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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
 17 Jan 2013, 08:59
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After enjoying a relaxing holiday break where I could finally stop worrying about b-school admissions, I thought I’d share my experience with the admissions consultants with whom I interacted during my application process. As background, I am an American with work experience in consulting and private equity. I applied to HBS, Stanford, and Kellogg, and was accepted at my top choice, HBS. I got dinged at Stanford and withdrew my app from Kellogg once I found out I got into HBS, so not sure if I would have been accepted there or not. I’m sure some people here are wondering whether admissions consultants are worth their high fees in the first place. I was initially dubious as to the value of admissions consultants, as I assumed I could choose the “right” schools and write reasonable essays on my own. And since I was coming from a fairly traditional background (“a dime a dozen” in the words of Sandy Kreisberg over at Poets and Quants!), I didn’t think I’d need help “packaging” myself in my apps. But I figured I’d check them out just in case, and am glad I did. I setup preliminary interviews with several consultants. Here are my thoughts: Alex @ MBA Apply: his best quality is he’s a straight shooter – no BS. Some people may not react well to his bluntness, but if you’re the type of candidate who needs a kick-in-the-pants to get moving on your apps, he could be a good choice. Appreciated his preliminary thoughts on my profile, but ultimately didn’t choose him because I connected better with other consultants. MBA Exchange: they were my least favorite. Instead of a phone call consultation, they wrote me this super-long email evaluating my profile and explaining their service offering. Despite its length, their evaluation of my profile was void of much content, and in some instances didn’t make a lot of sense. For example, they said my extracurricular activities were an “addressable vulnerability in my current profile,” and that they could “help [me] identify the gaps and present meaningful leadership roles that require only minimal time and won’t appear expedient.” First of all, my EC involvement is one of the strongest portions of my profile. Second, I find it difficult to imagine any new EC I could sign-up for literally 4 months before R1 applications are due that would enable me to secure “meaningful leadership roles” but “would not appear expedient.” Long story short, it was clear that they had a template email that they dropped my profile into without giving it much thought. mbaMission: my preliminary consultation was with Angela Guido, who then referred me to Akiba Smith-Francis. Angela was great, but our conversation was fairly cursory (that is not a criticism – that was by design). My conversation with Akiba was great – she was extremely articulate and clearly understood the nuances of the various schools I was considering. She’s also a published author, which says something of her writing talents. mbaMission was my second choice, and I’m sure they would have done a great job had I chosen to work with them. Amerasia: I ultimately chose to work with Adam Hoff from Amerasia. I’ll go into more detail below, but it was a fantastic experience overall. In terms of preliminary consultation, Adam differentiated himself by demonstrating a clear understanding of the unique aspects of various programs (btw, this is actually more important than I realized), brainstorming unique and interesting ways to tell my story (despite my very traditional background), and building a strong connection with me that led me to believe we’d work well together. So I pulled the trigger on a 12-hour package with Amerasia. Like I said, I had a fantastic experience working with Adam, and would definitely work with him again. Here are some key highlights: Knowledge of the schools: One thing I came to appreciate throughout the process was how much Adam knew about the different programs. My original plan was to write fairly similar essays for each program, but Adam taught me the unique nuances between each program that I’d never pick up on my own. In some cases I used different stories as a result, while in other cases I simply told the same story through a different lens in order to highlight a slightly different aspect of my personality/professional background. This is a key part of the application process that I didn’t think much about beforehand and would encourage all of you to consider. Idea generation: I thought Adam did a wonderful job of helping me craft my “story” so that it best conveyed my prior accomplishments, yet also set the stage for what I wanted to accomplish both during and after b-school. He helped me brainstorm strong essay ideas that revealed unique aspects of my personality while also being sure to demonstrate strong evidence of professional achievement. Because schools keep reducing the