Rachel Beck Reviews

For those just starting the process,

When I first started balancing the admissions process along with a full time job in financial services, I was certainly overwhelmed. I was unfamiliar with the admissions process, what would be expected in my essays, and how to differentiate myself. But with Rachel's help, the daunting process became much more seamless. Rachel was flexible, patient, and really worked tirelessly to help me discover "my story." There were countless brainstorming sessions just to get to know me, which ensured my personality/goals were properly condensed into 250-word essays.

Rachel's career in journalism certainly helped. Once we found my story, she really showed the difference between "telling" it and "showing" it. Together, we found ways for my words to "jump off the page" so the admissions committee could understand who I am without me telling them.

But aside from the brainstorming and numerous edits of my essays, Rachel became a real confidant and someone I could trust to guide me through the process. There were many panicked phone calls and late night emails, but she always responded promptly, reassuringly, and insightfully. I can't imagine how I would have gone through the process without her. After I heard that I had been accepted to my first choice, there was only one person I had to call first, and that was Rachel. I highly recommend her to those just starting out.

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I highly recommend working with Rachel Beck at mbaMission; this was the BEST decision I made during the admission process.

Rachel is innovative, dependable, organized, genuinely caring and always on time. From the start, she helped me to break down the intimidating application process and create realistic deadlines for myself. mbaMission’s comprehensive approach, to attack each school’s application with an initial brainstorm and then work on iterations of each essay was crucial for keeping me organized while applying to 7 schools. Rachel was always able to provide an answer to any question or review an essay within 2 business days—she is super organized.

By taking the time to get to know me and learn about my experiences, Rachel was able to help me think of new angles to essay topics. She always had a new idea of how to spice up or reframe a story.

Whenever I hit a roadblock—whether I was stuck on an essay topic or worried about video interviews—Rachel would take the time to talk me through the issue and find a solution. If ever Rachel did not have specific information about an application off the top of her head, she would be sure to follow up with her team to best answer my questions.

Not only does Rachel have inventive ideas about approaching applications, she provides great moral support through this trying time and helped me to keep a positive attitude.

I’ve been accepted to 4 of the 6 business schools to which I applied and also received scholarships from 3! Working with Rachel Beck was a great return on investment and true pleasure!! I appreciate all of your hard work!

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I found my experience with mbaMission to be incredibly rewarding and it absolutely helped me to be admitted to my top choice business school. My consultant was always available and her comments and critiques helped build my essays and resume into the best possible version.

Rachel, the consultant I worked with from mbaMission, was instrumental in my successful application to business school. Through conversation and email, I felt that she truly understood the story I had to tell and the reasons why I wanted to go to business school and then she pushed me to write the strongest versions of that story. Rachel was especially helpful at cutting to the core of thoughts and helped me cut paragraphs down to sentences - a vital task when the essay can only be a limited number of words.

I felt like she was my partner in the entire application process and would recommend her to anyone seeking admission to a top tier business school.

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I was introduced to mbaMission through the Manhattan GMAT test prep program. I called and did the initial 30 minute session and ended up purchasing a two school package. I asked them who they thought would be a good fit as someone who wants to get into the financial industry and they placed me with Rachel.

Rachel was great throughout the process. She was very responsive, provided great feedback and really helped me tell my story effectively. She also was a great sounding board for different ideas that I had and was an extremely critical asset once I hit submit. She completely exceeded my expectations and I would definitely recommend her--even giving me assistance on schools that were not on the package I purchased.

She pushed me to work as hard as I could and and some of my essays went to v14. It even went beyond essays, including the resume, short answer sections, interview prep and recommender assistance. If I wasn't happy she wasn't happy.

While I didn't get in to my dream school I got into my #2 and couldn't be happier. My one thing of advice is if you have/want very specific career assistance it's probably better to reach out to a current student or alumni in the field you want to get into.

