Daniel Richards Reviews

Going into the admissions process, I was hesitant to use an expensive consulting service, but all of the schools I wanted to go to were reaches, so I knew I needed help getting in. I ended up using Dan's hourly service to apply to 3 top 15 schools and ended up getting into my second choice w / $.

Dan's style is to give you honest feedback - he won't sugarcoat anything. Because of this, Dan is great at helping candidates identify and address their weaknesses. Part of the reason I initially chose him was because of his writing background. His ability to articulate an applicant's goals succinctly is remarkable. He's also highly efficient and very responsive. Lastly, his interview prep was particularly relevant: in my real interviews I ended up being asked most of the same questions that we reviewed in our interview prep.

With Dan's help I ended up getting a scholarship with a value that far exceeded the cost of the consulting services. I would highly recommend him to any prospective B school applicant. 5 stars !!!

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TL;DR – I applied to all of the M7 programs. I started working on my round 2 applications on Dec. 6th, less than a month before the first few deadlines. Dan was a massive help, keeping me motivated and focused, helping me complete all 7 applications in a very tight timeframe. I ended up getting interviews at 5 of the M7 and got into 3. Dan is highly competent, a great listener, and brutally honest. 5 Stars.

Full Review
Story
I spent most of this fall trying to decide between lateralling to a bigger firm and pursuing an M7 MBA. After several interviews and no hits, I decided to go for the MBA. By that time, it was already early December, and I was intent on applying round 2 (all signs pointed to round 3 being really tough).
I interviewed 3 MBA consultants that were recommended to me by friends, and Dan was my favorite by far: He is an expert on the whole process at each school, but above all, he is a great listener. Above all, I felt that his journalism background would be really helpful for the area that was most crucial – essay editing. However, he told me that he was already booked for this season and recommended a colleague of his at MBAmission. I was not enthused with the colleague that he recommended, and asked Dan to reconsider. He agreed and promised that once he took my case he would make sure that I got over the finish line.
I booked my first 5-hour package on December 6th and got to work. After a week he sounded the alarm: My pace was too slow and we wouldn’t make it – he urged me to redouble my efforts. With his prodding, we got all of the applications done in time, and I got interviews at 5 of the top 7 schools and was admitted to 3.
Competence
Dan really knows MBA admissions. He told me where I was likely to get in, and that has largely borne out. For essay writing, his sentences have a certain polish and readability. My writing tends to be boring and pedantic (shocking, reading this review 😊!) and he made my paragraphs much more interesting!
If I have a complaint, it’s that Dan didn’t understand (or take the time to understand) some of my more insider-ey essays, and as such, some of his suggestions did not make any sense. This was easy to rectify though, as I could take his sentence structure suggestions and rework the content.
Speed
Here is where Dan really shines. He promised to get me across the finish line – and he did. We had some same day turnarounds, quick comments and replies to emails – Dan always made sure to meet the necessary timelines.
Integrity
Dan will always tell you when he doesn’t know something. We had some difficult questions that were specific to my process, and Dan conferred with colleagues and got back to me. Dan never oversold his expertise.
Dan never tried to upsell me on other services. He did not seem to think that I needed the Wharton TBD package (which turned out to be correct) and he did not think that I needed to pay him by school (which is much more expensive). With Dan you will get absolute honestly.
Value
$300/hr is a lot of money to pay, but I would note that Dan is QUICK – he can turn around a first draft in half hour (if what you are giving him is decent) and a second draft in 15 min. It can even be shorter if you are reusing material from a previously polished essay. There were a couple of times that I sent Dan a really good essay and he made very few changes, yet the time check was still significant, which can be a frustrating experience. I would note that this only happened twice (and only once was significant), so it didn’t move the needle much.
MBA consulting is expensive. I spent about $3300 on Dan’s services and feel that that was money well spent. A bit of advice: If you know what direction your essays should take, go for the hourly package and use the time for editing etc. If not, and you are totally lost on the process, it’s probably better to pay for each school.
Overall, I am really happy with the process and results, and I definitely recommend Dan to anyone considering hiring an MBA consultant!

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I signed up for an hourly package with Dan and was incredibly pleased with the experience. He is very professional and knowledgeable about the b-school process and I had a lot more piece of mind working with him. It was incredibly helpful to have someone I could email my random questions to (and trust me - there are a lot more of them than you will expect!).

Dan's excellent writing skills make him a wonderful editor - especially as you're trying to meet the essay word counts. He is also acutely aware of the stresses around meeting deadlines and often got edits back to me before the "technical" due date we had agreed on in our contract. I can't emphasize enough how much I appreciated this.

Dan stayed super communicative during the entire process, checking in on interview invitations and following up on open items. I highly recommend you add him as an adviser as you go through the MBA application process.

