Strengths:

Organized
Positive
Encouraging
Motivator
Timely
Sharp

Would make the product better:

N/A

Working with Michel through Fortuna Admissions was hands down the best decision I could have made for my full-time MBA applications. Having her as my coach directly correlated to 3 acceptances, 2 of which being M7 schools—note, I applied to a limited number of schools, so this was great news for me!

With lower test scores, I came into the application process with trepidation and uneasiness. I had no idea where to even start. Fortuna has clear instructions and friendly materials to guide you through each step of the process. However, Michel stepped in as a real mentor and force of encouragement. She crafted a personalized plan, timeline, and structure for my application process, allowing me to know what each week would bring. She helped centralize my “why MBA” and “why me” after just one or two meetings—she was helpful in breaking down my essays to be structurally sound, eloquent, and true to my tone/self. If you have no idea where to start, she will be sure to pull stories and career visions out of you! She knew exactly how to ensure that my essays held all the component needed while speaking to each individual school’s personality. Even when cutting essays down, she pushed to keep central sentences or moments that she knew were special glimpses into my character.

During interview season, Michel prepped me for each session, building my confidence. She gave great tips on when to add certain points about myself and when to wait for the next question. During interview prep, the network of Fortuna was powerful; they knew exactly what was coming and what has changed from previous years. Michel kept me calm throughout the whole process, especially since my background is a bit more unconventional. Each school has a different process, and yet, I felt like I knew exactly what was coming.

Overall, Michel is a VERY timely person. Her responses are quick and impactful. Michel holds a special talent and positivity that pushes you to show admissions committees the best version of yourself while feeling totally at ease. I’m sad our time working together has ended, and I can’t wait to keep her updated throughout my time at school!

I 100% recommend Michel!

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Strengths:

Amazing all around!

Would make the product better:

Nothing, the team is great!

Working with Sharon was one of the best decisions I made during the MBA application process.
I started out unsure about how to even begin the MBA application process, and Sharon reviewed my story and background and helped me understand where to begin—and more importantly, helped me believe in myself. That shift in confidence made a huge difference throughout the process.
She was incredibly knowledgeable about the MBA landscape, and it really showed. On the rare occasions she didn’t have an answer right away, she tapped into the broader Fortuna team—who clearly know the top programs inside and out—to make sure I always got thoughtful, informed guidance.
Sharon was also extremely available and responsive. Whether it was a big strategic question or something small, she was always there to talk things through, which made a stressful process feel much more manageable.
Her biggest impact was helping me shape a clear, authentic story that tied my background, goals, and each school together in a compelling way. And when it came to interviews, her preparation and feedback gave me a huge confidence boost.
I ended up getting into my dream school plus three others, and I genuinely don’t think I would have had the same outcome without her.
I can’t recommend Sharon highly enough.

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Strengths:

Comprehensive personalized thoughtful advice throughout the process

Would make the product better:

N/a, applications suck, Fortuna does not.

Heidi helped me immensely to refine my story, my why MBA, and career vision. She had a regular pace of asking probing questions that helped me think through so much more about my career, experience and self. We spent a lot of time on the first application, and it was so apparent with the next applications that all of that work paid off. Obviously the process was stressful, but I always felt confident that I was making the best choices and putting together the best application I was capable of. Heidi bent over backwards to make sure I felt as confident as possible submitting every application and going into every interview. I ended up getting into my second choice, and was just accepted off the waitlist to my top choice! I cannot recommend working with Heidi enough!

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Would make the product better:

n/a

Working with Bill Kooser at Fortuna Admissions was one of the best choices I made during my MBA journey. He helped me clarify my story, refine my career goals, and embrace the value of my nontraditional background. Bill didn’t focus only on test scores or metrics. He took the time to understand my experiences and helped me present my most authentic self. He was incredibly responsive, offering support whenever I needed it, whether for a specific question or just encouragement. Thanks to his guidance, I was accepted into UCLA Anderson’s FEMBA program. I highly recommend working with Bill.

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Strengths:

Thoughtful consultants, quick and clear feedback, expert application process navigation and confidence building

Would make the product better:

No comments

I was sceptical of admissions consulting services before reaching out to Fortuna. I could not have been more wrong. My experience working with Melissa was nothing short of incredible. Applying to an MBA is a stressful and time consuming process but working with Melissa made it feel easy. The communication was fluid and her feedback on essays, CV, etc was always succinct and helpful. She helped me navigate the application and interview process, which she knows by heart, and built up my confidence along the way. I could not have asked for a better experience – Melissa is genuinely a game changer.

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I am an Indian male with a tech background, and I’m a dual admit to Stanford and Harvard. To start off, I am 100% confident that this feat would not have been even remotely possible had it not been for Silpa. If there’s one takeaway before you read further, let it be this: ‘Silpa is the best coach, mentor, advisor in this world, and you’ll be lucky to have her. ’ I say this as someone who’s met with multiple counselors and advisors both in India and the US in the past. Silpa is ideal.

Silpa is the most passionate, proactive, and highly-proficient mentor and advisor. She loves what she does, and is truly, truly dedicated to bringing out the best in you. And that’s what truly matters. I’ve had umpteen phone calls with Silpa, be it 5-minute ones, 10-minute ones, or 30-minute ones, or 60-minute ones. In every call, I have come back with a new perspective and fresh thinking, thanks to Silpa.

Next, Silpa is the most-rigorous counselor (read ‘person’) I have met. I say this because I’ve been embarrassed, at times, by how much better she knows my application and anecdotes than I do. Know that once you have submitted these “raw material” Fortuna documents (which are great too!), Silpa will process them, mull over them, and apply her accurate filter to them. (One piece of advice: Don’t second-guess what she says!)

