Alex Leventhal Reviews

Working with Alex was a crucial factor in my acceptances to CBS and UCLA Anderson. The application process is overwhelming and arduous, and I legitimately don’t think I would have been accepted into my two dream programs without his ongoing advice and guidance. Several years ago, I worked with a different consultant (and didn’t get into my target school). The difference in working with Alex was like night and day - he’s whip smart and he just gets it.

Alex is extremely incisive. During our first conversation, he took in every aspect of my candidate profile to assess my strengths and weaknesses, and was very candid about where he believed I could get in (spoiler: he ended up being correct). He quickly helped me craft application narratives that were strategic yet still authentic to me. My biggest weaknesses in my application were a low undergraduate GPA and a lack of quant experience - Alex helped me show quant thinking throughout my applications and helped me create a narrative that played to my strengths. It’s clear that from working with dozens upon dozens of students, he’s built a real expertise in the space. Guidance comes to him quickly and instinctually.

I primarily utilized Alex’s help for my essays. His feedback was critical and his judgment on what to add/where to zero in was always on point. I can be a wordy writer and he helped me immensely with cutting down on fluff and being as articulate as possible. He was consistently quick on the turnaround to give me notes, and I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

Initially, the cost of hiring a consultant made me super nervous, but in hindsight, working with Alex was a no-brainer. If you’re going to hire someone, just hire Alex - you won’t regret it.

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I was referred to Alex by a friend who had also been referred by someone Alex helped get into HBS. From our first introduction call, it was clear that he was dedicated and passionate about getting to know me on an individual level and helping me create the best possible application. His incredibly deep experience and expertise further convinced me that he was the right person to work with.
Despite belonging to a common applicant demographic and having a below-average GMAT score, I felt confident and safe with Alex by my side. I always appreciated his honesty about my chances at different schools and trusted that he would always tell me the truth and have my best interests at heart. His service was always very personal, and he was almost always able to accommodate my schedule and last-minute queries (which were really appreciated as I am notoriously late with everything :-)).
Alex has an incredibly sharp eye for MBA-relevant characteristics and information that I hadn't even considered important. He is also an amazing and creative storyteller. He helped me uncover my unique attributes and present them convincingly and authentically. I'm still amazed by how well all the documents complemented each other, without repeating themselves and how each word and each photo was telling one cohesive, compelling story. By the end of the application process, I felt confident that there was nothing that could have been done better, a very nice feeling that was quite new to me. And it proved to be right, because I got accepted to a top MBA program (NYU Stern)!!

I wholeheartedly recommend Alex Leventhal to any future MBA applicant. His creativity and ability to think outside the box allowed me to present my experiences from a fresh perspective and focus on what’s important. I am truly grateful for his dedication and support throughout the journey and will recommend him to all my friends that are considering applying to an MBA.

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I was recommended to PrepMBA by a close friend who was admitted to the GSB after working with Alex last year. My long story short: after deciding to work with Alex this year, I was also offered admission to the GSB. There are numerous other applicants that can attest to this – Alex helps drive real results at highly competitive programs. This isn’t magic or luck; Alex has a tremendous breadth of experience, insightfulness, and authentic engagement with the stories & success of his clients. He pushed me to retake the GMAT, provoked new ideas about storytelling around my career, and challenged some big assumptions in my essay – all of which greatly improved application. Then, come the interview, Alex worked with me generously to uplevel & make my answers punch harder.

Working with Alex isn’t a magic wand, but if you’re willing to put in the work, he is a wonderful sounding board, coach, and asset in the application journey. I’d recommend him highly to other aspiring applicants.

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Alex was highly recommended to me by a close friend who was accepted into his #1 school the year before me. I was at first hesitant to reach out, but given that I was coming from an over-represented demographic and had a below average GMAT, I felt that it was necessary to at least explore the option. In my first conversation with Alex, he instilled much-needed structure and organization into my application process that would force me to dig deep for the compelling and unique attributes that ultimately allowed me to stand out from the crowd, and to get accepted into two of my top choice schools with significant scholarship!!! Alex is an extremely talented storyteller and helped me to transform my application into a captivating story that the admissions committees were excited to read. I truly cannot thank him enough for his dedication and would strongly recommend Alex to any future MBA applicant!

