It’s hard to achieve excellence in any competitive field. If you steer a person toward a highly selective MBA program that admits a small minority of applicants, the results are likely to be much less desirable.
But Poets&Quants’ eighth annual list of top MBA admissions coaches proves that it is possible to satisfy discerning clients who aspire to overcome formidable admissions hurdles to get into a top business school. Scott Edinburgh, 41, founder of Perusal MBA Coach, tops the list of 15 stellar coaches, with rave reviews from eager MBA candidates who achieved their dreams with his help. Plus, his clients won nearly $12 million in scholarships last year.
Hiring the help of an MBA admissions consultant is more popular than ever. “Today, candidates are hyper-focused on earning a degree from an elite business school because the program’s brand is a lifelong extension of their own identity and values,” explains Stacy Blackman, founder of Stacy Blackman Consulting, whose consultants limit their work to no more than eight clients per application round. “MBA candidates are increasingly turning to the expert advice of qualified MBA admissions consultants because this group of candidates wants every advantage. This is a group of candidates that leaves no stone unturned and recognizes that an experienced partner who offers personalized treatment is the fast track to achieving their deepest ambitions.”
SCOTT EDINBURGH HAS 38 POSITIVE REVIEWS AND A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SCORE OF 9.97
How successful are MBA coaches in helping their clients knock down the doors of a selective MBA program? Few firms publicly disclose their success rates. A rare exception is Admissions Gateway, founded by Kellogg MBA Rajdeep Chimni, who says his firm collected a record 185 admissions offers for clients to get into M7 business schools this fall, with one in three clients (51 total) gaining admission to The Wharton School. Chimni, ranked among our top ten consultants this year, says more than 275 of his clients received invitations to the top 12 MBA programs.
Another way to evaluate a coach is, of course, their track record, as expressed in their client reviews. Edinburgh, who has been coaching MBA candidates full-time for 13 years and claims a 96% success rate, took the top spot on this year’s list of top-reviewed coaches, racking up 38 rave reviews, all independently verified by Poets&Quants. They also had the highest score for client satisfaction (9.97, with the best being 10.0) among the top 15 coaches with 15 or more reviews. Edinburgh is followed by mbaMission’s Devi Vallabhaneri, a former Harvard Business School admissions committee member, one of three coaches from the firm to make our top 15; Admit Beacon’s Nikita Desai; LaBalle Admissions’ Candy Lee LaBalle; and GyanOne Universal’s Rishabh Gupta (see table below).
In the competitive world of MBA education, it’s extremely difficult to stay on top. Only three of the original top ten MBA advisors from our inaugural ranking in 2017 made it onto our lists with either the best reviews or perfect customer satisfaction: Alex Leventhal of Prep MBA, Paul Bodine of Admitify.com, and Angela Guido of Career Protocol. Last year’s winner, Emma Bond of Fortuna Admissions, made our list again, but came in at #13.
RAVING TESTIMONIALS FOR THE BEST MBA ADMISSIONS CONSULTANTS
The analysis is based on verified client reviews on Poets&Quants from September 1, 2022, to August 31, 2023. During that period, clients wrote 1,215 evaluations of their experience with 210 admissions consultants at 65 different firms. To date, the Poets&Quants consultant directory now counts a total of 606 MBA advisors, up from 567 the year before, at 148 different firms, with more than 8,500 reviews. Over time, Edinburgh has collected 263 client reviews in the directory, putting it in the top tier of successful MBA advisors for some time. Of the 15 advisors with 100 or more favorable testimonials, Edinburgh ranks second, behind only Rajdeep Chimni (see table here). Last year, Edinburgh was ranked 26th in our list of the top 39 consultants.
This year, 11 other MBA consultants earned a perfect 10.0 score for client satisfaction across at least eight reviews. Those who earned perfect scores this year are led by Lindsay Sage of Sage Admit, with perfect scores from 13 different clients during the period examined, followed closely by Alex Leventhal of Prep MBA, Greg Guglielmo of Avanti Prep, Eli David of Ivy MBA Consulting, and Mudit Gupta of Admissions Gateway (see table here).
