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Admissions committees evaluate the GMAT/GRE in context — your background, your representation in the applicant pool, the strength of everything else in your file. The same score works for one candidate and falls short for another with identical numbers.
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24 Mar 2026, 06:09
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This is specifically about my experience working with Rishab Gupta (founder of GyanOne), who is listed among 10 top MBA application consultants on platforms like Poets & Quants.
I come from a low-income background and am a first-generation graduate. This was realistically my only shot at pursuing an MBA and I invested nearly all my savings into this process.
My profile is also fairly decent: Indian engineer from BITS, 7.8 CGPA, 715 GMAT FE and 5 years of work experience, currently working as a team lead in big tech (think Accenture, Cognizant, Barclays).
Here’s how things unfolded:
1. When I first connected, there was minimal deep evaluation of my profile. He got on a 15-minute call, spoke very highly of my profile and said market conditions are very bad and my profile is very strong. He advised me to aim very high (M7, Tuck, Kellogg, Booth, Oxford, HEC, etc.), with some of these even positioned as “safe” options. He also mentioned he would guarantee that I would get into one of those programs.
As someone new to the process with limited guidance in my family, I trusted this advice. I thought he saw something in my profile that other consultants did not. He also spoke to my parents and assured them that I would get into a good program. Since this was a huge financial decision for us, I asked him to give them a clear answer, as they handle our family finances.
2. High pressure to pay Before onboarding, I received frequent follow-ups (multiple calls per day) pushing for payment confirmation. The package was ~$1200 plus taxes per school for 5 schools and with additional applications, my total spend crossed ~$10,000 including application fees.
Before paying, I checked his reviews, but there were very few outside Poets & Quants. Looking back now, many of them appear very similar in tone and format and can are obviously fake. I also checked his LinkedIn, which mentioned MIT Sloan, but I could not verify this through alumni connections or enrollment details. These were red flags I missed at the time because of the constant pressure to make payment. I made a rushed decision that I now regret deeply.
3. After payment, communication dropped significantly He does not provide his personal number even after payment. All communication is through assistants, who work limited hours (11–6), making it difficult to reach anyone outside that window.
Even after multiple requests, calls would be scheduled and then rescheduled at least 3 times. The reasons given were often vague or unrealistic, such as him discussing my profile with admissions committees or speaking with heads of admissions at schools like Tuck. When confronted, I was told the assistants were new.
Even when calls happened, they were usually under 15 minutes and lacked depth. He would point out something missing (like insufficient research or unclear story) and quickly end the call.
4. Lack of structured guidance Despite claims on his website and initial calls, I did not receive even a single proper brainstorming session or structured guidance on selecting programs. He provided a random list of schools, even claiming he had spoken to their admissions teams and they said that would accept my application (very very big red flag and when I confronted him, he blamed it on his assitants)
There was no clear strategy. He would join for 15 minutes once every couple of weeks, point out a mistake and leave.
Till the last day, he did not even know which company I worked for or what field I was in.
5. Essay and application feedback I would upload essays to his portal and within 15 minutes, I would receive comments. Later, I checked and realized the feedback were AI-generated (based on file metadata and written style). When I raised this concern, he became defensive and said this is how the process works and if I was not okay with it, I could proceed on my own.
The same applied to LORs, essay structuring and application inputs. He would take my drafts, run them through AI and send them back. When asked about specific details in my essays or applications, he often seemed unaware.
When confronted multiple times, he became increasingly defensive and even said he would stop working with me if I continued raising issues. And I can take any action that I can (didn't want to escalate the issue at that time as the application process was already very tough and didn't wanted to pick another fight in between)
6. Interview preparation Mock interviews were scheduled just a day before actual interviews. These sessions were often rescheduled multiple times. When they happened, they were brief (~30 minutes), with minimal engagement.
He would join late, keep the camera off, ask a few questions and leave. Feedback was based on Zoom transcripts and AI-generated summaries, shared just hours before the actual interview.
7. Final outcome I was rejected from all schools I applied to (except a guaranteed interview at Tuck, later rejected there as well without waitlist).
I understand that admissions are uncertain and no consultant can guarantee results. That is not my issue.
My concern is the lack of effort, personalization and accountability. Even without admits, I would have been satisfied if I had seen effort and learned something from the process. Instead, the experience felt frustrating, transactional and it pulled me down instead of helping. I still receive messages from assistants about education loans through their partners, which only adds to that feeling.
Why I’m posting this
I relied heavily on rankings and online reviews while making my decision. In hindsight, that was a mistake.
If you are considering a consultant:
- Push hard on how they will personalize your story
- Ask for detailed process clarity
- Speak to multiple past clients independently
- Do not rely only on rankings or curated testimonials
This process is expensive and high-stakes, especially for candidates like me.
I am sharing this so others do not go through a similar experience. I request you to upvote this so it reaches more people and I will be posting this every 3 months so that no one would scammed by Rishab Gupta as I got.
If others have had similar experiences, please share them along with the consultant or agency name so the community can stay informed.
