Gatehouse Admissions Consulting Reviews

Background: Asian American male, undergrad business school, finance / M&A post-college, 740 GMAT

Just as I started to set out on the daunting bschool process, Liza immediately put me at ease. I spoke to 4-5 potential coaches, and Liza stood out to me for coming into that conversation with clear ideas about my candidacy and my story, and she spoke with the authority and experience she has. I just felt like she "got it." As we started formally working together, she continued to wow me.

She was not only instrumental in helping me shape a tight story for my MBA candidacy, but also in providing the "guard rails" for me as I undertook writing my essays, seeming to always know what needed more explanation, what we could cut out, and how my writing would come across in the eyes of adcoms. She was my trusted advisor and 2nd set of eyes on everything, and I felt like I was able to put a TON of trust in her throughout my process.

Throughout it all, Liza was sharp, responsive, and most of all, genuinely a pleasure to talk to. I left all my phone calls with her at ease and confident in tackling my next essay, resume, etc.

I'll be starting at Kellogg this fall lucky enough to have gotten a sizable scholarship on the merits of my application - something that I have no doubt that Liza's amazing guidance was instrumental in helping me get.

I couldn't have better things to say about Liza. I'd happily recommend her to anyone out there about to start their bschool app process. Go Liza!

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Background: Male, 680 GMAT, service academy grad with a 3.45 GPA, 5 years as a military officer.

Results: Stanford (R), Michigan (R), Dartmouth (WL), Yale (A), Cornell ($), UT McCombs ($), Rice ($)

Why Liza: When I made the decision to apply for a full-time MBA, I knew that I did not want to have any doubt as to whether or not I did everything in my power to receive an acceptance. Without having anyone in my family or inner circle that went through this process, I thought using an admissions consultant would be my best course of action. I spent several hours on calls with consultants from different agencies over a few weeks trying to find the right fit but did not feel that any of them were sure bet.

That all changed when I had my call with Liza. I felt a connection with her within the opening moments of our discussion and knew that she was the one with whom I wanted to work. I trust my instincts, but I nevertheless did additional research on her and her previous work with MBA applicants. I was not surprised in the slightest to see that she had a flawless 5-star rating across multiple sites, and her clients reinforced the observations that I noted from my initial consultation. I honestly felt that I would be more prepared armed simply with Liza’s insights in one 30 minute call than I would be with countless hours and dollars spent on another consultant.

Throughout my application season, I frequently traveled overseas for long periods of time so I had to go for a more strategic application approach. I decided on the Hourly Services package in order to focus on brainstorming and unraveling my story with Liza. The work that we did together in crafting my story for the “Why Stanford?” and “What Matters Most to You?” essays was integral to my own ability to articulate why I wanted to pursue an MBA now, and what I could bring to the table if I received an acceptance. She always gave me pointed feedback that was instrumental to my application. Liza is almost like a personal trainer in that she pushes you, never more than you can handle but certainly more than you could do on your own.

The entire process of brainstorming and essay iterations with Liza served as the foundation for the work I did in the subsequent months. In the end I cast a wide net and applied to Stanford, Michigan, Dartmouth, Yale, Cornell, University of Texas, and Rice and received interview invitations to all of them. I was rejected by Stanford and Michigan, waitlisted by Dartmouth, accepted into Yale, and received full scholarship offers to Cornell, University of Texas, and Rice.

Liza has continued to guide me through my decision making process post-admittance, and I am beyond grateful that I had her as a resource. I would undoubtedly and wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone considering using a consultant. I truly cannot thank Liza enough for her time, her guidance, and her encouragement. I always enjoyed our conversations, and I know that I am better today because I worked with her.

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When I began considering whether I should re-apply to business school after an unsuccessful attempt a few years ago, I was referred to Liza by a close friend who worked with her and later received acceptances at every school she applied to. My friend absolutely raved about Liza, so I signed up for an introductory call, and I was immediately impressed. Liza did her homework on me and had lots of questions and thoughts on my candidacy (for reference, I am a female, Ivy grad, strong GPA and GMAT score, previous work in consulting and now in internal strategy). She addressed my concerns of being a re-applicant and she was real with me from the beginning about how competitive the schools were that I wanted. But, without trying to sell me on anything, she also gave me encouragement that I was a strong candidate and gave me some advice on what considerations I should weigh in deciding whether or not to apply at all.