number of essays/word counts, making each essay really count becomes even more difficult, so I really appreciated Adam’s skill in this area. Technical writing skill: first of all, let me be clear that Adam will not (a) tell you what you should write about or (b) actually write anything for you. If that’s what you want, look elsewhere. But I would caution you that doing so is not only unethical, but adcoms are also very adept at identifying false or manipulated applications. Anyway, Adam is an incredible writer. A lawyer by training, he is very skilled at structuring essays and communicating through writing. His input was extremely valuable in helping me convey the ideas I wanted to convey through my essays. In other words, the idea was always in my head – he just helped me write it in the best way possible. He’s also great at picking up grammatical errors, odd syntax, etc., although as a native English speaker this wasn’t a huge issue for me. Response time: I have read on the forum that many applicants have issues with their consultant’s response time. Adam was always great in this regard – he always got back to me within 2 business days, and usually within 12-24 hours. He keeps somewhat odd hours – usually working really late at night – but I typically had a response back from him the next morning after I sent him an email. Motivation: I didn’t really need his help to push me to turn in my next draft of essays, etc. But he was great at really pushing me to make my essays the best they could possibly be. He wouldn’t stop after 1, 2, or 3 iterations – we worked the essays as much as they needed to be worked until they were done. Let’s just say I was sick of reading them by the end of the process! That said, he also always let me know when it was done … meaning, he’d tell me to stop editing it! You can drive yourself crazy by endlessly editing those stupid things, so getting his explicit stamp of approval that it was ready to submit was very reassuring. Working relationship: an added bonus of working with Adam is that he’s a fun guy! We talked about sports, family, and other random topics throughout the process. Not only did this help Adam get to know me better (which enabled him to provide more value advice), but it also helped make what is a very stressful process slightly less stressful. I feel like he and I are friends now, even though we’ve never met in person. Final note: while I loved working with Adam, we didn’t always agree on everything, and there were times I elected not to take his advice – I knew my application was ultimately my responsibility. Earlier I mentioned that I was initially dubious of the value admissions consultants can provide. I hope this review illustrates that I completely changed my mind on that after working with Adam. There is no way my applications would have been as good (or even nearly as good) without his help. If you’re considering using a consultant, I highly recommend Amerasia, and Adam Hoff in particular.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
25 Jan 2013, 07:59
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GMAT Club - This may be a little long, but I hope my unique experience, process for selection, and feedback is helpful to those choosing an admissions consultant. After months and countless hours scouring the site for tips and feedback, I've decided to add something of substance of my own. Namely, my experience with admissions consultants. About a year ago, as I was preparing (and deciding) to apply to b-school, I began by identifying schools that made sense for me. While I (in no means) work in what many b-school admissions boards would consider a "prestigious" job/field, I am well compensated - better than I'll likely be immediately out of b-school - and therefore agonized at the "cost/benefit analysis" of going. After speaking with many, many people in my target industry, I decided to try to take the plunge, but I could really identify only about 4 or 5 schools that seemed "worth it," both in the short run and the long run. I was pretty familiar with those schools and the stringent admissions process, but upon further research, I realized I had a problem. My GMAT was good but under the median for each, my GPA was WELL under the median for each, I went to a mid-tier state school, and although I had extracurricular activities, I was downplaying their importance. Most importantly, while I had an idea of my future career path and "story," I was having a difficult time articulating it to myself. That's when it dawned on me - perhaps I should look into getting an admissions consultant. I soon realized admissions consultants weren't cheap, but I decided that if one made sense for me, I'd go with the entire 4 (or 5) school package. Ideally, I was hoping to find TWO separate consultants to take advantage of two different viewpoints on everything. I would just work with them on different schools. I immediately set about "interviewing" various consultants (i.e. taking advantage of their "free" hour