Gaurav Gomes, NIFT

Business Development Manager Retail (Berkeley Haas, INSEAD, HEC Paris, YALE)

 Aanchal’s Guidance Led Me To Receive Invites From Berkeley Haas, INSEAD, And HEC Paris (HEC In R3!). Her Approach To Brainstorming The Narrative And Leadership Stories Is Exceptional And She Had Some Really Out-Of-The-Box Ideas That Got Me The Invites From INSEAD And HEC. I Was Surprised How She Helped Me Talk About So Many Aspects Of My Personality And Experiences In A Few Words In The Essays. She Also Helped Me To Get Clarity On Goals And Build On My Strengths And Uniqueness To Get Calls From The Top B Schools. Getting Her Help On The Application As An Indian Applicant Is A No-Brainer. With Her Help I Got Into HEC Paris And Cracked YALE HEC Exchange Admit .

Vyomika Goyal, Industrial Engineer,

IIM A And ISB Admit

Aanchal Has A Tremendous Knack For Uncovering Leadership And Motivational Bends Through Her Intense Deep-Dive Sessions And Profound Questions. Her Guidance And Stellar Job On All Aspects Of The Applications Got Me Admits From Both My Target Schools- ISB And IIM A. Right From Guidance On GMAT Scores To The Phenomenal Essays And The Interview – Her Insights And Tips Got Me Through All The Hurdles Step By Step. I Wholeheartedly Recommend Aanchal For Her Exceptional Approach To B School Applications And Quality Work.

Ketan Pandey , Major (Indian Army)

 ISB And IIM A Admits, Olin Business School 60,000 USD Scholarship

 

My Profile & Decision To Pursue MBA

I Superannuated From The Indian Army As A Major In March 2023. After Serving For More Than A Decade In The Indian Army, A Smooth Transition From Military To Corporate Was Very Crucial For Me And MBA Seemed A Natural Choice To Lay A Solid Foundation Of Business Concepts Before I Step Into The Corporate World.

The Trickiest Part Of My Profile Was My 12+ Years Of Job Experience And My Age (I’m 36 Years Old). Given This Fact, I Was Suggested By ‘Experts’ To Go For An Executive MBA Program; However, To Maximize My Learning During My MBA And Build A Strong Network, My Singular Goal Was To Pursue A Regular Full Time MBA Program.

The Fact That The Average Work Experience And Age Profile For Any Regular Full-Time MBA Program Is Only Around 6 Years And 30 Years Respectively, Posed A Serious Challenge In Front Of Me.

GMAT Preparation

I Prepared For GMAT For Nearly 4 Months And Scored A 710. Though I Planned To Re-Attempt And Improve My Score However I Could Not Retake The GMAT Due To My Service Commitments And Hence Decided To Go Ahead With This Score And Start My Application Process.

College Selection (India VS Abroad)

In The Start, After I Attempted GMAT, I Posted My Profile On GMAT Club For ‘Evaluation’ By Experts. Of The Many Responses I Got From The Various Admission Consultants, Aanchal’s Evaluation Stood Out. Instead Of Advertising Her Services, Which Almost All Other Consultants Who Responded To My Post Did, Aanchal Gave Me An Honest Response, Brought Out The ‘Pluses And Minuses’ In My Profile, And Listed Specific Action Items In Front Of Me. The Clarity And Crispness Which Was Evident In Her Response Made Me Inclined To Speak To Her Further.

Application Phase

During Our First Call, Aanchal Gave Me Her Detailed Introduction. Her Extensive Corporate Experience Along With The Fact That She Also Had A Stint Interviewing MBA Applicants For INSEAD Made Me Very Excited And I Decided To Take Her Guidance And Help As An Admissions Consultant For My MBA Application Process.

Together We Chalked Out A Plan And Divided The List Of Colleges Into The ‘Safe’, ‘Target’, And ‘Reach’ Categories. What I Liked The Most About Aanchal Here Is The Fact That She Never Sugarcoated Things; She Transparently Told Me Not To Expand My Energy On Some Of My Dream Schools Simply Given The Fact That My Profile Does Not Match With What These Schools Want. Though She Advised Me Not To Apply To These Schools In The First Go, But At The Same Time She Assured Me That If We Get A Good Response From The First Rung Of Schools We Apply To, Then We Will Definitely Give These Dream Schools A Shot Too, Later.

