Cautionary tale | my experience with an essay consultant, Adam Rodgers

Here is a cautionary tale for working with an MBA writing tutor: my own experience showed that working with one could make OR break your MBA admissions chances.

Background: coming from a quant finance background I applied to Wharton and Tuck in 2015, and was waitlisted a few times that year until the very last round in the summer. Therefore I thought that my application wasn't very far from gaining an admission in 2015. In 2017, two years later now with consulting experience under my belt and a higher GMAT score, I decided to work with an MBA essay tutor and thought the writing help along with my improved application could propel my application over the finish line. It turned out that I was completely wrong and that I was turned down by both schools which waitlsited me two years ago. And my essays in 2017, in hindsight, were not at the end of day better than they were in 2015. The blame is entirely mine, but I strongly felt that choosing the right essay tutor was a big decision which I regretly made the wrong decision in my 2017 round. Thus, writing this story now in 2020 to warn future applicants.

How I got connected to this tutor: I was introduced to him (Adam Rodgers, MBAEssayConsult dot com) by the founder of a popular online GMAT studying service (Rich Cohen of EMPOWERGmat). EMPOWERGmat was great, so I trusted this referral and after an phone interview decided to consider this tutor.

First impression: Adam seemed like a nice person over the phone but was based in California (while I was in New York). Not having met him in person, I was a bit taken back, as he brought up the package prices during our introductory call and asked that the payment be paid upfront. Due to time pressure and anxiety over the essays (which became the priority in my life at that time), I decided to choose him and then paid $2,400 via Venmo. Then I received a Word Doc template from him which consists of answering Q&As about my career plans. I put together a structure of my essay and began sending it to his email to get his feedback.

My experiences began to deteriorate: there were a few experiences that made me doubt the quality of his help: a) I thought at the back of my head that I already paid for the fees upfront, so what's the incentive for the tutor to actually go above-and-beyond? b) the advice he gave me seemed thin in substance, where the revisions included stylistically grammatical changes, verbal choice changes, etc. Whereas in fact I was expecting him to challenge my thinking and help me think straight about the story-telling aspect - a precise reason I had hired him. c) His feedback and instructions during our calls also became superficial (e.g. he often said "take another crack at this", "this school wants to hear your own story"). But around this time, as an anxious applicant facing time pressure, I felt very lost and expected to get more from him (e.g. specific content suggestions, strategic thinking suggestions). For instance, as I prepared for Wharton's "What do you hope to gain professionally from the Wharton MBA”, I requested specific comments from him but received none. Very unfortunately and regretably, I began to think that if there's no feedback then my story might have been perfect. If there weren't more comments from him, then perhaps I was on the right track. I was completely wrong.

The heartbreak: a few weeks after the essays were submitted I received rejection letters from both schools without any interviews. This was not only unexpected but turned out to be a worse outcome than that from 2 years ago. I lost on my dream to attend Wharton or Tuck. This outcome put me in a panic mode so that I needed to quickly apply for other programs for Round 2. I texted this tutor to let him know of my results, and his response was "it's these schools’' loss"; I requested another package of $1,500 to ask for his help with the new application, and this tutor who seemingly had gotten annoyed with me and blew me off now happily agreed and seemed engaged again - I guess because I became a repeat customer of his.

Leaving the wrong tutor and finding the right tutor this time: around this time I no longer trusted Adam. And at this time I was recommended of another tutor (let's call her Christina for the same of this story) via a friend and decided to hop on a call with her while showing her my Wharton and Tuck essays. Christina basically said my Wharton and Tuck essays were garbage and pointed out many reasons so; her feedback was strategic and concrete. Her help got me to produce a coherent MBA story. "What's your long-term goal, what do you like, what are your competitive advantage, what's your brand on a team project in your future MBA program?" "How are you different from other candidates?" These questions truly challenged me to think about my past, present, and future. I finally saw my "story" which I hoped I could produce, and gradually began to "get it" (aka the whole MBA essay way of thinking). I saw how working with Christina was more beneficial, and stopped corresponding with Adam. Adam who received my 2nd payment of $1,500 didn't email me or follow-up with me again although he knew I was working on my essays and was supposed to work with him. Basically this suggested to me that he cared more for receiving my payment than to ensure my experience was satisfactory and my essays are in great shape. As another interesting experience with Adam: as part of his essay editing package, he offered complimentary services like resume editing, but when I sent in my resume for review, he responded and said "Oh it's lovely" without providing any other comment. This basically suggested to me of the same that he promised xyz at the beginning but delivered no value in the end.

Admissions / success: with the help of the new tutor, Christina, I finally wrote essays that I was capable of and gained admissions to a few programs that I was excited about (a few top 10 programs). Even though these weren't Wharton or Tuck, attending one of these top 10 programs truly enriched my experiences - to say the least. The MBA experience is totally worth it. In hindsight I could've had a much streamlined MBA admissions experience which I realized after the fact.

So in considering my own journey, I have a few suggestions for future MBA applicants:
1. Choosing the right MBA tutor could make or break your chances. Choosing the right tutor can accelerate the quality of your application. It's about the quality of the story! Thus, carefully vet the tutor and ask tough questions like "what's your track record in helping students", ask for reference checks, bargain the prices. I'd avoid service providers who ask clients to pay upfront, and prefer the “pay-as-you-go” method that incentived the tutors to continue prioritizing this.
2. Try to work with the MBA tutors through the tough questions related to the core issues of your candidacy, including your career goals, MBA recruiting goals, your brand, your competitive advantage, etc. The substance matters very much to convince the MBA admissions committee. During my prep, my psyche was dominated by my GMAT score, my work experiences in comparison t others, etc., but in fact, a huge part of the application is about articulating your goals via the right thinking, career planning, and personal presentations.
3. Finally I know that many MBA applicants may have the financial flexibility to pay for the tutor fees. But this doesn't mean you should always hire a tutor. When you hire a tutor, you're effectively putting a big part of your application in other people's hands. You need to stay in charge. You need to choose wisely. If one doesn't work out, choose another one. Hire another tutor for a second opinion. Read reviews online to ensure the tutor is the right one for you.