rhyme wrote:
I'm considering signing up for this, but at $2500, not to mention hotel, food and flight, were talking $3000 for 2 days - and I want to make sure I'm getting something for it (I am aware there is a money back guarantee though it's only good until the day the seminar starts)
Has anyone here attended one of these before? Is it worth it?
The website has a pitch, and it's not a bad one per se, but it reads as if it's an advertisement for a get quick rich scheme. "If you don't want to get into a top MBA program this isn't for you!!!" a.k.a. "If you don't want to make $50,000 a month, don't call this number!!". Not to be harsh, but.. quite frankly, it reads nothing like I'd expect from a professional firm.
Needless to say, that's somewhat disconcerting.
My other concern is that it may very well end up being a 2 day seminar on obvious or otherwise canned tips. I.e. "Careful when using an essay across schools! Make sure you change the name!", "Don't talk about your weaknesses! Highlight your strenghts!" etc.
So, before I throw $2500 at them, can anyone comment on the program's strengths and weaknesses?
Thank you for your interest in
MBA BlastOff. I appreciate your raising these concerns and allowing me to address them
To clarify a few points.
This is the first time we are offering MBA Admissions BlastOff. We have offered something similar (
MBA Admissions Advantage) to the corporate market for the last several years. We decided to offer it now directly to the applicant community as MBA BlastOff.
The money-back guarantee is good through the end of one very full day of seminars and workshops. You will know by then that you are getting your money's worth or not. If you feel that you are not, please return the materials and you will receive a 100% refund of the MBA BlastOff fee. We did not extend the guarantee to the second day because we felt that anyone who would stay the second day, feeling that it wasn't worth it, simply wants to get something for nothing.
While I am sorry that you did not like the marketing approach, it reflects the goals of the program, not hype. The two-day workshop is aimed at those applying to top 15 US programs and LBS, INsead, and IMD. We discourage those who are applying to other programs because the content is not as geared to them as those applying to top-15 and there are only 30 spots in the workshop. Furthermore, limiting attendance (yes we will turn people away once we have 30 people who have paid) and discouraging purchases from those for whom the program isn't appropriate are hardly typical of get-rich-quick schemes. Those behaviors are typical of people preparing a top-notch program. And that's exactly what Maxx and I intend to present.
Concerning the level of the content: I can almost guarantee you that some of the material presented during the seminars you will have heard before; I am also certain that much will be new. We are providing previews of the content during recorded teleseminars. You can obtain information about future previews as well the link for the MP3 file of the previous teleseminar by registering at the link in the next sentence. In addition to the seminar content,
MBA BlastOffprovides the following that you won't get elsewhere:
1) Access to experienced MBA admissions experts. Maxx Duffy has over 30 years in MBA admissions including two years as a member of the HBS admissions committee. I have over ten years in MBA admissions as founder and head of
Accepted.com. We will be sharing that experience during formal presentations, hands-on workshops, and informal interactions at breakfast, lunch and Q&A's. Plus we are setting up an Inner Circle for particpants where we will respond to follow-up questions after the workshop.
2) Practical, hands-on focus. The workshops will allow you to implement the tips that you will have just learned and receive immediate feedback on that implementation.
3) Opportunity to work with me. If you want to work directly with me on your essays, this is the only way to do so.
4) One set of essay drafts. You should complete at least one set of essay drafts during the weekend.
I hope I have addressed your concerns, however if you (or others reading this post) would like to learn more about
MBA Admissions BlastOff, please feel free to register at the link I just provided and call me at 310-815-9553 x101.
Linda Abraham
Accepted.com
310-815-9553 x101