I had Susan during the initial free phone consultation and hired her for a two school package. With her help, I got into 1 of the top 10 schools she helped with and accepted at 2 other Top 10 programs I applied to on the side, admission successes for which I heavily relied on my essay work and application strategies from my work with Susan. Susan is great at identifying and pulling out stories for your essays. First and foremost, she helps you identify your "story" and makes you stick with this story throughout. In this aspect, her marketing background shines through. She really pushes you to be introspective and think about what stories you want to tell in your personal statements. For essays related to "why this school" she ensures that you do your research and, most importantly, is the reinforcement to make sure your story is cohesive and stays on track. Susan also promptly replies to emails and inquires. My advice for those deciding to hire a consultant is to really think about your post-MBA goals and story (personal/professional). If you believe you need help developing these, then hire Susan! I would also add for the cost-sensitive customers, do some research about your top choice schools - particularly focusing on what their essay questions are and what they look for in their applicants. If you are hiring her for a 2-school + package, I would hire for schools that are unique in their application processes and student qualities . Also keep in mind that this is a school-based package. While Susan will go above and beyond for the schools you hire her for, she will stick with the schools she is hired for.

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I came to Susan while in the midst of studying for the GMAT, exploring MBA programs, and uncovering my post-MBA goals (all within a very short deadline for round 1). Susan structured the overwhelming process, ensuring I was set up for success. She contributed several key insights that helped my application become significantly more competitive, while providing thoughtful perspective and ideas for how to craft my experiences into a compelling story. She provided a deep understanding of what admissions was hoping to uncover within the essay prompts, and helped me to generate ideas to demonstrate my aptitude/qualifications and my passion. With her help, I was admitted to a top 5 MBA program.

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Susan is truly an invaluable asset in the MBA admissions process. I was very nervous going into the process, as I was coming to the table with a non-traditional educational background (social sciences undergrad degree), a non-quantitative job, and good, but not amazing, test scores. From the beginning, Susan worked tirelessly to get to know me on a personal level and what was unique about me; using her background in marketing, she refers to herself as your “personal brand manager” throughout the process. As we prepared my applications, she consistently questioned and challenged my assumptions about my motivations for getting an MBA and my future career plans to help me narrow down my exact goals, which helped immensely during essay writing, networking with the schools, and interviewing. As other reviewers mentioned, Susan is tough, but in my opinion, in the best way possible. She puts so much time and effort into making your application the absolute best it can be with copious thoughtful comments and revisions to essays and pointed questions during brainstorming and interview prep. At every step of the process, Susan was by my side, simultaneously pushing me forward and cheering me on.

Thanks to Susan’s help, I was accepted to 3 out of the 3 schools I applied to with her, two of which we both agreed were reaches and one where I received a full ride. Every time I found out I got in somewhere, Susan was one of the first people I wanted to tell. If you’re considering getting a consultant to go through this process (which I absolutely believe you should), I would 110% recommend hiring Susan!

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As an applicant with a non-traditional background, I knew that I was going to need all of the guidance I could get on the business school application process. I decided to enlist mbaMission’s services, and the company’s founder highly recommended Susan. Working with Susan was the best decision I could have made. She gave me invaluable advice and asked me all of the right questions that I had no idea I needed to be prepared to answer.
When I started with Susan this past fall, I was very late in the admissions process. I intended to apply to schools for round 2, but was still studying for the GMAT and deciding which schools to apply to at the same time. Right off the bat, Susan helped me set realistic expectations for studying/working full time/applying to schools in a short time period. She helped me cut down my school list to schools that would be a good fit for me and that I could realistically get into. She advised me to stick with previous GRE scores (and helped me realize that these scores would get me into b schools) so that I would not waste any more time studying for the GMAT and actually start focusing on working on my applications.
Susan also made sure that every single minute of my time with her was spent wisely. For example, during our first brainstorming call, Susan realized that I needed to do more research on my short term and long term post- MBA career goals; specifically, how my target school would support me in these goals, before we could proceed any further. She stopped the conversation short so that we would not waste any more time, and gave my guided questions to think about as I did my own research on these topics.
Susan never missed a deadline and usually returned any items I sent to her for feedback early. Susan’s feedback was always thorough and insightful.
Susan provides very blunt criticism (as others have touched upon), but without her help I know I would not have gotten into my top choice school. She makes you work really hard, but it will pay off immensely!! She sincerely wants to make sure that you have the best application possible. I am a better business school candidate because of working with her.

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I worked with Susan for nearly the entirety of the past year, through 2 rounds of bschool admissions (which might sound like a bad thing, but read on to learn why!), and highly recommend that you give her a call if you are in the early stages of applying to business school. Your applications will be better for it.

