Alex Leventhal Reviews

Working with Alex on my MBA applications was a fantastic experience. He was recommended to me by someone at my firm who had gotten into all three schools she applied to the year before. Beginning with the first conversation I ever had with Alex, I could tell that he is a straight-shooter and someone I can trust. From the start, he explained to me my strengths and weaknesses and the need for me to stand out given my well-represented background and profession. Over his long track record of helping MBA applicants getting into top business schools, Alex has developed a tried-and-true system that was easy to follow but also required me to continuously challenge myself. Alex works by himself, so I was always getting first-hand opinions and advice from him, as opposed to a team of junior assistants. Alex worked directly with me to craft my essay and short responses over many iterations. The first draft of my essay looks nothing like the final version I submitted. Working with Alex, we added life and color into my essay, including a much more memorable introduction and ending.

I did the two school package and was accepted into my first choice HBS. Throughout the application process, I was in constant contact with Alex, going over the progress I’ve made and discussing the next steps. We would schedule 30-60 minute calls, often once a week or more when needed, to connect live on the specific topics we were working on. Not only could I count on Alex for his professionalism and his personal touch, he was also extremely helpful as a sounding board for creative ideas going into the applications. I would absolutely recommend Alex to anyone else who is thinking about applying to top business schools. In fact, I have already recommended him to my co-workers.

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Coming from an overrepresented applicant population (banking->private equity male), I was recommended to shop around for an admissions consultant who fit well with my needs and character to help develop my story. After my first call with Alex, I was impressed by his honest appraisal of his own services as a “boutique” admissions advisor. I appreciated the personalized, high-touch nature of his approach and so eagerly signed up.

During the questionnaire call, I was surprised by the amount of detail with which Alex reviewed my documentation, and found myself opening up to Alex through a very organic, natural conversation. Already, Alex was pulling out “themes” which would shape my application. The brainstorming process is frustrating and Alex will pull no punches – he will tell you when he thinks you are BSing him, the admissions committee, or yourself (all of which, won’t fly during the application process), and Alex will push you to really dig deeper to that next level. He challenged me to be a better writer, told me when he thought I could do better, and when he thought my essays were about ready to go. Coming from private equity with a somewhat mediocre score (a score that, in Alex’s words, “weren’t going to blow anyone away, but one we could go do battle with”), I had set my eyes on the top schools.

All in all, Alex reviewed four of my applications, of which I was accepted to three (HBS, Wharton/Lauder, Columbia). With Alex’s help, and through his process of challenging me to continuously reflect on my career and personal experiences, as well as what I wanted to get out of the MBA program, I put together applications, which no doubt, helped me gain admittance to these top programs. I am more than happy to serve as a reference for Alex

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I utilized Prep MBA for both a comprehensive school package and for an independent interview prep. Alex was phenomenal. He not only has a great personality for preparing you to apply to MBA programs but he also has a great process to back him up. I found that the entire application process was much more intense than I anticipated and Alex was great at helping me walk through a structured process. His process is incredibly helpful for introspection but also understands how to tailor that to the program that you're applying to. The way that I approached applying to school A was unique to school B and he was able to simply explain those nuances.

As far as the interview prep that I did with Alex, if you are applying to a program like Wharton where you are interviewing with a group, you'd be at a huge disservice if you don't use Alex. He setup a session for 5 of us to get onto google chat and conduct a mock interview. The session was a great way to have real prep for the interview and each of the 5 of us that did the prep session are now at Wharton!

I would highly recommend Alex to anyone considering appying to a top MBA program!

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I got to know Alex through a colleague who Alex helped get into a top 10 school with scholarship. After calling two other admissions consulting firms, I gave Alex an intro call and his articulate communication style and interest in helping me immediately stood out. In addition, I wanted a consultant who I can trust to manage the whole process and going with Alex guaranteed that, as compared to other admissions consulting firms who pair you up with consultants that you do not interact with before payment. I was so convinced that Alex was the right choice that I immediately signed up for a 5 school package with hourly work for an additional 2 schools.
Right from the start of working together, Alex was incredibly helpful. He was very detailed in finding out about my background, motivations, leadership style, extra-curricular activities etc. We then worked together to craft a career purpose that really fits well with my aspirations. This initial phase of the process (including totally revamping my resume into one that really stands out) took multiple correspondences between me and Alex, but Alex was extremely patient and did not stop giving me advice until we have perfected every detail in my career purpose and resume. Eventually, we managed to build a holistic personal story for myself that combined my background, regional developments and personal interest.
During our essay writing, Alex’s logical train of thought and creative use of language within the word limits really helped me to build character in my essays. This was also apparent in the multimedia submissions for some schools (such as PowerPoint or videos). Alex helped me to not only tailor my career purpose essay for each school, but he also helped me to really shine in the personal expression essays. In fact, the AdCom member of my first choice school that I got into specifically mentioned how much they loved my essay!
Most importantly, I want everyone to know that signing up for Alex’s services will be an incredible experience because of his personal touch. He will always make time for you and ensure that no matter how busy your schedule, he will help you to get your submissions over the line. He is super detailed in his advice throughout the process and really makes you feel like he is as much a part of the application as yourself.
With Alex’s help, I wound up getting admitted into my dream school, Columbia. I strong recommend going to Alex and will be recommending him to several of my colleagues who are considering doing an MBA. His mentorship throughout the process helped me to create a distinctive story that was convincing and unique. I remember that Alex advised me to have more chutzpah during my interview with Columbia as I lacked confidence at times when speaking to others. With Alex as your mentor, he will give your application the chutzpah to get into the school of your dreams.