consultation). Prior to the interview, I sent them a lengthy profile of myself so they'd be adequately prepared, and asked them questions about my chances at the top schools, how to frame my background, strengths/weaknesses, what their process was, and some other general things to get a good feel for who I may be working with. After interviewing 15 or 16 (literally) consulting firms, including MBA Mission, ClearAdmit, Stacy Blackman Consulting, MBA Prep Advantage, MBA Prep School, etc.... etc...., I wasn't feeling great. Each interview was pretty similar, and while I liked a few of the consultants, they weren't convincing me the money was worth it. Desperate and trying to whittle it down to two, I stumbled on Amerasia and Paul Lanzilotti on the GMAT Club website, and decided it was worth one more hour of my time to chat with Paul. That decision helped me get into one of the top schools in the world. Even on our INITIAL phone call, Paul was much different than every other consultant I'd spoken with. I could tell he had taken the time to read my bio, and came with ideas on how to shape my story. Our first phone call ran 90 minutes, with Paul asking me to elaborate on the bio I'd sent him and then him spilling out ideas for my story, even how to apply themes to various essays. I was frantically taking notes the whole time, even though I realized within the first 10 minutes that I had to hire him. Most importantly to me, we clicked fairly easily. Paul was not only clearly knowledgeable about the admissions process and extremely creative and resourceful in that he already had essay/story ideas (and was sharing them with me on our "free" call), but he was laid-back, casual, and much frank/honest than the other consultants I'd spoken with. I told Paul even before we hung up the phone that he was hired, but due to my extremely, extremely analytical approach to this process, I still had to re-visit my "admissions consultant spreadsheet," and decide whether to go with Paul on the whole package or hire another consultant as well. I ended up sticking to my guns, and decided to work with Paul on two of the top schools, and another admissions consultant I'd previously interviewed on the two others. Over the course of the next few months, Paul and I built a very comfortable relationship, working for hours weekly (Paul never complained about our two hour phone calls) on crafting my "story" and essay ideas based on my background. Within a few weeks, we were already shooting essay drafts back and forth for editing, and had knocked out my target school within a month or so. I was quickly beginning to realize the difference between Paul and the other consultant I'd decided to work with - I genuinely felt Paul WANTED me to get into these schools as bad as I wanted to and more importantly, he was going to tell me how to do it. While my other consultant had a fantastic system/structure in place for identifying references, crafting essay ideas, and identifying my own strengths and weaknesses, among other things, I was starting to wonder whether I had paid for the "system" itself or his advice. I had paid for an admissions consultant for a reason - I needed input! Ideas! A definitive opinion now and then! With Paul this was never an issue - he always let me "drive" the process (it was my application after all), but he was a wealth of ideas, opinions, and expertise along the way. The bottom line for me in selecting an admissions consultant and working with an admissions consultant had always been "Who can help get me into the school?" In my case, Paul fit the bill. After working feverishly with Paul last summer, I was ready for Round 1 applications. I can't tell you how pretty I thought those essays looked. Paul had helped me shape my background into some fantastic essays, and most importantly, he helped me realize how to not only ARTICULATE my story, but how to tailor it to the schools for which I was applying. Lo and behold, I received an acceptance to my school of choice Round 1. I had swung for the fences, both with the schools I applied for and with my decision to work with a consultant, and it had paid off. Looking back, I can't say that I REALLY regret hiring two admissions consultants, although if I had to go through the process again, there's no doubt in my mind I'd hire Paul and only Paul. When I called him, ecstatic, after my first acceptance letter, he was more excited than I was. After we hung up, he texted me, "This is why I do what I do." I think that sums up Paul pretty well. I've taken the time to write this (way too) lengthy summary and feedback on my experience because last year at this time, I was clueless. Apprehensive. I was pouring over threads like this one trying to figure out the best way to approach my applications. Moreover, I'm taking the time to write this because of the extra effort and time Paul spent with me, and because I'm that confident that my GMAT Club peers reading this will have a fantastic experience with him. Good luck with applications!