After some soul searching I decided that applying to business school was the right move for me and I immediately reached out to Liza and bought an unlimited package for 5 schools (all M7). I honestly can say that this was a lifechanging decision for me. I ended up getting interviews at 4 of the 5 schools and then ultimately got into all 4 of those. This was an outcome I could have only dreamed of, and I really feel that I owe so much of my success to Liza for helping me present the best and most real version of myself that I could.

Working with Liza was truly a joy – and I don’t say that lightly given how stressful, time consuming, and intense the business school application process is. Liza came to every one of our brainstorming calls with ideas for us to discuss. She really knew my story inside and out and wanted me to tell it in the most honest way possible - she always encouraged me to go deeper and reflect and would push back if she felt like something I was saying was inauthentic in any way.

Liza is also supportive. There were a number of occasions that exemplified this for me. For one, on the morning of every interview decision day or actual decision day, I would get an email from Liza wishing me the best of luck. Then, when I received a disappointing interview decision at one of the 5 schools, Liza out of nowhere checked in on me a few days later just because she cared. When I was about to hit submit on my applications, I had so much nervous energy that I kept firing off emails to Liza with extremely minute (and frankly, probably irritating) questions about my application. She always responded quickly and patiently and assured me that I had done everything I could to present a strong application. In addition to guiding me expertly, Liza was also like my rock through this process!

I would highly recommend that anyone who is on the fence about working with Liza sign up with her immediately!! She is so passionate about what she does and working with her was truly a highlight of my year.

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I applied to 5 top schools the previous year, got a few interviews, but didn't end up getting admitted to the programs I really wanted to go to.

When I was reapplying, I really wasn't sure what was wrong, and what I could do to improve. Was it my GMAT score? Essays? 'Story'? GPA? Extracurriculars? The way I described my current job? Rather than apply blind again, I decided to speak to five consultants who had helped friends and got their free 30 minute consultations.

Liza was by far, the best of those five conversations. Even in that initial session, she was thoughtful, insightful, and gave me actually useful feedback that I could immediately put to use. Even had I not engaged Liza further, that 30 minute free call was the most helpful advice I had received in the whole application process.

I ended up purchasing a package of hours from Liza, and I'm glad I did. She pushed me with tailored feedback on my essays, and forced me to really examine the choices I had made and why they made sense. The essays, in the end, were absolutely still mine-- I wrote every word-- but her feedback was crucial in taking them from just okay to really personal and compelling.

She also helped me prep for the HBS interview by reading through my whole application and putting together some mock questions. She helped me get into the right headspace.

In the end, I got into HBS and got waitlisted at Stanford (the two programs I applied to Round 1). Liza was great the whole way through!

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Working with Liza was the best decision I made during my business school application process. For those of you who are concerned by the cost of the school packages (I certainly was), I can assure you, it is worth it. I'm a female applicant with a financial services background, with a 710 GMAT score and 3.6 GPA. I worked with Liza on 4 schools and applied to 2 on my own, I interviewed at 4, and was admitted to 2.

Through the application process, the differences across MBA programs became apparent in the variability of applications between schools. I was most concerned with how to tell my story through the different essays/videos/cover letters requested by each institution. Liza helped me navigate this challenge with ease. She is extremely well informed about the different programs (beyond what you can discover with a simple google search), and was able to help me adjust so I put my best foot forward with each application. During brainstorming sessions with Liza, we delved into professional and personal aspects of my life, and she helped me realize consistencies across stories that I likely wouldn't have recognized on my own (for instance, the similarities in relationships I've established at work, with my family, and with my mentee). Liza helped me reflect on the things that are unique to me, and ultimately piece together a genuine narrative about my goals that was far more introspective and impactful than anything I could have imagined when I first embarked on this journey.

