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Product Admissionado *** Deluxe Package
Consultant Stefanie Barlow
I signed up for Admissionado after consulting 4 domestic agencies. Admissionado’s team-approach and systematic process of working with both an MBA strategist and editorial specialists is part of what makes the firm stand out from peers. That is, a tailor-made team consisting of Stefanie Barlow who is in the real estate industry as well with 7 years’ mentor experience and the professional editing team has successfully guided me to develop sharp, memorable applications through uncountable rounds of reviews. As I look back on my choice now, I can guarantee that the whole package and the experience are priceless.
Stefanie Barlow, my senior consultant, is so approachable, humorous, inspirational and endlessly supportive. Stefanie always delivers the prompt reply within 2 days even during the outbreak of COVID-19 and gives the strategic suggestions in time. For instance, she navigated me on how to categorize b-schools by type of essay questions to make full use of 3 Deluxes package and evaluating risks of Kellogg application for the extended R3 round. More importantly, teaching one to fish is better than giving him fish. I must mention that working with Stefanie is a life-changing experience because she has taught me how to present in a most productive and efficient way and how to make the content more relevant to the theme. “Instead of merely telling us what the challenge is, the adcom really wants you to SHOW us. ” Stefanie usually reminds me in the essays. Excellent writing skills are essential weapons to succeed in the business world. When we had a mock interview, she told me that I expressed myself beautifully compared with the initial free 45-min call. Stefanie is 100% credited with the tremendous progress I have made in the presentation which I think is the most rewarding part during the long application journey.
Besides, I must stress that the editing team is incredible as well. Editors help enhance the beauty and readability of my stories and make every line of story count. Also, Claudia spares no effort to answer my questions and Rose sends her blessings and congratulations all the time. Yes, you are not alone because the amazing team will support you from Day 1. To sum up, it is such a delightful and enlightening process, thanks so much to Stefanie and whole Admissionado team! The best part is that I have had the best teamwork experience here that maximizes the individual strengths of every team member to bring out our best. I am pretty sure that Admissionado will exceed your expectations as your MBA/Master consulting firm.
Product Admissionado ** Junior Deluxe
Consultant Doris Huang
It was a pleasure working with Doris and team throughout the application process. They helped me navigate different approaches to work on my application that was both thorough and efficient.
I appreciated their candid feedback and thought provoking questions and suggestions which helped bring out the best for my application! They really do work with your schedule and help make the process less stressful.
I would suggest to initially analyze your applications thoroughly with them to help you find areas that are similar or different. This will help you and the team iron out the details of your entire journey!
Product Admissionado ** Junior Deluxe
Consultant Mark Lellouch
Mark Lellouch from Admissionado was crucial in getting me accepted into Berkeley Haas and LBS's full-time MBA programs! I highly recommend Mark.
Mark tries to lay the roadmap of pursuing an MBA. Mark asks you very tough questions about your BIG IDEA, which is essentially showing to schools that you're a business opportunity with extremely high potential. Additionally, Mark makes sure that this BIG IDEA is a realistic goal given your background and experience. It's important that your goals for doing an MBA align really with your past. This required some deep thinking and digging in the beginning. However, once your vision is clear, you're off and running.
Additionally, Mark has invaluable feedback to accurately answer essay prompts. With hands-on editing and extremely detailed comments, Mark transformed my approach to answering and conveying information in a clear and concise manner. I couldn't recognize the first draft from the final one.
Mark Lellouch is an excellent and experienced coach that is well worth the investment. I highly recommend Mark and Admissionado.
Product Admissionado ** Junior Deluxe
Consultant John Miles
At the start of my business school application process, I was unsure about where I fit as a candidate, which schools made sense for someone with my profile, and which programs would best position me to make a career transition to another industry. As I was unsure about these critical criteria, I decided to work with Admissionado and John DC MIles to guide me through the application process.
I scheduled video calls with several leading admissions consulting companies, but immediately hit it off with John during our introductory conversation. I could tell that John was 1. incredibly bright and talented, 2. very experienced working with applicants of all backgrounds and MBA programs of various statures, and 3. truly invested in his clients' success. It was an easy decision to work with him.
I worked with John on one Junior Deluxe package, one a la carte essay service, and one resume review, which covered my top two choices of the programs I applied to. Throughout the process, John and the Admissionado team were incredible cheerleaders, mentors, and sounding boards as we bounced ideas off one another to craft a clear professional goal and highlight my strengths while spinning my weaknesses into positives.