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
02 Mar 2013, 22:15
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sneakoner wrote: So a note to all those reading this - if your sole goal is to get into business school and you have no idea what your career goals are, make sure you tie them into your work experience and background. Unfortunately I learned this the hard way, even after shelling out close to $3000 to AmeriAsia for their comprehensive package and following their advice. I really think a larger piece of advice would be to not let anybody else tell you what your goals are. Doesn't matter if they are an admissions consultant, your best friend or the dean of Harvard Business School. Only you can know what you want to do with your life. If your sole goal is getting into business school you probably should be re-evaluating why you want to go to school in the first place. B-school is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. Yes any school in the Top 15 will open lots of doors but if you don't know what you want to do it is going to be very difficult to figure out which school is right for you. Schools don't care if undergrads are trying to "find themselves" but business school are looking for motivated people who are actively pursuing a career goal. That doesn't mean you can't change your mind or do something different once you get to school but you will have a tough time getting into a top program if you are wishy-washy on your long-term goals.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
22 Apr 2010, 14:32
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I have experience with Sandy and ClearAdmit. If any of you need feedback on my experiences, please contact me directly. You can see my profile on some of my other posts.
I'm done with my B-school journey and would love to help other potentials.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
23 Apr 2010, 07:02
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AlexMBAApply does great work and Alex is a funny dude (Check out the stuff in his sub-forum, I guarantee you will not only become a better MBA applicant by reading it but also at least have a few laughters). Yes he is very blunt and he basically told me my app material was a big pile of crap but I read over his criticisms and used it to really figure out what exact I needed to do. You asked for opinions and if you don't like what you are going to hear then why ask in the first place? I only used him for his hourly services but that was all I needed based on my circumstances.
Precisionessay also does great work. Jon and Raj are 2 of nicest and smartest professionals I have come across. They can work over your entire set of essays for one school in a very efficient (both time and money wise) way. Depend on whether you need just a couple passes on your essays or you need some really intense brain-stormings for your essays, I guarantee they will find a way to work with you. They even threw in some great insights on interviews when I informed them of my upcoming invites.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
30 Apr 2010, 09:07
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I have worked with Sameer of MBACrystalBall dot com. If one is at the beginning of his/her MBA journey, then the MBA Crystal Ball report is really cool cost effective tool to build a basic framework of the plan. Sameer is very clinical and prompt. My relationship with Sameer just did not stop after he sent the report to me. We have been in touch very regularly. I ve got more than my money's worth. An MBA from one of the leading institutions in the world, Sameer is a been-there-done-that kinda guy who can give you a really good perspective and analysis . And I can say one thing for sure, this guy is passionate about what he does. I hope our relationship grows onto become more than just a client-consultant's. Cheers !!!
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
04 May 2010, 12:57
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Spoke to Dan an MBA Exchange today and definitely had a good first impression. Obviously, any consultant will tell you what you want to hear in that situation but their resources sound impressive and I got a better impression from speaking to him than from initial conversations with some of the other big consulting firms.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
24 May 2010, 07:09
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Does anyone know something about the quality of Manhattan Review admission consulting services? They have a pretty competitive prices ($1900 for one school). Also, please do let me know if someone worked with Tom Kania and what was your impression.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
06 Jun 2010, 12:56
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Hi zisis: To be honest, the incremental benefit gained from being face-to-face usually does not outweigh the benefits gained from finding the right fit with a consultanat - whether in London or Los Angeles. Most the work is going to be conducted over the phone and email because it needs to be done this way. Editing is a tracking process and revisions need to be handled on an incremental basis where hand-offs and changes need to documented to maximize efficiency. For example, I have had several clients meet me face to face in LA. After the first few sessions, they realize it is not a beneficial as they expected. I like to record my sessions via phone and they miss that. Additionally, I like to pull up information on schools via the web and that is often missing, if we meet at the client site. Additionally, when documenting notes during our call, I open up my laptop and edit, but most who meet in person seem to want to review print outs and physically highlight with a magic marker. While it is the client's preference, it is old school and slows the process down. This is why most elect to abandon the face-to-face, after a few sessions. I hope this helps shed some light on the situation. Respectfully, Paul Lanzillotti zisis wrote: obv there some good consultants out there but for a weird reason I am a face to face fan.....
as i m currently based in london, any recommendations?
