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Established in 2011, The Red Pen provides high-quality MBA consulting to candidates around the world.
Team
Our international team of consultants hold MBAs from top international programs such as Columbia, Wharton, INSEAD, Booth, NYU Stern, Cornell and Oxford Saïd. We draw on years of experience helping high-caliber students showcase the best versions of themselves in their applications. We pride ourselves on staying informed on the evolving MBA admissions space and, as members of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards when serving clients.
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Product The Red Pen Admissions Consulting
Consultant Udit Chaudhry
In May 2022, I enrolled in TRP's two-school package with Udit Chaudhary as my lead consultant, a UCLA alumni. He guided me on the key aspect of effective application - introspection. TRP's Getting to know you document (GTKY) helped me identify my strengths, but Udit's encouragement to write an authentic application was crucial in its success. Additionally, he assisted me with school research and urged me to narrow down schools that aligned with my values even before the application process began. Despite my demanding work schedule, Udit was available round the clock and consistently pushed me to excel. My success was a priority for him, and he offered guidance for the other schools I applied to independently as much as possible.
In addition to Udit's dedication, the entire extended team provided unwavering support throughout the process. Anju Goela assisted me with my letters of recommendation, Ritu helped with my resume, Sristhi Mehta worked with Udit to edit my essays, and Prerna Nigotiya was there to support for any other assistance all of whom played a significant role in my application process.
During R1, I was waitlisted at Duke Fuqua, and both Anju and Udit assisted me with developing a waitlist strategy. I have since received admission offers from Duke and Rotman, and I am currently awaiting results from other schools.
For anyone seeking guidance with the application process, I highly recommend Udit as a lead consultant and RedPen's team-based approach.
Product The Red Pen Admissions Consulting
Consultant Vatsal Srivastava
On the recommendation of a close friend, I reached out to Vatsal to get some casual guidance on my plan to apply for an MBA as he himself is an INSEAD alum. But, my very first interaction with him convinced me that he would be the perfect coach and admissions consultant for me. Based on my profile stats, other consultants had asked me to aim lower but Vatsal encouraged me to apply to my dream schools. I’ve got admits from both Oxford and Cambridge with $$!
When I started the process, I was under the impression that given my background in communication, I would be able to put together my essays on my own and will only need support in overall reviews. But Vatsal’s storytelling skills and attention to detail as an editor really taught me how to meticulously craft a successful application. He knows exactly what B-schools are looking for, and helps you mine the wealth of your personal experiences to pull out the perfect narrative.
Vatsal really invested in each application - whether it was 5am zoom sessions to give me a feedback on an essay prompt or reviewing my final application even on New Year’s Eve. He made sure that I sent in the best version possible.
I highly recommend Vatsal to anyone looking to aim for the stars. You can find him at vatsal.sri@gmail.com. Good luck with your applications!
Product The Red Pen Admissions Consulting
Consultant Vatsal Srivastava
I availed the services of TRP for my MBA admissions process this year and had Vatsal as my lead consultant. I found his overall guidance to be incredibly useful. We conducted several calls initially just to understand my background and my motivation for going for pursuing an MBA. He implored me to think about several other aspects deeply, which helped me make a more informed choice.
When it got down to my essays, his insights helped me structure my thoughts and helped me to focus on the most relevant/compelling aspects of my professional and personal journey. Vatsal is an excellent writer & editor with deep knowledge of the financial services landscape (which truly reflected in how I was able to bring to life some of my big wins as as equity research analyst). He made himself available whenever I needed guidance which was reassuring. Overall, Vatsal was a great mentor, we built a pretty solid rapport with each other towards the end and I would recommend him to serious folks looking to make it to the big league.
Special mention also goes out to Rashmi Sonthalia. She was incredibly helpful throughout the process and went above and beyond in terms of support.
Product The Red Pen Admissions Consulting
Consultant Kaushik Reddy
I reached out to RedPen as a reapplicant as I needed someone who could guide me through the process and help me understand my mistakes from the prior year.
Once you set up an initial call with them, unlike most other independent consultants who just talk to you and see whether you are a good fit for them, the RedPen team will walk you through the comprehensive set of actions that they have built for the clients. Only if you are happy with their offering, which in my opinion is highly exhaustive in nature, will they let you speak to a Lead Consultant (LC). As per my understanding, you can even change the LC, in the beginning, to ensure that you move forward with someone who you are most comfortable with. Their LCs are highly accomplished individuals who have been through the process themselves and I guess, I do not need to advertise RedPen's great track record with their clients as it is out there for everyone to see.
They assign you a 5-member team who is with you at all times and each of these members specialise in different parts of your application. This achieves two things: you get an expert for each section as well as focused attention to ensure uncompromising quality for each of them. Each material is later reviewed by a different expert from the RedPen team to ensure that your LC has not overlooked anything in your application or been conditioned to parts that have further scope for improvement. To give an example, one of my essays that already underwent about 7-8 iterations, was completely rewritten by me to incorporate new inputs after it went for a higher level review. This saw another 5 iterations (Phew!). In my opinion, this rigour helped me ensure top-notch quality for my essays.
Every single line in your essay, and resume are scrutinised thoroughly to bring out the best version of yourself and to ensure fit for the universities you are applying to. Additionally, unlike many other consultants they use a 3rd party software to help you keep track of updates and requirements, so that you do not miss anything and to ensure that all your material along with every single iteration is well organised.
