Our Admissions Counselors
About Vani Vani Krishnamurthy joined the Stratus Prep team in 2008 after five years of successfully coaching candidates for top undergraduate, MBA, and fellowship programs. Her clients have gained admission to institutions such as Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern, Berkeley, Michigan, and Cornell among many others. Vani’s experience is grounded in her own success with applications to some of the most coveted programs. She herself has gained admission to top MBA graduate programs such as Harvard Business School, the Graduate School of Business at Stanford, and the Wharton School of Business.
While having worked with clients from a range of backgrounds, she has further expertise in coaching clients from consulting, entertainment, and non-profit industries. Prior to becoming Director of MBA Admissions at Stratus Prep, Vani was a consultant at Bain & Company as well as at The Boston Consulting Group. She received her BA at the University of Pennsylvania and her MBA from Harvard Business School.
Experience:
- Professional career in marketing research
- Former admissions interviewer at Columbia Business School
About Vanessa Vanessa Gil is a 1997 graduate of Harvard University, where she majored in Art History, with additional coursework in Economics and Finance. She was awarded the Elizabeth Cary Agassiz Scholarship for academic excellence, and graduated magna cum laude. She was also awarded a special grant for thesis research in Florence and Siena.
Upon graduating from Harvard, Vanessa worked as a financial analyst in Mergers and Acquisitions at Violy, Byorum & Partners, a boutique firm focused on Latin America. She then worked as a media and telecom financial analyst at Communications Equity Associates’ Corporate Finance division. Following her work at CEA, Vanessa attended Wharton Business School, having been awarded a full scholarship via the Howard E. Mitchell Fellowship. Her coursework at Wharton focused on International Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
After earning her MBA, Vanessa decided to pursue the lifelong dream of becoming a playwright and novelist. She has written two novels. One of her plays was produced at the Strawberry One-Act Festival in New York, where she was also nominated for Best Director. Previously, she was been a contributor to The New York Observer and Let’s Go: New York. The opportunity to merge her writing talent with her business experience/education for the service of others is something Vanessa values highly.
About Jeff Jeff Mroz worked for two years as a Graduate Assistant at the Wharton MBA Admissions office. Previously, he was a professional football player, and has experience working in private equity, investment banking, and asset management.
About Gabby Originally from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Gabby first moved to New York City to attend Columbia University School of Law where she was active in student government. Gabby began her legal training at Home Box Office as a summer intern and then as a summer associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP where she began her career after graduation and worked for three years in the firm’s corporate practice area.
As Stratus Prep’s Director of Law School Admissions, Gabby, an extraordinary writer and admissions strategist, oversees Stratus Prep’s law admissions program and counsels numerous law school applicants each year. Her clients have gained admission to the nation’s top schools and earned full or half merit scholarships at premier institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the University of Virginia School of Law.
About Michelle After graduating law school, Michelle worked as litigation associate in the San Francisco office of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP where she represented a variety of corporate clients on matters ranging from trade secrets to wage and hour class action suits. At Morgan Lewis, she also cultivated an extensive pro bono practice, including partnering with the ACLU on an investigation of disproportionate minority confinement and initiating a Clean Slate Clinic training program at the firm in conjunction with the East Bay Community Law Center.
Since relocating to the East coast, she has taught writing as an adjunct professor at N.Y.U. and as a Starworks Fellow at Maimonides Children's Hospital in Brooklyn. She is barred in both California and New York.
About Hilary Hilary is originally from New York. While a student at NYU School of Law, Hilary was active in the Employment and Housing Discrimination Clinic. She began her legal career interning at the Center for Appellate Litigation and was a summer associate at Cahill, Gordon & Reindel. Following graduation from NYU, Hilary worked for three years as a litigation associate at Cahill. In addition to her litigation practice, she was active in the firm’s pro bono work, developing skills in immigration and housing law. She also was a teacher in a firm-sponsored street law class for teenagers.
Hilary is now following her passion and is studying to become a psychoanalyst.