The Admissionado team does a fantastic job breaking down challenging essay questions into a simplified formula that enables you to clearly address the different points each prompt overtly and subtly wants you to speak to. I then applied this formula to several other program applications with great success due to John’s support and advice. In the end, I was fortunate to receive admission offers from four programs before ultimately selecting the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. I will be honest, McCombs was my dream school from the beginning of my MBA research process, but I did feel like it was a bit out of reach for someone with my stats and background. John was unrelenting in his support, optimism, and positivity, and without his and his team’s hard work on my behalf, I would likely be going down a much different MBA path.
Throughout the process, John and the Admissionado team were incredibly responsive, frequently turning around edits and redrafts before their self-imposed deadlines. Although the MBA application process can be mentally taxing, I ended up enjoying the journey due to the amount of fun I had working with John.
I would highly recommend John DC Miles for any MBA applicant willing to step outside their comfort zone and be pushed by a sincere advisor who is truly invested in your success!
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Product Admissionado ** Junior Deluxe
Consultant Kirill Osipenko
Unbelievable. Beyond grateful that I have been admitted to 3 out of 4 top MBA programs in the US, including my dream school, Chicago Booth! As a Booth alum himself, Kirill was able to help me elevate my story and emphasized the important values that resonate with Booth, while separately tailored other aspects of my story to each of the other schools that I applied to.
Look no further than Admissionado. I started my process talking to about 5 other admission consulting firms, and I could feel right away that Kirill was the most passionate, was able to share honest assessment about my strengths and weaknesses, and genuinely believed that he could help me achieve my goals. I signed up for the Junior Deluxe package, and Admissionado’s exceptional service was consistent and exceeded my expectations from start to finish; always on time and, at times, willing to go above and beyond to meet my tight schedules. On top of all of this, the deliverables were always of the highest quality, which resulted in 4 out of 4 interview invites at Chicago Booth, Berkeley Haas, Yale SOM, and UCLA Anderson. Kirill inquired deep into my stories, shared unique perspectives, and analyzed every details. What I liked most about working with Kirill was how he was able to effectively motivate and challenged me to become the best version of myself, in a way that was both supportive and insightful.
Looking back, I am glad that I made the best decision to work with Kirill and Admissionado. I am thrilled with the results, and I realize that I could not achieve all this without the guidance and support from Kirill and the rest of the Admissionado team members. Thanks for making my dream come true.
Product Admissionado *** Deluxe Package
Consultant Julie Bowman
I ended up applying R2 to a myriad of schools through Admissionado. I was a reapplicant to most of my schools so I decided to utilize a consultant after being skunked the last couple of years to the schools I wanted to go to.
As a non-traditional applicant who had little to no business experience, Julie Bowman was excellent at pulling out stories that could be utilized in an application. Upfront, you do have to do a lot of introspection via a bunch of prompting questions that Admissionado uses. Early in the process, I felt like the best thing was that Julie and I would talk on the phone regularly to decide exactly the correct ST and LT goals. I think that her experience in the industry allows you to craft goals that ADCOMs would look at and be like, “Yup, makes sense”. I think that is something that applicants struggle with because we really need to voice WHY we need an MBA and WHY this particular school. Julie was instrumental in narrowing down my perfect LT and ST goals. We spent weeks going back and forth on these goals and looking at industries that could connect with my best stories. I am convinced that I would not have gotten into the schools of my potential without these particular work with someone who knows that the ADCOM is expecting and like.
My resume was pretty solid when I started the process, but I do think that ~3 iterations of work with Julie spruced it up. They give you a particular template and for many, this could be an extremely valuable opportunity.
In terms of essay writing, I 100% could not have written the essays without her guidance of asking questions and really to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Admissionado has a strict timeline policy so that was helpful to know when I was going to get the essays back and plan my schedule around that. Julie’s notes back on my essays were very strong and clear. We transitioned to mostly working through e-mail at this point, but she was always available to discuss over the phone if necessary. Again, it was just nice to have a professional along with you in the writing of your essays. It holds you accountable to timelines. As a reapplicant, her other pivotal aid was looking through my old applications and getting the same editing on my reapplicant essay. I cannot say enough about how strong my essays were because of having a consultant like Julie to channel thoughts and anecdotes.
The mock interview was useful too. I think I would recommend moving that to Zoom (which I am sure they are considering with COVID making Zoom the new thing). I had already interviewed at multiple M7s in prior years so I knew what to expect, but it was useful to articulate my particular narrative from this year.
