Greg Guglielmo

GMAT 710, GPA 3-64, East European male, Analyst at Big-3 management consultancy.
I enrolled in one full Interview Prep session, which included a mock interview in the style of Booth, followed by a comprehensive feedback session. The session was scheduled for 2 hours and 30 minutes; we ended up going for 3 hours and 45 minutes.

This experience greatly deepened my insights about the interview process and helped me structure my mind and my story. I was able to communicate key ideas in a top-down way and Greg helped me shape my ideas in an easy to digest way.

I signed up for this session because of an expected beyond the average level of care. My hopes were fully fulfilled: I received unparalleled help in terms of the number of structured frameworks and of tailored support – Greg a great length to support me – well beyond expected hours and much greater personalization.
It included extra time, emails before and after, examples, results of research, specificity and attention to detail during interview prep, the similarity of the style to the real Booth interview.
I felt much better prepared than to any previous interview.

The result was a very personal and friendly engaging interview with a top manager of an India oil and gas corporation. My interview was very happy to see the “Booth” mindset and other aspects of “fit”. I am waiting for the final words from the AdCom.

My background:

Indian male, 30 years old, first-time applicant
Undergrad: Engineering from an IIT with a decent GPA
Postgrad: PGDM in Marketing and Communications from a Top 20 Indian school
5.5 years of work experience in advertising, branding, and product marketing roles
GMAT: 750

When I decided to apply to business schools, my profile had quite a few obstacles that usually end up crushing most applicants’ dreams – a highly competitive demographic pool, age, no blue-chip employers on the resume, lot of job switches, and what some schools would consider a second MBA situation as well. Still, I knew that this was my ‘one and done’ shot at business schools, and so, I decided to give it my everything. I targeted one M7, three top 10, and one top 15 school in R1.

Things I worked on with Greg:

I had the opportunity to work with Greg through the GMATClub moderator scholarship. At that time, I had already finished interviewing with the M7 school, had been denied by one T10 school, and was waiting for interview invite results from the other two T10 schools and the T15 school.

Greg offered to set up a free 30-minute consultation call to understand my profile and goals better. Even though this is somewhat standard practice with admissions consultants, what really stood out for me was that Greg offered the same level of support to a ‘non-paying’ (scholarship) client like me as he would have to a paying client. For me, this spoke highly about the level of support I could expect from him going forward. By the end of the call, I felt that he had a great understanding of where I was in the application process and accordingly suggested the service that would benefit me the most.

Shortly after, I received interview invites from all the remaining schools that I was waiting on, and Greg and I decided to work on interview prep for the two T10 schools. We decided to do two full-length Interview Prep sessions, each of which included a 1-hour school-specific mock interview session followed by a 1.5-hour question-by-question analysis and feedback session, which in reality lasted longer than that (at no extra cost).
Besides this, Greg also went above and beyond and offered free advice and tips for my T15 interview.

Based on my positive experience of working with Greg and the results (see below), I also additionally took an hour of Greg’s service for scholarship negotiations, and was not disappointed there as well!

My results:

I got into one of the T10 schools with a 40k scholarship, and the T15 school with a 50k scholarship!

(Even though I did not get into the other T10 school that we did the interview prep for, it’s worth mentioning that that school is one of the most selective ones and was a stretch school, to begin with. I definitely felt much more confident going into the interview with Greg’s insightful help and preparation than I would have otherwise.)

Further, I used Greg’s help to negotiate scholarships at both the schools where I was admitted. For this, I took one hour of service with him, which involved one strategy discussion call and one review of negotiation emails for each school. It was heartwarming to see that Greg didn’t just stop at helping me secure admits but wanted me to get the best possible outcome in terms of scholarship as well, and he ended up spending more than 1.5 hours providing thoughtful feedback and edits.

And while the T10 school refused to negotiate (which I came to know was the response that many other admitted students received as well), the T15 school came back and offered 10k more!! That is a 40x ROI and even that doesn’t speak enough of Greg’s expertise!

What made working with Greg awesome:

Right from our first interaction, I felt that Greg was really invested in my success, even though we hadn’t worked on my applications from the start and I was essentially availing his Interview Prep services for free. Having heard stories of how controlling and money-minded some admissions consultants can be, it was refreshing to see Greg’s commitment to ensure that I achieved the best possible outcome.

His Interview Prep sessions were extremely thorough and tailored to the specific school in question. For both the Prep sessions, not only did Greg conduct a one-hour mock interview, but he also followed it up with well-researched and comprehensive guides of questions for each school. Beyond that, his experience and knowledge of what specific schools and AdComs are looking for immensely helped my response preparation.

