Maureen (SBC) Reviews

I used the Stacy Blackman service and had a very positive experience. I liked the flexibility that it allowed, as I chose to work with two different consultants from their team and I also added to my purchase as I worked along. The guidance that I received was phenomenal, it did not hurt that I worked with two individuals (Sherry and Maureen) who had served on two different admissions committees. The insights were incredibly helpful. I found the company to be very responsible and professional. I felt trust in every person I interacted with on the team. Both consultants were very responsive. Like sometimes within the hour,I felt as if they were just sitting there waiting for my emails. They both had slightly different styles but definitely knew what they were talking about and gave me a really good guidance.Very happy with the results and that I hired such superstars to work on my behalf.

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As a non-traditional applicant with lower test scores, I needed to come up with ways to best present myself in my applications. I was not planning on using a consultant but knew that I needed help in coming up with ways to tie my experiences together and put together a strong application. Working with Maureen kept me on track throughout the process.
Maureen was patient and insightful in helping me come up with an application strategy. Maureen was great to work with, encouraging, and very responsive. She worked on multiple essay drafts with me, helped me come up with ways to explain and present my employment history cohesively and prepared me for interviews. I found the services to be pretty expensive but comparable (and less than some!) to similar companies. The written materials and information on different schools were very helpful when I was finalizing my list of schools to apply to.

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As I prepared to apply to business school, Maureen's advice and expertise was invaluable. She provided me guidance in all facets of the application, including but not limited to GMAT scores, essay topics, and recommendations. Maureen's ability to challenge and probe me when writing about difficult topics furthered the depth of my essays. It is very clear that she has a thoughtful understanding of how to construct an essay that paints a story about a candidate. During a long process such as this one, Maureen made herself available to me at any time and supported and encouraged me even at the hardest moments. Working with Maureen allowed me to conquer this challenging process and be accepted to the school of my dreams! In general, the resources that SBC provides are top notch. These resources were great guides for essays and interview prep. It is clear that they have all the best materials and are committed to helping all of their clients.

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I embarked on my MBA application journey knowing that I needed someone to lean on for all application-related questions, large or small. I engaged Maureen because of her ties to and expertise with Tuck, my top choice. I was a middle of the road candidate and knew that her intimate knowledge of "what makes Tuck tick" could help me stand out from a very competitive pool of applicants. Looking back, I feel like Maureen "got" me, and helped me craft effective essays that weaved the same central themes of my story throughout each essay and each application. I only engaged her for two schools (Tuck and Darden). Maureen's response time was always within 24 hours, typically within just an hour or two. She also has phenomenal bed-side manner (the consultant's version) and helped manage my expectations throughout this process. At the end of the day, I was accepted everywhere I applied and was able to have my pick of my three favorite schools. I went into the process expecting to only get into one school and just go there - Maureen helped me TRULY put my best foot forward, and I am 100% convinced that I would not be in this absolutely amazing position that I never dreamed possible if it weren't for Maureen. Just a note: for anyone who thinks that "hiring a consultant" will make the application process easier, think again. I am confident that I worked significantly harder on my applications than I would have without a consultant. That said, you really get out what you put in. Maureen acted as my coach and adviser and really, really pushed me to put out an impeccable and thoughtful end-product. If you're serious about the application process, Maureen and SBC will help you get to where you want to be.

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After months of preparation and more emails than my inbox could handle, I’m can’t express how excited I am to be making plans to attend Cornell in the fall. Throughout the incredibly draining experience of taking the GMAT and completing multiple applications, Maureen made the process as manageable and at times even enjoyable as one could hope for. The direction and feedback she provided throughout the entire process, from GMAT tutors, to essay revisions, to interview prep, provided me with the confidence, structure, and edge I needed to gain admission to a top program in such a competitive year. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been matched with such a patient, flexible and insightful consultant and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Maureen and SBC to friends considering an MBA.

