in and out. 

She knows that a tutor not only educates while also keeping the topic fun, but that a tutor is also a cheerleader, keeping the student calm and focused. 
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Melissa Estremera

STEM Advisor
Melissa’s journey began in the exciting world of research and development at Boston Scientific as a biomedical engineer. 

In addition, she has worked as a high school teacher in chemistry, computer science, robotics, and engineering before moving on to curriculum design and working with the College Board and Princeton Review. 

She is excited to help middle and high school students prepare for the STEM fields by identifying and planning out the right mix of courses to be competitive applicants and fully prepared undergraduates. 

Witnessing the power of effective guidance firsthand solidified her goal of empowering students via STEM programs, both as a teacher and a curriculum designer. In this role, she consistently boosted student achievement and established a solid foundation for college success. 

With a BS in biomedical engineering from Case Western and a master’s in education administration, Melissa bridges the gap between real-world experience and educational expertise.
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Rael Kenny

Partner | COO
An accountant by trade, Rael is a seasoned operations executive who has led departments at education-tech startups and international soccer academies. 

He began his career as Co-founder of Volunteer Southern Africa and has since helped bridge pathways for students from Africa, the Middle East and Scandinavia to study in the U.S.—a mission that laid the foundation for his passion for educational access. 

Rael currently oversees the operational development and strategy at Paladin College Advisory and brings a data-informed, systems-first approach to his work. 

Known as the reliable backbone of every team he is on, he is a problem-solver, builder, and perpetual learner—a novice in the morning and an expert by evening.
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Admission experts, passionate mentors, dedicated advisors

Together we have over 50 years of experience designing and implementing strategy for and in the college access world. We translate that know-how into an explicit strategy to help your students help themselves.

We’ve helped students gain admission to schools as varied as Yale University to the  University of Florida, the University of Alabama, South Carolina School of Art and Design to Columbia University, Arizona State University to Brown University and everywhere in between.

We build an application from the ground up, refining it until there is nothing left to be done, no stone unturned and every angle examined. This is a holistic advising process.
Our mission is to help the student realize and represent the best and most competitive version of themselves in the college application process.

We see ourselves as your champion and your protector. We edit out the irrelevant marketing, the media “spin” and especially water-cooler gossip and nonsense and focus on what’s real, what’s doable and functional, and find a way to work all of that to your advantage.

With over 50 years of combined experience from renowned institution backgrounds

Holistic Approach
Personalized Advising
Strategic Positioning 

Testimonials

School Acceptances

pal·a·din: (păl′ə-dĭn) - noun
A strong supporter and advocate of a noble cause
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