GMAT Club

Liza Weale Reviews

Company: Gatehouse

A former Bain & Company consultant and an MIT Sloan graduate, Liza brings discipline, logic, and curiosity to her consulting, enabling hundreds of success stories at schools such as Harvard, Stanford, UPenn Wharton, Northwestern Kellogg, and MIT Sloan. Her past clients also cite Liza’s relentless commitment and positivity as critical factors in their success. Over the years of working with clients, Liza has witnessed the bar to admission at the very top schools continually rise — even for pedigreed individuals from the best private equity, management consulting, venture capital, and tech firms. She founded Gatehouse Admissions to support applicants in meeting this challenge. Via strong client partnerships and deep investment at every stage of the application process, Liza specializes in helping determined candidates stand out.

5.0 /5 Average Rating
Based on 142 reviews
March 29, 2014
Anonymous

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***LIZA WEALE is the most EFFECTIVE and EFFICIENT collaborator I have ever worked with!!!***
*SHE WILL HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR BEST PACKAGE POSSIBLE!*

I’m a 10 year veteran with a below 700 GMAT. I knew I would need to craft my best package possible in order to be competitive for R2 submissions. I applied to Kellogg (D), Wharton (A), and HBS (M). I began working on my applications around July and had already written my essays and resume by the time I approached Liza in October.

Even though I had engaged peers and alumni from all three schools to provide feedback on my essays and resume, I still felt uneasy with the feedback I received. My peers knew me well and had a military background – I felt I needed to engage someone with a keen eye and a different background. That’s when I reached out to MBAmission.

I got lucky by picking Liza Weale – after reading her background, she seemed like someone I would want to work with, a decision I don’t regret. She was able to relate to me, teach me new skills, keep me positive, and above all – provide an honest estimate of her services.

Liza Weale is a military brat (an endearing word to those that grew up traveling the country and world, base to base), so she had the perfect mix between knowing enough about the military to understand some context – but not enough to read past jargon. It was this balance that allowed her to provide hard hitting insight into my stories. If something made no sense – she’d give it to me straight. It really forced me to reflect on my stories in a way I could not have done on my own. This paid dividends when I interviewed at HBS. She is also extremely sharp and succinct. I had fears working over the phone – having done many teleconferences, I know what a waste of time they can turn out to be, but she was able to make every minute count. One phone call in my mind equated to 50 emails (be prepared to take copious notes when you call her!) Working with her opened my eyes to the caliber of professionals that I would potentially work with after earning an MBA. She was EXACTLY the kind of person I was seeking.

Liza Weale played the role of teacher. Regardless of the outcome of my application – I knew I was walking away from this experience a better writer. She opened my eyes to the “Show don’t Tell” technique of writing. This skill set has translated into my profession and has helped me teach others write better too.

Liza Weale played the role of a support network. Few of my friends could understand the stress I felt or odds I was up against. There were times when I doubted my own package – knowing that I was outside the median in almost every category tracked. She was always positive, over email and the phone – even when providing tough feedback. Her positive attitude never wavered and it helped crush any doubt that began to creep into my head.

Above all – Liza Weale is honest. I was willing to pay for the much more expensive deluxe service package. But after she had a chance to review my brainstorming document, essays, and resume, she recommended the hourly rate – recognizing I would not need hours and hours of her assistance. I do give myself credit – I had to play my part too – I was receptive to her insights and did the hard work of crafting and re-crafting my essays. She was acted as a rudder – providing steering direction toward my goals.

***COUNT YOURSELF LUCKY IF LIZAWEALE HAS AVAILABILTY TO HELP YOU!***
I am giving her name to all my friends who decide to pursue an MBA as well

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March 26, 2014
Anonymous

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My admission would absolutely not have been possible without Liza. Liza was not simply a consultant that plugged in when needed, but a thought partner that worked with me every step of the way. Her holistic approach helped me create an application that encompassed my most pertinent professional and personal experiences and allowed me to tell my story.

Beginning with a brainstorming session, Liza asked the probing questions necessary to get a true sense of who I was and what I had to offer. This in turn lay the foundation for our work moving forward. With every school’s application, Liza would draw pieces from our initial brainstorm that she felt best addressed the objectives of each application question. Once we began diving into the outlining and drafting stages of the essays, Liza provided very detailed notes as well as high-level feedback to guide my thinking. One of the main advantages of working with Liza and MBA Mission in general was that this feedback was not always a product of one person’s thinking, but rather the community of consultants at the company. If we came across an obstacle during the writing process, Liza would reach out to colleagues who had experienced a similar situation with a client of their own. It was never a matter of providing a quick-fix, but rather conducting the due-diligence to arrive at the most appropriate solution. Liza’s working style turned out to be very beneficial as well, as she would continuously urge me to push back on her suggestions rather than accepting them verbatim. This in turn created a dialogue that helped me craft a better strategy for tackling the questions at hand and ultimately a clearer story.

