This is one of the threads I had read and referred to before I decided to speak with Alice and I am grateful that I came across it. For anyone looking for admissions consultants in future I just want to share my experience:
I am a re-applicant who was dinged at most of the top 10 -15 schools I had applied to last season (mind you I applied to a lot of them!). I had worked with one of the top admissions consulting firms (don't want to take names) last year and even though they were marginally okay, they just did not add any substantial value. I was also disappointed with them delegating work to much junior people and them not getting back to me on time so close to the deadline and thus hampering the quality of my essays.
I got in touch with Alice, whom I found through one of the reviews on GMAT Club, and she was someone who was unlike anyone I had spoken to in my 2 years of admissions process experience. I worked with Alice from the very beginning of my process this year and she helped me craft a narrative that I think captured my strengths and my experiences in the best possible way. Even though I come from a really competitive pool she helped me identify stories and experiences from my past that would make me a competitive applicant. Besides being a really good and experienced writer (Alice has a PhD from Cambridge and has worked with Bain), she is she also was one of the best persons to discuss your past experiences with and what you wanted to achieve after an MBA. She helped me turn my experiences into a B school essay format in the best possible way.
I really liked that she was the one I was working with throughout the process and the work wasn't delegated to someone else. Alice is someone who is very focused on the work she is doing (she doesn't relent unless you get the perfect essay!) and doesn't care at all about timekeeping unlike the consultants I have worked with. It is because of her help that I got interviewed at 6 of the 7 schools I had applied to (Kellogg, Haas, Tuck, LBS, Darden, Stern). I don't think I would have been able to do that without her support and guidance. She also helped me a lot in the whole interview process by organizing 3 mock interviews, asking me to send video essay practice prompts over Skype, and identifying areas of weakness. I finally ended up at the school which was one of the top of my list and I am really thrilled to join it next fall.
I wholeheartedly recommend Alice Van Harten (website :
https://menlocoaching.com/) to someone who wants to get into a top B school. She is the peer and mentor you are looking for. Go for her and you will thank me later
For people looking at working with consultants in the future do take her 30 minute free consultation. You will get more out of it than you would after paid hours with some other consulting firms. Speak with her, make your mind and you will know you made the best call.
Please PM me if you want to know more about her. I will be happy to talk to you.
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10 Dec 2014, 19:19
