mbaMission Admissions Consulting Reviews

My consultant was Heidi Garner. She guided me through the process of choosing business schools. I aimed to apply to 20 top schools in a short period. After extensive discussions, we carefully selected six fitting options and prepared the necessary materials. Heidi was accurate and concise in helping me highlight key differentiators in both my essays and resume. Although crafting the first draft took time, it was worth it. My second Kellogg essay was so impactful that made myself cry!
It was a very hard job for me and Heidi to create a unique and impactful story since I used GMAT waivers. Thus, the story should have been very perfect to be shortlisted for an interview and we successfully made it!
I prepared my applications for Kellogg, Sloan, Darden, Ross, Johnson, and Questrom, securing interviews for 4/6. Heidi remained humble and approachable throughout the whole process, patiently answering all my questions. After receiving the interviews, she generously provided a free one-hour mock interview and gave me detailed feedback on how to answer the questions, prepare the logistics, and dress. All helped me secure a seat in my dream school!
In the end, I got admissions to Kellogg, Ross, and Questrom—and a waitlist for Johnson. Truly the best moment of my academic journey!
I truly enjoyed my experience working with mbaMission and Heidi and recommend their service.

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Thanks to Katy, I received admission at Wharton Lauder, Chicago Booth, Yale SOM, MIT Sloan, Dartmouth Tuck, and UVA Darden, and also received financial aid from most of those institutions!

Those are the results, but what stands out to me is the experience of working with Katy through this whole process. She has a remarkable career in the grad school consulting world and beyond. Thus, her instincts on where to apply, which schools may be a good fit, and how to go about this process are top-notch. When it came time to construct a narrative, I gave Katy a LOT of material to work with, and yet she expertly picked out the themes that she thought were most important and formative in my life and career, and helped me craft a sharper vision of the future I hoped to pursue. My goals are somewhat unconventional, and yet Katy encouraged me to pursue them.

As we started to write essays, she patiently edited each draft, no matter the scale of the changes I was making. What stood out to me here was her honest feedback, which I am beyond grateful for. Each time, she pushed me to be better, asking me to dig deeper and re-imagine essays when needed, even if I was up against a deadline. This meant that I could trust that Katy's feedback was always truthful, and that when she said an essay was good, I could believe her! The essays I finally submitted were truly the best work I could have submitted.

When it came to interview prep, she sent me materials for every school I was interviewing at, no matter whether I was working with her on the school or not. Her prep for me was incredibly accurate, and made sure I was ready to talk about my goals and my past eloquently.

This process, of applying to grad school, is not easy, but I am grateful that every time I asked Katy if we could chat through an issue I was having, she was ready to chat, and give me as much time as I needed.

Katy has become a friend and mentor, and I cannot recommend working with her highly enough.

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I worked with Heidi on a 4-school package prior to R1 applications. From our first interactions, I could tell she was extremely knowledgeable and more importantly, deeply cared about understanding me and my goals to help me put my best foot forward.

After walking through my background and talking through my post-MBA career goals, Heidi helped me select target programs that were most closely aligned with my aspirations. Once I had submitted my detailed brainstorming document, Heidi came to all of our essay brainstorming calls with awesome ideas on different parts of my background that I could weave together into a cohesive story. She even pulled together a day by day calendar of application milestones I needed to hit over the summer to make sure all my applications would be ready in time.

Heidi was wholeheartedly committed to making sure I submitted the best possible application. I frequently scheduled short check-ins with Heidi to talk through different essay ideas or get some nagging questions answered. We once rewrote the opening paragraph of one of my essays 7 or 8 different times to make sure it conveyed what we wanted it to. She helped revamp and wordsmith my resume and almost always returned documents I had shared for review well ahead of schedule. In the final weeks before submission, she was gracious enough to work with my recommenders to make sure they got all their questions answered about writing my letters. Her flexibility and willingness to accommodate was incredibly appreciated by all of us.

With Heidi's help, I was admitted to GSB, Wharton, Kellogg, Yale, and Darden, and was fortunate to receive full rides or significant scholarships everywhere. This truly would not have been possible without Heidi's guidance and support. There is seriously no better partner / cheerleader to have by your side throughout the MBA application process than Heidi. She is simply the best!

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I worked with Heidi throughout the summer, and she was instrumental in helping me communicate my experiences and aspirations and organize my materials. First, I was applying during a very busy time at work. Heidi helped put together a calendar for me to effectively draft and review my various essays, while also paying attention to key deadlines and admissions events. Whenever unforeseen circumstances arose which impacted this schedule, she would work with me to adjust the remaining time to ensure no deadlines were missed. Second, Heidi provided invaluable critique on my essays. My writing tends to be verbose, so for multiple applications with restrictive word limits, Heidi’s feedback ensured my writing was concise without sacrificing authenticity or comprehensiveness. Third, Heidi helped me select and prepare recommenders whose responses played a huge role in my admissions. Overall, Heidi masterfully connected where I was, with where business schools look for students to be, and helped me articulate a clear vision for how to get there. I highly recommend Heidi to any prospective student looking to refine their materials to fit their dream school.

