​CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

The testimonials below provide detailed insight into how past clients viewed their experiences with Avanti Prep — and in many cases how those experiences compared to the applicant's previous experience applying on their own or with another firm. 

Our reviews tend to be very specific. This creates greater transparency with respect to process, benefits, commitment, and results, and we believe it is a testament to the earnestness with which Avanti Prep clients want to share their experiences.
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Applicants widely regard us as unique in terms of time, depth, quality, and care. Our clients' experiences tell a differentiated story as a result. And we deliver all of this at a far lower cost — often $100 to $200 per hour less — than our competitors.

Comparisons with Other Firms
Harvard, Stanford, Wharton
Sloan, Booth, Columbia
Kellogg, Haas, Tuck
​Yale, Darden, Ross, Stern, Fuqua, Johnson, Anderson
T17-25 and Beyond
International, Part-time MBA, Executive MBA
​Interview Prep Only
Military Applicants

FREE CONSULTATION

All reviews are verified by and available on GMAT Club and/or Poets & Quants. Avanti Prep does not provide any incentives to clients for posting reviews.
This page is updated through Round 2 of the 2023-24 application season. For more reviews, please visit GMAT Club and Poets & Quants.

 

 

HARVARD, STANFORD, WHARTON

HANDS DOWN THE BEST THOUGHT PARTNER / WRITING COACH / INTERVIEW COACH I’VE EVER WORKED WITH​

Posted on and independently verified by GMAT Club and Poets & Quants​​
Review title comes from the applicant's Poets & Quants submission

​With just a 720 GMAT, Greg helped me get an acceptance to HBS and a waitlist at GSB. He's hands down the best admissions consultant / thought partner / writing coach / interview coach I’ve ever worked with. I actually began this process by signing up for a couple of hours with a few well-known firms before diving deeper with Avanti Prep. Working with Greg was one of the best decisions I made during the admissions process. Here are just a few (of the many) reasons why:

Great for non-traditional backgrounds: I studied liberal arts at a non-target public university, had a fairly non-traditional background, and super non-traditional career aspirations. Greg was the only consultant I spoke with who actually "got" my background and helped me craft a really unique and cohesive story out of it. He struck a brilliant balance both supporting my goals, and challenging me to take them to the next level.

Financially favorable: Avanti Prep offers some of the best deals across the consultant landscape. (If you do your own hourly rates benchmarking you'll come to the same conclusion!). I did a 20 hour package, and added an additional 10 hours for interviews. On top of all of that, Greg was extremely generous and gave me a lot of complimentary time.

Personality: I genuinely had fun during this admissions cycle, in no small feat due to Greg's constant humor, warmth, and integrity. He's just an overall incredible person to work with.

Essay expert: Greg has deep expertise in school programs. His essay guidance was thoughtful, direct, unique to each school, and extremely constructive. I often thought of myself as a strong writer, but Greg's suggestions were always on point, mirrored my writing style, and significantly elevated my own voice.

Interview prep: I spent many hours with Greg prepping for HBS, GSB and a few other M7 interviews. He knew the interview style and nuances for each school, which can vary significantly, especially with HBS and GSB. He delivered highly personalized prep sessions and helped me significantly polish many of my answers unique to each school. In fact, many of his interview questions ended up being nearly verbatim to the ones I actually received!

If you're on the fence and you've read up until this point, just take this as a sign to sign up. It’s absolutely worth it.

EFFECTIVE AND A PLEASURE TO WORK WITH: ACCEPTED TO HBS

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​Background: 31M, military veteran, good GMAT and GPA

I cannot overstate how much Greg enabled my success as an applicant. I think a previous review described him perfectly when it said, “he’s like your friend that really wants you to get into your dream school.”

Greg came strongly recommended by another military veteran who attended HBS. Together, we worked on essays, resume, recommenders, interviews, and navigating the waitlist. Here are some of my highlights.

Essays – Greg’s greatest asset was helping me develop overarching themes that tied together different elements of my life, career, etc. He had me write up five or six short stories that I felt were significant and was able to see the larger themes that tied them together. It led to an “a ha!” moment when I realized my “why” behind the decisions I’ve made throughout my life.

Resume – Another theme of Greg’s is attention to detail, and he lets nothing go unnoticed. He helped me translate my military experience into language that was easy for admissions board members to understand. Instead of just quantifying everything, his technique offers a nice combination of descriptive language that speaks to the applicant’s values and skills while still being quantifiable and easy to read. He analyzed every word, sentence, and even the spacing between lines!

Interviews – My HBS interview went smoothly because 90% of the questions asked by the interviewer were questions that Greg had prepared me for.

Pricing – Greg’s rate is a steal for the value that he offers, and he significantly rounds down on his hourly tracker. He doesn’t charge for routine email queries and even offered free service on a part of my application because he genuinely wanted to see me succeed.

Military vets – Greg has established himself as the go-to consultant for vets applying to top B-schools. Even though he doesn’t come from a military background, his ability to understand my experiences, roles, and skillsets was remarkable. He was able to offer a different point-of-view on almost every element of my application. For example, I thought I was going to lean heavily on my role as a military pilot, but Greg convinced me to highlight my leadership, mentorship, etc. Turns out, he was right!

Outcome – Accepted to HBS!

Greg challenged me to think deeply, and I feel confident that he helped me craft the absolute best possible application. I must highlight one last time that Greg is not only talented at what he does, but he is also a pleasure to work with. He is approachable, patient, honest, and detailed, and the quality and commitment of his work are unmatched.

DREAM OUTCOME: DUAL ADMIT GSB/HBS

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As a non-traditional background applying in R2, Greg had successfully elevated my profile for top business school, leading to dual admit to GSB and HBS + misc. offers and waitlist (most are M7)

Greg analysed my background and story diligently and provided very useful feedback to elevate my profile. He is also not afraid to be frank about his comment and approaches, which contributed the good chemistry between the both of us.

Greg is always looking to improve my whole profile, including essay, additional essay, interview answers, even in the smallest possible way to ensure there are no rocks left unturned.

although he has a proforma for certain things, he remained very flexible and would patiently listen to my recommendation and incorporate them into the end product (Eg. essay). He is also not afraid to criticize my approach when needed, making him not just a great consultant, but also a tutor.

Overall, I would definitely recommend him to anyone who wants to aim high. But a reminder is that - be ready to put in the work to complement his hard work!

THE ALL-IN-ONE MENTOR/CONSULTANT: ADMITTED TO HBS, WHARTON, LAUDER, LBS, BOOTH

Posted on and independently verified by GMAT Club and Poets & Quants​​

Background:
Asian Male (International)
GPA: 3.5 from Top 20 U.S. university
GMAT: 740

Why I chose Avanti Prep:
Speaking with friends attending M7 schools, I noticed all of them had used MBA consultants... so I decided to follow the trend.

I scheduled more than five calls with different firms to assess my profile. Most of the consultants barely looked at the details of my profile and superficially jumped to the conclusion that M7 would be pretty difficult. After talking to a handful of consultants and only having Greg's call left, I had pretty much made up my mind about signing up with the most premium consulting firm. I thought this would be the safer choice.

But... when I got on the call with Greg, my mind changed. He started asking me questions about my career moves and background and really dived into the details. He then discussed with me the strategy and how to bring my unique stories to life. I felt like the other consultants were just inputting me into their cookie-cutter framework by looking at my stats, whereas Greg was trying to really get to the crux of my value and uniqueness.

Working with Greg:
I signed up for the Tier 3 package for 4 schools originally and then added 5 additional schools. Greg was exceptional and truly transformational in all aspects: selecting schools, helping me contemplate my background and connecting the dots, ideation of goals, resume, essays, and everything else.

Greg has a keen sense where he can really squeeze the best personal and professional stories out of you, and he teaches you to deliver them in a way that really resonates with the reader. He was always readily available, and I felt as if he was a good mentor and a friend I had known for a while. We would talk about non-MBA-related stuff as well. Although the MBA process was gruesome, and I do not ever want to do it again, it was awesome working with him -- I honestly could not have done it without him.

Interview Prep:
Also, I cannot thank Greg enough for the interview preparation. I'm the kind of guy who loves to just "wing it," but Greg really coached me on the best practices and tremendously improved my interview skills. The interview preparation was super tailored to each school and to me.

Greg’s feedback was on-point, and he really helped me nail all the different kinds of interviews, plus the HBS post-interview reflection essay, Booth interview video, and LBS mini-case. I remember for my last interview, I had lost all motivation, but he helped me push through to the end.

Results:
I will let the results speak for themselves. I received invitations for interviews from 6 out of the 9 schools (M7, Lauder, LBS.) Of the 6 interviews, I was accepted to HBS, Wharton, Lauder, LBS, and Booth, and I received scholarships for 2 schools. The final result is a dream come true.

Greg was awesome, and I really don't think I could have accomplished this without him. I also want to take this opportunity to pat my past self on the back for choosing Greg. To sum it up, Greg is a personable, skillful, and sharp mentor and friend, and I would highly recommend him to anybody.

SUPER PRESTIGIOUS FULL-RIDE AT MY DREAM SCHOOL (STANFORD GSB / KNIGHT-HENNESSY SCHOLARS)

Posted on and independently verified by Poets & Quants​​

​I worked with Greg and Avanti Prep on both my MBA application cycle and a separate scholarship/fellowship application process. Not only was I accepted to one of the top MBA programs in the world (my absolute dream school), I was subsequently accepted to a super prestigious graduate scholarship program (one of the most well-known and competitive ones), which provides a full scholarship and its own leadership curriculum.

In total, I worked with Avanti Prep for over 20 hours of service, which included MBA application essay brainstorming and reviews, MBA application interview prep, scholarship essay brainstorming and reviews, and scholarship interview prep.

Greg’s ability to understand your story and what makes you unique, and then help you tell that story in the most authentic and compelling way is truly incredible. The scholarship applications had really unique essay, video, and interview requirements, during which Greg displayed an even more impressive mix of creativity (to select the best ideas based on my life and experiences) and precision (to guide me in how to most cleanly and clearly express those ideas, not only essays but in the spoken word).
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Greg is like this magical combination of artist, storyteller, wordsmith, coach, and mentor all in one. Our sessions helped me not only to succeed, but also reflect on my journey and solidify my goals. I definitely look forward to working with Avanti Prep again in the future on anything related to storytelling, writing, interviews, or even public speaking.

ACCEPTED AT HARVARD, STANFORD, WHARTON, AND YALE - PHENOMENAL ATTENTION TO DETAIL!

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Military veteran - headed to HBS after an extremely successful R1 MBA admissions cycle - Accepted at Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and Yale.

Greg's ability to help synthesize my career into a resume was very helpful. His school specific application advice was spot-on. I especially appreciated his willingness (and the willingness of prior admits connected to Greg) to connect me to others in career fields I was interested in pursuing. These conversations helped me immensely chart a career path post MBA that was easy to put on paper and talk about to admissions personnel during interviews.

I recommend Greg constantly to others. To me, Greg was a teacher and a mentor - more than just a consultant. I look forward to staying connected to him in the future.

INTERNATIONAL FEMALE APPLICANT ACCEPTED TO STANFORD GSB

Posted on and independently verified by GMAT Club and Poets & Quants​​

​Greg is a true mentor. His knowledge and expertise were indispensable in this process.

I am an aspiring tech entrepreneur from Europe. Graduated from a top-20 university in the U.S. with a major in business. I was very passionate about applying to my dream school even in the times of the utmost crisis. Working with Greg at Avanti Prep allowed me to remain on track and transformed my approach to telling my story in my essays and interview.

I met Greg only a week before the application deadline, so unfortunately, did not have much chance to work together for a longer period of time. Greg reviewed each of my Stanford essays once and his feedback was incredibly valuable as I was completing my final drafts.

A few weeks later, I received the invitation to interview and asked Greg if he could offer interview prep. I signed up for the 3-hour interview prep service, through which Greg worked with me for an additional hour or hour-and-a-half without extra charge over two video calls.

Greg was extremely dedicated and knowledgeable about the Stanford GSB interview, and he tailored both his mock interview questions and feedback to the program and to me. Along with going through the questions and feedback, Greg essentially guided me through a self-reflection process through which I gained valuable insights about myself to use in the interview and beyond. I can’t imagine the experience being any more thorough or helpful, and he and provided advice and insights that I will be using in any interview moving forward.

In both the essay reviews and interview prep, Greg invested his time and energy in understanding my story in a short amount of time. You can clearly see that Greg is dedicated and engaged – and that he has a special talent for storytelling and helping you tell your story – which allows him to offer best consulting expertise regardless of the time frame.

I was so pleasantly surprised that even though we only worked together on essay reviews and interview prep, Greg came super prepared and dedicated to my success. Moreover, he is very open-minded and ready for challenges. I know well that my background was not typical for an MBA student and Greg showed me how I can turn my weaknesses into strengths. I would recommend Avanti Prep to any applicant. I am heading to Stanford GSB as a result!

PROFESSOR SARAH TO YOUR RESCUE (HARVARD, WHARTON, LBS, BOOTH)

Posted on and independently verified by Poets & Quants​​

I worked with Sarah for HBS, Booth, LBS, and a few other schools. To answer first, I got in most of them including HBS! I think I had a few good fragmented stories, but Sarah really helped bring it to life. I mean you have an English professor who's helping you one-to-one! Her easy-going personality and humor also helps making the interaction fun. MBA prep is painful... but I'm glad I chose to work with Sarah to ease that pain. Thank you Sarah!

EXCELLENT CONSULTANT – THOROUGH AND KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT T20/M7 – ADMITTED TO HBS

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Background
- White Male (US)
- GPA: Above a 3.5 from Top 20 Liberal Arts College
- GMAT: Above 700
- Previous Role: US Military Officer

When I initially considered applying to business school, I spoke with one of my friends, also a former US military officer, who had been accepted at LBS. He highly recommended that I work with Greg, who was the “best in the business.” I took my friend’s advice, and I am extremely grateful that I did. Greg helped me develop a narrative about my accomplishments and my unique strengths that differentiated me from other applicants. That is the most valuable aspect of having Greg as your consultant – he understands what resonates with admissions officers at individual schools, and he can help you structure your application to highlight your best attributes and show that you can add value to a specific MBA program.

Greg put forth a great amount of time and effort to learn my story: my GPA / educational background, my test scores, my work experience, my interests outside of work, and my past community outreach. He worked with me on several iterations of my resume to make sure it captured all of my relevant and unique experience. His mock interviews reflected the tone and style of each individual school, and he provided feedback that allowed me to craft insightful responses to potential interview questions. Greg’s efforts had an enormous positive impact on my applications, and the results reflect this.

Results: I applied to 6 schools, received interview invites at 5, and was accepted at 4 – HBS, Booth, Ross, Darden. Greg’s effectiveness was demonstrable throughout the process, from start to finish. It is also worth noting that I received scholarships at 3 of the 4 schools to which I was accepted.

GOES THE EXTRA MILE (HARVARD, STANFORD, WHARTON)

Posted on and independently verified by GMAT Club and Poets & Quants​​

​Background: F, MBB consultant, from Asia, GMAT 770. Applied to and accepted by HSW.

Greg really went the extra mile in supporting me with my application to HBS and Stanford GSB. I especially appreciated his support with my interviews for HBS - his mock questions were on-point, he gave VERY detailed feedback after, and really boosted my confidence for the real thing. I was accepted to both HBS and GSB, and when I let Greg knew about the news, he immediately connected me to students he knew in both schools to help me with making the decision.

Greg is extremely approachable, and you really feel like he care about you. He was SO responsive and took away stress from the process. I highly encourage working with Greg!

GREG HAS THE MAGIC TOUCH: ADMITTED TO HBS, WHARTON, AND SLOAN

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White male, military, high GMAT and GPA. I thought I knew what it took to write a good essay, and then I met Greg. His thorough review of my essays and our conversations allowed me to build clear narratives and maximize the value of all of my experiences. Working with him truly 'leveled-up' every aspect of my application. As a result, I went 3/3 for interviews and acceptance at all the schools I applied, and will attend HBS. This would not have been possible without Greg.

For those of you skeptical about working with consultants (I know I was at first), Greg is worth every penny.

ACCEPTED TO WHARTON (WHITE, AMERICAN, MALE, FINANCE)

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Background: White American male with IB/PE experience in the U.S. Accepted to Wharton in Round 1. GMAT was slightly above average for Wharton. Undergraduate GPA was a couple of ticks above Wharton’s average in a quantitative field from a well-ranked non-Ivy.

After speaking with several acquaintances and current students that I cold messaged through LinkedIn, I realized Wharton was my dream school. I finalized my resume and worked through the first draft of my essays but recognized I could benefit from a consultant. A friend recommended Greg to me and I’m forever grateful for that recommendation.

I felt pretty good about my overall story, so in my case the main messages in my essays did not need to be totally overhauled. But Greg coached me in making my essays more punctual and powerful, and the delivery and authenticity became stronger. With his guidance, I was able to bring out my personality, aspirations, and contributions better than my original drafts.

Greg was tenacious with his feedback but not in a way that put words in my mouth. Through our reviews and Greg’s constant push for me to “go deeper” and “dial up the specificity,” the essays became more insightful and genuinely reflective of me. I found it to be the ideal balance of super-specific feedback that enabled me to enhance my voice, rather than changing it.

I felt like I was working with a really talented friend that cared for my future and wanted me to get in as much as I did (as opposed to some friends' stories about consultants that felt like they were on the clock, not in their corner). I ended up getting accepted to Wharton and I know Greg was a huge contributor to that outcome. I give Greg my highest recommendation.

ACCEPTED INTO WHARTON

​Posted on and independently verified by GMAT Club and Poets & Quants​​

Choosing a Consultant:
I had a pretty traditional & solid background when I applied, but really needed help with telling my story. I had spent a lot of time preparing for the GMAT and not a lot of time on researching, so I felt a bit rushed applying to 5 programs in Round 2. I was looking for someone who was experienced with the MBA process to help me brainstorm story ideas, solidify my goals, and improve my essays. I had a few meetings with a few MBA consultants from larger firms but ultimately decided to go with Greg due to the thoughtfulness of his initial profile assessment.

Working with Greg:
I began with 10 hours and added a couple more hours later on. From the get go, I felt like Greg was on my side. He made sure that we were making good use of the hours I purchased and I believe he spent more time on some tasks than he charged for, especially when it came to "crunch time", which he did a great job of turning around edits.

I spent most of my time working with him on my Wharton essays. Greg did a wonderful job of helping me tie seemingly unrelated topics into a unique, cohesive theme. He also helped me strengthen and articulate my “why Wharton” piece, which was immensely helpful.
When I interviewed for the TBD, I was able to leverage some of the info from my essays to prepare for the prompt. The brainstorming session that I did with Greg in the beginning went a long way!

Results:
I was accepted into Wharton Round 2. I'm excited for my next two years at my dream school and I couldn't have done it without Greg!

​​MILITARY OFFICER ACCEPTED INTO WHARTON DESPITE 2.5 UNDERGRAD GPA

​Posted on and independently verified by GMAT Club and Poets & Quants

• US military with 10 years of experience
• GPA: 2.5 from a service academy
• GMAT: Initial 660; retest once waitlisted 700

I wholeheartedly recommend Avanti prep to anyone serious about earning admission into a top MBA program.

I learned about Avanti Prep from review on GMAT club. After reaching out to multiple admission consulting services, I chose Avanti because of their prompt and personal responses to my email inquiries. I couldn’t be more impressed and pleased with the services they provided over the following months! I made the right choice. Through the entire application and waitlist process, I worked closely with Beau and felt like we were a team pushing towards the same goal. I initially purchased ten hours of counseling then bought another ten as I was highly impressed with our results and progress.

I applied in round 2 to six business schools and completed my applications while deployed to Afghanistan. I took the GMAT a couple of days before deploying and earned a 660. Though I had a decade of leadership experience in the military, I knew my 80th percentile GMAT and 2.5 undergrad GPA would present severe obstacles to my candidacy for a top 20 MBA program. I applied to one M7 school (Wharton), my reach school; I also applied to three other top 20 schools, one school in Europe, and one top 50 school.

First, Beau and I worked closely on my resume, which I had to create from scratch. I sent drafts to Beau, and he would make edits and recommendations before we met virtually. During our virtual sessions, Beau challenged me to make every line and word of my resume count; the improvement between my initial draft and final resume was immense! Beau and I followed a similar process for each essay, 11 in total. He provided copious insights about each school’s application review process and helped me understand in-depth what each school was looking for in a candidate’s essays and resume. Working with Beau also helped me better refine my own MBA goals.

My applications earned interview invitations to five of the six schools. Beau helped coach me through interview prep, and we held a mock interview as a culminating event.

Through this entire process, Beau was highly responsive and accommodating. My job as a deployed officer was time-consuming; Beau made every effort to work with my demanding schedule. He even once met with me at 5am EST because that was the only time I had available.

Following the interviews, I was accepted into one school and waitlisted at the other four (the one school in Europe did not accept me). Beau explained the waitlist process to me and recommended strategies to continue correspondence with each school and improve my candidacy. Beau and Greg even convinced me to use my two-week leave period after deployment to prepare for and retake the GMAT- a decision that was well worth the effort. I earned a 700, and acceptance into Wharton a few weeks later.

The MBA application landscape is complicated and competitive. Having Avanti Prep with me through the process made a huge difference; I do not believe I would have earned acceptance into any school, let alone Wharton, without their expert counsel.

ACCEPTED TO WHARTON AND COLUMBIA WITH $100K IN SCHOLARSHIPS!

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As a reapplicant who worked with a different consultant last year and did not receive interviews invites, I was anxious about applying this year, and hesitant to work with a consultant. I can say with great confidence that this year’s success is completely a result of my work with Greg and his unique, personalized and brilliant approach to crafting my application. 

With a 740 GMAT, 3.85 GPA, 5 years of work experience at a big tech company, and career goals in brand management and entrepreneurship, there were no glaring red flags about my previous application. I felt lost when it came to improving my application, and apprehensive about my odds this year. 

I initially set up a free consultation with Greg, which went probably two times longer than the allotted time; by the end of our conversation, I could tell that Greg was different than other consultants, and really understood me and each school’s unique application process and values. He followed up with a comprehensive email with ideas and insight based on our conversation, and I immediately started feeling hopeful for this round of applications. 

I initially signed up for three hours with Greg, but I quickly realized how invaluable his insight and help is and ultimately signed up for about 10 hours (Greg certainly rounded down more often than not, so I’m sure that 10 hours should really be more like 20). Greg not only helped me craft my essays, but also helped with strategizing on recommender selection, prep, crafting my MIT Sloan video and eventually with scholarship negotiation. He also helped me with school selection, and encouraged me to apply to Wharton (which is where I will be attending next fall!). 

Greg helped with my applications for MIT Sloan, Columbia and Wharton. I must say that the ten hours I worked with Greg were more effective than the 40+ hours I worked with my previous consultant. I felt confident about every essay and application component. 

Ultimately, I received interview invitations from all three schools (versus zero invites last year), and was accepted to Wharton and Columbia, with a $100k fellowship at Columbia. 

Greg’s expertise and insight are unparalleled. He has an incredibly deep understanding of every school’s mission, offerings and priorities and helped me craft applications that spoke to exactly what each school was looking for. In each essay revision he would offer brilliant anecdotes to include to highlight my fit for and knowledge about the programs. He suggested ultra-specific treks, clubs, competitions, and courses to highlight in my application, showing a very deep understanding of each school. 