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
22 Nov 2010, 09:08
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Appreciate your insights BUT here's the thing. Paul or whoever that emailed me, sounded very uncaring in his/her emails. Let me tell you my profile is above average and I say that with decency. He was busy but atleast he could have told me the process which he didn't. Precision Essay were the complete opposite they showed intrest in me as an applicant and I am not a great fan of them as they had their faults but I wasn't perfect either and the point is if you are applying to an MBA you have to adjust. I maybe totally wrong regarding Paul, and i don't intend to be. I don't review as I don't like to judge others services. But I just felt its better to speak up rather than keep quiet given the huge number of aspirants that come here. Just my thoughts, don't jump to conclusion on any consultants, take small steps rather than committing at once. Regards. sanv wrote: MBA Consultant Comparison - Precision Essay vs. AmerasiaI am using two different consultants this season, both Full package - 1 school. I don't recommend doing this, I was on a time crunch and couldn't decide which I wanted to go with. Precision Essay cost a lot less and since it would basically be the same price for 1 full package from each company as it would for 1 full and 1 smaller package just from Amerasia, I went with 1 full each and figured that way if I wanted to add another school later, I would know which one I preferred. I am still in the application process and have not received decisions from either of these schools yet, but wanted to share my experience now in case it helps someone else who is deciding. I evaluated each on the following criteria: Knowledge of Specifc School Themes: Precision: C Amerasia: A Amerasia knew the insights of the school and what they were looking for, I don't think Precision even knew what the essay questions were if I didn't tell them Learning about me to bring out best aspects: Precision: B Amerasia: A- I had to keep reminding Precision of my weaknesses and plead for help in addressing them. Amerasia told me what they were and already had advice for me on the intial consultation call Content of Edits Precision: B+ Amerasia: A Amerasia read and edited with whole picture in mind, Precision did well in bringing more clarity out of me, but the themes I wanted to portray somehow kept getting lost. It was a bit frustrating, they would blanketly cut out sections, then later say I need more detail. Also found a typo after submitting my essay! My fault, I should have proofread better, but I later discovered this made it through 2 versions of their edits, how could they have missed that? Also lots of typos in their responses to me, not a big deal, but hard to take seriously. Turn-around time for edits Precision: A+ Amerasia: A Precision would sometimes send revisions back the same day and was very sensitive to my deadline. Yet to experience either very positive or very negative from Amerasia as far as response time, seems about right, and my deadline for this one is not as urgent, so pretty good to start. Overall Value for money Precision: C Amerasia: A I don't feel I got the full value of Precision's Deluxe package. Part of this is my fault, I did not give them much lead time before my application was due, but I was also not familiar with the process and how much time I needed. I gave them my deadline and I feel as a consultant they really should have told me you will only have time to get to the essays and a Junior package would be fine. But instead they sold me on the Deluxe, claiming it was necessary for the first one, yet I only got one resume edit (he recommended I lengthen it to two pages...huh?), no time for recommender advice, no evaluation of my application as a whole etc. all which are supposed to be included in the Deluxe. The time I needed to get the full value just wasn't there and I wish they would have been honest about that. I would consider Precision again only if I needed help with essay revisions, but as a consultant helping to shape my overall application, I would look elsewhere. Amerasia is absolutely worth the money in my opinion, plus I see they are offering 15% off now in the GMAT Club marketplace...the decision is a no brainer. I also really like their fee structure, how you pay a lower price up front and only pay the extra $300 if you are extended an interview invite. At least that way you are not paying up front for a service you might not need if you do not get invited. I am just getting started with them but already feel good about it. Hope this comparison helps to decide, good luck everyone!
