I came to Greg through a referral, and I'm glad I trusted it.

I applied to Kellogg's PTMBA program with a background in analytics and organizational strategy. Greg took the time to genuinely understand my experiences and what made my story distinct. His feedback was never generic. Every suggestion was specific to who I am and what Kellogg was looking for. He pushed me to go deeper when I settled for surface-level answers and helped me find the thread that tied my experiences together into something cohesive and compelling. And very uniquely, Greg treasured every word we put in an admissions package, and ensured that no word went meaningless or redundant. His ability to create clarity from noise is genuinely inspiring!

The process was also remarkably well-organized. Greg kept me on track without ever making me feel pressured, and he was consistently responsive and thorough, even during the more tight stretches close to the deadline.

I'd wholeheartedly recommend Greg to anyone who wants a consultant who is efficient, thorough, and dedicated to your success, end to end.

Read More

Strengths:

I came to Greg while juggling a demanding role at Apple and starting my MBA application process with tight timelines. I applied to two M7 programs, Chicago Booth and Kellogg, and was admitted to both. I can say without hesitation that Greg was central to that outcome.

What stood out from day one was how diligent and thorough he is at every stage of the process. Greg doesn't just review essays. He thinks about every angle of your application holistically, from how your story arcs across schools to how your recommenders should frame your strengths. Timelines were always managed at my pace, and I never felt rushed or behind. He was consistently a step ahead.

Beyond his skill, what I didn't expect was the intangible: Greg genuinely cares. He's invested in you as a person, not just as a client with a deadline. His every conversation with you is not simply an essay to write or a deadline to reach, but a step closer to clarity, which funnels into higher quality admission materials almost naturally.

Would make the product better:

Greg is a phenomenal admissions consultant, and there's really nothing I'd recommend in terms of improvement.

I came to Greg while juggling a demanding role at Apple and starting my MBA application process with tight timelines. I applied to two M7 programs, Chicago Booth and Kellogg, and was admitted to both. I can say without hesitation that Greg was central to that outcome.

What stood out from day one was how diligent and thorough he is at every stage of the process. Greg doesn't just review essays. He thinks about every angle of your application holistically, from how your story arcs across schools to how your recommenders should frame your strengths. Timelines were always managed at my pace, and I never felt rushed or behind. He was consistently a step ahead.

Beyond his skill, what I didn't expect was the intangible: Greg genuinely cares. He's invested in you as a person, not just as a client with a deadline. His every conversation with you is not simply an essay to write or a deadline to reach, but a step closer to clarity, which funnels into higher quality admission materials almost naturally.

Read More

Strengths:

Incredibly tailored recommendations, expert advice, personalized, high value.

Background: Female, International, GMAT: 655, 2.5 years work experience at a boutique investment bank.

Greg was such a pleasure to work with and I wholeheartedly recommend Avanti Prep to anybody looking for career coaching or MBA consulting services. I started working with Greg on the Columbia Business School application 2 months before the R1 deadline and got accepted! Unlike larger consulting firms, Avanti Prep adds a personal touch and has exceptional service and dedication. Greg goes above and beyond and roots for your success. I've spoken to many current MBA students and most of them did not have the same experience with other consultants at other firms so I feel incredibly lucky to have found Avanti Prep!

Read More

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, was accepted at 4 (HBS, Booth, Ross, Darden), and withdrew 1 (LBS) after being interviewed. 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.

Read More

Background
• Age 30
• Asian male (raised in China, now a US citizen)
• GRE 325 (low for my schools and demographic)
• 3.6 GPA in a T-20 US university
• 5 jobs in 6 years across multiple industries
• Applied in Round 2

I decided to apply to business school in the summer of 2023, having done no prior preparation. Once I committed, I realized I would miss the round 1 deadline, and with only 5 months until round 2, I needed guidance. An HBS alum highly recommended Greg and Avanti Prep, which was refreshing since many of my friends felt their MBA consultants added little value besides grammar editing on the essays.

Consultation and Services
Before meeting Greg, I had met with five other consultants, but I knew immediately after our intro call that I wanted to work with Avanti Prep. Greg had clearly put in significant effort to understand my background and suggested schools that would be a good fit. I left the call feeling confident I would be in good hands.

I chose the 4-school package and added 18 more hours of service for extra schools, high-touch recommendation feedback, and comprehensive interview prep. Greg was my lead consultant, but given the extent of our engagement, he put together a team customized to my background and career goals, and I also worked with Xin, Sarah, and Fahad during the process. The team exceeded all my expectations.

