*** Deluxe Package Reviews

I worked with Stefanie and I can’t thank her enough. She’s brilliant at what she does. I think Stefanie is a very pragmatic professional who tells you directly what’s working and what’s not, and that’s very important, otherwise, you’ll end up wasting your precious time.

Before I started working with Stefanie and Admissionado, I contacted several prominent MBA admissions consulting firms, and I’m telling you it is a fun but daunting process – they will all seem solid, knowledgeable, experienced, they all have excellent reviews, etc., so it comes down to the quality of customer service. I loved my experience with Admissionado, and their Director of Client Relations Claudia, who always tried to understand my position and offered the best support and help possible.

I was paired up with Stefanie for my free 30-min call, which lasted for almost an hour. We had a productive chat, I could talk about all my concerns, I was struggling with preparation for the GMAT, I didn’t have any score, and then it seemed to me that I lacked community service experience/extracurriculars and leadership experience (cause I’m an international applicant). Stefanie assured me that we’d find a way and that she’d help me to bring all of that out of me. I signed up with Admissionado, and Claudia helped me with the package and pricing that suited my situation and made sure everything went smoothly.

Stefanie focused not on telling me exactly what to do and how to do, what schools to choose and what to include in my essays but on guiding me so that I could reach all the decisions by myself and be comfortable and happy about them. I’m sure Stefanie would’ve made an excellent detective had she chosen to be one. She has this ability to spot critical facts and bring the most out of them so that you could tell a whole inspirational story out of thin air. I remember how I felt during the first iterations of essays when I would have to remember teeny-tiny details of my experiences when I was amazed how significant have some of the experiences been to who I have become today and how they have shaped my character along the way. That’s how Stefanie will push you.

Another thing I feel obliged to mention is that Stefanie has this amazing vision or wisdom, or call it whatever you think. I applied to three schools with Stefanie and one with the experience I got with her. Two schools had very low acceptance rates and both were my top choice, the next two were in Top10 but had almost twice higher acceptance rates. I used to call the latter two as more practical schools because I believe they focus on preparing you for a real post-MBA job (like consulting, banking, general management, operations, etc.), not for crazy, unrealistic start-up jobs/goals. When I was applying I had a “practical” or “safe-goal” strategy for those two schools, like going into consulting first, getting some experience and then moving to my long-term crazy dream goal. Stefanie suggested being straight honest with every school, telling them clearly what I am and what I want and why I want it, so that the adcoms/schools decide if I fit them, if they fit me, my goals, if they can give me what I want, etc. And I am so grateful for that advice. I eventually got interview invites from three schools and ended up getting admission (the only one) to my top choice school, which had the lowest acceptance rate, and I think the reason for that is “fit”, bilateral fit, which I think the most important factor when considering schools. That school believed in me, my experience, character, principles, goals, and vision, and was confident that it can get me to where I dream to be. And if Stefanie had not given that advice, I would have not been going to the school I wholeheartedly believe in (and always dreamed of).

With Stefanie and Admissionado’s essay editors team you will be telling your best and beautiful stories. And Claudia will help you with the rest so that you could focus on more important aspects of this daunting and tiresome but supremely exciting MBA application journey. I can go forever telling about the interview prep, resume editing, strategy building and other stuff that Stefanie helped me with but this review is already too long. The package also includes a final review of the whole application by the second consultant but I couldn’t take advantage of that service due to time constraints. And oh, I panicked about the deadlines (it was already one month to Round 2 deadlines) and having no GMAT score, so I took the test and scored slightly below 700. But even with that score, we, together with Stefanie and Admissionado team, managed to secure an offer to one of the most selective MBA programs in the US/world. I wouldn't have achieved that alone, not even interview invite, I can tell that for sure.

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I worked with Melody Lin and Claudia on three schools. I prefer to work with a Chinese speaking consultant, so there aren't many options to begin with. The other thing I was looking for was great essay editing. Admissionado's website and intro materials came across as witty and funny so I gave it a shot.

Claudia is amazing in her response speed solving all the admin questions. Melody is also good at providing general strategy to MBA application. What makes admissionado shine is its ability to edit essays, they don't just edit it but encourage you to really dig deep and write something that will shine through your application. I got into one of the three schools that I applied to, even though I only had 2 years of work experience. Thanks Admissionado!

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The business school application process was highly stressful for me, as I still had several aspects of my long- & short-term goals that needed to be fleshed out. Moreover, I needed to identify features of my accomplishments that could really help me stand out from the crowd, given the insanely competitive demographic I hailed from.

