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Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Nonie Mackie
I mostly worked with Nonie on my INSEAD application. I also briefly worked with Caroline, who helped me polish my final drafts.
Nonie has been the real superstar in my successful journey to INSEAD. Everything about her is Gold! Her honesty and open-mindedness are the biggest hallmarks of her coaching attributes. She has been pleasantly honest about her opinions and feedback throughout the application process, even if that meant more re-work, drafts and revisions. She has a tremendous eye for detail and helped me rectify things that are sometimes easy to overlook. Nonie is also extremely open-minded, flexible and accommodating. She never restricted my chain of thoughts; she always encouraged me to write different narratives and her insightful critique eventually helped me select the narratives that best showcased my winning attributes and presented me in the best light possible. Although, I started working on my application quite late into Round 1, and hence was always racing against time to submit my application by the Round 1 Deadline, Nonie never allowed me to settle for less or compromise on the quality of any aspect of my application for the sake of meeting deadlines. In fact, Nonie powered me throughout the journey, especially at times when I felt that I might not meet the Round 1 deadline. Despite the zonal time difference between UAE and Singapore, Nonie was very flexible, responsive and her turnaround time was exceptional. Her feedbacks were succinct, crystal clear, and extremely constructive. Nonie leveraged her tremendous knowledge of INSEAD to help me create a bullet proof strategy for my INSEAD application.
However it was not all tough love from Nonie all the time. She displayed abundant sensibility when I shared a few of my personal stories with her. She helped me allay my anxieties and overcome my inhibitions. The mock interviews with Nonie were a lot of fun. I feel, this is where the student-coach relationship really came to life and started thriving on an entirely different level of comfort and camaraderie. Nonie's care and coaching was extremely personal. I could feel that she was really invested, almost like a stakeholder, in my INSEAD dream, and when time came, she seamlessly switched gears from being my essay critic to becoming my biggest supporter. She championed me and positively reinforced my thoughts right until the decision day. Her confidence in my candidacy eventually became the cornerstone of my own belief, faith and confidence. With, Nonie beside me, I never felt alone in the journey - She not only kept me in the race all the time, but also helped me get over the line. I am absolutely indebted to her.
While Nonie was the Superstar of my INSEAD application journey, I would like to remember Caroline as the real Rockstar of my application. Having been the MBA gatekeeper at INSEAD admissions for several years, and having shaped the application procedure herself, Caroline sprinkled the much desired magic dust on my application that quite literally transformed my solid application to a sparkling one. Caroline stressed on brevity, simplified complexities and helped me make my application a breezy read. Her comment's were razor sharp and succinct. Caroline's initial assessment and feedback about my goal was also a massive help as it genuinely made me rethink about my career goals, propelled me towards a more realistic goal and definitely helped me avoid any potential red flags in the minds of the AdCom regarding my post MBA employability. In the end when Caroline, who herself made the final decision for more than 34000 applicants during her time at INSEAD, told me "I enjoyed reading your essays", I did feel a lot more positive and optimistic about clicking that "SUBMIT" button, than I would have felt if I did not have Caroline's blessings.
Succeeding in my INSEAD application, while being a part of the most overly represented demographic (Indian Male Engineer), on the wrong end of the 20's, with a modest GMAT score, a young family, a very demanding work schedule, and no plan B (INSEAD was the only school I applied to) could not have been possible had it not been for Nonie and Caroline, and Matt (who posited a reservoir of optimism, faith, belief and encouragement in me right at the beginning, in the initial free consultation). As Gordon Gekko said “The most valuable commodity I know of is information”, leveraging the collective insider knowledge of INSEAD was my biggest advantage of working with the Fortuna Dream Team. The recipe for success at Fortuna pivots on a fine balance between the various stakeholders at play - the coach, the mentor and the applicant - In my honest opinion the balance, as it is, is perfect.
Therefore, Fortuna's Dream Team receives my highest and strongest recommendation.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Taniel Chan
Taniel Chan went above and beyond in helping me prepare for the Harvard Business School 2+2 application. He gave me very high quality, timely, and definitive feedback on everything from my resume to internship opportunities that I was considering. He is very experienced with this process and made me feel very comfortable following his advice every step of the way.