Liza’s assistance went beyond the multiple essay drafts though. She worked closely with my recommenders to help create letters that highlighted traits deemed most important by my target schools. She helped me build a resume that showcased my leadership abilities rather than a compilation of projects I had been involved with. She conducted mock interviews via Skype and helped me prepare in a fashion that allowed me to respond confidently using my own words and ideas rather than spouting a set of rehearsed responses. She even reviewed my short answer responses to make sure that I was taking full advantage of the application’s real estate. And she did all of this while managing a timeline to make sure that I met each school’s application deadline.

In short, Liza and MBA Mission were one of the best investments I’ve ever made and I would highly recommend the service and Liza in particular to anyone who is serious about receiving that coveted letter from the school of their choice.

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March 17, 2014
Anonymous

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The value proposition of mbaMission was readily apparent to me. I liked the structure of regular, accountable feedback intervals, clearly established expectations, and a focus uniquely tailored to my business school goals.

Right from our first 30-minute discussion, Liza wowed me with her engagement and excitement about my short and long term plans. It was not a sales pitch whatsoever, and she was clearly committed to my success. This level of dedication, and the sense that Liza truly cared not only about my success through the application but also about my longer term career goals was what made working with Liza such a joy.

I ended up signing up for the four school complete start to finish package. Liza was with me every step of the way. She coached me through late-submissions from my recommenders, a last minute change on which schools I applied to, and iteration upon iteration of my essays, resume, and short answer. There were late night emails, notes of encouragement during my HBS interview day ("it's supposed to feel challenging - it's HBS!"), countless phone calls and quick status updates. She was my closest confidant through the application process.

Her feedback was on point, and empathetic. I experienced such tremendous personal growth through Liza's coaching and support. This was not something that I expected out of the process, and speaks volumes to the depths Liza goes to in order to understand her clients. When we were not getting to the core of one of my essays, we spent an early Saturday morning working through the story and rehashing the outline at the eleventh hour before the submission. Above and beyond does not even begin to describe Liza.

The greatest part about working with Liza was I could be my authentic self. I submitted applications which were a very polished version of me, but a truly honest story of who I am and my leadership journey. Liza kept me grounded as well. Hours before I was due to hear back from HBS and Stanford GSB, she sent me an email saying "this cannot and will not define you." Of course, our tune was a bit different once I was accepted to both programs and Wharton a week later.

I can say with certainty I would not have delivered such an
exceptional admissions package with a flawless acceptance rate without Liza's feedback and support. She was a joy to work with, and worth every penny.

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March 13, 2014
Anonymous

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After having worked hard for a few years, I knew that I wanted to put my best foot forward when applying to business school. Liza Weale at mbaMission helped me achieve this goal, and I wholeheartedly recommend her to other MBA applicants. You really won’t go wrong – with Liza’s top-notch feedback and unwavering support, you can be assured that you will have the confidence needed to produce a high quality application.

During my mbaMission free consulting session with Liza, I was struck by her enthusiasm for my accomplishments, as well as by her thoughtful comments on how I could further strengthen my profile. In a session with another company, the consultant tried to highlight how I was not a ‘rockstar’ and how it would have been more preferable if some of my experiences had been slightly different. I was appreciative of how Liza focused on what I had already achieved, and feel that her previous experiences in consulting and marketing helped her think creatively about how to shape my profile without sacrificing its integrity.

As I delved deeper into the lengthy, daunting application process, I was even more grateful to have Liza as my ‘constant’ – whether selecting schools, editing my resume, brainstorming for essays, briefing recommenders, or even deciding between schools after I was accepted. Despite a busy application season, Liza was always prompt in providing feedback and available to meet outside of my work hours. During the brainstorming process, she pushed me to come up with more examples by asking probing questions. In the process, Liza got a thorough understanding of my background and motivations, and I uncovered stories that I had initially overlooked as minor points!

Liza’s patience shined through during the essay writing process. She encouraged me to screen multiple ideas and even look at the same story from multiple angles before producing my outline and essay draft. Although I struggled initially, Liza’s encouragement and guidance helped me get out of my comfort zone and powerfully show (rather than tell) my story. Draft after draft (believe me, there were many), she provided candid, detailed feedback such that I was able to craft essays that not only highlighted my strengths, but that I was comfortable with.

Working with Liza over the last several months has been an extremely rewarding experience, beyond just the acceptances to top MBA programs. Liza enriched my overall self-reflection process and helped me build a strong sense of confidence that I will carry with me as I begin business school this year.