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I initially was skeptical about using the services of an admissions consultant when beginning the application process for business school. I considered myself a good essay writer so I was questioning what value could really be added. After reviewing the testimonials on Alex’s site, and chatting with him for about 30 minutes, I was convinced he would be able to help me in the process and I am sure glad that I decided to work with him.

Alex was very honest with his feedback on what schools were realistic targets. After discussing some options, I settled on a five-school package. Although I had gotten started a bit later than I would have liked, Alex worked with me to get in four Round 1 applications, and one rolling admission application (still on the early side).

Alex really helped me to think outside the box in terms of my essays. He helped me take my story of why I was pursuing an MBA and helped me to express it in a clear, concise, and relatable manner. He also encouraged me to be creative with the essays that were in a non-traditional written essay format. With Alex’s help, I was admitted into three of the five schools to which I applied, including Chicago Booth, which I will be attending as part of the Class of 2018.

In addition to crafting my story, and assisting with the essays, Alex’s interview preparation was extremely helpful. Coming from a finance company, I was used to very stiff and formal interviews. Alex helped me to relax and focus on conveying my reasons for pursuing an MBA, and encouraged me to let some of my personality shine through in the interview. After spending time preparing with Alex, I felt much better about my interviews, and was admitted to each school at which I received an interview!

I had an exceptional experience working with Alex. He is sincere, reliable, and holds his clients to a high standard, which helps give them the best chances to get in to these very competitive programs. I highly recommend him!

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After contacting several top admissions consulting firms, I found that Alex handled our introduction differently than his competitors: he was far less concerned with selling me a package, and far more concerned with getting to know my goals and me. Additionally, he never limited our conversations to a designated amount of time, rather aimed to accomplish certain objectives with each correspondence. When you hire Prep MBA, you get Alex Leventhal, never a junior consultant. This combined with his no BS approach was what ultimately sold me on his service. He was always honest with me about my shortcomings as a candidate, and helped me strategize accordingly.

Hiring an admissions consultant was a tough decision for me, but working with Alex was absolutely worth it. He tailored his service to my needs and made himself available when I needed his help. I did a two-school package, and was ecstatic to get into my first choice, Harvard. My background before applying to MBA programs was very unconventional, and the time we spent strategizing about how to present my story had a massive impact on my final application. I can say with certainty that without Alex’s help my application would have missed the mark on many things, some as simple as essay word count and career goals.

I’ve recommended Prep MBA to several people already, and will continue to do so in the future. Alex has an amazing knack for pinpointing the crucial elements of a person’s story and helping them convey those points concisely. He’s a super sharp Harvard MBA with years of experience and a passion for the service he provides.

Working with Alex gave me confidence that I had done everything in my control to achieve the outcome I wanted.

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I'm afraid of two things in life: Standardized tests and applying for things. After two attempts, thousands of problems, and a lot of sweat and tears I got my GMAT score near where I needed it to be and began to focus on my second anathema.

As I looked at what I would need to do for the applications I became completely overwhelmed. Figuring out who would write my letters of recommendation let alone asking them to write my recommendations in a way that would best support my candidacy was daunting, and just a tiny piece of a much larger narrative I would need to craft. At this point I spoke with many admissions consultants, and at a few of the larger shops got admittance percentages I was comfortable with at my top choices. Then I talked to Alex. He wasn't negative, he was just honest with where I would stack up vs. other candidates, and even suggested a few programs I hadn't considered that based off my background and interest in healthcare may be a good fit as well.

While the conversation was sobering on one hand, I appreciated the candid feedback, and was struck by how personal he made our interaction. Alex shot it to me straight, which was frustrating at times, but needed.

My biggest challenge in the application was the "career purpose". Like most of you, I'm used to creating things at work that get accolades from peers and superiors. Alex telling me my career purpose was "too broad" and "not meaningful" was a little hard to swallow at first, especially since this was the story that had impressed folks at my company enough for them to encourage me toward an MBA. There was clearly a disconnect between what I thought schools wanted to hear and what they actually do. Alex helped me bridge that in developing my career purpose and throughout our time in an iterative, albeit sometimes painful process.

