It really is a monumental task to apply for an MBA in US. The sheer volume of unique requirements for multiple schools seems overwhelming, but if you can choose 1 person to help you along the way, I would say, pick Neha. For me, working with Neha has set new standards on what it means to have a coach.Neha has been with me every step of the way – she kept faith in me despitemy low GMAT scores – she stuck with me through my countless requests for interview mocks. Neha gave me the confidence to not only shoot for the moon but also conquer it.
What you need to know about Neha is that,

Neha doesn’t come in with a pre-determined picture of who you might be. She respects that you’ve lived a unique life, tries to understands it and then take it from there to help craft the perfect story to represent your best self to various adcoms.

To show how much dedication Neha puts with every student,2 instances come to my mind, Starting earlier gave us the benefit of finishing couple applications by May. But even after that, she revisited our earlier work, found that we could make it stronger. I can’t evendescribe how many versions of editing we went throughsince we craftedmultiple essays twice. She will not stop until something is authentic and perfect, and does not run by the clock in terms of what she has to offer you. She will put things through fire, and ensure you come out the other side as a winner. I received interviews from all the schools (HBS, GSB, Columbia, Wharton, Kellogg), was finally waitlisted and HBS and GSB and will be heading to Columbia with a US$100,000 scholarship! Her process starts with a deep understanding of what makes you you. I was surprised that Neha remembered these situations much later in the process,even though I forgot about them, to help craft the optimal response for the interviews. Neha is a wonderful coach who would believe in you more than you currently do yourself, and I wholeheartedly recommend her for anyone looking to pursue higher education

Thank you so much, Neha for all the guidance and support! While starting my applications, I could not have asked for a stronger coach. Because of the Seven Hats approach, I could carefully reflect upon my background and experiences and stitch them together into an essay that I loved and felt super confident about.

In most of our conversations, Neha amazed me by how much she understood me and my future aspirations. While juggling between multiple versions through my hectic work schedule, Neha had genuinely made the effort to understand my story and I personally feel that made a lot of difference.

Throughout the applications, that can get stressful at many times, Neha had my back and always helped me to anchor on to what was truly important. I felt like I am not alone in this – I have Neha on my team! Yet, In her calm and ‘I have got it all covered’ way – she would be honest in her review and never settle for anything that is less than what she thought my application was capable of. She went out of her way to coach me for the interview, or absolutely any other part of the application as well. Thanks to her, I got an admit to HBS, and I would strongly recommend her to all aspirants!

Before choosing a consultant, I had done an elaborate exercise, probably speaking to all the consultants that exist. For every consultant I considered workingwith, I spoke to atleast 5 students who had worked with them – including those who didn’t get their desired outcome. Everyonewho had workedwith Neha in the past had the same thing to say about her – she is like no other – and now at the end of this journey I can truly appreciate why.

She starts the process by helping you understand yourself better, finally clawing deep inside you to create a storyline that will be so unique to you, and yet so real. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say she is an extremely intelligent individual, and having her on my side was truly game changer for me. Her selfless passion to help me succeed, even when it meant spending more time with me, was what made all the difference in my result.

The time she puts in upfront getting to know you, also makes her an insightful and empathetic interview coach. She put her heart and soul in helping me prepare for the final lap of the HBS interview – playing the role of a coach, friend, teacher and a true well- wisher – helping me overcome my insecurities, nervousness and sometimes even imperfect professional knowledge.

Finally, be ready for some strict feedback, which you betterlearn to appreciate, for your own good 🙂

Neha is simply amazing. I had first reached out to her a few years back for a full time MBA but had then dropped the idea in lieu of a great work opportunity coming up. And then a few years later when I thought of going for an Executive Education program I reached out to her. And this was at the end of December! She being a true and genuine mentor helped me understand and navigate what I wanted out of the program and suggested I look for an Executive MBA instead. And that suggestion couldn’t have gotten any better. With just 3 weeks left for my 1st deadline, which was also my premier choice program, we started the process. Neha was extremely mindful of the deadlines, and made me incredibly comfortable as I was pretty anxious with such short time on our hand. The best part is you can reach out to her anytime and that approachability and personal touch makes her a no brainer for me. She does not think about the number of sessions or edits that have been done on the application materials. She’s in touch with you until you’re comfortable and convinced to submit your application. She helps you in every way you need to arrive at the right program for you, even putting you in touch with the admissions team and right alums for advice apart from working on essays, recommendations, CV, and interviews. She provides great insights into the culture, methodology, and ideology of different schools which help you in making the right decision for yourself as well as in your applications. Neha amazed me again when she said we need to rewrite and make major edits for Harvard essays as Covid happened, whereas I was comfortable keeping the earlier essays (from just before Covid) to build upon. I got into all the programs we applied to- Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, London Business School, and Chicago Booth. I cannot thank her enough. Best wishes for Neha, always!