[Have created new account as I don't want to deal with Him or his team anymore, but need to share my experience as I have taken my decision of enrolling with him based on fake reviews here, so just doing my part to alert the community]
I come from a low-income background and am a first-generation graduate. This was realistically my only shot at pursuing an MBA and I invested nearly all my savings into this process.
My profile is also fairly decent: Indian engineer from BITS, 7.8 CGPA, 715 GMAT FE and 5 years of work experience, currently working as a team lead in big tech (think Accenture, Cognizant, Barclays).
Here’s how things unfolded:
1. When I first connected, there was minimal deep evaluation of my profile. He got on a 15-minute call, spoke very highly of my profile and said market conditions are very bad and my profile is very strong. He advised me to aim very high (M7, Tuck, Kellogg, Booth, Oxford, HEC, etc.), with some of these even positioned as “safe” options. He also mentioned he would guarantee that I would get into one of those programs.
As someone new to the process with limited guidance in my family, I trusted this advice. I thought he saw something in my profile that other consultants did not. He also spoke to my parents and assured them that I would get into a good program. Since this was a huge financial decision for us, I asked him to give them a clear answer, as they handle our family finances.
2. High pressure to pay Before onboarding, I received frequent follow-ups (multiple calls per day) pushing for payment confirmation. The package was ~$1200 plus taxes per school for 5 schools and with additional applications, my total spend crossed ~$10,000 including application fees.
Before paying, I checked his reviews, but there were very few outside Poets & Quants. Looking back now, many of them appear very similar in tone and format and can are obviously fake. I also checked his LinkedIn, which mentioned MIT Sloan, but I could not verify this through alumni connections or enrollment details. These were red flags I missed at the time because of the constant pressure to make payment. I made a rushed decision that I now regret deeply.
3. After payment, communication dropped significantly He does not provide his personal number even after payment. All communication is through assistants, who work limited hours (11–6), making it difficult to reach anyone outside that window.
Even after multiple requests, calls would be scheduled and then rescheduled at least 3 times. The reasons given were often vague or unrealistic, such as him discussing my profile with admissions committees or speaking with heads of admissions at schools like Tuck. When confronted, I was told the assistants were new.
Even when calls happened, they were usually under 15 minutes and lacked depth. He would point out something missing (like insufficient research or unclear story) and quickly end the call.
4. Lack of structured guidance Despite claims on his website and initial calls, I did not receive even a single proper brainstorming session or structured guidance on selecting programs. He provided a random list of schools, even claiming he had spoken to their admissions teams and they said that would accept my application (very very big red flag and when I confronted him, he blamed it on his assitants)
There was no clear strategy. He would join for 15 minutes once every couple of weeks, point out a mistake and leave.
Till the last day, he did not even know which company I worked for or what field I was in.
5. Essay and application feedback I would upload essays to his portal and within 15 minutes, I would receive comments. Later, I checked and realized the feedback were AI-generated (based on file metadata and written style). When I raised this concern, he became defensive and said this is how the process works and if I was not okay with it, I could proceed on my own.
The same applied to LORs, essay structuring and application inputs. He would take my drafts, run them through AI and send them back. When asked about specific details in my essays or applications, he often seemed unaware.
When confronted multiple times, he became increasingly defensive and even said he would stop working with me if I continued raising issues. And I can take any action that I can (didn't want to escalate the issue at that time as the application process was already very tough and didn't wanted to pick another fight in between)
6. Interview preparation Mock interviews were scheduled just a day before actual interviews. These sessions were often rescheduled multiple times. When they happened, they were brief (~30 minutes), with minimal engagement.
He would join late, keep the camera off, ask a few questions and leave. Feedback was based on Zoom transcripts and AI-generated summaries, shared just hours before the actual interview.
7. Final outcome I was rejected from all schools I applied to (except a guaranteed interview at Tuck, later rejected there as well without waitlist).
I understand that admissions are uncertain and no consultant can guarantee results. That is not my issue.
My concern is the lack of effort, personalization and accountability. Even without admits, I would have been satisfied if I had seen effort and learned something from the process. Instead, the experience felt frustrating, transactional and it pulled me down instead of helping. I still receive messages from assistants about education loans through their partners, which only adds to that feeling.
Why I’m posting this
I relied heavily on rankings and online reviews while making my decision. In hindsight, that was a mistake.
If you are considering a consultant:
- Push hard on how they will personalize your story
- Ask for detailed process clarity
- Speak to multiple past clients independently
- Do not rely only on rankings or curated testimonials
This process is expensive and high-stakes, especially for candidates like me.
I am sharing this so others do not go through a similar experience. I request you to upvote this so it reaches more people and I will be posting this every 3 months so that no one would scammed by Rishab Gupta as I got.
If others have had similar experiences, please share them along with the consultant or agency name so the community can stay informed.
[Have created new account as I don't want to deal with Him or his team anymore, but need to share my experience as I have taken my decision of enrolling with him based on fake reviews here, so just doing my part to alert the community]
24 Mar 2026, 07:24
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks for the insights. Will assist other applicants to refrain from such fraudsters..