Greg is also a highly skilled essay crafter. He was incredibly strategic at cutting down content to fit word count without eliminating important details. He helped me prioritize aspects of my background that made me stand out but also fit into each school’s culture. 

Greg was incredibly responsive and provided feedback often within 24 hours. Nonetheless, his feedback was deep and comprehensive. He provided clear strategies for improvement and what content to prioritize. 

I’m most grateful for Greg’s help with my application to U Penn. In a last minute decision, Greg encouraged me to apply to Wharton, two days before Christmas. He ensured that he would make time to help me through my application in the days to come, and gave me hope that I had a chance at what would soon become my dream school. In an incredibly quick turn-around, Greg helped me craft a fantastic application, that showed no signs of being put together in just two weeks (I don’t recommend rushing through an application like that!) 

I was accepted to Wharton and will be attending the school in the fall; I know that I would not have even applied to Wharton if it wasn’t for Greg’s encouragement, and there is no chance I would have been admitted without his expertise. 

Greg’s insight is absolutely invaluable and his approach is unparalleled by any other consultant. He will make a huge difference to you application and is worth every penny and more. ​

​For more reviews in this category, please visit GMAT Club and Poets & Quants
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SLOAN, BOOTH, COLUMBIA

BOOTH WITH $60K – MUCH BETTER EXPERIENCE THAN MY WIFE HAD WITH A BIG NAME FIRM

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​Background
• Age 30
• Asian male (raised in China, now a US citizen)
• GRE 325 (low for my schools and demographic)
• 3.6 GPA in a T-20 US university
• 5 jobs in 6 years across multiple industries
• Applied in Round 2

I decided to apply to business school in the summer of 2023, having done no prior preparation. Once I committed, I realized I would miss the round 1 deadline, and with only 5 months until round 2, I needed guidance. An HBS alum highly recommended Greg and Avanti Prep, which was refreshing since many of my friends felt their MBA consultants added little value besides grammar editing on the essays.

Consultation and Services
Before meeting Greg, I had met with five other consultants, but I knew immediately after our intro call that I wanted to work with Avanti Prep. Greg had clearly put in significant effort to understand my background and suggested schools that would be a good fit. I left the call feeling confident I would be in good hands.

I chose the 4-school package and added 18 more hours of service for extra schools, high-touch recommendation feedback, and comprehensive interview prep. Greg was my lead consultant, but given the extent of our engagement, he put together a team customized to my background and career goals, and I also worked with Xin, Sarah, and Fahad during the process. The team exceeded all my expectations.

Comparison with Other Consultants
I have a unique vantage point on different consultants because my wife also applied for an MBA at the same time as me. She chose one of the "big name" consulting firms with a higher price tag, and despite their flashy advertising, her consultant did not go into the depth they promised compared to the tremendous degree of attention and care I received from Greg and Avanti Prep.

For example, when my wife worked on her resume with the other firm, her consultant helped her with only two rounds of edits: one for format and one for content. In contrast, Greg and Xin conducted five extensive reviews, including both calls and document reviews. During these, they went through my resume line by line, asking detailed questions about my experiences and finding the best ways to convey them. My wife’s consultant mainly polished the language, without much guidance on the resume content itself, which is what distinguishes a great resume from a mediocre one.

Avanti Prep’s thoroughness was equally apparent during the essay process. They helped me work through multiple drafts, with each draft showing significant improvement, while my wife’s consultant focused mainly on two iterations and then shifted towards grammar edits. Whenever I told her about the processes I was going through, it was like night and day to her experience with the other firm.

Resume
Before starting my resume reviews, I believed my resume was in excellent shape, having recently applied for jobs. However, after meeting with Xin, I realized an MBA resume is different from a traditional job-seeking resume. Xin's extensive experience in resume editing, both as a former Career Management Fellow at CBS and as a resume screener for one of the largest consulting firms, was invaluable.

Xin quickly identified the key highlights of each of my experiences and selected those with the most effective evidence to support my overall story, painstakingly employing a situation-action-result approach for every single bullet point on the resume.

After my sessions with Xin, I thought my resume couldn't improve further, but Greg's subsequent reviews helped me perfect it. This was the first instance where Greg’s signature "above and beyond" approach made me feel extremely confident that we were putting the absolute best forward in my application, and little did I know, it was just the beginning of many such instances in the pursuit of success.

Essays
Greg and his team helped me tremendously with my essays, and I could never have expected my final versions to be as strong as they turned out. Applying to five schools with essay prompts ranging from deep self-reflection (where Sarah’s storytelling expertise was pivotal) to professional ambitions (where Fahad’s experience in my target industry was pivotal) was no easy task.

Each essay began with a brainstorming session that sparked new inspiration and provided me with an actionable outline. After the initial stages of essay development, Greg gave detailed comments, ensuring each sentence served its purpose, methodically refining each essay like a surgeon. Greg is a terrific coach and communicator, and his passion for helping you tell your best story is evident throughout the process.

Another hidden value was Greg’s help with planning my essay sequencing, which was especially important given the number of essays I needed to write. We strategically tackled the most foundational essays first and then adapted them for each school, making the process efficient. I sometimes felt like they had a PhD in the nuances, potential for overlap, and customization between different essays.

Conclusion
Working with Avanti Prep was worth every penny. For me, the ROI was felt in the quality of their process; in that I was accepted to Booth from an overrepresented group, with a subpar GRE, and multiple pre-MBA job changes; and in the $60K scholarship!! Their dedication, attention to detail, and personalized approach far exceeded my expectations and far exceeded my wife’s experience with a well-known, big name consulting firm. Greg's commitment to excellence was evident every step of the way. I wholeheartedly recommend Greg and his team to anyone seeking a consultant who truly goes above and beyond to ensure success.

ADMITTED TO 2 TOP CHOICE PROGRAMS (CBS/TUCK) - GREAT EXPERIENCE W/ AVANTI!

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Background: 25F, 319 GRE, 3.3 GPA from Top 25 undergrad in computer engineering, sponsored consulting candidate, applied R2

​I couldn’t recommend Greg and the Avanti Prep team more. Greg was very supportive, encouraging, and extremely helpful throughout my MBA application process. He had a very strong understanding of each school I applied to and still was close to the admissions process which I found very helpful. He started by getting to know me, my background, and my future aspirations post business school. He then helped me finalize my overall story, essay topics, and recommenders to make sure all aspects of me were covered and shining through in the various parts of my application. I ended up getting into 2 of 3 top 10 programs (CBS, Tuck) that I applied to and am not sure I could’ve done it without Greg. The Avanti team was very hands on when I needed more support, but had options for me to not leverage their services where I felt comfortable on my own. I chose a 30 hour package for 3 schools (averaging 10 hours per school), which included resume reviews, essay brainstorming, essay reviews, recommender selection, non- essay application responses, and help navigating every other part of the process. I signed up for 30 hours since rates dropped significantly with an increase in the hours and it was a better deal. I never felt like my minutes were tracked too closely, Greg and team were very generous with their time and the hour tally. I ended up saving ~30% with Avanti’s hourly package, and got the same (if not better) outcomes than if I went with a typical 3 school package.
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Again, I couldn’t recommend Avanti enough. From my experience working with Greg, the differentiator for Avanti is that they truly care about you as a person and as an applicant. Greg understands how stressful and introspective the MBA application process can be and guides you through it seamlessly. I also recommend going with an hourly package because it offered me so much flexibility (and savings) in how I leveraged the team. Again, I couldn’t recommend Greg and the Avanti team enough and was very happy with my outcome.

ADMIT TO TOP 5 WITH LARGE SCHOLARSHIP - MILITARY, LOW GRE

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First time applicant with low GRE and military experience. Admit into multiple M7 schools with scholarships. My experience with Greg was fantastic. He was truly invested in helping me succeed and find the school that was the best fit for my background and my goals. Greg's honest and timely feedback was instrumental to my success and went well beyond my expectations. I give Greg my highest recommendation.

GREG IS AN ADMISSIONS MAESTRO: ACCEPTED TO SLOAN AND COLUMBIA ($$)

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​Summary

I could not recommend Greg more highly. I signed up for the Tier 3 Package for 3 schools in Round 1 2021 and achieved a far better than expected outcome: 2 M7 admissions (think Sloan/Booth/CBS), 1 of which came with a $50k scholarship.

As a white American male with good but not great work experience and undergrad pedigree, I was worried about differentiating myself and punching deep into the M7.

Without Greg, I really don’t think I would have gotten into the hardest of these schools, nor do I think I would have received the $50k scholarship, which I genuinely believe was driven by the quality of my application, and which Greg actually helped me negotiate.

The only program that I applied to with Greg’s help and didn’t get into was Wharton. As an applicant from a very competitive group (white/male/finance), I knew that Wharton would be a reach because of the high density of prestige finance backgrounds (BB IB, PE, VC, HF) and elite undergrad pedigrees within that group. Greg was candid in anticipating this from the start, but I still wanted to give it a shot.

My Profile

White American male
Undergrad finance degree from non-target (top 100 in a good year) large public university
Average GPA for the programs to which I applied
5 yrs of non-prestige finance work experience
760 GMAT
CFA charterholder
Solid (but not great) extracurriculars

How I Found Greg

I scheduled free consultations with multiple large, well known MBA admission consultants. I found them to be undifferentiated, uncreative, and dismissive of my ambitions to attend an M7 program as a white male finance guy with mediocre undergrad and job pedigree.

Prior to finding Avanti Prep and contacting Greg, I was unsure that my goals were attainable and considered bailing on the whole process. I happened to find Avanti on GMAT Club, set up a 30 minute consultation with Greg (which went a good bit longer than that), and was blown away.

From our first interaction I was impressed with Greg’s energy, depth of knowledge, and willingness to think outside the box. Even on the free consult Greg was very generous with his time and added immense value. I immediately realized that Greg was the person I would want in my corner during the application process.

Review

With Greg’s help, I was able to achieve a far better than expected outcome. As a consultant, Greg stood out in the following ways:

Depth - Greg dug deep into my story, accomplishments, goals, and interests to help me construct a compelling narrative around my candidacy. As a candidate from an overrepresented background, differentiating my application was a necessity. From the first call Greg differentiated himself by striving to find and highlight the things that made me unique.

Idea Generation - Greg comes across as having a passion for you and your story, and for ‘solving’ the challenges of MBA admission, which makes him an incredibly valuable partner. I would often find myself frantically scribbling down the high quality ideas and suggestions that surfaced through our extensive discussions of my life, career, and goals.

Communication - Greg is a master of written and verbal communication. I would consider myself a strong writer, and I still benefited immensely from Greg’s reviews of my essays and resume. I discovered whole new levels on both that I didn’t think I could reach. I would also consider myself a solid interviewee, but Greg helped me to refine and strengthen my responses to the expected interview questions through our school-tailored interview prep sessions.

Enthusiasm - Greg’s unwavering energy reinforced my spirits during the at times exhausting application process.

Commitment - Greg is totally committed to you and your success, he has a super detailed approach to every step of the application process, and he is always available when you need to chat. This isn't his first rodeo and it shows. I honestly felt like I got even more out of the experience than I expected. Even after acceptance, Greg guided me through corresponding with admissions, resulting in the award of a substantial scholarship (I was not initially offered money).

​EXCEEDED EVERY EXPECTATION - ACCEPTED TO CBS - INTERNATIONAL FEMALE WITH 700 GMAT

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​Profile and Background

I am a female with 3 years WE upon matriculation. I studied Liberal Arts in Undergrad (Top 15 US university), and grew up in Southeast Asia. I worked at a top US bank in investment banking with no direct management experience (however with some indirect management through training analysts).

• Age: 25
• Demographics: Female with underrepresented demographic background
• Senior Analyst at top US bank (well-known household name)
• GMAT: 700 (sub-60th percentile Quant and IR scores)
• Undergrad GPA: 3.6 (top 15 US school and social science major with business minor)
• Work Experience: 3 years upon matriculation
• Applied to 1 M7 (accepted)

Overall, I felt I had good work experience and college extracurriculars but an average GPA, below average GMAT score, and the “minimum” amount of work experience (which limited my post-college leadership experience) for M7 schools. Nevertheless, I wanted to give my dream school a shot.

Choosing a Consultant and Package Selection

I knew I had below average scores and WE and knew I wanted to hire a consultant early on. I relied solely on reviews from GMAT Club and read the website thoroughly for any leads for my consultant. Business school has always been a dream of mine, and I knew that my consultant would be a big investment that would continue to pay off throughout my life.

I pretty much decided to work with Greg based on the thoroughness of his reviews. Each review commented on the attention to detail, custom care, and compassion Greg shows for his clients. Greg was my first choice early on and I quickly scheduled a free assessment call the spring before my applications were due. I learned that what everyone said was true through talking on the phone with him for just 15 minutes.

I decided to hire Greg on the spot and didn’t bother talking to other consultants. I 100% stand with my decision as Greg helped me in so many ways. I decided to enroll in the Tier 3 package which included school selection, essay reviews, interview prep, story selection, scholarship negotiations, and more.

School Selection

I had my heart set on one particular M7 so I communicated with Greg that I was very interested in this school early on/that it was my first choice. I decided to focus on this school and planned to later hire Greg for additional schools if things did not work out with this one. Greg was honest, yet optimistic about my chances. He did not sugarcoat anything but instead reassured me that together, we would produce the best package possible.

Resume Review

Greg really helped me create a business school type resume. Having been in the workforce for a few years, I was used to resumes that focused more on professional experiences. One thing that sets business school resumes apart is that business school style resumes should ideally also focus on leadership and involvement, which Greg really helped me position and hone.

Greg helped me create actionable, concise bullets for each line on my resume and helped consolidate my leadership, professional, and personal interests in one page. Greg conducted over 5+ iterations before we found it to be in a good place to submit to schools. Once we were done I felt confident that the 1 page document represented my experiences perfectly.

Essays

Greg truly went above and beyond with the essay prep and reviews. We had brainstorming calls for all of the essays my school required, with him scheduling even more calls if the topics didn’t “click”. I definitely feel like Greg helped me hone and tune my story to help me clearly articulate my goals and unique personal narrative.

Each of my essays had at least 5 iterations of reviews and each of Greg’s comments for the essays allowed me to further assess topics and enhance/refine my delivery. Greg often worked after-hours to provide me with feedback and most iterations were given back in about 2 business days, which allowed me to move fast and really focus on each essay.

I truly believe that Greg has a natural gift for telling stories. Each call helped me come up with a “skeleton” of each essay which I expounded upon. Greg’s guidance truly polished my essays and made me feel like I was submitting the best possible work. The fact that he scheduled multiple brainstorming sessions showed his dedication to coming up with the best product.

Interview Prep

Greg was one of the first people I notified when I was chosen to interview at my dream school. I was ecstatic that my hard work over the past few months was culminating with an interview invite. I wanted to schedule the interview ASAP since this was my dream school; however, Greg stressed the importance of adequate preparation.

We scheduled 2 preparation sessions of about 1-2 hours each and we conducted 2 mock interviews of about 2 hours each (all together ~8 hours even though the official interview prep service is technically supposed to be around 3 hours). I truly felt that Greg wanted me to do the best I possibly could and put in the extra work and effort to really help me articulate clearly how I could be a good fit for the school.

Greg’s preparation for the interview was so complete that I did not feel surprised on interview day. His interview prep was identical and I felt prepared for each question. Greg even gave me some tips to talk about my contributions to the school, which I think impressed the interviewer.

Conclusion

I got admitted to my first choice M7 with an average GPA, below average GMAT, and 3 years of WE upon matriculation. I genuinely believe what made me stand out in applying to an M7 was my essays and application, which Greg truly helped me with.

I have read many negative things about consultants but please do trust me when I say that Greg is worth every penny. His feedback on each deliverable went above and beyond and really helped me take my application to the next level.

I only have positive things to say about my experience and I believe that Greg exceeded every expectation I had of hiring a consultant. I always felt like my opinions, questions, and beliefs were valued. With Greg’s help and support I will be attending my dream school of 5+ years.​​​

VETERAN TO CHICAGO BOOTH (LOW GMAT, LOW GPA)

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​Background: 5+ years of military experience, GMAT: 650, GPA: 3.02, African American male.

In my experience with Greg, I was extremely busy training in the military to prepare for deployment while also trying to complete my applications in time for Round 2. I was told about Greg and Avanti's service late in my process and despite the time crunch, GREG WORKED A MIRACLE!

Greg worked directly with me to review and refine my essays for multiple schools and ensured my application was the caliber needed to have a chance to be admitted. Without Greg's help, I am not sure if I would be here at Chicago - Booth today!

GREG AND AVANTI PREP ARE THE REAL DEAL - ADMITTED TO 2 M7S

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​BACKGROUND / PROFILE CONTEXT
• Age: 29
• Demographics: White male (American)
• WE: AVP at Investment Bank (Middle market bank)
• GMAT: 760 (49Q / 44V / 4IR / 5AWA)
• Undergrad GPA: 3.38 (Top-25 public school / major in finance)
• Work Experience: 7 years upon matriculation
• ECs: Founding board member of successful/growing young professional’s network
• Summary Results: Applied and Accepted to Booth and Kellogg

After an almost 2-year journey, I secured my target GMAT score in late October, providing just over two months to complete applications in time for the January 2021 Round 2 submission deadline. Because I had been hyper-focused on the GMAT, I had not thoroughly researched the other elements of the application process (essays, resume, letters of rec). As a result, and given my busy work schedule, it quickly became apparent that I would need expert guidance if I wanted to submit successful Round 2 applications and realize my dream of attending a top business school.

REVIEW
As I was searching for an admissions consultant, I first became aware of Greg through several of his videos posted on the GMAT Club YouTube channel. I was immediately impressed by his depth of knowledge and clear communication style and signed up for a free 30-minute consultation shortly after watching his videos. What was intended to be an initial 30-minute phone call turned into a 90-minute session of Greg graciously answering every question I had and allaying my concerns about the process. At the end of our extended phone call, I felt certain that I was in good hands with Greg and signed up for the hourly services package (purchased 15 hours total over the course of two months). I’m from the Midwest and wanted to live in Chicago after school, so our focus for the applications centered on Booth and Kellogg.

The process kicked off in earnest with a brainstorming session a few days following our initial phone conversation. During this first session, we reviewed various facets of my background and personal interests in order to develop the themes and frameworks that would serve as the foundation for the essays.

Formulating the early drafts of the essays proved more difficult than I had originally anticipated, and Greg was instrumental in stimulating ideas during this initial stage and helping me to crystalize my thoughts in a compelling and authentic way. Throughout the essay process, I appreciated Greg’s candidness, professionalism and level of engagement/availability. His direct and detailed feedback helped challenge me to achieve a degree of specificity and authenticity in my essays that I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish alone. As we approached the submission deadline, he even made himself available on short notice to review my essays over the weekend. I truly believe Greg takes a vested interest in his clients and their success.

Greg’s expertise and extensive school specific knowledge were on full display when we worked on my resume and during interview prep. When I was crafting my resume, Greg provided valuable insight into items such as the number/variety of transactions I should include, how to tailor the resume language to resonate with admissions and even advised on distilling down the content to achieve an optimal amount of white space. The interview prep also proved very beneficial during which Greg role played as an interviewer at my target school – the realistic mock interview and Greg’s post-interview feedback helped to ensure I was confident and prepared going into the official interview.

Greg is genuine, very talented and challenges his clients in a way that produces the type of results that are necessary to gain admittance to top schools. I can’t recommend Greg and Avanti Prep enough and I attribute much of my application success at Booth and Kellogg to working with him.

ACCEPTED TO U.S. TOP 5 (INDIA, MALE, ENGINEER, NON-TARGET UNDERGRAD, 740 GMAT)

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​Basic Profile Info

I am a 2011 pass-out from a Tier 2 Indian college (GPA of 3.3/4.0 in Computer Engineering), and have worked in Finance industry for 3.5 years before having an Employment Gap for 2 odd years. In this time, I was employed at Early-stage investment funds (one for a voluntary unpaid position) for a discontinuous period of 9 months. Since then I have been working for an Asian focused investment fund.

While I believe that I have strong work experience, the Employment Gap loomed large and my CV lacked major brands. I had worked at 5 finance shops with only 2 of them having global brands – but those weren’t my longest tenured roles. I was also a bit on the older side of the average student’s age or work experience for my target schools.

I was introduced to Greg by one of his Round 1 clients, and after our first call, I took a reference call with another Indian client (a Kellogg graduate) who worked with Greg. I am aware that the first client has also done well and is going to a T10 with decent scholarship. I owe them a thanks for the introduction/ vetting, and I am glad in retrospect that they were made. Greg was very forthcoming with such references.

Our Work Together / My Results

Greg and I started off by working across 5 schools with a Tier 2 package (two M7s, one T10, one T15, and a leading Canadian program), and with 2 schools on hourly basis (one M7 and one T10/15). All of these schools were in Round 2. I was invited to interview at one T5 program and Tuck, and I was waitlisted before interview at Stern.

After that, I used Greg’s Interview Prep services and was Waitlisted at the T5 and Tuck, post which I took more services from Greg to help navigate the Waitlist process. After many steps and great efforts, this ultimately resulted in acceptance to the T5 program. I withdrew my candidature from Tuck once my plans with the T5 program were settled.

What Stood Out (with Examples)

1) Overall Approach & Impact: The first thing I want to highlight here is Greg’s earnestness to make your profile win. He truly brings a lot to the table. While I had unsuccessfully applied to an M7 (in Early Decision) with an Indian admissions coach, I thought my application materials were mostly ready when I onboarded with Greg. And I couldn’t have been more wrong!! Greg made me redefine and re-nuance my goal, worked very very very hard on my stories and rehashed my CV entirely again. It was clear the competence and professionality he brought to the table was enormous.

Also, regarding Greg’s efforts, he offered to work with me on a pro-bono basis on my Interview Essays (where required), despite the Package originally being Tier 2, which ends with submission. This included multiple iterations in 5 working days. He literally measures every word, every sentence and remembers every detail of your story.

2) Main Essay Work: The in-depth nuancing and opening essay strategy sessions we did gave me a skeleton for each essay, but there were many times where we would improvise as needed, and Greg was super accommodative on that (again, the general theme is his keenness for you to submit your best possible version). I really liked this balanced approach and his deep knowledge of the DNA of the school in question. Multiple times, Greg pointed me to the right resources to research and reference.

Even when we were adapting stories/ anecdotes from one school to another, Greg helped me think through and re-position them with an eye on the newer schools. Given the nature of the industry and people’s tendencies to streamline, he could have easily approved the older versions and saved his time and efforts. But that wasn’t the case.

To International Applicants, I would also like to point out that Greg sometimes helped me avoid fatal mistakes on the grounds of handling and quoting sensitive issues. We (i.e. internationals) need to understand that the reader is from a very different socio-cultural background, and sometimes, our manner of presenting a situation/ idea can be taken in a somewhat offensive manner. I was happy to have Greg on my side for this.

On Goals Essays, we molded my career goals to fit the strength of the school in the best manner possible – another example of the thoughtfulness and customization.