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Working with Debbie was a great choice. I started the application process late and had less than 2 months to prepare for R1 when I found Debbie. I applied to 4 M7 schools, and she demonstrated an impressive understanding of the MBA application landscape, providing valuable insights and strategic advice. Her expertise in MBA applications, especially at Wharton and CBS, secured my admission with a scholarship. Debbie helped brainstorm and polish my essays. Her guidance on recommendation letters was also invaluable. Her insights and genuine support were key to my application process. While every journey has its unique aspects, my experience with Debbie was positive and working with her has made this process much easier and more manageable than doing it alone!

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I had great experience working with Nisha! I was admitted with scholarships to all four schools that Nisha helped me with. Throughout the whole process, she was a great thought-partner and sounding board. She was also always very responsive and turned around essay comments in under 24 hours. I felt like her essay comments and general guidance really helped me shape my story and understand what admissions was really looking for in each part of the application. I also really appreciated that she often checked in with her colleagues to gather additional opinions on some of my questions. I would absolutely recommend working with Nisha!

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Congratulations! If you are reading this, that means you have hit the jackpot. Just knowing about Katy is like winning the lottery. Starting with a comprehensive brainstorming session, Katy started to unpack my candidacy, which as a non-traditional applicant was not easy! When I received interviews for every one of the schools I applied to, Katy prepared me for each one, giving me the confidence I needed. I actually genuinely enjoyed every interview! She helped me condense my story into a couple sentences that made sense and were exciting to talk about.
I initially met with Katy a full 18 months before I applied, and she advised me to wait a year before applying. If she tells you the same- do not ignore it, she knows what she is talking about!

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Currently I am a woman in Consulting who was looking to get an MBA to focus and pivot to Technology. Kate was an incredible resource to help me figure out my MVA goals. She guided me through the process all the way from choosing schools, submitting applications, and writing letters for merit scholarships. Kate's deep understanding of the various programs combined with insightful discussions about my career goals ensured that I shaped my applications tailored to the schools. Kate's unwavering support made the MBA application process less daunting - providing a detailed calendar view of all next steps in order to stay on track. Through essay help, mock interviews, and continuous engagement, Kate provided an outstanding experience, and I could not recommend her more.

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I honestly have Katy to thank for the amazing results as well as the smooth application process. I applied for the full-time MBA programs at Wharton, CBS, MIT Sloan, Booth, and Kellogg and was accepted to all of them with a generous scholarship package from MIT and Kellogg (~90% full tuition). I’m a Southeast Asian applicant who’s been working in the States.
I had initially talked to Katy a year before applying, and unlike the other consultants, she advised me to wait a year since it will make me a much stronger applicant. I appreciated her honesty and returned to her a year later and was very glad I took her recommendation.
Apart from her amazing credentials, I think what stood out to me was that she really cared about me as a person and not just a ‘client’. After our first brainstorming session I felt like she could see right through me (even though we just got to know each other) and really empathized with my story and who I was. To clarify, this meant that she was not only very supportive, but was also straightforward and firm with her feedback - she felt more like a mentor who had your back and wanted you to truly shine vs. just an MBA consultant. She always went above and beyond to make sure I felt my application was the best it could be. A few examples include doing last minute 2am back and forth edits for one of my MIT essay when I realized I wanted to add one more point before submitting (even though we had already finalized it days before), making time to do several mock interviews with me for the same school when I didn’t feel confident about it, and always trying to make time to go on calls just to talk about any worries/anxiety I had.
Because she put in the time and effort to make sure I personally felt good about my application, I was shocked at how level-headed and confident I felt throughout what could have been an extremely stressful process. I remember going into the decision weeks feeling that I had really done my best and even if I had one extra year, I wouldn’t have changed anything about it, and the results speak for itself!
Choosing Katy was one of the best decisions you can make in investing in your future!

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I worked with Heidi Granner and mbaMission with a two school package and could not be happier with the results having been accepted to both schools. The process was extremely straightforward, organized and stress free during the three months that we worked together. Every aspect of the application was thoroughly discussed and Heidi offers extremely personal and direct feedback throughout the process. The full school package exceeded my expectations and made the application process much more enjoyable. I would recommend working with Heidi and mbaMission to anyone that is looking for any type of guidance on the MBA application process. From brainstorming stories about my childhood and life to organizing my thoughts on my career transition, Heidi was critical in guiding my thought process in the right direction towards MBA admission success. There was never a moment when I felt stressed or that I was getting impersonal feedback through our 15-20 hours of work together per week.

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