About
Why I do, what I do.
I'm Abhishek Gupta. For the last twenty years, I've worked, first in the corporate world, and then as a career counsellor, helping students get into the world's best universities and top 1% careers. I've sat across the table from more than a hundred thousand students and spoken at over a thousand schools and events. I started GIDE AI to help students get there, and built High School Moms, the world's largest parent-student community, reaching over forty five million parents.
But before any of that, I was a teenager in a small town in Haryana who had no real idea what he wanted to do with his life. From there, I went on to study at UCLA, one of the finest institutions in the world. I switched streams in school not because I chose to, but because I felt lost, and I never told my own parents any of it. I loved them. I was just too afraid of them to talk.
That's really why I do this work. Not because I have every answer, but because I know exactly what it feels like to be a teenager with no one to talk to, and what it feels like as a parent to think you know your child, when you don't. Everything I write here comes from that place. One parent, talking to another.
A few things about me, since you'll be trusting me with your child. I like long, honest conversations more than quick meetings, and I don't do well with stiff, formal consultations, so don't expect one from me. I get far more excited by a teenager finally finding real direction than by another perfect report card. And if your child pushes back on something I say, I take that as a good sign, not a problem to fix.
Eight markers along the way. Select one to read more.
Before any title or company, Abhishek is a father first. Raising his own son taught him more about real guidance than any classroom or certification ever could, patience, honest conversation, and knowing exactly when to step back. That same approach shaped a confident, driven young adult, one who went on to secure admits to some of the best universities in the world, including Harvard, Yale, and Johns Hopkins, among others. It's the same approach Abhishek brings to every family he works with.
Abhishek Gupta is the founder of High School Moms, the world's largest community of parents and high school students, with a reach of over 45 million across the globe.
Abhishek Gupta is also the founder of GIDE.AI, a premium career and college counseling organization recognized by Forbes India and DGlobalist among the #SeeDGlobalist companies with global impact potential.
International Alliance of Counselors and Educators is a global network of 5,000+ educators, counselors, and 100+ university representatives, focused on empowering the teaching and counseling community through development and collaboration.
With a proven track record of mentoring 100,000+ students, Abhishek Gupta has helped shape careers and secure admissions to the world's most prestigious universities — including Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, NUS, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and LSE, among others.
Abhishek Gupta was honored with the prestigious Times Education Icon Award in 2019 for his outstanding contributions to college and career counseling.
Abhishek Gupta has been a TEDx speaker three times in a row. A dynamic and accomplished speaker, he has conducted over 1,000 career workshops and delivered talks at numerous national and international conferences.
Abhishek Gupta received the ET Now Excellence in Guidance Counseling Award, recognizing his work building a real process around student clarity, not just admissions, with students now studying at Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Oxford, and Cambridge on over $23 million in secured scholarships.
A father, not just a counselor
My son wanted to quit guitar three days in. Instead of pushing him, I bought a second guitar and sat through the boring, repetitive part with him. Practice stopped feeling like punishment, and today he's a passionate guitarist and drummer. The lesson had nothing to do with music.
It was never about the guitar. It was about the company.
Good guidance isn't a stiff plan. It's a customised roadmap, built according to the needs of an individual child.
Next step
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