mbaMission Admissions Consulting Reviews

My consultant was Heidi Garner. She guided me through the process of choosing business schools. I aimed to apply to 20 top schools in a short period. After extensive discussions, we carefully selected six fitting options and prepared the necessary materials. Heidi was accurate and concise in helping me highlight key differentiators in both my essays and resume. Although crafting the first draft took time, it was worth it. My second Kellogg essay was so impactful that made myself cry!
It was a very hard job for me and Heidi to create a unique and impactful story since I used GMAT waivers. Thus, the story should have been very perfect to be shortlisted for an interview and we successfully made it!
I prepared my applications for Kellogg, Sloan, Darden, Ross, Johnson, and Questrom, securing interviews for 4/6. Heidi remained humble and approachable throughout the whole process, patiently answering all my questions. After receiving the interviews, she generously provided a free one-hour mock interview and gave me detailed feedback on how to answer the questions, prepare the logistics, and dress. All helped me secure a seat in my dream school!
In the end, I got admissions to Kellogg, Ross, and Questrom—and a waitlist for Johnson. Truly the best moment of my academic journey!
I truly enjoyed my experience working with mbaMission and Heidi and recommend their service.

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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!!

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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!

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I worked with Julie-Anne for the MBA program and was admitted to both Columbia and Wharton.

I come from a tech background and decided quite last minute (<1 month left) to apply to the MBA program. Given the tight schedule, I needed to work with someone who had prior experience getting clients into top schools, understood my needs and was able to provide quick feedback on areas of improvement.

Julie-Anne was very effective with her time with excellent reviews. Julie-Anne has worked on getting many students in different programs so she knew what are good areas to be highlighted in essays and characteristics of different schools. With essay reviews, she is really good at pushing you to think through what differentiates you and how you can highlight yourself.

Julie-Anne is also excellent at resume reviews. Throughout my career, I've had multiple people across work, friends and mentors take a look at my resume and Julie-Anne is exceptional at ensuring the key highlights across work, personal and education are communicated and making sure there are no wasted sections.

Overall, I had a phenomenal experience with Julie-Anne and would work with her again in a heartbeat. She is extremely dedicated to her clients, effective with her time and most importantly, provides catered reviews to highlight you as an accomplished individual amongst others in competitive school programs.

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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!

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mbaMission offers a variety of service package. I chose the hourly service which allowed me to use the time flexibly and wisely. I applied to Stanford MSx program and got admitted. I picked Debbie after I read others' review and her own video which largely aligns with what I want from a consultant: have experience with Stanford GSB admission and a Stanford GSB alumni is a bonus, easy to communicate, give specific comments (rather than high-level conceptual comments) which where very easy to take action on. Debbie also gave a lot useful tips and strategic comments which allowed me to be more focus on the most important things. She was also very professional and strictly followed the turnaround time. The entire process is very efficient and effective. I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend Debbie to anyone who wants someone to understand you and help you build your story and make it a compelling application.

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I started my process at mbaMission with a 30-minute free consultation with the next available consultant, and was intrigued enough that I decided I would definitely be using the service to guide me through my MBA applications.

Once I got the score I wanted on the GMAT (710), I read through all the consultant bios and quickly knew Kim would be the right person for me. I ultimately chose her because I was a D1 college athlete (so was Kim!) and my professional background is in advertising/marketing, which is where Kim spent most of her career prior to doing MBA admissions and consulting work. I decided to do the hourly services rather than the school package when working with Kim, which turned out to be perfect for my needs.

Kim is extremely empathetic, kind, and positive. Her warm personality made the stress and tediousness of MBA applications and interview prep easier to handle. When working with Kim, I almost felt like I was working with a mentor trying to help me succeed, rather than someone I had hired. I decided to apply to 1 reach school (HBS), 3 target schools (Ross, Fuqua, and Darden) and 2 safeties (Kenan-Flagler and McDonough). I had pretty much decided on these by the time I started working with Kim, but I wish I had asked for her input on other schools to apply to or widening my net beyond 6 schools. She was honest with me about what would be a stretch vs doable vs very doable, which I appreciated!

Kim mainly helped me with brainstorming/editing my essays, certain short-answer application questions, recommender prep, interview guidance, and negotiating for additional scholarship money once I got admitted. She is an excellent editor and I felt she made a big impact for me on that part of the process. We would sometimes go over teh edits in Zoom calls (per my request) or just via email/track changes on Microsoft Word. mbaMission provides lots of resources throughout the process that Kim made sure to provide me with - such as interview guides specific to each school - but Kim also went above and beyond by sharing her own school-specifc interview guides based on feedback she had gotten from her own clients over the years. These made the interview process 10x more manageable.

I ended up getting rejected from HBS without an interview, and I think that was mainly due to factors outside of Kim’s advice or control, such my lack of work experience and my recommender choice (due to particular circumstances I wasn’t able to get a current or former manager to do my recommendation). I got interviews, offers of admission and scholarships from all 5 other schools. The lowest amount of scholarship I got was 50% of tuition, and I even got a full-ride scholarship to one of the schools I applied to. I attribute a lot of this success to Kim’s help. Kim also helped me negotiate even more scholarship money at one of my target schools, which I ultimately chose.

Overall, Kim was a fantastic partner, and I would choose her again if I was going through the process all over again. I genuinely hope I stay in touch with her professionally!

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I had the privilege of working with Nisha on two applications, and was admitted to both programs with funding support. Initially, I thought I had a fairly good sense of the programs I was interested in and what I wanted out of them. My plan was to review the available guides and apply on my own. Given the high cost of MBA programs (both financial and commitment!), I decided working with a consultant would be a small investment to ensure I was targeting the best fit programs and putting forth my best application. I am so glad I did and found Nisha! She was very approachable, responsive, and offered great questions and feedback throughout the whole process. She was also a wonderful thought partner on several key decisions - offering considerations that I had not thought of so I could be sure I was making the best possible decision in short turnaround times. Besides the applications, I am confident the insights, self-discoveries, and articulation skills I gained from working with Nisha will help me in school and beyond as well! I will wholeheartedly work with Nisha again if I had the chance.

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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.

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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.

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