I first came to mbaMission after applying to, and getting dinged from, 3 top 15 schools in 2011/2012. After surveying the damage and doing a lot of soul searching, I decided really late in 2012/2013 application season to give it another try and aim a little lower on schools, but to get some help this time.

I shopped around and spoke to a few consulting services and was impressed with the free consultation with Jeremy. He asked a lot of questions about my particular situation/story, and genuinely answered all of my questions. Most importantly, he didn't just speak about his experience applying to Harvard, or his time working as an adcom like a few other consultants I spoke with.

So I decided to test mbaMission using their ding review to see if I would like to use their services on full school packages. I was assigned to Susan Kaplan after speaking with Jeremy about what I wanted in a consultant (honest, constructive, but tough feedback on my story and chances of getting into different schools). Susan definitely ticked all of the boxes! After spending an hour or so on the phone with her going over my application to Ross, she picked apart most of my application (which is what I wanted) and got me thinking a lot more critically about how uniform my story sounded to the adcom.

So I decided to work with Susan on 2 new schools I had targeted. Long story short, the brainstorming process, outlining, drafting, and pulling together all of the other little things that make up an application, was a lot easier and less painful with Susan. I actually learned a great deal about myself and my goals by going through the process.

The most important thing I got out of the whole experience was understanding how my story sounded to an outsider who didn't know me at all - or in other words...an adcom. Working with Susan made me understand exactly where my weaknesses were and how to address them properly. It also helped me understand my strengths, how to talk about them through simple but effective stories, and how to demonstrate how my strengths added value to the particular school I was applying to.

I was very happy with the services mbaMission offered and I would recommend them to a friend or anyone who needs guidance navigating the very vague waters of MBA admissions.

Without a doubt, Jessica Shklar & MBA mission are the reasons why I’m headed to b-school this fall. Jessica came highly recommended from several friends who had previously used her services, and she exceeded even their glowing recommendations.

Coming from a non-traditional background (military), I was clueless about how to navigate the b-school application process. Herself a graduate of HBS, Jessica knows first hand what it takes to get into a top b-school and how to best present oneself to the admissions committee. From the beginning, Jessica helped me clearly and tangibly articulate why I wanted to get a MBA in a way that was both logical and compelling to the admissions committees. To that end, she helped me develop a rock-star resume, helped me flesh out my most compelling stories (both personal and professional), and when the time came, helped prepare me to knock out my admissions interviews.

Throughout the application process, Jessica continually pushed me to provide hard, quantifiable data to back up my accomplishments and swiftly eliminated any “fluff” that snuck its way into my essays. As a result, each word in my essays packed a serious bunch…crucial when you consider that several of my essays had limits of only 200 words. Jessica also helped me organize my experiences into over-arching themes. This was critical as it allowed me to quickly answer the common behavioral questions that were asked during my admissions interviews, and it was much more effective than trying to memorize answers to questions that may/may not be asked. Jessica always responded swiftly to my questions and often turned around products sooner than the 2-business day maximum, ensuring I had the maximum amount of time to work on essay & resume revisions.

Extremely high professionalism and quality is what you can expect from Jessica Shklar. I could easily write several more pages about the top-notch service and insight she provided, but the results speak for themselves. With Jessica I went “3 for 3” and was accepted into Ross, Haas, & Tuck, and found myself in the “difficult” position of having to choose amongst those three top tier programs. I owe all of that to Jessica, and if you’re serious about applying to a top flight business school, you owe it to yourself to go with MBA Mission and Jessica Shklar…you won’t regret it!!

Aged 31, and having taken the GMAT more than 6times with a final score at middle 600s, I took the decision to hire an admission consultant rather easily despite the huge cost of taking a 6school pack.

I conducted my market search, and spoke to many consultants through the 30minutes free consultation. Most of them discouraged me to apply to a top MBA program due to my “difficult” profile.

Well, not so many consultants have studied philosophy at Yale -thus have mastered the art of rhetoric – and graduated from a top MBA program –thus knowing what it takes to get in-. Angela believed in my profile and encouraged me not only to follow my school selection but also to apply to more competitive ones.

