Avanti Prep Admissions Consulting Reviews

GMAT - 710
Country - India
Gender - Female
Background - Entrepreneurship/Product at early-stage startups
Undergrad - Engineering from a tier 2 college
Concerns - Low GMAT score, an undergrad from a tier 2 college, work experience only in early-stage startups, how to communicate my personal story and goals

I worked with 2 US admission consultants over 2 application years, and I strongly recommend Greg. He played a crucial role in helping me get an admit at a very difficult Top-10 US program and LBS in Round 2 after I had fallen short in the previous cycle and in Round 1. He was a game-changer for me and I really believe he is the best admission consultant around. I am pretty sure I have the lowest GMAT amongst Indian students in my school, which says a lot about Greg’s impact.

Greg helped me from figuring out the right stories to guiding me on my essays to interview prep. For both the essays and interviews, Greg helped me brainstorm my most powerful stories and then structure my delivery so the Adcoms and interviewers could understand my journey and goals. Greg customised the interview prep completely for each school, helping me to prep for that school’s interview questions and guiding me on how I could share parts of my story that aligned with the school’s values.

Greg also went above and beyond to help me with genuine advice throughout this journey. He has a deep understanding of how Adcoms from different schools look at essays and applications and how an applicant can put her best foot forward with each school. Even after the admission, Greg spent time with me figuring out scholarship strategy and holding a call to answer any more questions before I moved to the US (both as a complete favor). That’s how dedicated and involved he is in his client's success.

Overall I needed someone who believed in my story and could guide me through this process. Greg was just that guy. He helped me be resilient and kept me going. I spoke with several consultants and felt that Greg was more than just someone who reviews the essays, but is instead really there to give the right direction and genuine advice. I would recommend him to anyone.

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Greg is a true mentor. His knowledge and expertise were indispensable in this process.

I am an aspiring tech entrepreneur from Europe. Graduated from a top-20 university in the U.S. with a major in business. I was very passionate about applying to my dream school even in the times of the utmost crisis. Working with Greg at Avanti Prep allowed me to remain on track and transformed my approach to telling my story in my essays and interview.

I met Greg only a week before the application deadline, so unfortunately, did not have much chance to work together for a longer period of time. Greg reviewed each of my Stanford essays once and his feedback was incredibly valuable as I was completing my final drafts.

A few weeks later, I received the invitation to interview and asked Greg if he could offer interview prep. I signed up for the 3-hour interview prep service, through which Greg worked with me for an additional hour or hour-and-a-half without extra charge over two video calls.

Greg was extremely dedicated and knowledgeable about the Stanford GSB interview, and he tailored both his mock interview questions and feedback to the program and to me. Along with going through the questions and feedback, Greg essentially guided me through a self-reflection process through which I gained valuable insights about myself to use in the interview and beyond. I can’t imagine the experience being any more thorough or helpful, and he and provided advice and insights that I will be using in any interview moving forward.

In both the essay reviews and interview prep, Greg invested his time and energy in understanding my story in a short amount of time. You can clearly see that Greg is dedicated and engaged – and that he has a special talent for storytelling and helping you tell your story – which allows him to offer best consulting expertise regardless of the time frame.

I was so pleasantly surprised that even though we only worked together on essay reviews and interview prep, Greg came super prepared and dedicated to my success. Moreover, he is very open-minded and ready for challenges. I know well that my background was not typical for an MBA student and Greg showed me how I can turn my weaknesses into strengths. I would recommend Avanti Prep to any applicant. I am heading to Stanford GSB as a result!

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Background
- White Male (US)
- GPA: Above a 3.5 from Top 20 Liberal Arts College
- GMAT: Above 700
- Previous Role: US Military Officer

When I initially considered applying to business school, I spoke with one of my friends, also a former US military officer, who had been accepted at LBS. He highly recommended that I work with Greg, who was the “best in the business.” I took my friend’s advice, and I am extremely grateful that I did. Greg helped me develop a narrative about my accomplishments and my unique strengths that differentiated me from other applicants. That is the most valuable aspect of having Greg as your consultant – he understands what resonates with admissions officers at individual schools, and he can help you structure your application to highlight your best attributes and show that you can add value to a specific MBA program.

Greg put forth a great amount of time and effort to learn my story: my GPA / educational background, my test scores, my work experience, my interests outside of work, and my past community outreach. He worked with me on several iterations of my resume to make sure it captured all of my relevant and unique experience. His mock interviews reflected the tone and style of each individual school, and he provided feedback that allowed me to craft insightful responses to potential interview questions. Greg’s efforts had an enormous positive impact on my applications, and the results reflect this.

Results: I applied to 6 schools, received interview invites at 5, and was accepted at 4 – HBS, Booth, Ross, Darden. Greg’s effectiveness was demonstrable throughout the process, from start to finish. It is also worth noting that I received scholarships at 3 of the 4 schools to which I was accepted.

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Background:
• Male
• US Citizen
• Undergraduate: Large public state school (not a top 50 school)
• Career background: 5.5 years in F50 Tech (business side/not technical)
• GPA: Above average all schools
• GMAT: Below average for T15
• Admitted to T15 MBA program

Before deciding on an MBA consultant, I spoke with over 17 different MBA consulting services, utilizing the 30 min or one-hour free consultation. Greg went above and beyond with me and wasn’t a clock watcher. We met several times (over 3 hours) before I decided to hire Greg to help me with my MBA applications. He made it very easy to share my background, my concerns, my aspirations, and everything relevant about my life. Additionally, I was very busy with work and Greg took complete control of the process and kept me accountable with deadlines. Furthermore, he never missed a promised deadline to get documents back to me.

Thoughtfulness and attention to detail are key in building a great MBA application and Greg would never let me submit anything less than my best. He was willing to have many drafts and versions to make sure every part of my application was as perfect as it could be. I remember how Greg would consistently push me to think deeper and have more specific examples/answers that would resonate with admissions officers.

Overall, Greg was my biggest advocate and always encouraged me throughout the process which is something hard to find in the industry. It never felt transactional. Rather, by the end I felt that we had become good friends. I 100% give Greg my highest recommendation and can confidently say, I would not have been able to get admitted to a T15 MBA program.

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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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