She Spent Plenty Of Time (More Than Six 1-Hour Sessions) Sequentially Going Through My Personal And Professional Experiences In Life And Coming Up With Relevant Stories Which I Can Leverage In My Applications. I Admire The Way She Went Into Detail About Each Of My Experiences And Carve Out Relevant Aspects Out Of Them Which Will Later Form My Stories.

The First Step In My Application Journey Was To Prepare A Resume. Since It Was The First Time I Was Making A Resume In Many Years And The MBA Standard Resume Format Is Different Than A Regular Format (Fancy CV Templates Found On Google) Aanchal Spent A Lot Of Time With Me To Guide Me Prepare It. After Multiple Iterations, I Had A Resume Ready For Me That Listed My Experience With My Accomplishments On A Single Page! 

With Aanchal, I Could Prepare A Very Realistic List Of Schools We Would Apply To, And For Each School, She Gave Me A Different And School-Specific Strategy (In Terms Of Research, Networking With Current Students And Alumni, Engaging With The School Adcom, Etc) To Work On. This Helped Me A Lot To Write Essays That Aligned With The School Requirements.

For The First Couple Of Schools, Writing My Essays Was Very Difficult As It Was The First Time I Was Doing Something Like This. Aanchal Made Sure To Guide Me At Every Step. She Proofread All My Drafts (The First Few Drafts Give Me A Good Laugh When I Read Them Today) And Suggested Changes And Additions I Can Do To Effectively Narrate My Story. At Times More Often Than Not, She Pushed Me Out Of My Comfort Zone To Consistently Work Harder To Diligently Shape My Experiences Into Effective Stories.

She Coached Me On The Art Of Effective Experience-Sharing (Storytelling). She Taught Me The Amazing Skill Of Condensing The Essay To Abide By The Given Word Limit Without Losing Its Essence, Which Is Crucial Learning For Me And Will Remain With Me Throughout My Professional Career.

For Each School From Which I Got An Interview Invite, Aanchal Took A Series Of Mock Interviews. It Was A Huge Help And I Realized That She Is An Ace Interviewer (She Had Earlier Interviewed For INSEAD) As She Pointed Out Some Of My Shortcomings Which I Never Realized Had Existed. Aanchal Introduced Me To The ‘STAR’ Method Of Answering Questions During An Interview Which Was A Real Game Changer For Me. During Mocks, She Also Guided Me On The Macro As Well As Micro Communication Aspects Which Made Me More Comfortable, Natural, And Confident During My Actual Interviews. For Me, These Acquired Interview Skills Are Precious Which I Would Surely Leverage During My Future Interviews And Placements As Well.

Decision Phase

After Applications, I Got Rejected From Tuck And IESE, Got Waitlisted From Michigan Ross, ESADE, UNC Kenan Flagler, Kelley, And Owen, And Got Admits From The Two Indian Schools I Applied To I.E. ISB And IIM Ahmedabad.

Given The Economic Scene In The West And To Avoid Huge Debt In Such Times, I Decided Not To Wait For The US And European Schools For An Admit. Hence, I Had Now To Make A Choice Between ISB (PGP) And IIM Ahmedabad (PGPX).

Both ISB And IIM-A Being Great Schools It Was A Tough Choice To Make. I Had The Following Factors In Front Of Me:-

Average Age And Work Experience:-

ISB’s Criteria Was A Minimum Of 1.5 Years Of Experience (Which Resulted In A Younger Cohort There With An Average Age Of 27 Years And Average Work Experience Of 3-5 Years).

IIM-A’s Criteria Was A Minimum Of 4 Years Experience (Which Resulted In A Not-So-Younger Cohort There With An Average Age Of 32 Years And Average Work Experience Of 8-10 Years)

Class Size:-

ISB’s Class Size Is Approx 850 Students (Divided Into Mohali And Hyderabad Campuses) Who Have Their Placements Together.

IIM-A’s Class Size Is A Mere 145 Students- A Smaller Class Entails Better Learning Opportunities, A Better Teacher-To-Student Ratio, And Better Opportunities (+ Less Competition) During Placements.