Liza helped me stay on track as I completed the the other, time-consuming parts of the applications (short answer responses, short videos, resume), all the while maintaining a consistent story. It is worth noting how useful it was to have Liza there to review essays and other materials several times per week, especially when balancing 6 applications - despite having supportive friends and family, there is no way they could have given my applications the same attention and care as Liza did.

I found the mock interviews to be particularly helpful as well. Liza has years of experience, which is apparent in her line of questioning - her feedback was school-specific and incredibly constructive. I believe I was as prepared as I could have been for each interview.

Since admitted, Liza has continued to guide me through my decision making process - and I'm sure she and I will stay in touch going forward. I am so thankful for Liza's guidance through the application process, and would highly recommend her to anyone considering using a consultant.

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I was originally working with a different consultant who left the firm after reviewing 2 versions of my essays. I was rather uncertain of the outcome at that time since my GMAT score of 720 wasn’t competitive in the Chinese applicant pool. I also come from a non-typical feeder background: engineering degree spending 6 years in market intelligence consulting firm serving the petrochemicals market. Oh, and did I mention I was pregnant during the application process while working full time?
Liza to the rescue! She not only reassured me that my case would be taken care of, she also offered to review my previous version of essays – I had the hourly service so I didn’t feel I lost any time with the transition of consultants. The one thing I appreciated the most during this process was that Liza was very honest when she gave comments and feedbacks, and she always offered her insight on how I could improve my essays. When there were times I was not able to capture the theme, she listed examples and expressions to help me comprehend the concept and execute. As a non-native English speaker, I found this extremely helpful. Liza also helped me prepare my video essay with Kellogg and Yale SOM, as well as my interview with Yale. After each session, I significantly improved the ways I laid out and phrase my answers. I found her feedback very useful (as I got admitted to all the programs I was invited for an interview).
Admission to Kellogg and Booth, plus scholarship from Yale SOM were perfect testimonies of how amazing a consultant Liza is. I don’t think I could have done so many schools in such a short period without Liza’s help. I will highly recommend her to anyone seeking professional help in their MBA application!

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I had the pleasure of working with Hollis Kline primarily during my essay review and interview preparation process. I had a bit of time to work on my applications, and thus opted to work with Hollis using the hourly service basis (which meant I had to communicate to Hollis what I was working on and what I needed her feedback on). Overall, Hollis was very attentive/detail-oriented, approachable and easy-to-work-with. Importantly, across all aspects of the process, Hollis ensured that we were both on the same page, and that she understood what I needed her feedback on, while also giving sound advice where needed. With regards to the essays, there were two main attributes to Hollis’ approach that were incredibly helpful. Firstly, Hollis looked through every word, sentence and paragraph in my essays to ensure that all components had a specific purpose – it was great to have someone who doesn’t know my story objectively question what I am trying to say and why it is important. Secondly, Hollis was very reliable – I could always rely on Hollis to send me her comments within a specific timeframe, so I pretty much had a mental schedule in place; I knew when I needed to take some time out of my day to work on my essays in order to get comments by a specific date. With regards to the interview, Hollis and I had a mock session where she provided a range of questions (across topics and difficulty levels); this session helped me get into the right mindset going into the actual interview. In summary, I am very pleased with the entire process, and I highly recommend Hollis for anyone seeking guidance throughout the application process.

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Back in May of this year I was perusing GMAT club looking for an admissions consultant. I remember reading countless reviews of consultants who had helped applicants get into their dream schools, and thinking to myself "wow, I hope that some day I will be fortunate enough to write a review like that." Well, thanks to Hollis's support, that goal became a reality.

I picked the two school package at mbaMission, and applied to HBS and the GSB. Hollis was a tremendous asset throughout the application and interview process at both schools. Here are some specifics:

Brainstorming:
I had some high-level ideas about what I wanted to convey in my applications, but was having trouble isolating a compelling story. As part of the mbaMission process, I filled out an extensive brainstorming document. I then spent ~1.5 hours on the phone with Hollis, where she provided guidance on how to translate my concepts into concrete, b-school ready personal statements.

