Fortuna Admissions Admissions Consulting Reviews

When I began the MBA application process, I spoke with 8 different advisors. Ultimately, I felt Silpa was the best choice for my consultant & I am happy I chose her. She has the full package – an impressive background, is articulate and goal-oriented, and has a calming, encouraging personality. I’m fortunate to have worked with her for almost a year between Round 1 & 2.

She took an overwhelming process with many parts (career vision, LOR, essays, etc.) and made it easy for me to go step-by-step until I finished 3 applications. She kept me on schedule and provided meaningful advice on how to showcase myself in the best possible light. Because of her help, I’ll be starting at Wharton this summer! I would definitely recommend her as a consultant.

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To state upfront: Rachel is an incredible coach and I highly recommend working with her, to any aspiring MBA applicant. Before getting an admissions consultant, I was overwhelmed by the whole application process and found myself procrastinating and thinking in a very linear fashion. Ever since our first meeting, Rachel helped paint a picture of what the end-to-end process would look like, and we put forward a plan that I could hold myself to account. That said, she was flexible if some things items were slightly delayed, especially if communicated in advance. She invested the time upfront to get to know me and my motivations which really helped when we brainstormed stories for the essays. Some specific characteristics that made my experience with Rachel exceptional:

Practicality – she is very straightforward and clear in communication. It helped to know upfront what the strengths and weaknesses were in my application and obtain suggestions from her on how to best highlight my strengths (in my main essays), and alleviate my weaknesses (leveraging additional/ optional essays that the school provided)

Responsiveness – she was very responsive and always willing to help. Especially in the (rather stressful) lead up to application submission deadlines. I always felt that I had someone on my team

Thoroughness – she is extremely thorough but does so in an efficient way. Rachel is very good at calling out when elements/ ideas are out of place and asked provoking questions which helped me to reframe the next attempt. She also helped a great deal when it came to interview prep

Going the extra mile – there are countless somewhat “little” things which made my experience with Rachel all the more memorable. For instance, calling me after my GRE (2nd attempt) to see how it went, helping me navigate the challenging waitlist process, and in general displaying an incredible amount of genuineness and empathy during the ups and downs of the process

I had a lovely experience with Rachel, and fully recommend working with her. She has most definitely played a large part in me achieving my goal of doing an MBA at one of my top choice schools!

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I would HIGHLY recommend Heidi! She is truly experienced, super easy to talk to and work with. I first met Heidi 2 years ago when I was thinking about applying to MBAs then but later decided not to. Heidi was very understanding and said that we can pick up whenever I'm ready. I started to work with Heidi again this year and she helped me get into LBS! What I appreciated most about working with her was that beyond the applications themselves, her worksheets and processes helped me reflect on my skills and what I want to do. Throughout the process, she was extremely responsive - always there to answer my questions and help improve my writings. She really hears me and helped me frame my stories in the best way. I truly enjoyed working with her and would highly recommend her to any applicants!

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I worked with Silpa for 4 months and used her services for Round 2 MBA applications to Stanford GSB and Chicago Booth; her advice, guidance, and knowledge were fundamental to my admittance to both schools. I encourage anyone, particularly applicants with average test scores and/or a non-traditional MBA applicant profile, to employ her expertise early and enthusiastically!

Silpa’s superpower is her ability to help clients maximize the impact of their stories whilst ensuring those clients remain true to their experiences and values. Furthermore, her deep knowledge of the application process is incredibly reassuring and ensures applicants produce quality essays and short answers that demonstrate the attributes and virtues that top business schools are looking for.

In addition to her professional proficiency, Silpa’s kind and supportive demeanor make her not only a pleasure to work with but also a welcome ally during the arduous MBA application process.

Thanks, Silpa!

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I had the pleasure of working with Melissa as my MBA consultant, and I’m happy to say that with her guidance, I was accepted into both Yale and Booth with scholarships of $100k and $90k, respectively.

Despite my initial concerns about working with a larger consulting company, Melissa’s personal approach made it feel like a true collaboration. She took the time to get to know me personally and helped me to craft an application that truly reflected my goals, aspirations, and experiences.

One of Melissa’s greatest strengths was her ability to draw out my strengths and highlight them in a way that felt authentic and compelling. Throughout the application process, she was a constant source of encouragement and support, providing straightforward feedback that helped me stay motivated and focused.

I believe that I wouldn’t have been accepted into my dream schools without Melissa’s guidance and support. She is a skilled and dedicated consultant, and I would highly recommend her services to anyone looking to make the most of their MBA application.

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Rachel was always focused on what was best for me. In our first couple of meetings, we began by exploring why I wanted to go to graduate school before even getting to the where or how. With her guidance, I ultimately decided that applying to less schools was a better fit for my circumstances despite the obvious incentives to apply to more. Her integrity made it easy to trust her, a trust that made the rest of the application process so much more comfortable because of its inherently personal nature. Rachel is also why I found my authentic voice during the application writing process itself. She was uncanny at helping me identify, highlight, and expand on the pieces of my journey and ambitions that are core to who I am. In our brainstorming sessions she listened intently and asked incisive questions that helped me uncover insights about myself that I had never considered. In the writing phase, she had an instinctive feel for which pieces of my writing were sincere and which were banal, and never hesitated to push me to promote the former and cull the latter to the tune of almost 40 drafts of one of my applications. From the macro broad themes of an essay to single word choices in a resume, she was a patient partner, never letting me compromise on sharing the most sincere version of myself. Even if I had not gotten into school, I was proud of the journey because I knew that we had left it all on the table. Fortunately, in large part because of her steadfast support, I was accepted into the Harvard Kennedy School's and Harvard Business School's joint MPP/MBA program.

