Admissionado Admissions Consulting Reviews

I am a re-applicant and used a different consulting firm the first time I applied. The first time I thought the essays were very well polished, but I think what I wanted from an MBA and what I had to offer wasn’t as clear. The second time around, I had a better idea of what I wanted out of an MBA and wanted to get a different perspective on the MBA process. I talked with several consulting firms and Admissionado seemed to be able to relate to my background the most. Additionally, since I already applied once, I didn’t need a full package from a consultant. I only needed help on essay editing and picking the correct topics to build the proper story. In this sense, I needed a more flexible program and Claudia at Admissionado was quickly able to tailor a program for me as a re-applicant. This allowed me to save money while still getting the support I needed.

Claudia was also able to match me up with a consultant, Mark Lellouch, who could really mold my background, engineering, into what adcoms are looking for.

Mark was quick to respond to any questions I had, no matter how dumb they sounded, and gave me good feedback on my essays, which topics I should write about, and prioritize what I should include in my application (hobbies, extracurriculars, etc).

On the first round application, I received interviews from every school I applied to. I received acceptances from all except one, which I got waitlisted. I am still waiting for my second round results.

After all my experiences applying to business schools, I think Adcoms are always looking for someone who is different and adds new insight/perspectives to the class, so the key to applying is to build a story about your background that sets you apart and would help diversify your class. Mark at Admissionado really understands how to build that story and to get the right messages across to the Adcoms.

I would highly recommend Admissionado and Mark at Admissionado to help you to get to your dream school.

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Read more at: http://topdogmba.com/2015/01/01/fixing-a-hole-admissionado-review/

I am a re-applicant so writing this from the perspective of someone who has been through the pain once before and didn't want to make the same mistakes the second time around.

I first learned about Admissionado as their founder, Jon Frank, hosted a free webinar about 'Dealing with a Ding'. I was one of the lucky few chosen to be critiqued in the webinar and, while not a pleasant experience, I really appreciated the straight talking, no nonsense approach employed by Jon.

This is not a service for those of you wanting someone to praise you constantly and tell you what a good job you're doing - this is tough love! My consultant was a former Admissions Fellow at my top choice b school. We had a great free Skype session which overran the allotted time, but I just had a lot of questions and she was in no hurry and did not rush me.

After the call, I tried to imagine finding time to not only figure out my strategy, but also to write my resume, essays, manage my recommenders, all while having to check my own work and try to find friends who would help me out and review it. I decided I wanted a paid consultant, someone I could jump straight in and start discussing my stories with, someone who was always available and would push me to do more and better.

The Junior Deluxe package was great for this, it wasn't cheap but in line with other leading consulting firms. Best of all, I could bolt on additional services like Skype calls and urgent reviews of my essays (sadly, I did have to resort to this once or twice!), all in a very transparent way.

If I had any negative comments to make, I'd say that it took several days to get comments back on essays. This is because not only my consultant was reviewing them, but also an editor who added a lot of comments on how to improve the writing style, what else I could talk about, how to build the story more effectively etc. It was only a problem because I was busy for weeks at a time (with non-MBA stuff) and when I was free I liked to focus in on my essays for days at a time. If you're like me, then just make sure you spread the essays out - one school on Monday, another on Tuesday etc. - once I figured this out it was easy to adjust my schedule. Like I said, this is really not a major issue but I struggle to think of anything bad about Admissionado.

And, now for the results: well, I applied to three schools and got three interview invites. One is converted into an offer(!) and the other two I'm still waiting to hear from. Could I have got the same result on my own? Possibly, but why take that risk for the sake of 1-2% of the cost of your MBA programme!?

Thanks to Admissionado I am going to be doing my MBA next year, no matter what.

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Long story short, I got a 710, solid GPA, but weaker than avg experience. IT Proj Mgr in biotech with some exposure to strategy, but nothing like consulting or i-banking.

Shawn and the team tailored a story and strategy around the fact that I couldn't compete based on raw strength or quant ability against others looking to get into a Top 20 school. There's no way I would have got into my dream school if they hadn't helped me form and completely revise my strategy. I'll be honest, I had a "good" story before, but they pushed me to make sure everything aligned: my past exp, why I want an MBA, and my future goals. It sounds basic, but it needs to be immaculate.

Once I got my big interview, I felt super confident about my entire story, because it truly did all add up. I was able to tell it very naturally, because each piece lined up, all the way to my 20 year plan. And I didn't even use them for interview prep!

