Liza Weale Reviews

Background: Mix of traditional (banking) and nontraditional (governmental) professional experience, male, average test score with lower than ideal GPA
Accepted: Harvard, Kellogg, McCombs
Liza was recommended to me by a friend and we started working together several months before R1 deadlines. I am extremely grateful to have been able to work with Liza and was thoroughly pleased with her expertise, advice, responsiveness, and professionalism. She is the perfect blend of coach, friend, and therapist and exactly who you want by your side if you are willing to put in the work. Liza pushed me early on in the process to dig deep into my personal history and experience so that she could have a holistic view of me as a person, and she pointed out the aspects of my experiences that were worth writing about. She absolutely fine-tuned the story of my candidacy, and was there every step of the way through multitudes of essay revisions, application question help, interview prep, and even video application questions. She even pushed me to take an extra online course to demonstrate my commitment to my grades. I cannot recommend her highly enough, and I don't want to think about where I would have been in this process without her guidance.

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Having Liza as my consultant was HUGE for me. By way of background, I am a male applicant with a less traditional career path, Liza helped me utilize my story in an effective way. She helped me identify my strengths as a candidate and provided amazing feedback that I would not have had without her as my consultant. The MBA application can be daunting but it helps tremendously to have someone like Liza who knows all the ins and out of the process and can provide great recommendations regardless of the question. I know without a doubt that Liza’s work helped me get into the school of my dreams. I simply could not have done it without her.

I looked at other consultants but couldn’t really find one that ‘clicked.’ After doing the introductory call, I knew immediately that Liza was the person I needed to make my candidacy the most competitive. This was the best decision I could have made!

Liza is always available; has tremendous knowledge of all the schools and the process in general; is a joy to work with; and most of all is dedicated completely to making sure your application is the best possible. I cannot recommend enough!

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Background: Female, International, bulge bracket banking, Megafund PE
Accepted: Wharton, Harvard (Admitted)

To say Liza was pivotal throughout my business school application process would be a disservice. No review, personal testimony or reference would do Liza or her work justice. I could not have asked for a better support system, friend and consultant.

A few highlights from my experience:

1) Selection Process:
Liza came to me recommended by an acquaintance and is very well known in the New York community. I was diligent and interviewed 8 different consultants but followed my gut and selected Liza as I felt she could not only be supportive but keep me accountable.

2) Working Style:
Liza is supportive, engaging and firm. She approaches the application process in an organized fashion and as stringent as the schedule sounds - it is TRULY going to produce the best work product and showcase the best you. At first, the turnaround times and general timelines felt challenging with my schedule (I typically did most work on the weekends) but I adjusted to a cadence in which I was consistently working on one document while Liza reviewed another. Trust me - it works with any schedule!

3) Timelines:
Liza is dependable and consistent. She never ONCE missed a deadline and the quality of work product was consistent. Trust me when I say this is rare, I watched my partner go through the process with a consultant missing both of these qualities and it makes a stressful time, that much more challenging.

4) Essay Feedback:
Liza's essay support is phenomenal; she pushes you to SHOW the reader what you did, as opposed to tell them. This sounds basic but incredibly hard to do by yourself. This alone is worth every investment.

5) Other:
Liza has perfected her craft. Her strategy, advice and feedback can be helpful to ANY working style. I was disorganized, last minute and have limited experience writing essays, however Liza's ability to help you put your best foot forward, regardless of your background or experience is unbeatable.

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Background: Male, URM, Ivy undergrad (Finance Major), 6 years work experience (3 yrs banking, 3 yrs corporate development), 7XX GMAT and undergrad GPA in ballpark of MBA medians for the schools I applied to
Applied and admitted to: Stanford GSB, HBS, and Wharton

Liza came highly recommended by various friends who had used her services, and by the end of our initial consultation, it was clear why: she listens, asks the tough questions, is incredibly thoughtful, and is patient and supportive. I did not feel rushed during the consultation and Liza even followed up afterward with a debrief email that provided additional feedback on my overall candidacy (incl. areas that I could strengthen) as well as various resources that I could reference. Given how much introspection the MBA process requires, Liza’s approach makes her incredibly effective at helping applicants find / craft their story and gain admission to the most selective business schools.

Since I was a bit price conscious, I only worked with Liza on my GSB application. However, given how detailed the GSB application is, I was able to leverage the same content for my other 2 applications. Liza did a fantastic job of helping me connect the dots between elements of my past, who I am now, and what I aspire to do in the future. She was able to give me very honest, specific feedback and pressure test statements that I made about my motivations. Quite candidly, it was initially a frustrating process — my first essay drafts were missing the mark and Liza pushed me to dig deeper and really tease out how the various things I’ve done are linked to a set of specific motivations. Beyond just helping me submit a top notch application, this process of introspection and self-discovery has given me greater clarity of who I am and what I want to do going forward. People spend their whole lives trying to answer this question and discover themselves, so I really appreciated partnering with Liza to work through this.

