Gatehouse Admissions Consulting Reviews

Prior to applying to business school, I spoke with a number of my friends who are currently students at some of the top business schools (HBS, GSB and Wharton) for advice. More than half of them used admissions consultants and spoke highly of the benefits. Although I was initially skeptical, I can say with absolute certainty now that working with an admissions consultant was invaluable throughout my b-school application process and ultimately helped me get into my top choice b-school.

After "shopping" around for admissions consultants, I decided to work with Eric (HBS alum) on an hourly basis, focusing primarily on my essays. Eric is amazing - he would challenge me and really push my writing to the next level. For example, instead of just laundry listing resources that a school had in my essay, he pushed me to dig deeper and connect the dots as to why those resources are important to me and my goals. He helped me bring out the best in my essays without rewriting anything and still keeping my authentic voice.

Eric was also great at getting revisions back to me at lightning speed. This was crucial when it came close to deadlines. Even though we worked together on an hourly basis, Eric was super helpful in answering all sorts of questions via e-mail without ever "deducting" from my hourly time, which I really appreciated.

Result: accepted to my dream school, HBS! Highly recommend Eric.

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The school package was very in line with my expectations. I was given the most relevant and value added information in a short amount of time, allowing me to create stellar applications without much headache or rework. The process was stressful but extremely necessary. If you're looking for a proofreader for grammar mistakes I can say this isn't for you, but if you want someone to examine your application with the same critical eye as adcom, and drill down to the focal points of your experiences - mbaMissions certainly does the trick. I highly recommend this service to any MBA applicant that wants to put their best foot forward. You only complete one MBA in a lifetime, I don't know why you would have it any other way.

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Eric was a great consultant and advisor to me when I tried to prepare my application and interview for top-tier MBA schools. I finally got admitted to Kellogg, and if it were not for his support preparing for MBA application would be far more difficult than I expected.

During the brainstorming session, I thought he was a kind of career counselor as well as a consultant who wanted to know about me such as my goals, past professional experiences, and academic life including extracurricular activities. At first I was very clumsy on this even if it was telling a story of me. But he listened to my unorganized and never-ending idea generation very carefully with patience, and helped me organize my entire story very effectively.

When it came to essay writing and resume editing, his response emails always returned to me earlier than deadline, so that I can have more opportunities to review my writings. I really want to appreciate his reviews as his comments were so straightforward and critical in every area it actually enabled me to improve my writing skill much better as time went by.

Lastly, Eric gave me very careful and direct feedback regardless of its importance when I asked bunch of questions during the entire period of application. I was very grateful to him due to his fast and right responses. Before I was attending to MBA info sessions or conferences, his sincere advices were a big help to me. Furthermore, his coaching for interview made me confident when I got an actual interview, because I could find out what exactly I need to improve by communicating with him.

I think his considerate advices and constant efforts to improve my application absolutely contributed to my successful accomplishment. I really want to thank him again and my choice will be still him even if I have another chance to choose a consultant again.

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I whole-heartedly recommend Liza as a consultant. I decided to work with her after our 30 minute free consultation. I purchased a few hours with her for resume review and essay editing. She's incisive and efficient - just the kind of support I was looking for. I've been admitted to HBS for R1.

RESUME EDITING: Liza took what I thought was an already strong resume and helped me transform it into an outstanding one by pushing me to find the "so what" for each of my accomplishments in two rounds of revisions. Investing in my resume with Liza was hands down the best money I spent throughout this process.

ESSAYS: As a last minute applicant, Liza's feedback helped me to get to the finish line faster from first to final drafts. She helped me shape my ideas into coherent narratives and let me know what was and wasn't working. I worked with her for my GSB and HBS essays.

HBS MOCK INTERVIEW: My session with Liza was pretty comparable to the actual HBS interview. Very helpful.

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If you want to get into the top business schools, you need to have Liza on your team. I met Liza during my free 30-minute consultation. Prior to that, I've already conducted 5-6 of those free consults with many other admissions consultants. What stood out to me was that Liza (1) was realistic and honest - she told me straight up I really should retake the GMAT, (2) spent almost an hour continuing to talk through my options whereas everyone else had their sales pitch 15-minutes in and wanted to wrap things up quickly, (3) knew her stuff, she had data and experience to back up every statement about what schools are looking for.

Over the next several months, my time working with Liza has been incredible. She was like a light that guided me through the murkiness, insecurity, and anxiety that came with the application process. She was accountable and never dropped the ball. She knew every story I shared and helped me develop them into really compelling narratives. I'm someone that does not care for sugar-coated statements and needed frank feedback that will make me better. Liza was that for me. During my essays or interview prep, she was firm and constructive, but did so with a lot of integrity, respect, and positive attitude.

My results? I got into 4 of 4 top 10 schools, thanks to Liza! She's the full package: intelligent, caring, an expert, constructive, positive, and a winner!

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You know that familiar feeling - when you are certain that you want to go from point A to point B - but you are not sure which route to take? I was there - about a year back. I knew that I wanted to go for a B-School - I also knew why. But I had too much information on hand that I needed to segregate - and too many options that I wanted to filter out.

And then I heard about mbaMission and Liza (a common friend recommended her). A quick 30-minute free consultation told me exactly what I needed to know. 6 intense months later I got an admission call from my dream school - which excites me as much as the fact that I am going to be fellow alums with Liza.

Applying for a B-School is no easy task. You have the essays where you have to talk about everything in 1 sentence. You have the creative essays where you have the temptation to go overboard. And of course if you are working long hours - you need someone who is probably more diligent than you are in following up with your essays. You need a mentor, a consultant and a friend with great knowhow about B-Schools (phew!). Liza is all of those rolled into one. She is prompt with her deadlines and her replies, she is thoughtful and extremely to-the-point with her feedback and insights, and most importantly - a lot of fun to work with. Work with her - and I can assure you that you will reflect on your past achievements in a way that you never did before.

