*** Deluxe Package Reviews

I had a great experience working with John at Admissionado. My stats are on the low end (325 GRE, 3.0 gpa), so I really needed to knock my essays out of the park. My background is also pretty unconventional, so I needed a lot of guidance crafting my story. John and the rest of the team at Admissionado really came through. I was ultimately offered admission to my two target schools, Fuqua and McCombs, both with scholarships.

The Admissionado team is very professional. They're also just super friendly. John was always very quick to respond to my emails or to jump on the phone. My edits always came back within 72 hours, and sometimes earlier. I managed to put together two strong applications in only five weeks. Also, the interview prep was KEY. John really got me in shape and boosted my confidence.

I really appreciated that Admissionado provided me with an entire team to work on my applications. John was my consultant, but there were a few other editors who reviewed my resume and gave feedback on my essay drafts and LORs. I think all of the eyes on my applications really made a difference.

If you're in the process of looking for a consultant, I would definitely suggest filling out their questionnaire and doing the one hour consultation. As soon as I had my consult with John, I knew he was the guy to help me through this process. And I'm so happy with how it turned out. Thanks John!!!

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I worked with Damon and Claudia from Admissionado and every aspect of the experience was great, from being able to talk to Damon before I committed to buying the package to getting congratulatory follow ups once I got into Stanford! I interviewed all the consulting companies I could find, and felt far more comfortable with Admissionado than anyone else.

The preliminary deep-dive phone conversations were tremendously valuable in terms of reflecting on what really matters to me, what I've done in my life up and how that's shaped who I am, and where I want to go from here. Damon was also extremely helpful in the essay-crafting process, adding clarity and impact while still using my own words. I changed the direction of my essay several times, and Damon stayed agile and flexible in his thinking.

The Admissionado also took a lot of the stress involved with the applications off my plate by providing a clear timetable and regular check points to make sure I stayed on track.

The interview prep was also very helpful in terms of making sure I knew how to clearly get my messages across.

I could not recommend Damon and Admissionado more highly. I'm going to Stanford GSB in the Fall, and I couldn't have done it without them. Five stars!

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INSEAD was my dream school and unlike advised by most, I wanted to apply there first.

The idea of going through the essay process alone was however the most intimidating one: scared that I would not answer questions properly/fully, that I would not dig deep enough, or that I would leave out a what would seem insignificant yet impactful detail. To avoid all the above, I decided to get help.

I discovered consulting firms through GMATclub, and once I pocketed my GMAT (700), I decided to get in touch. The first firm I contacted was Admissionado—though it could have been any other as I was also eyeing Accepted and Stacy Blackman, the INSEAD specialist.

I started by answering the bunch of essay-like questions on the website and sending my resume to book the free consultation session with Admissionado.
I liked that the consultant assigned to me, Stefanie Barlow, was from the same industry (Real Estate). During the consultation, through skype, she pointed out what was great about my profile (to be highlighted) and what was not. I particularly liked that she shared my view about INSEAD being a great fit for me. :)
The consultation went well enough that I decided not to get in touch with other consultants. I unbundled the Deluxe package and only went for the essays, the LORS, and the Resume. I later signed up for the interview preps.

Stefanie and I did a massive work on essays, figuring out my hits and my best stories before working on the real thing. I liked the deep introspection process: action (example)/result (example)/learning (example)...
By the time I started writing my essays in July, I already had a lot to tell and during the long ping pong sessions, I concentrated on clarifying my stories and bringing in additional examples.

My recommenders also went through the same process, though to a smaller scale. That said, that was enough to make them eager to see me admitted, so that they wouldn’t have to go through the process again!

I would also add that the consultant is not there to get the job done for us. He/She will not babysit or send reminder emails to let us know that our deadlines are around the corner and that we should be editing our essays on time. He/She is there to help us produce the best version of our essays, by pointing out what we are doing right and what we are not, and making us work for every bit of it. Stefanie did that “avec brio”!

All in all, I enjoyed working with Stefanie—she was very reactive and lively, and the Admissionado team quite vibrant (Hi Claudia)! There was something bubbly about Admissionado that made the throbbing essay redaction process almost seem palatable!

