Peer-led mentorship

Get into the world's top universities with mentors who have already done it.

One-to-one guidance from scholars who have successfully secured the scholarships and offers you are working towards. No generic advice, just real experience and proven results.

100+ Mentors Globally

3,000+ Applicants Supported

97% Success Rate for 1:1 Mentorship

Apply for Mentorship Our Story

Our Story

We built this because the right guidance was never reaching the right people.

When our founders began applying to international universities, they faced a maze of unclear requirements, cultural expectations, and limited guidance. Motivated yet uncertain, they navigated the process alone, battling doubt amid a sea of generic advice.

The Application Lab (TAL) emerged from that experience: a global community connecting aspiring students with mentors to make higher education more accessible, inclusive, and achievable for all.

"Students do not lack talent or ambition. What they lack are accessible, supportive spaces to ask questions and receive honest guidance from those who have been through the process themselves. This is exactly the kind of space we wished we had, and why we created The Application Lab."
The Founders, 2025

Access Inclusion Empowerment Transparency

Mentorship Services

The support that actually moves your application forward.

Most students know what they want to achieve. What they need is someone who has already achieved it to show them exactly how. That is what TAL is built to do.

Lab Focus

Flexible One-to-One Sessions

Targeted support from a mentor matched to your specific application, programme, and goals. Perfect for students who want focused guidance at any stage.

Turn your personal statement into a compelling, scholarship-winning narrative
Avoid the common mistakes that lead to rejection in competitive programmes
Build a shortlist of universities and scholarships that genuinely fit your profile
Walk into your interview having already answered the hardest questions
Work with one mentor throughout or bring in specialists as your needs evolve

An introductory call is arranged before sessions begin so you can confirm the fit.

Apply for Sessions

Document Review

Expert Written Feedback

Detailed, mentor-led feedback on your application documents (including SOPs, writing samples, CVs, research proposals, and academic statements) from someone with direct experience of the same scholarship or programme. No session booking required.

Line-by-line edits and comments, not just general feedback but exactly where your document is falling short
Specific suggestions to make your points and arguments land better, including what to cut, what to expand, and how to frame it
Clarity on what admissions committees are looking for in documents like yours, based on real successful applications
Insight into what weakens otherwise strong profiles, and how to avoid those mistakes
A clear sense of what to prioritise before submission, so you do not waste time over-editing everything

Write to us and we will confirm pricing and availability within 24 hours.

Request a Review

Scholarships and Programmes

We support applications across a wide range of scholarships, fellowships, university programmes, and UK Global Talent Visa pathways worldwide.

Our community includes 100+ mentors with experience across academia, research, industry, development, public policy, consulting, and professional leadership. That means you are matched with someone who understands not just the application process, but the expectations of the field you are entering.

We provide tailored guidance for:

→ MPhil and Master's applicants, including programme fit, personal statements, research interests, and interviews.
→ PhD applicants, including research proposal development, supervision fit, funding strategy, and academic positioning.
→ Early-career professionals, including leadership scholarships, fellowship applications, CV framing, and career narrative.
→ Applicants seeking UK Global Talent Visa guidance, including peer-reviewed routes and Tech Nation applications.

Our mentors have supported applications for leading awards and programmes such as Chevening, Gates Cambridge, Commonwealth, Rhodes, Fulbright, Fulbright-Nehru, Inlaks Foundation, Erasmus Mundus, Weidenfeld-Hoffmann, Mastercard Foundation, and other university scholarships at top institutions worldwide.

The Process

From first message to first session, we handle the match.

Share your goals

Fill in our two minute interest form. Tell us your target programme, your timeline, and what you need most help with.

We match you

We identify the right service and find a mentor whose background, scholarship, and academic journey mirrors yours.

Introductory call

Before anything is confirmed you will have an introductory call with your mentor. You decide if the fit feels right.

Begin your journey

Work directly with your mentor at your pace. You set the agenda every time. Bring in additional mentors as your needs evolve.

Our Mentors

100+ mentors. Every discipline. Every region. One shared mission.

Diverse and global

Our mentors are not consultants, and this is not recycled advice. They are people who have recently won the scholarships and secured the offers you are working towards, and remember exactly what it took. They are here because they believe this support should exist.

Carefully matched

Mentors are matched based on academic discipline, research expertise, university of interest, and individual goals, ensuring guidance that is relevant and specific to you.

Ethical and trained

All mentors receive orientation and uphold our ethical mentorship guidelines, emphasising respect, confidentiality, and culturally sensitive guidance.

Community driven

Successful mentees are encouraged to return as mentors, creating a self-sustaining intergenerational community of learners and leaders.