3) CV Work: Although I thought I had my CV “done” from an Indian admissions consultant, Greg and I worked extremely hard on it, review after review, and we re-built every single bullet point basically from the start. He also provided me one extra review than was in my original Package. Greg’s way of building the CV was much different than my previous consultant and much more in-depth too. Post 2 reviews we were still at 1.5+ pages of CV which was eventually trimmed into single page in a manner well-done.

Also, Greg’s CV reviews didn’t end after applying to first school. I remember once merely 3 days before the application deadline, he pro-actively offered to review the CV again and adapt its presentation for some schools specifically. I was amazed not only by his efforts but more so, by the timing, to prioritize this final pro-active and pro-bono review just to put the best foot forward. (There was no change in my job experience, but just one story which came forward, which led Greg to recommend re-balancing the CV.)

4) Application Review: Greg’s application reviews (i.e. review of online application submissions) were in-depth and water-tight. He helped me to elaborate on CV points wherever needed, helped bring out job responsibilities where needed. And he really made it a point to not leave anything on table (in terms of information and explanations).

5) School Strategy: While Greg and I did not specifically work on school selection together (as I started with a Tier 2 Package), he did offer me resources online to help guide me. To be honest, Greg felt my choices of schools were aggressive with my kind of profile – and he wasn’t wrong at all, as he was going with past trends and results (which any rational person would do). I do want to clearly highlight here, and quite explicitly too, that his work was as intense (always intense) no matter the school or chances of getting in, whether a riskier application or safer one. Coming from a background where potential winners are given more support than underdogs, it was a very heartening moment for me. In fact, seeing his professionality led me to double downing on riskier options, and I chose 2 more M7s than I initially intended to.

In an industry where no one can say for sure what’s a “good enough” application, Greg put a lot of his efforts and time and even some unsolicited additional reviews to help me deliver my best and rise to the challenge of harder applications. And in a good irony – almost like a movie – this Fall I’ll be attending the most difficult program I applied to.

6) Post Interview Invites: I took Greg’s Interview Prep services for both schools I was invited to interview to (one session for each). My initial reaction was a shocker when I realized how under-prepared I was. After going through long mock interviews in each school’s style, Greg offered me detailed feedbacks on the way to answering questions, presenting myself and handling curve-balls. I had very little skepticism when I thought of purchasing the second Interview Prep package. My effort with the second school improved, but still further nuancing and feedback were re-introduced by Greg for that school. Greg’s combined effort of interviewing and feedback was much beyond the 2.5 hour per package offer. These made me more adept not only in answering the core interview questions and articulating goals and fit in line with the specifics of each program, but also in handling each school’s mini-curveballs during the actual interviews.

7) Post Waitlist Efforts: I was waitlisted at the two schools I interviewed (Top 5 program and Tuck), post which Greg was very accommodating in allowing me to upgrade from Tier 2 to Tier 3 Package (as the late upgrade is not technically allowable).

One of the most important parts was Greg’s openness to accept what could have been done differently, i.e. how to be self-aware and identify and address the needed areas for improvement. Waitlists are tricky and create a lot of what-ifs and second-guessing in the candidate’s mind. I felt very happy that we both took the result in a positive manner and were open to accepting the outcome and developing an approach to move forward.

After some Waitlist Strategy discussion, I was surprised to see Greg ending up doing 3 reviews of each Waitlist Letter submission (I submitted 2 of these per school). Yet again, he guided me in nuancing the emails and letters to the right tone of the school.

Finally, I am grateful that a couple of colleagues/ alumni of certain schools agreed to write an Endorsement/ Letter of Support for me. Greg offered more pro-bono help by offering advice for these letters as well. This was definitely a piece of work that I didn’t explicitly sign up for, but Greg was much more than happy to help in order for me to win.

Summary Comments

At the risk of sounding repetitive and giving unsolicited advice, I truly believe that application success is a quite grey and can’t be predicted. Your GPAs/ Your work experience/ Your age/ Your undergrad institutions/ (to some extent of your GMAT – after all we all want that 760-780!)/ Your Extra-Curriculars/ Who your Recommenders likely will be are often well beyond your control by the time you decide to apply.

What is in your control are your essays and your stories and their presentation. While one can’t say how the applications results would have looked if I had used a different consultant (BTW my first application with an Indian consultant was very terrible and cost me a chance at an M7 which was very well geared towards my goals), I would advise the following parameters as **must have** in your consultant – **the ability and the willingness** to do deep reviews, see the application in comprehensive manner, and not be penny pinching on time. Of course, the onus is on the applicant to give decent drafts for review and ahead of time; Greg was on many occasions able to rapid-turnaround reviews (at no cost to the depth of the review), in some cases as early as the same day.

I have heard (and had one bad experience myself also) of several shenanigans of other consultants including: reviews which are done in a manner to push work – stories where even international consultants follow stereotypical skeletons of essays, superficial essay and CV reviews that offer little more than general comments, 5-10 mins of work done on Application Entries review, or consultants pushing their thoughts on to the candidate to save time and effort. None of that ever happened here. Quite the opposite instead.

There were very few times when I was in disagreement with Greg (including the topic for an Interview Essay, some mentions within a main essay, and even how to articulate some points during the interview prep). But we would always have constructive debate and end up on a much stronger middle ground than where we started. This is a big testimony to his sincerity and his mandate – to get the best out of you, and to get the best for you. I can assure you that this is one thing that has been constant in our seven full months of work together. I strongly feel that your probabilities of success increase several-fold when you take someone of his caliber and more importantly his dedication.

Please feel free to reach me for any references etc. I would be more than happy to help.

PACKAGE – ACCEPTED TO TWO M7 PROGRAMS WITH LARGE SCHOLARSHIP TO BOTH

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Background:

• White Male – US with military experience
• 5 years work experience mostly in military and <1 year engineering
• GPA: 3.5 Engineering from large public university
• GMAT: 730
• Reapplicant to both schools

Greg’s Dedication:

I fully recommend Greg to any applicant to business school or any person looking for professional advice. I was connected to Greg through the recommendation of a mutual friend and his help guided me through an incredibly stressful time in my life. Beyond gaining acceptance to two of the best MBA programs with large scholarships to both schools, he also helped me through my transition out of the military, navigate several different job offers and strategies, and provided professional advice to help me achieve the best outcome for my situation.

This allowed me to make a significant career move nearly doubling my salary while also completing my applications. This assistance was outside of the terms of the Tier 3 Package, but it is representative of the dedication and excellent service Greg provides. Even before I enlisted his services contractually, Greg had already spent 3 hour-long phone calls strategizing with me to determine the best time to apply to school, free of charge. I highly encourage anyone who is remotely curious about business school to contact Greg. He will tell you honestly what he sees is the best option for you.

Our Work on the Application Process:

Specifically when working with Greg on the application process, the Tier 3 package is truly all encompassing. We worked on the two M7 applications together, and they were the only schools to which I applied. I would categorize our work in two phases: pre-application deadline and post-application deadline.

Pre-Application Deadline:

We started with filling out a comprehensive worksheet and then moved into Strategy and Brainstorming calls. After Strategy and Brainstorming, we attacked the process in 5 distinct streams: School Engagement, Resume, Essays, Recommendations, and Short Answers / Application Questions. In each of these streams Greg and I meticulously went over each detail and tried to highlight different portions of my background, experiences and passions to give a complete and honest view to the application reader.

Greg is not only extremely detail oriented in proofreading grammar and word choice, he is also an expert at bringing out nuances in your experience that might easily be overlooked. He can help you discover not only why a certain program is best for you, but also how you would uniquely contribute to that specific program. All of this comes out during several detailed reviews, phone calls and countless emails.

Greg is even a master at helping advise you in your communications with recommenders, thank you notes, and any other correspondence that might be crucial to your application. He is extremely timely in replying to all correspondence and has great organization maintained through independent email threads and calendar invites. And he is active in preparing you for on-campus visits, which can be a key part of an application and play a role in essay questions or future interview questions.

Post-Application Deadline:

Once the applications were submitted the work and Greg’s dedication did not stop. Almost immediately we had to prepare for the next phase of the application, the interviews. The first hurdle was the Kellogg video interview, with three one-minute questions. For the videos, we brainstormed, I mapped out thoughts that Greg reviewed, and then we had a one-hour mock video preparation session until I was comfortable with the format and ready to answer the questions.

We then started preparing for in-person interviews. Greg was extremely flexible when working with my schedule and navigating our time difference. We prepared with 10, one-hour sessions over video call, generally taking the form of 1 mock interview followed by 2 feedback sessions. The mock interviews and questions Greg prepares you with are targeted, detailed and specific to each school. Greg also provided a bank of potential questions, also specific to each school. We spent a long time discussing key points of each question and question type to ensure I had quality and genuine answers. I did not memorize any answers, but when I was in the interviews none of the questions caught be by surprise, and I had very positive experience. Having prepared with Greg, the interviews felt more like a conversation, and I felt 100% confident and prepared.

After completing both interviews, Greg encouraged me to reach out to the connections (current students and alumni) I made during the past few months to update them on my progress. When the results finally came back I again turned to Greg to help navigate the admission offers I received. My first-choice school originally did not offer a scholarship, however my second choice did. Greg helped me shape an email to admissions and encouraged me reach out to my contacts to help get a match from my top choice. The strategy worked and I am excited to start at my top school with a large scholarship in Fall 2020.

Overall:

Working with Greg was an absolute pleasure. He was always on time and responsive, and the personal attention he afforded me was unparalleled. From the time I we first spoke in April 2019 until being accepted almost 12 months later, Greg has always been honest and available. He truly provides a comprehensive service with the Tier 3 Package, and I believe it is absolutely worth the money. My results in going from applying to these schools and others last year and receiving no admission offers to being accepted with a scholarship to two M7 schools speak for themselves, and those results more than justify the investment.

Even still, I believe there was more value to Greg’s service than just a better application. I learned about myself. I discovered what my career passions truly are and focused my professional goals. I improved my writing technique, my interview skills, and my business communication acumen. In those ways enlisting Greg’s services gave me crash course in pre-business school preparation. I feel ready and excited to start in Fall 2020, and thanks to our work together, I have developed crucial skills to help me in the recruiting process.

I give Greg my highest recommendation and could not be happier with the experience and results.

GREG'S SUPPORT TURNED 2 PREVIOUS WAITLISTS INTO ADMITS WITH SCHOLARSHIPS (BOOTH, HAAS)

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TLDR- If you want a consultant whom you can trust, who holds a mirror to who you are as a candidate and help you build on your strengths, look no further than Greg! My application journey was a long and difficult one and it became easier since I started working with Greg. I initially came to Greg for helping me get off the waitlist for one school but quickly found myself working with him for other parts of my application as well. Greg will consistently go to great lengths to get things right and have a candid dialogue to keep you motivated throughout the application process. I wholeheartedly recommend Greg as an MBA consultant!

My background:
For the most part, my (29, F) stats are average: 720 GMAT, 8.5 GPA from T20 undergrad university in India. When I started the application process, I knew that it was not my stats but my story and vision that I would have to lean on to differentiate myself. Also, I did have work experience in the US that could have helped me stand out.

Of the 4 schools I applied to in R1 (working with another consultant), I was waitlisted at Haas and Booth and rejected at others. Unclear how to manage the waitlist process, I combed through several videos on Youtube and found Greg's video on waitlist strategy to be most thorough. Shortly after, I reached out to Greg for his hourly services to help me get off the waitlist. I applied to HBS in Round 2 where I leveraged Greg's services for the HBS Interview prep and post-interview reflection.

Outcomes:
Through Greg's support, I was able to get off the waitlist for both Booth and Haas with $$ scholarship. While I ultimately couldn't get off the HBS waitlist as the class was full by R2, I was extremely grateful to have Greg's counsel through this process. Managing the waitlist process for several schools felt like a very taxing and ambiguous process. Working with Greg helped me break this down into tactical steps and overall made it very manageable.

What worked well:

I. Diving deep in my story- I beleive what helped me get off the waitlists was Greg's support with my introspection followed by effectively articulating what truly made me unique as a candidate to the schools. For example, in the Booth waitlist video, Greg helped me comb through Booth's website/articles to identify a theme that would be unique and most importantly, true to my story. In the HBS post-interview reflection, because of Greg's guidance, I took a more holistic view into my application to reiterate my strengths vs. the more tactical route I had in mind. This ability of Greg to help a candidate build a deep understanding of themselves and tailor it to specific MBA programs is what helped me stand out in a crowded waitlist field.

II. Building a waitlist strategy- We started with poking holes to parts of my application that may have been perceived as weakness by the adcom. During this part, I felt Greg provided feedback in an honest yet candid way. Working backwards to R2 decision dates, we mapped how many updates I can share with each school and the topics each waitlist update would address. Greg recommended that I take GRE (as I had maxed my GMAT attempts for the year) and prep course like Math for Management to establish my quantitative readiness.

III. Detailed and thoughtful feedback- There were several times Greg went above and beyond in reviewing my waitlist material. Be it an email that I sent to adcom or my waitlist video for Booth, Greg was willing to review every single part of my waitlist communication to ensure I was giving it my best. What I also noted in the written feedback provided by Greg was that he gave ample context on why he was asking me to reconsider how I had framed a sentence in my waitlist updates. This context was crucial as it became easier to come to consensus and I had a clear view on Greg's recommendation.

IV. Empathy- The MBA admission process can make you as a candidate feel very vulnerable. You need people on your side who are rooting for you and are in your corner, even your MBA admission consultant. With Greg, I felt that he was truly committed to help me get to the school of my choice. Almost every session that I booked with him ran over time ( at least 15-20 mins) and yet, Greg was flexible and stayed true to the discussion we were having. I had booked Greg's hourly services and he could have easily charged me for the overtime, but he chose not to.

Other context:
I had worked with another consultant for the schools that I ended up being waitlisted/rejected. My experience with this other consultant was less than positive (delayed responses, limited feedback and poor interview and waitlist support). Given this, I was keen on finding a consultant who could be transparent, was thoughtful in their feedback and most importantly, cared for my success. Greg was all of this and much more. You won't regret working with Greg as your admission consultant.

100% + 80% SCHOLARSHIPS TO TWO M7 SCHOOLS - FOREVER INDEBTED!

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I couldn't be more thankful to Greg Guglielmo for helping me realise my goal.

I engaged a very well-known admissions consulting firm for my round 1 applications. I was rejected from three M7 schools, and received a waitlist invitation to a top 20 school. My objective metrics were reasonably strong (3.5 years' work at top tier law firm, 770 GMAT, strong extra-curricular involvement). While I felt my consultant did provide some useful pointers, I felt that perhaps his reviews were rushed and quite high level. He did not drill down into the content of my essays or provide meaningful suggestions; and I did not feel I put my best foot forward.

I dusted myself off and re-applied in round 2, this time to a further three M7 schools and one more top 15 school. After an initial free consultation (during which my consultant, Greg Guglielmo, spoke with me for nearly 90 mins - well over the allotted 30 mins), I signed up for 12 hours of service. Even though I had only purchased hourly services, I could immediately tell Greg was completely invested in my cause. The feedback on my essays was wholly different to what I'd previously encountered - I could tell that my unique position had been critically and carefully analysed, with extremely insightful recommendations made. Greg was incredibly responsive (even over the Christmas period). He delivered difficult advice candidly, but also warmly and professionally. I completely reshaped my career goals, and framed my past experience far more effectively.

Ultimately, I was fortunate to be admitted to two M7 schools - on 100% and 80% scholarships - as well as the top 15 school to which I applied. I honestly believe I wouldn't have had this success without working with Greg Guglielmo. Just the other day I signed a full-time offer for my dream firm - and I emailed Greg that same day to thank him for his (huge) part in getting me there!

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KELLOGG, HAAS, TUCK

GO WITH GREG, YOU WON'T BE SORRY

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​Let me just start off by saying that if you are reading this, do not make the mistake and go with anyone other than Greg. He is the real deal.

I actually initially went with someone else for the sole reason that they had more reviews at a more established company, and it was the biggest (financially speaking), mistake of my life. After working with this individual for a few sessions and getting final drafts back that were littered with grammar errors and advice that felt templated, I knew I had to make a change. I thought back to my initial phone screeners and remembered feeling pleasantly surprised at how in depth our conversation got and how it didn't feel like I was just a meeting on his calendar between other candidates. I took that feeling and got to working with Greg.

As for me, I applied to 2 M7's and 2 top 10's and 2 top 15's as a 29YO white male with a low 700's GMAT. I ended up getting into 4/6 schools, including an M7. The M7 we both agreed was a reach school, so the fact that I got in is a testament to our work together. I think I could have gotten into all 6 had it not been for applying late in CBS's rolling admins, and making a blunder on another application.

Ok, enough about me... A couple of points as to why you should work with Greg.

A: Essays
For me, the essays were quite daunting. Trying to take major life experiences and boil them down to 500 words to try to impress some people you've never met is still to me a crazy task. It's a game we all have to play, so I get it...

To make things easier when it came to writing time, we spent a while on topic exploration. I appreciated how he brutally told me to drop some essay topics, while finding the 'angle' to play up in others.

When it came to his revisions/notes, his comments were long. Like an entire essay worth of notes long. If you want someone to give you a free pass on your mediocre essay, he's not your guy. Every sentence was poured over, and every word counted to him.

I appreciated how he kept wanting me to go deeper with topics. For example, I might have said I want to take X class. Greg's response was 'Why do you want to take the class' 'what projects in the class will make you get to your goal' 'how does this class tie to your overall story of why X school'. I knew he was putting time into my essay comments, so it pushed me to work harder on making them good. I felt like there was a bit of camaraderie that we wouldn't let each other down.

Greg is also a fantastic writer. He will re-write some sentences to streamline them or hit home an important point. He won't write the essay for you, but he's not going to let you submit anything that isn't up to his standard either.

B: Speed
Now I know he's getting more popular, so I can't guarantee the same experience, but Greg's responses edits were fast. For most of the schools, I worked with Greg right up to the deadline. If I made an update on a set of essays, I could expect an edit back that same night or next day at the latest. With speed did not come any drop in quality.

C: Trust
This one is hard to measure, but I feel like Greg cares about you and your success. I felt like I had someone going to battle with me. If you are reading this review, think about if the person is treating you like a number, or a person. I think that difference will make the consultant who cares stay up late to help you when the other is asleep.

Well that's all I can think of right now. Last thought... just go with him, trust me. I know this is just some anonymous message board, but I was in your shoes. Don't make my $10k mistake.

THREE TOP 10 SCHOLARSHIPS AFTER FAILING WITH OTHER CONSULTANTS TWICE BEFORE

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– International male from over-represented group, Finance
– GMAT score of 720, GRE score of 332
– Three-time reapplicant, 30+ years old
– Had bad experiences with two other US consultancies before Avanti Prep
– Completed 31 hours of service with Avanti Prep
– Achieved three top 10 scholarships (50K, 40K, 20K)

After having very poor experiences by the so-called large consultant companies, I was losing hope on admission consultancy in general. But Greg and Avanti Prep changed that feeling. I found out about Avanti Prep from its free consultation. Greg went above and beyond the allocated 30 min (probably spent an entire 1hr) to share with me insights and next steps.

The level of dedication and excellence was completely different than the other consultancies. We worked on revamping my resume (total improvement even from what the previous consultancies considered “done”), essays, and interview strategies. I signed up for hourly services and kept adding because I really enjoyed the level of details, insights, and perspectives on how the materials are being interpreted by the admission officers as they read them.
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The financial commitment to admission consultancies is real – HOWEVER – Avanti Prep’s rates are much more affordable versus others, I did not feel like I was getting ripped off like I did with the other companies, you end up receiving even more hours and services than you actually sign up for, Greg will tell you to save money if he thinks you don’t need advice on a certain area, he will give you discounted pricing when it’s possible, and most of all the final results are clear.

(I was even on the waitlist for one of the T10 schools with the other consultancy in Round 1 before I worked with Greg on the waitlist strategy, which led to my acceptance with a 20K scholarship. Greg’s waitlist strategy was so much better and more thorough than the previous consultant who was very abstract and wishy washy about the approach. Greg later helped me with the scholarship negotiations, and I was able to increase two out of my three offers.)

I would highly recommend Avanti Prep to anyone, especially if you feel burned by a previous consultancy. I felt the highest level of commitment and quality in everything that was done. If this can be a sign, I have taken almost ~9 months to write this, and NOT A SINGLE DAY has gone by without me thinking what I wanted to say. If anything, this shows how much I respect Greg and want to keep him as a mentor and a person to look up to even after the contract is completed. He has taken my perspectives and communication skills to a whole new level.

MILITARY APPLICANT APPLIED TO ONE T10 ON SHORT TIMELINE & WAS ACCEPTED!

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​Applying to MBA programs was hands down the most stressful part of my transition out of the military. Ultimately that stress led to me apply to a single MBA program in round 2 (Haas) and thanks to Greg’s diligence, support, and coaching, I was accepted.

Background:
Demographics: White, Male
GMAT: Below Middle 80% Range
GRE: 159V/162Q
GPA: 3.4
Undergrad: Mechanical Engineering, Service Academy
Prior Experience: Aviation, 8 Years

Connecting with Avanti Prep:
I was referred to Greg by a military peer at the very beginning of my application journey. At the time, I was still struggling with my GMAT scores. Greg gave me two free consultations to plan my application timeline from start to finish. During this time, he also encouraged me to switch to the GRE which I believe was a pivotal step in my future acceptance. As someone who felt (and was statistically) below average, Greg’s expertise in building a roadmap felt like a lifeline for a journey I wouldn’t have been able to complete alone.

Services:
When I transitioned my efforts from test taking to applications, I had one and a half months prior to the round 2 deadline and I was defeated – I felt that I had no story to tell and nothing that differentiated me from other military applicants. Greg is an absolute expert in his craft and his brilliance showed through with our first story and goal development session. After helping me identify an overall goal and my unique experiences that coincided with that goal from a very in-depth personal assessment, we formed the blueprint for my application. We then systematically tackled each aspect of my application.
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Greg is a phenomenal storyteller and has all the skills to edit and a build a “perfect” application, but what makes his services special is his attention to detail and ability to push you past “good”. Every detail of my application was thoroughly analyzed, and reviewed multiple times with the intent to be more specific so that every story, message, or word served a purpose in communicating who I was as an individual, and how my individuality will bolster the community of the school to which I was applying. This is what makes Greg special and this skill applied to my essays, my resume, my interview answers, and even extracurricular parts of the application that could have easily gone unnoticed.

Takeaway:
I got into Haas not only because of Greg’s technical skills, but really because Greg is a great person who was uniquely suited to help me see parts of myself that I couldn’t see. He gave me the confidence I needed to complete the journey, and that journey ended with a fantastic result thanks to his excellent services and pseudo-role as life coach, teacher, and encourager.

2 FOR 2, TOP 10 DREAM SCHOOL ON TIGHT TIMELINE!

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– Mid-twenties white male (US)
– 4 yrs total experience in Strategy/Ops at lesser known F500 companies
– GPA 3.4 from top undergrad
– GRE: 325
– Only applied to 2 (reach) schools, with low expectations of having to potentially re-apply next year to far more schools… then met Greg.