Comparison with Other Consultants
I have a unique vantage point on different consultants because my wife also applied for an MBA at the same time as me. She chose one of the "big name" consulting firms with a higher price tag, and despite their flashy advertising, her consultant did not go into the depth they promised compared to the tremendous degree of attention and care I received from Greg and Avanti Prep.

For example, when my wife worked on her resume with the other firm, her consultant helped her with only two rounds of edits: one for format and one for content. In contrast, Greg and Xin conducted five extensive reviews, including both calls and document reviews. During these, they went through my resume line by line, asking detailed questions about my experiences and finding the best ways to convey them. My wife’s consultant mainly polished the language, without much guidance on the resume content itself, which is what distinguishes a great resume from a mediocre one.

Avanti Prep’s thoroughness was equally apparent during the essay process. They helped me work through multiple drafts, with each draft showing significant improvement, while my wife’s consultant focused mainly on two iterations and then shifted towards grammar edits. Whenever I told her about the processes I was going through, it was like night and day to her experience with the other firm.

Resume
Before starting my resume reviews, I believed my resume was in excellent shape, having recently applied for jobs. However, after meeting with Xin, I realized an MBA resume is different from a traditional job-seeking resume. Xin's extensive experience in resume editing, both as a former Career Management Fellow at CBS and as a resume screener for one of the largest consulting firms, was invaluable.

Xin quickly identified the key highlights of each of my experiences and selected those with the most effective evidence to support my overall story, painstakingly employing a situation-action-result approach for every single bullet point on the resume.

After my sessions with Xin, I thought my resume couldn't improve further, but Greg's subsequent reviews helped me perfect it. This was the first instance where Greg’s signature "above and beyond" approach made me feel extremely confident that we were putting the absolute best forward in my application, and little did I know, it was just the beginning of many such instances in the pursuit of success.

Essays
Greg and his team helped me tremendously with my essays, and I could never have expected my final versions to be as strong as they turned out. Applying to five schools with essay prompts ranging from deep self-reflection (where Sarah’s storytelling expertise was pivotal) to professional ambitions (where Fahad’s experience in my target industry was pivotal) was no easy task.

Each essay began with a brainstorming session that sparked new inspiration and provided me with an actionable outline. After the initial stages of essay development, Greg gave detailed comments, ensuring each sentence served its purpose, methodically refining each essay like a surgeon. Greg is a terrific coach and communicator, and his passion for helping you tell your best story is evident throughout the process.

Another hidden value was Greg’s help with planning my essay sequencing, which was especially important given the number of essays I needed to write. We strategically tackled the most foundational essays first and then adapted them for each school, making the process efficient. I sometimes felt like they had a PhD in the nuances, potential for overlap, and customization between different essays.

Conclusion
Working with Avanti Prep was worth every penny. For me, the ROI was felt in the quality of their process; in that I was accepted to Booth from an overrepresented group, with a subpar GRE, and multiple pre-MBA job changes; and in the $60K scholarship!! Their dedication, attention to detail, and personalized approach far exceeded my expectations and far exceeded my wife’s experience with a well-known, big name consulting firm. Greg's commitment to excellence was evident every step of the way. I wholeheartedly recommend Greg and his team to anyone seeking a consultant who truly goes above and beyond to ensure success.

Read More

Background: 31M, India, 760 GMAT Classic, Non-traditional engineering background

I can’t emphasize how much value Greg provides for your money and the depth with which he helps craft stellar applications. From the very first introductory call, I knew Greg is the guy I want to work with. He provided me with so many more services that he charged me for. I wholeheartedly recommend Greg. He is super friendly, warm and actually is fun to work with.

I took Greg’s hybrid comprehensive package for 5 schools and later added 3 more schools, waitlist support and interview prep on hourly basis. With every aspect of applications- essays, resume, actual application, interview prep and waitlist support, he makes you go super deep, dig the best stuff and help shape the best version out of them. He doesn’t only focus on the big picture but gives every word importance.

Outcome – Accepted and going to an M7 school, waitlisted at another M7, got into 2 T10 schools and 1 T15 school. Total scholarship (includes scholarship from an M7): $240,000.
Lastly, I am just going to say- “Do not go anywhere else or go after big names. Greg is your guy”. Some of the other companies that I talked to were charging more and do not provide the same hands-on service that Greg does. One of them straight away said no for NYU stern as the deadline was close but Greg said let’s do it and we will put our best foot forward.

Read More

​Background:
Asian Male (International)
GPA: 3.5 from Top 20 U.S. university
GMAT: 740

Why I chose Avanti Prep:
Speaking with friends attending M7 schools, I noticed all of them had used MBA consultants... so I decided to follow the trend.