Silpa was very kind to have had another set of calls with me, going into the deep end of each anecdote. She collaborated with me and together, we narrowed down the 25+ anecdotes to the top 5 or 6. This is hard! Finding the signal from the noise is akin to finding a needle in the haystack. Dare I say, you can still find the signal; you won’t be able to find the needle. Unless, of course, you have Silpa with you.

I’m so grateful that Silpa took so much interest in my story, helped me bring out the best, and then channeled it into the appropriate way possible, for this incredible outcome. I won’t talk about my GMAT scores or GPA here, but suffice to say that the LOR’s, essays, and the interview made it for me. In other words, Silpa’s presence made it for me. And coupled with Fortuna’s supportive ecosystem, Matt Symonds and Judith’s advice, Silpa’s initiative-taking nature, and her magic, one was able to accomplish this, as an Indian male.

What’s even more fascinating about Silpa is that she would understand you, as a human, and not merely as an applicant. Early on, after our initial call, Silpa understood me as someone who’s a “high-touch applicant”, and she was 100% right. Not only did I want more attention, I actually needed it. Add to that a mix of brainstorming e-meets, strategy sessions, “quick calls” (which were quite long), and more. You now have a recipe which would consume the entire bandwidth – physical, emotional, and temporal – of your counselor. But that’s not what happened for Silpa. Along with me, she had many other applicant-mentees, and yet, she managed the turnarounds (and more), so seamlessly. But here’s the thing: She needn’t have delivered the “high-touch”, and she needn’t have gone above and beyond.

But she did.

And that’s what’s the next thing about Silpa. She pays major attention to minor details, to the point that you may get exhausted; she won’t. She is always so specific, precise, and enthusiastic. And that’s an important quality throughout this journey. You need a guide, a friend, a mentor. For me, Silpa was this trifecta. I was able to build such an incredible rapport, foster this deep trust, and forge a meaningful relationship, thanks to her. ‘Silpa is a pleasure to work with’ would be an understatement.

Silpa also loves perfection. Ultimately, the draft is ready to go if her gut tells her it is. And this is great for you, because that gives you the opportunity to see Silpa’s magic unfold. Before your eyes. For instance, in my case, Silpa said that some essays were not ready and wanted to take “another look” at them (which often involved many comments and many edits). All of this helped because it brought out the best of the best.

Silpa’s interview prep, her insights from the interview about you, and her advice in general are unparalleled. They are all so wise. I’m grateful I got to prepare for one interview with Silpa (and another with Heidi from Fortuna). I learned so much about how best to answer questions, how best to manage subtle situations, and more, thanks to Silpa’s astute observations and incisive feedback.

At the ultimate stage, Fortuna is the best career and MBA coach there is. And Silpa is the best career advisor, MBA mentor, creative brainstormer, rigorous individual, and most-dedicated coach there is. If there is one person who was the Rock of Gibraltar during this process for me, it was Silpa.

Overall, it’s Silpa because of whom I was able to put forth the best application there is, despite all odds. Truly, truly grateful to Silpa.

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I had such a delightful experience with Jenifer, who helped me build my story end-to-end for my application. From our very first call, I knew that Jenifer was the perfect advisor for me as she helped me build my narrative, bringing out strengths that translated to what my specific school was looking for, particularity since my MBA program of interest had an international twist. Jenifer was so kind, thoughtful yet so diligent in ensuring that every aspect of my application that I put forward to the admissions office was intentional, which I truly appreciate! Although I made it to the interview and was not admitted to my school of choice, in hindsight, I wouldn't have been able to make it this far without her! I highly recommend Jenifer because is the epitome of what you would call a mastermind when it comes to building a cohesive, memorable and impactful MBA application - she is just THAT great! Thank you, Jenifer for everything!

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Words can not express my gratitude for Bill's guidance and encouragement during my EMBA application to Booth and Wharton. I find Bill's advises and perspectives extremely valuable as I progressed through the application process, and helped to give me more confidence for anyone who applies to these programs the first time. Bill also gave me great advise on the school selection; while I want to accelerate my career in my current company, I aspire to establish my own business in the future, and Bill with his unmatched experience with the MBA/EMBA programs was able to advise and confirm my school selection. I was able to receive offers from both the above programs that I applied.

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Working with Karen allowed me to produce the best version of myself and get accepted to two of Europe's best business schools!

With a GMAT score that was well below the average for my top target school, I was nervous that I had not done enough to get accepted to my dream school. Karen coached me in a way that ensured I was able to communicate my key strengths and value add throughout the application. Each part of the application became an opportunity to sell my story. This approach was refreshing and is what I believe ultimately got me accepted to my dream school.

Karen was always super responsive, regardless of the time of day. Karen was also extremely flexible which allowed me to fit my application work in around my demanding job and family life. This shouldn't be taken for granted as to produce the best possible application, you need to carve out time that you didn't realize existed before working on an MBA application!

From start to finish, the whole Journey with Karen was a pleasure. Karen genuinely cares for her clients and always gives you 110%. I could not ask for more from an admissions consultant.

For anyone looking to get accepted on to the world's best MBA programmes, look no further than Karen and the team at Fortuna.

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Emma made my dream come true. Thanks to her I managed to get accepted to LBS. She walked me through a long and difficult process. She reviewed every detail of the application until it was perfect, even giving me extra hours for some issues where I needed to improve (like the video assessment and interview). She taught me to trust myself and to believe until the end. This gave me the strength to continue improving and trusting myself in the final stages of the application. She also gave me very specific advice that was key to my final admission. Without her I would not have made it in any way. Thanks Emma!

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