Poets & Quants recently released its ranking of the Most Favorably Reviewed MBA Admissions Consultants of 2025. Four of the highest-ranked consultants share here the secrets of their—and their clients’—success and suggest what you might look for in an admissions consultant.
Clients Rank Their Consultants
The P&Q ranking relies on the scores given by actual clients to the admissions consultants with whom they worked on their MBA applications. This makes the ranking particularly useful for people in the early stages of considering an MBA. It can be valuable to read what people who have been through the process recently have to say about the consultants who helped them along what can look like a daunting journey.
The ranking is more than a simple hierarchy. It can help a new cohort of applicants choose the right consultant for them. What makes for a good match?
Each of the consultants interviewed here spoke in similar terms about the consultant-client relationship. Far from being a numbers game, the application process is viewed by these consultants as an emotional journey that draws on the consultants’ extensive understanding of both the person applying and the standards of top MBA programs.
Rajdeep Chimni: Deep Work With A Challenging Demographic Pool
Rajeep Chimni, Founder of Admissions Gateway, has been the globally number one ranked MBA consultant on P&Q for six years. This tribute is all the more astonishing in that Chimni works with one of the most overrepresented applicant pools: Indian applicants to U.S. MBA programs. What drives Chimni to work–and with such success-with such a challenging demographic?
In a message on LinkedIn, Chimni explains to me that his engagement with applicants arises from his own experience in applying more than once for an MBA.
“As a re-applicant, I understand the emotional turmoil which comes with failing in the application journey. So, I work doubly hard to ensure that applicants who put their trust in me succeed,” writes Chimni. “Working with the toughest demographic pools in the world, we at Admissions Gateway have catered our approach to go much deeper than what’s sufficient to succeed, which mitigates luck and variance.”
Scott Edinburgh: His Life’s Work
Scott Edinburgh, Founder of Personal MBA Coach, secured the number two spot in the P&Q rankings. In an email to me, Edinburgh writes with similar fervor of his “life’s work”:
“As Personal MBA Coach’s founder with over 17 years of experience, I have unparalleled insight into what makes MBA applicants successful. I have made MBA admissions my life’s work, connect regularly with admissions directors to learn what they are looking for from their candidates and travel around the world to present to applicants at the world’s leading companies and MBA fairs.”
What distinguishes Personal MBA Coach? “We also take a very pragmatic approach to the admissions process, helping clients to not only identify their true story and selling points but also to truly evaluate how the MBA fits in their overall journey, as we recognize this is the core of what admissions directors are actually looking for today,” writes Edinburgh.
Clients have also driven the growth of Personal MBA Coach’s series of essay guides for individual MBA programs. “While we brainstorm essays with all of our clients, we recognized that many clients benefit from written reminders and visual roadmaps as they write their essays . . .,” writes Edinburgh. “Though this program started out small, it has grown with client demand and we now have over 50 guides covering full-time, part-time, EMBA and deferred MBA programs. These guides are developed by looking at the most crucial components of successful essays and speaking to admissions directors about what they are hoping to glean from applicants.”
Devi Vallabhaneni: Personal And Professional Growth
Devi Vallabhaneni nailed third place in P&Q’s world rankings. Vallabhaneni is Executive Director and HBS Interviewer-in-Residence at MBAmission. She too writes in a LinkedIn message to me of her multi-faceted relationship with her clients and the importance of trust.
“I tell my clients that I’m part boss, part therapist, and part professor. This resonates because I have to get to know all sides of my clients: emotional, behavioral, personal, and professional,” writes Vallabhaneni. “They know getting into the top schools requires high standards, and they trust my standards for what makes for a strong application.”
Prospective clients often think too narrowly about the benefits of hiring an expert MBA consultant. They may think it’s all about numbers: grades in college or that looming GMAT score. But Vallabhaneni sees her work and the benefits to clients in larger terms.
“I focus on getting to know my clients’ IQ and EQ. IQ is their current state of business acumen whether it’s in their job, function, or industry and then assess the gap to where they want to go (i.e., their goals), and EQ is their self-confidence as well as their communication and framing skills,” she writes.
Some of the benefits can be seen immediately in her clients’ performance on the job and some continue beyond the formal application. “Because of this approach, my clients start seeing themselves differently first in the application process itself, which is why they can apply the learnings immediately to their job as well as the MBA interviews and soon thereafter the MBA classroom,” writes Vallabhaneni.
She has advice for how to get the greatest benefit from working with an admissions consultant. “For prospective MBAs who are thinking about working with an admissions consultant, choose one that’s focused on your growth as a person and professional first, not just to get into an MBA program,” Vallabhaneni writes. “The most successful MBA applicants choose to view the application process as personal and professional growth, which leads to admissions. If you just focus on admissions, you lose out on the growth.”
Sam Weeks: Fast-Paced and Live
Another highly-ranked consultant, Sam Weeks of Sam Weeks Consulting, addressed his distinctive consulting process in email to me. “What makes us successful?” writes Weeks. “Almost all of our client work is done on live video calls over Zoom. We meet twice per week and keep emails to a minimum. It’s an intense style that doesn’t work for everyone, but applicants who like it, love it.”
Weeks had this advice for applicants looking for the right fit with an MBA admissions consultant: “Filter for quality, then choose a consultant that you vibe with. Seriously, you’ll be working closely with this person for months. Your results will be better if it’s someone that you collaborate with productively.”
Weeks’ rapid-fire, live meeting style arose from his work experience. “I spent my early career on a trading floor — I was the trader you see on TV with 8 screens and 2 phones,” writes Weeks. “I learned to think fast and work on calls. Now, that’s how I work with MBA and EMBA applicants. It’s far more effective than emailing back-and-forth.”
How To Choose The Right Consultant
There’s a lot at stake in an application to business school.
The observations of these top-ranked MBA admissions consultants should give you important insights into what really counts in creating a successful application: things like an “honest and authentic story,” “thoughtful reflection on the ‘why’” and “high standards” for your work.
Make sure the consultants’ style is a good fit with your own way of working. Consider what other applicants say about their experience: not just where they got in, but what it was like to work with a particular consultant. The consultants’ own websites are a rich source of information. And in addition to the 2025 rankings of MBA admissions consultants, testimonials by clients can be found in the MBA Admissions Consulting Directory on P&Q.