Working with Liza on mock interviews was also incredibly helpful. During the GSB mock, we covered a number of the questions that I was ultimately asked during my actual interview. She also did a great job of imitating the cadence and atmosphere of a GSB interview. My understanding is that her HBS mocks are more fast-paced to reflect the style of HBS interviewers. This all goes to show that she knows the process and schools quite well.

Lastly, Liza is incredibly professional and brings an amazing amount of energy to every call, email, or redline you receive from her! She’s well organized, very attentive to review deadlines, and is also quite responsive. If you stick to Liza’s prescribed deadlines, you won’t be scrambling last minute to finish up your applications and you’ll feel great when you finally hit submit. Liza’s spots fill up fast so highly recommend booking her early in the process — you won’t regret it!

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I’m an international applicant from a tech background who’s engaged Liza for my HBS interview. Am happy to share that I’ve been accepted to HBS!

Liza’s not only very knowledgeable and experienced but has also been so incredibly helpful and empathetic throughout my interaction with her. The mock interview helped a lot – Liza’s honest and encouraging about my rooms for improvement. She addressed my areas of concern too, giving me tips on how to be more effective and confident in my communication.

Although technically Liza’s supposed to help me just for the interview, she’s generous enough to also entertain all my other questions in relation to my application. It really helps to have a one-to-one channel for moral support and to clarify my doubts, given my status as an international applicant who’s unfamiliar with the US system. I would highly recommend Liza to anyone who’s looking to go through the same process.

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Background: Female, Associate at Large PE firm Admitted: HBS
Liza came highly recommended to me by multiple colleagues. Despite being “late” to hire a consultant given my desire to apply round 1, Liza was prompt to respond and we spoke a few days after I reached out. Liza’s incredibly thoughtful yet matter-of-fact approach to our conversation struck me and I hired her without speaking with any other consultants!
My biggest concern as an applicant coming from a large PE firm was that a consultant would strip away the personality in my application and my voice in what ended up being a very personal essay. Liza assuaged my fears immediately – I was in awe of her ability to listen to my stories, read my essay drafts, and then provide helpful revision advice that actually helped my personality come across more clearly. She wasn’t afraid to support me putting my truest, most authentic self out there in a way that was clear, authentic, and confident (but not arrogant).
Liza is not only an excellent writer and communicator who will help you polish your writing and interviewing skills, but what really sets her apart from others in this industry is that she is a good listener and has a keen ability to get to know you quickly. I have heard horror stories of friends who have spent thousands on consultants who fail to provide a personalized experience -- mixing up their clients, taking a long time to provide feedback on materials, and when they do finally respond, giving advice that is at best generic. The business school application requires a level of introspection that many of us try to avoid as we navigate pressure-filled professional lives, and Liza is that sherpa who knows how to carefully guide you through a reflection of where you came from, why you are the way you are, and what you want out of life and out of business school. She is so thoughtful and insightful that at times I felt like I was her only client!
Finally, I really appreciated how organized and professional Liza is; she is very good about setting expectations and guidelines early on and sticking to them (as I mentioned before, I’ve heard horror stories from friends…) At the beginning of the process, she establishes a week-by-week plan of what needs to be done, and when, which is helpful as many of us juggle busy careers and personal lives.
I am thrilled to be attending Harvard Business School starting this fall and I know that I would not have this opportunity without Liza’s support and guidance. I cannot recommend her enough!

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Background: International, Female, Consultant
Admitted: HBS

Liza is the absolute best!

I started working with Liza to prepare for my interviews and she has been an amazing source of guidance and support. I was debating whether I need help with interviews and which consultant to pick but after one call with Liza, I knew that I had to work with her. She was positive and genuine and very thorough in her questions. In addition, the friend who referred me had nothing but amazing things to say about her. While I didn’t work with her as my primary consultant, I know that she would have been invaluable throughout the whole process.

She conducted a mock HBS interview and the actual interview ended up having very similar questions to what Liza asked me. She not only gave me very pointed strategic advice but perhaps more importantly gave me the confidence and reassurance I needed. She also helped me prep for behavioral/story-type questions for my other interviews. Liza showed me how to take the stories that I found uneventful and showcase them in a way that highlights my strong characteristics. She reassured me that I could show my vulnerabilities too.

Although I only worked with her on the interview part of the process, she was there for me every step of the way. She gave me encouragement before my interview and checked in with me right after. Liza clearly cares about the people she works with and is an expert in her craft. She remembers the smallest details you mention in the calls and gives advice from a very experienced point of view. I would recommend Liza in a heartbeat!