I scheduled more than five calls with different firms to assess my profile. Most of the consultants barely looked at the details of my profile and superficially jumped to the conclusion that M7 would be pretty difficult. After talking to a handful of consultants and only having Greg's call left, I had pretty much made up my mind about signing up with the most premium consulting firm. I thought this would be the safer choice.

But... when I got on the call with Greg, my mind changed. He started asking me questions about my career moves and background and really dived into the details. He then discussed with me the strategy and how to bring my unique stories to life. I felt like the other consultants were just inputting me into their cookie-cutter framework by looking at my stats, whereas Greg was trying to really get to the crux of my value and uniqueness.

Working with Greg:
I signed up for the Tier 3 package for 4 schools originally and then added 5 additional schools. Greg was exceptional and truly transformational in all aspects: selecting schools, helping me contemplate my background and connecting the dots, ideation of goals, resume, essays, and everything else.

Greg has a keen sense where he can really squeeze the best personal and professional stories out of you, and he teaches you to deliver them in a way that really resonates with the reader. He was always readily available, and I felt as if he was a good mentor and a friend I had known for a while. We would talk about non-MBA-related stuff as well. Although the MBA process was gruesome, and I do not ever want to do it again, it was awesome working with him -- I honestly could not have done it without him.

Interview Prep:
Also, I cannot thank Greg enough for the interview preparation. I'm the kind of guy who loves to just "wing it," but Greg really coached me on the best practices and tremendously improved my interview skills. The interview preparation was super tailored to each school and to me.

Greg’s feedback was on-point, and he really helped me nail all the different kinds of interviews, plus the HBS post-interview reflection essay, Booth interview video, and LBS mini-case. I remember for my last interview, I had lost all motivation, but he helped me push through to the end.

Results:
I will let the results speak for themselves. I received invitations for interviews from 6 out of the 9 schools (M7, Lauder, LBS.) Of the 6 interviews, I was accepted to HBS, Wharton, Lauder, LBS, and Booth, and I received scholarships for 2 schools. The final result is a dream come true.

Greg was awesome, and I really don't think I could have accomplished this without him. I also want to take this opportunity to pat my past self on the back for choosing Greg. To sum it up, Greg is a personable, skillful, and sharp mentor and friend, and I would highly recommend him to anybody.

Read More

Overall the time commitment, effort, depth of work and level of support that I received from Greg was far higher/better quality than two other (quite well known) consultants that I worked with before I came to Avanti Prep. Greg was extremely detail oriented and it was an absolute pleasure working with him.

Background:

I initially reached out to Greg for extra interview support with one of my Rd1 schools. I was already working with another consultant but I figured I could use more help. His interview feedback was so detailed that I decided to sign up for a 2 school comprehensive package with him for Rd2. I had done some of the initial career goals exploration with another consultant but I worked with Greg on everything else for these two schools (he also helped me refine my career goals to a certain extent).

Here are some of the things that stood out as I worked with Greg on the two schools:

1. Right from the very outset, starting from the initial intake form, he went really deep into my personal and professional background and really spent a lot of time getting to know me. And this was not a one time thing - in future calls, when we were brainstorming essays, he would bring up stuff from work/extracurriculars and we would spend a lot of time going even deeper into those topics as needed. He asked a lot of probing questions to extract the relevant fodder for essays. This translated really well in terms of him being able to guide my essay/interview content and overall application.

2. He really cares for his clients. He went above and beyond to make sure I was supported and all my questions/nagging concerns were answered.

3. His overall demeanor is very relaxed and friendly, and he is very easy to talk to. The application process is extremely stressful and I felt like I had someone by my side to support me throughout the process and calm my nerves when things got scary. This translated really well to me being candid and honest about my background and helped us bring my best self to the application.

4. He knows how to strike a balance of being polite and respectful but at the same time being persuasive to get you to do things. He was never rude but at the same time he made sure I knew when he thought something was not good enough, or more information was needed, or if there was a better way to do things, or if I was not putting my best answers forward for the interview. Nothing slipped through the cracks and he made sure I was giving it my best shot.

5. The level of depth and thoughtfulness that went into the process was simply remarkable. And this was true across the board - getting to know my story, essays, interviews, etc. The essay process involved 5-6 extremely detailed reviews which involved him asking me a lot of questions in specific areas so I could get the best ideas on paper. Even the brainstorming involved multiple calls to nail down the appropriate content for each specific school/essay. Likewise with interviews, it went far beyond content - we talked about vocal tonality, length of answers, body language, answer structure, etc.

In summary, I strongly recommend working with Greg for your MBA applications for all the reasons mentioned above.

Read More

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.

Read More

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).

Read More