School Package Reviews

In my free consultation with Harshad, it was clear that his candid and honest feedback was a match with my personality. Working with Harshad was a fantastic experience. As an American engineer working in industry, Harshad helped me portray my stories in such a way that brought out my character traits and leadership skills, and in such a way that flowed logically and smoothly. Harshad is extremely organized and professional, always editing faster than promised and responsive to questions no matter the day or time. Harshad even went the extra mile when I was unexpectedly laid off from my job a couple of months before applications were due, by serving as a mentor in the process of finding another job that would tie into my application package nicely. Overall, Harshad is a terrific person and consultant. I would 100% recommend him to anyone looking to apply at a top MBA program.

Read More

I was accepted to both Wharton and Columbia Business School, a testament to the invaluable assistance provided by Gavriella Semaya. Coming from an international background, this was my first application to a U.S. school. Gavriella was always available to answer any questions about the process with patience and clarity. Working with her was a genuinely rewarding experience. She maintained utmost professionalism throughout the process and was consistently prompt and attentive to all inquiries. Gavriella excels at expertly highlighting the unique aspects of personal stories and possesses a deep understanding of what universities are looking for in candidates. She effectively bolsters confidence in one's background and abilities. Based on my personal experience, I highly recommend working with her for any MBA application.

Read More

I had the pleasure of working with Heidi Granner during my MBA application process, and I can confidently say it was an enjoyable experience. From start to finish, the process was seamless thanks to Heidi's exceptional organization skills. Her ability to break down tasks and help me set achievable goals alleviated much of the stress associated with applying to MBA programs.

Heidi's support throughout the process was invaluable. Despite the inherent stress of applying to top-tier schools, I felt reassured knowing that she was always available to offer guidance and assistance. Her thoughtful approach and willingness to go above and beyond ensured that I never felt overwhelmed or alone.

In terms of helpfulness, Heidi exceeded my expectations. While I initially had a clear idea of what I wanted to convey in my essays, Heidi encouraged me to delve deeper into my life experiences and goals. Through our collaboration, I found myself revisiting and refining my narrative in ways I hadn't anticipated. In the end, my essay practically wrote itself, and I owe much of that success to Heidi's expertise and support.

And the ultimate outcome speaks volumes: I was accepted into Stanford! Heidi's guidance undoubtedly played a significant role in this achievement, and I couldn't be more grateful. Without hesitation, I would wholeheartedly recommend Heidi to anyone embarking on their MBA journey. Her combination of kindness, intelligence, and insight creates a supportive environment where applicants can thrive and succeed.

Read More

I had a fabulous experience working with Melissa. Her biggest strength is how incredibly engaged she is throughout the application process. During my journey, this meant she helped me understand the strengths of different schools, asked thoughtful questions while brainstorming my essay topics, had an impressively quick turnaround time on edits and questions, kindly kept me on track to my deadlines, and followed up after interviews to hear how they went.
The best part of working with Melissa was how thoughtfully she got to know me as a person and how loud of a cheerleader she was throughout my process. Applying to grad school can cause a lot of stress and uncertainty, but Melissa’s confidence and encouragement guided me through the most difficult times of applying. My admissions results are a testament to her skill. I’m deeply grateful for her partnership and will miss our calls while I’m attending HBS this fall!

Read More

I found Debbie when I was panicking in mid-Oct about R2 applications. At that time, I had a subpar GMAT and not even a draft school list. I had free consultations with a bunch of firms small and large, but I felt the most confident coming out of the conversation with Debbie. In our free consultation, she gave very practical and useful feedback. She suggested what schools I can consider based on my career goals and preferences. Some schools were ones that never crossed my mind beforehand. I appreciate how she left options open depending on my upcoming GMAT retake while other consultants didn’t think I could make it which discouraged me further in this stressful moment. Don’t be mistaken, Debbie doesn’t give you false hopes.