The whole team was very laid-back (not a bad thing), and it allowed me to really divulge every piece of information about myself. Some of which I would not have told many people, but that ultimately became an important part of my story. Also, I got a late start (began in mid-Aug for Oct 1 deadline), and the editors turned my drafts around literally every 3-4 days.

Can't say enough great things about Admissionado, would highly recommend for anyone looking to get into a Top 20 school. If it looks expensive, well...you're about to invest $150-200k. Do you want to spend that getting in a "mediocre" program, or would you rather be in your dream school and freakin' stoked on where you're spending the next 2 years, and WHO you're spending them with. I can't even explain how excited I am for the school I got into, such a great feeling compared to "settling" for a backup school and attending because, "well, now is the time" and "I don't want to go through that process again".

If anyone has questions about my experience, I'd love to answer, because I seriously owe it to Admissionado for the milestone that I've reached.

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I enrolled into the 4-school deluxe package with Admissionado and I'm thoroughly delighted with the exceptional service that the Admissionado team (Lauren, Emily, Claudia and Kyn) have provided me over the past 8-9 months. I truly lovvveeeddd working with Kyn, who is a professional through and through, and whose expertise and skills truly helped me get admitted off the wait list to one of the schools that I applied to.

My first interaction with Kyn was during an essay writing workshop and I was so impressed with his insightful essay-writing tips and comments that I immediately set up an initial profile evaluation with him and signed up for four schools. The entire admissions process right from writing the GMAT all the way until landing an admit is an extremely exhaustive and tiring process but Kyn made sure that we didn't lose steam one bit during the process and ensured that we submitted the best application we could to all our schools. Also, Admissionado has invaluable resources (resume tips, school guides and interviewing tips) that helped me maneuver through the maze. I found Kyn's (and Admissionado's) services extremely useful, far exceeding the expectations I'd initially set. Their entire team is extraordinarily dedicated, professional, courteous and prompt (I observed this during some of the free workshops I attended).

PROS :- To me the biggest gain was gaining insight into the AdCom's decision making process, rationale behind wait listing, and, most importantly, tips to make an impression during an interview in spite of belonging to an oversubscribed pool of applicants. I was able to successfully be admitted off the wait list ONLY because Kyn helped me understand what would work and what wouldn't when wait listed. The comments and feedback on all my edits were extremely helpful, precise and positive through critical.

CONS :- I initially found it difficult to adjust to the 3-day turnaround time for every edit but, I eventually realized that it was to be fair to other applicants.

To summarize, if you're fine with the 3-day turnaround time (i.e. you plan and strategize your applications well), I'd highly recommend Admissionado and Kyn to everyone applying.

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I went through the entire application process solo my first time around and ended up with zero admits. If nothing else, Admissionado provided someone who was in my shoes before, who could provide advice and speak about the process from experience.

But we're not paying over two grand for just that. Most of you are considering dropping some serious coin for this service and it's important to know exactly what you're in for.

My consultant, Julie (who, although they seem to list everybody associated with their company on their consultant profile page, wasn’t listed leading up to, during, or after working with her) was great. She stayed on top of things and made sure I stuck to my deadlines in a way that made me feel like she was really concerned about my success. She made me think hard about my goals, my responses, and my story. Her feedback made me even more confident in myself. Her enthusiasm about my story made me even more excited to tell it.

My first contact with Admissionado was a profile evaluation and Julie gave me an "action plan" which, honestly, was the least valuable part of my investment. It restated much of which I already knew and had already planned on including in my essays. The recommended schools that came from the profile evaluation all seemed to be extremely safe options. I didn't feel this was really worth the money I paid for it. But through our call more than the action plan itself, Julie's enthusiasm was apparent. I felt like she would be able to help me sort through the clutter and create a better vision for myself. From there, I paid for a ding analysis to get some further insight. The ding analysis was, in my eyes, spot on. Julie took my essays, explained what they were looking for and detailed where I could have done a better job. This was worth every penny.

This whole process is on you, though. You can pay all you want for a consultant but if you don’t want to change your approach you’re not going to get anywhere. Admissionado is just one component of your application process. They’re not going to write your essays for you (nor should you want them to) but they are going to make you think about how you’re portraying yourself and push you in a new direction if you’re being too narrowly-focused, they are going to be able to answer just about any questions you may have, and they are going to help you write about the strongest parts of your profile. You will see a noticeable change between the first and final draft.

