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Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions Hourly Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
As I wrap up my first year at HBS, I’m looking back with gratitude for the support of SBC and specifically my coach Joey. As a non-traditional applicant with a social impact background and future focus, I was greatly enjoyed Joey's expertise in helping me articulate my personal story and tailor it to each business school focus. As someone with a nonprofit background, the hourly support was a big investment for me, and Joey was very flexible in helping me maximize each minute of his assistance. Most of all, I appreciated having a supportive partner who gave honest feedback, held me accountable, and was a positive support along the at-times difficult journey. I could not be happier with my experience with Joey and would encourage you to sign up!
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
SBC
My journey towards an MBA is long and winding (ca. 3 years), but working with Joey at SBC finally resulted in my acceptance to my first choice program (M7).
As an older international applicant with a non-traditional background, I was nervous about the experience at first. One should not underestimate the amount of work that goes into this process. I worked with Joey at SBC on two occasions - once on an hourly basis, once as part of the “All-in” service. If in doubt, definitely go for the latter.
My first attempt resulted in a ding - lesson learned is that one cannot complete three sets of apps in a few weeks, although Joey’s help was immense every step of the way. Despite the odds, we arrived at a quality final deliverable. Although a major setback, Joey took the time to go through a post-mortem and we devised a new strategy.
I signed up for the “all-in” service, which meant that we could spend a lot more time going over the application materials and strategy. It’s hard work for everyone involved, but in particular, for Joey. He was also immensely helpful in helping me prepare for my Zoom interview. An incredibly useful tool that SBC offers is the “flight test” of the application, which helps to uncover any last-minute mistakes (yes, I had a typo on my resume). A few weeks ago, I received my acceptance letter from my first choice school.
What did I learn from all of this?
1. Get a consultant. Especially get a consultant if your background is non-traditional.
2. Take the time to get to know the person you are working with. Joey was an absolute delight - he knows his stuff, challenges bs where he sees it, and having worked with him over the course of a year, he was the #1 champion for my candidacy. This is important!
3. SBC knows what they are doing. I spent some time looking at different firms but landed on SBC quite early on. They are responsive, they do not take you on as a client if they don’t think you have a chance. No false promises - it’s a thoroughly professional approach throughout.
4. MBA admissions is a difficult game with both incredible lows and highs. With that being said, I am convinced that I could not have done this without the guidance of Joey (my consultant), Esther (our matchmaker), and the rest of the SBC team. I am so grateful for all their help!
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
I had a really good experience with Joey and I thank him for it. Being a European, it was not really easy to understand the process. Thanks to my admission consultant, I was put at ease with it and I could ask all the questions I had.
Joey was very available, connecting on my time frame (which is very useful) and answering me very quickly. We managed to get everything done in only a few weeks. His greatest strength is his ability to understand candidates and help them give the best of themselves in process documents that match well with their personalities!
I would clearly recommand him and all the documents from SBC.
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
I had an incredibly positive experience with Joey from SBC from our first call through the entire admissions process. He took considerable stress out of the application process, and fortunately I'll be heading to HBS in the fall.
As an applicant with a traditional finance background, Joey was able to push me out of my comfort zone and emphasize the parts of my personality that made me unique. I was nervous about needing a big moment for a successful personal statement, but Joey helped me craft an essay that demonstrated my underlying character in a creative way, an essay I ended up being really proud of after plenty of iteration and phone calls with Joey.
Joey was always available for a call or via email. On my interview day, he hopped on the phone with me on a moment's notice to run through random questions that had popped into my head.
I felt incredibly supported by Joey throughout the process and would highly recommend him for anyone going through it.
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
Joey was paired with me and quickly showed to be a thoughtful, really smart, and just overall awesome coach and person to work with! He really took time to understand my background and aims for business school -- really a ton of thought and effort here -- and it proved quite valuable when we began discussing a plan for applications and making the actual materials.
I especially valued his feedback in that he understood my style and approach while also being super critical. He's an excellent writer and storyteller and his feedback was invaluable. All the materials I prepared struck a strong message and story thanks in large part to Joey, and I got into my dream school as a result.