During the feedback sessions, Greg’s attention to detail really stood out. He was able to provide laser-sharp feedback which helped me work on specific areas in my responses. Again, during all this, I felt there were many times when Greg went above and beyond our official engagement – whether it was spending 3 hours instead of the originally committed 2.5, or accommodating Interview Prep in his schedule on short notices as soon as I received interview invites, or even taking the time to provide detailed responses to my questions over email as soon as he could.

Similarly, I credit his communication expertise and meticulous feedback on my negotiation emails with the 10k bump that I received from the T15 school.

Overall, I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Greg and achieve two great admits with scholarships! I would wholeheartedly recommend Greg for his thorough professionalism, personalized coaching, attention to detail, and an unmatched level of dedication and commitment to the applicant’s success.

I found Greg / Avanti Prep through the GMAT Club consultant reviews and reached out for a free consultation. I had applied to a lot of top schools in round 1 but didn’t get any interviews except for MIT Sloan. Wanting to maximize my chances, I did an interview prep session with Greg. During the free consultation, we clicked immediately, and Greg offered a lot of great advice beyond just the interview related ones. During our interview prep session, Greg conducted an elaborate interview in the MIT-specific style. We then spent even more time for him to give me even more detailed feedback for every single question. For the actual interview, I felt very confident because we had practiced almost every single one of the questions asked. I ended up getting into MIT Sloan!

Background information and choosing a consultant:

It all started back in June of my application year when I gave my 2nd GMAT. I scored a 690 and knew I had blown away my chance of getting into a top 10 MBA school. I come from a very overly represented group of applicants. Thus, a GMAT score that was less than the higher end of school averages will not cut it for me. I scheduled my next GMAT for August and was hoping to close GMAT for good then. Luckily, I was able to get the desired score. The next day onward I scheduled 30 minute free consultations with 6 admissions consultancies over the course of next 1-1.5 weeks. I vetted out major consultants and zeroed in on Greg Guglielmo based on the depth of his responses, clarity, and process as explained to me.

One question that clinched for me was the answer to “based on my profile etc, what are the chances to these (my list of 5 schools).” Response from Greg was the most honest and straightforward one. I didn’t want to work with a company that will give me false hopes, only to come crashing down later. Greg told me that the schools of my choice (all M7) will all be extremely difficult but not impossible given my background. That being said, I understood the process on the very first call, leading to better clarity on what was expected to get in a really great application package. The call lasted 1.5 hours instead of the scheduled 30 minutes and Greg made sure that all my doubts were answered. Also, Greg did not try to talk me out of the choice of my schools but made sure that we will have a good method of attack for whatever schools I want to apply to.

Package, timeline, schools, and process:

Once I decided, I only had a month to submit several applications in R1, so I went for the comprehensive (Tier 3) package as I didn’t want to be constrained by the number of edits or the number of times I can reach out to my consultant. As mentioned before, I come from an overly represented group and as I was very interested in doing everything I can in getting that admit, weaving my past experience of an engineer in the aerospace industry to go into a consulting role post-MBA would play a massive role in how good a candidate adcoms will consider me.

The schools that I initially planned to go ahead with were Kellogg, Booth, Wharton, CBS, MIT, and NYU. Based on our strategy calls and limited time-frame I pushed Booth and NYU to R2 and dropped MIT as a combined strategic decision while bringing in Ross for R1. Along with school selection, I was also provided a very detailed questionnaire that had ~30 questions and took me several hours to complete as I knew doing this exercise will help me understand answers to questions such as why MBA, why now, strengths and weaknesses.

Once we had that figured out, I was asked to start bringing my recommenders up to speed with the process. Greg helped me in compiling a list of questions (most of the schools now ask the same questions although with different word limits) and discussing the specificity required from them in their responses. I did not help my recommenders in writing the recommendation as it is against the sanctity of the process.

I worked on close to 50 drafts of essays, and 5 drafts of resume. All these drafts were required as my initial drafts were either not answering the essay prompt or were too verbose. After submitting my R1 applications, we started working on R2 applications (Stern and Booth). In the meantime, I got interview calls from CBS, Wharton, and Kellogg. Greg made sure that I was well prepared by scheduling mock interviews before each school. Good thing is that the feedback that you get is actionable.

