Admissions Gateway Consultants are scammers. They are incompetent in the MBA admissions consultancy business and are one of the worst. My honest feedback to all aspirants is to stay away from them.
I posted this before on reddit and somehow it got removed in 15 mins. All comments from other people who faced the same thing with them also got deleted. My account got banned too. Maybe AG influenced it somehow.
I graduated from an older IIT with 8+ GPA and 334 GRE. Had written research papers before the AI boom, led sports and social initiatives, ran a welfare project with 200+ IIT students. Co-founded a sustainability startup after college but COVID killed it in 2 years. Then 4 years in sustainability consulting at a big global firm, international projects, promotions, good recs. I knew M7 was tough but I thought I had a shot at top US programs.
Mudit Gupta from admissions gateway consultants sold me hard. Showed me M7 stories, Poets & Quants and some impressive admits. He showed sample MBA essays which looking back I have no clue if they were even real. I kept hearing Rajdeep Chimni's name but was told he's too busy. Another consultant will follow same process. That was a lie.
They gave me a junior consultant, Aman Tomar who was working at BCG. Smart guy but impossible to reach. Calls cancelled constantly, replies delayed. Most "guidance" from him was watch their videos or read their sample docs. When my essay was 300 words over limit, feedback was just "be more concise." No concrete help. I was figuring it out myself after paying around 10 lacs.
I complained to Mudit Gupta, asked to switch. He said another consultant can be assigned and Rajdeep Chimni will speak to me himself and he is the top admission consultant in the world also the partner at Admissions Gateway Consultants. Neither happened.
Round 1: zero interviews. They said stay optimistic. Round 2: zero interviews, zero admits. Then they said maybe I'm just not an M7 candidate. After giving about 10 lacs and months of hard work, that stung.
Then the worst part. I said I'm unhappy and leaving an honest review. They warned me going public could hurt my career. Said they have strong network in US companies and can affect future employment, even create problems with my job in India. Don't know if they were serious or just scaring me but it worked. I was already devastated from the cycle.
Later I applied again with Menlo Coacihng and Petia Whitmore. Fees were basically same as AG which surprised me. Night and day difference. Actually collaborative, detailed feedback, got into my target school. Now studying abroad.
Not here to discourage anyone from b-school. Just want people to know my reality was nothing like the sales pitch. If you're considering AG Consultants, ask: Who actually works with you? How much 1-on-1 time? Will Rajdeep Chimni or Mudit Gupta personally be involved?
PS: I have created this new account so that he does not get back to me, I am really over them but wanted to share this for the community.