I also appreciate Debbie’s attitude towards potential clients. She never pushed me to purchase services and offered to recommend lower-priced consultants on her team. She reminded me about mbaMission’s service contract period, so if I wasn’t going to apply for MBA this year don’t bother starting a package yet. In all my free consultations, I asked how many schools clients typically buy for comprehensive packages. Debbie said 2-3 which I felt is an honest answer (rather than pressuring you to pay more) because you can reuse a lot of the content and learnings between schools. There are plenty of consultants out there who tell you to buy as many schools as you’re applying to. Due to the timing of the year, Debbie was also very practical in telling me what’s the max number of schools I should realistically apply to, and I decided to purchase a package less than that number.

I spoke with Debbie almost every week from Nov to Mar whether it’s back and forth updates to essays, questions from me about the process, and other status updates. The cadence came naturally because there’s just that much going on! I like mbaMission’s essay turnaround time cutoff, because that schedule pushed me to send essays over at a regular schedule in order to be the most efficient with revisions. It helps us both be accountable rather than other firms that just reply “as they get to it” which can be much longer the closer we get to deadlines. Debbie generally responds quickly to non-essay emails, 1-2 day response rate. She’ll let you know in advance when she’s taking off and how that’ll affect the response time.

Debbie is great at decluttering my thoughts and pulling out pieces that are actually relevant to essays and interviews. She will tell you straight up if certain ideas send the wrong message or are incohesive with the rest of your story. This is the harsh criticism I needed. Of course, feel free to push back since this is your application, but Debbie will work with you to find a middle ground. She’s knowledgeable about what the schools prefer and what works in applications, but also understand she can’t know every single itty-bitty detail. You still have to do your homework!

Coming out of this process, I’m glad I found Debbie to guide me. I’m not the type who’s thought about getting an MBA for years and my network doesn’t have any MBAs. The idea only came to me over the summer, so I had a lot to catch up on in a short period of time. She really gave me the confidence to push through and get admits to two M7s and two T10s which I doubt I could’ve made it without her. I chose Debbie due to her personality (also happy to support Asian women) because we would work very closely together during this period. That helped me feel comfortable asking her weirder questions relating to applications. Thank you again Debbie for your patience in responding to my long emails and addressing my boatload of comments in each essay. 

Read More

When I first began my graduate school journey, I didn’t quite know what an MBA consultant was and began tackling applications on my own. I quickly realized that I had underestimated the degree to which grad school applications needed to be designed/tailored to tell a cohesive and all-encompassing story. As someone who was pursuing a dual degree and about to move to Australia from New York City for a professional rotation, I felt overwhelmed by all that had to be done and the standard that needed to be met.

Before moving from the US abroad, I had a 30-minute consultation with Katy, who immediately impressed me with her knowledge of the different graduate school programs (beyond MBAs), practicality and confidence in the guidance she provided, and her ability to be candid with me straight off the bat. I requested her support immediately and have never once regretted it.

Living in a new country, you naturally want to spend as little time at home on the weekends, although hard work and dedication are what graduate school applications demand. Katy helped me save tons of time on the 10 applications I submitted to MBA, MPP, and MAIR programs. Not only did she turn around essays, resumes, etc. incredibly quickly, but she also provided candid feedback on the content, made direct edits, and ensured I was telling my story in the most effective/strategic way possible by making the most of every section of the application. Katy was also receptive to my schedule, as I had to complete and submit 10 applications in 2 months (from mid-October to mid-December) due to work and personal travel commitments surrounding that time frame. From the beginning of the process through to the weeks following decisions, Katy was super open and excited about hopping on the phone, even for 15 minutes, to chat through my decision-making process and answer any questions I had top-of-mind. Even then, she remained straight-forward in her guidance and gave me her genuine opinion, rather than simply laying out the pros and cons.