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The application process for top B-schools was a complete black box to me when I decided to apply. The application process seemed overwhelming, and the road seemed too steep! I initially consulted several admissions consulting firms and independent consultants to understand better what it takes to get into a top business school. My friend, who worked closely with Alex on her applications and managed to crack multiple top MBA programs, recommended Alex's PrepMBA while I was still attempting to understand how to approach my applications. As soon as Alex handled the introduction call, it stood out that he was not a sales intermediary. He was very passionate about his service and helped me think through the critical issues. After the first call, things seemed more achievable as he had broken down the entire process into specific small objectives, which was very comforting for me. Many companies suggest you can get into the top schools without carefully assessing your profile. Alex was quite honest about my chances at a range of schools and was very involved in helping me select the right one's basis my aspirations and profile. I found it particularly inspiring and exciting that the Prep MBA is his business, and he does not employ junior consultants!! A Harvard MBA, very articulate and funny and will always be openly honest with you - which, I can say confidently, is the most critical thing you'd need from your consultant in this lengthy, challenging journey. He told me my lower-than-average GMAT may be an issue and suggested a range of schools to target. Even then, he always encouraged me to target my dream schools and worked extremely hard to help me gain admission to those schools, despite my below-average GMAT score.

I had a wonderful experience working with Alex Leventhal. His service was very personal, and he helped me craft my personal story, which was not templatised to any school but was VERY ME! I wound up getting into my first choice, Wharton!! It was not something I could have imagined happening before working with Alex. It was such a surreal experience reading the admit letter, and I immediately texted him regarding the same. The time we spent thinking through my career plans and how they connected the dots with my previous experiences was a huge reason I got in. I was unsure what I wanted to do, and Alex helped me think through some of the options that made sense and encouraged me to research more to really nail the explanation of what I wanted to do. Alex also provided multiple samples of successful essays from past clients, which were incredibly helpful for structure, flow, and word limits.

I would recommend Alex Leventhal in a heartbeat. Besides being a great storyteller, his creativity, clarity of thought, specific knowledge of schools, and sense of essay structure really stood out for me. He was always able to come up with a different angle or way of looking at my experiences. Word limits in this process can be challenging when you get to writing, but with Alex, word limits never are an issue as he would always have the prioritization in place on what to retain to tell a great story!

I feel strongly that Alex is uncommon as an advisor. He is sincere, hardworking, super bright, and often made me feel like I was his only client.

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When I started the MBA admissions journey, I reached out to a number of admissions consulting organizations, including many of the ones you have likely heard of. Once I talked to
Alex, I was immediately sold. Even in our initial consultation, Alex provided incredibly detailed advice, a refreshingly honest assessment of my chances at the schools I was interested in, and an overview of the MBA admissions landscape. He did not sugarcoat his opinions about my profile, and in fact suggested tangible ways to compensate for what could be perceived as
shortcomings in my profile (i.e., younger-than-average applicant, mediocre test scores). This was a breath of fresh air.

After I began working with Alex, I was blown away. He has a phenomenal ability to pick out interesting trends and characteristics in profiles and identified strengths I would have normally have ignored. I am sure that without Alex’ support, I would not have had nearly as much clarity and confidence in my career goals. In every conversation and email, Alex went above and beyond to provide well-reasoned feedback. I should also note that Alex took the time to be an incredibly supportive advisor, entertaining even my trivial queries and reassuring me during times of stress and anxiety.

When I received invitations to interview, Alex held one-on-one mock interviews with me; this practice and his input made me feel much more confident going into the real thing.

As bonus points, given Alex’ successful track record over his
16 years in the consulting business, he comes armed with extensive knowledge on what admissions officers are seeking
and what has worked/hasn’t worked in the past. He also is very well-informed on changes in application processes, criteria, etc.

In the end, I was accepted to BOTH of my top choice schools. Without a doubt, this would not have been the case without Alex being in my corner. I highly recommend Alex for any applicant seeking a personalized, productive admissions advising collaboration. You won’t regret it!!!

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I knew from the start of the MBA application process that I would really benefit from having an admissions consultant to work through the wrinkles in my application and to have an independent voice to bounce off ideas. However, the search for the right consultant was not easy – not only are there hundreds, if not thousands, out there, but they also come with varying sizes and capabilities.