The Founders

Built by people who have been there.

The Application Lab was founded in 2025 by two scholars who went through competitive international applications with almost no support and built the thing they wished had existed.

Co-Founder

Dr Kanupriya Sharma

Kanupriya completed her PhD and MPhil in Criminology at the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar. She was awarded the Nigel Walker Prize (2026) for an outstanding written contribution to criminology and was also named proxime accessit to the Manuel López Rey Prize (2018), recognising her exceptional academic performance in the MPhil. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow on a Leverhulme-funded research project at the University of Nottingham, and endorsed under the UK Global Talent Visa (UKRI Route 3).

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Co-Founder

Vishal Narula

Vishal is an MPhil graduate in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge, where he studied as a GREAT Cambridge Scholar and Cambridge Trust Scholar. He was also shortlisted for other prestigious awards, including Chevening and the Commonwealth Shared Scholarship. Vishal is also recognised as a UK Tech Nation Global Talent, a designation reserved for exceptional innovators contributing to the UK, and currently works as an innovation consultant focused on building trust in sustainability.

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Get Involved

There are more ways to be part of this than you might think.

There are several ways to be part of The Application Lab. We welcome mentors, volunteers, partners, and supporters.

Become a Mentor

You do not need a perfect story. You need to have been through a competitive process and be willing to share what you actually learned. If that is you, we want to hear from you.

Apply Now

Volunteer with Us

Support our outreach, events, community initiatives, or help create educational resources that empower students worldwide. Areas include outreach and partnerships, events and community building, content creation, and operations.

Email Us

Partner or Collaborate

We welcome partnerships with universities, NGOs, scholarship bodies, and organisations that share our mission of making higher education more accessible.

Email Us

Support a Mentee

Some of the students who need TAL most cannot afford it. If you would like to sponsor a student from an underserved background so they can access mentorship through TAL, your contribution goes directly to funding their preparation. No overhead. No ambiguity.

Email Us

Stay Connected

Follow our journey and never miss a thing.

We share application tips, mentor spotlights, scholarship deadlines, and real student stories across our channels. Our recorded webinars on YouTube are free to watch and cover everything from writing the perfect personal statement to navigating scholarship interviews.

LinkedIn Updates, opportunities, and application insights.

Instagram Behind the scenes, mentor stories, and community moments. Follow us to stay updated on opportunities and deadlines.

Free to Watch

Recorded Webinars on YouTube

Our webinar library covers scholarship strategy, personal statement writing, research proposal tips, and interview preparation. Watch at your own pace, for free.

Watch on YouTube

What Our Mentees Say

Do not take our word for it.

Real words from students we have had the privilege of supporting.

★★★★★

TAL has been an incredible support system for students aspiring to pursue Master's and PhD programs, especially for those who rely heavily on funding opportunities. I am truly grateful for their guidance and for being part of such a supportive community. I would highly recommend them for their responsiveness to queries, assistance with applications, and overall encouragement throughout the process.

Shraddha Gogoi Verified Google Review

★★★★★

What sets The Application Lab apart is their near-peer approach. Being mentored by someone who actually speaks your academic language and has recently walked in your shoes changes the game. They turn the daunting maze of global applications into a clear and inclusive path for students who might otherwise feel overlooked by the system.

Hrishikesh Suryawanshi Verified Google Review

★★★★★

Kanupriya and Vishal have been amazing with their support, responding to questions with patience, empathy, and accuracy which goes a long way in alleviating the anxiety that comes with a process like this. They have been a tremendous support throughout the whole process.

Gokul Prabhu Verified Google Review

★★★★★

The Application Lab has been enormously supportive towards my journey for my Master's in the UK. It has helped me with discussions on my larger goals to better write my personal statements. The mentors have been very thorough with feedback on my drafts and essays. Truly recommend joining to get better support and motivation.

Ariba Verified Google Review

★★★★★

All the mentors at TAL played a pivotal role in my application journey. From addressing minor uncertainties about the application process to guiding me through critical decisions, TAL has remained a constant source of support, one I find myself returning to time and again.

Tanuj Samaddar Verified Google Review

★★★★★

Kanupriya and Vishal have created a warm, welcoming, accessible and effective co-learning and mentoring space for anyone navigating the complex world of university and funding applications. Very few resources of this kind exist and I am glad to have benefited from their advice. I would vouch for them for anyone going through their first, second or third cycle of admissions.

Riya Parikh Verified Google Review

Read all reviews on Google

Get in Touch

Ready to start your strongest application?

Fill in our short interest form below. Once submitted, you will automatically receive our brochure with full service details and next steps straight to your inbox.

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