Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions Reviews

I decided to engage Stacy Blackman after submitting a number of unsuccessful applications in round 1. Of the 6 schools I applied to, I was rejected from 4, waitlisted after interview at 1 and waitlisted without interview at another. Initially, I was skeptical about the value of using a consultant. However, I was blown away with Sherry and the results that she delivered!

From day 1, Sherry was very responsive and engaged and we built a great working relationship. I really valued Sherry’s honesty in reviewing my applications and together we reshaped my entire application. I found that I had a lot of support at Stacy Blackman, including the flight test, which I found exceptionally helpful! Sherry and I also conducted a mock interview, which was invaluable for my later interviews. Sherry conducted many interviews during her time in admissions and the questions she asked all came up in my later interviews!

I used the all-in package and I can’t recommend it highly enough! The package included support of a great team (including the flight test and mock interview). All up, I applied for 4 top 15 schools with Sherry. I got into 3 (including my top preference) and was awarded merit scholarships at all 3, including a 100% scholarship, 50% scholarship and 25% scholarship. Sherry helped me negotiate with the schools and the 50% scholarship was later increased to 75%.

On reflection, I wish I engaged Sherry earlier as she helped make the entire application process much less stressful. I now view the fees I spent on Stacy Blackman as an investment in winning my scholarship.

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I am so beyond ecstatic at the results of my partnership with Yvette and the SBC team! I decided on SBC after reading many outstanding reviews and seeing the results of a friend who used SBC. I was matched based on my nontraditional background with Yvette Romero, a true gem!, and my main consultant who helped me identify target schools, refine my voice through my essays, and ace the interviews. Yvette was thoughtful, encouraging, and incisively realistic while making me laugh through an otherwise stressful process. Throughout our partnership, she asked me questions that highlighted aspects of my profile that I would have never considered to be special. Her advice on how to frame my applications to appeal to adcomm revealed deep insight into the admissions process, and as a result, even small tweaks to my application felt like home runs. Her deep knowledge of MBA admissions ultimately empowered me with a road map to strategically navigate those long months.

What felt most critical to me in our partnership and something that I will always be thankful for is that Yvette gave me the confidence I needed to overcome a low GPA. She taught me how to truly and unabashedly tell my unique story and highlight my strengths. She is a gifted listener and story teller, and she imbues you with these same qualities- asking the right questions until you arrive at the key story for your application to showcase. And because she is truly invested in your success and believes that you deserve your own best work, she will work painstakingly with you until you get it right! I am so proud when I read my essays and think on my interviews, because they feel like "me". Yvette really helped my essence shine.

I received THREE acceptances from top schools, including TWO FULL SCHOLARSHIPS - one from a reach school I hadn't considered until Yvette told me to go for it! As someone with a nonprofit background and the hurdle of a low GPA, I know the price looks a little steep but it is an incredibly worthwhile investment that will pay dividends! I am thrilled to be attending a top business school in the fall and regret nothing about my SBC experience. I cannot recommend Yvette enough. She pushed me to work hard, be honest, and be proud of what I had accomplished. I have loved working with her, and if you make the wonderful decision to do the same, I know you will, too!

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I had an excellent experience working with Erika on a 4 school package. I was initially referred to SBC by a friend who also worked with Erika the previous year and was ultimately admitted to her top choice school. After hearing how great her experience was, rather than shop around at other companies, I immediately signed up for SBC.

Right off the bat, I felt that Erika's personality was a great fit for me. She was honest, had a sense of humor and made what was quite a stressful process a bit more enjoyable. Throughout the process, Erika was a great sounding board for all questions both large and small, and she provided useful feedback on both my essay content and writing style. Turnaround time was always extremely fast yet her edits were always thorough and appreciated. My flight test with Rebekah and the rest of the team at SBC also offered additional value support that can't be matched by smaller companies. Plus, the entire suite of SBC resources from interview guides to essay samples provided an additional edge that I greatly appreciated. Lastly, the mock interview with Erika was one of the most valuable parts of the process. Prior to our mock, I was experiencing severe interview anxiety and did not feel prepared. With Erika's help, I fine-tuned answers to key questions, built my confidence and truly felt like I aced my interview.