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I cannot express how grateful and appreciative I am that I had the opportunity to work with Maureen. After not getting into B-School during my first go around, I continued to pursue my dream of going back to school and reached out to Stacy Blackman Consulting. I chose to work with Maureen because of her extensive history, success rate of helping candidates get into their first B-School choices, and because of all the positive testimonies that were presented in her bio. After our first phone call and strategy session, I knew I made the right choice. In the coming months, Maureen would help me to submit the best possible applications; providing great suggestions and insights. Although I went through many draft essays for all my B-School applications, Maureen always stayed patient with me and pushed me to get the most out of my essays. The B-School admission application process is very challenging and often overwhelming; however, with Maureen I shared 100% of my thoughts, feelings and concerns. Over the course of months, Maureen and I exchanged hundreds of emails and even though I felt that I overwhelmed Maureen with questions, Maureen always made me feel important, good about my progress and that I was a top priority for her. No matter what, Maureen would always respond in a timely fashion (always on the same day, within hours of my message being sent), providing honest and respectful feedback, which served me well. With my busy work schedule, Maureen worked with me late into the night on weekdays and even worked with me on weekends. I can happily say that I was accepted into Duke and UCLA. Without Maureen, my admission success and dream of going to a top business school would not be possible. I feel that I got more than I deserved from Maureen and I would highly recommend her services to anyone that is interested. Maureen is a true professional and someone that I will always be thankful to have in my life.

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I can not thank SBC and my consultant Maureen enough for their help through out the b-school process! Maureen was patient, diligent and her insights were critical at every step of the process. She took a lot of time upfront to get to know me and was able to draw out strengths/unique characteristics from my profile that I would never have thought of on my own. I had a tremendous gaps in my profile and Maureen was very direct about what I had to do to fill those in
(additional courses, leveraging work experience, etc). She had a lot of perspective on what Admissions was looking for in a candidate, and a lot of school-specific knowledge. When we went through our mock interview prep, she was intimately aware of what the school in question was looking for. I asked Maureen just about anything and everything (and my questions were frequently borderline ridiculous), but she always replied on time and with comprehensive advice. Often times, Maureen's response time exceeded our agreed upon time. She was a thorough professional and an exceptional support throughput. I would recommend SBC unequivocally to anyone looking to get into a top school!

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I would highly recommend working with Maureen to anyone applying to top business schools. Immediately after I started the process, I was so glad that I made the decision to work with her. She demonstrated a sincere interest in getting to know me as a person, which I think was absolutely critical in her ability to provide thoughts and edits on my essays. She figured out what makes me tick, what my personality traits are, and what my unique traits are that I would bring to a school, and then constantly found ways to work those ideas into my essays. She was constantly pointing out things I would have never thought to include in my application. Not only was she incredibly responsive in essay editing, she stayed up late to make sure we made deadlines, she responded right away to even the most seemingly insignificant question or concern, and provided sound, rationale advice and served as a wise sounding board when I was stressed out or doubting myself. I was recently admitted to both Tuck and Columbia Business School, which I am thrilled about, and I absolutely owe a large part of this success to Maureen. She is brilliant at what she does!

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Thank you Stacy Blackman Consulting and especially Maureen Capitolo. Anyone who is serious about applying to graduate business school should consider using Stacy Blackman Consulting. The competition for business school admissions is extremely intense, and in my case, I wanted to do everything possible to ensure that my application was as good as it could be. Maureen helped guide me in all aspects of the application so that I differentiated myself from the competition. She helped me realize that the application was more than just answering questions and listing accomplishments/achievements. The application was an opportunity to tell my story - my accomplishments, failures, background, values, etc. It was an opportunity to show the Adcom why I was a unique individual and deserved a seat at their school. It was no coincidence that I was accepted into Duke -- the one application where I received guidance.

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I owe a great deal of my admission to a top 10 business school to Maureen. She was an incredible help throughout my application process, from analyzing my strengths and weaknesses from my resume to formulating a plan on how to craft my essays and applications. She kept me aware of all deadlines, outlined strategy for my recommendations and gave feedback on my admission essays. My initial drafts were just thoughts on a page, but with her relentless help, I was able to craft them into focused, concise essays that ultimately proved worthy of admission. Maureen went far above and beyond what I expected from an admissions consultant, each one of my four essays required over ten drafts each; she would revise each essay in less than 24 hours with detailed comments and feedback. For a solid six months, Maureen was either on the phone giving me interview tips or emailing me with feedback on one of my essays on a daily basis. I do not think for a second that I would be here today if it were not for the help of Maureen and the SBC team.

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