My application journey was a sprint due to my own indecision about whether to pursue my MBA. I had no clue where to start beyond the GMAT, but eventually decided only a couple of months before the round 2 deadline to dedicate myself fully to the application process and to find an admissions consultant to assist in the process. After setting up several introductory calls with admissions consulting firms, I found Greg and could immediately tell that he cared far more about my personal journey and success in the process than any other consultants that I spoke with. This proved true throughout.

I decided to purchase the “25 hour” package with Greg, during which he helped brainstorm, applied structure and shared strategies for recommendation requests, resume and essays, interview prep, networking, thank you notes, you name it. Greg was the first to suggest that I switch from the GMAT to GRE, which turned out to be a crucial improvement to my profile. He was ready to work on whatever I thought was most pressing, or guide each session based on what he thought I should be prioritizing most at that point in the application cycle. He is willing to make himself available for consultation at nearly any time of day and is beyond patient, even when I tested the far limits of procrastination before my deadlines. By the end, I got the sense that Greg cared considerably about me as a person and my success in the process, evidenced by his willingness to do whatever it takes to get my apps in, and polished, on time.

Greg is incredibly smart, knowledgeable, efficient, patient, and friendly.

Greg holds himself to such a high standard as a consultant that he does not charge for any time spent below 100% efficiency. 1 hour sessions regularly drifted toward 90 minutes of pure productivity, only 60 minutes of which he would charge for due to the fact that he somehow expected to be able to complete things faster. Even when the reason for overtime was me distracting him with off-topic items, chit-chat, etc. Truly remarkable. Could not recommend Greg more highly.

1 Top 10 (dream school) and 1 Top 15, all thanks to Greg!

GREG BELIEVED IN ME – EXCELLENT EXPERIENCE – ACCEPTED TO TOP CHOICE WITH $$

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​Profile & Background:

• White male
• 4 years of work experience – M&A for an industrials
company
• GPA: 3.9 (Business / Finance) – small, non-target liberal
arts school
• GRE: 326 (V163, Q163)

While I had a high undergrad GPA and strong background, standardized testing was not my strength. I also knew I would need help crafting my story once I was finished with the GMAT. After taking the GMAT several times, the best I could do was mid-600s.

When speaking with several consulting firms (found on GMAT Club) to assess my profile, most said there was little hope I could crack a Top-20 school. This was very disappointing given my hopes of attending a top program for Investment Banking recruiting.

Greg was the only consultant I spoke with who instead began thinking about my options and how to maximize my potential. He recommended I try switching to the GRE. After two attempts, I scored a 326, which was at or above average for my target schools.

Working with Greg:

I signed up for the Tier 3 package for 3 schools and covered 3 additional schools on an hourly basis. Greg went above and beyond not just on the 3 package schools but the other 3 schools as well. He was also more than accommodating when it came to adding hours or work (often working with me on things outside of the package pro-bono). It was nice knowing Greg truly cared and was not selling me on additional hours / schools / services.

Greg helped me create a detailed plan for selecting schools, developing my goals, resume, and essays, and preparing my recommenders. He was exceptional in all aspects. Greg’s ability to help you draw out your personal story, craft it into a cohesive narrative, and tailor it to each school was beyond impressive. He has an amazing ability to push your thinking and how you convey your thoughts (in your resume, essays, and interviews) to the next level.

Greg’s dedication continued through the interview prep process. He spent several hours with me talking through school-specific questions and providing detailed feedback on my responses, boosting my confidence for the real thing. I’m equally appreciative of Greg’s availability, friendliness, and professionalism. He understood the stresses I had about the MBA process and was committed to making things organized and practical. I cannot thank him enough.

Results:

My interview invitations and final results speak for themselves. Of the six schools I applied to, I was invited to interview at five (all T15 schools), including my top choice. I was accepted to all four programs with which I interviewed (I declined one of the interview invites), and I received two scholarships, one of which at my top choice, where I will be attending this fall.

Overall:

Working with Greg was the best decision I made, and I highly recommend him to anyone applying in the future. Greg truly believed I could be a successful candidate when others, including myself, had doubts. The results and scholarships show how valuable his services are.

Greg was fully invested in my success and it never felt like I was just another client, as it did with some of the other firms I spoke to. Beyond the application work, he became somebody I could bounce ideas off of and talk to about anything MBA related. Not only will Greg ensure you position yourself as the best possible candidate, he will become a mentor and friend.

THE BEST ADMISSION CONSULTANT – HELPED ME TURN FAILURE INTO SUCCESS

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GMAT - 710
Country - India
Gender - Female
Background - Entrepreneurship/Product at early-stage startups
Undergrad - Engineering from a tier 2 college
Concerns - Low GMAT score, an undergrad from a tier 2 college, work experience only in early-stage startups, how to communicate my personal story and goals

I worked with 2 US admission consultants over 2 application years, and I strongly recommend Greg. He played a crucial role in helping me get an admit at a very difficult Top-10 US program and LBS in Round 2 after I had fallen short in the previous cycle and in Round 1. He was a game-changer for me and I really believe he is the best admission consultant around. I am pretty sure I have the lowest GMAT amongst Indian students in my school, which says a lot about Greg’s impact.

Greg helped me from figuring out the right stories to guiding me on my essays to interview prep. For both the essays and interviews, Greg helped me brainstorm my most powerful stories and then structure my delivery so the Adcoms and interviewers could understand my journey and goals. Greg customised the interview prep completely for each school, helping me to prep for that school’s interview questions and guiding me on how I could share parts of my story that aligned with the school’s values.

Greg also went above and beyond to help me with genuine advice throughout this journey. He has a deep understanding of how Adcoms from different schools look at essays and applications and how an applicant can put her best foot forward with each school. Even after the admission, Greg spent time with me figuring out scholarship strategy and holding a call to answer any more questions before I moved to the US (both as a complete favor). That’s how dedicated and involved he is in his client's success.

Overall I needed someone who believed in my story and could guide me through this process. Greg was just that guy. He helped me be resilient and kept me going. I spoke with several consultants and felt that Greg was more than just someone who reviews the essays, but is instead really there to give the right direction and genuine advice. I would recommend him to anyone.

NO QUESTIONS - GREG IS THE BEST CONSULTANT IN THE MBA ADMISSIONS WORLD

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​Background: 31M, India, 760 GMAT Classic, Non-traditional engineering background

I can’t emphasize how much value Greg provides for your money and the depth with which he helps craft stellar applications. From the very first introductory call, I knew Greg is the guy I want to work with. He provided me with so many more services that he charged me for. I wholeheartedly recommend Greg. He is super friendly, warm and actually is fun to work with.

I took Greg’s hybrid comprehensive package for 5 schools and later added 3 more schools, waitlist support and interview prep on hourly basis. With every aspect of applications- essays, resume, actual application, interview prep and waitlist support, he makes you go super deep, dig the best stuff and help shape the best version out of them. He doesn’t only focus on the big picture but gives every word importance.

Outcome – Accepted and going to an M7 school, waitlisted at another M7, got into 2 T10 schools and 1 T15 school. Total scholarship (includes scholarship from an M7): $240,000.
​
Lastly, I am just going to say- “Do not go anywhere else or go after big names. Greg is your guy”. Some of the other companies that I talked to were charging more and do not provide the same hands-on service that Greg does. One of them straight away said no for NYU stern as the deadline was close but Greg said let’s do it and we will put our best foot forward.

EXCEEDED EVERY EXPECTATION: TUCK WITH SUBSTANTIAL SCHOLARSHIP

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Review title comes from the applicant's Poets & Quants submission

I cannot recommend Greg Guglielmo enough.

I had known I wanted to pursue my MBA since the day I graduated college, but after taking the GMAT I was uncertain how I would put my best foot forward. I reached out to three consultancies with the hope that I might gain guidance on how to craft an application strategy and help me sort out my thoughts as I wrote my essays. After the free 30 minute consultation with Greg and Critical Square, I knew I wasn’t going to be sold a one-size-fits-all template.

I chose Greg's comprehensive package for all of my schools and believe the investment to be worth every penny. When I was provided with the initial questionnaire, I started to appreciate how thoroughly they wanted to understand who I was, what my goals are, and what makes me tick. From that, Greg, Bhavik (the two consultants assigned to me) and I constructed a strong narrative that tied my previous experiences from my youth, undergraduate career, and early professional career with my desired post-MBA industry, goals, and how an MBA was the missing link. The part of my applications I was most nervous about was essays. I am neither a skilled nor expressive writer and so I knew articulating the thoughts in my head onto paper would be challenging. Between all six of my applications, I think we worked through close to 50 drafts. They were not afraid to rip into my essays, and that’s exactly what I needed. Although they were tough, Greg and Bhavik were always professional and enthusiastic about bringing to life the best possible essay I could write. They were able to help me elicit thoughts and insights and help me structure them in a way that managed to not only answer the prompt well but also make a compelling case for my candidacy all within the word limit (it’s a lot to do!).

Another great part of my experience was the level of correspondence I had with my consultants. Essay edits/comments were always sent back within 24 hours and I was not afraid to send a text or have a quick call with Greg to bounce around ideas. Lastly, as part of the comprehensive package, I was offered an interview prep for my schools and cannot speak highly enough of my experience there. Working with someone who has both interviewed for a program himself as well as interviewed prospective students gave me a great foundation for how best to answer certain types of questions as well as additional practice to ease my nerves.
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At the end of the day, I was lucky enough to be admitted to three schools and am excited to be headed Tuck this fall with a substantial scholarship! I can honestly say that I would not have been nearly as successful as I was without Critical Square’s help along the way.

THE MBA GRIND: UPHILL BATTLE TO TUCK

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​Let me curb some fears of working with an application consultant before I get started…. Greg Guglielmo was WORTH EVERY PENNY in this entire process. I came into application season with a GPA and GMAT score that are both slightly below average for the schools I was looking at. I knew it would be an uphill battle to get where I wanted. I chose to work with Greg at Avanti Prep because I knew I would need all the help I could get to have the most polished applications I could. It didn’t hurt that he came strongly recommended from a friend of mine who just started b-school last fall.

I’m a married Midwest man who had to consider my budget in the application process, so I chose to only work with Greg on one school and hoped that I could get some carry-over benefit for my other applications. My target schools were Kellogg, Tuck, Sloan and Fuqua. After talking it through with Greg, we decided to work together on Kellogg. This worked very well because most of its deadlines were ahead of the other schools.

When we started off, Greg got to know me on a very personal level through scheduled phone calls and emails to framework how I would present myself to the admissions committee. After that, we got to work on my resume. I had no idea how much work my resume needed. I had a ton of industry lingo that had to come out and simplified my accomplishments into something admissions committees could understand. Greg was always very pointed and specific about what he wanted me to fix.

Once we both felt comfortable with my resume, we got to work on the essays. I’m not a gifted writer, so Greg was a huge help in this department. Greg went as many rounds as we needed to get my essays looking their best. He never took more than a day or two to get my essays edited and sent back. After my essays were in tip top shape, Greg was more than willing to spend time on the phone to discuss the rest of my application (LT and ST goals, international exp, extracurricular activities, etc.). Greg also helped me with a mock interview and gave me pointers for the video essay which proved invaluable. He helped shape some of my answers for typical interview questions in ways that I hadn’t thought of but made perfect sense. Greg was also extremely accommodating for a very late letter of recommendation. One of my recommenders procrastinated too much; however, Greg was able to turn around a review of his LOR the day of the deadline.

The Spillover Effect: Although I only had Greg help me with one application, my work with him substantially improved my other three applications. My goals were in much better form than they would have otherwise been. I know my essays were not near the same quality, but they too were much better off. With a 710 GMAT and 3.37 GPA, I’m in at Tuck and have an interview scheduled with MIT later next month. I can confidently say that I would not be where I am right now without Greg’s help at Avanti Prep. His personalized touch, responsiveness, thoroughness and skill should put Avanti Prep at the top of your list.

M7 JD/MBA ADMIT - HIGHLY RECOMMEND: HIGH QUALITY, THOROUGH, AND PLEASANT

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​I first heard about Avanti Prep from a coworker that had worked with Greg. At the time, I was considering applying to an MBA program and reached out to Greg for a free consultation. I was blown away by his thoughtfulness and thoroughness during the initial call, which lasted nearly an hour longer than scheduled. Though I hadn’t decided to apply, I knew I would work with Greg if I did. A few months later, I had pinpointed the perfect JD/MBA program at an M7 school. To his credit, Greg was upfront with me that as a “cookie-cutter” candidate (white male, solid GMAT, financial services background), my likelihood of being admitted was not exceedingly high. Nevertheless, I decided to go for it.

After I presented a few potential essay topics, Greg asked the poignant questions that allowed me to delve levels deeper into my experiences and extract meaningful takeaways. While writing, I peppered Greg with questions and appreciated his quick and detailed responses. He never showed any frustration as I second guessed decisions and changed course. Greg was especially helpful in strategizing my approach to recommendations and preparing for my interview. Having started the application a month before the deadline, I worked non-stop with Greg, who willingly accelerated his typical consulting process to ensure that a submitted a high-quality application. When I was notified of my acceptance, Greg was one of the first people I told. I would highly recommend Avanti Prep to anyone applying. I can’t imagine a more effective, pleasant, and thorough consultant.

INCREDIBLY COMMITTED TO YOUR SUCCESS - ACCEPTED TO T10 / M7 WITH SCHOLARSHIPS

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​I was a second time applicant with a strong GMAT score and reasonable work profile. I had used another consultant in my first year of applications and decided to go with Greg the second time around.

Firstly, Greg is just an amazing person to talk with and share your stress as you go through applications. He never went for a hard sell on using his services but eventually when I decided to go with him, he was fully invested and dedicated, unlike another consultant I had. Greg clearly has an idea of what admissions teams look for as he helped pick out the best stories and finesse them for the goals, essays, and overall application narrative.

I was very invested in the application process and Greg was equally invested which was refreshing given most consultants seem to always be on the clock. Greg helped me with two school applications and also helped brainstorm which two would give me the most diverse and applicable stories for other school applications.
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Overall, I was very satisfied with Greg and would recommend his services as I received an admit to 3 top 10 schools (including an M7). I also received scholarships of $50k and $10k to 2 of the 3 schools.

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YALE, DARDEN, ROSS, STERN, FUQUA, JOHNSON, ANDERSON

HEADED TO DREAM PROGRAM WITH STRONG SCHOLARSHIP (INDIAN, MALE, 30S)

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As an Indian male reapplicant in my 30s, I achieved my dream of getting into a T15 MBA program with a strong scholarship, and I highly recommend Greg for his pivotal role in this achievement.

I am a finance professional with 10+ years of experience across multiple functions in financial services. I had previously faced multiple rejections from T20 schools. My stories likely weren’t strong enough or were too technical for the admissions committees, which led to dejection and frustration, especially given the stiff competition as an over-represented applicant.

After hearing good things about Greg from a colleague who got admitted into an M7 school, I decided to reach out to him. From our first meeting, Greg was very accommodating. As a reapplicant with multiple essays from previous applications, he suggested that hourly packages would be more cost-effective for me.

We worked together for around 25 hours on both my application materials and interview preparation. Greg was patient in understanding my story, prompt in his replies, and detailed in his reviews. He helped me make strategic changes to my application, and even during deadlines, his turnaround time was quick. One of Greg’s best qualities is his approachability. He was considerate in counting the minutes, often not charging me for small queries and only billing minimal time for brief reviews.

Greg was also a supportive mentor. During our conversations, he motivated me when I felt low on confidence. In our interview preparation sessions, he guided me on intangibles like articulating myself without losing the listener, structuring my thoughts, and communicating effectively through gestures. He helped me adapt my interviewing skills specifically for admissions interviews.
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These multiple adjustments made a huge impact! I applied to nine T25 schools with Greg’s help and received admits from four, each with strong scholarships. One school even offered me a full ride. I will be attending a T15 program with a strong scholarship this fall. This was a massive improvement from previous cycles, when I was not accepted anywhere. Remarkably, I was a reapplicant to three of these four schools, and despite no significant improvements in my scores or profile, I not only gained admission but also received generous scholarships.

FAR BETTER QUALITY THAN TWO OTHER VERY WELL KNOWN CONSULTANTS

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Overall the time commitment, effort, depth of work and level of support that I received from Greg was far higher/better quality than two other (quite well known) consultants that I worked with before I came to Avanti Prep. Greg was extremely detail oriented and it was an absolute pleasure working with him.

Background:

I initially reached out to Greg for extra interview support with one of my Rd1 schools. I was already working with another consultant but I figured I could use more help. His interview feedback was so detailed that I decided to sign up for a 2 school comprehensive package with him for Rd2. I had done some of the initial career goals exploration with another consultant but I worked with Greg on everything else for these two schools (he also helped me refine my career goals to a certain extent).

Here are some of the things that stood out as I worked with Greg on the two schools:

1. Right from the very outset, starting from the initial intake form, he went really deep into my personal and professional background and really spent a lot of time getting to know me. And this was not a one time thing - in future calls, when we were brainstorming essays, he would bring up stuff from work/extracurriculars and we would spend a lot of time going even deeper into those topics as needed. He asked a lot of probing questions to extract the relevant fodder for essays. This translated really well in terms of him being able to guide my essay/interview content and overall application.

2. He really cares for his clients. He went above and beyond to make sure I was supported and all my questions/nagging concerns were answered.

3. His overall demeanor is very relaxed and friendly, and he is very easy to talk to. The application process is extremely stressful and I felt like I had someone by my side to support me throughout the process and calm my nerves when things got scary. This translated really well to me being candid and honest about my background and helped us bring my best self to the application.

4. He knows how to strike a balance of being polite and respectful but at the same time being persuasive to get you to do things. He was never rude but at the same time he made sure I knew when he thought something was not good enough, or more information was needed, or if there was a better way to do things, or if I was not putting my best answers forward for the interview. Nothing slipped through the cracks and he made sure I was giving it my best shot.

5. The level of depth and thoughtfulness that went into the process was simply remarkable. And this was true across the board - getting to know my story, essays, interviews, etc. The essay process involved 5-6 extremely detailed reviews which involved him asking me a lot of questions in specific areas so I could get the best ideas on paper. Even the brainstorming involved multiple calls to nail down the appropriate content for each specific school/essay. Likewise with interviews, it went far beyond content - we talked about vocal tonality, length of answers, body language, answer structure, etc.

In summary, I strongly recommend working with Greg for your MBA applications for all the reasons mentioned above.

T25 REJECT TO T15 ADMIT - ALL THANKS TO GG (GREG :) ) !!

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I was a reapplicant for most T-25 schools in the latest admission cycle, and my performance went from:

Last Year: 21 Apps --> 3 Interviews --> 3 Waitlists --> 0 Admits, This Year: 21 Apps --> 13 Interviews --> 9 Admits (and 4 rejects after waitlist post interview) (total of $350,000+ in scholarships)

The major difference was in my entire "why MBA" story, connecting it with my previous work experience and describing ambitious yet plausible post-MBA career goals.

My resume was totally revamped, along with the key pointers shared with my recommenders as an exhaustive list of instances highlighting some of my key strengths.

And the targeted list of suggestions shared by him to show my love and connect with the school that I was applying to.

GREG IS A DIFFERENCE MAKER, WHO ALWAYS GOES THE EXTRA MILE!

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Background:
• Male
• US Citizen
• Undergraduate: Large public state school (not a top 50 school)
• Career background: 5.5 years in F50 Tech (business side/not technical)
• GPA: Above average all schools
• GMAT: Below average for T15
• Admitted to T15 MBA program

Before deciding on an MBA consultant, I spoke with over 17 different MBA consulting services, utilizing the 30 min or one-hour free consultation. Greg went above and beyond with me and wasn’t a clock watcher. We met several times (over 3 hours) before I decided to hire Greg to help me with my MBA applications. He made it very easy to share my background, my concerns, my aspirations, and everything relevant about my life. Additionally, I was very busy with work and Greg took complete control of the process and kept me accountable with deadlines. Furthermore, he never missed a promised deadline to get documents back to me.

Thoughtfulness and attention to detail are key in building a great MBA application and Greg would never let me submit anything less than my best. He was willing to have many drafts and versions to make sure every part of my application was as perfect as it could be. I remember how Greg would consistently push me to think deeper and have more specific examples/answers that would resonate with admissions officers.

Overall, Greg was my biggest advocate and always encouraged me throughout the process which is something hard to find in the industry. It never felt transactional. Rather, by the end I felt that we had become good friends. I 100% give Greg my highest recommendation and can confidently say, I would not have been able to get admitted to a T15 MBA program.

EARNED SCHOLARSHIPS TO T15S AFTER NO T40 ADMITS WITH LOCAL CONSULTANTS

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​1. BACKGROUND

I was first introduced to Greg by a Ross student who had previously worked with him. He was endorsed by another T5 admit and a Darden student, but even with such strong and personal recommendations, I was sceptical about admissions consultants because of my prior experiences working with them.

This was my third time applying to b-schools. I had applied with no luck in two previous rounds, during which I worked with a total of 04 admission consultants based out of India. More often than not I felt that even the Indian consultants with big names adopted a generalist approach with very little or no efforts to get to know stories that could form a base for a strong personalized application. Reviews were superficial and at times it took over a week to get a response over a draft.

2. FREE CONSULTATION

My reservations were all alleviated as I scheduled a 30 minutes complimentary call with Greg. Honest, curious, well-seasoned, genuinely concerned were some of Greg’s traits that I could observe during our call, which went for 60 minutes and he seemed completely fine about it. He made genuine efforts to get to know me and my prior application experience and was sympathetic about it.

Whereas other consultants boasted about their past successes and dictated which schools I should be applying and what their strict timeline of working shall be, Greg took a far different route. He listened, provided insight as to where I might have gone wrong, and held an open discussion about schools. We even explored themes for my Goals Essay, providing a glimpse of the experience should I choose to move forward. It was a detailed two-way discussion and I was sold!!

3. SERVICES AND RESULTS

Working with India-based consultants in 2017 Round 2, I applied to Kelley (rejected without interview), Ivey (rejected without interview), Arizona State (dinged post interview), Rice (dinged post interview), and ISB (dinged post interview). Working with other Indian consultants in 2018 Round 1, I was dinged without interview at three T15 US schools and invited to interview again at ISB.

The very first thing I did with Avanti Prep was interview preparation for ISB, and this time I was accepted. I also signed up for a Tier 2 Package for two schools plus Hourly Services for one additional school, all for 2018 Round 2. I specifically worked with Greg on three T20 programs, received interview invites to all three, and was accepted to two, including one with a scholarship over $90K.

Seeing this success and wanting another chance at the T15 programs (this time working with Greg), I secured a deferral from one of the T20 programs and reapplied to three T15 schools and one new M7 school with Greg the following year, in 2019 Round 1. This time the story was very different, as I got admits from all three T15 schools, including two with scholarships ($50K and $40K).

So with the very same job and GMAT score, I went from being unable to crack the T30 working with local consultants to receiving multiple T15 offers and two T15 scholarships working with Avanti Prep. The only new ingredient in my recipe to success was Greg, who helped me portray and communicate my experiences in a coherent and powerful way.

4. SCHOOL RESEARCH

Greg’s insight into schools is unparalleled and his drive to make one learn about the schools is something I had not experienced before, yet I would consider it essential in one’s applications. While discussing the essay questions and brainstorming on how to position my responses, Greg always pushed me to make sure that my responses resonated well with the core values of the school and answered the exact essay question being asked.