I got admitted to INSEAD, with a merit scholarship based on the quality of my application ( before I finished my interviews). So I guess spending time with Admissionado was definitely worth it!

So thank you Stefanie!

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Without a clear post-MBA goal and a problematic undergraduate GPA, I knew I had to invest in an admission consultant to build an outstanding application for my target schools (M7/Top 15).
Therefore, I spent a month researching different admission consultancies. My experience with Admissionado has been stellar from the get-go. Of all the consultancies I spoke to, Admissionado was not only prompt and enthusiastic in their responses, but also able to partner me with Damon who specializes in my candidate pool and is well-versed in the admission process. I truly felt I was being valued as a customer and invested as an applicant with Admissionado. I ended up purchasing 4-school deluxe package.

Damon is Stanford MBA himself and has worked on both sides of the admission process. He leveraged his experience and knowledge in working with Asian candidates and worked patiently with me to come up with a unique admission strategy. The goal was to overcome a spotty academic record and make me stand out from a competitive applicant pool. I had all the material - professional progression, leadership and extracurriculars, and a strong GMAT. But it was with Damon’ s help that I was able to weave a compelling story into my essays.

Damon was also skillful in choosing recommenders. Instead of two work references, we went with one work reference and the other from my volunteer advisor, a strategy which further differentiated me.

Damon and Claudia were great in communications. Damon stuck to the 2 business day turn-around and acted as a sounding board whenever I came up with new crazy ideas for my essays. The Admissionado team understand very well the grueling and taxing nature of the application process. They supported and cheered for me when I was close to burn-out near the end.

I had two calls with Damon for interview prep. The first lasted about an hour as an overview and the second a mock interview. Damon drilled me on my story in the mock interview, forcing me come up with better answers. Going through a stressful (in a good way) mock interview with Damon definitely boosted my confidence in dealing with unexpected or difficult situations. Thankfully, my interview went quite smoothly and I was eventually admitted to CBS. I’m very excited to start my new life next year in NYC! I know I couldn’t have done it without the help of Damon and Claudia.

That being said, I would like to add a word of caution to future applicants: Do not expect your consultant/case manager to hand-hold you in the process. At the end of the day, it is up to you, the applicant, to own your application.

I would recommend Admissionado without reservation. Good luck to all!

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Admissionado is easily the best thing that could have happened to the MBA admissions process. After realizing that the consultant I had initially hired was not providing the service I needed, I sought out Admissionado based on the recommendation of a friend. The consultant I was paired with (John) could not have been more perfect. He was knowledgeable about every school’s program and what worked/doesn’t work for each individual application. Not only were his technical skills exactly what someone would want in an admissions consultant (excellent writer, careful attention to detail and an ability to turn my story into a strong application) but the passion he had for ensuring the success of his clients was unparalleled.
John went above and beyond for me throughout the entire process. Being flexible and making time for *multiple* weekend and evening skype sessions was just the start of his dedication. He guided me through the many iterations of my school list, personally helped finalize my resume and essays, prepped me tirelessly for interviews and reviewed every last detail of my applications before they were submitted. While all of these examples are just a few of the many times John served as a sounding board throughout my process, the most telling moment was when I realized I had completely botched the short answers on my #1 school application 3 days before the deadline. I sent John a panicked e-mail letting him know that the 500 word short answers I had written were supposed to be 500 characters. He responded the moment he saw my e-mail and spent the rest of the day (no exaggeration, 5+ hours) re-working the short answers to be ready in time for the deadline.
I could go on for days as to why Admissionado is the right choice if you are looking for a consultant (and why John is the best). I would absolutely recommend the deluxe package even if you only do it for your top 1 or 2 schools – it’s worth the cost!!! The team spends hours getting to know you and your profile, pulling out strengths you don’t even know you have and using those strengths to craft the most airtight applications. All of the effort that John put it to set me apart from other applicants paid off as I was admitted to my #1 school!! I will be forever grateful to the team at Admissionado (specifically John, Claudia and Lauren) and am genuinely disappointed that my process with them is over and I don’t have an excuse to chat with their team regularly!

