mbaMission Admissions Consulting Reviews

I had purchased a 2-school package from mbaMission and requested specifically for Angela Guido, due to all the glowing reviews I had read about her. As it turns out, I had made the right choice. Angela is positive without withholding constructive criticism that I needed to hear and that was exactly what I wanted. I already had two telephone calls with other consultants and one did not show any inclination to push me, whilst the other was 40 minutes late for our call and only told me whatever I wanted to hear.

One of the things I really like about Angela is her gift for reading people. From a summary about my history and achievements, she was able to assess my personality fairly accurately. This helped greatly, when it came to writing essays. I am fairly good at writing but like most people, I am not much good at reviewing my experiences and gleaning a meaningful pattern from them or presenting these experiences in an engaging way. However, with Angela's help, I was not only able to weave a compelling narrative but one that was also unique and made sense to me. She basically gave me a voice (an interesting one). It was also especially helpful that Angela is very familiar with the Asian culture, having lived in Asia for a while. This gave Angela some insight into my history, who I am and my actions, without my having to explain it all, ultimately making it easier for both of us to work through the business school essays.

Angela was my roadmap, in respect of business school applications. Applying to business school is a lot like learning about a secret society and the coded language in which members speak. Angela taught me to understand exactly what the schools want, to promote myself without being blatant about it and to find meaning in my career progression.

Whenever Angela was not entirely certain of something (eg. whether a particular school carries out a certain practice), she would confer with colleagues who have expertise in that school and revert, ensuring that I do not put a foot wrong. As you can imagine, it was very reassuring to get advice from a whole bevy of experts, when so much hung in the balance.

Angela brainstormed with me for my essays, opined on my references and looked over my application responses, all the while cheering me on. She was my number one cheerleader, always pumping me full of positivity whenever I had doubts and nudging me along, the couple of times that I lost focus.

More a friend and mentor than just another consultant, Angela went out of her way to take me and a couple of other clients for dinner, when she was last in London for business. I was really excited to meet Angela, as her warmth really came across on the Skype calls that we had and numerous e-mails that we exchanged. There was a sense that Angela really cared what happened to my applications and that she was interested in me, as a person. In fact, Angela was so concerned about giving all her clients the best chance in their MBA journey, that at the dinner mentioned above, she got her friend in management consulting to give us advice on our career goals and business school choices. How about that for going the extra mile!

Although I was not successful in my applications to either of the two schools I chose, this was mainly down to my middling GMAT score. I had only applied to two schools but these were both in the top five schools worldwide and one of these two showed strong interest in me, encouraging me to reapply with a stronger GMAT score. Amidst all this intense competition for a top MBA programme, it was Angela who gave me such a strong chance. I am forever grateful for her patience, energy and perpetual positivity, and I do not intend to waste either of our efforts - I will be giving the GMAT another go, to do justice to Angela's guidance.

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I was on an extremely tight deadline applying toa top-ranked part-time program. I retook the GMAT less than a week before my application was due and I was under a lot of stress. John worked tirelessly with me to help formulate my story and helped me understand what my particular school was looking for. He did a great job of extracting the more interesting aspects of my resume and life and also helped me address my weaknesses. I have a minor criminal history and John gave me some invaluable advice on how to address that. Overall, I would highly recommend John to anyone who needs help with their application. I used the hourly service and worked with him for a total of 4 hours. This was well worth the money. John is extremely professional and easy to work with.

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My experience with Monica has simply been AMAZING and I don't think I would have been admitted to my selected schools (with fellowships) without her help! I decided to work with a consultant because as a non-native English speaker with a quantitative professional background, I knew that I needed help with my essay writing skills. Monica helped me clearly articulate, on paper, what was on my mind; and develop a strong story for my applications. She also provided invaluable feedback on my essays, always pushing me to dig deeper and get better with every single draft.
I also really appreciated her personal touch, as we really connected and I felt that she cared very much about my progress and my success throughout the entire process.

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I am delighted with my mbaMission experience. I chose the hourly services option and was matched with Kate Richardson. My main goal with Kate was to ensure that the story I shared with the adcom was genuine, interesting and compelling. Kate helped me do just that.