Regina's initial strategy session was incredibly helpful- she was insightful in catching onto facets of my personality & working style, and was unafraid to deviate from the tried & tested "formula" in terms of identifying which types of achievements to highlight. Subsequently, her comments on each iteration of my essays were spot-on, always shared promptly & designed to make the edits as impactful as possible. I would also like to mention the constant encouragement provided by Regina & team, whether through the B-school selection process, or through the essay edits, or interviews etc.- it goes a long way knowing your consultant has your back!

Overall, if you're looking for a team to help you stand out of the crowd, this is it! Regina & team truly go above & beyond, even helping push you to meet your own timelines (without ever infringing on your work requirements). I would highly recommend their services to anyone looking to apply to business schools.

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I contacted Admissionado during my senior year at the University of Southern California and was advised to call John, who was best qualified to help me with European grad schools.

With a 3.1 GPA, a couple of summer internships and no experience with the GRE nor the GMAT, I no idea of where to start. But John helped me identify my strengths and guided me during each step of the application, from my resume to the GRE.

John is smart, honest and makes himself available for his clients. He will follow your intuition, but you can safely trust his. Overall, John is a tremendous consultant who gave each element of my application a well-needed polish to stand out from the crowd. And it sure worked.

I applied to six schools and got into every single one of them (HEC, IE Madrid, Hult, Bocconi, ESCP and ESSEC). I am now heading to HEC Paris (one of the best schools in the world) for my masters and John as well as the rest of Admissionado helped make it possible.

Don't think about it twice!

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This is the first consultant experience I had that I enjoyed, which resulted in my first successful application since many years of trying. I saw Admissionado had good reviews on GMATClub so I set up a free profile eval on the website. Claudia got back to me almost instantly (she really responds very quickly) and started the process of connecting me to a consultant.

Mark Lellouch reviewed my responses and scheduled an introductory call with me where he shared his thoughts on my profile and my application strategy. I liked what I heard and how it seemed customized and realistic for my situation, so I went ahead with the Deluxe package. Immediately I filled out a very detailed questionnaire so that Mark could come up with a succinct summary of my strengths, weaknesses, and plan for my target school. Having an assessment like that on the front end really helped me clarify how I wanted to present myself across the entire application - resume, essays, forms and all.

After getting the front end down, we then started working on the application components - resume, essays, etc. Throughout this, Mark never wrote for me, but rather challenged my drafts as a cold eye and gave me clear prompts on how to modify my material to best present myself to the school. This is Mark's best attribute by far - he is able to give you the right instruction and advice for you to articulate the best image of yourself clearly. I was stunned at how good my materials looked after reviews with him compared to my initial drafts...especially my resume.

I was invited to interview and Mark supported me through that as well with the same excellence as in the writing phase - by telling me HOW to think when responding rather than WHAT to say when responding. It is this crucial difference that has helped me grow as a person, not to mention getting a successful admission to my dream school - one that I've tried multiple times for many years to get in with different consultants who were not as effective. Claudia was also very supportive throughout the entire process, and as mentioned above, responded very quickly.

I would definitely recommend Admissionado and Mark. They were very helpful and exceeded my expectations of what a consultant can really do for you. Mark's greatest skill is being able to guide you to articulate the best version of yourself.

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To say the least, I am really impressed with Julie's work on my business school application. I normally don't write these types of reviews, but I think this case merits one. I come from a non traditional background and didn't really know how to apply for business school. After a pretty in-depth initial discussion with Claudia, I was paired with Julie, one of the more seasoned professionals at Admissionado. All in all, I am satisfied with my decision.

Basically, how it works - we had a thorough first talk where I discussed my past experiences, short and long term goals, and how business school fits in the picture, and then I began writing. I would write a draft and a few days later receive her copy, not really with edits, but more with comments (like 2 times the size of the actual essay) on how I should organize, what areas I should leave out, and what areas I should expand upon. After about 4 or so exchanges, I could really see how my essays evolved, becoming coherently organized and laser focused. And given that I was still in control throughout the entire process, I became more confident and motivated with what I was writing.

In conclusion, people will go either way about hiring or not an admissions consultant and the decision really depends on your current situation and where you are coming from. I come from a non-trad background and was looking for an extra set of experienced eyes throughout the process. Admissionado, one of the oldest and most reputable admissions consultancies out there, provided just that. If you are hesitating, I would just plan a free consultation to learn more.

As for me, I took the leap and don't regret it. I applied in late October and received the admissions call before winter break from Columbia - couldn't be more happy!

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Julie and the team at Admissionado were incredible in helping me package up my life's experience in a really compelling way. They took the time to understand my work, personal and extracurricular background before diving into providing suggestions for how I package everything together. The team had a knack for identifying 'winning' ideas, while gently dismissing those that weren't right.

