Maria Wich-Vila Reviews

This is one of the best tools out there for MBA applications. The structured approach walks you through all the necessary steps and helps you assemble all the necessary points for a great application. The videos and explanation accompanying each step helps to stay on track and the advice at each step helped me improve my application profile. The ApplicantLab process walked me through each aspect of my past work and education and helped me rediscover my own strengths that are important for an MBA and helped me pen them down in applications. Maria is great with individual school knowledge as well and helped me with specifics that needed to be included in essays. The interview prep module has been a great tool and contains all the interview questions and helps you to find answers for each of them. This tool has helped me immensely and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great, cost-effective resource for MBA applications.

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What? - AL is an amazing MBA admissions guidance product by HBS alumni Maria which replaces traditional, expensive and 'not always reliable' admissions consulting firms. It lays out all pieces of admissions process right from 'attending b-school info sessions' to interview prep into 15 broad areas, connected seamlessly into a framework. Imagine you can see the whole application process end-to-end in one dashboard so that you never lose touch of the bigger picture.

Why it's so awesome? So in my case I stumbled on AL when my friend from Oxford Said found it valuable and suggested me to try. I love great products. I wanted to try and see how it works. I have worked with 2 MBA consultants earlier however I wasn't convinced with them. They mainly contributed in refining the essay structure, editing essays and fitting the essays under word limit (not worth 1000s of $). When I checked AL, I was surprised my precise insights that makes the application robust. It goes deep into the thought process, individual strengths/weaknesses, story building, and every other ingredient that makes the application genuine and unique to an applicant. All at ~1/10th of typical admissions consultants cost. Worked with both the AL tool and multiple admission consultants, I feel that most b-school applicants do not require consultants to be true. Even if you are considering hiring a MBA consultant, do check the trial version of AL first. It boils down great practical tips and insights of Maria.

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ApplicantLab is just the best tool out there! I needed help in preparing for my LBS interview and purchaed the tool, which I think is the perfect one-stop shop for MBA interview prep. The material is exhaustive and I'm sure I would have benefitted more had I bought access to the tool much earlier.

After going through the modules, I wanted to do some live prep. I booked a session with Maria, and I got a lot more out of the 90 mins that I thought I would - we deep dived into all the questions I needed help on and I also got a pulse check on my overall storyline for my long and short term goals.

Maria came thouroughly prepared for the session and knew my application inside out. She listens and provides tailored and actionable feedback. The overall prep experience injected the right dose of confidence which came across during my interview. My only regret is that not starting out with the product sooner prior to crafitng my essays. Highly recommend Maria and ApplicantLab!

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I got into Wharton and Chicago Booth as a deferred applicant, and I owe all the success to Maria and ApplicantLab!!
As a deferred applicant, I was very skeptical about using ApplicantLab, because I felt that most of the advice was for traditional applicants with work experience, and I wasn't sure how without any personal interaction I'd be able to craft a compelling story. I did my research and talked to over 10 admissions consultants through the free consultations, but as a deferred applicant with no savings of my own, I couldn't get myself to spend thousands of dollars, and after reading numerous amazing reviews, I decided to go ahead with ApplicantLab. I was proven so wrong about my apprehensions from the first day I started to use the lab.
This is what I absolutely loved about ApplicantLab, and why I feel EVERYONE needs to stop using traditional consultants and switch to ApplicantLab:
1) The lab took me through a step by step process, starting from identifying my strengths and weaknesses, to very specific advice for all parts of the application. The videos and the advice was so thorough that I didn't need to look anywhere else. The lab helped me with the exact structure of the essays, resume, and other short questions in the application.
2) Maria and Carin are available at all times, and every time I'd send them any doubts through the chat feature on the ApplicantLab, they'd get back to me with to the point answers. I could see from her responses that Maria was super interested in my story and wanted me to succeed.
3) The interview module is OUT OF THIS WORLD, and the approach ApplicantLab has for all the specific interview questions is going to help me all my life!!
4) I also used the additional services, including sanity check (career vision and resume review) and essay review. If not for these services, I would've made a couple of huge blunders in my applications! But, that being said, if you're diligently following the advice on the lab, you won't even need these services and the lab should be enough. But, it really helped me in turning a good resume/essay into a great one.
Maria has done a fantastic job with ApplicantLab, and where consultants would've charged me over 5000$ for my applications, I got in with spending just 269$. Don't think twice, go with ApplicantLab!