From the outset Greg shared his insight on schools and highlighted how to go about researching schools, how to communicate with adcoms and students, how to keep track of interactions I had, and even connected me with students from certain schools I was applying. Even after my admit euphoria settled down, Greg encouraged me to talk to more students and alums so that I could choose between the programs where I was accepted.

5. STORY AND ESSAY DEVELOPMENT

The Package started with filling out a detailed Brainstorming Document. It was structured in a way to make me think and put all my experiences and stories on paper, which formed a base for my applications. Post that we hopped on to a series of calls focused on discussing my story, school selection, and forming a strategy on how to tackle my essays for the first school I was applying.

Post these sessions I dove into drafting essays. With tons of information about the school which I acquired through research, coffee chats, and interactions with school, I felt much more confident in my first drafts. Still the comments I received from Greg showed how much further I needed to go and how much effort he puts in to pushing the applicant. His comments were detailed, nuanced, and well-organized, not just pointing out the flaws but also suggesting possible corrective actions I could take.

In my prior experiences with other consultants, I almost always received high-level comments such as, “this doesn’t seem proper, you might want to change this” and whatnot. But with Greg it was different. He made efforts in making me understand where I went wrong, why the message was not being conveyed properly, and advised on what specific changes I could consider making.

6. RESUME AND APPLICATIONS

Greg followed a similar approach for my resume. He commented extensively on my resume on a macro and micro level, making me understand why the bullet point was not effective, what did it lack, what should I do to make it more effective, and how to engage his “SCARL” approach. For the bullets he felt lacked clarity, he sought more information.

When it came to resume format, Greg did not follow a cookie-cutter approach with fitting information in a pre-designed resume format. Instead we worked to adopt a format that best depicted my experiences in a neat, well-organized, easy to follow, structured way. Again, his diligence and conviction to achieve perfection helped me craft a strong resume.

He also reviewed my responses to the various application sections and ensured that information across different components was in sync, balanced each other, and painted a diverse picture of my professional and personal life.

7. INTERVIEW PREP

Over the two years I worked with Greg for my interview preparation for eight schools and was accepted to six of them, including three with scholarships. The experiences were a stark contrast to my previous experiences where the mock interviews were organized hastily, were neither structured nor school-specific, and feedbacks provided were brief and high level.

When I scheduled my first interview preparation, I was wondering what would we be discussing for 2.5 hours, but when we finally got over with that, the time clocked 3 hrs 15 mins. Greg has meticulously structured the flow of each school’s interview to mimic the program’s actual interview experience. The questions were well-segmented, close to what I experienced in my actual interviews, and the flow was adaptive to my response.

Post the 60-minute mock we hopped onto the feedback and analysis part, where at first, I received high-level feedback of the overall mock, and then we went into a deep analysis of my responses. Greg helped identify not only what went wrong but also how could I improve my answers to each specific question. He also explained the rationale behind each question, and we prepared strategies for each question or question type.

8. SCHOLARSHIP AND DEFERRAL NEGOTIATIONS

My involvement with Greg eventually went beyond just securing admits. These steps were not on my priority list while considering working with Avanti Prep, but they became a very important part of my applicant journey. When things became uncertain with COVID, Greg helped me decide if it would be right to defer my admission and helped me in securing it.

We also worked on negotiating scholarships with schools. With Greg’s guidance and experience, I was able to secure more than a $90K scholarship to a T20 program and a $50K scholarship to a T15 program, after neither of them had offered me any scholarships alongside my original acceptance.

Obtaining a top global MBA is a costly and challenging affair. If you need a coach and friend to navigate you through this gruelling process, Greg is THE GUY. As my experience shows, the investment made to work with Avanti Prep in putting up strong applications was far outweighed by the rewards in terms of admits and scholarships!!

ACCEPTED TO 7/11, INCLUDING 2 FULL SCHOLARSHIPS! (NYU STERN FULL RIDE)

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I worked with Grace Conway on resume revision and essay edits. I felt I had a good start on both after doing the Forte MBALaunch program in 2019, and I was right - except I was much closer to the beginning than I thought.

With the resume revisions, I started with a lot of detail on what I DID versus what I ACHIEVED. Not knowing how to make the switch, Grace - with oversight from Greg - asked me the right questions to get more useful and clarifying information than what I'd originally provided.

We also worked on two essays - nominally for LBS and Haas, though I didn't end up getting into either - that could be applied to multiple schools. The most important was the goals essay. I learned to worry about content first, word count later. Comments kept coming back - always "why?" or "please clarify" on everything from my goals, what I planned to do in those roles, and why I was interested in specific opportunities at these programs. I thought I had done extensive school research before starting these essays, and I had - I knew about most of the things they were asking me about - but I wasn't able to articulate it in a way that shouted "pick me" to adcom. But we got there, and my final stats are:

11 applications
9 interviews
7 acceptances
5 scholarships, including two full tuition offers

INCREASED MY CHANCES BY MILES: ACCEPTED TO A TOP 10 PROGRAM

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Indian female - 730 GMAT - Engineering graduate with a 9/10 GPA from a tier-1 college - 5 years of work experience in Education and Ed-Tech

While researching ways by which I could bolster my application process, I came across Avanti Prep and signed up for a free consultation. Greg’s opinions and insights during that introductory call were honest, practical and really useful. He gave me a good sense of my chances of securing an admission in my desired Universities (all in the top 10) and the effort I’d need to put in.

I signed up for hourly services with Greg (5 hours) to work on Story Analysis and Planning, Story and Career Goal Development, Essay Brainstorming, and Essay Reviews for 3 schools. As a result of our working together, I secured an admission to a Top 10 Program and was waitlisted at another Top 10 Program - one that has a very very selective process.

Our collaboration started off with a detailed plan for the way we’d split the total time across different pieces for different schools. Greg’s school-specific insights were truly amazing! He would help me understand how to present my story and my goals more effectively for each school. This truly helped shape my thought process while working on the essays and significantly informed my presentation of self in the applications. His essay reviews were also extremely detailed. It was evident that Greg had spent more hours than planned on reviewing each essay. This brings me to my next point of how incredibly accommodating he was, evidently focussing on quality and results rather than clock-watching to the minute. Despite enrolling in only 5 hours (very limited to cover various application pieces for 3 schools), he graciously spent a LOT of extra time on every call and every essay review. Over and beyond that, even after our time together was over, he replied to every single email/question of mine in great detail making sure to offer any help he could.

I had such a positive experience with Greg that I referred two of my friends to him.

Apart from everything mentioned, something else that stood out to me was Greg’s nature to never be overly optimistic or overly pessimistic. He strikes a balance between being honest, realistic and being extremely encouraging, which comes as a great emotional/mental boost while you’re navigating through the taxing, strenuous and difficult process of applying for an MBA in the US.

EXCELLENT AND USEFUL ADVICE, SCHOLARSHIP TO FUQUA

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For context: I’m a male, 5 years work experience in finance and nonprofit work, GMAT in 690-720 range, undergrad GPA of 3.75 from very good but not top-tier university.

I asked Greg to help me using his pay-by-the-hour services with the intent to use those hours sparingly. I ended up using his help more and more because his edits on essays were so specific and pertinent and I felt I was getting good value for the cost. He has great insight into the process, what different schools are looking for, how to position oneself a bit differently for each school. I did video interview prep with him too and that was really helpful to identify where answers could be stronger or call out a connection to the school’s priorities that I otherwise may have missed.

Greg helped me apply to 5 schools ranked HBS (why not?) to UNC. I was much happier with the entire process having Greg onboard as my coach. He kept me on track throughout and helped me prioritize how much time to spend GMAT studying, when to quit and focus on essays, when I needed to do more, etc. His work and feedback was always useful, turnaround was really quick, and just a generally kind, smart person to entrust your application to.

In the end I got a good scholarship to Fuqua and when they called me to give acceptance they even referenced one of the little jokes Greg gave me as something they thought was a nice touch of my personality in the essay :)

If I had to do it again, I’d use Greg in a heartbeat.

OVER THE MOON: 50% SCHOLARSHIP TO A TOP 10 PROGRAM AS AN INDIAN MALE

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Background

Engaging a (sub-par) consultant during the last admissions cycle had already been a bitter experience that I primarily made due to the seemingly beneficial geographical proximity (they were based in the same city as me) and undeniably 'low-cost' services (be sure to verify advertised claims). Already on the other side of 30, I felt that this time around was really going to be my last real chance at gaining admission to a Top MBA program and I didn't want to leave any stone unturned. Here's some brief background:

> Indian Male
> US Undergrad + First Masters (Top 30 School)
> 750+ GMAT
> 9 years of work-ex
> Re-applicant in R1 2018 (from R2 in previous cycle)

As an Indian male engineer with nine years of experience when I would start the MBA program, primarily in family business (with some entrepreneurship and startup experience, all in India), I was in an over-represented, older, and non-traditional bucket.

Although I was re-applying with a much-improved GMAT score (50 points+), with 4 interviews and 3 waitlists last time around, I knew that it probably wasn't just the GMAT that needed improvement and hiring someone who knows the drill was essential in achieving my goals. Admittedly, I began my research on choosing the right consultant very late in the process (less than 2 months to go before the first R1 regular deadline), and by the time I had decided to engage Greg, the first deadline was just 5 weeks away.

Consultation & Signup

Although Greg technically advertises a 30-minute free consultation before sign-up, we ended up talking for almost 2 hours during that initial conversation where he really took the time to understand my situation and offer his candid opinion. He was also the first consultant who offered upfront to connect me with his previous clients (post which, during my research, I made that a requirement for even considering a consultant – and let's just say no-one was as forthcoming as Greg in making those connections). This was also a big bonus as I could actually talk about some of these connections (and subsequent connections made in their network) in my applications (in hindsight, these were strategic choices made by Greg given my specific school and career interests).

We ended up speaking again to finalize our arrangement and I ultimately signed up for a Tier 2 package for 2 schools with 23 extra hours to tackle 4 additional schools.

Quality, Efficiency, Precision & Personal Investment

Let me say here that Greg is really efficient with his time, and although I was a little sceptical of being charged by the hour once the 2 schools in the package were over, multiple times I saw him mark less time than I expected and make major progress within a review that seemed like it would have taken at least a couple of hours. Given the limited time we had, I had numerous anxious moments throughout the process, but Greg stood right by me before each and every deadline (literally burning the midnight oil on more than one occasion if there was a delay on my part in a particular review). No matter what, Greg was always committed to ensuring that we put our best foot forward.

Throughout the process, never did I feel even once that Greg just wanted to 'get it done and over with'. To the contrary, he was really personally invested in crafting my story and achieving a common goal. I doubt that an individual consultant in a larger firm (where you often have only a part-time lead consultant, and sometimes have different individuals working on different parts of your application) would have worked in a similar manner. In fact, when it came time for interview prep, Greg threw in an extra interview prep call prior to a scheduled Skype interview I had with an M7 school to ensure I was fully ready. I found him always eager to go above and beyond during the process, and I would also say he challenged me to do the same, bringing out the best in me.

The quality and precision in his reviews is also remarkable. At times, it seemed impossible to be able to do exactly as he'd recommended in an essay review, but once that was done (sometimes, post a couple of iterative suggestions), the depth of his initial suggestions really shone in the final outcome. I was also amazed at how effortlessly, over the course of several reviews of my resume, he was able to shrink 2.5 pages to the standard 1, without compromising on the substance or impact in my work experiences.

Summary & Endorsement

Given my GMAT score and the fact that I was applying in R1, we decided to apply to 4 stretch and 2 reach schools. I got an interview invite at one of the stretch schools, a wait-list at one of the reach schools (Greg predicted this one) and an admit with a 50% SCHOLARSHIP AT A TOP 10 US PROGRAM (we were both over the moon about the $$$)!!!

I can confidently say that engaging Greg for my applications was the best investment that I made during the process. The improvement in my applications from last season to this one stood out like night and day. The work we did and the brainstorming that went in to craft my story will not only hold good for a long time in my professional career, but also really helped me understand the value of my experiences thus far and aspirations going forward.

I have already referred multiple MBA aspirants who worked with Greg on their R1 and R2 applications during this past admissions cycle, and will happily continue doing so in the future!

EXCELLENT SUPPORT AND A TEAM THAT CONSISTENTLY GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND FOR THEIR CLIENTS

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I had done a lot of research about the admissions process on my own and through places like GMAT club, but I ultimately felt like I needed to get the perspective of someone with admissions experience to guide me through the nuances in the application journey.

As a first gen undergraduate student (and now first gen masters student!) I felt a bit overwhelmed by the process and had doubts about fitting in to the MBA world. I really appreciated that Greg understood those feelings, offering a much needed 'sanity check' and making me feel like I really belonged in the MBA community.

From our first engagement and introduction call, it was obvious that Avanti goes above and beyond to assist their clients. They were incredibly helpful in supporting my journey from start to finish. Grace was so supportive, provided thoughtful insight, and was always willing to hop on a call to talk through ideas. She was immensely helpful from the brainstorming phase to making herself available to support me in some last minute edits before a deadline.

In an extremely tough cycle I was able to receive an admit to my top choice program and I received over $150,000 of tuition reductions, named scholarships and fellowships in the programs for which I was admitted. I appreciated that they understood my goals and how important program fit was for me - and not just encouraging me to matriculate at the program that was the highest ranked.

Highly recommend the team at Avanti!

DEPENDABLE, INVESTED & EMPATHETIC: ADMITTED TO IVY LEAGUE

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​South Asian Male. 740 GMAT. The most important takeaway is that Greg is really invested in your success. When I was in a time crunch and needed someone to lean on, I trusted Greg and he absolutely delivered in guiding me. What makes Greg an amazing resource is his understanding of the process, attention to story and details, empathy, and flexibility in approach, suiting your needs. Thanks to his help, I had interview invites from 4 (of 5 schools including M7 and T10) we have applied for in round 1. This was in spite of the fact that the 2021 application cycle was extremely competitive, thanks to deferrals from the previous cycle.
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I was initially hesitant because I felt that Avanti’s pricing was on the higher end of the spectrum. So I previously tried working with a consultant whose pricing was lower and who I had heard some decent reviews about. That turned out to be a waste of time and money. This is not to say that lower-priced consultants are all bad. However, during my time working with Greg, I came to realize that it was worth every dollar I spent. I would definitely recommend his services.

PREVIOUSLY WAITLISTED AT T15 - ACCEPTED WITH AVANTI PREP'S WAITLIST SUPPORT

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Profile: Asian, Male, GRE (327), 3.38 GPA. I applied to 3 schools and was rejected without interview from a T10, accepted into a T20, and waitlisted from my first choice (T15).

After hearing about my waitlist, I was eager to find an affordable and well-regarded consultant who would provide guidance in developing and executing a waitlist strategy. I originally applied in round 2 under the guidance of a large, well-reputed consulting firm (5-Stars on GMATClub); however, I did not return because I wasn’t impressed by the quality of the reviews and also received conflicting feedback from two of the consultants. The first consultant was passive and let some of my gaps and soft spots slide. The second consultant gave me a more thorough review of my essays and highlighted any potential question marks that slid by the first review; however, she did not offer much guidance in developing a story to address those question marks.

After researching the rates and reviews of all the consultants that offered waitlist services, I ended up signing up with Greg from Avanti Prep for 4 hours, which we devoted entirely to waitlist strategy and execution.

We spent the first 40-50 minutes on a video conference, where we reflected on my application/interview and identified what gaps or soft spots existed. Greg was extremely detailed and critical in his review of my application and helped me readdress things that he felt were either not specific enough or were under-communicated in my original submission (ex: Why this school?). He gave me advice on how to convey that the school remained my top choice and my commitment to attend. I am certain that the tactics we deployed in conveying these finer details helped get me accepted.

Greg went through many detailed reviews and consistently pushed me to greater introspection behind my passions and story. Even when I felt like I addressed everything, Greg constantly pushed me for further specificity. As tedious as this was, it was extremely important because doing so helped me create a unique and tailored story, something I felt like the previous consultants did not dig deep enough into. It was clear from the beginning that Greg was deeply invested and always put 100% effort in his work. We originally signed up for 4 hours, but Greg gave me 1.5 hours of extra time for additional review in order to ensure I had the best submission possible. In fact, if you read all the other reviews of Greg then you will see a history of Greg going well beyond his hours to help other applicants as well. In the end, I got accepted by my dream school and there was a stark difference between my original submission and what was submitted with Greg’s help.

​For more reviews in this category, please visit GMAT Club and Poets & Quants
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T17-25 AND BEYOND

$140K IN SCHOLARSHIPS AND A TRUE ADVOCATE

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Background:
-White female (US)
-Top 20 liberal arts school undergrad
-4.5 years of work experience at time of application
-690 GMAT

I come from a very nontraditional background with limited business experience and have some large gaps on my resume. When I decided to get my MBA, I thought it best to work with a consultant to have someone help me frame my story in the best light possible. I had free consultation calls with several big-name admissions consulting firms, and nearly all of them were downright rude, making me feel like a total loser that would never have a chance at a top 20 school.

Then I found Greg. From our very first conversation, Greg was realistic about the weaknesses in my application, but it was also clear that he believed in me and my unique story. I ended up purchasing a few hours of time to start, but by the end of the application process had added so many more that it would've been better to just purchase a package! We worked on storytelling and crafting a narrative, essay and resume editing, and recommender prep. In all of our calls, Greg was always supportive and provided lots of insights and helpful edits. He was also super generous with his time, and I never felt like he was upselling me. Additionally, he voluntarily connected me with a friend of his that was an alum at one of the schools I was applying to!

I ended up applying to five, top 20 schools in the January round (round 2/4 or 3/4 depending on the school) and was admitted with $70K to one and with $30K to another. I was also waitlisted at a top ten school. The school at which I was waitlisted was my dream school, so Greg helped me develop a comprehensive waitlist strategy that included student outreach and updates to the admissions committee. After a few months on the waitlist, I decided I was no longer interested, so we moved on to scholarship strategy. With a GRE score in hand and a compelling letter that Greg helped me craft, I was able to raise my scholarship at my target school from $30K to $70K, bringing my total scholarship offers to $140,000!

I am now wrapping up my first year of business school and Greg has continued to stay in touch, even offering to connect me with people he knows at the firm I'll be at this summer. His generosity and passion for helping his clients never cease to amaze me.

MULTIPLE U.S. TOP 25 ADMITS WITH $$$ (INDIAN, IT, MALE, RE-APPLICANT)

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​Profile:

Work Experience: 6 years
Demography: WORST (Indian, IT, Male)
GMAT: 730 (V41, Q49)
Graduation: Computer Science Engineering (7.48/10)
Post-Graduation: MBA (from an above average B-School in India) (9.23/10)
Job Profile: IT Consultant in insurance domain
Highlights: Started handling a team of 8 distributed over 3 geographies – UK, Israel, South Africa

Background:

I had appeared for my GMAT in 2018 and scored a 730 (V41, Q49). At that time, I thought that a 96 percentile should set me up pretty good for the top schools around the globe. However, I couldn’t convert any of the 8 schools I applied to even though I received interview calls from 6. I knew that I was not good at writing essays which is essentially the most important part of the application. Therefore, I tried reaching out to my friends on and off the GMATClub forum. Everyone tried their best to help me out but the essays ended up below average.

I realized that no matter how much anyone wants to help you out, essay writing is something that requires dedication and knowledge of how the adcoms would evaluate you.

I then decided to give myself a year to work on my profile and decided to reapply in 2020. However, this time I was sure that I would hire a consultant to help me with my essays. I reached out to @stonecold and a few others and the straightforward response was – Don’t even think about anyone else than Greg.

I was like, okay, let me try a free session with Greg and see how things work out. I dropped an email to Greg and quickly set up a session. I had shared my resume with Greg beforehand and made a list of a few points to discuss in that call. I liked the way Greg approaches the application process – he is very clear about how the adcoms look at your profile, what might be your best ‘go to' story to showcase yourself. The most important quality of Greg is that he listens to you and tries to alter plans according to what you want! Why am I saying this? I am stating this because I had come across reviews of a few other consultants who didn’t take the candidates thoughts, story etc into account and tried to dictate their terms. With such inflexible approach one cannot expect good results.

Towards the end of my first session with Greg, I asked him whether my target schools look good because I had made my intentions clear that I would either attend a world top 50 program or not attend at all. My profile was also pretty unique – second MBA, non IIT Indian IT male. I mean everything was bad in my profile except for the GMAT score which too seemed pretty below average for a top 10 or 15 program. He said there was a silver lining in the interview calls from last time, so that with hard work and improvements I can put up a very competitive fight. There are a lot of different packages that are available. I went for the hourly services because I was very clear as to how I wanted Greg's help.

NOTE: I would advise you to be very well prepared in terms of your expectations before reaching out to consultants because that would save you both time and money.

Process:

I decided to apply for my target schools in R1 and started working with Greg from the month of June. Early start meant that I had ample time to work on my story. Greg has a structured way for you to first pen down your thoughts and experiences, which you then discuss together in a more open brainstorming fashion in order to choose what you should utilize for each topic and your own essay writing process.

Greg is so accommodating that I am not exaggerating. It is always better to get your essays done early, but if your deadlines come near he supports you with urgency and quick turnarounds. Looking back, officially I signed for 15 hours of service (not including the interview prep services which I added later on) but in reality, Greg gave more than 19 hours of service for those 15, with the extra time provided for free in an effort to give me the best guidance and chances.

I decided to utilize the first 3.5 hours for story building and essay brainstorming calls, before allocating the remaining time (other than interview prep) to essay feedback and reviews for many of the specific essays of my target schools. I gave Greg the nickname Gr'wow'eg because as I incorporated his guidance and feedback into my essays I could see the difference in the quality building with each of my attempts. The quality, character, knowledge, competence he brings is absolutely top notch.

Further, even though I just focused mainly on the essay part of my application Greg used to constantly give me various tips that might help me in other areas such as resume building or from whom to receive a recommendation or how to discuss various points with your recommenders in the hopes they could highlight them for you without any duplicacy in the overall profile. All these small things made a huge impact.

Once I submitted my 6 applications in R1, I received 5 interview invites. Since Greg was so good and helpful, I decided to go with the interview prep services as well. He is flexible and impactful in this segment as well. He created a set of questions from amongst 3 schools specific to my requirements and it did wonders. Whatever we prepared in those interview preps, most of the things were asked in the interviews.

As clear enough evidence of the improved strength of my essays, applications and interview skills this time, I went from getting rejected everywhere last time I applied to 3 acceptances in 2020, of which one was a 50% scholarship and another a 100% scholarship. Greg is so dedicated to his work that you will not be a bit disappointed. I wholeheartedly thank him for supporting me throughout the process. If you would ask me personally which consultant should you go for – I would say “don’t think beyond Greg".

ACCEPTED OUTRIGHT INTO FIRST CHOICE SCHOOL - BEAU COMES HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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​Background -
-- White male
-- 5 years works experience in tech and manufacturing sales
-- GPA - 3.7 in social sciences from well-ranked NE liberal arts college
-- GRE - 320

I decided to pursue my MBA in May, and prioritized applying R1 to my chosen school. At the suggestion of a friend, I reached out to a consultant he had worked with, and was unhappy with my initial screening. Unlike most applicants, I was geographically driven, and was only interested in one T25 school in a particular city. This consultant discouraged my approach - she (rightfully) reminded me how risky this strategy was, and spent our initial meet-and-greet trying to talk me into a more balanced strategy. While I appreciated her apprehension, I don’t think she understood my larger ‘life plan’, and how crucial geography was in bringing this plan to fruition.

