Amazing experience with Margaret and Team!!

Strengths:

Communication, knowledge of admissions process, turnaround time and attention to detail, empathy, organization.

Would make the product better:

N/A

I worked with Margaret through SBC's "all-in" program and had an outstanding experience. I can't recommend her and the entire SBC team highly enough. Thanks to her coaching, I gained admittances to both HBS and Columbia (CBS)!

At the outset of my MBA admissions process I was hesitant to use a consultant due to the large price tag. I conducted extensive research, including looking at competitors Menlo Coaching and mbaMission, but ultimately decided to speak with the team at Stacy Blackman due to the thousands of positive online reviews and success stories. It was worth it.

SBC's approach is highly organized - I first spoke with Sarah, who helped connect me with Margaret through their "matchmaking process". Over the course of several weeks / months, Margaret and I conducted a series of exercises to organize my experiences into a succinct, compelling narrative. Margaret was diligent, organized, empathetic and really understood the admissions process at a deep level given her background as an HBS alum. I had a really difficult time condensing my experiences into 250-300 word essays, but Margaret's guidance and candid feedback helped me improve the quality of my essays and gave me confidence as I submitted my applications. I carried this confidence into my interviews (which Margaret of course helped me prep for), and ultimately think that I would not have gotten into HBS or CBS without her.

In addition to working with Margaret, I leveraged SBC's extensive resources to help understand the admissions process and improve my application. I used SBC's Vault (a repository of essays, interview transcripts, admissions guidance, etc. for most of the top 30 business schools worldwide) to read example essays from successful SBC clients and I took advantage of the "Flight test", where Beth (a third party reviewer and former MBA Admissions counselor) reviewed my application and provided advice specific to the schools I was applying for. These resources were invaluable as I conducted initial research on schools, drafted essays, finalized my application and conducted interview prep. From start to finish, I felt supported by the SBC Team and was challenged to improve (in a good way), which I think is what led to my acceptances. Margaret was responsive (often helping me revise drafts late at night or on tight timelines) and an absolute pleasure to work with, as was the entire SBC Team.