Do note that none of the admissions consultancies will write anything for you. As an applicant, you must do the work yourself. At most, the consultants will help you in using the correct verbiage and provide the best way of putting the same thought forward. I made sure to choose what I thought was the main idea and tone behind the different essays. It will always be your work and not of your consultant.

Key takeaways:

1. Comments on my drafts by Greg were top-notch; very particular and even included links to places where I would be getting the desired answers. I was very ably guided all along via regular and prompt emails. Without these comments, it would have taken me at least twice the time to submit even 1 application. Prompt email replies are something I truly appreciate as a working professional as it alleviates stress to a very large amount.

2. The most important point: the time-frame for getting the comments back usually used to be 1 day (sometimes even a few hours). I never had any round of comments sent after 2 days. I was not charged extra for providing such prompt service. I used to work on my drafts till 1 AM and would get up at 6 AM only to find comments back from Greg.

3. The mastery of language and ability to guide me over several reviews to tell my stories and reduce my initial drafts by more than 400 words even was just amazing.

4. In the end, I did not miss a single deadline and made sure that all my documentation (essays, online applications, and recommendation letters) were submitted on time and were of the highest quality possible. Greg completely understood the urgency that was required in meeting my application goals.

Results and summary:

The final result was that I got interview calls at CBS, Wharton, and Kellogg and was admitted to Kellogg for Class of 2018. Although I was dinged after the interview at CBS and Wharton, I am sure that the help provided to me by Greg was instrumental in getting those interview calls in the first place; especially at Wharton and Columbia where they have tons of engineers with my background applying every single year.

To summarize, my investment was worth the cost, effort put in all along made me more aware of the entire application process and provided me better insights into my strengths. Definitely and wholeheartedly recommend Greg Guglielmo.

Indian female – 730 GMAT – Engineering graduate with a 9/10 GPA from a tier-1 college – 5 years of work experience in Education and Ed-Tech

While researching ways by which I could bolster my application process, I came across Avanti Prep and signed up for a free consultation. Greg’s opinions and insights during that introductory call were honest, practical and really useful. It gave me a good sense of my chances of securing an admission in my desired Universities (all in the top 10) and the effort I’d need to put in.

I signed up for hourly services with Greg (5 hours) to work on Story Analysis and Planning, Story and Career Goal Development, Essay Brainstorming, and Essay Reviews for 3 schools. As a result of our working together, I secured an admission to a Top 10 Program and was waitlisted at another Top 10 Program – one that has a very very selective process.

Our collaboration started off with a detailed plan for the way we’d split the total time across different pieces for different schools. Greg’s school-specific insights were truly amazing! He would help me understand how to present my story and my goals more effectively for each school. This truly helped shape my thought process while working on the essays and significantly informed my presentation of self in the applications. His essay reviews were also extremely detailed. It was evident that Greg had spent more hours than planned on reviewing each essay. This brings me to my next point of how incredibly accommodating he was, evidently focussing on quality and results rather than clock-watching to the minute. Despite enrolling in only 5 hours (very limited to cover various application pieces for 3 schools), he graciously spent a LOT of extra time on every call and every essay review. Over and beyond that, even after our time together was over, he replied to every single email/question of mine in great detail making sure to offer any help he could.

I had such a positive experience with Greg that I referred two of my friends to him.

Apart from everything mentioned, something else that stood out to me was Greg’s nature to never be overly optimistic or overly pessimistic. He strikes a balance between being honest, realistic and being extremely encouraging, which comes as a great emotional/mental boost while you’re navigating through the taxing, strenuous and difficult process of applying for an MBA in the US.

I reached out to Avanti Prep once I received my interview invite from Columbia. Having been rejected from M7 schools in the previous application cycle with almost the exact same profile (extremely competitive demographic, 740 GMAT, 6 years work-ex), I wanted to make sure I converted my chances this time around.

I had already given a couple of interviews with other schools and my preparation was decent, but after my Columbia mock interview with Greg, I felt confident that I was going to do well in my interview. For starters, what was scheduled to be a 2.5hr call went on for ~4hrs due to the level of detail Greg dives into while not only analyzing answers to each question – but also helping me stitch through a cohesive story across all questions to create a solid narrative.

Greg customized the questions and mock interview experience so they were ‘Columbia–like’ which was extremely valuable to me. Columbia interviews tend to include questions that focus on industry trends, key focus of the industry etc. that are unlike questions asked in other business schools interviews which can throw a candidate off-guard if not prepared for questions like these. Greg covered how to approach these in detail.

