Matt Symonds Reviews

I worked with Matt on my Round 3 application to the Stanford GSB, MIT Sloan and the Wharton School. I was a non-traditional applicant with a government background, applying a bit later in my career than the average - and had previously received some less than enthusiastic advice from consultants encouraging me to consider safety schools or delay applying. This made sense on the face of it: the odds are very low for those schools as a R3 applicant, and they didn't want to set me (or themselves) up for failure. But Matt took a totally different tack: I felt he took a real interest in me as a person, understood my goals and rationale, and went beyond the stats to see the strength in my application. He totally understood the reasoning behind going for it in R3, put himself on the line to tell me what he honestly thought, and provided me the vital encouragement to keep going. Close to the deadline, he was available over the weekend to iterate my essays and review the final elements of my application. I felt that his advice was always helpful - and crucially, helped to bring out my authentic voice, not just what adcoms want to hear. Matt's advice and encouragement were crucial to getting me over the line and securing offers from all 3 schools. Thank you Matt - you're a good man and a pleasure to work with!

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I had free consultation with 3 companies in Jun. I felt most comfortable and engaged when talking to Matt (Fortuna), Though he also quote the most expensive package price :). Another free consultation I had was with a GSB graduate. He advised me not to consider M7, and probably not even S16. He suggested a few other schools, and i felt a bit discouraged.

I decided to follow my heart as Matt really made me feel he knows inside out the application process and sees my unique profile from the AO's prospective.

I am so lucky to be admitted to all the three schools I applied in R1 and I am going to HBS this fall!

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