What motivates me to mentor students?

I get these questions a lot- what was your motivation behind starting Prep for Grad School? Why did you start it? My reasoning behind it has always been two fold-

1. I’ve always cherished mentoring students who need guidance, drawing from my own experiences of both rejections and acceptances throughout life. As an ambitious child, I set my sights on being the top of my class, getting into the top college, and securing the best job. However, I soon realized that I couldn’t excel in everything. What I could control was my effort, giving it my all, and not worrying about the outcomes.

Despite facing multiple rejections and setbacks, I made sure to analyze what went wrong and how I could improve if given another chance. I couldn’t get into IIT or crack a job at Apple on my first try, but I persevered and never gave up. And guess what? Acceptances from top institutions and companies followed. I learned from my mistakes and corrected them as quickly as possible.

If I can impart some wisdom to ambitious students who want to reach their full potential, I feel a profound sense of accomplishment. Seeing those students succeed and secure top institutions, universities, and jobs fills me with immense joy.

2. I deeply empathize with the challenges students face during transitions, such as transitioning to graduate school, starting a new job, or changing careers. I can relate to this because I experienced the same struggles. As I mentioned earlier about rejections in life, I firmly believe that my chances could have been improved if I had received proper guidance from someone willing to help and had gone through a similar process. Unfortunately, I was unable to find dedicated guidance from an alumni, professor, or mentor. Consequently, I had to navigate most of the challenges myself and gather information from various resources available. I want to prevent students from enduring the same misery and ensure they are fully equipped with all the necessary knowledge, potential pitfalls, and dos and don’ts of the process.

One particularly significant incident in my journey from undergraduate to graduate school stands out. During my first two years of engineering, I lacked clarity about my post-Bachelors goals and was indifferent to my course grades. As a result, I neglected my studies and achieved a subpar 6.4 GPA by the end of second year. However, at the end of my second year, I began exploring options for my future after graduation. I spoke with seniors on campus, alumni in the US, and ultimately decided to pursue a Master’s program in the US and gain experience there, ideally at a top company.

During these conversations, I learned that a high GPA significantly increases the chances of admission to top Master’s programs. Unfortunately, I was still stuck with a sub-par 6.4 GPA by the end of my second year. Determined to improve my situation, I made a conscious effort to focus on my academics and raise my GPA as much as possible. As a result, I achieved an impressive 9.8 GPA in my third year and 9.7 in my fourth year, which significantly boosted my average GPA and enabled me to target top Master’s programs, including Ivy League institutions. I recounted a similar GPA story in my Statement of Purpose and was admitted to eight out of twelve universities I applied to, including esteemed institutions like Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, and the University of Pennsylvania. My primary focus in this narrative is the absence of proper guidance initially, which could have significantly improved my GPA. This is precisely what I want students to avoid—the lack of appropriate guidance at the right time. It can truly shape or derail your career trajectory.

Over the past nine years, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to mentor over 500 students. It’s been an absolute joy to witness their success and help them reach new heights.