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My biggest concern while applying to business school was whether I would be able to communicate my story to the admissions committee in a compelling manner. This was partially due to the fact that my story (I felt) was quite unique, having had significant leadership experience in the non-profit sector. Hence rather than looking for an editor who would help me word my essays better I was looking for a guide who would truly understand me and help me present myself holistically. I found such a person in Dan.

The amount of efforts he took in understanding me: my passions, my worries, my ambitions and me as a person were remarkable. There were times I would push him to move to the "real deal" (writing essays etc.), but Dan being Dan would figure out a compelling way to convince me that there was more introspection required. This for me was the real deal breaker.

When I got to editing my resume and writing my essays, Dan helped me "cut through the crap" and get to the point. His ability to call a spade a spade and tell me very clearly what NOT to do helped me narrow my options and stay focused on my core story. He would never shy away from giving me a "Re-do" on the essay, and I found this attribute particularly refreshing, saving a lot of precious time for me. Sometimes I would not agree with him and we would debate endlessly on a line, a phrase and sometimes even the entire idea, this however made it clear to me how invested he was in this. We were in this together!

Fun fact: One of the things we debated on was whether I should apply to Kellogg. Dan was convinced that I should, I wasn't. End result: Today I'm going to Kellogg :)

The journey of applying to b schools is quite stressful and I guess everybody needs a friend who you can rely on, who can give honest feedback and be with you through the ups and downs. I found such a friend in Dan. Somebody I'll definitely keep in touch with and somebody I would highly recommend for anybody starting the b school application process for the coming years!

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Hi,

I would like to recommend Daniel Richards from mbamission. I started working with Dan early on during the application process for top schools such as Columbia and UCLA Anderson. From the first introductory call I felt very comfortable working with Dan. He is not only a professional and expert on the MBA application process, but he was very honest from day 1 without making you feel bad for any shortcomings, to the contrary he helped me find my strengths and how to make those strengths shine through in my application. Additionally, writing essays has never been my forte, especially in English that is not my first language, Dan has a gift for ensuring that what I wanted to say came across polished and ensuring the reader felt something while reading my essays. If it wasn't for Dan and his strategic and smart advice I would not have gotten an interview invitation from UCLA, trust me my GMAT score was way below their average. I understand mba consultants services are not cheap, but working with Dan was worth every penny. Specially if you are a busy professional without any time to waste during the stressful application process. He responded promptly to all my questions, even when there deadlines nearby and he was busy with many clients. Thank you Dan for all your help during this process.

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I used the hourly package with Dan to apply to 6 schools (2 top-15 and 4 top-10) in less than 2 months. I have a solid GMAT and GPA so I was originally hesitant to make a big investment in application prep, but Dan's help was invaluable - I wound up getting into 4 schools, with full scholarships to 2 of them!!! I really don't think I could've done it without him.

My timeline was super rushed and he was so helpful with planning, keeping me on track, and providing timely feedback. His notes were incredibly thoughtful and he's a great wordsmith. It's clear he knows what the schools are looking for.

I also really appreciated that he was thoughtful of not wasting our time together. He was very to the point on our calls and kept me in the loop on how long edits were taking him. If I sent him a draft that he thought needed significant work, he would email me to check if I wanted him to spend time on a line by line edit or if I just wanted overall feedback to try again. I had previously worked with a consultant who seemed to just run up the clock, so this really meant a lot to me and saved me a lot of money.

Compared to what I've experienced with other consultants and heard from my friends, I don't think you'll find a more professional, organized, and talented consultant than Dan. I can't recommend him enough!

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At first, I chose to utilize the 30-minute free consultation with mbamission to get some pointers on application prep, and I quickly found their feedback to be incredibly helpful in the short amount of time that we had. mbamission wasn’t pushy like some of the other groups I had spoken to. Though the woman I spoke to was booked for consulting services, she strongly recommended Dan Richards (based on our backgrounds, my school choice, etc.) and I am SO happy that she did. I used hourly consulting services with Dan to receive guidance and feedback on my essays and resume for my top choice school in Round 1. I had about 2 months to improve my test score and write compelling essays. Dan exceeded my expectations. His feedback was always honest, direct and quick (usually within 1 day). If you decide to work with a consultant, I highly recommend that you first spend 20-30 minutes with Dan brainstorming your essay themes before diving into the writing- his feedback on my outline was valuable as it helped me to develop a structured set of essays. He worked with me to pull out important themes in my essays and helped me to tell a story about my short and long term goals. With Dan’s help, I was accepted to the one business school I applied to (top 10)! I couldn’t have done it without his guidance and support. I strongly recommend Dan’s services- he is a trusted professional with years of experience helping candidates get into their dream schools. It was 100% worth the investment- I strongly recommend him!

