Starting my MBA application from Ukraine, I knew I needed expert help. My first meeting with Preeti Wadekar from The Red Pen confirmed I made the right choice. Her genuine interest in my story during our Google Meet session was encouraging.

Unlike traditional email exchanges, The Red Pen used a WhatsApp group for communication, which made discussions prompt and straightforward. This approach made the entire process more accessible and efficient.

Preeti helped me delve into my personal and professional experiences, guiding me to understand and articulate my story better. Our discussions were not just about filling out an application; they were about discovering which aspects of my life were most impactful and relevant to my MBA aspirations.

Anju Goela’s expertise in crafting straightforward, descriptive pointers was crucial. Her demand for excellence pushed me to refine my pointers multiple times, ensuring they were as strong as possible. Anju was also empathetic and shared cultural insights, adding depth to our relationship.

Natasha Mankikar was instrumental in connecting my life stories to create a cohesive and compelling application. Her creativity and strategic thinking were very important as well to my acceptance to NYU Stern. Natasha was always ready to discuss ideas and fine-tune our approach.

The mock interview preparations with Garima Agarwal for Stern and Montu Gupta for another program were invaluable. Garima's thorough preparation and nuanced questions reflected her deep understanding of the interview process. Montu’s feedback was insightful, providing me with clear direction on how to improve. His advice was so beneficial that I transcribed our session to revisit his guidance.

I am deeply thankful to the entire team at The Red Pen, especially Dr. Kimberly, Preeti, Anju, Natasha, Garima, and Montu, for their support and professionalism throughout my MBA application journey. Their guidance was not just about getting into an MBA program; it was about understanding my strengths and how to present them effectively.

Working with The Red Pen was a significant factor in my successful application to NYU Stern. Their approach was personalized, their feedback was precise, and their support was consistent. For anyone seeking guidance through the complex MBA application process, I highly recommend The Red Pen for their professional and effective support.

Read More

I worked with Preeti as my Lead Consultant, along with Smita, Srishti, Ritu and Prerna.
The process was smooth and made me self-reflect multiple times to bring out the best as well as the most learning experiences of my life.
The Get-to-know-yourself document is a game changer.
We worked in multiple iterations on each essay and LOR to come out with the answer that best suits me and the respective school.
I got admits from all the 3 schools that I applied to (LBS, Oxford, Cambridge). I also got 100% scholarship from Oxford and 60% scholarship from LBS.
The contribution done by TRP team in the form of their support and guidance made all this possible.

Read More

TLDR: I had a dream M7 school in my mind right from the beginning when I started my school research. I ended up getting admitted into that same school. It would be impossible to achieve that without The Red Pen team - Preeti, Natasha, Ritu, Prerna, Anju, and Kim.

I signed up with The Red Pen based on the recommendation of my friend who got into Wharton last year. I had made multiple switches in my career and was not strong on my extra-curriculars, but regardless had some good highlights in my story as well. Looking at the process, I was unsure about how to approach it and make sure everything was inch perfect. This is where the entire Red Pen team came in. They made me thoroughly analyze my life journey, helping me discover some unique experiences which were crucial in shaping my outlook in life.

Preeti and Natasha helped me write my thoughts into original essays, without ever asking me to follow any standard template. Natasha really helped in bringing out the best of content and Preeti was solid on pointing out any misdirection in my story. It often felt like I was working with two brilliant consultants at once and helped me gather multiple points of view in every interaction.

Ritu did a great job with my resume, making sure all the highlights are carefully captured without wasting too much space. With Preeti's guidance, my final resume was an optimal balance of professional excellence, academic highlights, and extra-curricular engagements.

Shoutout to Anju, who helped me with the letters of recommendations throughout the journey. One of things I was struggling with was the fact that my recommenders were related to me in similar functional roles and their content had a lot of intersection. Anju made sure that the LoRs were distinct and highlighted different aspects of my contributions.

Lastly, I got waitlisted in Round 1 from my dream school. This is one aspect where Anju really shined. She helped me navigate the waitlist by preparing multiple updates for the admissions committee, which resulted in my acceptance into my dream school.

I would also call out the contributions of Kim, who helped me identify areas of weakness in my interview skills, which reflected in my Round 2 performance.

All in all, I am very happy to have signed up with The Red Pen. They have a great team and make their best attempt to bring out the most unique and original story of a candidate, while ensuring that the story is something that would catch the AdCom's attention. Highly recommend to anyone who is starting off with their MBA prep. Cheers!

