The Top MBA Admissions Consultants Of 2025

best MBA admission consultants

Top Ten MBA Admission Consultants of 2025: Candy LaBalle (top left), Devi Vallabhaneni, Gavriella Semaya, Rajdeep Chimni, Scott Edinburgh (second row left), Karen Hamou, Sam Weeks (bottom row left), Niketa Desai, Eli David, and Rishabh Gupta

The top MBA admission consultants have remarkable success in helping clients get into the world’s most selective business schools–and you can’t argue with success. These consultants have garnered extensive acclaim from their clients who are now MBA students at the likes of Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, INSEAD, and other world-class business schools.

Consider Rajdeep Chimni, the founder of Admissions Gateway based in India. His clients consistently highlight Chimni’s structured approach to MBA admissions, his deep industry knowledge, and his unwavering commitment to their success. “Rajdeep’s sessions laid a solid foundation,” says Jahnvi Sharma, recently admitted to London Business School’s Class of 2027. “They helped me push my thinking from the very beginning on all fronts—choosing the right schools, crafting authentic and personalized MBA application essays, and solidifying my work experience in the one-page MBA resume. Rajdeep has really helped me transform my applications.”

The numbers back up praise like that. In the 2023-2024 admissions cycle, Chimni’s firm compiled a record 185 admissions offers for clients to get into this fall’s M7 business schools, with one in every three clients—51 in total—gaining admission to The Wharton School. More than 275 of his clients received invites into the Top 12 MBA programs. What’s more, the firm’s clients racked up $12.6 million in scholarships and financial aid for its clients last year.

OUR NINTH ANNUAL RANKING OF THE TOP MBA ADMISSION CONSULTANTS

That success rate, a lifetime best for Chimni, has again propelled the Kellogg MBA into Poets&Quants No. 1 spot in our 2025 ranking of the most favorably reviewed MBA admission consultants. Among The 25 consultants with the most favorable reviews, 15 different firms are represented. mbaMission coasts the most, with seven of its consultants in the Top 25. Admissions Gateway and Fortuna are next, each with three consultants on the list.

In our analysis, the ninth annual ranking of the top MBA admission consultants, Chimni gained 38 favorable reviews from clients, achieving a perfect 10.o score for client satisfaction (see other perfect score consultants here). Right behind him are several legendary names in MBA admissions consulting: No. 2 Scott Edinburgh, with 32 client raves and a 9.97 satisfaction score; No. 3 Devi Vallabhaneni, with 29 favorable reviews and a 9.69 satisfaction score; No. 4 Karen Hamou, with 27 reviews and a 9.96, and No. 5 Sam Weeks, who collected 26 positive reviews and a 9.77 satisfaction rating.

The consultant ranking is based on verified client reviews at Poets&Quants from September 1 2023 to August 31, 2024. During that timeframe, clients wrote 1,374 assessments of their experience with 68 admission consultants at 70 different firms. To date, the Poets&Quants‘ consulting directory now boasts more than 600 MBA counselors, with nearly 10,000 reviews.

PERFECT CLIENT SATISFACTION SCORES FOR 13 MBA ADMISSION CONSULTANTS

Some 13 MBA consultants this past year achieved a perfect 10.0 client satisfaction score over at least 10 reviews. Besides Chimni, Candy Lee LaBalle racked up 25 perfect scores from clients, while Eli David accumulated 20 perfect ratings. Rounding out the top five perfect scorers were Nisha Kaul and Petia Whitmore, with 16 each (see table here).

Hiring a coach to help navigate the admissions process into an elite MBA program remains an expensive proposition. The most expensive consultants on the Top 25 list charge $775 an hour for their services or a hefty $14,300 for a comprehensive start-to-finish package of help on applications to three schools. All three of those pricey consultants–Devi Vallabhaneni and Katharine Lewis, are affiliated with mbaMission, the largest firm in the business of MBA admissions consulting.

