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Product Fortuna Admissions Hourly Consulting Services
Consultant Judith Silverman Hodara
I worked with Judith at Fortuna and could not be more thankful for her help. My first conversation with Judith was great – she was very calm, knowledgeable, and really took the time to hear my story. She provided constructive feedback and advice even during my initial free phone consultation, which immediately drew me to choosing Fortuna. They were initially going to place me with a specific consultant who had extensive experience with Wharton, but he/she was not available at the time – thus, Judith helped me instead and did not charge me extra even though she goes for the higher director’s rate.
Judith was extremely responsive, efficient, and provided very helpful feedback to each iteration of my essays and application. With not much time to complete my application, Judith was never the bottleneck - she was rather a calming presence. I knew my story, but she helped refine it and frame it in a compelling way on paper. When I got to the interview stage, I had no idea what to expect as Wharton’s group/team-based interview is unique – luckily, Fortuna also offered mock team-based interview training, which I found very helpful. I went into the actual interview feeling confident and well-prepared because I had gone through it with other candidates and received feedback on my performance from Judith. I felt reassured and confident every step of the way with Judith’s help because I knew she had extensive experience evaluating candidates as an admissions director herself.
I will be attending Wharton and am extremely grateful for Fortuna and Judith’s support. I truly received individualized attention (even as an hourly client), and am very happy with the outcome!
Product Fortuna Admissions Hourly Consulting Services
Consultant Judith Silverman Hodara
After being rejected last year from several programs, I knew I needed to take a fresh look at my application and if I would even have a chance reapplying. So I reached out to Matt at Fortuna to see if it would be worth it to reapply. Matt spent over an hour on the phone with me and was extremely knowledgeable. He thought I had a chance, but he also mentioned that he worked with a former Wharton Admissions Director named Judith who could review my previous application to see if I had a chance. Judith reviewed my previous application and quickly provided valuable feedback about a couple of holes that could be fixed. I immediately made the decision to move forward with Fortuna and I am extremely glad that I did.
Judith was absolutely amazing throughout the process. She provided great and very specific feedback that maintained my voice, but just helped to slightly tweak the messaging and impact. She was also extremely prompt and we were able to go through multiple revisions of essays in a single week. With each iteration helping to tighten the story and flow of the essays. As an hourly client, I especially appreciated how efficient she was in her feedback and advice because I was able to pack in far more than I initially expected. Overall, I highly highly recommend Judith. She was fantastic!!
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Judith Silverman Hodara
Judith and Michel at Fortuna were astutely knowledgable about the ins and outs of the application process for each of my applications. Their feedback on my personal profile and each essay draft were invaluable to my acceptance into one of my dream MBA programs. It felt like they were on the journey through the application process with me, alleviating a lot of stress along the way. They took the time to get to know my personality and story so well beforehand that they were able to make specific, nuanced comments that heightened my essays to best make my case from their perspective as former adcom members. One of the most important aspects of the consulting experience for me was to commit to a timeline for deliverables. Judith and Michel kept me on track with each of three applications, gently nudging me when I was behind but never aggressively. Each interaction was a pleasure and I would recommend Fortuna to anyone interested in getting into their business school of choice.
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Product Fortuna Admissions Hourly Consulting Services
Consultant Judith Silverman Hodara
I was thoroughly impressed by Fortuna Admissions. I would recommend Fortuna to anyone who is seeking admission to a competitive business school and wants to submit a strong, polished profile.
Two things really struck me in working with Fortuna:
1) They really get to know you before you dig deep into the application process. Judith became familiar with my background, to the extent that she pointed out that there was a cohesiveness to my education, professional background, and strengths that I wasn’t aware of. Not only did this significantly improve my application, but I can communicate in a more compelling way about my background.
2) They are extremely intuitive and detail-oriented. The feedback they gave me on my essays was extremely helpful. I wasn’t going into nearly enough detail in my essays—I mean, I thought I was!—but Judith pushed me to really get into the “why,” why I was passionate about my professional goals.
Finally, the other perk of working with Fortuna is that they know this business inside-and-out. There were things I learned about the application process and making the most of my application materials that I didn’t get from reading “MBA Admissions Strategy” by Avi Gordon or listening to dozens of MBA Podcaster podcasts or picking my MBA cousin’s brain.
Also, this sounds miniscule, but the one other thing that I really liked about working with Fortuna is that 80% of my anxiety about applying to business school went away. I knew that I was working with professionals, they were aware of my deadlines, and it was my job to stay organized and just focus my energy on writing great essays.
Product Fortuna Admissions Early Stage MBA Planning
Consultant Judith Silverman Hodara
I contracted Fortuna to do a roadmap for a potential future MBA to see what path would make the most sense given my general career direction. After many interviews and long conversations they provided me a full breakdown of the way admissions would view my strengths and weaknesses and what to improve on before applying.
Not only were the staff professional but the information and strategy they returned was comprehensive. At the end of the day the roadmap itself was very pricey, but not in any way above industry standard. Since I had this done considerably before applying for an MBA I was able to correct all the deficiencies they mentioned.
Overall they were very helpful in guiding me through the options in front of me. I ended up getting an MSc internationally in the end and now have a job that generally requires an MBA. Should I ever decide to return for an MBA I will be in an incredibly strong spot.
In the end while there are a lot of places that offer this kind of service, Fortuna was very easy and pleasant to work with. I would use them again for my application package too if I go that route.