Christine (SBC) Reviews

I chose the All-In Package for my MBA application process and couldn’t be happier with that decision. By working closely with Christine and the rest of the wonderful SBC team, I managed to get admitted to all three schools – HBS, GSB, and CBS – that I applied to!!! Truly a dream come true that I would not have achieved without Christine’s help. You simply couldn’t ask for a better consultant – Christine has been my rock of the storm, a wise advisor, an incredible sparring partner, and an amazing communicator and she possesses an exceptional ability for always keeping in mind the big picture as well as all of the necessary details and structuring both. She has encouraged me to go deep into introspection (and accompanied me in doing so). Through thoughtful questioning, she has helped me to develop a storyline that was extremely authentic and meaningful to me. At the same time, she mentored me through all the ups and downs of this long process like a champion and world-class coach, always responding in an extremely short time with very helpful advice. In our interview preparation, she asked questions that prepared me optimally for the real experience.
I am infinitely grateful to Christine. She has been a tremendous enrichment for me over the last year – not only professionally but also personally. With her great expertise, kindness, encouraging nature, radical candor, and great humor, working with her was a pure blessing. Thank you so much Christine – I would choose her again and again and can only say: if you can work with her, you are lucky!!!

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Christine was my consultant and I am so happy that I was paired with her. I purchased one school's all in and, for the rest of the schools, purchased hourly for essay editing. She so thoroughly helped me strategize and plan my application which led to acceptances at Haas and CBS. She was a great support throughout the entire process from resume review to interview prep and even guided me in how to overcome obstacles with GMAT score delays.

Overall, the Stacy Blackman team made the process so easy. The resources that they give are so valuable and the flight tester, Lisa, gave me feedback that I'm sure contributed to my acceptance. So happy that I ended up choosing SBC!

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I was able to receive offers from both Rotman and Stern FT MBA thanks to months of back and forth working with Christine Hawkins from SBC. She was very knowledgeable about the entire process and helped me break down a daunting mission into very doable tasks by providing detailed guidance every step of the way. She was completely honest with me and gave me no-BS feedback from the very start which was what I appreciated from her the most. She also pushed me to think hard about how I can improve my application when I needed it the most. The entire SBC staff from intro to mock interview was also amazing. I couldn't have gotten these amazing opportunities without the SBC team and Christine's patience and expertise!

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If I were to share every detail about how truly invaluable SBC and Christine's help was, my review would be 10 pages long...

In summary, Christine is the best consultant you can ask for. She listens to your experiences, thinks critically, identifies those key interconnections, and helps you craft the most compelling narrative that will be your strongest asset when submitting your application. A lot of people go back and forth on investing in a consultant, but working with Christine was absolutely worth every penny - I wouldn't have been accepted to Columbia had it not been for her seasoned guidance and insight. She forces you to think outside of the box and is with you every step of the journey, from thinking through all pieces of your last 10+ years to writing up essays to interview prep. Christine ended up being my true partner and support system throughout the entire MBA application process.

I couldn't recommend Christine and SBC more!

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In addition to their unparalleled expertise, which is proven with other reviews, I highly recommend Stacy Blackman and my consultant Christine Hawkins for level of professionalism they bring to the table.
I purchased the all-in package from SBC. Since it's a considerable amount of investment and for having bad experience from woking with another consulting service in the past, I was very cautious in every step of the process from selecting my consultant. Although I did not purchase the service at the time, Esther Magna was patient to hear out all my concerns and arrange meetings with multiple possible consultants so that I can best choose my consultant.
I chose to work with Christine Hawkins because I could sense her passion and level of professionalism through the meeting, and they were demonstrated throughout the rest of my application process.
Since I initially did not have clear post-MBA goal, Christine and I walked through together to navigate potential post-MBA career, which enable me to discover that post-MBA career as a product manager is better fit for me, considering my background and my ultimate career goal, instead of as a management consultant.
Also, I often followed up on her feedback and comments with questions asking for the rationale behind her feedback and comments, and Christine would always walk me through her feedback instead of insisting her perspective so that I follow or make the best decision based on my own rationale.
I got accepted to CBS ED, my dream school, and dropped my application from Kellogg, Booth, and Haas. There is no doubt I could not have don't so without Christine. I again thank Christine and Esther for bearing with my anxiety and cautiousness and for making my dream happened!

