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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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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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!!

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[b][u]Profile:[/u][/b]

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

[b][u]Background:[/u][/b]

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.

[u]NOTE:[/u] 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.

[b][u]Process:[/u][/b]

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".

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