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Maria does a great job of breaking down the entire application process and even address the various reasons for someone who is getting their MBA. The most valuable part for me was the brainstorming portion where I categorized my different stories and mapped it to specific parts of the application essays. She provides various approaches (probing questions) to guide your story development which really helped with the brainstorming aspect. Maria clues you in on how to tailor your resume for applying to MBA school as it is different from a normal job resume. She even has interviews with students going through their resume and nitpicking on things to improve. A great resource for anyone looking to apply to grad school! I'd highly recommend this like I have to all my peers.

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To begin this review I will start off by saying that Maria at Applicantlab is amazing and this program helped me so much! If you take anything away from this review, let it be that.

I applied to the following schools for their part-time programs and received acceptance into each one: University of Michigan (Ross), UCLA (Anderson), USC (Marshall), and IU (Kelley).

Once I was finished with my GMAT, I had absolutely no idea how to write my essays or resume for business school. I probably would have just used my work resume and I don't think being proficient in Microsoft Word would have impressed any of the schools.

I considered getting an MBA consultant because I was so lost but this program was perfect. I loved how easy it was to use and how each school had its own advice. I never in a million years would have known how to answer the Ross essays (I mean 100 words max - that's tough enough let alone knowing what they actually wanted you to answer)

Here is how it works. Applicantlab has a set of videos that give specific advice on how to approach your essays and resume. These videos are incredibly informative and let you know what from your work/life history you need to pull to complete your essays and resume. After watching these videos, you answer some questions and the answers to those questions will be used to help organize your thoughts.

There is a section of Applicantlab where you input which universities you are applying to. Applicantlab will then give you videos to watch on each of the school's essays. Maria has done the work and talked to the Ad-Coms to learn what they are looking for. This type of advice alone is worth the money. Trust me!!

This type of program requires the user to do most of the work. I had plenty of questions during my applications and would return to Applicantlab all of the time. There is a chat function where if someone is available you can ask your question right then and there. If someone isn't available, the chat function will send an email and you will hear back fairly quickly.

I for sure, would not have gotten into some of the schools I did had it not been for Applicantlab. If you are lost and don't know how to move forward in the MBA application process then Applicantlab is for you. Plus it is easily the most cost-effective admissions advice out there.

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My journey to securing a spot at my dream MBA schools would not have been possible without Applicantlab!!!

I am a South African and was never exposed to the typical US/Europe Ivy league school application process. I had written the GMAT and scored 640, so I knew that my success would hinge on the rest of the application. To put it simply, I needed the remainder of my application to be extraordinary!

I did my research and found that Applicantlab was the best in the market. It is incredibly cost-effective and very convenient as much of the work is done on a pre-established platform, eliminating complexities related to timezones and consultant availability.

I was skeptical at first and decided to sign up for the FREE trial. After a few short sessions, I felt extremely confident in the product quality and decided to take the plunge and purchase the full package. I have never regretted making that decision.

The platform is aesthetically appealing and very user-friendly. It takes the applicant on a journey and puts him/her in the shoes of the admissions committee member. Writing with the perspective of the Adcom member in mind forced me to speaks my truth without losing the attention of my target audience.

The platform is structured in such a way that by the time you get to essay writing, you have already developed a few anecdotes and key stories to use when answering those daunting essay questions. I’m an accountant by trade, so essay writing and storytelling doesn’t come naturally to me. Another plus about the tool is that you can revisit the modules as many times as you want at no extra charge.

I then booked an essay review session with Maria, where she went above and beyond my expectations. She not only provided written guidance on how to improve my essay but included an audio recording, where she clearly explained her thoughts, which allowed me to understand how to action any recommendations. Her turnaround time was phenomenal, always responding to every query within 24 hours.