Another key highlight for me was how Greg was able to emphasize on key points (passion for Columbia, my contributions to Columbia) I had to convey during the interview. It so happened that my interviewer did not end up asking me the question on how I wish to contribute to Columbia, but because of the strategic prep I was able to turnaround a related question and convey my thoughts on how I would contribute.

Lastly, a big takeaway for me was how Greg was able to help me understand how I was being perceived. On a couple of instances, Greg recommended I not use certain words or change my delivery of certain phrases because they could be perceived unfavorably. This level of feedback I thought can only come from a seasoned interviewer and greatly improved my confidence because I now had almost no second thoughts about anything I was going to say.

Greg is definitely someone I would recommend working with; I think his greatest quality is in working to get the absolute best outcome for you without being bothered by how much additional work he will have to put in. So much so, that after a 4hr mock Columbia interview, Greg chatted with me for almost an hour helping me decide between Darden and Fuqua and which school I should go for – he hadn’t even helped me with the application for those schools. The good news is that the Darden versus Fuqua decision didn’t end up mattering because I got into Columbia!

I received a 4 hour scholarship as a GmatClub school moderator.

To kick off I had a half hour call with Greg, which he offered free of charge. Talking to him, you immediately notice that he is super knowledgeable and he had some great pointers.

Despite the fact that I though I had already put a lot of time into school research, he was able to bring a couple additional schools on my radar. In addition, we were able to work out the school that would offered the best template for pieces of the advice to carry over to other applications.

After developing our method of attack I send Greg a couple of essays for one of the B-Schools I was targeting.
He came back really fast with very thorough reviews that pointed out the various parts of my essays that needed work.

Due to a very turbulent period in my work/private life I was not able to make full use of the scholarship.
However, if you are looking for an expert who can offer you great insight and guidance into the process of Bschool applications I can highly recommend Greg.

His essay reviews do not sugarcoat but offer great pointers on what to improve!

I was a second-time applicant with a strong GMAT score and a reasonable work profile. I had used another consultant in my first year of applications and decided to go with Greg the second time around.
Firstly, Greg is just an amazing person to talk with and share your stress as you go through applications. He never went for a hard sell on using his services but eventually, when I decided to go with him, he was fully invested and dedicated, unlike another consultant I had. Greg clearly has an idea of what admissions teams look for as he helped pick out the best stories and finesse them for the goals, essays, and overall application narrative.

I was very invested in the application process and Greg was equally invested which was refreshing given most consultants seem to always be on the clock. Greg helped me with two school applications and also helped brainstorm which two would give me the most diverse and applicable stories for other school applications.
Overall, I was very satisfied with Greg and would recommend his services as I received an admit to 3 top 10 schools (including an M7). I also received scholarships of $50k and $10k to 2 of the 3 schools.

I. Background

I’m a male engineer from India with 720 GMAT and some international experience. I belong to a common demographic for US B-Schools and had a complicated profile, with a Master’s degree in hand and already age 30 when applying. I happened to find Avanti Prep via GMAT Club. Greg had the strongest and clearest recommendations from past applicants on the website, which prompted me to request a Free Consultation. I had already talked to a few other consultants before talking to Greg. And then after just one call with Greg, I knew I wanted him to be my guide throughout this process. I availed Hourly Services from Avanti Prep, initially 5 hours, but expanded significantly along the way as I saw the major value of working together and decided to apply to more schools. In total, I ended up with 67 hours of service with Avanti Prep from July 2018 through April 2019.

II. Strategy

Because I did not have a good GMAT for my demographic, I wanted to test my chances across a wide range of the rankings. We worked on 10 schools in Round 1 and Round 2, ranging from M7 schools mostly through U.S. News top 20/25, one school a few spots lower down and one more school another tier below that. Given my higher number of schools, spreading Hourly Services across them was my preferred approach, rather than focusing on only a few of the schools through a Package. This way we could mirror the full depth of the comprehensive experience while adapting it for more schools.

III. Results

Even with some international experience, I knew this strategy was aggressive. If you believe studies on GMAT Club, Indian applicants with 720 GMAT have a 5% admission chance at U.S. top 20, and many people in the forums even say Indian males with sub-730 GMAT should look outside the top 25. Despite these odds, I received two M7 interviews (was waitlisted thereafter at one) and three scholarships offers overall. Right now, I’m enrolled at a top 20/25 school with a generous scholarship (50%). This would not have been possible at all without Greg’s magic. Trust me, Avanti Prep is the best investment you can make in your B-School journey. Greg is one of the most well-rated and reasonably priced consultants in the market at his elite level of expertise.