All of these consultants have received glowing testimonials from clients who, in most cases, believe they would never have passed the test without the expert help of a trained professional. None of this is cheap, of course. At Fortuna Admissions, for example, a three-school aid package costs $9,750, or $11,350 if you choose one of the firm’s directors or senior experts. The Edinburgh firm prices a three-school package at $10,750, charging a hefty three grand more if you assign it as the lead coach.
‘WE DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO SHARPEN MY STORY’
But few complain about the prices, especially if they get results. Edinburgh’s reviews are similar to many of those received by other consultants on the list. “Scott is the kind of guy who answers the phone when you call him,” writes one candidate who successfully gained admission to an M7 MBA program. “I worked in customer services for six years before applying to MBA programs. He helped me every step of the way—from writing my CV to selecting the right schools, being strategic with essay topic choices, managing multiple priorities when deadlines were approaching, preparing for the interview, and even during the anxious waitlist period. I can easily say that Scott is top-notch in this field. He is consistent, smart, reliable, and knows this field inside and out.”
A successful Wharton candidate with a low GPA and average GMAT believes Edinburgh was the difference in his admission to the school. “Scott went above and beyond to help me hone my story and connect it to my short- and long-term goals,” the candidate writes. “He was honest with me throughout the process and was very personable, which made working with him easy. He and his team were exceptional in helping me edit my essays and craft a strong story to communicate to schools.”
Another candidate, who had initially set his sights on lower-ranked schools, says he ended up with three acceptances and over $300,000 in scholarships, plus two waitlist decisions out of five applications. “Scott encouraged me to aim higher,” the applicant adds. “I have no doubt that Scott’s help was instrumental in achieving this outcome, particularly when it came to essay revisions and interview preparation. Applying to MBA programs is a daunting experience, and I chose to work with Scott because I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned… While his services aren’t cheap, I’m confident the investment was worth it several times over given the number of scholarships I received, much of which I attribute directly to the quality of my interviews, essays, and overall story.”
The Best-Reviewed MBA Admissions Consultants of 2024
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| Consultant | Firm | Positive reviews | Customer satisfaction score | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Scott Edinburgh | Personal MBA Coach | 38 | 9.97 | $500 per hour, $13,750 (3 school package) |
| 2. Devi Vallabhaneni | mbaMission | 29 | 9.72 | $7000 per hour, $13,600 (3 school package) |
| 3. Niketa Desai | Admit Beacon | 27 | 9.85 | $300 per hour, $6,700 (3-school package) |
| 4. Candy Lee The Ball | LaBalle Admissions | 26 | 9.96 | $400 per hour, $3,800 (1 school package) |
| 5. Rishabh Gupta | GyanOne Universal | twenty | 9.90 | Without hourly allowances, $4,200 (3-school package) |
| 6. Pablo Bodine | Admitify.com | 19 | 9.79 | $330 per hour (with a minimum of 10 hours), $16,995 (3-school package) |
| 7. Rajdeep Chimni | Gateway to Admissions | 18 | 9.89 | $350 per hour, $9,500 (3 school package) |
| 8. Sam Weeks | Sam Weeks Consulting | 17 | 9.94 | $450 per hour, $10,710 (3 school package) |
| 8. Heidi Hillis | Fortuna Admissions | 17 | 9.82 | $475 per hour, $11,350 (3 school package) |
| 8. Petia Whitmore | My path to the MBA | 17 | 9.82 | $395 per hour, $9,950 (3 school package) |
| 11. Thomas Locke | Forster Thomas | sixteen | 9.94 | $400 per hour, $8,100 (3 school package) |
| 11. Gavriella Semaya | mbaMission | sixteen | 9.87 | $425 per hour, $9,700 (3 school package) |
| 13. Emma Bond | Fortuna Admissions | fifteen | 9.93 | $475 per hour, $11,350 (3 school package) |
| 13. Pascal Michels | Menlo Training | fifteen | 9.93 | $500 per hour, $17,000 (3 school package) |
| 13. Debbie Choy | mbaMission | fifteen | 9.87 | $575 per hour, $11,800 (3 school package) |
DON’T MISS: HOW TO INTELLIGENTLY USE OUR MBA ADMISSIONS CONSULTING DIRECTORY
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