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Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Jessica Shklar
My experience working with Jessica has been phenomenal. She is experienced, perceptive, and dedicated – qualities that make her one of the best partners in the MBA application process. And that’s exactly what working with Jessica is: a partnership. I always felt like I had nothing but her full support every step of the way. While she would provide me with feedback informed by well over a decade’s worth of experience, I very much appreciated how she made it a point to frame them as suggestions and emphasize that I was in the “driver’s seat.” I was looking for someone who would work with me, not for me, and that’s exactly what Jessica does.
Jessica cares deeply about her clients’ success, even before they are clients. From the moment I did my introductory call with Jessica, I was beyond impressed with her willingness to help me, staying in touch with me over the coming weeks as she helped me work through testing strategies and application timeline options. As the application cycle progressed, Jessica was there to provide encouragement and empathy when I’d receive disappointing news, but she was also the first to celebrate my successes.
Throughout the process, I was constantly impressed by how responsive Jessica was to any questions or concerns I had. In addition, she is incredibly organized and efficient, churning through drafts and interview prep sessions all while still providing extremely valuable and specific feedback. It’s important to note that Jessica’s feedback is sometimes brutally honest – she doesn’t mince words. But that’s exactly what makes it so valuable. Jessica has extremely high standards and she holds you to them – but in the end, it’s worth it.
Working with Jessica allowed me to put my best foot forward, and I would highly, highly recommend her to anyone else who’s looking to do the same. I’ll be attending HBS next year, an outcome that wouldn’t have been possible without Jessica’s help.
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Susan Kaplan
Susan was instrumental in helping me gain admission to my top-choice schools. I opted for the Start-to-Finish package, and Susan provided me with invaluable guidance throughout the process.
From the outset, Susan invested considerable time in getting to know me and my background. She employed a strategic approach to identify my unique strengths and determine the target schools that would best suit my profile.
Susan was adept at crafting compelling narratives that were both creative and coherent. Her ability to distill complex ideas into clear, concise language proved especially valuable, given my tendency to be overly verbose.
With Susan's guidance, I was able to construct compelling arguments that demonstrated my suitability for each of the schools I applied to. Her keen eye for detail and honest, constructive feedback helped me refine my essays until they were polished and persuasive.
I was impressed by Susan's responsiveness and the quick turnaround time she provided for feedback. Her candid approach, while challenging at times, helped me to produce my best work.
In the end, Susan's coaching proved indispensable. Thanks to her efforts, I was admitted to Kellogg and Booth with generous scholarships and waitlisted at Sloan. I wholeheartedly recommend Susan to anyone seeking a thoughtful, caring coach to guide them through the admissions process.
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Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Krista Nannery
Overall: Krista is fantastic. I cannot leave a more positive or heartfelt review. Working with Krista was the best decision I made during the application process and the result: “The answer is yes!” (I got into HBS, my dream school!) The b-school application process is stressful, time consuming, emotional and overall exhausting. Having a guide like Krista was truly life saver. She is a dream to work with and without a doubt worth the investment.
Bedside Manner: Warm, supportive, honest, insightful, professional, bubbly. Gets to know you as a person beyond your application. Cheerleader, cares about you and is invested in you.
Essay specific: What made Krista really valuable during the essay process beyond just an objective third party’s feedback were 2 things: First, she provided very specific guidance on the structure and content of the essays. After filling out the comprehensive brainstorming doc (~19 pages), brainstorming with her over zoom and proving bullets on my ideas for a particular essay, there was so much content to work through. Krista not only digested all this content, but knew it by heart and came to the session with a blueprint for each essay - 250 words on x, 100 on y, then 400 on Z. This took all guessing away from the essay writing and let me focus on telling my story in the best way possible. It was a huge time saver and took away all of the guesswork.
Second, Krista understands how to speak the language of each school and what resonates with AdCom. Every school has a different culture, different things that they look for in students, different ways AdCom evaluates someone’s story. Krista’s deep first hand knowledge and experience on how to speak to each school and how they’ve historically reacted to someone’s story was invaluable to me. My story never changed, but the way I told it and what I highlighted did depending upon the prompt and the school. This was, for me personally, the single biggest value add. Krista was brilliant in helping me craft my story to speak to my target audience in a compelling way. No 2 essays of mine were alike.
Beyond those two points, the feedback she provided was always spot on. She was extremely responsive and detailed. Extremely adaptable to my feedback and the overall evolution of the essay. And always trying to show you at your best.