IV. Details

Given my needs, we used about 6 hours total on school selection, story and goal development and strategic calls, 6 hours on full cycle of resume reviews (literally start to finish), 5 hours on recommender strategy and feedback, 4 hours on application entries and review, 1 hour on video strategy and practice, 3 hours on interview prep (only did one session, maybe should have done more), 5 hours on post-application support (scholarship negotiations, waitlist strategy and updates) and most remaining time on essay brainstorming and reviews (sounds like a lot but was for 10 schools).

Also, unlike other consultants in the market, Greg is not money minded and was very generous with timing and pricing. You can feel that his main motivation is achieving the best possible outcome for you. He did not count time for my many annoying email queries, he rounded down the time and provided some free time as necessary to achieve the best quality, and given the size of our relationship, we proceeded at a customized discounted rate. I am certain I received far more than even the 67 hours I signed up for, and given the quality of experience and 50% scholarship result, it was undoubtedly worth it.

V. Experience

Greg is not just an expert MBA consultant, he is a wonderful person as well. He is approachable and friendly and makes you feel very comfortable. Despite my complicated profile, Greg did an amazing job of breaking down my long story and guiding me to assemble all pieces together in a symmetrical and persuasive way that created logical sense between my experiences and goals and allowed me to share the most interesting elements of my experiences. This process lets you put forth the best version of yourself. For this reason, I have no doubt you are achieving the highest possible outcomes given your profile.

Greg is a thorough professional and walks the talk when it comes to his work. The level of detail, professionalism, and responsiveness are extremely high. The way he helps you strategize the different pieces of your story for each school is at an expert level. We worked together on very tight timelines for Round 1 and Round 2 submissions and Greg never let me down. He has the unique ability to understand and respond in a timely fashion every query I put through him. I did put him through a lot of annoying nitty-gritty questions, but he was always so happy to respond to all of them. You really feel that Greg puts his clients first.

I’m happy to answer any specific questions regarding my experience with Avanti Prep. You can message me anytime. Good luck!

I am from Korea and I have studied/worked in Europe and currently working in South East Asia. I have worked both in public and private sectors (tech). I had embarked on the MBA journey on my own with limited information and was struggling to bring together a coherent story with my non-traditional background. While I was getting anxious 1 month before the deadlines, I was fortunate to get the chance to work with Greg – as a result, I was able to submit not just a deeply satisfactory application in just a few weeks but build a narrative that I will carry for the rest of my career.

Greg went above and beyond in every aspect in this process. Especially in building the grander career narrative, he tapped into his network, researched and consulted his connections that I could not have done at all in my location. Having worked in a prestigious financial firm and also having earned a top MBA himself, he had the resources he could leverage and he did so in brilliant ways. We came up with a very specific and realistic career goal drawing from his research process, but one that is so perfect for my rather hybrid profile – which I had actually thought was unfocused before I worked with Greg. This was an amazing breakthrough – even beyond the application, I now have an attainable career goal and narrative unique to myself. I am only impressed by Greg’s ability and dedication demonstrated in this process.

Greg is also a top-notch resume and essay editor. I was particularly impressed by what he had to offer on content development side – even on the parts related to my experience in public sector. His breadth of knowledge in various sectors possibly gained through the experience of working with a diverse portfolio of clients is certainly one of his strengths that will benefit applicants from various backgrounds.

Greg’s edits/comments during the essay/resume revision process were also thorough, on point and insightful. One word in an essay may lay the ground for an emotional tone. He thinks through even that one word, which I was really grateful for (especially in the essay with more of a personal element; demonstrates his sensitivity). In overall, I felt like we made a great team – his comments were communicated very clearly, I could easily build on them and produce something better. I believe this synergetic interaction with the consultant is the key in producing a quality product unique to oneself.

I also cannot emphasize enough how both personable and professional he is. He understood my deep motivations and gave both encouraging and practical advice throughout the entire process. While I was so pressed for time, his overall attitude and sense of commitment just provided a huge comfort. He was always very responsive, returned the documents as per his commitment, and shared additional resources (I had 2 hours of consultations as well and he offered very helpful career/MBA resources beyond these engagements). I would say Greg was more than a consultant but a mentor and advisor who kept me with faith and drove me towards excellence during the challenging application journey.

I can’t thank him enough but in sum, Greg exceeded my expectations in every way. I would not hesitate to recommend him to future applicants!