We had a great cooperation… and I assure you that I am a difficult – and stubborn - client!
Angela helped me sell my-self in a more “sexy” way, something really hard for a hyper analytical finance guy like me. She helped me see the experiences that really make me unique – things I didn’t think were important. What I liked most, was that she did not copied-pasted success stories from previous clients but shaped our strategy on my background and future goals. Because I was a finance manager in a large company, I had acquired an austere way of expression, which many time mistakenly sound like arrogance. Occasionally, we fought because I was trying to make myself sound like what the schools wanted, but Angela argued that it was not true to who I am. She always won the arguments. Angela transformed my story telling…but without changing a thing from what I wanted to say! Moreover I liked the fact that she was a true professional. Many times she reviewed my essays prior to deadline giving me more space to ameliorate my job.

But most importantly, I love Angela because she is a “motivation” machine. She taught me the art of self-exploration and the digging out of my strong parts -the most difficult part of MBA essays writing- and………… BE MYSELF!!

I finally got in 4 out of my 6 MBA programs (all in top 15) selection and most importantly to my dream school…with scholarship!

Ps. In the schools that I did not get in...I did not have the time to follow her advice to the letter…Do the math!

I chose mbaMission to help me with my application to USC Marshall. The reason why I chose a consultant was because of the short time frame (1 month) I was working with. I am very glad I did and was very fortunate to have Angela Guido as my consultant.

From the get go, we set up a phone call to go over expectations and to layout the game plan. The first step was to brainstorm - work accomplishments, personal achievements, skills, strengths, weaknesses, random bits about yourself etc. It was a big giant puzzle with pieces scattered everywhere. Then with Angela's guidance, I was able to take all that information and create an outline for each of my essays. In total I wrote 2 full essays , 3 short question essays, and redid my resume. It was great to have another perspective on how to approach and answer each question.

I don't think I could have done everything in less than 30 days without Angela's help. She was extremely energetic and exuberant with an infectious laughter. The turnaround time was quick - on average the edits and revisions took about 2 business days. Through the process, I did about 4 revisions on the longer essays and 2-3 revisions on the shorter ones. The end result was top notch and I was accepted into the USC Marshall Program.

Thank you Angela and Thank you mbaMission!

I was admitted into the Berkeley Haas full-time MBA program (class of 2015) with the help of Liza from mbaMission. I sought out a consultant because I was worried about a less-than-stellar history of extracurricular activities, although I felt that the rest of my profile was competitive.

From the moment I signed up for my free profile consultation, I found mbaMission to be far more responsive than the other admissions consultant firms I contacted, both big and small. Daniel (who conducted my initial profile review) and Liza (who became my consultant) always got back to me within 24 hours with responses to any questions I had.

Upon deciding to hire mbaMission for a one-school package, Liza initially helped me construct my detailed profile, including a set of unifying themes that would come to define my personal brand throughout the application. She had a knack for quickly recognizing which of my stories and anecdotes offered the most compelling framework for each essay response. When I had difficulty getting started on the ‘greatest accomplishment’ essay, she understood my profile intimately enough to suggest that I incorporate a particular, recent anecdote from my work experience – and it did not take me long to see that she was right. Throughout the entire application process, she continually provided professional, straightforward, and honest feedback and advice. Liza never let me get away with finalizing an essay before it was perfect. On the other hand, she simultaneously managed to be encouraging, personable, and warm. Although I got a slightly late start on my application (I didn’t start working with Liza until less than three months prior to the application due date), she kept me focused and made sure I knew exactly what I needed to do in order to reach the finish line on time.

Overall, my experience was positive and I would recommend Liza for anyone applying to b-school. While it is conceivable that I could have been accepted to Haas without the guidance of a consultant, Liza and mbaMission made the application process much more transparent and navigable than if I had gone it alone, saving me considerable time (due to fewer re-starts and less re-work on my essays) while giving me the confidence that I had submitted the strongest application possible given my profile. At worst it was an insurance policy and at best it was the difference between a ding and being accepted. Well worth the investment.

I got into my dream school with the help of Jessica Shklar (mbaMission) and I am more than happy with all her help during the entire process.

It took me a long time to decide which consultant I would work with. I spoke to several and did my research over what was posted over the internet. I had heard great things about Jessica online so I scheduled a free 30-minute consultation with her as I did with many consultants prior to that. She was busy and so my appointment was 15 days later than when I wanted it. I almost cancelled the appointment because it was so far out (in retrospect, best decision I made was not to cancel the call).