The junior deluxe package itself was valuable to me. I liked Julie being an email away (and REALLY fast/helpful at getting back to me). I NEVER had to send them a reminder email, though they may have had to send me one or two when I was slacking! I was really happy, not only with the progress I made but also with the introspection that came with the process. As I learned what parts of my essays were redundant, I was forced to examine my goals and my story and career possibilities. I went from having one specific goal to being excited about the many possibilities available to me, and I think that this approach made me an even stronger candidate.

Anyway, let’s get to the specifics. I paid for a profile evaluation, a ding analysis, and a Junior Deluxe packages for three schools and I received a significant discount due to a promotion they had going on at the time. I only used two of the three schools (please be sure to only pay for the schools you intend on using, I was talked into a third school but never ended up using it and was out that extra money, which pretty much meant I paid full price for two schools- so much for that promo!). I was accepted to both schools (neither school was a safety school). Aside from our initial call, all contact was through email which was always quick and thorough. I can’t stress enough about how helpful Julie was throughout the process. It was valuable for me to have someone who could give me input on the process, how to make the most of a visit, and all of the other one-offs that come up during the application/interview process.

I’m beyond happy I chose Admissionado. Their pricing is competitive but not bank-breaking. The only negative that came out of the entire process was that I paid for that extra school but didn’t end up needing it. I guess that’s a good place to be, though.

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I never pictured myself as someone who would use an admissions consultant. After all, I think I’m a pretty strong writer, and I had already decided to which schools I would apply. I wasn’t sure how a consultant could provide any additional value for someone like me. Nevertheless, when Admissionado hosted a contest for people who wanted to blog about their admissions experience, I decided to give it a try, and I was offered the Deluxe package for free for one of my applications.

It turned out to be a great decision. First, I was asked some questions and then paired with a consultant named Mark, who had a similar nontraditional background as my own. I most appreciated Mark for being an un-biased resource that I could turn to with questions. As I crafted my essays, there were numerous times when I worried how a particular story would be perceived by the admissions committee. Would they think I was too assertive, or perhaps not assertive enough? That’s when I’d turn to Mark, who would employ a tough-love approach, while always being incredibly prompt, insightful and thoughtful with his responses. He in no way wrote my essays, but he helped me to feel more confident with the content that I produced and the stories that I chose to share. I always felt that Mark was truly invested in my success, and he helped me to employ a strategic approach to my application.

Ultimately, I was accepted with a significant scholarship to a top 10 program.

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I came to Admissionado with big dreams and bad numbers. What can I say? I am just not the best test taker. With a 640 GMAT score and a 3.3 GPA, I know I had the odds set against me, but I wanted to go to a great school, a top-10 school.

Julie from Admissionado worked with me to bring out everything positive that I had done to tell me story, to show my assets and make them shine brighter than my numbers. She took the time to dig deep and ask me questions to get to know me during our initial call, which really seemed more like a chat with a friend than an intimidating interview (which I feared it might seem like!). At the end of the call, I felt like Julie gave me the opportunity to be vulnerable and really get to understand me and why I was trying to get an MBA.

Honestly, I started this process a bit scatterbrained. I was studying/panicking about the GMAT and trying to understand if I could even get into business school. I really just dumped everything on Julie, and she came back to me with everything I dumped tied into a logical package of my strengths, assets, notable accomplishments, important experiences, and career trajectory. She took everything I said and turned it into a story that made sense, which giving me the permission to refine the story along the way.

After the initial call, we started on the essay drafting. I was able to shoot emails back and forth with Julie to ask her questions as I went along, which was immensely helpful. I started off giving her essays that were about twice the mandatory word limits (I can be a bit wordy), and by the end of all of our rounds of editing, I was not only at the word count but I was also left with a finished product that was a beautiful, moving set of essays. Julie took the time to read these drafts over and over again, refining them, asking me to dig deeper and clarify my thoughts and goals. I promise you, these essays sparkled by the end.

I recently read an article about essay plagiarism in the MBA process due to consultants reusing essays for their clients. I can tell you with 100% confidence that this will never happen with Admissionado -- the service they give each client is so unique and personal to that client that there would be no way you would be left with anything but an incredible and distinct essays.

