Who pays us, and why it matters.
If someone is advising you on which college to join, the first question worth asking is who is paying them. Here is our answer, in full.
The short version
Students and families pay us. Colleges do not. We accept no commission, referral fee, finder's fee, marketing payment, sponsorship or gift from any college, university, coaching institute or admission consultancy — in cash or in kind, before or after an admission.
This is a commitment about the structure of our business, not a claim about our character. We could promise to be honest while taking commissions. We'd rather not be in the position of having to.
Why this is the whole point
A large part of India's admission-guidance industry runs on college commissions. An agent recommends a private college, the student joins, the college pays the agent a percentage of the first-year fee. Often several lakh rupees changes hands and the family never learns it happened.
The advice that comes out of that arrangement is not neutral, and it can't be. The colleges that pay the most are rarely the colleges that are best for you — they pay the most precisely because they struggle to fill seats on merit.
It also quietly distorts the advice you get about not joining anywhere. An agent paid on admissions has no reason to ever tell you that repeating the year is your better option. We are paid the same whether you join a college or take a drop, so we can say it.
What we charge
Prices are what they say they are. There is no negotiation, no "special package", and no price that depends on which college you end up choosing.
| What | Format | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory session An honest overview of the exam and the road after it |
Online, group | ₹20 |
| Application-form walkthrough We walk the room through the form; you fill your own |
Online, small group | ₹100–150 |
| One-to-one consultation Your result, your constraints, your options |
Online, private | ₹500 |
| Full counselling support Choice list, round-by-round decisions, through to a seat |
Online, private, across the season | ₹5,000 |
Everything on this website and on our public channels is free and always will be.
What we don't charge for
We don't charge to tell you that you shouldn't buy anything else from us. If a fifteen-minute conversation is enough to answer your question, that's the end of it.
Things we would refuse
- A college offering to pay us per admission, or per lead.
- A "partnership" where a college sponsors our content in exchange for placement on student lists.
- Selling your contact details to colleges, coaching institutes or anyone else. Our privacy policy says the same thing in more formal language.
- Any fee structure that pays us more when you choose one college over another.
Hold us to it
If you ever see Mapank recommending a college and you suspect we are being paid by it, ask us directly and we will answer on the record. If we ever change this policy, we will say so on this page prominently and dated, not quietly in a terms update.