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!

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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 MBAmission'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 Berkely 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 MBAmission.

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!!

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• 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.

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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.

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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!

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