I subsequently submitted my essays, and when I got shortlisted for interviews, I was able to progress to the interview module at no added cost. I did a mock interview with Maria, and I can honestly say she is EXTREMELY thorough. She prepared me for all kinds of questions, which left me extremely confident on the actual interview day.

Honestly, had it not been for Applicantlab (and Maria’s support), I would have never been accepted to neither INSEAD nor OXFORD. She not only helped me with my application essays but also helped me with the scholarship essays that resulted in me securing funding for both schools.

If you’re still not sold on the many benefits of Applicantlab, I highly recommend that you signup for the free trial. You won’t regret it!

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After scoring a good GMAT score, I didn’t have a plan about what should I do next to achieve my MBA dream. I got to know about ApplicantLab in one of the sessions by e-gmat. I am proud to say that with the help of ApplicantLab I was able to get admits from multiple schools.

Initially I signed up for a free trial and right off the bat I really liked the easy to follow and structured approach for preparing my MBA applications. The lab has nailed each aspect of the application process from getting to know about the schools using outreach etc. and shortlisting your schools to guiding you on how to refine your resume and structure your essays.

ApplicantLab not only provides you guidance on how to structure your essays but the best part is that each video is tailored for each Business school you are planning to apply to. This not only saves you time to research about each school but also ensures that your essay conveys and highlights the same traits that a particular school looks for in a candidate. I think this is one of the aspects which is really important for a successful application.

I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true that this service is really high on return on investment when compared to other consultancies out there.

ApplicantLab has helped me in achieving my MBA dream and I think ApplicantLab will be helpful for everyone in achieving their MBA dream too.

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I tried my best to get a good score in GMAT and ended up with 700. After that, I felt lost, I didn't know what to do as I didn't understand what are the next steps.

I thought that the biggest battle is GMAT, but it is not! (the applications/essays are the biggest hurdle to tackle)

I heard about admission consultants that charge 3,000$-10K+ for there service. I had no clue what service I would get as I read mixed reviews. By chance, I found ApplicantLab on GMATClub. The price is amazing (less than 300$) and it is a 24/7 service. The website describes everything with prerecorded videos. You can go for additional services to review your CV and the applications.

Advice: Try to book early the slots with Maria as the bookings my not be available during peak season times.

In short, with support of ApplicantLab,I ended up applying to 3 schools and got accepted to 2.

I wish ApplicantLab had a section with videos advising applicant on scholarship applications (they do have advise of scholarship essays if they are part of the application example IESE's application).

Thank you Maria!

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TLDR: I had absolutely no experience with college applications before, but ApplicantLab helped me get into a couple of my top school choices on my first try. When applying to school, you really need to put yourself into the shoes of the Admissions Committee, and there is no better / cheaper way to do this than to spend some time with this tool (hard to call it a tool even - it was such a personalised experience!)

Details
I did a fair bit of research before going ahead with AL, and only heard positive things about it. Phone calls with consultants never really worked for me, as you just can’t absorb 100% of the information being given. Signed up with AL, and loved the flexibility of being able to work on my application in my own time. There are a lot of videos at each step, which makes the process highly interactive, and IMO, better than talking to an expensive consultant.

The Lab is a treasure-trove of information on the entire application process, starting from your strengths and weaknesses and your resume and all the way till your essays and interviews. The best part is the customised advice for each school out there – I can’t imagine the kind of work that went into this, but Maria is a superstar and the value provided by AL is phenomenal.

Furthermore, there is advice for literally everyone on there. Come from a family business but want to go into consulting? Engineering background transitioning to finance? It makes you think like an Adcom member yourself, and drills into you the Do’s and more importantly the Don’ts of writing your essays.

Finally, I signed up for an essay review with Maria, and was SO GLAD I did that. A couple of anecdotes that I initially thought were amazing were fully taken apart by Maria, and I went back to the drawing board and made some changes.

Summary
ApplicantLab covers every bit of the admissions process, and it’s a must have tool for every applicant out there. The unbelievably low cost is just an added advantage – even at 5x the cost it would provide a lot of value.

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