Whether on Skype or over email, their light-hearted attitude helped keep the mood positive, even during the more stressful parts of the application process. Julie in particular was an absolute joy to work with and I would highly recommend working with her.

Stoked to have been admitted to my three dream schools.

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As a re-applicant after using a competitor admissions consultant firm last year, I can speak to a few of the ways that sets Admissionado apart in my eyes:

1. Personality. They were much better at giving my applications strong personality than I had the previous year, which I think can be very underrated and extremely helpful for someone who isn't naturally extroverted.

2. Promptness. Turnaround of materials was always better than the 72 hours they promised. I assumed that "within 72 hours" meant "72 hours", but this wasn't the case.

3. Reliability. I got into a bit of a pinch during deadline crunch time, and I was blown away by how responsive and helpful Uyen was in the final stretch. She really stepped up when I needed her most, and I am forever grateful given my outcome! I'd be amazed if I could have gotten the same level of service through another firm.

I owe so much of my success to Uyen and the team at Admissionado, they have been amazing and really helped me to put my best self forward in my applications. Especially with the half-ride scholarship on top of an already sweet offer to Kellogg, I couldn't be happier with the value I got out of working with them. My life just got way better thanks to this team!

I couldn't recommend Admissionado highly enough!

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I am a Chinese applicant who needed to stand out from a fiercely competitive pool. My consultant, Connie Chen, guided me through the whole application process and helped me receive admission to my top choice of school. During our collaboration, I found that she was very accessible, conscientious and an expert. Whenever I raised a question to her, she would respond to me with thoughtful advice in a timely manner.

She provided me strategic guidance on how to put my personal stories and essay questions together. More importantly, she knew how to motivate me to discover personal highlights, as well as my uniqueness. Although some of these are normally overlooked by ourselves, it turns out they did help me stand out among those applicants with similar applicants. Connie is awesome!

Additionally, she is really good at motivating me to go through everything to find what I truly want to do. This enlightenment closely connected the dots of my personal files together, resulting in a well-prepared application. Moreover, she held a mock interview with me and provided detailed insight. I can confidently say that without her help, I may not have gotten into my top choice of school.

Overall, Connie is not only an excellent person, but also a professional consultant. Our collaboration went well and smoothly. Thus, I highly recommend Connie to other applicants!

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I am an Indian applicant coming from a highly competitive pool. Hoping to apply in Round 1 for the Fall, 2018 enrollment, I reached to about 20+ top admission consulting firms from all over the world. Of all the consultants I spoke with, my interaction with Regina from Admissionado was certainly the best. Even though I had a good GMAT (760), I liked the fact how she was interested in my story and my aspirations contrary to many of the other consultants who were mainly interested in numbers. Our conversation was very personal, and I felt that she believed in my story. It was extremely important for me to work with someone who is positive about making things happen than with someone who’d tell me to aim lower and focuses more on data points/GMAT.

I signed up for the Deluxe package as I knew nothing about the whole MBA admission process. Thankfully, Regina was patient with me, educating me on the entire process step by step. It started with me filling out a long questionnaire, which pretty much captured every important aspect of my life. After which, I had a discovery/strategy session with her wherein we discussed what my goals are, how do these goals relate to my prior experience, why do I want an MBA and what schools would be a good fit for me. That call really helped me in finalizing the schools I could apply to and to begin researching on them. To top that, Regina was super responsive in putting up an application timeline to make sure that we meet individual college’s deadline comfortably.

Once I had some clarity on the pointers we discussed, I put up the first draft of my essays. Now that I look back, I will admit that the first draft of my essays was horrible. After reviewing the first draft, Regina dissected every single line of my essay, questioning my plans and asking clarifying questions. I was amazed to see the level of thought she had put in those essays. Given that I never wanted someone else to tweak my choice of words, I appreciated how she put her questions in comments instead of making any direct edits. We went back and forth for about 6-7 drafts, but every time, she motivated me by saying that we are getting closer and that we will do this as many times as it takes to get it polished nicely. I got multiple interview calls after I submitted my Round 1 applications. I was sort of nervous about those as the last time I sat for an interview was around 4 years ago when I got recruited in the firm I currently work with. To help me overcome that stress, Regina scheduled mock Skype interviews with me, making sure that I get that interview experience and be aware of how I come across.

My interviews went great, and I converted my top choice with scholarship – The Wharton School. I could have never done this without all the help and support I got from Regina and her super awesome team. Throughout the entire process, I found her like a friend with whom I could discuss all my silly questions. I can confidently say that she now knows me as much as most of my close friends and family. Overall, a five-star service!

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