I was very lucky to be able to find Alex during my search process. Two things stand out for me right away for Alex and Prep MBA: his deep domain expertise stemming from his 16 years of experience doing this, and the ability to work with a top-ranked consultant DIRECTLY. The latter point was especially important to me after I talked to a few other consultancies – you don’t get to choose who you work with for most, if not all, of them, and this is especially true for the larger ones.

Working with Alex did not disappoint me one bit and was exactly what I signed up for initially. I tend to be very STEM-minded in my writing style, so Alex’s creative writing skills really shined through and complemented very well with my writing style. That extra touch was exactly what I needed to make my essays pop!

I also really appreciated Alex’s willingness to go the extra mile to help his clients. Alex patiently guided me through frustrating waitlist processes by finding new school contacts for me to speak to, reviewing my extra video essays and updated materials, and strategically planning for AdCom updates and school interactions. Suffice to say that Alex is willing to invest in his clients’ success and support them through rough patches. With Alex, you have an ally in your court!

As I reflect on my application process, one piece of advice for aspiring MBA applicants is to start the process early. I waited until May to take my GMAT for the first time and did not start the application process until late June. Even though I was “on cycle” for the most part, I still wished that I could have an extra 1-2 months. Just remember that it will always take longer than you think, so make sure to start as early as possible. Good luck!

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Title: Accepted to Multiple EMBA Programs!

I initially called a number of admissions consulting firms, and immediately Alex’s service stood out in that he handled the intro call, and not a sales intermediary. He spent 45 minutes with me in the initial consultation even though he said that he would spend 20 minutes. I could tell he was passionate about his service and helping me think through my critical issues. Many companies suggest you can get into the top schools without spending careful time assessing your profile. Alex was quite honest and up front about my chances of admission, given the application hurdles I faced such as coming from a non-traditional job, and suggested a range of schools to target. Prep MBA is his business, and he does not have a team of junior consultants. He is a Harvard MBA, very articulate and funny, and will not BS you.

Working with Alex Leventhal proved to be the winning move. His service was very personal, and he was almost always able to accommodate my schedule and last-minute queries. I wound up winning multiple admissions offers and scholarship funds, too. The time we spent thinking through my career plans, and how they connected the dots with my previous experiences was probably a huge reason why I got in. I was not really sure what I wanted to do, and I was going to write about a career direction that was not really supported or well explained. Alex also provided multiple samples of successful essays from past clients, and these were incredibly helpful for structure, flow and word limits.

I would recommend Alex Leventhal in a heartbeat. The two things about him that most stand out are his creativity and his sense of essay structure and logic. He was always able to come up with a different angle or way of looking at my experiences, and I was always amazed that we got the essays down to the tight word limits. He is sincere, hardworking, super bright and often made me feel like I was his only client.

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I had worked with Alex for my MBA admissions process and decided to re-engage him a year later for my school's scholarship applications process. Alex remembered pretty much everything about me. One of his superpowers is being able to get at what the selection committee might really be looking for from a question. He’s incredibly detail oriented and helped me come up with answers to questions (with stories from my past) that I myself might not have come up with. Alex specifically brought out vulnerable elements that were extremely personal, to shape powerful stories that made a significant difference. I was fortunate to get a full tuition scholarship. He brings deep insights, asks probing questions about you and forms hypotheses that guide you in the right direction. He has great empathy and spends the time to understand your context and background. You will be doing yourself a big favour by engaging Alex.

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I would strongly recommend Alex to any prospective applicants considering applying to the top schools. Before proceeding with Alex I spoke to a number of other admissions consulting services and what struck me was Alex’s honesty and how he was immediately able to identify the weaknesses in my profile – but also suggest how to address them.

I had a muddled idea of how to put together my application, didn’t have clear career goals and came from a nonstandard pre-MBA job. Alex explained the importance of a clear, compelling story in an application and we spent hours poring over all areas of my experience before even addressing an application question. He was able to organise my background, education, professional experience and extracurricular activities together to formulate a strong, coherent argument.

I am confident I would not have received offers were it not for Alex’s help – he was always available over the phone and offered speedy, thorough suggestions and feedback each time I sent through drafts or had any questions – my writing can be a little verbose so his help editing essays was very helpful! On top of this, the interview preparation and practice was immeasurably useful in having the confidence and being ready to give articulate and concise responses to questions.

Alex’s honesty, diligence and his personal approach are exceptional and he would be an invaluable resource to anyone approaching the application process.

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