As many reviews about Kate have already mentioned, I felt extremely comfortable sharing my story with Kate. I started the application process with a strong GPA and solid work experience but a low GMAT score which, I feared, may lead to my consultant writing me off as an unlikely b-school admit and not worth much time and effort. I never felt that way with Kate; she was extremely supportive and provided fantastic feedback from the very beginning. I particularly appreciated that her feedback was always to-the-point but that she conveyed her suggestions in a non-offensive way. I really felt like she was an ally in my fight to get into b-school.

I particularly remember how well she ‘listened’ to my story both during phone calls and through e-mail. She helped me tighten up and add ‘umph’ to my resume simply by listening to how I explained my experiences to her. She made comments like “this bullet point doesn’t really convey all that you did on that particular project – how about adding these details” (details that I had described to her but hadn’t thought relevant to include on my resume). The same was true for essay writing. She by no means wrote essays for me but rather listened intently throughout our time working together to help me identify the best stories to share and, later on in the writing process, helped me to make these stories strong and concise.

I only applied to one school (something I wouldn’t recommend!) and was placed on the waitlist in December. I retook the GMAT twice and managed to improve significantly on both tries. Kate continued to be my ally through my 6 months on the waitlist and she helped me hone my waitlist update letters to the adcom.

I received the call I had been hoping for less than a month ago and will be heading to Tuck in the fall. I know my application was greatly strengthened thanks to Kate’s guidance.

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I started working with Susan in late October. Word of advice - start much much..much earlier! I knew I was cutting it very close so I wanted a consultant that was frank (in a nice way) and would keep me ticking away. I got this with Susan.

Susan was upfront about the amount of work that i'd have to put in to make sure I developed strong applications in a short space of time. We got started on exchanging information about myself and picking potential schools. More honest conversations ensued about my chances at each school and my fit with the schools. In the end I chose 3 - one in the top 2, another in the top 7 and and the other in the top 10-ish. The hard work started with the brainstorming session. The questionnaire, the long phonecall and Susan's probing questions really do make you dig deep. Once we had all my experiences pinned down, I begun outlining my essay responses, getting feedback from Susan and more back and forths. Susan's feedback was always clear and straight to the point and she was always happy to jump on a call if there were any sticky points.

In the end, there's no substitute to the upfront time spent fleshing out one's story and outlining your essay answers. In essay draft 5, 6 or more, you'll appreciate the effort you put in upfront and can always go back to the source. Another word of advice, applications aren't a walk in the park. A couple of times in the process, I felt myself losing momentum/motivation and Susan was very quick to pick up on this and keep me going. She was a great support in helping me get my applications in and in helping me prepare for all the 3 interviews. In the end, I got offers from all 3 schools.

I would definitely recommend Susan. She'll make you dig deep and work hard but it'll be worth it in the end.

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It’s hard to articulate just how positive of an experience it’s been working with Jessica throughout the past year. Coming from a non-traditional background and a somewhat mediocre state school education, I knew my application could easily go either way with admissions committees. When Jessica came highly recommended from two close friends who had been accepted into great schools, I jumped on the opportunity to work with her.

Jessica’s knowledge and experience were critical as I navigated the application and essay process (as well as the interview and waitlist processes). As someone who has a tendency to overshare, Jessica was direct and upfront in telling me when to include more concrete, quantitative information. In the same way she was quick to encourage when it was appropriate to share personal experiences. There’s a strange balance of blending personal anecdotes with quantifiable actions in the application process, and it’s a balance I certainly knew nothing about. Jessica’s ability to guide me through this awkward process was crucial.

In the end, Jessica helped give a voice to the work and actions I had spent the past five years building. In doing so she gave me a confidence in my story that I will forever be grateful for. In the short term I know her guidance (and curating) turned me from an average candidate to a strong and competitive applicant. However, in the long term I feel as though her direction has helped me embrace my story and use it to my advantage as I navigate school and the career to follow.

I think it’s worth noting that Jessica is personally invested in each of the individuals she works with, and she’s genuinely interested in our success as clients, students, and future business people. I can be the biggest of skeptics when it comes to wondering about ulterior motives, but working with Jessica turned out to be a breath of fresh air. She has no incentive to give her clients false praise or gratuitous encouragement. She’s honest and transparent with her feedback and suggestions, and I think that it’s because of this that she’s so good at what she does. I knew I was always getting her strongest recommendation and I was never left to wonder about underlying reasoning.