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
22 Nov 2010, 13:09
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I have reached out to the author of the thread and he had used Adam for his Consulting Help, not Paul. Sounds like that may have been a difference.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
24 Nov 2010, 10:49
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Yeah maybe, but I am not condoning anyone. The person may have been tired or just very busy. I am only suggesting people should not sway with one or two detailed comments as they could be just at the moment feelings. Not everyone can afford thousands of dollars for different consultants to try and switch. Regards.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
27 Dec 2010, 13:43
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I used Stacy Blackman consulting and spent $6000 (for 6 schools). I re-used the essays for 2-3 other schools. Unfortunately, I did not even get a single invite out of 8-9 schools. I had originally also discussed the schools I wanted to apply to. I guess it depends which consultant you use from which consulting company. I know it is not a money guarantee program but after I told Stacy Blackman as to what had happened, she said they would give me a discount the next time I use them.....are you freaking serious???....It is good to do a business while you benefit everybody and you are fair. She can help whoever she wants but this one experience was pathetic and I would never recommend the company to anybody specially for the price it charges and the lack of courtesy.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
27 Dec 2010, 14:31
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I used the Veritas Prep full package for three schools based on a recommendation from a friend and had an excellent experience. PM if you want more details about my consultant--she was great. Their interview prep service was also really nice. My consultant wasn't a lead for any of the schools I applied to (my fault, not their's) but I was mock interviewed by an alums from those schools, which was a great service because they really knew their schools head to toe. I was rejected by HBS, but so are a lot of folks, and have been accepted by Notre Dame and Texas. I'm still waiting on Michigan, but that was easily my best application and interview. I think it's important to have realistic expectations for admissions consultants. I began my process before schools published their essays by working on my resume and getting that down. Then I tackled essays as they came out and had finished products by the beginning of September. I went in expecting someone to help me refine my message, prevent any significant mistakes in my message, and act as a high-priced proofreader. A consultant can't change your GMAT score, undergrad GPA, or work experience, so purchasing services isn't going to instantly make you an attractive candidate at HBS. However, if you put the work in early on in the process, a good consultant can really help you tailor yourself to each school and make you (in my opinion) more attractive.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
27 Dec 2010, 15:09
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As an experienced applicant I have to say and underline - go with a team instead of a single consultant and go with one of the teams that has a high number of reported successes and a high % of success vs failure. The Admissions 411 should help you find the two teams that are best at what they do - MBA Exchange and MBA Mission. Those stats are the truest criteria I have seen so far. One-consultant practices may get overstretched and may be weak in one side of the process vs another. A one-consultant practice may also not be held accountable for what they do. The teams have people who are strong in Editing, Consulting, Career Goals mentoring, etc. and you get the best in each. They are also usually accredited members of a professional association of consultants which holds its members accountable for ethical practices. A good consulting team should never tie you to a certain way of writing essays, write stuff for you, or in any way take away your personality from your application. Instead they should spend ENOUGH TIME to get to know you (something one-consultant practices often can't afford to do), get you to dig deep in your experience for your best stories, and make sure you don't shoot yourself in the foot. Also, a good consultant's job is not to know the latest scoop on a school, but to help YOU find the strongest sides of YOU which can sell you at ANY SCHOOL (that your profile and credentials qualify you for). You all can do the research on your own in the forums, and it doesn't usually help since things change quickly and the the school doesn't care how much you know about them, they care to know you. Even if you can afford to get a good consulting team, make sure to visit each school you care about, contact alums, current students, and/or faculty and TALK TO THEM IN PERSON. Good luck!