Brand Value And ROI:-

IIM-A Brand V’s ISB Brand Is A No-Brainer With IIM-A Acing In All Fields And A Very Extensive And Globally Spread Alumni Network.

In The End, Keeping All The Above-Mentioned Factors In Mind, I Chose To Go For IIM Ahmedabad As It Matched My Age Profile And Work Experience Criteria And Provided Me A Better Brand Value (In My Opinion) With An Exceptional ROI.

Aanchal As An Admission Consultant

Aanchal Has Been The Real Pillar Of Strength And The Foundation Of My MBA Admission Journey. It Would Have Been Impossible Or At Least 10 Times More Difficult For Me To Pursue MBA From A Top School Like IIM-A If She Had Not Been There.

I Would Like To List Some Of Aanchal’s Traits I Liked The Most:-

1. She Is A Thorough Professional Who Knows Her Game Well.

2. She Is Very Approachable And Never Too Busy For Her Clients. It Just Takes A Message Or An Email And She Is Always Available On The Same Day To Speak To You.

3. She Is Extremely Responsible. She Will Push You To Your Limits, And Outside Your Comfort Zone Until And Unless You Have Given Your Best – Be It Essays Or Interviews, Or College Research.

4. She Will Keep Updating You Frequently On Articles To Read, Resources To Follow, People (With Similar Stories/ Profiles) To Talk To And Videos To Watch – To Keep Consolidating You As An MBA Candidate.

5. She Is Transparent And Will Never Sugarcoat Things If You Are Going In The Wrong Direction. She Will Make You Know The Reality Even If It Seems Harsh To You At That Moment (Ex- If You Are Overambitious For A School) – So That Your Efforts And Energy Are Not Expanded In The Wrong Place/ Direction. Very Few MBA Admission Consultants Do That.

6. She Will Never Let You Miss An Application Deadline And If You Are Lagging Behind, She Will Make Sure That You Get To Finish Your Essay And Submit It On Time.

7. She Will Prepare You Exceptionally Well For The Interview – So Much So That You Will Feel At Home When You Are Giving An Actual Interview.

8. Her Skills For Preparing A Resume, Essay, And Interview Are So Good, That If You Learn Well, You Reap The Benefits Even During Your MBA Placements And In Times To Come.

For Anyone Who Desires A Professional And Personalized (In Reality) Admission Journey, I Would Like To Highly Recommend Aanchal To Help In His/Her Journey Toward Pursuing MBA From A Top School. 

Ritika Singh, IT & Telecom Engineer 

 Ross & ISB

Coming Into The 2021 Round 2 Application Cycle, I Realized That My Profile, Though Having Some Solid Attributes And A Decent GMAT Of 710, Also Had Weak Points As I Come From A Competitive Pool. Therefore, I Wanted To Work With A Consultant Who Would Help Me Tell The Best Story And Encourage Me To Deliver The Best Applications Possible. Aanchal Exceeded My Expectations. 
The Process Of Applying To Business School Is Stressful, And As Someone, Who Had Not Written An Essay In Years, This Part Seemed Extremely Daunting. However, Aanchal Helped Me Strategically Edit My Essays – Helping Tailor The Messaging In Each Essay To Suit The School’s Culture. She Helped Me Brainstorm Ideas And Recall Impactful Events For My Story, And Also Had Me Look At Myself From A New Perspective. Aanchal Taught Me Her Impressive Storytelling Technique While Keeping “My Voice". She Was Always Super Responsive And Got Back To Me Within 1-2 Days. It Always Felt Like She Was My “Partner" And Was As Excited About The Application As I Was. She Guided Me Through Everything – Including Resume Building, Career Narrative Development, Interview Preparation, And Everything Else In The Application Process. I Honestly Believe That I Would Not Have Gotten Into My Top MBA Program Without Her Guidance And Support.

Aanchal Also Encouraged Me To Spend More Time Researching Schools Which Made Me Delve Deeper Into The School’s Culture And Realize If I Was An Actual Fit. Getting Invites From Ross And ISB With Eventual Admits Is A Dream Come True.

I Consider Working With Her To Be One Of The Best Investments That I’ve Ever Made. If I Had To Go Through This Process Again, I Would Choose Aanchal In The Blink Of An Eye. Thanks To Her, I Will Attend The School Of My Dreams.

