Comprehensive School Package Reviews

The word consultant doesn’t even begin to describe the role Christina played during my application process for business school. I am weeks away from my first day at Columbia’s EMBA program- something that felt like a distant dream before I started working with Christina.

I needed a consultant who would help me from start to finish: from researching programs, to laying out practical timelines, or brainstorming essay topics, to conducting mock interviews. I had no idea if I was months behind, or weeks ahead in the application process. Christina helped me break it all down and kept me on schedule.

Christina cares deeply about her clients’ success. We spent weeks upon weeks just on my resume. Every draft I sent over was flipped back in a timely manner, with thoughtful edits and helpful suggestions.

One of Christina’s best qualities is her candid feedback. She won’t tell you what you want to hear, she will tell you what you need to hear to get into the best school possible. I wasn’t your cookie cutter consultant/finance executive applying for an EMBA. I had flaws in my school records- she found ways for us to address it. I had limited leadership experience- Christina provided ideas for how to enhance other qualities I could emphasize.

In the end, I only applied to Columbia. With EMBA programs having different deadlines for different schools, it worked out that by the time I was ready to send off my second application (NYU Stern) I was already accepted into Columbia.
While my friends and family were great outlets for support, Christina was my coach through the application process. She truly brought out the best qualities in me- some I didn’t even knew I had.

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I highly recommend hiring Chris to help you through the grueling MBA application process. My only regret is not reaching out to him earlier to help me optimize my entire application.

I only reached out to Chris after getting an interview at my top choice. With a week to spare, I shot him an email asking to set up a mock interview. Even though he’s a very busy guy, he squeezed me in on a Saturday afternoon. Chris was a consummate professional: he was thoroughly prepared for our interview, as he had already read through my application very closely and done a bit of brainstorming on how I could answer certain questions. As for the mock interview itself – my first attempt at an interview like that – it did not go well. But Chris walked through each type of question with me and helped me articulate better examples to paint a consistent picture of who I am as a candidate. Furthermore, he gave me some additional background on the interview process and the different ways each school approaches it. After my hour with Chris, I felt like I had a much better grasp of the process and how to frame my experiences. I also immediately regretted not reaching out to him earlier for the broader application process.

I ultimately was accepted to my top choice school. If you’re serious about getting into an elite business school, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not reaching out to Chris for a consultation. I’m very confident that without his help, I would’ve had a much lower probability of success.

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I was one of the biggest skeptics of MBA consultants when I started down my MBA journey. Not only was I (a then public sector employee) shocked by the consultant fee, but I also got very little out of MBA consultations. In these consultations, I felt like I was not getting an honest assessment of my candidacy.

I only seriously thought about hiring a consultant after I had a call with Chris. For the consultation, Chris started by asking pointed questions to understand my background, school identification process and career goals. The questions were challenging and, as a result, helped me better understand exactly where I was in my MBA journey. Chris also gave me an honest and insightful assessment of my candidacy. Admittingly, it was not what I wanted to hear, instead it was exactly what I needed to hear.

I knew I wanted to work with Chris after this call, but had to convince myself whether I would be crazy to spend thousands of dollars for help with my application. Looking back now with acceptance and a scholarship offer from my top school, the only crazy thing was how much I agonized over one of the best decisions I made in all of last year. I owe 100% of this success to my collaboration with Chris.

Working with Chris was the most fulfilling, challenging and enjoyable collaboration I have been a party to. Similar to other consultants, Chris created a project platform to track our progress and utilized an array of different materials and videos. What makes Chris different from the rest is his ability to read and understand you, which is a product of his genuine interest in you as a person. Of course, he wants you to get into your top school. More importantly, he cares for you as friend and wants you to succeed in your life goals. Because he is so invested in you he matches, if not exceeds, the effort you put into your applications. For instance, Chris stayed up past midnight for three straight days to help me get an application done and helped me work through a break up that happened 3 days before my interview.

When I got my first interview, Chris was the first person I emailed and a few minutes later he called to congratulate me. I never felt like I was working with a consultant because Chris became a dear friend and my go to person throughout my applications. I miss collaborating with him on a regular basis, but still regularly connect with him whether through an email with interesting tid bits or an update in my MBA journey.

To end, here are my three pieces of advice for you:
1. If you get the chance to work with Chris, then DO IT!
2. If you are 100% sure you want an MBA but would not be ready to have a consultation yet because it was hard to fill out all the information on the form, then FILL IT OUT as best you can and start working with Chris! I wish I had started earlier in my process.
3. If you are worried about the fee, then DON’T! This investment is pennies compared to the cost of business school and the reward of scholarships can be huge.

Cheers and good luck!

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I worked with Tyler Cormney on four separate school applications to top-5 programs. I was admitted into two schools, both of which offered scholarships, and I have no doubt that Tyler's understanding of the nuances of business school admissions was what earned me those scholarships. For starters, I consider Tyler's services one of the greatest investments I have ever made.