The next consultant I met with was Greg. While he expressed the same concerns over a singular focus, he immediately grasped the bigger picture of what I was trying to accomplish. He was fair and honest, warning me of the hazards, but ensuring me he would do all he could to help me achieve my goal. I appreciated his frankness regarding my risk, and his willingness to support me on my journey, rather than trying to change my mind. Shortly after, he introduced me to my consultant, Beau, whose background mirrored the path I was pursuing.

Both Greg and Beau provided me with months of guidance as I underwent the process of uprooting my current career path. They challenged me to map out, not just a story for admissions, but my authentic career targets and explain why an MBA was critical to achieve them. Before working with Greg and Beau, I knew I wanted to pursue my MBA. After working with them, I knew why I wanted to pursue my MBA. Greg and Beau’s attention extended beyond consultancy, well into the territory of mentorship. I cannot recommend Greg’s Avanti Prep enough, and if you’re lucky enough to have Beau involved, you’ll be all the better for it. Thanks to both of them for helping me not just get to my next step, but to use my MBA as a springboard into the next phase of my career and life.

OVERREPRESENTED APPLICANT ACCEPTED TO T25 WITH 640 GMAT

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​I started looking for MBA admission consultants after I took my GMAT. Not only was my score below the average of the schools I was aiming for, but also I did not have a clear personal branding strategy to make my application competitive. Greg helped me tremendously throughout the process. He was very responsive and efficient and was always able to give me very helpful and insightful feedback for each draft of my essay and resume. Greg helped me craft my story, and ensure that I was conveying the most impactful examples throughout my essays and resume. I would highly recommend Greg.

EXTREMELY THANKFUL – THREE SCHOLARSHIP OFFERS DESPITE PROFILE OBSTACLES

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​
I. Background

I’m a male engineer from India with 720 GMAT and some international experience. I belong to a common demographic for US B-Schools and had a complicated profile, with a Master’s degree in hand and already age 30 when applying. I happened to find Avanti Prep via GMAT Club. Greg had the strongest and clearest recommendations from past applicants on the website, which prompted me to request a Free Consultation. I had already talked to a few other consultants before talking to Greg. And then after just one call with Greg I knew I wanted him to be my guide throughout this process. I availed Hourly Services from Avanti Prep, initially 5 hours, but expanded significantly along the way as I saw major value of working together and decided to apply to more schools. In total, I ended up with 67 hours of service with Avanti Prep from July 2018 through April 2019.

II. Strategy

Because I did not have a good GMAT for my demographic, I wanted to test my chances across a wide range of the rankings. We worked on 10 schools in Round 1 and Round 2, ranging from M7 schools mostly through U.S. News top 20/25, one school a few spots lower down and one more school another tier below that. Given my higher number of schools, spreading Hourly Services across them was my preferred approach, rather than focusing on only a few of the schools through a Package. This way we could mirror full depth of the comprehensive experience while adapting it for more schools.

III. Results

Even with some international experience, I knew this strategy was aggressive. If you believe studies on GMAT Club, Indian applicants with 720 GMAT have 5% admission chance at U.S. top 20, and many people in the forums even say Indian males with sub-730 GMAT should look outside top 25. Despite these odds, I received two M7 interviews (was waitlisted thereafter at one) and three scholarships offers overall. Right now, I’m enrolled at a top 20/25 school with a generous scholarship (50%). This would not have been possible at all without Greg’s magic. Trust me, Avanti Prep is the best investment you can make in your B-School journey. Greg is one of the most well rated and reasonably priced consultants in the market at his elite level of expertise.

IV. Details

Given my needs, we used about 6 hours total on school selection, story and goal development and strategic calls, 6 hours on full cycle of resume reviews (literally start to finish), 5 hours on recommender strategy and feedback, 4 hours on application entries and review, 1 hour on video strategy and practice, 3 hours on interview prep (only did one session, maybe should have done more), 5 hours on post-application support (scholarship negotiations, waitlist strategy and updates) and most remaining time on essay brainstorming and reviews (sounds like a lot but was for 10 schools).

Also, unlike other consultants in the market, Greg is not money minded and was very generous with timing and pricing. You can feel that his main motivation is achieving the best possible outcome for you. He did not count time for my many annoying email queries, he rounded down the time and provided some free time as necessary to achieve best quality, and given size of our relationship, we proceeded at a customized discounted rate. I am certain I received far more than even the 67 hours I signed up for, and given quality of experience and 50% scholarship result, it was undoubtedly worth it.

V. Experience

Greg is not just an expert MBA consultant, he is a wonderful person as well. He is approachable and friendly and makes you feel very comfortable. Despite my complicated profile, Greg did an amazing job of breaking down my long story and guiding me to assemble all pieces together in a symmetrical and persuasive way that created logical sense between my experiences and goals and allowed me to share the most interesting elements of my experiences. This process lets you put forth the best version of yourself. For this reason I have no doubt you are achieving the highest possible outcomes given your profile.

Greg is a thorough professional and walks the talk when it comes to his work. The level of detail, professionalism and responsiveness are extremely high. The way he helps you strategize the different pieces of your story for each school is expert level. We worked together on very tight timelines for Round 1 and Round 2 submissions and Greg never let me down. He has the unique ability to understand and respond in a timely fashion every query I put through him. I did put him through a lot of annoying nitty-gritty questions, but he was always so happy to respond to all of them. You really feel that Greg puts his clients first.

I’m happy to answer any specific questions regarding my experience with Avanti Prep. You can message me anytime. Good luck!

FULL SCHOLARSHIPS TO MCCOMBS AND KENAN-FLAGLER!

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​I first got in contact with Greg via one of the profile review threads on GMATclub, he offered a quick and helpful review with details on how I could contact him for a free consultation session. I took him up on his offer and in the consultation we ran through my profile, motivations and work experience in more details. (profile below)

__________________________________________

Profile:

Background and nationality
English, based in UK - recently turned 30

Undergrad Information
BSc Economics - University of Bath - Second Class Honors First Division (roughly converts to 3.4 GPA I think)

GMAT: 740 (Q49, V41, IR 8, AWA 6.0)

Work experience and leadership:
(I have removed organisation names for sake of anonymity, but they are all internationally recognised)

Associate at Segregated Hedge Fund within top tier Investment Bank/Asset Manager (London, UK), 2 years

Analyst at Middle Office in top tier Investment Bank X (London, UK), 3yrs

Contractor at top tier Investment Bank Y (London, UK), 1yr - this was only ever a short term role while I was looking for good permanent opportunities

Full-time Internship (post-university) at top tier Investment Bank Z (New York, USA), 1yr

Full-time Internship (third year of degree was year long industry placement before returning for final year) at top tier Investment Bank W (London, UK), 1yr

Community and others:
Amateur soccer player, fitness training, tennis, skiing, athletics, and stock market investing.
____________________________________

I had already sent off a couple of applications and had the deadline to UT McCombs only a couple of days away. Greg gave me a few ideas on how to improve my initial application and let me know that he could help in more detail if I signed up for an additional last minute session.

I sent him copies of my admissions essays and he reviewed overnight before getting back to me the next day with a lot of great advice and how to really make my essays pop out. We ran through a few iterations (which definitely saw Greg run over the original hour I had paid for!) and the difference between my initial application and the final one was night and day.

Although our session was focused on the UT application, I was able to use the advice Greg had given me to build my final two applications around (UNC Kenan Flagler and UW Foster). I was very happy with the standard of my three applications after first working with Greg, and feel like they were much stronger than my first two applications.

At the end of my five round one initial applications I had the below results:

1. Stanford (pre-Greg) - no interview
2. Berkeley Haas (pre-Greg) - interview invite
3. UT McCombs (with Greg) - interview invite
4. UW Foster (with Greg) - interview invite
5. UNC Kenan-Flagler (with Greg) - interview invite

I scheduled another hour long session with Greg to run through interview practice. He had clearly done his research so that we could run through practice questions from each of the schools I was going to be interviewing with and I was able to go in to all my interviews feeling well prepared and ready to go.

I received admissions offers from all but Berkeley (I feel like the standard of my written application probably played a role in this rejection):

1. UT McCombs - Full scholarship
2. UNC Kenan-Flagler - Full scholarship
3. UW Foster - Large scholarship (but not full)

I chose to accept my McCombs offer and can't wait to start there!

Overall the things that stood out to me most working with Greg were:
- His enthusiasm throughout the whole process
- His work ethic and commitment to providing excellent service (especially for the rapid turnarounds I required given how late I decided to ask for his services)
- Ongoing email exchanges where Greg provided help and advice for free
- His detailed knowledge of every step of the application process
- Extremely detailed and insightful edits for my application essays (including really deconstructing and telling my story and proposed contributions to the program)
- Really drilling down in to my goals and optimising them for my applications (as well as my own future!)

Overall I really cannot recommend Greg and Avanti Prep highly enough, every step of working with him was an absolute pleasure, and he definitely took my applications to another level. I would recommend that anyone who has not made their mind up over whether to take up Greg's services definitely do so!

ACCEPTED TO DREAM TOP-20 PROGRAM W/ $$ (OVER-REPRESENTED APPLICANT W/ AVERAGE STATS)

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​Profile and Background

I am a 30-year-old engineer, am from an over-represented group, have two degrees in electrical engineering, and have pretty average stats. I have worked in the energy industry for almost 7 years at a pretty niche company with some promotions but no direct management experience.

• Age: 30
• Demographics: White American male
• Electrical engineer in energy industry
• GMAT: 710 (Q49, V39, IR6, AWA6)
• Undergrad GPA: 3.3, Graduate GPA: 3.9
• Small, non-target school barely scraping the T-100 (bachelor’s and master’s)
• Work Experience: ~7 years w/ no direct management experience
• Applied in Round 2 to only one school (will explain this later)

I have a pretty basic profile, and had been preparing 2+ years for the GMAT. Summer 2019 came along, and I still had not hit my target GMAT score and had little idea of where to even start with applications or how to transform my goals and passion into a cohesive story for my application. My goal is to transition from an engineering/market analyst role to a renewable energy-specific project finance/development role.

Choosing a Consultant

A good friend referred me to Avanti Prep at a time when I was both lost on where to start and skeptical of admissions consultants. I spoke with about 5 different consultants but found that Greg, during our Free Consultation, was the most forthcoming and honest as well as the most personable. He managed expectations but also had the energy and tenacity to make me feel confident that, despite any obstacle, I could put my best foot forward and deliver the best, most optimal and representative application I could. He made no promises except to be the best possible partner along the way and to give my application the time it needed.

Summary Recommendation

I enrolled in Avanti Prep’s Tier 3 Package, which covers everything, and my experience with Greg was fantastic. MBA applications can be incredibly daunting and, paired with GMAT/GRE prep, very stressful. Greg helped transform the application into a very detailed step-by-step process that made it much easier for me to balance writing the application, preparing for my GMAT, and working on some of the auxiliary parts of my application (outreach, etc.).

Greg’s reviews were very meticulous, methodical, and detailed. He answered my questions quickly via email (we had 3+ email threads going at any given time with a LOT of back-and-forth) and empowered me to put my best foot forward in each component. He put a lot of effort into understanding my background, story, and goals. He emphasizes working through the application as partners, and he does not fall short. He was invested in each component of my application as much as I was – and it shined through in each task, call, and review along the way.

Honestly, no amount of Reddit posts, ClearAdmit/GMATClub/P&Q blog posts, or Admissions "Application Tips" posts would have prepared me to deliver the level of application that Greg helped me deliver. I'm incredibly proud of it. Two years ago I had all but given up on the idea of getting in to a Top-20 program but now, with Greg’s help, I'm headed to my dream school with a scholarship award (that the school doubled from their original offer)!

Step-by-Step Process and Detailed Recommendation

The Tier 3 Package covers everything, including: 1) school selection and story development, 2) essay brainstorming and review, 3) resume review, 4) recommender selection, strategy, and review, 5) interview prep, and 6) scholarship negotiations (plus other auxiliary elements, as noted, like Q&A and guidance regarding how to reach out to and connect with schools). For those interested in the details, I’ll try to touch on each step below.

School Selection & Story Development: I had narrowed my list of schools down to about 5 before meeting Greg, but decided to shoot my shot on just one that I thought could deliver me the MBA program I felt I needed. Greg listened to my goals, suggested other potential school fits, but ultimately respected my decision to apply to just 1 school – something other consultants advised against. Story development was incredibly thorough; Greg left no stone unturned and actively searched for different breadcrumbs that could bring my essays and application to life.

Essay Brainstorming and Review: After our initial brainstorming call, we settled on a few themes to focus on for my first essay. The initial draft felt like an unsurmountable challenge, but once I submitted it to Greg, we engaged in a very fluid and dynamic development and iteration process. In the early going, we were circling around the right themes and delivery, but we weren’t all the way there. To Greg’s credit, he never let us settle for something that wasn’t fully clicking or telling my story, even if it took more time or back-and-forth. It took 5 reviews, but Greg helped me deliver a really good, authentic, and representative essay.

The second essay required a lot of school research and outreach (something Greg strongly recommends his clients to do) and creativity. Greg gave me the freedom to inject my personality into the essay and helped me deliver, what I think is, a pretty creative essay that I was immensely proud of. Greg also helped with my Optional Essay that buttressed any soft spots in my application.

Resume Review: This was one of the first things Greg and I tackled, since it seemed to be the easiest way for me to get the ball rolling. Greg was able to help me extract information from my professional and personal experiences and inject it into bullet points that worked together to maximize different parts of my experience and also echo my post-MBA goals. He also helped me translate things from technical engineering parlance to clear bullets with business relevance. Honestly – the resume looks very sharp and I’m going to be scared to change it!

Recommender Prep: I already had a decent idea of who I was going to ask write my recommendation, but Greg worked to vet my thought process regarding my choice. He reaffirmed my decision to go with a recommender that wouldn't deliver a flowery review, but instead one that would deliver an honest review that highlighted new topics, echoed the strengths of my application, and even reinforced certain areas of potential concern.

Interview Prep: After receiving an invitation to interview, we started off with a call where Greg walked me through the overall interview experience, steps to prepare for a wide-assortment of different interview questions as well as ones that were typically asked by my target school. After my own prep, we had a mock-interview that road-tested each of my answers. He provided clear and methodical feedback and gave me a roadmap to address any shortcomings in my initial answers. After that, we had a follow-up call to practice a couple of questions one last time and to tie up loose ends.

Scholarship Negotiation: As Greg pointed out, Goal 1 was to get in, then Goal 2 was to hope for or attempt to get scholarship money. On an Admissions Officer’s recommendation, I had mentioned in my Optional Essay that I only applied to their school. Greg and I had weighed the pros and cons of saying this – the pro being that it would help show commitment and interest (Goal 1), and the con being that it left me with very little leverage in any type of negotiations (Goal 2).

However, after being admitted and awarded a small chunk of scholarship money, Greg advised me on how to craft an email to Admissions that addressed my decision to apply to only one school, highlighted all of the efforts I had made outside of the physical application to connect and engage with the school, and basically attempted to transform my deep commitment to the program into scholarship leverage. They ended up doubling my scholarship award!

GREAT SCHOLARSHIP RESULT AND GEORGETOWN ACCEPTANCE

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​I'm an Indian applicant with seven years of work experience and a GRE score of Q164 / V157 (GMAT equivalent of 660). I applied to following schools.

1. Questrom- Accepted with 70K
2. Georgetown McDonough- Accepted
3. Kellogg- Dinged after Interview

I was looking for comprehensive service that would help me prepare my MBA application. I researched about many consultants that would be cheaper as well as effective. Finally based on my friend's suggestion and talking to fellow mods, I decided to reach out to Greg.

I was applying in R2 but started my application very late (after Christmas)

Greg and I discussed my profile, goals and target schools. We initially started with my resume. I was in an assumption that my resume was good enough. But the first edit by Greg was brutal. He pointed out all the flaws in my resume. It took the total of 7 edits and more than three and half hours to finalize my resume.

Questrom- I did apply last year with poor test score and the same resume I had before Greg edit. So I decided to reapply. Greg helped me to prepare a story, edit my essays and provided suggestions that would fine tune my essay. I received an Interview Invite. No matter what, the first interview always makes us happy and nervous after getting rejected previous year. Greg helped with the interview prep as well. The question by question rigor for the mock interview helped me prep for the actual interview. And finally, I was accepted into the program with the 70K scholarship.

Georgetown- I initially did not have plans to apply to Georgetown at all since I was targetting other schools. But I received an email that extended the deadline by a week. I immediately emailed Greg about it. He was happy to help with short notice. We created a story from my professional & personal life to write the essay. He was able to edit the essay in short notice, and I was able to submit my application in four days. He also helped me the same way he did for Questrom Interview. Result- Admitted to Class of 2020. And I will be matriculating in Georgetown this fall.

Kellogg- I wasn't sure to apply, and Greg as well since my scores and profile are well below average for Kellogg. But I decided to go for it anyway. So we decided to put in the application. Kellogg often waives interviews for Indian applicants, so I wasn't expecting an interview invite. But I was excited that when I saw the email with an interview invitation. Greg helped me prepare for the interview. I guess we had our Mock interview for over an hour discussing the plan to answer the questions.

His mock interview session for all the schools was almost perfectly accurate, and I was able to prepare for the curveball questions and create a template to answer any questions.

Greg was super helpful and he would respond to my emails within a day even though he was busy with his other clients. And always made himself available for phone calls and questions.

ABOVE AND BEYOND DOESN'T DO GREG JUSTICE...

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​When I started searching for MBA counselors, many started to sound similar - either promising to move mountains, or being pessimistic on my candidacy. As a white American male in Finance from New York, slightly older than the average candidate with a 700 GMAT score and 3.3 GPA, I was realistic about my candidacy, but optimistic with strong essays and direction I could succeed in the process.

From Day 1, Greg broke this mold and working with him was by far the best decision I have made throughout the admissions process. Even before engaging, Greg offered to do a quick read through of a draft essay I wrote for a school, offering complimentary comments as part of his free consultation. He was frank about my odds, but optimistic, passionate, and ready to go to battle!

Through out, Greg was extremely responsive to all questions. While we engaged on the Tier 2 package for 2 schools, and supplemented that with hourly services to finish the rest (I was very ambitious applying to 8 schools), he did not let the confines of our engagement limit his work - i.e. if an essay needed 30 more minutes than I had purchased, he was genuinely engaged with producing the best results.

In addition, Greg structurally went above and beyond in terms of availability and engagement. We began with a kick-off meeting in person - something not typically included in any of the Avanti packages, but he was truly willing to do whatever it took to partner and put our best foot forward. In addition to the numerous additional hours he put in on top of our agreed upon engagement to drive home essays to the finish line, he also provided introductions to people within his network who would add value to my application and, more importantly, my overall business school search process. Greg epitomizes someone who pays-it-forward.

The first rounds of revisions really steered the ship, beginning high level with structure and content, while latter reviews brought the full polish to the essays. Greg was always extremely professional, kind, while balancing that with providing strong feedback and getting the best out of me.

I can confidently say Greg was the best choice for an admissions counselor, providing A+, institutional caliber service with a bespoke, customized, personal touch. As a result, I received interview invitations to Wharton, Fuqua, Darden, and UNC Kenan-Flagler and am happily enrolled at UNC Kenan-Flagler.

FROM DESPONDENCE TO DELIGHT – GREG HELPED ME ACHIEVE THE DREAM

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​Hiring an admissions consultant is never an easy task – especially with the plethora of options in the market and the significant cost involved. I approached Greg when I seemed to have lost direction regarding my MBA process and he turned out to be my best investment till date.

My first attempt at GMAT landed me a disappointing 640 followed by a second attempt a month later which got me 700. I was confused and doubted my chances to land a good school with that score. Greg was warm and friendly and offered to hear my story over the first free consultation. Although only the first consultation is usually free, Greg voluntarily spent another session with me just to understand my background and what factors mattered to me while picking schools. He was methodical and helped me analyze what mattered to me and what were my priorities. He helped me understand, very realistically, that a top 15-20 school would be quite challenging with this profile. I appreciated his honesty in not making over-arching promises, unlike what most consultants would do to land clients.

Few things regarding my background:
- Age: 24
- Indian IT Engineer
- 700 GMAT
- Under 3 years of work ex
- Applied to all schools in R2

I decided to hire Greg after our second meeting. I signed up for a Tier 3 (Comprehensive) Package for five schools, and added about 14 hours of service on top of that to handle three additional schools.

Working with Greg:

1) Quality of advice and coaching – Greg brings with him years of experience working with people across the world. His expertise in decoding one’s story and presenting it in a way which catches attention, uniquely enables him to interact with diverse clients with ease.

2) Quality of reviews – Greg’s review comments were elaborate and descriptive. He gave careful attention to every word and reviewed a document iteratively, until it was perfect. Be it resume reviews, to essay reviews, to reviewing abstract submissions like presentations, Greg was thoughtful and valuable in his insights.

3) Essay and editing skill – A story has to sound convincing and appealing. Greg brought out the uniqueness in my story – he could identify and highlight what is a differentiator in a seemingly plain storyline. He helped me prioritize what needed to go in the essay and what could be sidelined. His editing skills are impeccable. Greg can concise a lengthy essay into the set word limit, without compromising on the details and impact.

4) Video essay work – We worked on two video essays together – one for Kellogg and another for Georgetown. Both times, Greg supported me end-to-end. He would get very involved in the whole process and his inputs were valuable. He guided me not just on the preparation of the content of the video essay and my delivery, but also with being mindful about aesthetic factors like the attire and light and sound conditions.

5) Extreme attention to detail – Greg gives extreme attention to detail in all aspects of his work – from resume building, to essay edits, to composing emails, to formatting a document. Greg is tireless and diligent in his work and never compromises on quality even with the stringent timelines.

6) Depth of our mock interview-and-feedback sessions – Greg initiated video calls to simulate the interview experience. He was prepared with a set of questions for each school I was to interview with, and the whole experience helped me tremendously. Greg customized the interview prep for each school and did not make it generic. He was up to date with the research on each school and even scheduled more than one mocks when required. I felt so well prepared going into the actual interview because I had practiced with Greg.

7) Ongoing Q&A assistance – Greg is always available over mail to answer any query. He goes beyond his immediate role to assist you if he can help in any manner – like sharing information which he thinks might interest you, assistance in filling the application forms, and continued support through the whole process.

8) Other factors like availability, response time, professionalism, friendliness, positive energy – Greg was very professional and yet approachable and accommodative. There have been times when we have overshot the agreed time by an hour, but Greg would never leave me feeling like we have not concluded the conversation.

His energy makes one feel comfortable and that in turn makes brainstorming smoother. I shared a great rapport with him and I should give him most of the credit for it. His response time has been top-notch. At one point, we were to submit three applications in one day and Greg worked around the clock with me, at times running late into the night.

Outcome:

I applied to 8 schools, all in Round 2: Kellogg, Columbia, Cornell, Ross, UNC KFBS, CMU Tepper, USC Marshall, and Georgetown McDonough. I got admits from all three schools I interviewed with: Tepper, Marshall, and Georgetown. To top it, I got strong scholarship offers from both Tepper and Marshall. I am currently enrolled with Tepper with a $60K scholarship. I am extremely pleased with these results in context of my profile.