Working with Neha was a transformational experience for me. She is an exceptional guide. Our sessions together were open-ended explorations of my past experiences and future aspirations, aided by Neha’s patient, non-judgmental, and insightful prompts and interventions. Throughout our time working together, Neha made me feel comfortable enough to explore the topics that made me feel most vulnerable. She helped me articulate my own journey and goals in a manner that deeply resonated with me. After helping me know myself in a much deeper way, she provided timely, specific, and impactful guidance on how I can craft my applications and prepare for interviews to most effectively bring out who I was and what motivated me to university admissions committees. Neha helped me develop an application that was mine and mine alone and true to who I was, even if it may not have conformed to common wisdom about what was the most ‘strategic’ way to present one’s candidacy.

I am deeply grateful to have had the chance to work with Neha. She helped me embark on a journey of self-discovery that was and will remain its own reward, regardless of the admissions outcomes I achieved. I am so grateful for her support and plan to continue seeking her guidance for years to come!

Neha is a magician at understanding your story. I remember when I first met her she didn’t discuss much and asked me to not worry about my story at all. I was left wondering what did I just sign up for.
However, as we began to work together, I could see that she had a very independent view of my journey. As we progressed, Neha went through each and every experience of my life. At this point, I felt very inspired. Over the multiple calls we had, she asked me very pertinent questions, pushed me to think harder and helped me put things into perspective

Her nuanced questions on several such occasions uncovered aspects of my professional story in a very unique light. I think this happened because Neha is not just smart instinctively, but she makes special effort to keep up-breast of what is happening in the business and political world globally, and how events in the economy affect decisions of business and policy stakeholders. This makes the essays come out alive so that the admissions committee can relate to the essays, even if they come from a different culture or background. She has a hawk’s eye for picking out the nuances which make your story stand out among the hundreds of other applicants who apply. And this becomes evident as you begin to work with her on the first draft. Moreover, Neha constantly pushed me to be genuine in sharing my experiences, and her strong confidence in my journey propelled me to move forward. She will even scold you if you try to game the application too much, she knows it doesn’t cut ice with the admissions committee even if there is a ring of artificiality in the essays.

A huge intellectual horsepower is not the only skill Neha possesses. As my counselor through the application process, she was very sensitive and patient with me and assuaged all the anxieties I had in the application process. I had no experience in applying to schools outside of India. Naturally that meant a barrage of concerns and questions. Neha resolved everything very patiently. She went through multiple iterations of the initial draft, at times at ungodly hours of the night. She added value in every iteration we went through, every single time pushing the envelope only harder than before. Her ownership over the work is way more and well beyond the professionalism I expected, which motivated me whenever I felt stuck in my applications. I am a proud Seven Hatter for life!

Before choosing a consultant, I had done an elaborate exercise, probably speaking to all the consultants that exist. For every consultant I considered workingwith, I spoke to atleast 5 students who had worked with them – including those who didn’t get their desired outcome. Everyonewho had workedwith Neha in the past had the same thing to say about her – she is like no other – and now at the end of this journey I can truly appreciate why.

She starts the process by helping you understand yourself better, finally clawing deep inside you to create a storyline that will be so unique to you, and yet so real. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say she is an extremely intelligent individual, and having her on my side was truly game changer for me. Her selfless passion to help me succeed, even when it meant spending more time with me, was what made all the difference in my result.

The time she puts in upfront getting to know you, also makes her an insightful and empathetic interview coach. She put her heart and soul in helping me prepare for the final lap of the HBS interview – playing the role of a coach, friend, teacher and a true well- wisher – helping me overcome my insecurities, nervousness and sometimes even imperfect professional knowledge.

Finally, be ready for some strict feedback, which you betterlearn to appreciate, for your own good 🙂

You don’t stand a chance”.

India’s top-ranked P&Q-rated consultant told me as I expressed my desire to apply to GSB.

I was dejected but not delusional, I knew my chances were limited but not 0.

A consultant in the industry recommended Neha. This was the first time I heard one top- rated consultant saying such great things about another. I was intrigued.

During my first conversation with Neha, I learned why.

Neha also knew my chances were slim but instead of changing our destination, she adjusted the sails and taught me how to steer.

The journey is the reward, and it truly was for me. Exploring events from my early childhood days till the presentation I made to my team yesterday, and taking a 30K ft view of it helped me understand myself better. This elevated self-awareness has helped me address my biases and challenges better.