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When I took the GMAT in 2012, I wasn’t really into the nitty-gritty of B-school application and I simply sent my score (760) to the Top 5 US MBA programs I had heard about. However, my interactions with the B-school community of applicants and admits over the next 4 years began to give me a clearer picture of the competition and by the time I finally decided to take the plunge in 2015, I knew the odds were stacked against me.

I am an Indian Male with an engineering degree from a Tier 3 university in India and all my work experience within my family business (revenues > $3m annually). I didn’t even have proper clients or supervisors at my business which made selecting recommenders much more challenging than it usually is. Although, I had some strong entrepreneurial experience in Africa and had volunteered for child rights protection for almost 5 years, I began to think the US Top 10 was beyond me. I conducted informational interviews with several admissions consultants (extremely skeptical of their value addition) and had one EXTREMELY FAMOUS consultant tell me why I would be competitive only at sub 20 schools. (read Kelley, Emory etc.)

Enter Admissionado and more importantly Mark Lellouch, who came in with a reputation for non- traditional candidates. The first things that struck me about Mark were his optimism and attention to detail. While filling out one of those drab info forms, I took the liberty of sending him links to some of my leisure writings (not that these were asked for) and he came back to me with genuine appreciation. My first chat with him was conversational yet reflective, as we talked not only about my work, but also my business and family. This represented a genuine attempt on his part to understand where I came from, my strengths and weaknesses and by the time I got off the phone, I knew if I wanted to work with someone, it was him.

After agreeing to work towards my DREAM school, I began sending in drafts for my essays and resume. Within 48 hours, I would get back documents filled with red and two short, but very important words – Nicely Done. Looking back today, I feel that the MBA application process is quite draining and these small “pats on the back” go a long way towards sustaining the motivation required to develop strong applications. His feedback always forced me to “get to the point” in the “simplest way possible” while maintaining my unique identity as an applicant. Working with him was almost like one of those career assessment exercises as I began noticing how he identified leadership stories I had discarded and gave life to a resume that had boring written all over it. He even took the time to answer some really silly questions – the kind one asks when obsessing over applications a bit too much.

Apart from the school we worked towards, Mark’s guidance helped me shape applications for 5 other schools as well. By April 2016, I had been admitted to 2 Top 15 schools and a Top 20 school with a Full Ride. However, I was waitlisted at my dream school.

Once again, Mark and I got to work developing a waitlist strategy that included a detailed update letter and a new letter of recommendation. After spending 6 months on the waitlist, I was finally admitted to my dream school. And as always, Mark’s reply to this long-awaited news read – NICELY DONE!

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While in the process of applying to the top B schools in US, I reviewed and held calls with many MBA admissions consultants, globally. One of them happened to be Admissionado. The first thing I noticed was their professional yet engaging style of communication – Claudia Aliperta, the Director of Operations, sent me a warm welcome email and introduced me to Leslie Curry, who sent up a free 30-minute consultation call to review my resume, ask about my strategy (if any) for choosing and applying to B schools and also a few basic questions about my background. Leslie was so very helpful, bright and thoughtful in that 30 minutes that I was sold! I had spoken with consultants from 6 agencies in my home country and US but none of them were as polite yet sharp in catching onto opportunities of improvement in a candidate. I signed on for the Deluxe 3-school package and insisted on having Leslie as my adviser.
Leslie is an MBA graduate from Darden but she holds a wealth of knowledge and resources about all the top B schools in US. When we first started working together, my application list was broad and unstructured. I didn’t have any logical reasons for even applying to some of them! Leslie took the effort to understand my strengths (through a very self-reflective and insightful questionnaire) and developed a matrix to help me rank the schools. This was indeed very helpful. Once I had my top 3 schools, we set to work on my resume. Leslie helped me bullet-point my achievements and even bring up points I had forgotten, by regularly asking me about my past work and volunteering activities. She didn’t exactly grill, but dove in to each story of mine so that she could better understand me and qualities I could express. Once we got my resume refined, I began writing the essays. I didn’t want my essays written for me and Admissionado ensures that you do the meat of the work while they guide you in polishing up what you want to convey, which is exactly what I was looking for. I had crazy ideas on why XX School and why I was a perfect fit for YY program, but Leslie broke it down, helped me structure it and even build on it. All the ideas were mine, but she would review them and even pull in a second pair of professional eyes (for a well-rounded perspective) and we would work on them in a timely manner until I was satisfied.
Once I got interview calls, we setup 2 mock interviews over video conference, to help me get an idea of the standard questions asked and how to best be prepared for them. It was great practice and Leslie shared a bunch of questions that I should expect and with her constructive feedback, I drafted my best answers and also, my best style for delivering them.
We hit all three schools and I am extremely proud to say that I am now attending the school that was my top choice. Leslie and I’ve been in touch thereafter even because I know this process helped me gain a friend and a well-wisher, not just a professional adviser. She was my coach and cheerleader at the same time. So for that, Admissionado gets a top rating from me, and I’d recommend it to all my friends and anyone looking for a little bit of help in their B school applications. It’s worth every $! Definitely ask for Leslie if you want someone who is as passionate about your journey as you and a true expert in this field.