-Tuck & Sloan Admit

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February 13, 2014
Anonymous

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Liza’s input on my resume and essay outlines was pivotal. I received third-round offers from HBS and Kellogg last year. I am confident that I would have received the same outcome without her input. She helped me to construct my resume and essays to succinctly highlight attributes recruiters value and provide with well-supported, quantitative examples. She was extremely respectful of our limited time. I was amazed with the quality and breadth of feedback she consistently provided in a short period.

I first spoke with Liza during a free thirty-minute consultation. Rather than giving me a company pitch, Liza used every minute to provide feedback on my resume. I was quite happy with my resume before the session. I had read the MBA guidebooks and followed their direction, but she highlighted many ways my resume could be improved. The personalized suggestions were invaluable. Prior to the meeting, I had not expected to hire her. After seeing how valuable her feedback was, I figured I would be silly not to engage her for a few hours to review my essays. I had put so much work into my applications; it was a small price to pay if it could make the difference and save me from having to go through the whole process again a year later.

I really appreciated her honesty. She did not try to sugarcoat my chances of getting interviews or scare me into working with her. She provided valuable advice on how we could use our time most effectively, what was necessary, and what was not.

I had made the mistake of contacting her close to the application deadline. Although I am sure she was busy helping many clients, she was respectful of my schedule and limited time. She went above and beyond to reply to me when I needed.

I never spoke with other admissions consultants, so I cannot compare, but I am skeptical that many could offer more value than Liza. Just try the free consultation and see for yourself.

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January 16, 2014
Anonymous

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When I first began looking at the application process I was overwhelmed by the amount of work in front of me. I planned to work on my business school applications without the aid of an admissions consultant, but I decided to sign up for a free 30-minute consultation with Liza and mbaMission. I came into the meeting hoping for guidance on some tricky questions I was facing and I was blown away by how prepared, informative and fun to talk to Liza was. I decided then and there that I had to work with Liza and I couldn't be happier with that decision!!

I worked with Liza on three applications and I’m thrilled to be heading to my first choice (Columbia) in the fall! Throughout the entire process Liza was invaluable and in my corner, whether we were completely overhauling my resume, tweaking the 10th draft of an essay or thinking about the best way to answer short answer questions. Liza would regularly send me thoughts or suggestions even when I didn't ask her and having an expert to bounce difficult questions off was an amazing resource. After only a few weeks I really felt like we were a team.

Liza also wasn't afraid to challenge my thinking and really push me to improve my applications. I wrote what I believed to be a very strong essay and Liza showed me that I could much more effectively represent myself if I went in a different direction. When it came time to approach my recommenders Liza was so helpful in organizing my communication with them and making sure I got their full support, which turned out to be essential in my applications. And then when interviews came around, I was so prepared based on my work with Liza that I was completely comfortable and confident in what turned out to be an hour and a half interview that sealed my admission. I never could have been so effective if Liza hadn't known exactly what questions to be ready for and helped me thoughtfully answer them in a way that was true to who I am.

If I had it to do all over again I would work with Liza in a heartbeat. I have already recommended her to my close friends and couldn't imagine going through this process without her. She delivered in a big way for me both in terms of getting me through the grueling application process and also the great results!

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October 30, 2013
Anonymous

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I signed up for mbaMission's all-inclusive school package. At first, I was having a hard time to justify the price but when I started working with Liza Weale, I directly knew that it was worth it. Liza was genuinely invested in my success. With her dedication and enthusiasm, she knew how to push me to think outside the box and identify the best examples of my life for the essays. She also succeeded in creating a momentum that helped me work on my application and stay focused and on track, while I managed a very demanding job. Liza tirelessly looked for ways to improve my essays by giving life to the stories I told and conveying the underlying messages in a clear and persuasive way. Liza was instrumental in my acceptance in one of the top international B-school – despite a low GMAT score. I wouldn’t have made it without her help.

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September 09, 2013
chiefhat

Joined: Sep 03, 2013

Posts: 6

Kudos: 8

Self-reported Score:
720 Q42 V47

I have a 3.0 GPA and got admission offers from all the business schools I applied to - All the business schools are within the top-5 globally.

I worked with Liza Weale from February 8th through July 10th, with a single additional interview prep session afterwards. I had 9 essays to write, they turned out great.

I've counted 141 email conversations between Liza and myself, with many shorter conversations and some longer (10+ emails back and forth). During these conversations Liza always replied with her edits and suggestions within two business days, per mbaMission's terms of service.
In addition to emails we had regular Skype calls to ease and accelerate our communication.

I found Liza's feedback and suggestions very helpful and valuable:
- She helped me decide to redo my GMAT and add 40 points to my score,
- She helped me add a great narrative structure and flow to my essays, and
- She helped me identify my key differentiating traits and distribute them across the various essays.