Over the course of the 30-minute call, it was clear that Jessica not only knew what she was talking about but that she actually took interest in what she did. She told me about specific things in my profile that I need to focus on and it all made sense to me when I read her post phone call analysis. I knew at that time that I have to work with Jessica to get the best out of my application.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much time before my application was due - only 25 days and there were many religious holidays in between. That's where Jessica made the difference. She worked tirelessly to make sure I got each document not only on time but well ahead of time. Once when I submitted the essay to her at midnight, she responded with edits to my essay at 10AM. If I was willing to write an essay at night to meet my deadline, she matched that by returning the essay to me the very next day. Her work ethic was great.

While working on my resume, Jessica went back and forth multiple times and made sure everything was absolutely perfect. She helped me change every single bullet point I had on my first draft. These were all meaningful changes and ones that made my resume very powerful. At the end, I got something very different than what I started with - it was a great resume that I'll be using for sometime to come. After I got done with the resume, I thought I had got most of my money's worth.

However, it was the essays where Jessica really helped me shine. There were stories from the past that I did not know how to weave into my essays. She helped me brainstorm over the phone and gave me an essay map of how I should structure my essay. Every single edit that she sent back made my essay much much better. Jessica was very thorough with her work and knew what an impressive essay entailed. When I was done with the essays, I looked at them and saw that I was more than just my stats on paper. If someone had the same stats as me, I felt really good about my chances with the essays that I had worked on.

Jessica is also very honest and upfront - she's all about straight talk and this really helped through the whole process. In the end, I highly recommend Jessica because she gets it. She knows the whole process inside out, is well prepared and works hard. My essays turned out phenomenal, I got into my dream school and I think her help was the difference that made the difference.

Hello GMATCLUB,

I just wanted to share my amazing mbaMission experience with everyone. I pretty much applied to business school on a whim. Not knowing what to expect, I started the application process with 3 months left before the application deadline. A friend suggested I seek help from a consultant. So I contacted all the companies offering free initial consultations.

Some quick info about me: I have a sub 3.0 GPA from a not so reputable state school. I was even placed on academic probation at a junior college! I have less than 3 years of work experience in the least relevant field imaginable. I mean, my track record screams "NOT B-SCHOOL MATERIAL!"

So I was not surprised as consultant after consultant pretty much told me to not waste their time. Others never even got back to me. But John, who I was placed on a 30 minute freebie call with, was encouraging throughout our conversation. Instead of focusing on the negatives, he highlighted the positives. John was very creative and seemed to know exactly what the adcom wanted to hear. It also helped that we kept a great line of communication. He kept me on track during the entire process, and together we made sure I put forth the best application possible.

The end result was an admission to a top 20 European program. I can't thank John enough for all his help and encouragement. I would highly recommend John Sisk and mbaMission to anyone who is interested in applying to business school. Thanks again, John!!

After considered applying to business school for several years, I finally made the decision to apply last summer. Wanting to give myself every advantage possible, I looked to enlist the help of an MBA consultant.

I met Liza during my 30-minute free consultation with MBA Mission and immediately knew that she would be a great fit for my application process. From the get go, Liza had an array of thoughtful comments tailored to my specific background and target schools. She immediately spotted “themes” in my work experience, such as an ability to create systems/infrastructure, which I had not identified on my own. On top of that, her supportive and enthusiastic attitude made it clear that she was 100% invested in my success. I immediately signed up for two start-to-finish packages (GSB and Sloan) and later added two more (HBS and Haas).

As soon as we began the application process, I knew that working with Liza had been a wise choice. My first brainstorming session started as a general get-to-know-you session, but it was immediately clear that Liza genuinely wanted to understand my personality and behavior. With each experience we discussed she would ask probing questions such as, “How did you respond? Why did you do that?” Through this session, I felt that Liza gained valuable insight into my personality, motivations, and behaviors. With this insight, Liza helped me identify trends in my work history and hone in on my most compelling stories based on each schools profile. In later sessions, Liza acted as a sounding board for my ideas, ensuring that I did not waste time writing essays about less-than-stellar subjects.

This up-front work truly paid off as we entered the essay writing stage. With general themes already identified for each application, I was able to jump into essay outlining without any problem. Throughout the MANY iterations of my essays, Liza’s feedback was impeccably on-point complete with thoughtful questions, insightful suggestions, and a laser focus on the big picture. She asked pointed questions that helped me focus on salient information and she also has an amazing ability to identify and eliminate non-essential details. Once my essays were boiled down to the core story, Liza demonstrated her very impressive ability to cut words through creative editing. Throughout the process I felt that Liza, really went above and beyond as I often received comments back well before the 48-hour response time had lapsed and, on top of that, I would get random emails saying things like, “While I was out for a run, I had an epiphany regarding your essay….” This extra effort really made me feel as if she had my best interest in mind and was truly invested in my success. At the end of the process, I felt that my essays retained my individuality and read as my voice, but were more focused and polished than they would have been otherwise…thanks to Liza.