I purchased the 3-school package with Katy for HBS, HKS, and Wharton. Of the 10 programs I applied to, I was accepted to 7 – MBA (UPenn Wharton, UChicago Booth, MIT Sloan, Dartmouth Tuck); Master of Public Policy/MPP (Harvard Kennedy/HKS, UChicago Harris); Master of Arts in International Relations/MAIR (Johns Hopkins SAIS Europe). I will be pursuing a joint MBA/MPP degree starting this fall – an MBA from Wharton and MPP from HKS.

I am steadfast in my belief that I would not have reached the same outcomes if it weren’t for Katy. I could not be happier with my decision and our partnership, and would recommend her to anyone considering additional support throughout the process. It’ll be more than worth it – thank you Katy!!

Read More

Katy is the key to a successful and positive MBA application process. I found a friend and mentor in Katy -- I came out of every one of our conversations with insight and food for thought that was pivotal not only in my application process but also in my personal and professional development. Katy is one of the most patient and generous people I've met - she will give you as much time as she has no matter how often you need to talk, or how many times you need to talk through the same subject. She is honest and won't be afraid to tell you the truth but is also incredibly compassionate in her delivery. Katy has incredible insight on the MBA process, schools, and overall knowledge of industries. I was consistently impressed at how much Katy knew about different topics and how well she was able to help me pivot to make my story more and more robust and creative.

With Katy, I was able to achieve admission to one of my top schools. With the work we did together, I used that writing for my four additional applications where I was admitted to each one with scholarships up to 140k.

Without Katy, I would not have known where to start in crafting my story and knowing how to write properly for an MBA application. I am so thankful for the opportunity to work with her. Consider yourself lucky if you are able to snag a spot working with Katy!

Read More

I would highly recommend John to anyone who wants to get into their “reach" school. I decided to get an MBA late in July and signed up for a 4 school package in November. I was so tied up with the GMAT that our work only started in late November (In hindsight, I would recommend you to start working with a consultant the moment that you decide to get an MBA). I got offers from 3 schools (one of them with scholarship) and 1 waitlist. CBS was my dream school and I'm heading there this fall!

Despite how my GMAT score was below the median, John encouraged me to look beyond it. John's greatest value is the storytelling, crafting a coherent and compelling narrative for my career transition and uncovering my unique attributes that I otherwise would have overlooked. John is extremely committed, supportive, and engaging, putting in more time and effort than contracted. Due to the time difference, our meetings are often early morning/late night, but every meeting was worth it and essay exchange was highly productive. The interview prep effectively streamlined the process and relieved the stressfulness. I had an urgent interview and we managed to scheduled the mock interview at 6AM (my time zone) with just a few hours of notice. He emphasised that it’s a “conversation” and I’m naturally good at communicating, so do not over prepare.

The school package is expensive, but I think it’s worth it because going to school is an even bigger investment and you want your 1st choice!

Read More

Julie-Anne was incredibly supportive in helping me craft a compelling application for business schools. Having lived in multiple countries and worked across various industries, I was initially uncertain about which experiences to highlight and how to structure my application. Julie-Anne guided me through brainstorming and organizing my application package, offering insights on which experiences to emphasize and suggesting ways to enhance my profile, such as taking additional coursework. She diligently provided detailed answers to all my questions, even consulting her colleagues on topics she was less familiar with. Her feedback was prompt and thoroughly detailed, offering specific improvements and suggestions.

Read More

Kate was an unbelievably exceptional consultant.
One of my biggest concerns with the process was balancing work and the applications, but Kate made sure I was completely on top of all of my deadlines, regularly checked in, and ensured I was always on track.
As someone who very often gets stressed and anxious, Kate promptly provided extremely sound and logical advice to all of my questions (which I had a million of) and even emotional support. She was exactly the type of calming influence I needed. She always made me feel my concerns were legitimate and valued, was always available, and always willing to chat.
She has exceptional understanding on the schools as well and gave me so much advice on how best to approach each school, talking through with me and pulling out the strengths I had. I ended up being accepted to both the HSWs I worked with her on.
I cannot speak highly enough of Kate and I would very very strongly recommend her.

Read More