While not cheap, I can only recommend mbaMission and Liza Weale. The value they provide is most definitely greater than their price tag.

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September 05, 2013
addefta

Joined: Nov 21, 2012

Posts: 19

Kudos: 8

Self-reported Score:
740 Q50 V41

I decided late in life to pursue an MBA... I am 35 now, almost 36. However, I have strong reasons and my determination finally paid off.
My first choice was INSEAD and I knew I had only one bullet for this. So I tried my best, I had a 740 GMAT score after preparing for four intensive months, I had a not so well 111 TOEFL, and I decided to invest some money and hire a professional consultant for my application. I just wanted everything to be perfect, or the best application I could have.
After reading some reviews (thanks everyone who took the time to share experiences) I decided to go ahead with Liza. After all this work ended, I know that I had my best shot.
To get to the point, Liza helped me in a number of ways. Just to mention the most important:
1 - After I wrote my brainstorming document, we had a long Skype call in which she pointed out her opinion about what story I should use and we chose the stories for outline. Here I was impressed about her really read the document, although it was a little bit long. She really knew what my stories were and things went smooth. We chose the stories that best describe me, both professional and personal. This proved to me she is really engaged in this project of ours, I would say.
2 – By asking a lot of questions, she made me really get to the point. Every time she wanted me to explain why and how I did everything, what were my motivations, inner thoughts, etc. Really helpful.
3 – She really gave me confidence that my application shows the best of me, and it is done in a professional way.
4 – Always getting to the point, in her reviews she always squeezed my 200 words stories in 40 or 50, without sacrificing anything essential. This I appreciated very much because, as you can see, I kind of like to write a lot and not always the most essential part.
5 – After every essay was ready, she put everything together just to make sure we didn’t miss something important.
6 – The two-day response is for the “normal” times. In the last two days before my application deadline, I got my reviews even in a couple of hours. Really important and I appreciated that.
Now…after everything has been done… I got my answer from INSEAD. Unfortunately, dinged w/o an interview. I took this hit in full. I knew from the start that I wasn’t the “standard” candidate for INSEAD, my two main “problems” being my age and not a really international career (at least this I think). But, no matter the result, I am confident that I had my best shot. It just wasn’t meant to be. Liza was very sympathetic and I she did care for this result, as she proved me after that.
After that, I applied for IE and ask for help from Liza once again. I went with hourly rates, using her advice. Once again, she helped me to best summarize my application. She made a lot of extra effort, proving once again how much she cared about this “project”. IE accepted me and right now I have to decide between them and Warwick (which gave me a full scholarship). Even if Liza didn’t help me directly with Warwick essays, I found it much easier to put together my Warwick application based on the stories just drilled down with Liza. I am sure that those stories also contribute to my success with Warwick.
I found mbaMission site very useful, with a lot of very insight information – a must read. My interactions with them were very “light” as I was working directly with Liza and she helped me with every logistical issue.
Having experience only with mbaMission and Liza, I cannot compare with other company/consultant. I hope this review help for understanding what to expect when working with Liza. I am sure that, if I were to choose again, I would work again with Liza without the smallest second thought as she really exceeded my expectations in every aspect. I am very grateful to her, and to the reviewers that made me decide to work with Liza. If you have any other question I did not answer here, feel free to contact me directly and I would provide you further details. It is my pleasure to speak about Liza.

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July 13, 2013
Anonymous

Posts: 0

Kudos: 5

Liza was tremendously helpful in my admission to my top school choice. I procrastinated greatly in writing my essays for Round 2 applications, and in the final 12 days before applications were due (also the week of Christmas/New Years), I sent an S.O.S. to mbaMission requesting tutor help, not expecting that any tutor would have capacity to help me.

When I was matched with Liza, I could not have asked for a better experience. Because I was paying extra for expedited turnaround, Liza got right down to business and helped me devise an action plan leading up to the final deadlines. I spent the next 10 days emailing back and forth with her, bouncing ideas and drafts around. Liza was 100% responsive, helpful, creative, committed, and genuine, and she was monumental in helping me refine my essays to perfection. She also made the process fun. Most notably, Liza kept in touch with me after I submitted my applications; she helped me prep for the interview, sent me a “thinking of you” note on interview day and on decision day, and when I was waitlisted, she stuck with me. Liza helped me strategize my efforts to tackle the waitlist process, which after three months, proved successful.

At the end of this process, not only have I gained admission to my top choice program, but I also feel like I have gained a true friend who is interested in my success. I highly recommend Liza to anyone looking for help, especially in a pinch, because you will not get better treatment or a better experience, or find a better friend, anywhere. Thank you Liza!

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