I do want to share a few minor points of feedback that I hope SBC will continue to work on. Firstly, I wish we had spent more time crafting an overall strategy to my applications. In speaking with other friends who used consultants (both within and outside the SBC family), it seemed that other consultants spent more time developing a strategy of how best to position their clients and pinpointing the qualities to highlight in essays. While Erika did mention a few strong points in my background in our initial call, we did not ever circle back to these. In most cases I would write my first draft on my own and Erika would edit from there, but I would have preferred to spend more time brainstorming initial ideas together to ensure I was positioning myself best. Additionally, I sometimes felt that my doubts were not taken seriously or I was not being held to a high enough standard - being told that my essays were "fine" was not exactly reassuring as I applied to schools with sub 10% acceptance rates. To this point, I was surprised to find that my flight tester offered almost zero negative feedback and said I was an "interesting candidate" for a school to which I later did not even receive an interview (a school that I was directly told I had a solid chance of admittance at during my initial consult)

With all this in mind, I still wholeheartedly recommend working with Erika and the entire SBC team. With their support, an extremely daunting experience became manageable and I gained insider knowledge that I could not have gotten elsewhere. After a long process, I am excited to be attending Booth this fall and I could not have done it without Erika's guidance.

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My experience working with Sherry Holland on the 2-school consulting package was wonderful. Sherry is not only an expert consultant but also a genuinely kind, encouraging, and positive person (which really does make a difference when you work with someone for months on your personal story and goals). Sherry understood that I was weary of the MBA application process and literally walked me through each and every step. (1) School selection - this was one of the many areas where Sherry’s deep knowledge and experience as an adcom member was invaluable. I had a long list of schools and Sherry was able to give me an idea of the culture of each school, what kind of students thrive there, and other things to consider like the cost of living and what kind of companies were in the area, etc., allowing me to narrow down my list. (2) Resume and essays - Sherry pushed me to turn drafts on both my resume and essays until they were perfect. She really took the time to get to know me as a candidate, resulting in essays that were authentically me. Sherry also turned comments around very quickly, was always available throughout the process, hopped on the phone with me to talk me through my concerns, and was super flexible and understanding about my work and family commitments. She kept me on track and made a very difficult process manageable. (3) Interview preparation - my interview prep with Sherry was harder than my actual interview. She provided thoughtful, actionable feedback and most importantly, helped me feel prepared going into my interviews. (4) Decisions and waitlist - I worked on 2 schools with Sherry, Darden and Fuqua, and ultimately was accepted to both schools - a 100% track record! I had initially been waitlisted at Fuqua and felt very discouraged. All the blog posts I had read made it sound as though getting off Fuqua’s waitlist was next to impossible. Sherry again took the time to consult with me about what I really wanted and let me know that if Fuqua was where I wanted to be, we could work together on strategies to get off the waitlist. She explained that it really was not hopeless and not to be swayed by blogs. Upon Sherry’s advice, I prepared updates and additional information for Fuqua’s adcom and was offered a place in Fuqua’s class of 2020! Thank you, Sherry, I really couldn’t have done it without you!

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I had a wonderful experience with SBC - receiving the all-in services for my Wharton Round 2 Application. From the outset, my diagnostic and initial conversations with Esther (onboarding) were incredibly helpful and informative. That conversation led to my decision to go with SBC instead of other firms I was speaking with (Veritas, Ivy).

From there I moved to work directly with Meghan, my dedicated consultant. As a former Wharton admissions officer, she was able to provide differentiated advice and guidance to support my Wharton application. She helped me think through my story and highlight the most impactful aspects of my professional and extracurricular experiences.