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I was referred to SBC from a friend who has used their services the previous year. I spoke to Esther who understood my needs and recommended I speak with Christine Hawkins, whom she thought she would be a perfect match.

I had my intro call with Christine and being a CBS alum, she had amazing insights to share and was super friendly. She was super sharp, broke down the entire admissions process for me and gave me some super valuable feedback. After our convo, I couldn’t have asked for someone better so immediately pulled the trigger on an all-in package with Christine.

Christine was truly outstanding - there is no way I would have gotten an admit without her help. Right from the beginning, she laid out the entire plan, we discussed deadlines and off we went. Resume, Recommenders, Essays, Interviews - she really was a godsend throughout the process. She really pushed me to self-introspect, think hard about what I want to do and why. She was kept an open mind but prodded me to be better each time. My test scores weren’t the best, so Christine really helped me to make sure that the rest of my application stood out.

Regardless of my CBS admit, I am super glad to have worked with Christine since I came out much clearer on what I want to achieve in my career.

At some points of my application, I was super anxious about certain things and Christine was always there to answer my emails proving to be a great emotional support and a shoulder to lean on.

The Flight Test process with Lisa was outstanding where my entire application packet went through a mock adcomm review and gave fresh perspective and feedback on my application. My mock interview with Christine was a massive confidence booster for me before my actual one.

I could not have asked for anyone better than Christine, she is someone I’d love to stay in touch with and I would most definitely recommend her to everyone!

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As an applicant, I went to a top-tier liberal arts college, had a 710 when I hired SBC (a 720 by application time), and work for a well-known investing shop, but have two low quant grades from college and am on the younger side. The turnaround from learning about the world business school application consultants to enlisting Stacy Blackman Consulting was really short for me. A handful of friends who graduated the year before me in college were all accepted to business school in Round 1 of the last cycle, and they shared a tool: a great SBC consultant. I did my due diligence on a few other firms, but ended up asking Bill Chionis at SBC to connect me with three Columbia-experienced SBC consultants (I had visited the campuses of five schools, and knew that CBS was my top choice). I “interviewed” the three, and a problem arose: all three were amazing and raring to go. Bill gave me great advice with how to pick: choose the consultant who you’d like to communicate with for 6+ months. I asked to sign a one school contract with Christine for an application to CBS, and am incredibly grateful for her.

Christine went to CBS and knows how to navigate the intricacies of CBS’ application like the back of her hand. But Christine’s biggest impact on me as an applicant was not in the essay editing or in the interview preparation, but rather in how she suggested ways for me to become a better applicant to any competitive business school. She pushed me to retake the GMAT to increase my quant score and take an online Berkeley course to buttress my profile, and helped me to figure out my narrative as a CBS applicant. Christine worked with me from January to July, and I was accepted ED to CBS (one and done!). Looking back, it was so easy to go back and forth with her via email and telephone calls about brainstorming for essays, resume revisions, and the process of preparing my recommenders. She knew how I would be different and interesting to CBS’ AdCom, and recommended aspects to highlight. She gently prodded me to work really hard, but it never seemed like a drag to do any of the tasks — she explained to me why each was important, and I knew that if I gave the SBC “formula” my all, I would produce the best application I could.

Christine answered each of my questions (“how do I answer this question on the CBS application form,” “what shirt should I wear with which suit to the interview,” “what do you think about this email to my recommender to remind him about the deadline,” “should I mention that I met this person at a CBS event,” etc.) earnestly and swiftly. She always asked about how I was doing in the process, and truly rooted for me the whole way. In the end, the process with Christine far exceeded what I thought it would be like to hire a business school consultant, and I will continue to sing her praises (and SBC’s) from the rooftop to friends who are thinking about applying next cycle.

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I am extremely satisfied with the services offered by SBC and namely, my consultant Christine Hawkins, who did an amazing job helping me craft my story.

I had devoted a considerable amount of time preparing for the GMAT and researching schools, however due to some personal issues, I found myself with very little time (less than a month) to work on the applications of two highly selective schools. After doing a thorough research, I decided to approach SBC for support and I quickly realized that I had made the right decision.