Essay writing:
I went through several drafts of each of my application essays. Not only was Hollis prompt in providing feedback (often responding ahead of deadlines), but her input was clear, direct, and easy to follow. This made for a smooth writing process that kept my applications ahead of schedule.

It was a great relief to be able to get unlimited essay feedback from Hollis as part of the mbaMission school package. At one point in the process, I was debating between 4 different anecdotes to include in my essays, and needed to shrink the number down to 2. Hollis did a back-to-back essay comparison in order to help me choose the best stories, and this was a pivotal exercise, helping to maximize my application essays.

Furthermore, Hollis is an absolute master of word-count management. By the time is was ~3 drafts in on each essay, I had gone well above the word limit. Finding places to cut on my own was extremely challenging given how close I was to essay content. Hollis provided the necessary third-party POV, and helped identify superfluous sections. This was also a huge asset in the application short answers as well.

Interviews:

Hollis went above and beyond in preparing me for interviews. She offered initial mock interviews for both schools, and even provided a second mock for HBS even though she was traveling in Australia at the time! Her questions and insight left me feeling prepared and confident going into both interviews.


General:

At the end of the day, applying to business school is a demanding process, and getting in will require a lot of hard work from you. Having a consultant will not guarantee you admission, as so much of the process requires deep introspection on your part. However, having a consultant like Hollis, who was always willing to answer even my most ridiculous of questions as I sought to understand the application process, is incredibly beneficial, and will help make your applications as impactful (and stress-free) as possible.

Best of luck!

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Background: female, French, main experience in food manufacturing

After talking with several admission consultants from different firms, I chose Liza mainly because she seemed to have a great energy and to give honest feedback. I also trusted mbaMission as a firm after reading their useful free guides. The only part I wasn’t very confident about was that my dream school was European and the firm advertised much more about American schools (or so was my impression).

When I started working with Liza, I had already chosen the schools I wanted to apply to but I hadn’t taken the GMAT nor TOEFL (English language test) yet and felt pretty clueless about essay material. And since it was only a few weeks away from the last round deadline, the process was quite intense!

I felt extremely lucky to have Liza. I was especially anxious about 2 things: submitting my application on the last round and not having sufficiently remarkable stories/background. Not only did Liza give me valuable advice and helped me structure my stories, she also cheered me up and boosted my confidence. She has this ability to bring the best out of you - this sometimes means being straightforward in her feedback but always in a caring and constructive way.

One year ago, I didn’t think I stood a chance at getting in my dream school. As I am about to start there this summer, I feel so grateful to have worked with Liza. I obviously highly recommend her!!!

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I am fully confident that I would not be starting at Duke’s Fuqua next fall without Liza’s partnership. Going through the application process with Liza will totally transform your perception of what a “great” b-school application looks like. Once you’ve decided to throw your hat in the ring and apply to a handful of elite MBA programs, you’ve likely already accomplished quite a lot in your academic and professional career. The key to the application process is standing out in a sea of thousands of very qualified applicants. I cannot recommend Liza highly enough in that regard. My background includes 3.5 years working in media strategy at an advertising agency (not exactly the picture of a typical applicant), and my stats were decent but certainly weren’t going to blow anyone away at top-tier programs. I worked with Liza on a multi-school package through MBAmission. Liza’s expertise coupled with MBAmission’s resources creates a dynamic combination. Not long after the initial deep dive into my personal attributes and background, I felt Liza knew me as a candidate even better than I knew myself – and it showed. She was able to highlight the experiences that would translate the best for each unique essay topic, and helped me mold a holistic picture of my candidacy throughout each application. I’ll admit, I usually felt pretty good about my first draft essays, but once Liza got her hands on them she was able to push me further than I thought possible in terms of illustrating exactly why I would thrive at each school and beyond. Like I said – she’ll transform your perception of what constitutes a great application. Beyond her knowledge of how to enhance the components of the application packet, Liza was a great partner, motivator, and coach through the daunting process. She challenged me in a manner that was always constructive, while building my confidence in my own candidacy. All in all, every time I hit the “submit” button, or walked out of an interview, I didn’t have to wonder if I’d put forward the best representation of myself because Liza had prepared me to excel in every aspect of the application.

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