However, I gained much more from working with Tyler than admission and scholarship money. Tyler is exceptionally sharp, and one of his most valuable abilities is to piece together experiences that you share with him to paint a complete picture. He is so good at doing this that I can almost guarantee that you will learn something about yourself by working with Tyler that you didn't know before. Maybe you hadn't connected the dots, maybe you hadn't thought about your own experiences from someone else's perspective, or maybe you had forgotten things. Tyler helped me perform a performance review of my life, and I emerged much more knowledgeable about who I am and what I am good at. This is the real goldmine that will help take me where I want to go. Admittance is only the beginning.

I have already recommended Tyler to several friends, and I urge everyone to consider hiring Tyler. The service could pay for itself many times over, and you will emerge from the experience more knowledgeable about yourself.

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I saw Tyler as a coach and less as a consultant, and our interaction also reflected that.

I was unsure on grad school and MBA, until a bunch of my Stanford Alumnus friends (GSB mostly) convinced me that Stanford is the right next step for me, a few visits to the school and dropping in on few classes had me convinced.

This was late November with a deadline in January. With 6 weeks to go, I got Tyler's reference from one of the Stanford Alumnus who had played a big role in making the decision in the first place.

Coming back to Tyler, he is the best coach one could ask for when applying to the best and the most selective business school - Stanford GSB. I will write below 3 short stories that make Tyler the best coach for this job

1) He is introspective: He doesn't try to "game" the system. He acts as a coach, he spent 4-5 hours going through my life-story, giving me hours of homework to reflect and categorize my life experience and we did this until we found a very compelling, true and unique life story.

He is really helps you introspect, he has custom built tools, videos and other material which makes this very very easy and provides a guided framework for this process. By the end, one is able to articulate an honest, unique and compelling story of your life.

2. Once we had the life story, it was time to look into the future. I had a very immediate vision of my career: To do this, reach this goal and impact X in the world. But like a good coach, he kept pushing me further at my own pace, one nudge at a time until I was able to fully comprehend the big vision he saw for me. At this point, I told him "Forget this business school thing, I want you to be my life coach for life".

The first two steps took 3 weeks almost or a few days over, but was very worth it. He heard me patiently, asked deep questions, made me introspect and helped me arrive at my own answers.

3. Once he helped me find and define the vision for my life journey, he got down to nuts and bolts. He is very good at maintaining the essence and removing the fluff. We might think various things are important to our essay ( that NGO experience, that international stint, that marathon I ran for charity etc), but he is able to weed the fluff out and help us keep the essays to their true essence.

These 2-3 weeks of essay writing can be frustrating as you keep trying to be verbose or include trivial details, which Tyler will mercilessly cut out till you have the best version of yourself.

He is an amazing coach and an artist who is at the peak of his art-form. By the end, everyone who read my essay ( 12+ people; half of them Stanford Alums) before submitting was 100% sure that I will get a Stanford call and Tyler said "Stanford is the Olympics, the best of the best run, I think we have prepared you to the very best and I can't promise anymore".

I did get a Stanford call, he did send me his tools to prepare for an interview and we had a wonderful 1 hour chat before the interview and he helped me pick my suit.

Needless to say, he was a great person to have as my coach for this endeavor and is a testament to my belief, that if you want to be the best - you have to surround yourself with the very best.

He definitely is the very best in what he does. My advice to you - go to him as a coach to learn and improve your story rather than as a consultant to solve a problem.

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I would highly recommend Tyler as an MBA consultant. With Tyler’s expertise and support, I had the privilege of receiving acceptances from 6 schools, including MIT, Wharton, Booth (with scholarship), Kellogg, Columbia, and Haas in round one!

Prior to working with Tyler, I conducted research online and spoke to various consulting firms. Immediately after an hour-long conversation with Chris (another cofounder), I knew that MBA Prep School was exactly what I was looking for. Chris offered me solid advice on traits I should feature to different schools, insights on various MBA programs, and consultants I could potentially work with. I picked Tyler because I was looking for an experienced, professional consultant with a solid track record.

Tyler and I began our work in June. We first set out schedules of the list of items needed to be completed for each school. MBA Prep School prepared abundant online content for me to review, including writing techniques and school research, enabling me to be well-prepared for essay writing and weekly discussion with my consultant. As my past experiences were not all related, Tyler proposed creative ideas on how I could connect my experiences and tie them to my short-and long-term goals. In addition, he was an excellent writer who knew exactly how I could best tailor my essays to different schools. With his dedication and fast turnaround (within 48 hours), I was able to complete 8 applications in just one round!

The interview portion was relatively easy, as most of my responses were extracted from my application. MBA Prep School offered a group interview preparation for my Wharton interview, allowing me to practice in a setting that resembled the actual interview. Tyler could not have been more helpful along the way; he was always responsive to my questions and concerns and was able to provide constructive feedback.

I am extremely thankful for the support I received from Tyler and the MBA Prep School team throughout the process! They gave me a lot of courage to pursue an MBA at a top-tier school. You can’t go wrong working with Tyler!

