MBA Admissions Consulting Reviews

Success stories for low GMAT / GRE score, bad academic grades, higher age, career break, reapplications, second MBA & more

 
Credibility is at its best when the message is not promoted via paid marketing. And that is precisely why MBA Crystal Ball hasn’t spent a single dime in promoting its admission consulting services, since inception.

We’ve relied on testimonials, reviews and word-of-mouth publicity to stay in business for over a decade. We’ve helped MBA candidates realize their potential, often when they doubted their own capabilities.

Their testimonials and referrals add a level of cogency that is so needed by MBA hopefuls, drowning in the tall promises of dubious & fraudulent MBA consultants teeming the internet and the world outside it.

In this article, we have compiled the best MBA consulting service reviews from our clients, to help you get a deeper insight into our methodology, effectiveness, and partake in the delight of the success stories that have come about in our association.

For readers who have found us online, without personal references, we hope these reviews help to make an impression.

Even if you are not planning to hire a consultant, read on. You will find tips, ideas and strategies that you can use in your journey into a top MBA and beyond to get admits, scholarships and lucrative jobs.

Whether you have a low GMAT/GRE score, less-than-stellar academic grades, a career break, ‘average’ over-represented profile, reapplication concerns, you’ll find a story on our site that’ll resonate with you. Here’s a short list of candidates who managed profile, career and application concerns to get admits into top MBA programs.
 

 

Selected reviews of MBA Crystal Ball Consulting services

The number of reviews you see here are only a small subset of the success stories we’ve helped with over the years. While some folks are happy to share their accomplishment and joy with the whole (cyber) world, others prefer to celebrate in private. So consider this only as a representation of the variety of profiles.

We will begin with a MBA Business School location classification, and drill down to the various sub categories of first time/re-applications, MBA type, and candidates with scholarships. You may find a story or two that you can connect with.
 

Reviews from First Time MBA Applicants

Admitted to: NYU Stern School of Business
Scholarship: Full-ride merit scholarship worth $200,000
Divy Gulati had approached us a year earlier, but we recommended that he work for a year. Rather than rushing into MBA applications, he waited an extra year to strengthen his profile, and worked with us to craft a compelling career narrative around his career goal of moving into healthcare investment banking.
Read more: How Divy got into NYU Stern School of Business with a Full-Ride ($200,000) Scholarship

Admitted to: Kellogg, NYU Stern, Berkeley Haas, Darden, Cornell and CMU Tepper
Scholarship: Merit scholarships worth $250,000
‘We started the essays with a poem; you also made me fall in love with the entire application procedure” These words captured Apoorva Bhushan’s experience with her consultant. She did not have the elite brands (IIT, BITS, Goldman Sachs, Google et al) on her resume, yet she made it to some of the most prestigious schools including M7 with generous scholarships.
Read more: How I got $250,000 (over ₹2 crores) in scholarships from 6 top MBA programs in USA

Admitted to: Cornell Tech, NYU Stern Tech, Georgia Tech Scheller & Others
Scholarship: Total $405K scholarship
Mandovi Borthakur stopped chasing the GMAT score that reflected her potential and instead focused on story-telling. She applied to MBA programs that were the right fit without submitting test scores. The result: six top admits, scholarship offers from multiple schools, and a full-ride MBA.
Read more: MBA Without GMAT: 6 Top Admits and $405K Scholarship Offer

Admitted to: Chicago Booth and UVA Darden School of Business
Scholarship: $70,000 merit scholarship from UVA Darden
After being told by an admissions consultant that she’d “never make it to an M7 MBA,” Sumedha Upadhyay refused to let this demotivate her. Instead, she worked on improving her GMAT score, worked with us to highlight the strongest aspects of her profile and build a solid application storyline, securing top admits with scholarships.
Read more: How a VIT Engineer got into Chicago Booth & UVA Darden with $70K Scholarship

Admitted to: UCLA Anderson
Scholarship: $80,000 from UCLA Anderson
With a 705 GMAT and a profile he feared was too ‘generic,’ IIT Delhi graduate Anshshiv Garg wasn’t sure he could stand out among top MBA applicants. ‘The MBA application process was transformational. It pushed me to reflect, clarify my goals, and recognize the value of my journey so far’. Read how he turned self-doubt into success.
Read more: IIT Delhi grad who got into UCLA MBA with $80,000 scholarship explains why he skipped IIMs & ISB