Overall, I would highly recommend Admissionado. I worked with Claudia and Rose throughout who would always respond to my e-mails promptly. Julie was an exceptional consultant who definitely knew what the ADCOM was looking for. As someone who applied to various business schools over the course of 3 years and got interviews in those applications, I can affirm that having Admissionado by my side was all the difference. With them, I got so many interviews I was considering not going to interviews. My final result led me to choose between Booth and Kellogg with a host of other offers at T10-T15 schools.
I am so thankful that I decided to bite the bullet and hire a consultant to coach me through this process. I am sure my future would be different if I hadn’t.
Product Admissionado ** Junior Deluxe
Consultant Phillip Herring
After talking to several admission consultants, I've decided to go with Admissionado as they offer flexible services. Claudia was very responsive for the whole process. I purchased a junior deluxe package for two schools. The package includes 5 edits and I have to admit that the final product is 200% better than my initial essays. Phillip is amazing to work with and he is very good digging into my story. And he can always guide me to the right direction. Although I only got a package for 2 schools, I was able to recycle the essays to apply for a few schools. And fortunately, I got into my dream school. I enjoyed working with the team and I wouldn't be able to get accepted to 5 out of the 7 schools I applied without Admissionado. If you are lost and don't know where to start with your MBA application, I highly recommend Admissionado and Phillip's services.
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by school email address [?]
Product Admissionado *** Deluxe Package
Consultant Mark Lellouch
See full review here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UwHO1CEShg8py5T_jYt4XS23ZOCfJOQOJx8ap04HY_s/edit?usp=sharing
Or here: https://medium.com/@bryancai/quick-guide-to-admissions-consultants-92f3199268ef
**** SUMMARY, READ DETAILED REVIEW FOR MORE INFO ****
Do not recommend going with Mark Lellouch or Admissionado, based on a firsthand experience and direct comparison with another consultant from MBA Mission
Reasons:
- Does not help build your story with you together; plays mainly a critics' role (this is bad, vs. this is bad and this is what could work better)
- Unstructured in his comments and contradictory
- Could not answer direct questions on the application
- Took vacation during most critical part of application (early August); zero handover done to other colleagues
- Did not play as a coach, and was not encouraging
Recommend selecting admissions consultants based on personal recommendations only - ideally from people with a very similar background to you; online reviews do not tell the full story and even if consultant has 1 bad review, run away as that is a red flag
The best admissions consultants are not just critics, they build the story with you and they also play coach and cheerleader to you
Product Admissionado *** Deluxe Package
Consultant John Miles
I signed up for a Deluxe Package with Admissionado and it was hands down the best decision I made during the MBA application process. As a result, I was accepted into both Kellogg and Booth and ultimately chose to attend Kellogg.
Without a doubt, Admissionado, and specifically John DC Miles, were the most personable individuals who I spoke to prior to choosing to work with them. You could tell that they were really interested in getting to know me as a person and committed to helping me during the entire process with any questions that I had. Having someone who really cared about me getting accepted made all the difference. John and his entire team were incredibly accessible to answer questions throughout the process and after ever conversation, I felt an immediate morale booster.
Additionally, their essay review's were highly extensive, thoughtful and clear. I know that I would not have come close to a strong final product without their help. There was a quick turn around on edits and I was able to reach out with any questions I had right away.
I would strongly recommend working with Admissionado and specifically John Miles for anyone considering applying for a top MBA program. They will not let you down!
Product Admissionado ** Junior Deluxe
Consultant Cindy Montano
I cannot recommend Cindy and her team more.
I came into this process knowing that I wanted an MBA but not knowing at all how to tell my story to an admissions committee. I shopped around with different application consultant agencies – and Cindy and Admissionado immediately stood out to me. The personal touch is evident in the time that was taken to really get to know my goals/interests, but I was most impressed by the laser-sharp diagnosis of how I could refine my ST/LT goals into something that would appeal to an adcom while remaining authentic to my interests. In this, Cindy helped me refine not just my MBA story but my true post-MBA and career goals.
Across the course of working together, Cindy and her team’s edits to my essays were very pointed and specific, and I ended up with five sets of essays that I am very proud of. The application process is a stressful one, and Cindy was also very receptive to every question or doubt that I had along the way.
As of writing, I have been accepted Kellogg, Fuqua, and INSEAD and waitlisted at Columbia. I have gotten significant scholarships from all programs that offered me spots. I could not have gotten anywhere close to that without Cindy and Admissionado’s help. Especially considering how competitive their rates are as compared to other MBA consulting services, I will be recommending Admissionado to anyone that will listen to me gush about their team!