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I booked an hourly package with Dan Richards because I had a pretty good idea of essay topics but needed some help putting it all together and making the essays flow together. I was hesitant to use a consultant at first, but after talking to several friends who recently went through the MBA process, and after my 30 min consultation, I was convinced this would be well worth the investment -- and it was! Dan and mbaMission exceeded my expectations and helped make the application process feel much less stressful.

Dan is an extremely gifted writer; my responses would often be verbose and all over the map, but Dan has the unique ability to cut through the weeds and say "this is what I think you're trying to say, let's try to frame it in this way...". We went through 5-7 drafts on each essay, and each was significantly better than the last thanks to Dan's feedback and guidance. I am confident I would not have submitted such strong essays without his help.

What was even more valuable was that Dan really helped me map out my career path and think through what each job (and responsibilities) meant. This was key both to my essays as well as my own, personal growth. Dan is clearly very familiar with all types of career paths and can offer many details and insights to roles, responsibilities, etc.

Going into the process, I thought my resume would need minimal work - boy was I wrong! Dan helped make it MUCH stronger and cleaner. I learned that a business school resume is different than a professional one, but I also took away some tips to use in a professional context as well.

Lastly, Dan helped me decide when enough was enough, and to just submit and stop worrying :-) I think you can go on forever refining essays, resumes, etc., but at one point that becomes more detrimental than helpful! Dan helped me decide when that point was reached.

With Dan's help, I was able to get into my top choice school!!

I felt Dan was very respectful of our time together and I would not hesitate to recommend him, or mbaMission, to a friend. Well worth the investment!

A side note about mbaMission:
I originally spoke with Katy from mbaMission during my 30 min consultation. When it turned out she was booked for hourly work, she was quick to recommend Dan based on my background and choice of schools. I get the sense that mbaMission has a lot more camaraderie than some of their peers -- which I think is great! I had several 30 min consultations and was most impressed by mbaMission's professionalism, breadth of knowledge, and superior recommendations. I would certainly use them again.

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I worked with Daniel Richards and had an incredibly positive experience. Working in banking, I needed someone to help keep me on track and give continuous feedback at short turnarounds - all of which Daniel did really well. I had several moments of complete panic when I didn't know what direction I was heading in and Dan not only provided specific guidance and honest feedback, but also made me feel a whole lot better about the application process.

I chose Dan because we connected well on the introductory call and I thought his background in journalism/ editing would help in crafting my story and tailor it to audiences not in finance. I was from Country A, had studied in Country B, and was working in Country C, so I had to find a way to weave that narrative into my essays. We spent a considerable time on each essay going back and forth, disagreeing on certain ideas, and eventually coming up with compelling stories. Some of the edits were incremental, some were drastic, but all resulted in a better output.

Dan never missed a deadline and responded even when he was on vacation. He was really nice to work with and made an effort to understand me as a person, going out of his way for some of my requests.

Overall, I am very satisfied with my experience and think the investment was worth it.

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The first decision in choosing an MBA consultancy package is determining which company to use. After interviewing approximately ten firms, I went with mbaMission on account of its simple, sober approach. Importantly, mbaMission won’t railroad you into working with a consultant of its choosing. Be sure that the firm you pick allows you to have a detailed conversation with the consultant to whom you’ll be assigned. Many didn’t offer this option, instead trying to convince me to sign-up for a package prior to be given this information.

During my initial interview, the contact person from mbaMission (not Dan) didn’t make any grandiose claims, but affirmed that with hard work and effort on my end, the consultant I worked with would be able to guide me successfully through the process. Additionally, she affirmed that if I chose mbaMission, she’d be thrilled to work with me, yet completely understood if I wanted to work with someone else on the team (I sense that mbaMission has more camaraderie than some of the other major players).

After reading countless reviews and holding a few calls, I chose Dan. He is prompt, straightforward, and congenial. Throughout the process he expertly walked the line between coach and teammate. When I needed a boost of motivation, he was there to help cheer me along. When I needed someone to confer with regarding which school offer I’d choose, he counseled with a smoothness that only comes from years of practice. His background is creative writing is an invaluable skill that separates him from the pack.

In choosing an MBA admissions consultant, assess candidates with this criteria in mind: 1) the confidence and wisdom to hold you to a timeline 2) the writing proficiency and creativity to help hone your essays 3) a strong understanding of the MBA application roadmap to help match your expectation to reality.

I recommend Dan without any reservation. If you seek an MBA admissions counselor to guide you along the path to MBA acceptance, Daniel Richards from mbaMission is your person.

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