While beneficial for applications and interviews, I have found the secondary and tertiary effects of our working with Alex to be significant as well. I was amazed at how many folks at accepted students weekend enter b-school with only vague notions, if any at all, of what they want to do. I feel like the mind wrangling I went through with Alex has given me a huge leg up and I feel like our conversations have given me a road map to make the most of my MBA experience. And beyond me, I now find myself using similar tactics to help friends and family members think through their careers as well.

I worked with Alex in a 5 school package, and got into two of my target schools: Tuck and Wharton. On top of that I got into my dream program: health care management at Wharton. I applied with 2 years of experience, and Alex's expertise and one-on-one focus really helped me navigate through the process. I'm really excited about going to Wharton this fall, and there's just no way that would have happened without Alex being there to provide guidance I could trust.

I would absolutely recommend Alex and have already sent colleagues interested in MBAs his direction. He does not have a team of junior consultants that he delegates work out to. He knows your story front to back, and you get the sense that he is personally vested in your success. A very worthwhile investment in my opinion.

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I called about a dozen consultants, but none of them stood out except for Alex. On our intro call he didn’t try to sell me his service. Instead he spent time trying to understand me as a person – what I was interested in, what made me tick, and what I wanted to do with my life. He then gave me a realistic rundown of where my strengths and weaknesses were and how they would play a role in the admissions process. This was super helpful as it set my expectations for what Alex could offer – and he did! I used Alex for my top choice – Wharton – and got in.

Working with Alex proved to be challenging, but in a good way. He pushed me to write better, think of stronger stories, and helped craft my positioning. He has a creative flare that helps round off the logical and structured approach he takes to essay writing. But more importantly, he takes great care in never accepting a subpar submission. He will work with you until it’s just right. The kind of right that gets you an interview.

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For the benefit of other b-school applicants I’d like to write a short review for Alex Leventhal at PrepMBA who I worked with on my successful application to Wharton (and would highly recommend!).

When I started the application process I called a number of admissions consulting firms, but immediately felt I connected with Alex on a personal level. He spent 45 minutes on the call with me during our initial consultation (even though it was a 20 minute timeslot) and I could tell he was passionate about his service and helping me think through the critical issues. I liked the fact that he was articulate, had been through the application process himself (he’s a Harvard MBA after all!) and most importantly, that he told me straight up what my chances were at top programs. Coming from an over-represented background with some interesting (but diverse) experiences on my CV, he highlighted the importance of carefully crafting a narrative that adcoms can relate to.

Working with Alex was just as amazing. His service was very personal (no junior consultants or intermediaries) and he was flexible with my schedule (which during peaks times at work was very much appreciated!). I did a 2-school package and then did hourly work on another school. I wound up getting 2 offers, including my first choice, Wharton. I feel the time we spent thinking about my career goals and how they relate back to my previous experience was a huge reason why I got in. I also feel that Alex’s no BS approach was another factor. Many times I felt my essays were “ready” to submit, but Alex kept pushing me to refine them and go deeper – and looking back on my early drafts I’m so glad he did.

I would recommend Alex in a heartbeat (and already have to a number of work colleagues). He’s a logical guy with creative flare, and his ability to “see” the right angle and connect the dots is why he gets so many candidates into business school. If you’re thinking about admissions consulting you need to give Alex a call.

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Applying to business school is very stressful for most applicants – for me, Alex has been a huge help in every step of the way. The first time I called Alex to get his eyes on my resume and start working together, he actually told me to wait one more year before applying. During our first introductory call, instead of giving me a sales pitch, he listed his concerns and assured me that having one more year of work experience under my belt would strengthen my applications. I was impressed by his honesty and transparency from the very beginning.
Indeed, a year later, I went back to Alex to work on my applications together. Alex is thorough in his approach – he is never satisfied with ‘good’ and has always pushed me to reach ‘great.’ He takes a holistic approach to the application process starting from childhood stories to future career goals, which proved to be invaluable as we were shaping my story. Alex often made me feel like I was his only client as he was always available for my last-minute questions. He hopped on the phone with me at a moment’s notice even when he was away for a few days on family vacation. His dedication to his clients and their success is hard to come by. He is also extremely patient – he was there every step of the way, even when I was editing the same sentence for what it must be a hundred times.
I worked with Alex on my top two schools and got into both – Stanford GSB and HBS. Without Alex’s exceptional support, this would not have been possible. His work ethic, years of experience, and friendly attitude transformed the application process for me from a dreaded experience to a joyful period of self-reflection. Thank you Alex!

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