Admissions consultant - Stacy or Sandy?

For me, this is a no-brainer. Stacy Blackman is the way to go.

Many consulting firms offer a complimentary consultation or 'taste' of what to expect with their service. I took full advantage of these opportunities and spoke with a few different consultants. Most were too focused on setting a time limit and staring at the clock - when it hit the trial time limit, the free consultation was simply over.

Stacy Blackman Consulting was the only firm who was more interested in answering all of my questions and ensuring that I felt comfortable with the process. During my initial consultation, the consultant wanted to know my story and how to make it relevant enough to get in my top choice program. The initial consultation was not rushed at all, nor were any of my subsequent consultations.

I really felt that Stacy Blackman Consulting went way above and beyond my expectations - worth every penny. They got me in the right mind set during my application process. At the end of the day, I'm proud to be heading to my top choice program this fall, and I KNOW that I made the right choice choosing Stacy.

I am very interested to hear additional input from people who are using/have used admissions consultants. Were you happy with your experience? Any tips? Are they worth it? Any information would be most appreciated!

Not sure about Sandy but definitely not Stacy Blackman.

They are too expensive and the work is mediocre because of the sheer volume of applicants that go there. After 15 iterations of my essay, I still saw little grammatical issues here and there. Besides, my consultant barely remembered my story in my essays and failed to give me good ideas to make my essay stronger. Overall, they charge too much money and do not guarantee any kind of refund whether you are applying to 1 school or using their help to apply to 5 schools ( $5000+).

I used essay critique this year for one of my schools and thought the service was much better and affordable.


Dec 2010 Update: I spent $6000 (for 6 schools). I re-used the essays for 2-3 other schools. Unfortunately, I did not even get a single invite out of 8-9 schools. I had originally also discussed the schools I wanted to apply to. I guess it depends which consultant you use from which consulting company. I know it is not a money guarantee program but after I told Stacy Blackman as to what had happened, she said they would give me a discount the next time I use them.....are you freaking serious???....It is good to do a business while you benefit everybody and you are fair. She can help whoever she wants but this one experience was pathetic and I would never recommend the company to anybody specially for the price it charges and the lack of courtesy.

I agree - Stacy B seemed great during the "trial" consultation before paying, but then has been below my expectations ever since. What was particularly disappointing was receiving one essay back with a new sentence suggested that was about some other candidate that my consultant was working with from a totally different background. nice. if you know someone who got a top mba within the past 5 years, have them review your essays instead.

Send me an amazongiftcard so I can buy my daughter diapers, I'll read them for you, tell you the truth, and you can save a couple thousand dollars which you can instead use on a new plasma.

I, for one, can vouch for the above poster's TERRIFIC ability

haha, thanks I might take you up on that Rhyme!

I used stacy blackman and it was the worst experience, I wish I hadn't paid for multiple schools upfront. I agree with what an above poster said about the essay feedback being very mediocre. Sometimes I'd wait two days for feedback, and when I received it, there would be two sentences changed. And it'd sound worse than what I had originally wrote. And I feel as though my consultant tried to use what he force me to use that tactics/positioning that he used to get into bschool.

I'm sure the experience varies from person to person, but why risk all that money to get paired with a random consultant? And it seemed like the only qualification stacy blackman uses to hire her consultants was that they came from a good bschool. Getting into a good bschool does not necessarily make you a good admissions consultant.

On the other hand, I used Sandy for interview prep, not essays, and thought he was very very good for that. I imagine he'd probably be fairly good at editing essays too, especially given the number of applicants he sees each year. And at least you know who you're paying for, not just hoping to get paired with a good consultant with stacy blackman.

So has anyone else utilized Alex Chu (mbapply.com) on here for any of his services?

Thinking about paying for the Ding service for Stanford/Cal...etc.

I have used Sandy for mock interview. He was great, very helpful, we spent 1h50 on the phone and it was worth the money, no question. He knew my profile (even remembered the "additional information" part of my package), helped me coming up with great answers to potential questions.

I will get results soon but I wish I would have used him sooner.

STRONGLY suggest not going with either of them. This is based on personal experience and friend's experiences. PM me if you want actual details.
Better experience with MBA Prep Advantage. I used him just to get quick feedback on one app and even then I could have done without.

I have yet to hear of a consultant who will actually stay engaged with you through the 1+ months it takes to put apps together. They seem to lose steam right about when you pay them the fees . I observed disinterest and generic advice personally and from talking to several friends.

Does anyone else have any opinions on admissions consultants? How about Clear Admit or Accepted or MBApply or My MBA Admit? The prices seem to vary alot too! I really don't want to make a mistake on such an expensive service and I'd rather pay premium prices for premium service rather than cheap for cheap. Thanks!!!! Good luck to all next year!

I'm considering Accepted for my Wharton reapp. I've spoken with a few people there and they seem pretty decent (at least with the free advice they gave).

Would love to know if anyone has worked with them and how they were.

great comments... was literally about to buy her essay editing/resume review package but now will consider others. thanks!

Is your offer still valid Rhyme?

Duplicate - edited.

Snake oil.