I know we’re all here to get into a great school, but working with Jessica has given me so much more than that. My time spent with her has prepared me to be a better student and businesswoman, and for that I cannot recommend her highly enough.

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It was wonderful working with Daniel this past spring. I had completed about 75% of my R3 application when I reached out to Daniel. While I didn't know what to expect, Daniel was able to quickly step in and help me finalize my essays and resume in just three hours. He was able to provide a fresh perspective and apply his extensive experience. I felt extremely confident in my application thanks to Daniel, despite being a round three applicant with an average GRE score. I highly recommend Daniel, as he is efficient, respectful of time and extremely knowledgeable. I ultimately was accepted to my dream MBA program.

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I applied to 5 schools in total (HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, Booth and Columbia) and used a 2 schools package.

I really enjoyed working with Debbie, she was incredibly friendly and I feel that she really made the effort to get to know me as a person which came through in the feedback she gave to shape my applications.
There are three specific reasons that I would recommend Debbie:

1. Brainstorming and prioritising stories: With 8 years work experience and many extra curriculars I had so many things that I wanted to say but it was not possible given the tight essay word count. Throughout the brainstorming sessions she was able to distil my stories down to the few that were really impactful while making sure there was minimal overlap of attributes displayed so the schools could still get the 'full picture'. The brainstorming sessions left me with very specific (paragraph by paragrah) content to write.

2. Taking my first ordinary first draft and making it great: I am an Engineer, not a writer, I knew what I wanted to say but could not craft it in an entertaining or persuasive way. I feel that Debbie assisted me most when I sent her a content rich but quite ordinary sounding first draft and it came back, in some cases with more edits than original content, sounding more like an extract from a storybook. It was still my words and content but just sounded a whole lot better.

3. She stuck with drafts long after I was bored with them: I think my CV ended up at version 16, Debbie's attention to detail and discipline forced me to keep polishing my essays and documents to give me the best possible chance of getting an interview.

I received a number of acceptance’s (with scholarships) and decided to matriculate at Wharton.

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When I decided to re-apply to business school, I knew what I wanted and where I wanted to go. The problem was my non-traditional background: all in fundraising for small non-profits. I knew what I wanted, but had a hard time explaining (in terms that they would use/want to hear/see) to schools why they should want me.

Jessica was the one who helped me find the words, both words that fit my voice and words and phrases that would make sense to an admissions officer.

I was frustrated by other consultants who would say, "you can't do that" or "you can't say that" or "that means nothing," but didn't provide constructive ideas for what I COULD say or how I could rephrase it. "That means nothing," was especially infuriating, because it was incredibly belittling to me and insulting to the work I had done as a professional (pro tip for anyone who wants to be an MBA Consultant, don't insult your clients).

Jessica never, ever told me my work was "nothing," and was brilliant in providing new ways to think about my story and new ways to phrase it. She listened well, asked me good questions, and helped me talk through my story in a way that made it clear and helped my inspiration and determination shine through.

Jessica was especially helpful in the planning stages of my application, when I was doing some thinking about my school list for a re-application. She had valuable suggestions about schools I hadn't considered, and pointed me to the tools and services provided by mbaMission that she thought would work best for me.

Thanks to her hard work, insight, and care, I was admitted to three of the five schools I applied to, including my dream school. Not only did she guide me in my admissions process, but she gave me a boost in preparation for when I start the program in the fall.

Thank you, Jessica!

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Like many others, I also researched a lot before opting for MBA admission consultancy services. I finally selected mbaMission and worked with Angela Guido. The experience has been really good. Throughout the admission process, she was open to all kind of my ideas and experiences which could potentially be part of my application. Whenever I had discussion with her, I found her to be well prepared about my profile and also shared her key insight that how the admission committee see applications and what they look for in the resumes. Though I am not selected to all schools but have received offers from my top options. Working with Angela was not only limited to the application process but I would say that it helped me to realize my own potential as well which I will be better using in my upcoming studies. Many times after getting feedback from her I was able to modify my ideas in more appealing fashion. I would recommend to anyone who wish to give their best shot for admissions in their dream schools !!!

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