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As someone who has used a different consulting firm in the past (and had a much different result) I can tell you a little bit about what makes MBA Mission, and Rachel specifically, that much better. First, just to give you a sense of my profile: I work in management consulting for a very small firm, was graduated from a mid-tier undergraduate university with a 2.9GPA, have 5 years of work experience, and a 740 GMAT.

I decided to work with MBA Mission at the recommendation of a friend and couldn’t have been more pleased with the result. Rachel was an incredible asset throughout. She was able to help me compartmentalize the overwhelmingly large process into small manageable chunks and tackle each one effectively. From crafting my ‘story’ all the way through interviewing, she was there to provide great advice and guidance. I can say with near certainty that I would not have been accepted a top 5 school without her help!

The biggest thing that sets Rachel apart is her candor. It’s nice (and feels good) to have someone tell you how great you are, how perfect your essays are, and how big of a ‘shoe-in’ you are for whatever your top school is; but, that doesn’t get you that coveted acceptance letter. In retrospect, my previous consultant did a pretty poor job of managing my expectations (and helping me craft my application). This was definitely not the case with Rachel – she was blunt (but tactful and friendly) in telling me where I was weak and where I was strong all throughout the process. While it may have been a blow to my ego to hear that my essays weren’t perfect as written the first time (or the 10th), it is that kind of honesty that is really necessary to put together the best possible application and maximize the chances of acceptance. She was integral in helping me shape my story into one that would stand out amidst the pile of other applications and in a way that grabbed the reader’s attention quickly. She was particularly great at identifying elements of my profile, and my story, that I had completely overlooked but that the ad-com would love.

She was also a tremendous help with interview prep. A lot of people (and I was one of them) think that you can enter your interview without much preparation and just ‘wing it’ – Rachel was quick to change my thought process when, after doing rather poorly on our mock interview, she told me bluntly ‘you’re not going to get accepted unless you improve your answers to these questions.’ And then she proceeded to tell me exactly how I should improve. Her suggestions proved to be vital as I encountered many of the same questions she asked in the actual interview!

So, would I recommend her? Yes! A thousand times yes! Sure, working with a consultant is expensive; but, it is nothing when you consider the increase in your earnings potential for the rest of your life should you get accepted to a top school. The process is more complicated and potentially overwhelming than most people realize. A great consultant can really help you put your best foot forward and Rachel is certainly that. Work with her. You won’t regret it.

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I would highly recommend mbaMission's Rachel Beck for MBA aspirants who are looking to get guidance for their applications. She is an expert and a very dedicated consultant. She took allot of interest and spend allot of time in making my application very strong. She is very knowledgeable about the admissions process and knows what each school is looking for in a candidate.

With her help and guidance I was able to get into the school of my choice and even got scholarship offers from multiple schools. I would say I was very lucky to have her as my consultant.

I would highly recommend her.

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Overall, mbaMission was unbelievably helpful throughout the application process. I applied to three schools, and for each I was slightly above average with my GMAT score, but well below average with respect to my GPA as an undergrad. Because of this I felt it was really important for my candidacy that my essays be clear, and stand out.

I worked with Rachel Beck, and she was amazing when it came to guiding my personal experiences into a clear and concise story, communicating exactly why I need to go to business school. Rachel was very easy to work with and didn’t sugarcoat anything, giving essential feedback whenever was necessary.

I applied to these three schools in round 1, and to be perfectly honest, my biggest fear was that I’d shoot for the stars, miss, and have to scramble to apply the following round to a few schools I wasn’t nearly as excited about. Without mbaMission, and Rachel’s guidance in particular, something tells me that fear would have spun into reality.

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I setup the free 30 minute consultation with MBA Mission on a whim and randomly chose Rachel Beck based on her availability. I figured free advice for 30 minutes was a pretty good deal and even if I just got a pointer or two, that would be all I could really expect. However, within the first three minutes of the call, it became apparent to me that Rachel is a true professional at MBA admissions.