Of course mbaMission's entire process is very thorough and organized. From the detailed brainstorming session to tweaks in your resume and essay reviews to finally the mock-interview sessions - everything is spaced out in the best possible way. With Liza - the process becomes fun and life becomes easy.

Can't thank you enough Liza. Keep rocking!

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Selecting a business school consultant is not an easy process. Several organizations tout their approaches' / consultants' merits, and in perusing different firms' marketing materials, it's often difficult to parse different organizations apart. At the beginning of my business school application journey, I availed of mbaMission and Stacy Blackman Consulting's free consultations. The general approach taken by mbaMission was markedly different from Stacy Blackman Consulting--instead of adopting an alarmist tone by identifying flaws in my resume and urging me to immediately solicit their services, mbaMission took stock of who I was and paired me with someone who they felt was best suited to helping me. That person was Liza Weale.

I cannot endorse Liza strongly enough. She epitomized excellent client service, by being courteous, convivial and genuinely invested in the success of my applications. I found her input and support especially helpful, across several dimensions:

1) Work style flexibility: Liza adapted her work style to suit mine. Instead of writing lengthy, tortuous cover notes, she quickly got to the point with her feedback, in line with my desired mode of engagement. Moreover, she was willing and able to "keep up" with my high tempo of work in June and July, often completing two iterations on materials in a single week.

2) A strategist, but also an operator: I was amazed by Liza's ability to act as a thought partner on every dimension of my application. In addition to ideating on the general structure of my essays (and often coming up with better ideas than I did), Liza was also able to advise me on reframing the expression of particular thoughts within paragraphs.
Incisive, but constructive: Liza pulled no punches with her feedback. Her willingness to sharing honest feedback with me was refreshing, and essential--looking back, some of my initial ideas and ways of portraying myself were clearly off the mark. Liza helped me course-correct on multiple occasions, and earned my enduring respect for the frankness of her feedback

3) In it with me, for the long haul: Liza was, and continues to be a major source of support for me. From helping me select schools to apply to through to advising me on potential funding options, Liza has been an infallible and crucial source of support

I unequivocally recommend Liza to anyone looking to apply to business schools. I couldn't have gotten into Wharton and Booth without her.

— Wharton and Booth Admit

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Liza was an incredible asset throughout the entire business school application process. Starting with our first brainstorming session, Liza took a genuine interest in getting to know me—my strengths, weaknesses, career goals and passions. In this way, she helped me craft essays that positioned myself in the most compelling way possible. Throughout the drafting process, Liza continually pushed me to think about the question differently, add more detail, or include a certain story in order to make my essays truly shine.

The mock interviews I had with Liza were also hugely helpful. She knows exactly what business schools are looking for in a candidate’s response. She was able to help me polish my answers and determine which stories to emphasize. I felt extremely confident and prepared walking into my interviews knowing I had practiced with Liza.

Additionally, Liza was always available to answer any random questions I had. This made me feel much more at ease as I navigated the application process. Her expertise was always very evident and assured me I was putting my best foot forward in all stages of the application.

Finally, Liza was also one of my biggest supporters throughout the process. Although applying to business school can be daunting, she laid out the steps I needed to take and provided encouragement every step of the way. Liza’s positivity and can-do spirit was so important to me when I felt overwhelmed or unsure. I am so thankful to have had Liza on my team, rooting for me to succeed.

I highly recommend Liza as a top-notch consultant who can provide the advice, support and insights necessary to be successful in the application process.

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I highly recommend working with Liza. She is incredibly friendly, helpful, supportive, and constructive. I only worked with Liza for interview prep after being referred by a friend, but I felt like my small amount of time with Liza was incredibly valuable.

We built a friendly rapport within the first few minutes of my 30 minute consultation and after hanging up, I knew I wanted to work with her. During this consultation and the mock interview Liza was able to provide tips as well as constructive feedback that helped me prepare for several business school interviews. She followed up to wish me luck and to check in throughout the next several weeks. It was great to know I had her cheering me on. I also felt like her feedback was specific and actionable in a short period of time. I heard her suggestions in the back of my mind as I was answering questions during my interviews and I felt like it helped me take a step back and provide the most thoughtful responses.

Highly recommend working with Liza on whatever part of the process you feel you need help with!

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You want Liza on your team.

I had the good fortune of having my free 30 minute consultation (offered via Manhattan GMAT) with Liza back in June of 2014. After reading her stellar reviews, which confirmed my first impression, I decided to sign up for the Start to Finish package. Remarkably, a year and a half has passed and I’m so thankful that Liza was there every step of the way.

Liza has an uncanny ability to inspire confidence while simultaneously providing extensive constructive criticism – this is her magic. She is remarkably patient, funny, sharp and honest. When she says something is good, you can rest assured that it actually is. Surface deep doesn’t cut it with Liza; she pushes you to get to the “why.”

Regarding time management, she repeatedly challenged me to hit deadlines and to keep iterating – both things that I would have neglected without her encouragement, but that ultimately made the process far less stressful. Liza was invaluable in brainstorming broad-ranging essay topics and in reviewing the countless iterations, but she also completely turned my resume around. I’d hired others to help with my resume in the past, but Liza’s guidance was unrivaled.

Not to be forgotten: Liza’s support extends far beyond assistance with resumes and essays. She’s a consistent positive force in what will inevitably be, at times, a stressful process. For me, countless unforeseen questions popped up at various stages, and Liza was there to provide great advice on every one.

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