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During my MBA application process, I had the absolute pleasure to work with Jenifer who truly surpassed all my expectations as a coach and mentor. Through her guidance, expertise, and unwavering support, I was admitted to HBS, Stanford GSB, and Wharton / Lauder. She has my unequivocal endorsement.

I worked with Jenifer through Fortuna's comprehensive school packages. Ever since my first conversation with her, she showed complete investment in me and my story as someone from a lower income, diverse, immigrant background. She dedicated a lot of time and energy to get to know ME - understand my journey, character, and aspirations - outside of just the applications, which made me feel like I always had a trusted friend and supporter in my corner throughout the process.

Once we had established a strong foundation, Jenifer amazed me yet again with her incredible talent for storytelling and coaching. She spent countless hours between R1 and R2 helping me reflect on all the pivotal moments and meaningful experiences in my life. Given her extensive coaching experience, Jenifer always knew the exact probing questions to ask to get me to reflect further and bring out truly authentic stories and ultimately helped me craft essays I was proud to submit. Her comments were always timely, thorough, and thoughtful, and made a meaningful difference in my writing process.

Jenifer is truly a one-of-a-kind coach, and her expertise, passion and dedication are unparalleled. I will always 100% recommend her to anyone going through the process.

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I worked with Melissa over the past few months on my INSEAD application. I am happy to announce that I've been admitted to INSEAD!

I chose to work with Melissa and Fortuna Admissions because they are truly the experts when it comes to global MBA programs. Melissa has worked at INSEAD, and Caroline, one of the co-founders of Fortuna, was the Admissions Director at INSEAD for several years.

I was really nervous going into the application journey - MBA application process can be quite overwhelming! I felt reassured while working with Melissa - she is truly an INSEAD expert and knows exactly what the school is looking for in candidates. We worked together to craft my story that would make me stand out from other candidates. I felt that Melissa is superb when it comes to strategizing and communication - I was able to build a strong and impactful story thanks to Melissa. Melissa is highly effective too- she always responded to me within one or two business days!

Melissa is also very accomodating. Much of my work with Melissa was done through an online platform that Fortuna uses. I am someone who likes to build relationships over calls. Melissa was willing to meet me virtually to discuss my application and I appreciate that she was able to adapt to my working style.

I also liked how Caroline reviewed my application towards the end. Given her experience as an Admissions Director, she added great value to my application too.

I loved working with Fortuna because the coaches I've encountered at Fortuna work with great integrity. If you're looking for an admissions coach who will write your essays for you, Fortuna is not the right partner for you. Melissa didn't write a single sentence for me, but gave extremely detailed feedback on all of my essays. I truly believe that Melissa helped me to become a better writer.

Working with Melissa and the Fortuna team was truly an amazing experience. If you're looking for an MBA admissions coach, especially to get into top global MBA programs such as INSEAD and London Business School, I highly recommend that you work with Melissa.

Thank you Melissa and the Fortuna Admissions team!

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After deciding to pursue an elite MBA, I was admittedly skeptical of admissions consultants. Where they worth the cost? How much of an impact would they truly make? These were all questions in my head. Now, I know without a doubt that Emma Bond was responsible for pushing my MBA application above the pack and let to my ultimate acceptance into my top-choice program.

Emma brings an incredible amount of professional expertise, from interview coaching to essay phrasing & styling. Her warm demeanor, coupled with excellent wordsmithing and encouraging suggestions/support throughout the process leads me to only have positive things to say. We're maxed out at 5-stars, but Emma deserves 10-stars!!! I cannot recommend her enough to future MBA applicants.

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After speaking to several local and international consultants and being discouraged by a few, I was fortunate enough to have connected with Jenifer. When I reached out to Fortuna Admissions, I was very impressed by their approach of letting me have chemistry calls (also known as the free consultation call) where I was able to speak to 2 recommended coaches based on my profile and requirements. Both my chemistry conversations were remarkably positive, but with Jenifer, I connected instantly because of her genuine and warm personality and the fact that she took the time (and even went beyond the scheduled time) to get to know ME and MY expectations, even in our free consultation!
From the very beginning, Jenifer was incredibly insightful, organized, and professional - qualities that I was looking for in my MBA coach. She took the time to get to know me as a person, my history, my goals, and my unique strengths and weaknesses and then crafted a personalized plan that catered to my needs, including recommendation reviews, essay reviews, and interview preparation.
I received an acceptance with a $20K scholarship from one of my top 2 schools.
I truly believe that I could not have achieved this success without her help. Jenifer was instrumental in helping me find and articulate my vision and story, something that I had been struggling with for months. Jenifer was also very flexible with her approach. For example, there were times when I wanted to brainstorm some stories/ideas with her and felt that a call would be a better use of time as opposed to sharing a draft and she patiently agreed. Also, I appreciated the fact that she connected me with another Fortuna coach for the Mock interview since she was from one of my target schools.
There were times in this journey when the nerves got to me but my favorite quality about Jenifer was that throughout the process, she was a constant source of encouragement and support. Conversations with her would instill in me a sense of calm and confidence, which I think was the game changer in my MBA application journey.
Overall, I would highly recommend Jenifer to anyone seeking the perfect combination of an expert guide and a support system in their MBA application journey. She is truly exceptional, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with her!

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