Admitted to: London Business School (Masters in Finance) and UNC Kenan Flagler
Scholarship: Merit scholarship from UNC Kenan Flagler
Initially set on pursuing an MBA, Siddharth Panikath was encouraged by our consultant to take a step back and consider whether it was the right fit for his long-term goals. That led him to apply to London Business School’s Masters in Finance in addition to MBA programs. The result: Admits to both!
Read more: MFin from London Business School vs MBA in USA with scholarship: An Indian applicant’s dilemma

Admitted to: UCLA Anderson, Vanderbilt Owen & UNC Kenan-Flagler
Scholarship: $357,000 total – including $100,000 from UCLA Anderson
“I believe we were able to turn a weakness in my application into a strength.” Janak Daswani had a significant employment gap after his CA articleship and took multiple attempts to clear his CA finals. Here’s how he addressed these challenges, and got top school admits with scholarships.
Read more: How an Indian chartered accountant got over ₹3 crores in scholarships from top business schools in USA

Admitted to: IIM-A, IIM-B
With a BA in Journalism & Mass Communications and start-up experience, Nihitha Alicherry’s knew she had chosen the unconventional path. Her consutant helped her uncover unique aspects of her career journey. Despite a modest GMAT score, she got admits from top business schools in India.
Read more: MBA after B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communications: How I got into IIM-A PGPX & IIM-B EPGP with scholarships

Admitted to: Cambridge Judge MBA
Scholarship: Cambridge MBA Distinction Award Bursary – £12,500
BITS Pilani graduate Nipun Tiwari faced a few rejections before securing an admit from the prestigious Cambridge Judge Business School, along with a £12,500 scholarship. Here’s how he turned his diverse experiences into an authentic story and found the right-fit MBA program.
Read more: From BITS Pilani to Cambridge MBA with scholarship

Admitted to: INSEAD MBA & MIT SCM Master’s
Scholarship: INSEAD – €25,000
With 7 years of work experience and an MBA from IIT Bombay, Bratati Das was considering whether to pursue a second MBA or a specialized master’s when she was impacted by a job redundancy. She turned a career setback into two dream admits.
Read more: Second MBA from INSEAD with scholarship vs MIT SCM Masters: Indian applicant’s envious dilemma

Admitted to: Oxford University, Said Business School
Despite bottlenecks to slow him down, this applicant managed to make the best of the guidance from our MBA consultants to make it into the prestigious Oxford Said Business School program.
Read more: Oxford Said admit shares top advice from admission consultant

Admitted to: IESE, IE, HEC Paris & ESADE
Scholarship: HEC Paris & IESE
After 8.5 years of work experience, Devika Mohole decided to pursue an MBA though she was older than the typical applicant. Despite a modest 319 GRE score and a Round 2 application, she secured admits from 4 top European B-schools, along with multiple scholarships.
Read more: MBA abroad after 30: I got into 2 top European B-Schools with scholarships despite average GRE score & test anxiety

Admitted to:  London Business School, IESE Business School
Gautam’s wife, Shruthi, had previously worked with MBA Crystal Ball and secured an admit to IESE Business School with scholarship. When Gautam began his own MBA journey, he chose to work with us as well. He valued our direct, no-sugarcoating feedback and the ability to identify overlooked experiences that strengthened his application.
Read more: GMAT 625 to LBS & IESE Admits: MBA Journey of a Power Couple After Marriage

Reapplicant Reviews

Admitted to: Duke Fuqua and UVA Darden
Scholarship: Forté Fellowship
Rejected by six business schools and told by a reputed admissions consultant that she had ‘no chance’ because of her GRE score, Rishika Chatterjee refused to give up. She created a fresh application strategy that led to top MBA admits with a prestigious scholarship.
Read more: Forté Fellowship with T15 MBA admits after rejections from 6 business schools & a reputed admission consultant