Both of these counselors brings significant experience to the game. A Harvard Business School MBA, Vallahhaneni had spent more than three years as an MBA Admissions Board member at HBS and has been helping applicants at mbaMission for seven and one-half years. Lewis, who has both a Harvard MBA and a JD on her resume and who has worked at McKinsey, was an MBA admissions reader at Stanford Graduate School of Business for a couple of years before joining mbaMission where she has counseled applicants for over 13 years.

The least expensive on the Top 25? A Chicago Booth MBA, Niketa Desai had been an admissions fellow at Booth and began counseling applicants for Admissions Gateway in 2017. After working with Chimni for three and one-half years, she set out on her own in early 2021 as the founder of Admit Beacon in India. Desai, who has coached more than 200 candidates, charges $300 an hour and $6,700 for a three-school comprehensive package. In 2023, she claims to have helped 28 clients get into Stanford, Harvard, or Wharton; 35 land spots in an M7 school, and 38 in a Top 15-ranked MBA program.

Most Favorably Reviewed MBA Admission Consultants Of 2025

Consultant Firm Positive Reviews Client Satisfaction Score Cost
1. Rajdeep Chimni Admissions Gateway 38 10.0 $350 hourly, $9,500 (3-school package)
2. Scott Edinburgh Personal MBA Coach 32 9.97 $500 hourly, $13,750 (3-school package)
3. Devi Vallabhaneni mbaMission 29 9.69 $775 hourly, $14,300 (3-school package)
4. Karen Hamou Fortuna Admissions 27 9.96 $475 hourly, $11,350 (3-school package)
5. Sam Weeks Sam Weeks Consulting 26 9.77 $450 hourly, $10,710 (3-school package)
6. Candy Lee LaBalle mbaClarity 25 10.0 $400 hourly, $8,000 (3-school package)
7. Rishabh Gupta GyanOne Universal 25 9.96 No hourly assignments, $4,200 (3-school package)
8. Niketa Desai Admit Beacon 23 9.87 $300 hourly, $6,700 (3-school package)
9. Eli David Ivy MBA Consulting 20 10.0 $390 hourly, $10,800 (3-school package)
10. Gavriella Semaya mbaMission 19 9.89 $600 hourly, $9,700 (3-school package)
11. Nisha Trivedi mbaMission 19 9.69 $425 hourly, $9,700 (3-school package)
12. Lindsay Sage Sage Admit 18 9.89 $425 hourly, $9,000 (3-school package)
13. Susan Cera Stratus Admissions Consulting 17 9.94 $500 hourly, $11,300 (3-school package)
14. Nisha Kaul Admissions Gateway 16 10.0 $350 hourly, $9,500 (3-school package)
14. Petia Whitmore My MBA Path 16 10.0 $395 hourly, $9,950 (3-school package)
16. Katharine Lewis mbaMission 16 9.88 $775 hourly, $14,300 (3-school package)
17. Kathryn Lucas Square One Prep 16 9.81 $550 hourly, $13,400 (3-school package)
18. Harold Simansky mbaMission 15 10.0 $440 hourly, $10,000 (3-school package)
19. Heidi Hillis Fortuna Admissions 15 9.93 $475 hourly, $11,350 (3-school package)
20. Mudit Gupta Admissions Gateway 15 9.87 $350 hourly, $9,500 (3-school package)
21. Debbie Choy mbaMission 15 9.87 $600 hourly, $14,300 (3-school package)
22. Thomas Locke Forster-Thomas Inc. 15 9.80 $400 hourly, $8,100 (3-school package)
23. Emma Bond Fortuna Admissions 13 10.0 $475 hourly, $11,350 (3-school package)
23. Rebecca Heath Anderson Menlo Coaching 13 10.0 $500 hourly, $18,000 (3-school package)
23. Harshad Mali mbaMission 13 10.0 $600 hourly, $12,200 (3-school package)

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