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Securing an admission in a top 20 MBA school is never an easy job. Its even worse with a GPA of 3.11 and a GMAT of 710 while being an Indian born male. My consultant Leslie was very honest about my situation and odds when I spoke with her. My very first interaction with Leslie was enough for me to make my decision to go with Admissionado. Out of at least 7-8 conversations I had with as many admission consulting companies prior to choosing Leslie at Admissionado, the passion and involvement that Leslie displayed in my pursuit was unparalleled. She was a great guide, mentor and would absolutely leave no stone unturned when it came to extracting highpoints from my career and life. She helped me take those ideas and craft them into great essays. Leslie was also monumental in helping me finalize my colleges and prioritize how I should distribute my resources while applying to these programs. These helped me not keep any of the elements of the admission process such as informational interviews, thank you emails etc on the back burner. The quality of comments provided after each revision was very high and the communication was extremely prompt. I am writing this note after the end of my first year at B-school waiting to start my summer internship in 4 weeks as a management consultant. Which is what I said I wanted to do in summer, in my essays. Looking back at the admission process, there is only one thing I would change - start working with Leslie and Admissionado earlier, so I could get more money from my college by applying in round 1!!

Very important after thought: Leslie also helped me successfully negotiate an increase in scholarship after admission when I retook the GMAT exam and scored 730. Result: 50% tuition scholarship.

All in all. You are in good hands with Leslie. Start the process early with Admissionado and be honest and patient with your consultant with all the million questions they will have for you in the interest of bringing the best story out for the essays. It won't be an easy process. But like all awesome things in life, getting into a top 20 Business school is not easy and you want the best people with holistic guidance on your side when you are competing with stellar applicants from all around the world.

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Before I start Admissionado, I was skeptical. Personally I don't believe that someone could get me into the place that I cannot get myself into, especially with my own professional service background. However, Claudia spent so much time talking to me answering my questions to get through my hesitation.

I was in a tricky position before I apply to CBS - I DIYed 2 applications before this and none of them ended with even an interview. I quit my job for personal reason so I was applying without a job. On a candidate strength level, my GMAT is border line ( I retook it 3X but ended with even lower scores every time) given the competitive demographic I was in and I was not involved in any leaderships in NPOs.

Phillip spent more than 1 hour on the phone with me to analyze the strength and weakness of my candidacy. He provided a detailed analysis over my strength, including some I did not even see for myself such as I had some great involvement with people in my side business so that compensates any lack of extracurricular after I started work.

The essay went back and forth more than 5 times. Phillip really provided meaningful comments in terms of giving evidence to support the sentences that I was writing. He also provided the sentence structures that I can start with for the examples. For a English-as-second-language candidate, those comments were so helpful for me to write concise but well- supported paragraphs throughout the whole application.

Overall, I only applied CBS and got into my dream school. I would have not done it without Adminssionado.

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I chose Admissionado based on the positive feedback from my friend, and also the online reviews. I am very pleased with their services, and highly recommend them to anyone looking to give that boost to his/her application. I opted for the Jr. Deluxe package. Yaron was fantastic, and I couldn't have asked for a better consultant. He was very thorough with his comments, responded promptly to any questions, and prepared me well for the interview. The rates at Admissionado are also very reasonable compared to other consultants out there, which is also a bonus if you're mindful of the budget.

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