Admitted to: ISB, IIM-A, IIM-B, IIM-C
After an unsuccessful MBA application cycle, Smruti Sarita Swain applied with the same profile, the same GMAT score, but a very different outcome – admits from all the schools she applied to.
Here’s what she did differently: How Smruti Converted & ISB After GMAT Struggles: Second Attempt Success

Admitted to: Cambridge Judge Business School and INSEAD
Scholarship: £40,000 from Cambridge Judge Business School and €20,000 from INSEAD.
Berklee-trained Achyuth Jaigopal, lead guitarist of the famous band ‘When Chai Met Toast’, had an unconventional profile. After facing rejections in his first application cycle, he worked with our team and reapplied with a stronger strategy, sharper storytelling, and a clear entrepreneurial vision.
Read more: How Achyut got into INSEAD and Cambridge with scholarship as a reapplicant

Admitted to: UCLA Anderson & Michigan Ross
Scholarship: $80,000 merit scholarship from UCLA Anderson
Despite scoring a 760 GMAT, CA Aditya Sulakhe faced 5 B-school rejections in his first attempt. What did he change in his second attempt to turn things around – to secure not just admits from reputed schools but also a substantial scholarship?
Read more: High GMAT wasn’t enough: What he did differently in his second attempt

Admitted to: INSEAD, HEC Paris & IESE
After 8 B-school rejections and not a single interview call in spite of working with an admissions consultant, CA and Big 4 auditor Karthik Venkat decided to reapply with his 720 GMAT score unchanged. In his second attempt, he got admits from 3 top European business schools that had rejected him earlier. What did he do differently?
Read more: After 8 rejections, this CA & Big 4 auditor got into 3 top b-schools that rejected him earlier

Admitted to: Indian School of Business (ISB)
After facing rejection from ISB in her first attempt, Ananya Wadhwa realized that a stronger GMAT and CA+CFA credentials alone wouldn’t be enough. Here’s how a fresh approach helped her convert ISB in her second attempt.
Read more: CA rejected by ISB, admitted in second attempt
 

Profile Builder Reviews

Admitted to: INSEAD
Already an IIM Indore graduate, Ameya Talanki knew he wanted a second MBA – but he needed clarity on why, and what he wanted from it. That’s where Profile Builder and expert feedback changed his approach. It pushed him to step back, reassess his goals, understand what made him unique, and learn how to articulate his story with greater clarity and impact.
Read more: How MBA profile building helped me get into INSEAD

Admitted to: Kellogg and NYU Stern
With just 2 years of work experience, Neel Patil was advised to focus on strengthening his overall profile – not just by taking on greater responsibilities at work, but also by continuing to pursue interests from his college years. He did phenomenally well in building a well-rounded profile, securing admits from leading business schools.
Read more: M7 admit reveals GMAT profile building plan and MBA application strategy

Admitted to: ISB, Rotman & Foster
Scholarship: Rotman CAD 25,000 & Foster USD 40,000 + reduced (in-state) fees
In an overrepresented pool of Indian male IT applicants, a 720 GMAT wasn’t enough for Aakash Borwankar to stand out. MBA Crystal Ball’s Profile Builder helped him make strategic moves that differentiated his profile – from joining a startup to taking on broader business responsibilities and working on his extracurriculars. The result? A profile that stood apart from the rest!
Read more: How I improved my profile for MBA in India, USA and Canada with scholarships

Admitted to: Kellogg
Scholarship: $15,000 from Kellogg
As a second-MBA applicant, Garimaya Gaur used MBA Crystal Ball’s Profile Builder to assess his profile early, set a realistic GMAT target, identify the right M7 schools, and strengthen his positioning. His singing and guitar skills were creatively incorporated into his Kellogg application, making his profile stand out.
Read more: Profile building for second MBA after IIM: M7 (Kellogg) admit with scholarship
 

 

We hope to see your review of MBA Crystal Ball soon

The above list of clients shows you a small snippet of the backgrounds, locations, MBA types, and the variety of MBA candidate profiles, we had the pleasure, and experience, of working with – both traditional and unconventional.

We hope we get the opportunity to add your name to this page very soon.

Take the first step. Send us an email with your profile details to this ID: info [at] mbacrystalball [dot] com

Good luck and never stop learning!