Equally important, was the mock team-based discussion preparation session that Meghan held for myself and five other candidates who received interview invitations for the Wharton Round 2 Interviews.

Meghan's candor in reviewing my application and in assessing my mock TBD performance informed my approach and strategy on interview day. I had no issues with any aspect of the service.

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I considered Stacy Blackman, Veritas, and MBA Mission before choosing an all-in package. I read extensively online and held phone screens with each before making my selection. After applying during the R1, I am incredibly glad that I chose Stacy Blackman. I highly recommend SBC’s all-in package and specifically have wonderful things to say about Erika.



One of the primary reasons I was initially drawn to SBC is because they let you choose your own advisor, who you work with across all schools/applications, while the advisor will thoughtfully bring-in school-specific experts when necessary. By the time you decide to apply to b-school, your job experiences, grades, and extra curriculars are all set, so the advisor’s primary goal is to help you craft your story.



Besides her impressive background, I chose Erika because one of her previous reviewers had said that she was not afraid to “tell you when you are wrong.” Throughout the process, Erika was beyond candid, letting me know when something was great or making me start from scratch when knew it wouldn’t work. Erika was always reachable and patient, often responding within hours of my countless emails, day and night. Besides having a fantastic eye for helping to craft a narrative around your unique story, she was also very good at keeping me calm and helping me prioritize during an incredibly stressful process.



Erika takes the time to get to know you as a person – asking questions that go beyond what is typical – to make sure your whole life’s story is captured throughout the applications in a way that is impressive and not redundant. The entire time I worked with Erika, I felt like I was her only client – and I felt like she was as emotionally invested in my outcome as I was. I come from an Ivy League undergraduate school with a well-known job and a high GMAT score, so I was especially focused on finding someone to help me figure out how to make my applications standout. There is no doubt in my mind that Erika was a huge factor in my outcome. After applying to seven schools in R1, I am happy to report that I was admitted to both Kellogg and Sloan. I could not have asked for a better partner in this process.

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I had a great experience working with Caryn. She motivated me to do my best and be on top of my work. She provided timely reviews of all my essays and excellent interview pre (especially as I was last minute for round 2 and was applying to 4 schools with her). She is a straight-shooter and won't sugarcoat- which I greatly appreciated. She was with me throughout the whole process: from brain-storming stages to when I received my acceptance. As a non-traditional applicant with an average (at best) GPA, I don't think I would have gotten the results I did without Caryn. Thank you!

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I was just another lost working professional hoping to make her way into an elite business school. As someone that attended undergrad and law school, I didn’t want to take on the extra cost of business school, unless it was one of the best. I did free consultations with other companies prior to choosing Stacy Blackman. The cost for a consultant wasn’t something I took lightly, and I wanted to make sure I was picking the best company for me. My consultations with other companies were very negative, judgmental or awkward. Additionally, I had to pick a specific person based on short profiles online. Overall, I was thinking I may just have to do this on my own.

However, when I first contacted Stacy Blackman, I was immediately impressed with their process. First, I completed a short questionnaire, which was sent to all consultants that had availability. Then those consultants that felt inspired or interested in my story would connect with me to do a free consultation. I like that the people I was talking with were really interested in me and believed in me. I felt that I couldn’t be successful if someone felt forced to work with me. I talked with a few consultants at Stacy Blackman, all of which were great. But my conversation with Caryn was very easy and made me feel immediately comfortable with her. She really touched on the weak and strong points of my application. As soon as I got off the phone, I knew I wanted Caryn as my consultant. She was friendly and helpful, but also honest and direct. Which is exactly what you need in this process.

Additionally, she helped me narrow down my list of schools. Originally, I was thinking of applying to 7 schools. It was hard for me to understand the full reach of a school that wasn’t located in my immediate area (San Francisco) and how well they would do in my desired function. All the career stats looked so great! Caryn helped me cut out schools that wouldn’t easily bring me back to the Bay Area, but also had strong marketing programs. She even recommended a school that wasn’t on my original list, but has turned out to be far and away the best option, Kellogg.