Liza was also hugely helpful with the remainder of my applications helping me concentrate on achievements in my resume, choose words thoughtfully in my short answers, and present myself succinctly in my interview. Finally, after six long months of the grueling application process, I was accepted to three programs (HBS, Sloan, and Haas) and could not be happier about choosing to work with Liza during the process. In fact, Liza has continued to go above and beyond since I have received my acceptance letters helping me through the school selection process, even going as far as to write an email with some questions/self-exploration questions to ask myself while I make my decision.

If you are considering using an MBA admission consultant, I would highly recommend Liza. She helped me demonstrate the best version of me through my applications and not a pre-packaged idea of what business schools want. I am super pleased with my experience with Liza and, I think, the results speak for themselves.

I was introduced to mbaMission through the Manhattan GMAT test prep program. I called and did the initial 30 minute session and ended up purchasing a two school package. I asked them who they thought would be a good fit as someone who wants to get into the financial industry and they placed me with Rachel.

Rachel was great throughout the process. She was very responsive, provided great feedback and really helped me tell my story effectively. She also was a great sounding board for different ideas that I had and was an extremely critical asset once I hit submit. She completely exceeded my expectations and I would definitely recommend her--even giving me assistance on schools that were not on the package I purchased.

She pushed me to work as hard as I could and and some of my essays went to v14. It even went beyond essays, including the resume, short answer sections, interview prep and recommender assistance. If I wasn't happy she wasn't happy.

While I didn't get in to my dream school I got into my #2 and couldn't be happier. My one thing of advice is if you have/want very specific career assistance it's probably better to reach out to a current student or alumni in the field you want to get into.

I started thinking about working with an MBA consultant in June for round 1 applications. I had a 700 GMAT so I knew that I needed to really stand out on the essays to get into my dream school. I had lots of ideas on what I could write about but was looking for someone who can help me decide which stories are the most compelling. I was looking for thought leadership, a direct communication style and someone who really clicked with me. I reached out to friends, colleagues and even my GMAT instructor for consultants they have used and would recommend. I spoke to 8-10 different essay consultants before deciding to go with Angela Guido.

She was someone who really wanted to understand me and help present my stories in the best light instead of just treating me like a client. From the beginning, I felt like Angela was somewhat of a best friend, mentor and epic story evaluator. She was the one my GMAT instructor recommended and I was delighted that she was making time for me in her busy schedule.

Angela was very easy to work with. We spent a lot of time upfront brainstorming and talking about my entire life story. I did most of the hard work on my own (i.e. filling out brainstorming documents, writing drafts of essays/resumes, scheduling time with her to chat, bringing ideas to the table) but we did the all the creative thinking and structuring together. We started with essays for my top choice school. The first one was the toughest one. I think we had a total of 4 or 5 drafts, including one where I had to re-write the entire essay. Angela was very prompt with her feedback and her notes were very clear with thoughtful questions, insightful suggestions and a knack for keeping the big picture in mind. Sometimes, I would have ideas on what I wanted to talk about but had no idea how to approach it. This is where Angela was the most helpful. She could boil down stories to the most important essence and help me recreate it in writing. She never “wrote” anything on my behalf and she trusted that I would be on top of all my applications. I was in charge of the whole process which made our working relationship very positive.

List of what she helped me with:
- Brainstorming – thinking about who I am and how I could differentiate myself
- Essays – at the beginning we did everything together, but by the end I was doing essays on my own without too much iteration
- Applications – including short form answers, I had everything in a word document and she reviewed
- Recommender brainstorming – I ran my recommenders by her and what they were going to write about so she had the “whole application” in mind
- Interviews – we spoke about them but didn’t do a formal practice interview
- Resume
Other things she can help with that I didn’t take advantage of (did it myself, but she could’ve been very helpful):
- Mock interviews
- Read recommendations from recommenders

I sincerely feel like I had a better end product because I worked with Angela. She brought out the best in me. She was so great that I referred many of my friends to her. One of my friends let me read her essays before submitting them for her round 2 application and I was pleasantly surprised that her essays were very different from mine. This was one of my fears of working with a consultant. This just goes to show that Angela really tries to stay true to her clients and does not impose any “molds” or “common guidelines” for them. Everyone remains an individual.