Adarsh Tandi, Tech Enterprise Sales

Full Ride Scholarship Olin Business School, Georgetown McDonough

 Getting An MBA Admit From Top 30 B-Schools Globally Is Not At All A Cakewalk And Only Folks Who Have Been Through The Process Can Relate To This.

First, Let Me Take You Through My Journey. Last Year, With GMAT 770 And 4years Work-Ex, I Aimed For FTMBA Fall ’22 Intake And Applied To Many Top B-Schools, Waitlisted By Few (Simon, UNC-KenanFlagler To Name A Few) And Eventually Rejected By All, Leaving Me In Despair. Tough Part Is To Introspect Where I Went Wrong, Started Researching, Connected To Schools To Understand The Reason But Wasn’t Convinced Of Rejections.
I Started My Preparations Again For Fall’23 And This Moment Was Daunting To Stand Up From All The Rejections. Amidst All Of This, I Met Aanchal, Through Star Admit Consulting (Mansie Dewan’s Initiative). Aanchal Helped Me Out, As I Was Timid And Out Of Track To Strategize My Applications Again For A Top B-School Thinking Whether My Profile Will Be Competent On Global Level Or Not. We Started And Trust Me This Was An Amazing Experience, Aanchal Was All Skin In The Game, Supporting And Guiding In Every Step, Be It The Write-Ups Or Interviews Everything Was Perfectly Guided. One Key Take Away Which I Learned Is The "Art Of Storytelling" I Believe That Was The Most Important And Best Part Of The Application Process.

And Talking About The Results:
WashU Olin School Of Business – Top 25 – Full Ride.
Georgetown McDonough School Of Business – Top 20 – 60% In Scholarships.

I Can Strongly Vouch For Aanchal And Would Recommend Any MBA Applicant To Her 🙂

P.S: This Is Not As Easy As It Seems, It Takes Years To Build A Competing Profile And Many Months For A Compelling MBA Application.

Sudarshan Gagrani, ISB Admit

 Supply Chain Analyst 2 Yrs Experience

ISB Has One Of The Most Stringent Admission Criteria For MBA In India And Putting Your Best Self Is Crucial To Expect A Call From The AdCom. Coming From Supply Chain Analytics Background With Decent Academics, GMAT Score And 2 Years Of Work Experience, I Was Looking For Mentorship In Structuring My Profile And Gain Understanding In My Strengths And Weakness From Admission Teams Viewpoint.

I Came To Know About Aanchal Through A LinkedIn Post. Being From Operations And Supply Chain Background Herself, Aanchal Was Really Helpful To In Preparation For My Essays And Interview. The Initial Discovery Sessions Were Helpful In Bringing Out Think Points That Let Me Introspect And Bring Out The Best Stories To Write In My Essays. She Has Good Set Of Questionnaire To Kick Start The Application Which Were Also Helpful In Gaining Clarity On My Short Term And Long Term Goals. She Is Approachable And Responds Promptly To Questions Or Concerns.

She Mentored Me In The Entire Process From Essays, CV, Reference Letter To Interview Preparation Unlike Some Other Professionals Who Offers Their Expertise In Just One Or Two Steps Of Your Application Process Of B-School.

Especially Speaking For Operations Folks, Her Understanding In The Area And Mock Interviews (Few Of The Profile-Specific Questions Were Actually Asked In My Interview) Will Definitely Help You In Preparing Your Answers For The D-Day.

 Rajarshi Biswas, ISB

Aanchal Has A Thorough Understanding Of The Application Process Especially When It Comes To Indian Applicants. I Had Worked With A Couple Of Global Consultants But Found Their Inputs To Be Very Generic And I Got No Invite. I Found Aanchal’s Approach To Be Better Suited For Indian Students Looking To Differentiate Themselves In A Highly Competitive Pool. 
She Helped Me Craft An Original Narrative By Diving Deep Into Aspects Of My Background, Career, And Future Aspirations. She Knows How To Ask The Right Questions To Be Able To Uncover What’s Unique About Each Candidate. She Also Has A Good Sense Of What B Schools Expect, Which Made The Process Of Application Easier For Me (And Got Me An Interview Call At ISB). I Would Highly Recommend Working With Her.