After hiring Stacy Blackman and being assigned to Caryn, the work really began. She helped me walk through my career goals, after MBA, and helped me narrow down my many ideas and industries into one concise theme that flowed throughout my application. The tools she provided me with in the beginning (career insight, templates for my recommenders, resume template and tips) were incredibly helpful to get a few easier things handled right away and my outlines and essays started. Writing essays for 5 schools within a month and a half is no easy feat. I was lucky enough to have a lull in work at the beginning of August, so I began pumping out outlines and essays pretty quickly. Caryn was always prompt to respond and send me feedback on my outlines/essays. Additionally, this is when the honest and direct part really becomes useful. Seeing where my essays started and where they ended up, it is clear that I wouldn’t have gotten into the schools I did without Caryn.

At the end of the process, I was accepted into 3 of my five schools and withdrew from one before the decision came out, as I knew I would attend Kellogg. I’m truly living a dream right now, and I know I wouldn’t have made it into Kellogg without Caryn’s help. I know the money isn’t the easiest thing to pay, however it was worth every penny to go to a great school that I love.

Choose Stacy Blackman and Caryn today!

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I initially didn’t think that I needed a consultant and planned to go through the process on my own, relying on the advice of friends who were current students or alumni from the schools that I wanted to attend. I quickly learned that everyone had wildly different opinions on how to position myself through my applications and essays. I was totally overwhelmed and reached out to SBC for help. Erin was matched as my admissions consultant, and immediately things started to turn around.

Erin was incredibly responsive and very helpful. She helped me turn drafts of my essays and gave me very direct advice on how to write more effectively and express myself more clearly. Essay advice from a friend who went through the application process once is not the same as essay advice from an admissions consultant who has worked on admissions committees and read countless essays, something I completely underestimated when I began the process. After the essay portion of the application was over, Erin also helped me prepare for interviews. My first mock interview with Erin was rough, but she gave me specific points to work on and during my next mock interview, there was a marked difference. Having this practice really took the pressure off during the actual interview because I felt prepared, tested, and totally ready.

Erin was an amazing resource both to review my materials, help me prepare for interviews, and answer any general admissions questions along the way. Without Erin’s help, I would have never gotten a spot at a top business school, so if I had to give some advice to anyone just starting the application process, it would be to hire an admissions consultant like Erin.

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I initially received a free consultation from Sarah who gave me some helpful pointers on timeline and my overall narrative. I decided to go 'all-in' for six schools because I knew I wanted to transition from my current career. From there, an SBC rep set up chats with several admissions consultants and I found someone who was a perfect fit.

DC was an incredible and professional consultant throughout the entire application process. First, she walked through my life story and got a feel for what really made me ‘tick’. Next, she helped me develop a strategic plan for my application and we began the arduous process of developing applications for six elite MBA programs.

When I sent DC my drafts, she would always be quick and thorough with reviews. In fact, I found myself hoping (to no avail) that she might take a bit longer so that I could procrastinate. She has a wealth of experience in marketing and communications, so she understood how to focus my messaging. She helped highlight elements of my personal narrative that I had overlooked but that others would find interesting.

I was impressed to find that Stacy Blackman has wiki pages that include school-specific content about culture, academics, sample essays, interview questions, etc. for every major MBA program.

In addition, she is very kind and is always helpful even with tight deadlines. My applications would have been far more time-consuming and much less focused without her guidance.

Prior my first interview, DC gave me a mock interview. She shared some honest feedback that I really needed to hear; she is always polite but will never withhold feedback that might help an applicant.

In my opinion, the admissions consultant pays for itself in terms of admissions scholarships or simply increased lifetime earnings potential.

In the end – of my six elite target schools – I was admitted to four and am currently waitlisted at one. I received 2 full tuition scholarships and a sizeable scholarship from another program. I have decided to go to MIT Sloan School of Management, and I couldn’t be happier! Thanks DC!

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