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I chose Tyler Cormney based on the great reviews on this website, and it was the by far the smartest decision during my application. In short, Tyler will give you the best chance to get into the best MBA program based on your ability. He would never miss a deadline or appointment, for example, his commitment is to review and comment on any documents within 48 hours, but you should not be surprised if you get it back much earlier than that especially if your deadline is just around the corner; it is safe to say that he tends to under-promise and over-deliver.

Tyler helped to streamline my career story and gave me step-by-step instructions and deadlines which were critical given my tight deadline. He had great suggestions on what to include and more importantly what not to include in my essays. Based on his guidance my essays were streamlined to ensure that only my unique attributes and strengths were the focal point, instead of a long list of accomplishments. Additionally, I had a mock interview with him and discussed school specific issues that helped me to not only increase my self-confidence, but also to prepare for over 90% of the interview questions up-front.

I took my GMAT tests in December and January and the application deadlines were in February and March while I was working 60+ hours per week; thus, I really needed professional help to maximize my time and chances (my GMAT was below 700). I was in touch with Tyler on a daily basis, read through all materials, watched the proprietary MBA application videos he created for MBA Prep School, and scheduled weekly Skype video calls with him. In the end, I applied to Booth, Columbia, and Haas, and all three schools gave me an offer. I couldn’t have done it without Tyler’s help!

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Coming from a non-traditional background, I felt pretty overwhelmed by the whole MBA application process, and was initially hesitant to get any type of consulting help. Looking back now however, getting Tyler's help was the best investment I could've made.

Throughout the several months process, Tyler coached me on how best to share my story in a way that stuck true to who I am and where I want to go, while simultaneously keeping me organized/on track and even growing my writing skills. On top of that, I truly feel that I now know myself better both personally and professionally, beyond just for MBA applications, and have a strong idea of where I would like to go next. He is extremely insightful, knowledgeable and personable, and his vast experience in both MBA admissions and creative writing was invaluable to me as he helped me see how exactly the different bits and pieces of my story connected together in a coherent way. Additionally, he is extremely responsive and always willing to talk/answer any (big or small) questions along the way, which is incredibly helpful during such a stressful period.

I would highly recommend going with Tyler Cormney. There are a lot of components involved in the MBA application process (resume, scores, essays, recommendation letters, interviews), and working with Tyler put me at ease in knowing that I wasn't going to overlook anything, and that my final application package would give the very best representation of me. I cannot thank Tyler enough for all his guidance and support.

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I am admitted to HBS!
Thank you for your support, counsel, and commitment, Tyler Cormney!

What I liked most about Tyler’s approach to MBA consulting was that it was structured from beginning to end. He started by gaining an understanding of all aspects of my profile and helped me to identify the strongest messages to create my very personal, one-of-a-kind application. Additionally, his video lessons were great, allowing us to make the best use of our live sessions.

Tyler’s commitment was remarkable: he would not give up until every point in my application was perfect – a truly hard working perfectionist!

Finally, Tyler is incredibly patient, supportive, and positive. He would recognize when I struggled in-between applications and offer a constructive break. I never felt that he was rushing through our materials, thinking about deadlines or how much time we were spending on the project.

Working with Tyler was an invaluable decision I made during my application process.

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Working with Tyler was the best decision I made while going through the MBA application process. With Tyler's help, I will be attending my top choice school at HBS this upcoming Fall!
Background: I was referred to Tyler by a friend and I signed up for a package for a handful of schools. After a short phone call introduction, I could tell that Tyler was extremely qualified as an MBA consultant (an MBA from HBS and a Master's in Professional Writing from USC), but more importantly, that Tyler would be someone I could trust and easily relate with while navigating the stressful MBA application process.
Process: I applied Round 1 and we started off early on in June and immediately Tyler and I began working on my business school profile. I think what Tyler does best is help you craft your own story while still remaining genuine and true to who you are. It's really about getting to the core of who you are as a person and that's what business schools really care about.
After we had the groundwork laid out, we started getting to work on the application materials like resume, recommendations, essays, etc. Tyler is very knowledgeable in these areas and can help answer any questions you have and provide invaluable guidance. It’s tricky figuring out who to ask for your recommendations, how to ask them, and how to follow up with them – these are aspects that Tyler can really help out with. Finally, when it comes to writing the dreaded essays, Tyler is great at helping you brainstorm key ideas that fit into your overall application narrative and he really helps you boil those high level ideas down into a simple, yet elegant essay. Writing the essays is really tough and it is vital to be able to speak with someone who knows the best strategies for approaching them and can help you tailor the essays according to your personal narrative.
Tyler can also offer ancillary services when it comes to preparing for your interview, etc. and can leverage other consultants at MBAPrepSchool to provide a fresh perspective on anything. This is very unique and quite helpful.
Finally, I’d like to mention that Tyler is extremely personable and patient, which is very important because you feel comfortable asking him any question – no matter how stupid it might be! You can only imagine how much time and brain-damage it saves knowing that you can go to someone who can give you expert advice on the admissions process! Working with Tyler was the best decision I made throughout the entire MBA admissions process and I recommend his services without reservation.

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