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
23 Jan 2011, 16:16
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lately, I have been hearing a lot about Amerasia consulting group. So, I scheduled an appointment with Paul, its founder. He did go through my profile completely before the call and based on the schools I wanted to apply, he gave excellent suggestions. The way he said I should address my weaknesses and highlight my strengths really made sense. I had Wharton, Columbia and Cornell in my mind and he really seemed to know what it takes to get to these schools. If you, as an applicant, have some drawbacks in your applications and still have some time before you apply, I would definitely suggest that you talk to him and see where you can improve. He seems to be really good at differentiating you from other applicants, especially if you are from an overrepresented applicant pool. The resources that he would provide you with, will give you a very good idea on how to draft essays (before his review). Overall, I would definitely recommend scheduling an initial consultation with him.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
02 Feb 2011, 01:33
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Hey srinathreddy: I appreciate the props. In other news, one of my clients just got admitted to MIT Sloan this week. He just called me, so I am pumped. He had a fairly typical background - from a Big 4 firm and a low 700 GMAT. Anyway, if anyone is interested in speaking with me via an initial consultation, please email me at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com. I have also listed a couple of promos for GMATClub members - Respectfully, Paul Lanzillotti srinathreddy wrote: lately, I have been hearing a lot about Amerasia consulting group. So, I scheduled an appointment with Paul, its founder. He did go through my profile completely before the call and based on the schools I wanted to apply, he gave excellent suggestions. The way he said I should address my weaknesses and highlight my strengths really made sense. I had Wharton, Columbia and Cornell in my mind and he really seemed to know what it takes to get to these schools. If you, as an applicant, have some drawbacks in your applications and still have some time before you apply, I would definitely suggest that you talk to him and see where you can improve. He seems to be really good at differentiating you from other applicants, especially if you are from an overrepresented applicant pool. The resources that he would provide you with, will give you a very good idea on how to draft essays (before his review). Overall, I would definitely recommend scheduling an initial consultation with him. _________________
Paul Lanzillotti | Founder| About | mba@amerasiaconsulting.com | 877.866.9251
Schedule a Consultation | Twitter | Blog
Download "How To Apply" Guides | INSEAD | Columbia | Harvard | Wharton
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
29 Mar 2011, 13:03
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I think one of the better things you can do is go ahead and take advantage of their free consulting sessions to get a general feel for them and then use that as one data point to compare against what people are saying here. I have a free talk with Paul Lanzillotti tonight. mbamission came to my MGMAT class over the weekend (they are business partners) and gave a short talk about their approach. I reached out to Sandy (HBS Guru) to see what he had to say. The bigger companies kind of worry me as the customer. I'd prefer a more intiamate, boutique approach, but I realize that these people have mouths to feed also.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
31 Mar 2011, 23:02
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I also tried EssayCom - you won't find them advertise anywhere. My friend here on GC forum recommended me.
He charged me 120 bucks per essay (any school), unlimited edits and reviews, 2 day return
I would recommend trying him if you know your story and profile (as he won't do much in that level). He also only communicates via email which I thought was okay. He did turn around in 2 days and I was pleased with his edits on one essay and was average on the other one. I think he also charges 420 bucks for the whole school unlimited package too.
Based on my experience, I would rate him a 3.5 - 3.75 out of 5. So maybe he would fit in with your needs. 120 bucks? Worth a shot IMO. Nothing to lose. Better than spending 5k and realizing that some big brand company did not fit your needs.
I will have a couple more in coming days as I am out of country. PM me if you need more info.
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies? [#permalink]
05 Apr 2011, 09:50
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Hi,
I am recommending the services from Natalie and accepted. com. I get to know Natalie through this community and it has been a truly grateful, pleaseant experience to work with such seasoned professionals. She have helped me to get into one of the top 10 MBA in the nation and I truly appreciate for her caring atttiude, energy and professional serivices that she have prepared me in this journey.
Natalie basically tansformed me from a raw material into a presentable statue. My background is Ivy League, medium-ranked GPA, 720 GMAT, 2+ yrs I-bankng experience in New York. However, Natalie not only help me edit the essays but also teaches me how to strcuture the essays into a presentable format. I truly appreciate her help.
If you have any questions or comments, please pm me, thanks!
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Re: "Best" admission consulting companies?
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05 Apr 2011, 09:50
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