This fantastic outcome after nearly nine months of working tirelessly with Greg was a sheer delight! I felt Greg’s support throughout the process. He was always with me through successes and failures and cared genuinely about my success. We were true partners. Not only was he an excellent consultant, but he also went beyond his paid services to mentor me on few interviews which were not a part of the package. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Greg and would strongly recommend him to anyone who is considering an MBA consultant.

Apart from the fabulous outcome for which I shall always be grateful to Greg, I have also grown as an individual at many levels – I now compose better essays, can edit and review work more skillfully, and have also been able to define my post-MBA goals in the whole process. This preparation will hold me in good stead as I start MBA recruiting.

Hiring a consultant makes a huge difference to your candidacy, and I can vouch for Greg’s work! He is worth every penny!

TOP NOTCH EXPERIENCE | FULL SCHOLARSHIP AT TOP 40 U.S. PROGRAM DESPITE AVERAGE GMAT AND GRE

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​Profile:

- Indian Male with Engineering background
- GMAT – 660 (Q50, V29); GRE – 315 (Q166, V149); GPA – 9/10
- 7 years work experience in Data Science and Advanced Analytics with exposure to several impactful projects; Fortune 25 firm
- Domain knowledge in Retail and Healthcare
- Acquired knowledge in Finance through reading books and attending conferences

A step backward on my own:

I had my scores by the end of June and started out to apply for various business schools in Asia, US and Europe to meet the Round 1 deadlines. As I navigated through the application process by drafting my own essays and resume, I received reviews from my friends that the essays lacked punch and subsequently realized that I had wasted more than a month of precious time to create a below par application. It was at this instance that my friends directed me to seek the help of Avanti Prep and I decided to opt Greg as my admission consultant by initially leveraging GMAT Club’s moderator benefits, and then signing up for additional services beyond that.

Nature of our work together:

We began working together in November and Greg scheduled a free call to understand my interests and also explained me about how we would work during the course of my application. I decided to opt for his Hourly Services and we worked together for 17 hours encompassing a range of topics including School Selection (1 hour), Story Development (1 hour), Resume Reviews (4 hours), Essay Brainstorming (1 hour), Essay Reviews (5 hours), Recommender Strategy (1 hour) and Interview Prep (2.5 hours). Additionally, I also opted for Greg’s Scholarship Strategy (1.5 hours) to increase my scholarship amount in schools that I did not secure a full scholarship.

Although the official duration of service was 17 hours, the actual value derived from Greg’s reviews and my interaction with him was way more than the mentioned numeral, both in terms of benefit and even in terms of the actual time provided. Given the 17 hours invested, we utilized Questrom as the main focus of the Essay Reviews and Interview Prep, as it became my top choice and gave me the best chance to apply our work together to the other schools that I was applying. Through the process, Greg helped me to show my strengths, communicate detailed career goals and school interest and overcome my low verbal score through my essays and interviews.

Results:

I applied to 9 schools overall and received interview invites from 7 of them. I received admit offers from Questrom (full scholarship for MBA + MSDT), Katz (large scholarship), Cox (large scholarship) and Mason (large scholarship + GA). I was also waitlisted after interview at Simon, Maryland Smith and Krannert. Given my scores, our School Selection process was very meticulous. Using Greg’s direction to research various schools, I started to love Questrom, and we based our future work keeping Questrom in focus. Since I had already secured an admit from the school that I wanted to graduate with full ride, I did not make an effort to convert any of my waitlists.

Experience working with Greg:

The first thing that comes into my mind when I think about Greg is ‘Above and Beyond’. He did not let my scores be a deterrent for applying to Top 50 U.S. business schools. When he evaluated my profile, he conveyed to me that I have chances of securing an admit to the respective schools that I had shortlisted and began focusing on my strengths. He pushed me hard to bring about the experience that I had gained by working on several different projects and helped me leverage those insights to craft a brilliant resume and an impactful essay. Several weeks of deliberation over my essay with Story Development, Essay Brainstorming, Essay Reviews and tremendous attention to detail transformed my essay from a naive one to a sophisticated one. Looking at my final Questrom essay, I believed I had a chance.

I parallelly used Greg’s offered insights and advice to draft essays for other shortlisted schools and I was able to answer a variety of questions by referring to the time we had spent on Story Development, Essay Brainstorming and Essay Reviews. I am immensely happy to say that I received interview invites from almost every school that I had applied. I was even surprised to receive an interview invite from Cox within 90 minutes of submitting my application.

During the Interview Prep, we did a realistic Questrom mock interview and then a methodical feedback conversation covering every question, ranging from the main questions to the easier questions to the tougher questions. Greg gave me a chance to answer all the questions in a real interview format and then explained me how my answers could be improved. The Story Development and Essay Brainstorming played a crucial role yet again to connect my experience and strengths to answer the diverse questions that could be targeted at me during the interviews. Greg even pointed me to use the skills that I had gained outside of work to improve and diversify my interview responses. This helped me to get accustomed to the variety of questions that could be asked and I felt very confident during my interviews.

Finally, for an Indian applicant, the Hourly Services may seem expensive but Greg’s services are one of the most affordable you can obtain from an International Admission Consultant. The value you derive from Greg’s expertise is unmatched and you will start appreciating your results even before you reach the finish line. When I did reach the finish line, the return on my investment was already worth several multiples as I received a full scholarship to the school I loved the most despite my scores being only around average for that school.

INDIAN IT MALE: FULL SCHOLARSHIP TO TOP ~40 U.S. PROGRAM

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​It has been amazing working with Greg from Avanti Prep. The quality of service I received and results that I ended up with were way above my expectations. I worked with Greg on an hourly basis for my resume, essays, and interview prep and received a full scholarship to a top ~40 U.S. program.

I am an Indian IT Male with low GPA and ~680 GMAT. Greg helped me bring out positives in my profile and highlight them in the best possible way. He was kind enough to offer me a free hour of service to finish the process for one essay we were working on. In the beginning, I had some issues with the payment, but Greg was kind enough to start working even while he awaited payment.

In the resume, each of my bullet points were made much more direct, concise, and result oriented. Greg edited each of the points and even asked me for more specific information so that we could include those in the resume. He also helped highlight elements of my personal experiences that I had overlooked but that others would find interesting. After 3 complete round of reviews, my resume was completely transformed and strong enough to be submitted to any bschool .

Though my essays were already in good shape, Greg helped me to structure the content and bring out the “school fit” aspect. Greg helped me add a lot of school-specific content about fit with the culture, location and academics. These are the things that I had overlooked in my essays.

I reached out to Greg for interview preparation just 4 days prior to my actual interview. Even with such short notice, Greg was kind enough to help me. He conducted two very thorough mock interview and feedback sessions. The questions very closely reflected what I was asked in the actual interview, and thus I felt fully prepared to give clear, confident, specific, and concise answers.

Greg gave great feedback and helped me to refine and structure each and every one of my responses. He discussed every single one of my responses to the mock questions and offered detailed advice on a question by question basis. I cannot imagine it being any more thorough.

After the second mock, I had gained my confidence and was ready for my actual interview. Greg helped me put my best foot forward to get the dream result I had always wanted. He was extremely kind, friendly, and full of positive energy. Though I had availed just 3 hrs of interview preparation, the actual session went way beyond 4 hours. He also helped with post-interview thank-you notes.

Greg was always available for any questions and concerns I had during the process, and he remained available for the some email questions even after our time was up. We got a lot of queries resolved via email and all his responses were very quick. His response time was always less than 4 hours.

These services helped me to get an admit from Questrom School of Business with a full tuition fee waiver for the MBA plus MSDi program. I am extremely grateful to Avanti Prep for the guidance throughout the application process and would recommend Greg to anyone looking for an admissions consultant. Without Greg’s help, I would have never got into a business school with such a huge scholarship.

​For more reviews in this category, please visit GMAT Club and Poets & Quants
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INTERNATIONAL, PART-TIME, EXECUTIVE MBAs

THOROUGH AND THOUGHTFUL: MILITARY APPLICANT HEADING TO TOP INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM

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​I come from the military, graduated middle of my class from college with a double major and sub 3.0 GPA, and scored below 700 on my GMAT. I’ve had good military experience, but my low scores, condensed GMAT preparation and lack of familiarity with the professional landscape and business school process didn’t quite set me up for success in my applications. Working with Greg at Avanti Prep helped me overcome all of this and land a spot at my dream school.

I signed up for Avanti Prep’s Tier 3 Package and was thoroughly satisfied and impressed. Over the course of 9 months Greg comprehensively interviewed me to understand my life story and future goals, and assisted me with transforming those personal and professional stories into compelling essays and resume, strong interviews and a complete package to my schools.

From the story and process planning, school selection, school engagement (Greg helped me connect with veterans groups), essay brainstorming, essay and resume reviews, and hours upon hours of video calls and interview prep, Greg was there and fully committed every step of the way. I wholly recommend the Tier 3 Package, as Greg went above and beyond his obligations consistently throughout the journey and put in even more hours to assist me preparing for my interviews for which I had had little to no prior experience. He also helped guide me over countless resume iterations from having essentially no resume to one that’s received superb feedback from senior alumni and admissions personnel along the way.

I cannot stress enough how invaluable Greg was to the process. It takes a lot to win my trust, but through his skill and commitment Greg did just that, and I hope this conveys how highly I regard his work. Greg not only took time to understand my story, but to understand me. My goals and aspirations for school and my future quickly became his. Between my busy work schedule, Greg kept me driving to meet the deadlines I needed to meet. He lives and breathes through his clients’ stories, and he was without a doubt attached emotionally to the success and failures of my application process as any professional would be with their own work. If I could do it over again or recommend him to anyone, there is nobody I trust more to deliver than Greg.

I wholeheartedly endorse Greg to anyone looking to secure an admissions consultant and have already referred several friends to discuss their way forward on their business school journeys. If you are looking for top-tier quality and total commitment, then I recommend you do the same.

EXCELLENT EXPERIENCE - ABOVE AND BEYOND - TOP-NOTCH STORY DEV AND ESSAY/RESUME EDITING

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​I am from Korea and I have studied/worked in Europe and currently working in South East Asia. I have worked both in public and private sectors (tech). I had embarked on the MBA journey on my own with limited information and was struggling to bring together a coherent story with my non-traditional background. While I was getting anxious 1 month before the deadlines, I was fortunate to get the chance to work with Greg - as a result, I was able to submit not just a deeply satisfactory application in just a few weeks but build a narrative that I will carry for the rest of my career.

Greg went above and beyond in every aspect in this process. Especially in building the grander career narrative, he tapped into his network, researched and consulted his connections that I could not have done at all in my location. Having worked in a prestigious financial firm and also having earned a top MBA himself, he had the resources he could leverage and he did so in brilliant ways. We came up with a very specific and realistic career goal drawing from his research process, but one that is so perfect for my rather hybrid profile - which I had actually thought was unfocused before I worked with Greg. This was an amazing breakthrough - even beyond the application, I now have an attainable career goal and narrative unique to myself. I am only impressed by Greg's ability and dedication demonstrated in this process.

Greg is also a top-notch resume and essay editor. I was particularly impressed by what he had to offer on content development side – even on the parts related to my experience in public sector. His breadth of knowledge in various sectors possibly gained through the experience of working with a diverse portfolio of clients is certainly one of his strengths that will benefit applicants from various backgrounds.

Greg's edits/comments during the essay/resume revision process were also thorough, on point and insightful. One word in an essay may lay the ground for an emotional tone. He thinks through even that one word, which I was really grateful for (especially in the essay with more of a personal element; demonstrates his sensitivity). In overall, I felt like we made a great team - his comments were communicated very clearly, I could easily build on them and produce something better. I believe this synergetic interaction with the consultant is the key in producing a quality product unique to oneself.

I also cannot emphasize enough how both personable and professional he is. He understood my deep motivations and gave both encouraging and practical advice throughout the entire process. While I was so pressed for time, his overall attitude and sense of commitment just provided a huge comfort. He was always very responsive, returned the documents as per his commitment, and shared additional resources (I had 2 hours of consultations as well and he offered very helpful career/MBA resources beyond these engagements). I would say Greg was more than a consultant but a mentor and advisor who kept me with faith and drove me towards excellence during the challenging application journey.

I can’t thank him enough but in sum, Greg exceeded my expectations in every way. I would not hesitate to recommend him to future applicants!

INSEAD, IMD, KELLOGG 1Y: PERSONAL, DETAILED ATTENTION FROM GREG GOT ME INTO GREAT SCHOOLS!

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Short summary first if you don’t want to read the whole thing:

Thanks to Greg’s help, I was accepted to the Kellogg 1Y program, INSEAD, IMD, and USC, and I am convinced that I would not have been accepted had I not worked with Greg. Between the four schools, I received over $175,000 in scholarships. Since Greg is a small shop, he takes the time to get to know you personally and can really help you discover your voice. I consider myself a very compelling and articulate writer, but I was astonished at how much my essays improved after working with Greg. I would highly recommend working with Greg.

Longer version for those interested:

- Age: 31
- Sex: Male
- Nationality: American (Texas), white
- GMAT: 770
- Schools applied: Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg 1Y, USC, INSEAD, IMD
- Accepted to: Kellogg 1Y, INSEAD, IMD, USC
- Scholarships: Kellogg ($35k), IMD ($20k), and USC (Full ride)

Background- I have been working in my family healthcare business for the past five years after starting my career in hedge funds and private equity. As I saw things coming to a close in my family business, I started thinking about what’s next. In the absence of a clearly defined passion or desire, I wanted to go back to school to get some more credentials and take time to think. Coming to the game a little late, I was worried about crafting my story and articulating why I was ready to get my MBA.

One thing that Greg did very well was help me craft my narrative for very different schools. Because I don’t know exactly what I want, my applications ranged from going to USC to pursue a job in the entertainment industry to going to Kellogg to return to family business to going to INSEAD or IMD to pursue international consulting. Obviously Greg helped me identify the parts of my story that resonated with each, because I was able to secure a seat in each school.

I researched the heck out of admissions consultants, and I actually worked with 3 different consulting companies over the course of my admissions process. Greg and Avanti was the one that stuck in the end. I started out with a bigger, more well-known firm, and quickly felt like the process was too automated and impersonal, like a cookie-cutter approach. I was told form the beginning with the other firm that I had to follow a syllabus and they would email me changes. I said that I’d prefer to speak on the phone and they said that I had to schedule phone calls days in advance in order to speak to a human. Greg’s personal approach felt more aligned with my personality and communication style, so I went with Greg. He was always open for a phone call and would email me responses very quickly when I had questions. Greg even went out of his way to email me stuff when it crossed his mind, whether I had requested it or not. For example, I was visiting Tuck’s business school, and Greg emailed me that he knew a couple students there and got me in touch with them. I didn’t even ask. I thought it was very thoughtful and intentional. This characterizes how Greg goes above and beyond.

By the time I had started working with Greg, I had already put together some background info on myself mapping out my life story, motivators, etc, but I’m sure that he would have done this with me had I started out with him. We had a long call going over it and discussing major themes and motivating forces. These early conversations became the seeds of my later essays.

This isn’t probably how everyone likes to work, but I wrote multiple stream-of-consciousness essays for each school and then shot them off to Greg for a quick read. Greg would look at all the essays I’d written and give me feedback on which one he felt would work best as a final essay. Then we’d work together to polish the essay. THIS IS WHERE GREG REALLY SHINES. Like I stated above, I feel that my essays were pretty good to begin with, but boy was I wrong. Greg really made them more succinct, articulate, and in lots of place, more politically correct or less offensive. There were lots of times where he changed wording because I didn’t realize how something might come across as insensitive or something. Greg helped me really articulate to each school who I was, why I wanted an MBA from that school, and how I could contribute to each school. In the end, I truly believe that Greg’s help on my essays made the difference in my getting in or not, ESPECIALLY ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS, where it was a bit harder to explain why this white guy from Texas wanted to go get an MBA in France.
​
Greg didn’t nickel and dime me with time, and occasionally did stuff off the clock when he was personally interested in a question I had asked or something. Greg was always a pleasure to talk to and I genuinely enjoyed my time working with him. I highly recommend Greg. If you are looking for a very personal, highly communicative approach and a better value than the big names, Greg is the guy.
​
For the curious, I chose IMD. The personal, intimate, focused nature of the course seemed like the best fit for my personality type, even though it’s not as well-known as Kellogg or INSEAD. Kind of like Greg…I took a chance on the little guy and went with my heart based on feel, and I don’t regret it. I’m hoping I have the same experience at IMD.

HONEST AND INSIGHTFUL COACH - 4 ACCEPTANCES: INSEAD, KELLOGG, STERN, ROSS (FULL SCHOLARSHIP)

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​GMAT: 730+
GPA: below average for T15
International

Greg is a true mentor! Before I met Greg, I had a vague idea of my post-MBA goal, but I struggled to tie it to my existing experience and justify why I needed an MBA to achieve this goal. Greg was instrumental throughout my application journey as he guided me in crafting my story and aligning it with the culture of each school.

I worked with Greg to apply to five schools (all top US and international programs). We worked on all aspects of the application process, including essay reviews, recommender feedback, and interview prep. Greg was extremely thorough with his essay reviews, and his interview prep greatly aligned with the styles of each school.

Greg is also extremely transparent and will help find the best deal for you, depending on your situation. Initially, I had planned to purchase a package for each school; however, Greg pointed out that as the applications for my target schools were largely similar, it would be more cost-effective to opt for hourly services instead of multiple packages. As a result, I saved money by selecting hourly services for all five schools. Ultimately, I was admitted to 4/5 of these schools, including an M7 and a T15 with full scholarship.

OXFORD EMBA

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​Greg is outstanding. I was originally going to apply for tier 2 schools in Europe (where I live currently) but Greg encouraged me to go big. I was accepted into Oxford, Cambridge, and INSEAD, and received scholarships from Oxford and Cambridge. What I liked most was how flexible he was to accommodate my specific and (often) last-minute requests.

EXPERT GUIDANCE LEADING TO 2 M7 ADMISSIONS: BOOTH AND KELLOGG PTMBA

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​Background: 30M, India, 760 GMAT, 9+ years in the Tech Industry

​We spent 20+ hours together, focusing on everything from reflecting on my story to working on the application and preparing for the interviews. Right from the first call, Greg was super responsive. He was very transparent about the process and took the time to understand my background and goals. I signed up for hourly services with Greg, which was worth every penny. I would not have been able to achieve these results on my own. Result: I applied to Booth and Kellogg, got admitted to both, and received a scholarship offer from Booth.

I WOULD NOT BE AT THE SCHOOL OF MY DREAMS WITHOUT GREG (WHARTON EXECUTIVE MBA)

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​
​My journey to business school has been a long one, and without a doubt Greg is the reason I was finally able to begin this next step on my professional journey.

A bit of background: I’m a male, I studied Political Science at a top public university in the US, and I have very little quantitative background outside of taking some Calculus courses several years before applying. Professionally, I work in the non-profit/NGO space as a fundraiser – not necessarily your typical MBA-candidate profile. Academically, I had a lighter GPA than I was happy with applying and a test score around average for my target schools.

I didn’t realize that the MBA consulting industry existed until a very close friend shared that he had used one during his application cycle. As a liberal arts major I was skeptical of needing help with telling my story. After speaking to another close friend, he shared that he and Greg had gone to business school together, and that Greg worked in the industry.

After two initial information sessions with Greg and some internal debate, I eventually realized that having someone on my side who is an expert in the process and can help me be the best version of myself (regardless of what I thought of my own skills), would be invaluable. I also got feedback from friends who had used other admissions consulting firms, and quickly realized that Greg’s genuine desire to help you unlock your potential and share the best version of yourself with admissions committees set him and Avanti Prep apart.

Initially, as a non-traditional applicant, Greg helped me build a target school list as well as helped me craft my story. Then, unfortunately, I had a personal life-change that forced me to pause my application entirely and change my timeline. Greg was incredibly understanding and flexible through all my starts, stops, and pivots. When I was finally ready to return to the process and apply (2 cycles later), Greg was ready to dive back in and help me navigate everything.

Overall, I could not have been happier. Greg was a thought-partner, collaborator, coach, mentor, and so many other things through this process that land outside of his job description – but he did it because he cares and wanted me to succeed and achieve my goals. I’m particularly impressed with Greg’s attention to detail, precision in feedback, and expertise in telling compelling stories succinctly. And, his resume reviews are next-level.

My experiences with Greg exceeded all my expectations, and I’m happy to say that I’m at the school of my dreams – and without Greg, I don’t believe that would have been possible. I recommend Greg without any hesitation, and if you’re even considering his services, set up a call with him. You’ll be convinced after that, and you’ll be on your road to your dream business school with Avanti Prep as your partner.

COMPASSIONATE, PATIENT, AND GIFTED MENTOR: ADMITTED TO TOP-TIER IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL

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​Greg is an incredibly compassionate, patient, and gifted mentor. If you’re reading this, you’re likely feeling the stress and anxiety of the graduate school application process. Having Greg on my team was not only tactically helpful but provided a sense of security and support on an emotional level. Not only is Greg brilliant, but he’s incredibly patient and empathetic. He’s a consultant, mentor, and coach who deeply cares about his clients and works hard to ensure they’re set up for success.

Summary:
- Female (US)
- Undergraduate: Top 3 public university
- Career Background: 5 years in education; 9 years in multinational software company
- Admitted to dream program at a top-tier Ivy League graduate school

Unlike most of Avanti Prep’s clients, I was not seeking admission to an MBA program, but a unique social science master’s program at a top-tier Ivy league institution. Given it was the only program I was applying to, I was committed to doing everything I could to put my best foot forward. A close friend who worked with Greg strongly recommended I connect with him, and it was the best advice he could have given me. Greg took the time to learn about the program and what my needs were, specifically around my resume and application essays.

This was the first time I had sought and received professional support with my resume, and it was eye opening. We spent time discussing my various roles, and ultimately chose to approach it line-by-line, with Greg asking many clarifying questions along the way. He helped me synthesize my strengths and experiences, pushed me to dig deeper and identify compelling data points to strengthen my bullets, and encouraged me to add my community work and interests at the end, which I had never included before and gave it a more personal touch. We all know, formatting a resume is no easy feat, and Greg worked his magic to make sure I could fit everything cleanly on one page.

Most of our time together was spent on essays. Greg patiently listened as I shared my background and brainstorming, before helping me narrow my focus to tell the most compelling story I could. Our discussions were invaluable, from setting up the essay structure to developing my story and providing supporting evidence to strengthen my points. He challenged me to get specific and succinct, which was not always easy as I tend to get wordy in my writing.

Through this process, Greg helped me dig deep and get clear, not only on the essays and resume, but on what I want to do in the short and long term. He inspired me to dream big and I will be forever grateful for this. Needless to say, I highly recommend working with Greg and his team!

ACCEPTED WHARTON EMBA (WHITE, MALE, FINTECH)

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​Stats (730 on gmat, <3 gpa)
Fintech industry with engineering background

I had the luxury of hiring consultants from two companies. In round 1, I worked with one of [a large, well-known firm's] consultants. My cousin in her senior year of college was more helpful than anyone at this company.