Rachel gets it. She knows what the AdCom is looking for (Wharton, in my case) and she knows how to structure the entire application to tell a compelling story. I thought my resume was in pretty good order when I sent it to her for review. Within hours, she sent me back a modified draft that reconstructed my employment experience to show my growth path of how I got to where I am today. (After I did some additional research on Wharton’s website, I discovered how much AdCom really values professional growth. Thanks Rachel for knowing this upfront and making this an integral part of my resume!)

When it comes to helping with the essays, Rachel is first class. I don’t know how she can turn around an edited draft with such astute comments within 24 hours (and many times a lot quicker.) Maybe it’s her professional background as a journalist. I often questioned whether she had any other clients because she was so in tune with my application and so prompt with her responses. Her writing approach is simple but profound: “show” the reader, don’t “tell” the reader. Rachel guided my essays into carefully crafted stories that provided a complete and compelling picture of who I am. Don’t you think AdCom would rather read an interesting, distinguished, well told story rather than another boring “this is who I am” essay?

Not only does Rachel provide great insight and feedback, but she also works with a tremendous respect for the billing clock. As a “per hour” client, I was apprehensive in the beginning about asking for too much help, thinking it would lead to excessive hourly charges. It became perfectly clear after we concluded the first project (fixing resume) that Rachel works efficiently and deliberately. Every comment she wrote on essays, letters of recommendations, short essays, etc. provided clarity and advanced the work in a positive manner, all while keeping the billing to a minimum. It’s certainly not cheap at $275/hour, but I would use Rachel again any day based on my exceptional experience working with her.

While I seldom write online recommendations, I was so pleased with Rachel’s that I felt it was my duty to share my experience working with her. But don’t just take my word for it, call her up for a free 30 minute session!

Thanks again Rachel for helping me get into Wharton!

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I chose mbaMission after an info session I attended. After consulting with Jeremy Shinewald about my candidacy I gained the confidence I needed to go ahead with the application (my GPA was strong but my GMAT was below the top schools’ average). I signed for a 4-school package and contacted Rachel Beck, my advisor, to schedule a brainstorming session. Rachel is an incredible consultant: she has insightful comments, keeps you on track, presents wonderful ideas, and most importantly always there for you with quick responses to your questions and essays drafts (trust me, when crunching time arrives this is one of the most important attributes you should look for in a consultant).

What I valued most about working with mbaMission and especially Rachel is that beyond the professional ideas and advice her belief and support in my candidacy really pushed me to work hard and reach my potential.

The bottom line is that I was rewarded for my investment and was accepted to Wharton. My advice is to go for an info session, in which you will find out for yourselves that mbaMission is the company you want to work with, and Rachel Beck is the consultant you want by your side in this long arduous process.

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I give Rachel Beck 5 stars! I got accepted to UT Austin and I couldn't have done it without Rachel's help and guidance - I would recommend her as a business school admissions consultant to anyone who is serious about applying to business school. She was very attentive, flexible, prompt and easy to get in touch with via phone and/or email. Rachel was able to work with my hectic work schedule and very quickly provided extremely detailed and insightful feedback. I was very impressed with her response time - we were under tight deadlines and she went above and beyond to help me reach those deadlines. She was always very positive and it was nice to have someone familiar with the process and what exactly the school's admissions department is focused on when evaluating the essays. I felt like I was more than just a job to her - Rachel has a great personality, is easy to talk to and really is looking out for her client's best interest.

Rachel was, without a doubt, money well spent. Before I started working with Rachel, I felt like my thoughts and essay topics were unorganized and didn't really tell the story that I wanted. As soon as I talked to Rachel, we had a plan and timeline set out that fit my needs. She took the stress away - gave me structure and small, achievable deadlines to hit when putting together the essays. She brought creativity out of me during our brainstorming sessions and key themes to my essays. I felt she really understood me and the direction I wanted to take my application. She really inspired me to write some great essays.

Her communication skills are strong and she is able to connect with clients on a professional level as well as a personal level. She is able to articulate my objectives or ideas to help me build cohesive, impactful essays. She has a talent for motivating clients, crafting and conceptualizing ideas and contributing to a final product that really reflects the client's personality and application.

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