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Background: Male (no diversity). Top business undergrad. Senior Associate at PE fund. Below average GMAT. Outcome: Deferred HBS, Admitted Wharton.

I began thinking about the business school application process at the start of my second year in private equity, or about 1 year prior to applications being due (for reference I had already signed on to stay at my company for a third year). I was unsure whether to use a consultant since I consider myself to be organized and a relatively decent creative writer. I reached out to Liza directly via an introduction from a former coworker of mine who had used Liza 1 year prior (accepted to both HBS and GSB). I interviewed Liza and maybe 3-4 other consultants (all recommendations from current + former coworkers), and decided that signing up with Liza was an absolute no brainer. I’ll try to boil this down to the reasons that I think are most applicable to someone of my profile looking to sign on an MBA consultant:

1. Cost (General): I understand that for some of you reading this, signing up with a business school consultant may be financially prohibitive. But for those of you who are willing to fork up an additional few $k (on top of the c.$100-200k MBA cost), my view is that doing so is extremely worthwhile. I personally was contemplating whether the cost for a consultant was justified, but after working with Liza, I am certain that the outcome of my application was leaps and bounds better and more targeted towards a seasoned admissions committee than it would have been otherwise working on my own (again, coming from someone who got straight A’s in English / writing throughout school and who admittedly has a bit of a “writing ego” – a lot of this is not just “am I a good writer” or “do I have an interesting story”, but also “do I really know exactly what the admissions folks are looking for?” My sense is that the answer is more nuanced than you/I may think). So from a cost perspective, again, if able to afford, I view this as a no brainer drop in the bucket cost relative to the broader MBA program expense, to ensure your application is as stellar as possible. But this is a highly debated topic so I understand if there are others that may feel differently.

2. Her Track Record: before joining private equity, I previously worked for 3 years at a boutique investment bank. I probably need 3 (maybe 4) hands to count the number of my former co-workers from that bank that have used Liza for business school applications over the past several years. The reason why working with Liza has become such a rite of passage for those from my old firm is, at face value, the unarguable results she produces. I’m pretty sure that all of my former co-workers that have worked with Liza in the past ended up getting into at least one of their top choices (typically HBS, GSB or Wharton). I of course don’t want to mistake correlation vs causation here (i.e. many of these individuals were likely stellar candidates on their own accord). But given how competitive the application process has become over the past few years (I’ve witnessed many rejections of other top tier candidates), I’d be remiss not to attribute a non-immaterial portion of many of these successes to Liza’s “magic touch” during the application process.

3. Her Insight: Liza has been working as an MBA consultant for over a decade, and as a result of that has deep insight into specifically what each admissions committee is seeking for a given background. I.e. for myself – what might help me stand out as a relatively generic non-diverse male private equity candidate? I found this particularly relevant for HBS, GSB and Wharton. The two essays I’d say we spent the most time on were i) GSB’s “What matters most to you and why” and ii) “What more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for HBS?”. I started by compiling a 20-page brainstorming document that contained all my “stories” from growing up, high school, college, etc. The goal was to resurface some of my deepest most personal stories (“what makes me tick?”) that would be most helpful in presenting my candidacy to an admissions committee of a top MBA program. Liza read every page. Over the course of many months, Liza focused me on which stories were better to showcase vs others, and pulled out key motifs/themes that seemed present across each of them. (For me – the key theme we found was my underlying longing for experimenting / not being afraid to do things differently). Moving from brainstorming document (finalized call it mid-April) to final draft of HBS/GSB essays took 4-5 months of relentless reflection and substantial re-working. I am confident that the finished product is what granted me acceptance into Wharton and Deferral from HBS despite a well-below-average GMAT score for my application cohort + non-diverse background.

4. Her Energy and Enthusiasm: throughout the application process, Liza became much more than just my consultant. She became a great friend and life coach. The spring and summer I spent writing applications was admittedly pretty rough. I had to sit inside during countless sunny Saturday’s and Sunday’s to brainstorm / write essays, on top of an already demanding job. During that time, Liza helped me stay positive through her energetic and buoyant tone during each and every one of our phone calls, and embedded within each of her redlined essay comments. Liza isn’t afraid to “think out loud” on the page which I thought was immensely helpful and motivational (i.e. “I like this, but we can make it better! Something along the lines of ‘xyz’”), and always gave credit when due (“wow, what an improvement! Love this!”). She also isn’t afraid to hold your hand when you get writer’s block, and take you down a path that might possibly lead somewhere great, just to keep the ball rolling. These anecdotes may seem small / generic, but really do add up during a long and grueling application process. It’s important to select a consultant with contagious energy that will help you get through all the long hours, and that is as invested in your application success and general well-being during the process (and post-process as well) as Liza is. I have no doubt we’ll remain in touch for many years to come.