I could always count on Taniel to listen to and understand my story, and give me personalized advice that you could never find in a business school admissions book. While being very definitive in his answers and helping me prepare the best application possible, Taniel was supportive and encouraging every step of the way. With his help, Harvard Business School's 11% acceptance rate seemed much less daunting. I would recommend his services to anyone who is seriously considering business school -- it is such a competitive process, you want to make sure that you are in the right hands.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Karen Ponte
I started looking at MBA applications last year, after a few years of considering an MBA an decided to go with Fortuna for some assistance during the process. After filling out the strategy form, Karen and I worked on application essays extensively. Based on my prior experiences, I filled out the essays and Karen assisted me in refining these essays, with comments sent to me normally within a few hours. The whole application process is generally stressful anyways but Karen assisted me in focusing on important aspects of the application. Karen was extremely helpful during the interview process as well and the mock interviews helped in calming the nerves. I would definitely recommend Karen as she was immensely helpful during the whole process, especially at times when you get a mind blank or a mini writer's block. The final essays were then reviewed by Caroline Diarte, with important additional input on what should be highlighted. I enjoyed the whole process as there were important topics discussed, highlighted which I wouldn't have thought about to state in the essays.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Malvina Miller Complainville
Malvina was absolutely brilliant to work with and I would highly recommend her to anyone applying to top business schools. She was always available to offer in-depth guidance (even at very short notice and just before imminent deadlines) and provide reassurance. She has a deep knowledge of the inner workings of top schools and I have no doubt that I wouldn't have been anywhere near as successful with my applications had it not been for her. I would highly recommend her to anybody considering applying to business school, especially international students for whom the whole process can be quite unfamiliar.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Susanne Peltz
It was a pleasure working with Susanne (and the Fortuna team) on my application, a genuinely good experience. She helped me look back at everything I had done to this point and helped me convey that to the admissions committee in a comprehensive and coherent manner. Susanne excelled at finding the balance between being a professional and someone whom you can connect with - she was critical of my work when it needed improvement and instilled confidence in me when I needed the boost. I trusted her with my application and was not disappointed. I was happy even before I got the news from the MBA programs I had applied to because I learned a lot about myself through the process with Susanne. I would definitely recommend working with Susanne and the Fortuna team to anyone considering doing an MBA.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Caroline Diarte Edwards
I come from an overrepresented pool of applicants: Indian, Male, IT Engineer = 3 strikes right off the bat.
Given my handicaps, I realized to succeed in admissions I needed to work with the best consultants.
Seeing as Fortuna has a strong record I set up a call with Matt Symonds. Matt was so welcoming and helpful I decided to pursue working with Fortuna further.
Next, I got paired up with Natasha De Masi and Caroline Edwards. They setup a call to understand me and my profile better. Right from the get-go it was evident that they understood the challenges I had to overcome in my profile and how to bring out my advantages. Also they were really helpful in shaping my essays to make me stand out amongst the crowd.
I was incredibly impressed by their dedication to help me succeed. Natasha kept me honest and motivated to get things done. She has an incredible eye for detail and is a magician with words. At times I felt she was more invested in my application and success than I was!!
When I clicked submit for my application I felt that regardless of the outcome I had done my best and that working with Fortuna was the correct decision.
Ultimately I got admitted to INSEAD and given the odds in my profile this was nothing short of a miracle. However, this wouldnt have been possible without working with Natasha, Caroline and the rest of the Fortuna team!! Thanks Fortuna!!
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Susanne Peltz
I decided to go ahead with Fortuna after having a 30 minute consultation with Matt Symonds. I was very impressed that he had taken the time to thoroughly research my background and it was evident that Fortuna has expert insight into INSEAD admissions, having many consultants who have previously worked in the admissions team (e.g. Caroline and Susanne). INSEAD has a notoriously long application with many essay questions and a video component, but Susanne immediately put me at ease. She knew which aspects of my background to highlight and how to best position my story. She also gave me an action plan with deadlines for the various milestones, which helped to break down the daunting application process. She thoroughly reviewed my drafts and gave me detailed and straightforward comments, and was always responsive on email. The entire process was stress-free as I felt I was working with someone very experienced. I can’t imagine getting through it without her!
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Taniel Chan
Having unexpectedly received an interview for HBS, I decided to seek some professional advice for the interview itself, and contacted Veritas Prep, who put me in touch with Taniel.
Despite being in the middle of his exam week, Taniel was extremely helpful and responsive to my messages at short notice.
Taniel's extensive experience and advice were invaluable in helping to situate the mentality of the interviewer, and bringing out the best mentality for the interviewee. We went through a series of mock interviews, and I was given feedback on improving the logical flow of each answer, as well as general advice about Harvard and the MBA program.
I would definitely recommend Taniel's help for anyone interested in advice and help for their MBA applications.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant
Katherine helped me craft my successful MBA story. Brainstorming together, we developed my MBA story that focused uniquely on my background, personality, and goals. Specifically, she saw that my experience as an athlete, self-taught engineer, and co-founder were the experiences best to focus on in my applications. She helped me see that I needed to show schools that I was an expert who would provide a unique perspective in the MBA classroom. With her guidance, I improved my essays and become a better interviewee. Thanks to Katherine's help and support, I was admitted at MIT Sloan which perfectly aligns with my interests in entrepreneurship and computer science.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Julie Ferguson
I am so excited to write a review for Julie, who diligently worked towards strengthening my applications and preparing me for interviews. I particularly appreciated her candid approach to helping me understand the strengths and weaknesses of my profile, from the perspective of the admissions committee. Through multiple reviews and feedback, she encouraged me to go deep within myself and come up with the most impactful work/life experiences I have had, thus making my application stand out. Her mock interviews and subsequent feedback, ensured that I took my best and authentic self to the actual interviews and converted both my interview calls into admits - Kellogg and Cornell. I highly recommend Julie and Fortuna Admissions to serious aspirants for top Business schools.