"Best" admission consulting companies?

[Please note that this is a throwaway account I crated for this post. For reasons of anonymity I don’t want to use my real user name. I am happy to verify all that follows with a moderator.]

Hi All,

I’ve seen this thread progress over the last several months and have found it very useful. Although I had initially intended to stay out of the conversation, I thought it might be helpful if I shared my experience working with Paul from Amerasia.

After taking a Manhattan GMAT course I had initially planned on signing up with MBAmission (given that they partner with MGMAT). However, after reading earlier posts on this thread I thought I might want to reach out to other consultants as well, one of which was Paul at Amerasia.

Of all my initial consultations I scheduled Paul’s last. As soon as we got on the phone Paul got down to business. What I really liked about Paul was that he dug deeper than the other consultants had. For example, my GMAT is over 750 and my GPA is in the mid 3 range with a double major at a top University. While other consultants thought this was a huge plus, I liked that Paul was honest and said that because one of my major GPA’s was a low 3 and the other was a high 3, it wasn’t going to hurt but it also wasn’t going to be a huge help. Additionally Paul and I went over my career goals “story.” He pointed out that if it was my dream to work in field X but I only had experience in filed Y it would make more sense for my story to be focused on field Y.

After signing up with Paul he set up a recurring 1 hour weekly meeting. Over the last several months Paul has helped me work through all of last year’s essay’s in preparation for this year’s applications. One thing that has really impressed me in working with Paul is his ability to pick which stories are most relevant at each school. To me, this has been extremely helpful.

Some additional thoughts on Amerasia:

1) Paul works hard – each week, in advance of our meeting, Paul will send over updated drafts of all my essays with thorough comments and ideas about restructuring. After each meeting Paul sends over the notes from our call as well as a few homework assignments.

2) Turnaround is quick – I have all of Paul’s contact information. On the one occasion I needed a 6 hour turn around I just sent him my document, texted him, and had it back three hours later.

3) Big picture – when Amerasia looks at my application they look at the entire package. All of my essays for any individual school are worked on in tandem. What I mean by that is that Paul and I have a clear picture of the story we are trying to get across in my application. We view the essays, the letters of rec, and the resume as individual pieces of a puzzle. Paul makes sure everything fits together and is consistent.

Lastly – to those of you working or considering working with a consultant: Even though I have full confidence in Paul and his services I still read articles and books on admittance strategies. It’s your application so take ownership of it. If you don’t hear back from your consultant, call them on their cell. If they don’t change their ways, fire them. It’s your future - don’t let someone else mess it up. A consultant can help improve your application but do your own homework.

I know gmatclub is now asking for a numerical score out of 5. Obviously I haven't completed my applications but have worked with Paul for about 2 months. I've emailed back and forth with him nearly daily and had phone calls at least once a week if not more often. Thus far I have nothing to complain about: 5/5.