His general coaching and helpfulness in all aspects was really outstanding. It was a pleasure working with Joey and I highly recommend him for helping prepare B school applications!
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions Hourly Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
Joey helped me gain admission to several M7 programs. He helped me with a complete overhaul of my CV that better highlighted the achievements that would most stand out to an adcom - and spent time helping me re-write my personal statement.
I signed up with completed applications, confident in my products, but Joey helped take those products to the next level. He was almost too generous with how he calculated time billed - always giving me extra chunks of time to get my products where they needed, and he was crucial to my interview preparation. Several of the questions that Joey asked me during our mock interview that seemed off the wall at the time were asked word-for-word by adcoms - and the line by line review we had done during our interview prep helped me deliver strong answers to the questions that adcoms would have no reason to believe that I had rehearsed.
Regardless of how confident you are with your application materials, I can guarantee that Joey will help you deliver a stronger product. Asking for Joey by name is probably the best thing you could do right now for your admissions chances.
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
I was initially hesitant in using an admissions consultant but having read reviews of admitted students who had used consultants I decided to do so. I reviewed a few and had initial conversations but Stacy Blackman stood out by a mile and were able to pair me up with Joey.
My experience with Joey was absolutely amazing from our first call, Joey was very easygoing and understood me well with my unique background. I also enjoyed Joey's genuine interest in getting to know me which helped the engagement. There was lots of hard work to do in preparation for the process but Joey was always available on email/ on-call.
I would definitely recommend Joey especially if you are from an emerging market, from a non-target school Joey is able to help you find what makes you unique and craft an interesting message.
Overall I am very happy with my experience with Joey and would do it all again!!!
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
Stacey Blackman was a perfect choice for MBA Application consultant. I was paired with Joey and could not be happier that he was selected to help me through the process.
Joey was incredibly thoughtful, efficient, and hard working. He made each step of the process easier and worked diligently to draw out my best stories and help showcase them to the admissions staff at HBS. As a male admit from a finance background, I needed Joey's creativity to differentiate myself and he was successful in drawing out those stories.
From the initial call late at night with Esther, to my flight tester and the wealth of preparation information SBC offers, I am very thankful for choosing SBC.
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
SBC proved helpful in increasing my odds of acceptance to my desired business schools. I highly recommend a consultant for interested applicants.
The SBC consultant with whom I partnered, Joey, proved particularly adept at:
-"AdComming" my resume by suggesting clear, jargon-free language that highlighted my desired capabilities
-Brainstorming my essay topic and materially enhancing its quality & creativity
-Offering guidance on the purpose of the MBA and why it adds value
-Providing honest feedback on all parts of my application, which enhanced not only the application itself but also my personal self-awareness (an even more valuable outcome)
I have a technical finance background and Joey found ways to make my personality shine. If you have a more "generic" background and want help standing out, Joey or SBC can help1
Joey remained open and happy to talk and work any time I asked, which made a seemingly difficult process easy. His insights were intelligent and action-oriented, keeping me on track and stress-free throughout the process.
Getting an SBC consultant does not guarantee admission, but you are putting yourself at a disadvantage if you forego them entirely, and you can do far worse than choosing SBC. I got into the best business school for me (Wharton) and don't think I would have gotten accepted on my own.
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions Hourly Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
After negative experiences working with an independent consultant on the first draft of my application, I reached out to Stacy Blackman for advice. I was confident in my work experience, GPA, recommenders, and community involvement; however, I knew that my below average test scores and over-represented background would require a standout application. I was receiving cookie-cutter advice, and I started to panic.
Instead of trying to mold my application into a predictable form that 'works best,' we worked together to create an application that was wholly authentic, pithy, and creative. In particular, Joey helped me overhaul the chronology of my essay, exposing redundancies and intricate language in the process, and making my anecdotes and messages more impactful. Joey's blunt, yet humorous, approach was refreshing, and as a former MBA student at HBS, he provided me with an added layer of first-hand insight. Joey also went above and beyond by accommodating my condensed timeline via quick turnarounds, and made himself available over phone and email on very short notice. Joey was an integral part of my HBS application success, and I sincerely recommend him for application consulting!