I just want to shout out the people behind my success. My LC was Kaushik (What a guy! He absolutely makes sure that you put your best foot forward and trust me, he is very good at what he does). Other experts from my team- Najeshda, Rashmi and Prerna. I would also like to thank Preeti, Anju and Udit. The last 3 weren't technically members of my team but came to my aid whenever I needed them and that is exactly why I have such high praise for them. The entire team goes out of their way to ensure success for their candidates.
I got an admit from 3 schools with over $200k in scholarships. I couldn't have done it without them :)
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Product The Red Pen Admissions Consulting
Consultant Vatsal Srivastava
Hi I’m Anay Joshi. I decided to embark on my MBA application journey last year and that’s when I got in touch with the great team at TRP.
My lead consultant at TRP was Vatsal Srivastava, an INSEAD alumni. He was instrumental in guiding me and helping me think about my competitive edge to position my profile (given my PE background), my short term and long term goals and other aspects from my personal and professional life that must be highlighted in my essays. In fact, for several weeks we patiently carved out these finer details in a nuanced and strategic manner.
When it came to the final output of the essays, Vatsal’s writing and editing skills were bar raising. A former editor and columnist, Vatsal served as an effective content specialist for all my MBA essays.
The extended TRP team were extremely supportive and helped me draft effective resume and LORs, which were vetted by Vatsal. Vatsal also coached me thoroughly for my interviews by conducting numerous mocks. Towards the end of the application process, I managed to build a great rapport with Vatsal. The MBA application process is a rather lengthy and cumbersome process, so it was great to have a positive, supportive and at time humorous advisor by my side.
I would strongly recommend any serious MBA aspirant to work with Vatsal. He can be reached at vatsal.srivastava@theredpen.in
Product The Red Pen Admissions Consulting
Consultant Dhiraj Daryani
I signed up for TRP in June 2022 and was able to finish strong applications for 4 schools of my choice in Round 1 - Booth, CBS, Wharton, and UCLA. I currently have an acceptance from Chicago Booth and waiting to hear from 2 more schools.
Dhiraj, my lead consultant, helped me refine my post-MBA career goals. He also helped me identify powerful stories that portrayed my core values and likings, which later helped me write personal essays required by CBS and Booth. Even when I was worried about my test score and obsessing over retaking the test, he strongly suggested focusing on my essays and working towards creating a strong story, which I think really helped me to stand out. He ensured that the intent and underlying message that I wanted to convey to the schools was never left behind after repetitive edits. We had long conversations before the submission of every application to ensure that I am happy with every word that goes into the essay and that we cover every aspect of the prompt within the limited word count. Dhiraj and Shrishti greatly helped me to refine sentence structures and the overall tone of essays.
The entire TRP team was always available for any questions I might have and they very well structured the entire application process to avoid any last-minute stress. A major advantage of working with TRP is that you get can get suggestions from experts outside of your core team as well who might have more insights into any particular school. I received a lot of help from Preeti, Anju, and others while preparing for my interviews.
I would highly recommend choosing TRP if you are looking for someone who can help you build your story, direct you toward the most suitable schools well as identify your personal strengths. I am super happy with my experience and a big thank you to Dhiraj, Shrishti, Smita, and Ritu for their wonderful contribution toward different parts of my application.
Product The Red Pen Admissions Consulting
Consultant Preeti Taterway
I signed up for TRP for my MBA admission consulting for Aug 23 intake. Speaking to Anju from their core team I was certain that TRP is the right consultant to get me my dream admit. Working with Preeti Taterway, my lead consultant, and a team of experts for diff aspects of the Application like resume, LOR, essays, etc I was able to put together a strong Application for 2 of the global top 20 Bschools and get into one of them ( a dream admit for me). I would recommend TRP to anyone who is seriously about applying to top Bschools and is ready to put in the hard work
Product The Red Pen Admissions Consulting
Consultant Pranjal Singh
The Red Pen team has a very systematic approach to each and every part of the application process which helped me manage it in an efficient manner.
It helps that the team is very focused and practical in giving the right suggestions about the different decisions and choices you make to include/ exclude in your application and really helps in building a strong and concise application.
The Red Pen Team was very accommodative during the process and also connected me with other consultants within TRP for interview practices, which prepared me well for the interviews and eventually admission to Cornell Johnson's MBA program.
I would highly recommend TRP to all the MBA applicants!
Product The Red Pen Admissions Consulting
Consultant Preeti Wadekar
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.
Product The Red Pen Admissions Consulting
Consultant Garima Agarwal
TRP is without doubt one of the best teams to have on your side while working on your MBA applications. In my case, I was quite late in the season to start the process. I would not have been able to submit my applications in time with such high quality and secure an admit at Wharton, if not for the entire TRP team coming together.
My lead consultant was Garima, who was a delight to work with. I spoke to multiple consultants and what stood out was how she believed in my story and helped me fine-tune it. Even while selecting the schools, she understood my MBA goals and pushed me not to lower the bar, even if that meant a lower success rate. Once we started working on applications, she was 100% hands-on with every small detail and was totally committed, as an equal partner, to help me produce the best possible application in a tight timeline. While extremely professional, she ensured that she was always available on calls/chats and that I was at ease speaking freely to her about my thought process. With her vast experience, she is equipped with the toolkit on what works and what doesn't and has deep insights into each school's program. Overall, I wholeheartedly credit Garima with the outcomes I was able to get.
Priti coordinated my entire MBA application journey with TRP and helped me extensively decide on the timelines. Even before signing up, she brainstormed with me on my options and advised me on how best to optimize the time available.
All in all, I would strongly recommend working with TRP for your MBA applications.
