A MUST for serious applicants

I initially considered hiring an admissions consultant as a result of my insane work schedule - I was looking for support during the brainstorming process and for guidance to help me streamline the application process as a whole. I reached out to two friends of mine who had both been accepted into their top schools the previous year, and each of them emphasized the value of working with a consultant and explained that they provide so much more than brainstorming and general guidance.

Coincidentally, both of my contacts had worked with Jessica Shklar and guaranteed that she would be a great fit for me - professional, responsive, and willing to push her clients. Jessica's (and I'm sure other mbaMission consultants) knowledge of each top program was beyond impressive, and the insight she provided for each of my questions (which were plentiful) was extremely valuable. Before working with Jessica, I had determined what "stories" I would focus on through my essays, but after a 2-hour brainstorming session with her early on, she did a fantastic job of teasing out additional experiences that I had not considered which provided a more holistic picture of who I am as an applicant and as a person.

While working on my essays, Jessica was extremely responsive and most often provided feedback and constructive criticism within 24 hours (company policy is within 48 hours so earlier was always a bonus). I recall times when I considered an essay complete after the second or third draft, but she pushed me to provide more articulate details - or clarify my decision making process within the essay - or scrap everything after the first paragraph and start over (that was fun!) - which resulted in a much stronger final product.

While I am confident that I had a strong application going into this process, I am certain that my presentation was significantly strengthened by working with Jessica Shklar, and do not believe I would have been admitted to my dream school (MIT Sloan) without her support. I cannot say enough to recommend Jessica, but will warn you that she hits her max # of clients earlier than most (she was at max capacity when I first reached out to her but fortunately one of her clients decided to wait until R2 so I took his/her R1 spot - lucky me!).

Best of luck to all future applicants - the letters of acceptance are worth the months of work.