28,676Leland Reviews

Sailu is an exceptional coach who brings clarity, confidence, and results to every session. Her thoughtful approach and expertise make her a great choice for anyone looking to grow and achieve their goals. I highly recommend her!

Nancy coached a small group of us during a 2024 Leadership Development Exchange program. I learned a lot from her experiences and stories, and her supportive coaching style. She was able to ask kind and thoughtful questions that kept us thinking and staying accountable for our career journeys. If I could work with Nancy every day I would!!

Uphill Battle to Tuck Let me curb some fears of working with an application consultant before I get started…. Greg Guglielmo was WORTH EVERY PENNY in this entire process. I came into application season with a GPA and GMAT score that are both slightly below average for the schools I was looking at. I knew it would be an uphill battle to get where I wanted. I chose to work with Greg at Avanti Prep because I knew I would need all the help I could get to have the most polished applications I could. It didn’t hurt that he came strongly recommended from a friend of mine who just started b-school last fall. I’m a married Midwest man who had to consider my budget in the application process, so I chose to only work with Greg on one school and hoped that I could get some carry-over benefit for my other applications. My target schools were Kellogg, Tuck, Sloan and Fuqua. After talking it through with Greg, we decided to work together on Kellogg. This worked very well because most of its deadlines were ahead of the other schools. When we started off, Greg got to know me on a very personal level through scheduled phone calls and emails to framework how I would present myself to the admissions committee. After that, we got to work on my resume. I had no idea how much work my resume needed. I had a ton of industry lingo that had to come out and simplified my accomplishments into something admissions committees could understand. Greg was always very pointed and specific about what he wanted me to fix. Once we both felt comfortable with my resume, we got to work on the essays. I’m not a gifted writer, so Greg was a huge help in this department. Greg went as many rounds as we needed to get my essays looking their best. He never took more than a day or two to get my essays edited and sent back. After my essays were in tip top shape, Greg was more than willing to spend time on the phone to discuss the rest of my application (LT and ST goals, international exp, extracurricular activities, etc.). Greg also helped me with a mock interview and gave me pointers for the video essay which proved invaluable. He helped shape some of my answers for typical interview questions in ways that I hadn’t thought of but made perfect sense. Greg was also extremely accommodating for a very late letter of recommendation. One of my recommenders procrastinated too much; however, Greg was able to turn around a review of his LOR the day of the deadline. The Spillover Effect: Although I only had Greg help me with one application, my work with him substantially improved my other three applications. My goals were in much better form than they would have otherwise been. I know my essays were not near the same quality, but they too were much better off. With a 710 GMAT and 3.37 GPA, I’m in at Tuck and have an interview scheduled with MIT later next month. I can confidently say that I would not be where I am right now without Greg’s help at Avanti Prep. His personalized touch, responsiveness, thoroughness and skill should put Avanti Prep at the top of your list.

Nancy is an incredible coach, leader, and person. I appreciated and loved every minute of her leadership program. I feel so fortunate to have had her as my leadership development coach and cannot say enough good things about her leadership style.

Incredibly committed to your success - accepted to Top 10 w/ Scholarships I was a second time applicant with a strong GMAT score and 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.

GREG IS AN ADMISSIONS MAESTRO: ACCEPTED TO TOP 5 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).

Choosing a Consultant: I had a pretty traditional & solid background when I applied, but really needed help with telling my story. I had spent a lot of time preparing for the GMAT and not a lot of time on researching, so I felt a bit rushed applying to 5 programs in Round 2. I was looking for someone who was experienced with the MBA process to help me brainstorm story ideas, solidify my goals, and improve my essays. I had a few meetings with a few MBA consultants from larger firms but ultimately decided to go with Greg due to the thoughtfulness of his initial profile assessment. Working with Greg: I began with 10 hours and added a couple more hours later on. From the get go, I felt like Greg was on my side. He made sure that we were making good use of the hours I purchased and I believe he spent more time on some tasks than he charged for, especially when it came to "crunch time", which he did a great job of turning around edits. I spent most of my time working with him on my Wharton essays. Greg did a wonderful job of helping me tie seemingly unrelated topics into a unique, cohesive theme. He also helped me strengthen and articulate my “why Wharton” piece, which was immensely helpful. When I interviewed for the TBD, I was able to leverage some of the info from my essays to prepare for the prompt. The brainstorming session that I did with Greg in the beginning went a long way! Results: I was accepted into Wharton Round 2. I'm excited for my next two years at my dream school and I couldn't have done it without Greg!