Read More

The Red Pen group had the right resources and focus to help me apply across 4 major schools in a single round. I got in touch with them right before my GMAT and used their support and services till the end through the interview stages. Not only was their group professional throughout the engagement, they put in efforts to keep the stress levels low. They met my expectations at every stage and eventually I did get selected to all my top choices - HBS/ Wharton/ Insead/ LBS. I would highly recommend the Red Pen group to all future applicants across US and European schools.

Read More

The Red Pen is one of the most sort out and highly professional team who are highly skilled at what they do. They not helped me in getting in my dream school but they improved how I thought of things made my thinking much clearer and objective. They not only help with essays and other requirements but also help post completion of your essays they really support on interviews as well which makes you stand out from the crowd. I recommend this to anyone & everyone who seriously seeks a B-school admit to their dream school and aims to get a good scholarship should seek their consultancy.

Read More

The entire team of TRP was extremely professional since the day I signed up with them. Their professionalism is matched only by their willingness to go over and beyond when it comes to helping aspiring candidates put their best foot forward. They were able to make sense of the jumble of thoughts and ideas that I shared with them in the first few calls and helped me craft applications that I was proud of. I received multiple MBA admits (with sizeable scholarships) in the programs that I applied for with them. I was able to use the material I created with them to receive admits with scholarships from other schools that I applied to on my own as well.
Signing up with TRP early in my applications journey is probably one of the smartest things I did! Thank you so much, especially to Preeti, Ridhi, and Anju for their endless support.

Read More

My experience with the Red Pen for US MBA applications was great! I used their comprehensive services for Round 1 of the 21-22 cycle, and have an admit offer from my dream school (with a full-tuition scholarship), plus other admits and interview invites (which I declined for personal reasons).

They have a well-structured process, from the beginning when they spend a lot of time getting to know you and your stories and then help you structure those according to each school's essay prompts. They use an online system that's easy to navigate and saves a lot of confusion between draft versions.

Coming from a non-traditional background in an over-represented demographic, and targeting top US B-Schools - I was quite anxious about how this would turn out. You are paired with a Lead Consultant and a Content Specialist, and I was paired with Nikhilesh (a Wharton MBA himself) and Ankita. They gave me immense support throughout the process and helped me with countless edits on even the most abstract essays, finally even going over each detail of the online application forms. But that's not to say that you won't have to put in the effort yourself! You need to do your own research and need to be very clear about what you want from your MBA.

Highly recommend the Red Pen's MBA services.

Read More

My experience of working with with TRP (The Red Pen) for my Round 2 applications in the 2021-22 application cycle, was a fantastic one. The one thing that stood out for me about them was the fact that they had a team of experts working with you on different aspects of your application rather than the one person assisting you all your essays, resumes, and LoRs.

In my case, Preeti, the lead consultant was crucial in bringing out the best in me. She made me introspect a lot and was influential in crafting my story which included various different aspects of my life.

Working with Natasha, I can say with full confidence that she is truly a content specialist. She played a massive role in bringing life into my essays as well as resume. As for the LoRs, I worked with Smita and Anju, and they were both incredibly helpful in making me understand what pointers I had to give my recommenders to enable them to write the letter of recommendation.

The other thing I loved about them was the fact that they never discouraged me to applying to any school. They were always supportive and made sure they could do everything they can to get the best out of me.

I'd certainly recommend working with them!

Read More

A big thank you to the TRP team for helping me secure an admission to my dream B-school.

Safe to say it would not have been possible without them. I had some gaps in my apps which the TRP team thought through with me, bridged and made up for through the essays. The team was also very easy to work with and very approachable - which for me was the most important consideration.

I have worked with and spoken to other consultants in the past and beleieve the depth of experience of the TRP team is unmatched. Would definitely give the whole experience 5 stars !

Happy to speak and connect if you need any specific feedback on my experience as well.

Read More

I signed up with TRP for my applications to business schools. I was paired with Mitrabina Sen. The best part was that she took the time to dive into my personal experiences and made sure my essay was unique. The mock interview preparation with Preeti was very similar to how my actual Interview was, it prepared me extremely well. The assistance given for the letter of recommendations by Anju, resume by Natasha was also to the point and detailed, catered to each individual profile. I did get into my dream school. Preeti has also individually taken out time to look into my application and continues to guide me to date

Read More