Christine promptly managed to get to know my strengths/weaknesses and my story as a whole. Together, we laid out a strategy (which included guidance on the resume, essays, interviews and other crucial factors) that eventually led to two well-rounded applications that perfectly demonstrated my appeal as an MBA prospect to the adcom. Throughout the application process, Christine was very responsive and approachable, providing constructive feedback on various aspects of my application that helped me refine and systematize my seemingly "rugged" story.

In the end, I got admitted to both of the schools I applied to, with about a 80% scholarship from my top choice. I could not have been happier with Christine and SBC and I highly recommend their services to anyone considering a top MBA!

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Summary

I can strongly recommend SBC and especially Christine based on my business school application experience. As a result of her excellent work and support I got accepted into Columbia Business School and Chicago Booth.

About me / whom this might help:

I am European (= international applicant) with a background in Tech, working as management consultant. Working and traveling a lot and having very little experience with business school applications, I decided to hire a consultant to help me shape my story so that I would be able to differentiate myself from the mass of management consultants and to communicate that story in the language of the Admission team while being as efficient as possible (due to my daily workload).

In retrospect, SBC and especially Christine not only met but exceeded my expectations by far.

Why SBC

I chose SBC because I believe that SBC has an edge over many other admission consultancies due to its very strong marketing position. By not only hiring a consultant but also the back office / expertise of the entire firm, SBC knows exactly how to position your profile for your respective target school (because they have it done a thousand times before). Through this rich expertise and track record my initial contact, Esther, knew in a heartbeat what I was missing in my application and which consultant – in my case Christine – could support me the best. However, I not only got a perfect match but also access to a lot of reading material, past essays, interview preparation software as well as to Lisa, who was a former Admission Officer and who evaluated my application package from a neutral perspective before I finally submitted it. I believe the best analogy to my thinking is: If you need a surgery and you can chose between a general surgeon and a medical firm that has a specialist for each type of surgery, including yours, who will most likely be prepared for all eventualities?

Why Christine

I believe Christine excels in almost any position including that of an admission consultant. This is because Christine has a very rare combination of an extremely high intellectual capacity, genuity and work ethics. She knows exactly what to do which is reflected in her very clear instructions and in the fact that she never fell behind any deadline, but usually always delivered early over our 6 months. The best example for that is when I decided last minute (48h prior to the deadline) due to a change in my calendar to also apply to Booth. Despite having many other applications, less than 48 hours and not a signed contract for my forth school (yet), Christine was up for the challenge resulting not only in two very intense days with very little sleep for the both of us, but also in an admit from Booth.

While I would have already been more than pleased at this point, there is much more I gained from our interactions and from Christine herself. By preparing my applications, I not only improved my written English, but also learnt how to best position myself in a job interview, by knowing how to best demonstrate my various strengths and capabilities in combination with what sets me apart from others. I believe this is noteworthy, because my work with Christine would still have been fruitful for me, even if I did not gain any acceptance letter.

However, what I loved most about our interactions was that Christine made the application process fun. By finding the right balance between application related and other topics and by making sure that I progressed while allowing me to learn from the process, I truly enjoyed working with Christine. In fact, I was not relieved, but said when I realized that I was done with the application process.

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I am from Latin America, I had a story a little different from traditional applicants (I know everyone thinks they have, but I really did). My stats weren’t that great and I only applied to CBS since I was already living in NYC and it was the school I had always dreamed to go. From the first call we had, Christine perfectly understood my story, my experience, my strengths and weaknesses and what was the exact angle we could exploit so I could become an attractive candidate for CBS. Very quickly she generated various ideas and proposals which were tailored made to my profile, experience, and goals, giving me a clear direction to follow and the confidence that all the effort was going to be worth it. Her ability to help you during essays drafting was AMAZING, she really helps you get inspired and bring to words the best of your thoughts.

At one point during the preparation of the application, I was very busy because of work and on top of that, I was also studying to take again the GMAT and thank god that Christine was there for me, supporting me with the preparation, accommodating to my busy schedule and delivering an EXCELLENT service. If she had not been there, there was NO WAY I could have made it successfully through the application process. For the interview, her preparation was exactly what I needed and from the moment I applied in about a month CBS had already accepted me.

Christine perfectly knows the culture of CBS, what the AdCom thinks and what is exactly what they are looking for in applicants. I really can’t imagine a better advisor than Christine. It was a pleasure working with her and I STRONGLY recommend anyone to work with her!

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