ACCEPTED TO DREAM TOP-20 PROGRAM W/ $$ (OVER-REPRESENTED APPLICANT W/ AVERAGE STATS) Profile and Background I am a 30-year-old engineer, am from an over-represented group, have two degrees in electrical engineering, and have pretty average stats. I have worked in the energy industry for almost 7 years at a pretty niche company with some promotions but no direct management experience. • Age: 30 • Demographics: White American male • Electrical engineer in energy industry • GMAT: 710 (Q49, V39, IR6, AWA6) • Undergrad GPA: 3.3, Graduate GPA: 3.9 • Small, non-target school barely scraping the T-100 (bachelor’s and master’s) • Work Experience: ~7 years w/ no direct management experience • Applied in Round 2 to only one school (will explain this later) I have a pretty basic profile, and had been preparing 2+ years for the GMAT. Summer 2019 came along, and I still had not hit my target GMAT score and had little idea of where to even start with applications or how to transform my goals and passion into a cohesive story for my application. My goal is to transition from an engineering/market analyst role to a renewable energy-specific project finance/development role. Choosing a Consultant A good friend referred me to Avanti Prep at a time when I was both lost on where to start and skeptical of admissions consultants. I spoke with about 5 different consultants but found that Greg, during our Free Consultation, was the most forthcoming and honest as well as the most personable. He managed expectations but also had the energy and tenacity to make me feel confident that, despite any obstacle, I could put my best foot forward and deliver the best, most optimal and representative application I could. He made no promises except to be the best possible partner along the way and to give my application the time it needed. Summary Recommendation I enrolled in Avanti Prep’s Tier 3 Package, which covers everything, and my experience with Greg was fantastic. MBA applications can be incredibly daunting and, paired with GMAT/GRE prep, very stressful. Greg helped transform the application into a very detailed step-by-step process that made it much easier for me to balance writing the application, preparing for my GMAT, and working on some of the auxiliary parts of my application (outreach, etc.). Greg’s reviews were very meticulous, methodical, and detailed. He answered my questions quickly via email (we had 3+ email threads going at any given time with a LOT of back-and-forth) and empowered me to put my best foot forward in each component. He put a lot of effort into understanding my background, story, and goals. He emphasizes working through the application as partners, and he does not fall short. He was invested in each component of my application as much as I was – and it shined through in each task, call, and review along the way. Honestly, no amount of Reddit posts, ClearAdmit/GMATClub/P&Q blog posts, or Admissions "Application Tips" posts would have prepared me to deliver the level of application that Greg helped me deliver. I'm incredibly proud of it. Two years ago I had all but given up on the idea of getting in to a Top-20 program but now, with Greg’s help, I'm headed to my dream school with a scholarship award (that the school doubled from their original offer)! Step-by-Step Process and Detailed Recommendation The Tier 3 Package covers everything, including: 1) school selection and story development, 2) essay brainstorming and review, 3) resume review, 4) recommender selection, strategy, and review, 5) interview prep, and 6) scholarship negotiations (plus other auxiliary elements, as noted, like Q&A and guidance regarding how to reach out to and connect with schools). For those interested in the details, I’ll try to touch on each step below. School Selection & Story Development: I had narrowed my list of schools down to about 5 before meeting Greg, but decided to shoot my shot on just one that I thought could deliver me the MBA program I felt I needed. Greg listened to my goals, suggested other potential school fits, but ultimately respected my decision to apply to just 1 school – something other consultants advised against. Story development was incredibly thorough; Greg left no stone unturned and actively searched for different breadcrumbs that could bring my essays and application to life. Essay Brainstorming and Review: After our initial brainstorming call, we settled on a few themes to focus on for my first essay. The initial draft felt like an unsurmountable challenge, but once I submitted it to Greg, we engaged in a very fluid and dynamic development and iteration process. In the early going, we were circling around the right themes and delivery, but we weren’t all the way there. To Greg’s credit, he never let us settle for something that wasn’t fully clicking or telling my story, even if it took more time or back-and-forth. It took 5 reviews, but Greg helped me deliver a really good, authentic, and representative essay. The second essay required a lot of school research and outreach (something Greg strongly recommends his clients to do) and creativity. Greg gave me the freedom to inject my personality into the essay and helped me deliver, what I think is, a pretty creative essay that I was immensely proud of. Greg also helped with my Optional Essay that buttressed any soft spots in my application. Resume Review: This was one of the first things Greg and I tackled, since it seemed to be the easiest way for me to get the ball rolling. Greg was able to help me extract information from my professional and personal experiences and inject it into bullet points that worked together to maximize different parts of my experience and also echo my post-MBA goals. He also helped me translate things from technical engineering parlance to clear bullets with business relevance. Honestly – the resume looks very sharp and I’m going to be scared to change it! Recommender Prep: I already had a decent idea of who I was going to ask write my recommendation, but Greg worked to vet my thought process regarding my choice. He reaffirmed my decision to go with a recommender that wouldn't deliver a flowery review, but instead one that would deliver an honest review that highlighted new topics, echoed the strengths of my application, and even reinforced certain areas of potential concern. Interview Prep: After receiving an invitation to interview, we started off with a call where Greg walked me through the overall interview experience, steps to prepare for a wide-assortment of different interview questions as well as ones that were typically asked by my target school. After my own prep, we had a mock-interview that road-tested each of my answers. He provided clear and methodical feedback and gave me a roadmap to address any shortcomings in my initial answers. After that, we had a follow-up call to practice a couple of questions one last time and to tie up loose ends. Scholarship Negotiation: As Greg pointed out, Goal 1 was to get in, then Goal 2 was to hope for or attempt to get scholarship money. On an Admissions Officer’s recommendation, I had mentioned in my Optional Essay that I only applied to their school. Greg and I had weighed the pros and cons of saying this – the pro being that it would help show commitment and interest (Goal 1), and the con being that it left me with very little leverage in any type of negotiations (Goal 2). However, after being admitted and awarded a small chunk of scholarship money, Greg advised me on how to craft an email to Admissions that addressed my decision to apply to only one school, highlighted all of the efforts I had made outside of the physical application to connect and engage with the school, and basically attempted to transform my deep commitment to the program into scholarship leverage. They ended up doubling my scholarship award!

Liz is an amazing career coach. Very empathetic and supportive. She hears your needs and steps in to help guide where she can.

GREG IS A DIFFERENCE MAKER, WHO ALWAYS GOES THE EXTRA MILE! 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.