About us
The Journey Behind Guiding Scholars.
Four years ago, we embarked on the college admissions journey—not as experts, but as parents. Like many families, we sought the best guidance for our child, investing in professional college consulting services, only to realize a stark reality: There were critical gaps in the ecosystem.
Despite working with experienced admission counselors, we found ourselves constantly filling in the missing pieces—channeling intellectual vitality, guiding passion into impact, researching majors and careers, identifying unique differentiators, and crafting a strategy that went beyond grades, test scores and usual extra curriculars. We spent over 1,000 hours navigating this complex landscape—learning what truly makes a student stand out: originality, leadership, deep intellectual engagement, and a roadmap tailored to the student’s unique aspirations.
It became clear that education consulting services usually focus on what looks good on paper, rather than helping students discover, develop, and showcase their true potential.
That’s why we built Guiding Scholars.
We knew we weren’t the only ones facing this challenge. High-achieving students and their families were searching for real, hands-on guidance—beyond generic advice and resume-polishing. They needed strategic mentoring that nurtures intellectual curiosity, leadership, and innovation—qualities that top colleges truly value.
At Guiding Scholars, we provide the service we wish we had. Our expertise spans STEM, business, liberal arts, and social sciences, ensuring tailored mentorship for any academic interest. We don’t just prepare applications—we prepare students. What sets us apart isn’t traditional credentials—we mentor students to:
Meet the team.
Ashish Banka
Principal Mentor, Founder
Ashish has two decades of executive leadership experience in engineering, finance, IT, and management consulting. He has played a key role in incubating businesses and scaling them into $350M+ multinational organizations. As a trusted advisor to C-suite executives at 55+ Fortune 1000 companies, he has deep experience in healthcare, high-tech, manufacturing, retail, capital markets, energy, and telecom industry sectors.
Over the years Ashish has mentored 750+ young professionals, 100+ business leaders, and 175+ students, guiding them through highly selective undergraduate, graduate, and career pathways. His passion for education and mentorship led him to found Guiding Scholars, dedicated to providing personalized guidance for students navigating the complexities of competitive college admissions.
Ashish holds an MBA in Finance from MDI Gurgaon where he was valedictorian, and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur (<0.5% admit rate).
Reema Tayal
Student Services Principal, Co-Founder
Reema is an entrepreneur, armed with an MBA in Marketing from the prestigious Symbiosis Institute (India), she helped build a $5.5 Mn business converting scrap iron into industrial steel. Later, she pursued a Master’s in Information Technology from Bentley University (Waltham, MA) and joined Deloitte & Touche, consulting in business data and information security. In 2008, she left the corporate world and set up her well-being practice, where she has coached 300+ participants.
Reema is passionate about serving the community. A digital-skeptic, she believes in the magic of direct human connections to form lasting relationships.
Ranjeeta Shroff
Curriculum Research & Design Principal, Co-Founder
Ranjeeta brings 20 years of Financial and IT services experience in helping industries transform their businesses using technology. She has consulted many large companies like JPM Chase, US Bank, Verizon, Avon Cosmetics, Regions Bank and several others to implement solutions for increasing revenue growth, optimizing costs and improving brand value.
She has worked for several startups in silicon valley as an engineer before getting an MBA with Southern Methodist University- SMU (Dallas,TX) and transitioned into the role of professional services consultant. Her area of expertise includes Financial Services, Business Management, Computer Sciences and Telecommunication. Ranjeeta is heavily invested in the education system being a long term PTA member, having served on the PTA board and leading students to a national level challenge like Destination Imagination. Her own child’s education experience, brought her together with Ashish and Reema to solve some of the critical gaps in supporting kids in their college admission journey.