Step 1
Initial consultation
A session to understand where your child is, what they want, and what is worrying you. You will leave knowing whether this is the right support for your family.
Getting in is a process, not a lottery.
Shortlisting, profile building, essays, applications, tests and interviews — handled in the right order, over the right months, with someone who has read applications from the other side of the desk.
Register for admissions support
Secure payment via Razorpay. Sessions are online.
What this is, in short
- Apply to Up to 10 universities
- Countries Your choice, in India or abroad
- Covers Shortlisting, profile, essays, applications, tests, interviews, offers
- Sessions Online, scheduled around the application calendar
A strong student and a strong application are not the same thing.
A shortlist built on rankings. An essay that says what the student thought a committee wanted to hear. A profile assembled in the last six months. Deadlines discovered late.
None of these are talent problems. They're process problems — and process problems are fixable, if you start early enough.
That's the entire job.
How it works
Nine steps, in the right order.
Applications go wrong when the pieces are done out of sequence. This is the sequence.
Step 2
Career fit assessment
Understanding your child’s interests, strengths and preferred ways of working before any university is discussed.
Psychometric assessment, if required
Step 3
Course and country selection
Deciding what to study and where, and what each option means for cost, duration and what comes after the degree.
Step 4
University shortlisting
A shortlist of up to ten universities, balanced across reach, match and safe, with the reasoning behind each one explained to you.
Step 5
Profile building
Projects, research, internships and activities that strengthen the application. Started early, because this is the part that cannot be done quickly.
Step 6
Essays and applications
Essays, statements of purpose, recommendations and resumes, developed with your child and edited through multiple drafts in their own voice.
Step 7
Tests, forms and deadlines
Which tests are needed and when to take them, which forms and supplements each university expects, and a calendar that keeps it all on track.
Step 8
Interview preparation
Mock interviews specific to the programme, with honest feedback on both what your child says and how they say it.
Step 9
Offers, scholarships and next steps
Comparing offers on cost, outcomes and fit, applying for scholarships and financial aid, and support through visas and the move.
Why us
Why choose Shirish Gupta for college admissions?
The shortlist is built around your child
Reach, match and safe, chosen on fit and realistic odds — and we explain the reasoning behind every name on it, so you can question any of them.
Certified, not self-taught
MBTI® and Strong® certified practitioner, and a UPenn certified admissions counsellor. The assessments are licensed instruments, interpreted by someone qualified to interpret them.
Profile first, application second
Most consultants start when applications open. We start with the student — the projects, research and experiences that make an application worth reading. That work can't be done in November.
Career clarity built in
Knowing where to apply is worthless if the course is wrong. Career guidance and admissions sit under one roof here, so the two decisions are made together rather than in sequence by different people.
Admissions only, since 2010
Not a side offering attached to test coaching or a visa desk. Fifteen years of doing this, and 100K+ offers received by students we've worked with.
Parents are in the room
You are not handed a report at the end. You're part of the process throughout, because the decision is a family one and the disagreements are better had early.
Global reach, proven results.
Admissions and nothing else, since 2010.
100K+
Admission offers received by our students$10M+
Scholarships secured by our students10+
Countries students have been admitted to99%
Students admitted to a shortlisted universityWhere students have gone
Offers our students hold.
They made it
Now it's your child's turn.
Real students, real profiles, real offers.
Harvard University
Geetanjali Budhiraja
“Mnemonic has helped me to…” — EDIT: paste her full quote here.
University name
Student name
One or two lines in the student's own words.
University name
Student name
One or two lines in the student's own words.
What you walk away with
More than an offer letter.
- A shortlist where every name has a reason — and a realistic chance
- Scholarship and financial aid opportunities most families never find
- Essays that sound like your child, sharpened until a committee remembers them
- A profile that reads as one story, not a list of unrelated certificates
- Every deadline tracked, so nothing is lost to an avoidable mistake
- A December your family spends calm instead of panicking
In their words
Words from parents & students
At a situation where as a parent I was really confused about which counselor would best guide my child for college admission, Shirish & team was the right choice. They gave unconditional support — following up every moment, helping with applications, essays, portfolio, IELTS, SAT. Couldn't thank the whole team enough.
Shweta D AryaParentShirish Sir's guidance is life changing. I cannot emphasize enough on the need for the youth to be engaged in programs like this to explore the endless possibilities in life and learn to use our time and talent productively.
Pearl GuptaStudentI feel really empowered and it gives me the energy to work constantly towards my future.
Parth MaheshwariStudentQuestions
Things parents ask first.
When should we start?
Grade 9 or 10 is ideal, because profile building takes time and can't be manufactured later. Grade 11 still works well. Grade 12 is workable if applications haven't opened yet, though the options narrow.
Do you cover universities in India as well as abroad?
Yes. The shortlist is built around what fits your child and your family's circumstances — which for many families means a mix of both.
Will you write my child's essays?
No, and you should be wary of anyone who offers to. Committees read thousands of these and can tell. We help your child find what's worth writing about, then edit hard until it's the best version of their own voice.
Can you guarantee admission?
No one honestly can. What we can do is make sure the shortlist is realistic, the application is as strong as it can be, and nothing is lost to a missed deadline or an avoidable mistake.
Do you help with SAT, IELTS and other tests?
We plan which tests are needed and when to sit them, and prepare your child for interviews. Where intensive coaching is required we'll tell you honestly and point you to it.
Is this the same as career guidance?
No. Career guidance settles what to study and why. This covers where to apply and how. Families who aren't sure of the direction yet usually start there.
Next step
Start before the deadlines do.
Tell us your child's grade and where they're hoping to apply. We'll come back with what the next twelve months should look like.