Interview Prep: Krista prepared me extremely well for all my interviews (5 in total). There wasn’t a single question I wasn’t prepared for or hadn’t thought about due to our prep together. She also gave very specific feedback to each answer I gave drawing on her accumulated knowledge of me.
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Nisha Trivedi
I entered the MBA application process with a lot of unanswered questions, knowing it was a daunting process that would require ongoing support from an unbiased third party. I'm fortunate that I had the chance to work with Nisha for almost a year as I navigated decisions on which schools to apply to, how to structure my application, and how to fine tune my essays. From our first meeting, Nisha listened to my ideas, thoughts, and questions very closely. I could always trust her to respond promptly, make herself available as soon as I needed her guidance, and I knew from her many years of MBA consulting experience that I was in good hands. Nisha understood my goals from an MBA program and could gently suggest new schools or application approaches that accommodated my personal strengths and weaknesses. Her feedback is very direct and constructive, and she knows how to encourage you over a prolonged application process. I'd recommend working with Nisha to anyone considering getting support from a professional. Thanks to Nisha's support, I'm joining Kellogg's 1Y MBA program next month and am excited for my future.
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Rachel Beck
I worked with Rachel on the 3 school package: Wharton, Booth, and CBS. I wanted to start out saying the outcomes went beyond my expectations. I wouldn’t be able to receive all the offers without Rachel’s input. I don’t have a clean and straightforward background and thought those are all biggest ding points. Rachel stepped in to comb through my story and helped build a strong narrative for me - collecting all my shiny points. Her brainstorming session is so powerful. She has the best intention for me and is a great resource on all things considered, and time and time again went above and beyond to help me. On top of that, her previous background in journalism has made my essays so much stronger. I’m always caught up in awe about the power of language upon receiving her edits. Her turnaround time is quick! She is my mentor and coach, I’m so thrilled to have chosen working with her and strongly recommend her!
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Krista Nannery
Krista is the reason I was admitted into top programs including HBS, Wharton, Tuck, and others, and almost all with scholarship money totaling almost $500,000. Go with Krista, you won’t regret it.
From our very first conversation, Krista believed in me when I had doubted myself. I was on the (slightly) older side yet didn’t have direct management experience; I came from a decidedly “non-analytical” background; and there was a long tail of other insecurities I had about my candidacy for business school. Krista saw something in me, and she helped me find and amplify my authentic voice. I was on the fence about hiring an admissions consultant because I considered myself a good (enough) writer, but boy am I relieved I was able to work with Krista.
I could not be happier that I chose Krista after doing many free consultations. Here is what I think she brings:
Krista has a preternatural ability to bring stories to life. As a person with a technical software background, I was concerned about explaining my accomplishments in a way that felt impactful yet understandable to a non-technical audience. It turned out not to be a concern at all. For every technical project that I explained in my resume or in one of my essays, Krista encouraged me to “paint a picture” for the reader. Going from an “I did this” to a “this was the impact” mentality was difficult for me, but with Krista’s help, projects that were so esoteric that I almost considered leaving out of my application were now the strongest advocates for my candidacy.
While Krista guarantees a 48-hour turnaround time for reviewing essay drafts, she consistently over-delivers, providing feedback more often than not within 24 hours. As a chronic procrastinator, I felt solace knowing that Krista had my back and actively supported me even—or rather, especially—when R2 deadlines were fast approaching. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to iterate on drafts of my essays quickly enough before the deadline, but Krista went above and beyond in establishing even quicker turnaround times that worked with my personal timeline. During times of unbelievable stress, it is a huge relief knowing that your admissions consultant is in the trenches with you, fighting just as hard for you as you are fighting for yourself.
I could go on and on about how she has key insights about specific schools and programs that you can’t find online, how she is always willing to meet with you for even the most trivial of concerns, or how she sends you pump up emails on interview day because she is so invested in your personal journey, but if you’ve made it to this section of the review, I hope you are already convinced. Krista was able to take an incredibly stressful application process and turn it into a fun and enjoyable experience.
I cannot recommend Krista enough to anyone who is truly serious about maximizing their chances to get into a top business school. I can’t imagine what my application would have looked like without Krista’s help, and thankfully I don’t have to.
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Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Jessica Shklar
Summary:
Deciding to work with Jessica was the single best decision I made as part of the MBA application process. If you're reading this review, I highly encourage you to reach out to Jessica to see for yourself. Having spoken with many MBAs who worked with other consultants, I can say with confidence that Jessica is in a league of her own.
