I contacted Karen 36 hours before the merit based deadline for Columbia Business School. I initially thought my application was strong but after getting it reviewed by one more person, they insisted that I contact Fortuna. Now typically, 36 hours is not enough time to edit 4 essays and a resume. However, Karen worked expeditiously to give me consistent feedback until we were comfortable with my admissions package. We made the deadline with much time to spare. The most impressive thing about the entire process is that Karen helped me enhance my content without changing the core of what I was trying to relay to the admissions committee. I don't know if this can ever be proven, but I can honestly say that the input Karen provided me in those 36 hours played a significant role in my admission to Columbia. I cannot thank Karen enough for the quick and efficient turnaround! When the rest of my friends start this MBA admissions process, I will 100% send them to Karen and Fortuna.

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Emma is such a fantastic consultant. She was always prompt when reviewing my essay drafts which, given I had left things rather late, was the difference between b-school this year or waiting a whole other year. She knew exactly which parts of my story to highlight and helped me to join the dots into a coherent narrative. I also appreciated her honesty with regards to my chances at the various schools that I wanted to apply to. Emma is very down-to-earth and will tell it like it is but will do so with a touch of humour that is really welcome during the crazy rollercoaster that is b-school applications!

Emma has a breadth of experience; she helped me with school selection, overall application strategy, essay editing, mock interviews, and scholarship negotiation. She is super knowledgeable about LBS but I also got into two M7 schools with scholarships with Emma’s help so she has many strings to her bow. I really cannot recommend Emma, and Fortuna, highly enough!

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Emma Bond is well informed, positive and a pleasure to work with. She is very well versed with LBS and the admissions.
During the essay review process she always had excellent implementable feedback. She is very cooperative and excellent in following up to make sure you stick to the plan. She responds with her feedback consistently and promptly. Most of the time she would get back to me with a ton of feedback in less than 24 hours. I especially needed that support in terms of staying on track and not losing focus and working with her really helped me stay the course.

I would highly recommend working with her to help you achieve your admissions goals.

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I had an introductory call with almost each and every one of the top admissions consulting firms for my MBA.

After my initial introductory call with Matt - I was sure that Fortuna was the one with the best knowledge of the European schools (was looking specifically at French business schools) and "got" my story and would help me best present my application. Additionally, he was incredibly considerate of my budget and worked with me to create a package that would be just what I needed.

I worked with Melissa for the application - and right from the get-go was Wow'ed by the level of professionalism and knowledge of the application process of both herself and Fortuna.

Melissa was an incredibly helpful consultant and advisor, guiding me through the key steps of the application and always making the next step clear.
She was able to help me make my application shine -highlighting parts of my experience I had not considered and really ensuring a coherent and holistic application.

When busy and applying to multiple challenging process - having someone that knows the process was crucial to reducing the stress and ensuring I was able to submit on time and with a strong application.

The results: offers from all schools I applied to - with full scholarships for my top two preferences.

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I cannot more highly recommend Sharon - with her help I got into Ross, Anderson, and McCombs, with generous scholarships to each school. Sharon helped me through the R1 process with resume review, essay review, gut checks for all of my communications with adcom, interview prep, and ultimately school decision-making. Sharon gave no-BS advice which made me feel like I could really trust her, and was such a pleasure to work with. She was incredibly flexible and quick to respond, which is VERY helpful when you're pushing up against deadlines. Something I really appreciated was that I never felt like she was wasting my time - she told me if she felt a review/prep could get done in 10 mins even though we had scheduled 30, which is really nice when you're spending $$ by the minute. Sharon is also certified in the Clifton Strengths Assessment tool, which was surprisingly helpful in generating wording and insights for personal strengths - it's hard to talk about yourself! Overall, Sharon is a delight and on top of her game - if you are looking for help at any stage of the application process, she's your gal!

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While I am generally very organized with work, I knew navigating MBA admissions on top of a demanding job and other obligations would be a different beast. I chose to pursue consultation services to help with time management, "gut checks" on essay topics of choice, and guidance on resume and career goal positioning.

The main reason I chose Fortuna was because of the faith they had in me. When I was exploring consultation services, a number of places said they wouldn't take me as a client with my current GRE score, or that they'd prefer to talk after I took the GMAT. My school goals were aspirational, yes, but I knew I was competitive. Fortuna knew it, too.

Catherine was a calm, consistent, thoughtful and responsive guide. She balanced constructive criticism with encouragement and answered questions/concerns in real-time, even though I was on an hourly rate.

I am ecstatic with my results and highly recommend Catherine and Fortuna for anyone pursuing MBA admission.

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My experience working with Fortuna and Jessica was fantastic! Despite purchasing a limited number of hours fairly last minute, Jessica was extremely responsive and hands on in her approach. She was thoughtful from both a strategy and editing perspective, and it certainly helped me get my apps done on time.

Jessica was also helpful in providing resources to assist with the interview even if it was not the primary focus of my work with her. If there were any area to improve, it would be more recommendations about content. However, overall it was a truly fantastic experience and I would recommend her and Fortuna to any applicant applying to business school.

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My Background: Asian-American male in finance with a strong GPA and GMAT score. Generally, I had a very strong profile on paper in terms of academics and career.

My Top Choice: Wharton.

Results w/ Fortuna: Accepted to Wharton and Columbia ($100,000+), and invited to interview at HBS. I only applied to these 3 schools.

Reason for Choosing Fortuna: During my initial free consultation with Matt Symonds, I found it refreshing to speak with a consultant who provides an honest assessment of the services that would be of most value to me. Matt took the time to understand my profile and suggested an hourly package to help hone my messaging. He also ensured that I could retain my voice and give full freedom to my recommenders. In contrast, many other consultants insisted on having a heavy hand in the essays (basically writing it for me) and controlling the recommendations – not my cup of tea.

Experience w/ Michel Belden: I highly recommend Michel and can’t give her enough praises. Michel’s proven experience with the Wharton process was one of the key reasons that I chose to work with Fortuna. Michel really helped me articulate and structure my message and made sure I wasn’t leaving any stones unturned in my story. She was incredibly thoughtful and gracious throughout the process, going above and beyond during the holidays by remaining accessible when I was in a time crunch. I can’t thank her enough and highly recommend you consider working with her.

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I could not have asked for better experience working with Jessica. We focused on my top choice only and I ended up being admitted to the school. Throughout the few months we worked together, Jessica was always responsive, discerning and honest. She provided valuable insight of what the program’s admissions committees are looking for, which helped me keep my essays in the right direction. I also appreciated her providing clear timeline of how the application should move forward and making sure I was on track. With Jessica’s help on my interview skills, I was able to walk into the actual one feeling confident.
I would highly recommend her to any future applicants. Thank you Jessica!

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It was only a week away from the deadline when I decided to retain an MBA admission consultant because I was struggling with the optional essay. I contacted several companies that provide MBA admission consulting service, and Fortuna was the only company that was able to meet my deadline. Sharon from Fortuna contacted me within 24 hours and worked with me over the weekend to review my admission package. Not only she provided great guidance on my optional essay, she also offered incredible insights on my other essays and the entire package. Since I had already spent more than one month writing my other three essays, I thought they cannot be any better until Sharon mentioned a few points. Looking back, I would have not got into Stern without correcting those mistakes on the essays.
I cannot thank Sharon and Fortuna enough for what they have done. Sharon sacrificed her weekend and weeknights just to make sure my work is perfect. I would highly recommend Fortuna and Sharon to any MBA applicants!!!

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