I can only speak to my background, my experiences, and the experiences of my peers. But if you are coming from an investment banking or PE background with the goal of gaining acceptance into a top MBA program, Liza is nothing short of an incredible option from a track record and personality perspective. And if you do find after your intro call with Liza that she is the right fit for you, I’d make sure to sign up with her early on in the process – her spots tend to fill up quickly.

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Background: Male, Finance undergrad, associate at VC firm
Admitted: HBS

Go with Liza!

If you’re contemplating working with a consultant during your application process, it’s likely because you know that the applications are not to be underestimated. And given that, you cannot find a better choice than Liza. I was candidly on the fence of whether or not to work with a consultant, but after my initial consultation with Liza, I knew I only had one choice.

I worked with Liza over the course of 6 months, but it was after our initial brainstorming session that I felt like she knew me. Throughout our time together, Liza would consistently reference topics or conversations we covered in our first session together. And that was why she was so impactful for me. Ultimately, I was crafting my own story, but Liza knew the prodding questions to ask – she brought out the details in my story that truly showed who I am.

Liza’s support and cheery disposition always brightened my day. Whenever we hopped on the phone together, whether it was to brainstorm essay topics or to conduct a mock interview, I always left our conversation feeling confident. The on-campus interviews were a particularly daunting part of the process for me, but Liza’s feedback gave me a framework on which to concentrate, and her positive reassurance made me feel ready. The quick email on the morning of a big day with positive vibes was always helpful too…

If you’re applying to just one school or a handful, the application process is time-consuming. Liza, though, distills everything into digestible pieces. There will no doubt be a number of iterations until you get to the final product (for your resume, essays, and/or responses to application questions). But, speaking to my process, with each turn, Liza’s feedback was targeted and impactful. Liza guided me to the “a-ha” moment, the instant I knew I nailed my story.

I don’t know how many other applicants Liza worked with, but I always felt that I was given individual attention. Liza is always there, to answer a one-off question or to have a longer form conversation. Most important to me, though, was that I knew Liza was invested in seeing me succeed. Without Liza, I know I wouldn’t have felt as confident submitting an application as I did.

If you choose to work with Liza (you absolutely should), you’ll have someone in your corner that will challenge you and is wholly devoted to your success. Quite simply, if you’re looking to present the best version of yourself, go with Liza!

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Background: Male, Ivy League undergrad, real estate development / construction industry

I owe a huge part of my three acceptances to top schools (with scholarships!!) to Liza. This review doesn’t begin to cover how much I appreciate her help throughout this long but rewarding process. However, I hope it gives future applicants some insight into the journey and encourages those serious about presenting their best business school applications to work with Liza.

I came to Liza knowing that getting into a top MBA program would be a stretch given certain components of my profile. I had worked for very small, entrepreneurial companies in an industry that is an atypical precursor to MBA. Additionally, I was not on the best terms with a previous employer. I told her in my initial call that I was going to be a challenge! However, Liza never let me think for a second that I wasn’t capable to getting to where I wanted to be. Instead, she encouraged me to see my unique background as an asset and focus my efforts on what I could control in the application.

Initially, we examined themes ranging from my childhood through college and professional life. I felt comfortable sharing so much with her because she was truly interested in getting to know me and created an open line of communication. Liza helped me create powerful essays from these themes by identifying specific examples that demonstrate my achievements to date and leadership potential. She was also a tremendous resource with developing a strategy behind presenting components of my background, interests, and goals, locating where in each application I could present my many facets.

Furthermore, Liza kept me in check – beyond just a schedule/flow of work kind of way. Yes, Liza was very direct with creating a game plan from day one, setting target dates, and being responsive to all of my essay drafts. What I mean is that Liza kept me focused on my message in every possible opportunity in the application. What connected me further to Liza was her commitment to showcasing my authentic self and core values. For one of my essays, Liza encouraged me to run with an idea that I was afraid was too “personal” for a business school application. Without her guidance, I would not have had the courage or ability to execute on what I now believe to be a valuable part of my journey to MBA. After multiple drafts, the essay turned out to be the one I’m most proud of across all applications and got me accepted to my top choice school.

The MBA application process can be very exhausting and stressful but also reflective and constructive. Beyond these acceptances, I feel that I’ve achieved a greater clarity towards what I want in next steps in my career and life. It was not easy though and comes with answering tough questions and taking time for uncomfortable introspection. Liza is going to guide you to really do this work which I believe got me into these programs. I wouldn’t have been as disciplined or successful in this process without Liza’s positive attitude and direct counsel. You want her on your team!

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