Why Jessica stands out:
1. Unparalleled ability to 'see the forest for the trees' -- Jessica's super power is her knack for helping her clients realize what makes their application unique. EVERY applicant has a story - Jessica is invaluable when it comes to teasing out & tailoring an applicant's story for particular programs or application/essay prompts. I cannot stress the importance of this talent enough: every consultant will help you project manage the application process, but Jessica will help you create the best possible output. She asks idea-generating, prodding questions, looks across your applications to identify content that should be included in all, and has a knack for finding the details that really help applicants stand out (details I would have NEVER identified myself). Seriously, I cant say enough about Jessica's capabilities on this front. She is unbelievably talented.
2. Operational excellence - Jessica keeps you on track. I applied to five schools, and Jessica ensured I never missed a beat or fell behind. Moreover, Jessica NEVER missed a deadline. She often offered meaningful suggestions for my essays or applications well ahead of her agreed turnaround time. The regular engagement with Jessica made the application completion process fun and motivating! It was really helpful to brainstorm with Jessica asynchronously (given i was working full time) and i ultimately feel some of the best ideas came from our regular ping-ponging of essay drafts.
3. A supportive and confidence-building mentor -- the MBA application process is grueling and long. You have moments of self-doubt and exhaustion. Jessica was there at all times to help me get back on the horse. This dimension of Jessica's partnership is one I have come to deeply appreciate. More than anyone, Jessica understands what you're going through. She helps you stay positive, focused and productive.
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Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Jessica Shklar
Jessica redefined every expectation. I was accepted to both schools that I applied to and Jessica was the secret ingredient i.e., I would never have been able to successfully get into both HBS and GSB without her.
+Crafts a powerful story: Jessica spends a lot of time/energy in understanding you/your story. I had varied experiences that didn't necessarily flow together; within 12 hours of reading my intro document, Jessica gave me 3 strong ideas for my core essays. The HARDEST part of the MBA process is delving deep and weaving a unique, compelling narrative — this is exactly where Jessica shines!
+Encourages you to stay true to yourself: Jessica will never make you sign-up for extracurriculars etc. to fit a mold; she takes existing accomplishments to build a powerful story. This is rare — other consultants wanted me to take on additional extracurriculars that were not true to who I really was
+Encourages you to stay true to yourself: Jessica will never make you sign-up for extracurriculars etc. to fit a mold; she takes existing accomplishments to build a powerful story. This is rare — other consultants wanted me to take on additional extracurriculars that were not true to who I really was
+Focus on crafting consistent applications: Jessica has an eye for detail; I recall how she noticed that I had highlighted contradictory points in different parts of my application — she knew my app better than I did!
+Thoughtful and empathetic: Jessica always made time for me (e.g., took a call on July 4th despite it being a holiday, responded to emails within minutes) -- she really cares about her clients
Jessica has 15+ YoE (I know 4 people who worked with her and EACH got into HBS, GSB, or both), is an excellent writer (her suggestions really “punched” up the story-telling), and moves fast without compromising quality (helped me complete it all in 1.5 months)
I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend both MBAMission & Jessica. Don’t think twice.
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Susan Kaplan
Choosing to work with mbaMission—and Susan particularly—was one of the best career decisions I could have made. She was extraordinarily helpful at every turn, and truly shepherded me through the entire process, from school selection, to deciding which round to apply in, to honing my narrative to build the strongest application possible, to the essays themselves. Thanks to Susan I was admitted to both of my target schools: Stern and Tuck.
The business school process is very much a case of "you don't know what you don't know"—there are so many components to consider and to make sure to get right. Susan was the consummate guide, helping me prioritize, keeping me on-schedule, and helping me think critically about how exactly an MBA would get me to where I want professionally, why each program was or wasn't a fit for me, why I was a fit/positive addition for those program(s), and how to communicate all of that in my essays and my resume.
I cannot recommend Susan highly enough!
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Gavriella Semaya
Gavriella Semaya, an MBA admissions consultant at mbaMission, is an exceptional professional who is highly skilled at helping applicants achieve their academic goals. Her expertise, guidance, and encouragement have proved invaluable.
Gavriella helped me rework my resume and shape my essays as a reapplicant to top MBA programs. She was always available to answer my questions and provide feedback on my application materials. She went above and beyond to ensure that I submitted the best possible applications and was successful in achieving my goals.
One of Gavriella's strengths is her ability to show initiative and a genuine interest in her client's success. She takes the time to get to know each applicant's unique situation and provides tailored advice and support accordingly. Her passion for helping others is evident in her work and she truly cares about her clients' results.
Overall, anyone would be extremely lucky to get the chance to work with Gavriella Semaya as an MBA admissions consultant. She is a talented and dedicated professional who can make a significant impact on your MBA application journey.