Solid Investment toward MBA Admissions (Lisa Cummings)

Overall, Stratus was a great investment toward my MBA admissions and Lisa Cummings is awesome to work with. I applied to six schools total R1, two using Stratus. I interviewed with 5/6, was accepted by 3/6 with $$-$$$, and was waitlisted at 1/6. I will be attending an M7 with a $80k scholarship next year (one of the schools I worked on with Lisa).

After months of debating whether I should hire an admissions consultant and setting up informational interviews with multiple companies (including Stacy Blackman, Fortuna, MBAMission, Career Protocol, and MBA Prep School), I ultimately chose Stratus for their team-based approach to reviewing candidates' materials and the fact that their consultants were realistic but optimistic. What turned me off about some of the other consulting firms during the initial calls was that they took one look at my profile (F/Asian/Consulting) and my GMAT score (720) and discouraged me from applying to certain schools. This wasn't the case at Stratus. Although Lisa was my primary consultant, everyone I interacted with, including Jennifer Jackson and Melisa Prevost, was extremely helpful and encouraging.

I chose to work with Lisa because she is straightforward and efficient yet thorough (and yes, I could get this from our introduction call). We spent the spring brainstorming and developing my story and resume. She made sure to capture my entire story in a thoughtful manner. She also ensured that I did enough of my own research on the schools so I knew what I was getting into when applying to each. Then, over the summer we worked on multiple iterations of my admissions essays. This phase was the most valuable part of the experience. Lisa quickly turned around drafts of my essays (1-2 business days) and provided incisive feedback. After we finished my essays, she sent them to an unbiased school expert for a final review. In the fall, Lisa conducted mock interviews which prepared me for all of the schools I applied to. When it came to making my decision between schools, all of the introspection and reflection I had done in the spring made my decision easy.

Lisa is super responsive and flexible. She caters to your style (I preferred occasional check-in calls with frequent emails). She was always available to answer any of my questions, particularly as I was filling out my applications. She also went above and beyond - even though I only worked with her on two schools, she provided tips and advice for the other schools I applied to as well.

While hiring an admissions consultant can certainly be pricey, I think it is well worth the investment to have a team of professionals supporting you along the way. It is also a small cost in exchange for peace of mind throughout the process (i.e, essentially a project manager to keep you on track and an editor to help you review), and in my case, help getting into my dream school with a significant scholarship.