Admissions Consultants - which services do you use?

If you are considering on investing over $100,000 to go to business school, what is an additional $300-400 that could elevate the quality of your application? I think essays are the MOST important part of your application. Think about it in the long run - $300-400 is not a lot of money for their expert guidance.

I'm using an admissions consultant just to edit essays and to fix the resume and he's giving me so many useful tips and different ideas to pitch the best story and the best version of myself.

I'm in the process of using an admin consultant at StacyBlackman. I'd agree that it is difficult to solicit critical feedback from your peers. When I asked my coworkers to look at my essay all I'd get is "looks good" with some grammer edits vs. the admin consultant that not only looks at structure, but the best way to phrase your answer to the question.

It isn't cheap at all...but I'd agree with the comment earlier that if you're going to spend +100k (plus giving up your current salary) what is the incremental 300-1,000 bucks for a greater chance of getting admitted to a top program where starting salaries are 30-40k higher than mid-tier schools.

One last point, I think that I've done twice as much work because I have a consultant vs. if I did it on my own. They difinitely push you to put in the time. Coming from a +70 hr/wk job, I really needed this.

My take aways thus far is: It isn't for everyone (and I can see how some people might think it is a waste of money), but I believe that it is money well spent.

Hope this helps.

p.s. I'll be sure to update this with negative feedback if I don't get into any of my target schools.

I'd say it depends on what you need. I only used a consultant (Essay Snark) to review one essay. That review was absolutely critical to not only getting into that school, but two others as well. You need to be honest with yourself about your capabilities and the resources you currently have.
I did my resume on my own with the help of 3 friends. Two of them gave me critical feedback on the content and the third person I used to gauge the reaction to my resume (whether or not it made her say "wow!"). I trolled admissions consultants' websites to get ideas on how to structure my essays and the type of information I should be including (Admissionado has EXCELLENT essay breakdowns). I came up with all of the essay stories and chose which questions to answer (if I had a choice) on my own. I had friends read over my drafts and hired Essay Snark to do a full critique on my first career goals essay. For recommendations I saw some really good advice on GMAT Club on how to prep your recommenders and followed it to a T. To prepare for interviews I found the schools' questions online and then practiced with other applicants.
I will admit that this was a lot to do on my own. I had quite a few false starts. If you feel you have the time and energy to put forth this effort then hire a consultant for individual services. If you know that there's no way you can do all of this on your own then invest in a full package for one school. Usually the lessons you learn going through one application are applicable to the others.
Good luck!

I agree with cheetarah1980. It totally depends on how confident you are in your abilities. Many people get accepted without consultants and many people get dinged even after they hired a consultant. A consultant is NOT your key to getting into the business school, it just increases your odds and makes you confident in your application.

I wrote all of my essays and fixed my resume. Then I had my brother, 2 cousins and 1 friend read them. They all gave me excellent feedback which allowed me to come up with fantastic essays (or so I thought). Then I started seeing a lot of dings on the forum and decided to hire a consultant to basically review the essay and resume. And the consultant basically asked me to completely revamp the essays (goals essay in particular). I am 100% satisfied with the NEW essays that the consultant helped me with. You have one shot to get into your dream school, make sure it's your best shot! I personally cannot afford to wait another year to start school. I hope this helps!