Neha is not just another consultant; she is a true coach

MBA admissions is a very draining process; make sure you pick the right partner; make sure you pick a coach and not a consultant 🙂

Before choosing a consultant, I had done an elaborate exercise, probably speaking to all the consultants that exist. For every consultant I considered working with, I spoke to atleast 5 students who had worked with them – including those who didn’t get their desired outcome. Everyone who had worked with Neha in the past had the same thing to say about her – she is like no other – and now at the end of this journey I can truly appreciate why.

She starts the process by helping you understand yourself better, finally clawing deep inside you to create a storyline that will be so unique to you, and yet so real. I am not exaggerating one bit when I say she is an extremely intelligent individual, and having her on my side was truly game changer for me. Her selfless passion to help me succeed, even when it meant spending more time with me, was what made all the difference in my result.

The time she puts in upfront getting to know you, also makes her an insightful and empathetic interview coach. She put her heart and soul in helping me prepare for the final lap of the HBS interview – playing the role of a coach, friend, teacher and a true well- wisher – helping me overcome my insecurities, nervousness and sometimes even imperfect professional knowledge.

Finally, be ready for some strict feedback, which you better learn to appreciate, for your own good 🙂

I reached out to Neha after hearing a very positive review from a friend who had worked with her and had been offered a seat in both HBS & Wharton. I spoke to a bunch of consultants and concluded that her approach of systematically trying to understand my story in detail without retro-fitting stereotypical frameworks would work best for me and was lucky to just make it within time as she was about to close registrations for MBA 2020 round 1 application.
Initially, she spent a lot of time understanding me as a person, my journey so far and the factors that molded my perspectives and goals. Her questions and interventions forced me to introspect key career and life decisions, and we laid down all these details into a master document. This was extremely useful in the later stages while addressing the essay questions, recommendations and preparing for interviews. Over the next few months, we brainstormed together on several themes while filling the admission applications. Her insights about how AdComs think and her experience working with candidates with profiles very similar to mine helped me dramatically refine the crude narrative that I had concocted into a compelling story over several iterations. She also organized an exclusive roundtable discussion (just 7 participants including me) with one of the AdCom members from a leading Ivy League school which allowed us to get greater transparency into the process and enabled the school to better understand our candidature.

Throughout the process she was extremely patient and supportive, and an expert at planting themes and ideas that helped me emerge from deadlocks and periods of low productivity. She was very well updated with global business themes that are gaining importance in US B-Schools circuits and encouraged me to read several relevant articles that helped me build a mature and informed perspective towards a lot of such topics. No matter what time of the day it was, she reverted as soon as possible, always in a time frame less than 24 hours, even if I had reached out to her at odd hours. She was truly dedicated to the process and my application and went beyond the norm, often spending hours with me on the phone while helping me refine and edit my essays, even though I had delayed it to the last minute and she was juggling with her personal commitments. I can’t thank Neha enough for all the efforts she has put into mentoring me throughout the process and would recommend anyone applying in the future to strongly consider Seven Hats.

Neha has been an amazing mentor through the application process for me-no less at a time when she was expecting a baby herself. She took the time out to repeatedly edit my essays, mentor me, be patient with me even when I was stubborn or wrong-and never refrained from speaking the truth. I have had a relatively long and very successful career in Private Equity, but she helped me go back to basics and really view my experiences in the right context-separating false pride from true achievements and helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses so I could begin to work on both. Her resilience comes from the way she bounced back a mere month after delivering her baby to help me with my Columbia interviews. Always professional and kind-her ideas, thoughts and inspiration made all the difference. I am a different person now than when I started with Seven Hats. And I owe it all to her unique philosophy and genuine passion for mentoring.

I got Neha’s reference from a good friend. After talking to her on phone, I was convinced that she was the right person to guide me in my business school applications. I wanted to apply to only top 5-6 business schools in the U.S. and therefore, wanted to work with someone who is absolutely best at what they do. Needless to say, Neha exceeded my expectations.
She diligently worked with me on understanding my life experiences, the decisions I have made, my motivation behind those decisions and many other nuances that can easily be missed. She handled my entire application process personally and was very attentive to small details. I was most impressed with her ability to extract a compelling story out of my entire experience, which formed the basis of all my b-school applications. I was myself surprised to see how significant my achievements were, and how compelling my personal and professional story was. I looked and became a much stronger candidate through the lens that she provided.

Her expertise and efforts directly helped me get interviews from Stanford, MIT, Wharton and Berkeley. Eventually, I received admission offer from MIT, and I’m awaiting positive results from Wharton and Berkeley. It was a pleasure to work with Neha and I couldn’t have achieved these results without her help. She deeply understands the subtle differences in how different business schools look at candidates, and helped me tailor my applications accordingly.