Admissionado was incredibly helpful and supportive throughout this, and customizing their program to me and definitely met high expectations. The turnaround was fast and I feel as if my Admissionado consultant is more of my friend/cheerleader now than anything. Now I am in the awesome position of taking a full-ride to Yale SOM or a 75% tuition scholarship to Kellogg -- and I know I couldn't have done it without them!

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I had a chance to attend Admissionado's Basic Boot camp - about a 5 hour (2,2,1) session spread over a week. They had covered every aspect of the admission process from GMAT scores how to compensate the low score to LORS. I really loved the way they kept things simple - from resume edits to essay edits. Dominic had taken us to every single aspect even the white spaces, ratios of past , present and future :). It was really interesting group to attend with as well. People from various backgrounds had participated which only enriched the boot camp experience. Dominic was patient to go through essays very slowly so that we would get certain points into our system. Anybody who is looking to begin their admission journey or in the middle looking a bit clueless, this is probably the best place you can be!

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I had bought the service of three complete applications with a local consulting firm well branded. Since I had received my GMAT a bit late in the game (7th January), I had not much time to focus on each essay and build a strong application. I decided to apply for at least four schools (NYU, McCombs, Cornell, and Tepper).

I did the application with the help of this first consulting firm, but I was not yet satisfied with the outcome and I had a short deadline, so I decided to try one shot with ADMISSIONADO, because I discovered that they could return the review of my essays in a really short time, especially with the “rush service fee”, everything that I needed at that time. What I discovered was that they were not only fast in returning the essays, but they also were really professional. They knew what they were doing and my essays really stand-out! I received and interview invitation from TEPPER and I was wait listed in CORNELL.

A little disappointed with CORNELL answer, even though I decided to hire the WAIT LIST SERVICE, which I thought it could be a waste of money, but it was not. I had depth conversation with DAMON CHUA (ADMISSIONADO consultant) and we together setup a really strong strategic approach to this sensitive situation. We worked really hard and I did all the correct moves. I got out of the waitlist, did interview preparation with the same consultant, performed well in the interview, and finally I received my offer from CORNELL.

In short, I highly recommend the ADMISSIONADO SERVICES, specially the essays reviewing, interview practice and wait list service.

For those in the WAIT LIST, don’t give up! Keep positive, work hard, show that you are really committed. It will pay off.

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I attended a 3 day Admissionado bootcamp in last week of May and got a clear sense of what it would be like in one’s b-school application process and how Adcom perceives it.

It was fantastic and thanks to Dominic (one of the most active and popular Admission Consultants on forums like BTG etc.) for making the session Interactive from the very beginning...He made it very clear that as an HBS grad he wants us to actively participate in the session and make it look like b-school class environment where you won't be able to sit to listen to only...

I would say it's a great head-start for one's application in all possible fields where an Admission Consultant can help you in - Resume, LORs and those suckers..yup! I'm talking about the essays...Dom will make it shining better and better by compelling you to get involved in it with some serious efforts. He would show you the right path in this short session (5 hours total in 3 days)...

I would rate it the 5/5 for what it has been in these 3 days but I think it would have been much better in terms of 'getting best out of these', if it could be organized these for couple of more days or at least one more day while increasing the time duration of each day by 1-1.30 hrs..This way we could have got more in-depth analysis for resume and LORs or any other part of the application (except GMAT..ha ha).

These are certainly the areas of improvement they should focus on going forward. And to implement this if required, I won't mind if the bootcamp costs a bit more by $50 or $100 because for GC members it's now @ $100 only whereas a few Admission Consultancies charge around @$500 for a stretched (re: incorporating the extra days/time duration I talked about here) bootcamp session.

So, overall considering this improvement-required part, I would rate it 4.5/5 and once this is incorporated I think it'll be simply above & beyond in terms of both Quality and Pricing. It’ll be then a bit more than just giving you a head-start in your journey.

I highly recommend this to the folks who want a head-start in their application….especially Indian applicants would be immensely benefited from these considering its high quality and low price.

P.S : Lauren-without whom this session wouldn’t have been such what it has been. I would call her a supersonic lady. She sends your work during the bootcamp @ 20Mbps may be-I didn’t get to test her speed :)
And I Selected 'No' in the below drop-down that asks you "if you were admitted to your schools"...as it's not applicable for this bootcamp I think and there should have been an option like ‘NA’ for this kind of a-la-carte services...

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