In round 2, I reluctantly decided to try out another consultancy. This is when I found Greg. This guy is on a totally different level and it really showed from his first round of feedback. He developed a mastery of my target programs, my history, and my goals, enabling him to provide the best advice possible. Ended up getting into Berkeley and Wharton EMBA programs - landed at Wharton.

Greg billed me for a total of 18 hrs that included resume and essay work. In reality, the actual number was more than 25 hrs. This is also where Greg stood out. With Greg, 1 hour equals 10 hours at [a large, well-known firm].

Applications aside, Greg really helped me to craft my own personal narrative as I continue in both my career and my education.

Highly recommend Greg and anyone on his team. Take it from someone that actually tried two consultancies!!

EXCELLENT EXPERIENCE: ACCEPTED TO WHARTON EXECUTIVE MBA

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​Background:
- International working in the U.S.
- White male, early 30s
- Consulting (non-MBB)
- Mid-600s GMAT
- Lower-than-average work experience for Wharton’s EMBA

Choosing Avanti Prep:
A friend of mine recommended Greg when I was considering applying for an EMBA. This friend was admitted into Booth’s full-time program and heavily attributed this to Greg's assistance - so I knew I had to give Greg a call!

Initial Experience:
Even from the initial consult, I knew that Greg was a straight shooter and provided direct, honest, yet fair and friendly feedback. He provided me with realistic expectations - focusing on how to unpack the strengths in my profile and overcome what was lacking in my application: lower GMAT from a crowded personal and professional demographic and applying with several years less experience than the traditional EMBA applicant. I took Greg's comments seriously and knew that my story, essays, and recommendations would need to stand out from the crowd.

Process and Reviews:
Along with enhancing my resume, Greg’s input really stood out in storytelling and essays, which for Wharton’s EMBA can span up to four essays. In the essays related to career objectives, why Wharton, and what I could give to Wharton, Greg continually pushed me to provide more specific school references and articulate those references with real depth and sincerity. This was intensely frustrating at times, however upon reflection I understand why it was necessary. At first, my essay read like a laundry list from Wharton's website, however Greg pushed me to write about the "why" more than the "what," and “how” all of this fit into my overall goals, desired growth, and intended contributions. For example, he forced me to question how exactly I hoped to grow both in the classroom and out, why this was necessary given my goals, what unique contributions I could make to the class, and what specifically appealed about certain classes, professors, and program offerings. As such, my essays transformed from a simple regurgitation exercise into a thought-provoking and intensely personal articulation of reasons for my choices.

At the same time, Greg’s guidance was instrumental in helping to infuse my essays with a sense of passion, purpose, and personal stories. I felt I was therefore able to convey a strong blend of the professional and the personal, and tell my story in a way that truly reflected who I am and what I wanted to share. Without Greg's assistance - and constant reminders - I would not have honed my essays into what they became: sharp, pointed, personal, and engaging.

Greg also helped me proactively approach some of the weaknesses my application; these included a less than stellar GMAT score (we were diligent in brainstorming and articulating the other areas from which I could showcase my analytical and quantitative abilities) and lesser work experience than other EMBA candidates (we were equally diligent in brainstorming and articulating the unique contributions that I could make to the class at this stage of my career).

Overall, Greg's attention to detail, tremendous command of the English language, and vast experience helping others in their MBA journey helped provide me with the confidence that I had done everything I could to maximize my application. Greg was also considerate of my workload and always provided ample time for review and feedback that fit within my busy schedule.

EXCELLENT SERVICE, ATTENTION TO DETAIL, & HOLISTIC THINKING - ACCEPTED TO WHARTON

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​I worked with Greg to prepare my essays, CV, and overall application for Wharton. From day 1, he went above and beyond to understand my story, identify strengths and weaknesses, and help me articulate everything I wanted to say in the most effective and concise way. One of the key highlights of my partnership with Greg was that I always felt I was a priority, which showed in the quality and timeliness of his insights and advice. He understood the school, what was important, and how to bring various elements together to maximize impact. Finally, his style shows a great balance between professionalism and friendliness. I highly recommend Greg and would not hesitate to work with him again.

A COACH YOU CAN TRUST 100% & MAXIMIZES ADMIT ODDS

Posted on and independently verified by Poets & Quants
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​OVERALL
– Gives 100% effort into your success
– Thinks of every detail of your application more than you do
– Looks for all angles to make you successful
– answers/addresses all your concerns/questions until you are satisfied
– Is available when you need/provides timely responses
– Maximizes your odds to get into your dream schools
– Provides extremely thorough interview preparation
– Most importantly – a coach you can trust 100%

BACKGROUND
– Male
– Engineering
– 5 years work experience
– GMAT 700
– Undergrad 3.2 – Grad 3.8 – graduated from “ok” schools

RESULTS
I applied to 5 top schools (part-time and full-time programs) in round 2. I started application prep 3 months before the application which gave me enough time. I also worked with Greg for school interviews which took 1-2 months.

Throughout this time, I really enjoyed working with Greg. He was there for me during the entire time and continuously supported me. He made the entire process very manageable, less stressful, and much more organized for me.

With Greg’s support, I got 3 admissions from top-tier part-time programs (2 of them with scholarship). I got waitlisted by a top-tier full-time program, and I got rejected by another top-tier full-time program. I am very thankful to Greg for his continuous support and guidance. I could not have gotten these results without him.

REFLECTIONS
Was I disappointed by one waitlist and one rejection?
The answer is yes, though these were some of the most difficult full-time programs.

If I worked with another coach, would I have gotten a better result?
The answer is no.

Do I feel that I and my coach did our best?
The answer is yes.

Would I recommend working with Greg?
The answer is ABSOLUTELY. Like I mentioned above, if you are looking for a coach whom you can trust and who will maximize your odds, the answer is Greg.

COMPARISONS TO ANOTHER FIRM

I would love to note here that before working with Greg, I briefly worked with another coach from a big firm. The difference between the previous and Greg was like night and day.

The previous coach made our sessions feel like pure transactions. On the other hand, Greg was like my friend who wanted my success.
Don’t get me wrong. This is Greg’s job and I paid for his services, but I never felt that I was a customer who could be used/manipulated to earn more money. Time wise, Greg was there for me always. I can’t count how many emails/documents he reviewed without billing me.

I also felt like the previous coach was not fully listening to me/trying to come up with the best strategies for my success. Whereas Greg was listening/paying attention to all details of what I said/wrote and my background to come up with the best possible strategy/feedback, etc.

Maybe I just encountered a very bad coach and I cannot generalize this style to the entire industry. But I just wanted to mention this to make sure you know that you will be in very good hands if you decide to work with Greg.

Good luck to all!!

​For more reviews in this category, please visit GMAT Club and Poets & Quants
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INTERVIEW PREP ONLY

84% of our clients work with us on Interview Prep — so almost every review in every other section will also cover Interview Prep

100% INTERVIEW SUCCESS RATE (INCLUDING HBS) WITH AVANTI INTERVIEW PREP

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​Background: International, software developer, GMAT 750, GPA: N/A, GPAs not used

I worked with Greg from Avanti on my interviews, primarily my HBS interview. I met him through a group interview prep session he held for an organization I was affiliated with, and I instantly understood why people use consultants. When they’re good, they are absolutely worth it!

I had worked on my applications alone up until that point, not expecting much to be honest. But once I got the interview invites from HBS and the other schools, I knew I had to put my best foot forward.

Before working with Avanti, I had one sub-par mock interview with a very well-known consultancy service that left me feeling hopeless and considering withdrawing from HBS’s interview process. But Greg’s encouraging approach really brought out the best in me and helped me see that I had a good chance of getting in if I had the right technique. I signed up for Avanti’s 3-hour interview prep package split across 2 sessions: an HBS Interview Prep strategy/response design session and a personalized HBS mock interview and feedback session.

Overall, Greg was an absolute pleasure to work with! He understood all the nuances of how the HBS interview works and he had obviously done a lot of work before our session to make sure that my mock interview experience was as close to the real thing as possible. And beyond prepping for specific questions, he taught me a general approach to structuring my answers that would work in any scenario. That approach was very useful not just in my HBS interview but for the other school interviews I had. Greg helped me recognize any weaknesses in my application that could come up in the interview and prepare for anything that HBS could throw at me. He really went above and beyond; even though I had booked only 3 hours, he actually worked with me for 4 hours despite some personal constraints.

Just before ending our last session, Greg told me that he knew I would do great. I don’t know if he says that to everybody 😀 but those were the exact words I needed to hear going into my interviews. And he was right! I got into all four schools I interviewed with – a 100% success rate – including HBS!

After getting in, I also got an email from Greg recommending pre-MBA programs to check out, giving me a fantastic head start on recruitment. That’s the level of dedication and commitment that you get from Avanti Prep.​

HBS / STANFORD GSB ADMIT

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I got an hourly preparation service for mock-up interview with Greg and found it very useful for my upcoming interview with HSB and GSB. The good things were:

1) very close to the real experience the type of questions Greg asked and similar pace to the real interview;

2) thorough feedback and detailed analysis of the performance with comments on both verbal and emotional performance, as well as specific wording and stylistic element;

3) willingness to spend the time to cover everything I had concern with.
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I would mention Greg balance of friendliness and professionalism, which created perfect atmosphere for the mock-up interview.

INTERVIEW PREP: GREG WENT OVER AND ABOVE TO ADD PERSONALIZED VALUE

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​Indian Male, GMAT:760, 2.7 years manufacturing work exp (3.5 years while matriculating)

I found about Avanti Prep from a friend. We worked together for Interview Prep. It was a great experience. Greg took the time to understand and assess me. He gave feedback on the areas where I could improve. He had specific insight into each school’s interview styles. He helped me identify my best stories and gave me a format and strategy to approach different interview questions.

I was aware of my skills and qualities which I was highlighting in the answers. But Greg made me realize how I could take more initiative and customize my answers to the school culture. This added a great value and helped me make a strong impression as schools looks look not just for people with skills but for someone who plans to create meaningful impact in the school.

Greg’s approach was very personalized. He went significantly over and above his time commitment and took a lot of time in brainstorming my strategy for each answer. Because of his coaching I was able to market myself well in the interviews as someone who doesn’t just participate in school events but also actively takes initiative and will lead various student programs.

I would strongly recommend Avanti Prep.

GREG MADE THE DIFFERENCE - ACCEPTED TO TOP 10 MBA PROGRAM

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​After reading reviews about Greg on GMAT Club and Poets and Quants, and watching his interview preparation videos on youtube (I would highly recommend you watch). I decided to reach out to Greg to seek his assistance in my interview at a top 10 MBA program. Beforehand I was undecided whether I should hire an admissions consultant. In retrospect, I can honestly say this was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Greg made the absolute difference in my admission, the insight and experience that Greg was invaluable based on his own MBA admission experience, along with the unique perspectives he has over the several years working with students from a multitude of programs. Giving you the tips that otherwise you would not have access to, to help you stand out against the crowd.

What made the difference was Greg’s one to one nature to the interviews. We talked through MBA mock interview questions. I shared my pre-prepared interview responses, afterwards Greg provided tailored and personalized feedback on key points of improvement, both in terms of content and presentation style with his unique expert perspectives. Wholeheartedly, when I compare my interview responses before and after, it's just a night and day difference. All I can say is, if you are on the fence - just reach out to Greg. It could be the decision that changes the course of your life!

GREAT HELP WITH INTERVIEW PREP & SCHOLARSHIP NEGOTIATION - T10 & T15 ADMITS WITH 100K IN SCHOLARSHIPS

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Review title comes from the applicant's Poets & Quants submission

​My background:

Indian male, 30 years old, first-time applicant
Undergrad: IIT
Postgrad in Marketing from a Top 5 communications school in Asia
5.5 years of work experience in advertising, branding, and product marketing roles
GMAT: 750

When I decided to apply to business schools, my profile had a few obstacles that usually end up crushing most applicants’ dreams - a highly competitive demographic pool, age, no blue-chip employers on the resume, several job switches, and what some schools would consider a second MBA situation as well. I applied to an M7, two T10, and two T15 programs.

Things I worked on with Greg:

I had the opportunity to work with Greg for the interview prep through the GMATClub moderator scholarship.

Greg offered to set up a free 30-minute consultation call to understand my profile and goals better. Even though this is somewhat standard practice with admissions consultants, what really stood out for me was that Greg offered the same level of support to a ‘non-paying’ (scholarship) client like me as he would have to a paying client. For me, this spoke highly about the level of support I could expect from him in the future. By the end of the call, I felt that he had a great understanding of where I was in the application process and accordingly suggested the service that would benefit me the most.

Greg and I decided to work on interview prep for two schools where I had been invited to interview - one a T10 and one a T15 (I had already finished interviewing for the M7 school). We did two full-length Interview prep sessions, each of which included a 1-hour school-specific mock interview session followed by a 1.5-hour question-by-question analysis and feedback session, which in reality lasted longer than that (at no extra cost).
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Besides this, Greg also went above and beyond and offered free advice and tips for my other interview at a T15 school.

Based on my positive experience working with Greg and the results (see below), I also took an hour of Greg’s service for scholarship negotiations and was not disappointed there as well!

My results:

I got into the two T15 schools, one offered me a $40k scholarship and the other offered a 50k scholarship!

(Even though I did not get into the other T10 school that we did the interview prep for, it’s worth mentioning that that school is one of the most selective ones and was a stretch school to begin with. I definitely felt much more confident going into the interview with Greg’s insightful help and preparation than I would have otherwise.)

Further, I used Greg’s help to negotiate scholarships at both the schools where I was admitted. For this, I took one hour of service with him, which involved one strategy discussion call and one review of negotiation emails for each school. It was heartwarming to see that Greg didn’t just stop at helping me secure admits but wanted me to get the best possible outcome in terms of scholarship as well, and he ended up spending more than 1.5 hours providing thoughtful feedback and edits.

One of the T15 schools came back and offered 10k more!! That is a 40x ROI, and even that doesn’t speak enough of Greg’s expertise!

What made working with Greg awesome:

Right from our first interaction, I felt that Greg was really invested in my success, even though we hadn’t worked on my applications from the start, and I was essentially availing his Interview Prep services for free. Having heard stories of how controlling and money-minded some admissions consultants can be, it was refreshing to see Greg’s commitment to ensure that I achieved the best possible outcome.

His Interview Prep sessions were extensive and tailored to the specific school in question. For both the Prep sessions, not only did Greg conduct a one-hour mock interview, but he also followed it up with well-researched and comprehensive guides of questions for each school. Beyond that, his experience and knowledge of what specific schools and AdComs are looking for immensely helped my response preparation.

During the feedback sessions, Greg’s attention to detail really stood out. He was able to provide laser-sharp feedback, which helped me work on specific areas in my responses. Again, during all this, I felt there were many times when Greg went above and beyond our official engagement - whether it was spending 3 hours instead of the originally committed 2.5 or accommodating Interview Prep in his schedule on short notices as soon as I received the interview invites, or even taking the time to provide detailed responses to my questions over email as soon as he could.

Similarly, I credit his communication expertise and meticulous feedback on my negotiation emails with the 10k bump that I received from the T15 school.

Overall, I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Greg and achieve two great admits with scholarships! I would wholeheartedly recommend Greg for his thorough professionalism, personalized coaching, attention to detail, and unmatched dedication and commitment to the applicant’s success.

COLUMBIA ADMIT – EXTENSIVE INTERVIEW PREP

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I reached out to Avanti Prep once I received my interview invite from Columbia. Having been rejected from M7 schools in the previous application cycle with almost the exact same profile (extremely competitive demographic, 740 GMAT, 6 years work-ex), I wanted to make sure I converted my chances this time around.

I had already given a couple of interviews with other schools and my preparation was decent, but after my Columbia mock interview with Greg, I felt confident that I was going to do well in my interview. For starters, what was scheduled to be a 2.5hr call went on for ~4hrs due to the level of detail Greg dives into while not only analyzing answers to each question – but also helping me stitch through a cohesive story across all questions to create a solid narrative.

Greg customized the questions and mock interview experience so they were ‘Columbia–like’ which was extremely valuable to me. Columbia interviews tend to include questions that focus on industry trends, key focus of the industry etc. that are unlike questions asked in other business schools interviews which can throw a candidate off-guard if not prepared for questions like these. Greg covered how to approach these in detail.

Another key highlight for me was how Greg was able to emphasize on key points (passion for Columbia, my contributions to Columbia) I had to convey during the interview. It so happened that my interviewer did not end up asking me the question on how I wish to contribute to Columbia, but because of the strategic prep I was able to turnaround a related question and convey my thoughts on how I would contribute.

Lastly, a big takeaway for me was how Greg was able to help me understand how I was being perceived. On a couple of instances, Greg recommended I not use certain words or change my delivery of certain phrases because they could be perceived unfavorably. This level of feedback I thought can only come from a seasoned interviewer and greatly improved my confidence because I now had almost no second thoughts about anything I was going to say.

Greg is definitely someone I would recommend working with; I think his greatest quality is in working to get the absolute best outcome for you without being bothered by how much additional work he will have to put in. So much so, that after a 4hr mock Columbia interview, Greg chatted with me for almost an hour helping me decide between Darden and Fuqua and which school I should go for – he hadn’t even helped me with the application for those schools. The good news is that the Darden versus Fuqua decision didn’t end up mattering because I got into Columbia!

THE BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK: ACCEPTED TO MIT SLOAN

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I found Greg / Avanti Prep through the GMAT Club consultants review and reached out for a free consultation. I had applied to a lot of top schools in round 1, but didn't get any interviews except for MIT Sloan. Wanting to maximize my chances, I did an interview prep session with Greg. During the free consultation, we clicked immediately, and Greg offered a lot of great advice beyond just the interview related ones. During our interview prep session, Greg conducted an elaborate interview in the MIT-specific style. We then spent even more time for him to give me even more detailed feedback for every single question. For the actual interview, I felt very confident because we had practiced almost every single one of the questions asked. I ended up getting into MIT Sloan!

GREAT HELP WITH INTERVIEW PREP - ADMITTED TO STANFORD, HBS & HAAS!

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I contacted Greg after submitting my application to Berkeley Haas last application season and decided to use his interview prep services after receiving the interview invite.

During the session, I realized I was not very well prepared for the actual interview, but Greg gave me very thorough and detailed feedback after the mock and helped me prepare better for the interview questions. He pointed out what were my problems when answering the questions, what I had to focus on during the interview, how I had to structure the answers, what topics I had to focus on. He also gave me tips about how I had to behave during the interview and what qualities I had to emphasize about myself. I was admitted to Haas last year! Although I was not able to attend the MBA program due to some personal reasons, Greg’s initial help with interview prep helped me immensely during the next application cycle and I was able to gain admission to Stanford GSB and HBS!

I am confident that Greg’s very detailed help with interview prep played a critical part in my success, giving me confidence and ability to correctly choose and structure my answers – I was admitted to three top schools!

GOT INTO TOP CHOICE WITH GREG’S INTERVIEW HELP!

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There’s something to be said about going with a smaller consultancy and getting non-canned, dedicated support. Greg was exactly that - if you want thoughtful, dedicated and tailored advice, I would highly suggest his services. I paid higher fees for Manhattan Prep and I can guarantee he is so much more worth it hour vs. hour - no comparison. He’s a great blend of very knowledgeable and very supportive, which address the two biggest stresses of the MBA application process: the intellectual challenge of getting in and the emotional roller-coaster of the process. I am thrilled to say with his interview prep support, I got into my top choice - and I really don’t know if I would’ve had it not been for Greg!

UNPARALLELED LEVEL OF CARE, DEPTH AND PERSONALIZATION

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GMAT 710, GPA 3-64, East European male, Analyst at Big-3 management consultancy.

I enrolled in one full Interview Prep session, which included a mock interview in the style of Booth, followed by a comprehensive feedback session. The session was scheduled for 2 hours and 30 minutes; we ended up going for 3 hours and 45 minutes.

This experience greatly deepened my insights about the interview process and helped me structure my mind and my story. I was able to communicate key ideas in a top-down way and Greg helped me shape my ideas in an easy to digest way.

I signed up for this session because of an expected beyond the average level of care. My hopes were fully fulfilled: I received unparalleled help in terms of the number of structured frameworks and of tailored support – Greg a great length to support me – well beyond expected hours and much greater personalization.

It included extra time, emails before and after, examples, results of research, specificity and attention to detail during interview prep, the similarity of the style to the real Booth interview.
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I felt much better prepared than to any previous interview.
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The result was a very personal and friendly engaging interview with a top manager of an India oil and gas corporation. My interview was very happy to see the “Booth” mindset and other aspects of “fit”. I am waiting for the final words from the AdCom.

RE-INTERVIEWED AT HARVARD/STANFORD, ADMITTED WITH GREG’S INTERVIEW PREP SUPPORT!

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While an interview invitation may feel like an exhale, I’ve come to realize that it’s merely a half-way point – while a strong essay/application might get you ‘in the door,’ the interview is an opportunity to get in front of a member of the admissions committee and make a personal and direct case for admission. As a somewhat ‘vanilla’ candidate (graduated from Big 10 public university, 750+ GMAT, white male), I was determined to make the most of my opportunity.

I sought out an admissions consultant to conduct ‘mock interviews’ for HBS and Stanford. Through this process, I hoped to receive a strategic read of my application to identify likely interview directions, blunt feedback on my presentation style and anecdotes used, and support for HBS’ post-interview reflection.

Greg Guglielmo from Avanti Prep provided all three, far exceeding my expectations and going above-and-beyond the call to support my candidacy and contribute to my ultimate admission.

In advance of our first interview session (for GSB) I sent Greg my application materials. Through the course of our 1.5-2 hour mock interview via Skype, Greg’s familiarity with these materials, far beyond a cursory glance at my resume, was evident. His style closely followed the anecdotal nature of the GSB interview, and struck a balance between being informal and professional.

Following the interview session, Greg provided pointed feedback on my stronger and weaker answers, as well as more holistic feedback on my delivery, storytelling and the organization of my thoughts. His advice was actionable, and given the 1-2 week lead time that Greg recommends between mock interviews and the actual thing, implemented in the interview itself. The HBS session was both similar in its professionalism and different in the interview style itself - though again, very much akin to the actual HBS interview.

Following both conversations, Greg provided a very helpful summary of the key takeaways from our conversation, and pointed me in the direction of helpful resources available online. Rather than trying to upsell or get me to commit to more hours, Greg truly maximized the hours that I paid, and never made me feel as if I was imposing or requiring of additional spend.

Greg’s support of my post-Interview reflection was similarly no exception, as he provided significant push-back to the initial draft of the reflection sent, leading me to ultimately scrap my initial approach after considering Greg’s considered feedback. Even leading up to the busy Thanksgiving season, Greg was available and supportive.

After receiving admission to both HBS and Stanford, I reached out to Greg to see whether he would be willing to acquaint me with a dual admit client of his. Greg put me in touch with a HBS student who went through the same decision as me the year prior. The student provided insights that were very helpful towards my ultimate decision, a point-of-view that I would have never gotten if not for Greg’s support.

In a crowded field with no shortage of generic and impersonal consultants, I found Greg to be an enthusiastic breath of fresh air. I wholeheartedly recommend Greg based on my interview prep experience with him.

​For more reviews in this category, please visit GMAT Club and Poets & Quants
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