I initially applied in the last round of admissions for the Class of 2019, and hired Susan after a 30-minute phone call with another mbaMission consultant who was no longer accepting third round candidates but who heavily endorsed Susan. Going into this final round, Susan was super-candid about my odds of getting accepted (spoiler alert: they were not great). This candor and honesty has been a theme of my work with Susan, and I really appreciated it. I decided to proceed with the final round apps, and Susan was with me every step of the way. She held herself accountable to promised turnaround times, and was often open to expedited reviews as I got into crunch time for certain apps. I applied to three schools in this last round, and was waitlisted at two of them (rejected from one) – which, all things considered, was a pretty good outcome.

The brainstorming / career goals exercise, which then flows into outlining first drafts of essays, are such helpful steps that I think set mbaMission and Susan, specifically, apart. Susan pushed me to set realistic and specific goals by tying in my past experiences (personal / professional), identifying knowledge / skills gaps that I needed to fill, and highlighting how specific resources at my target programs are going to help me realize my goals. One of the best parts of working with Susan is how much she pushed me to go one level deeper – always getting to the “how” and the “why” vs. just stating the “what”. Pointing to specific resources and identifying why I want to pursue them and how they fit with my goals made my story much more compelling than just saying which specific resources I was excited about. I would not have gotten to this level without Susan’s guidance.

Susan’s feedback not only helped ensure that each aspect of my applications was individually strong, but also that there was an almost tangible common thread / consistent story running through the entire application.

I applied again in Round 1 for the Class of 2020, and – after kicking around the “is it worth the money”-question – decided to work with Susan again on my second attempt. Her feedback on my essays and other materials, as well as video components and interview prep was invaluable. I am thrilled that I will be attending a top-10 program (my top choice) in the Fall!

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I went into the application process unsure of whether or not I wanted to spend the money on an expensive admissions consultant with the financial burden of business school on the horizon. One 30 minute (free) consultation with Susan was more than enough to convince me that my applications would be significantly more well-rounded with her help. As a non-traditional (engineering) candidate not surrounded by many top level MBA graduates, Susan’s experience navigating the whole process was an absolute difference maker in my application.

The documents that mbaMission provides to get student’s backgrounds are very through, but Susan took the time to really get to know me more than just my profile and my test scores, and was able to even suggest how some of my stories could fit into essays even when I didn’t immediately see the fit. She was also able to quickly identify areas where I was weak (post-MBA goals) and spent the necessary time helping me nail those down. Throughout the whole process, it would have been very easy for her to say that my materials were “good enough” and move on to helping another client, but I am convinced that Susan does not have those two words in her vocabulary. She will not let you settle for “good enough”. Even on your 7th revision of an essay, if there is one sentence that might be able to be tweaked just a little, she will provide that feedback.

I must have sent Susan 40 drafts of different essays, resumes, recommendation letters, etc., and never once did she miss her promised 2 day deadline. While she does take 1 week off in the fall for vacation, she still reviews materials and met every deadline even through that time period. She is also always available for a quick phone meeting if you need one, and will push you in all the right directions. In other words, while I am sure she helps a good number of applicants, I never once felt that I was being short changed in anyway so that she could help another client or bring on more volume.

She was also really helpful in the interview prep and especially preparing for the Video Essay that some schools required. I was very hesitant about the video essay, but after a session with Susan, I left very confident in my game plan.

If you are hoping for someone to actually do the hard part of writing your essays, or for a cheerleader through the process, don’t hire Susan. If you are looking for someone who will always push you to submit the very best materials and application possible and provide candid feedback (She will tell you in your first meeting that you have your friends and family to tell you how great you are, she will tell you what you need to hear) that will add to your application, look no further than Susan Kaplan.

With Susan’s help, I ended up on the waitlist at a Top-5 program, and accepted at a top-10 school with a significant scholarship, where I will enrolling for my MBA this fall. I would (and have) highly recommend Susan to anyone starting on the process.

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I worked with Susan to prepare my school application, and I feel it was a great investment. With work, studying for the GMAT, and a quickly approaching deadline, I had limited time to put all the parts of my application together, and I did not want to waste any of it trying to figure out if I am approaching each step in the best possible way. I wanted to just focus on the content and delivery of each step: essays, resume, short answers, interview, and all the other small things that contribute to your overall application profile. Having Susan guide me throughout the process perfectly fit that goal.

I think many of the other reviews already cover her way of working with a client, but I will highlight what stands out. I did all the work, thinking, and writing of the actual content. Susan provided guidance on what a good application would say about an applicant and was able to look at my work and tell me if it’s achieving that goal or not. It also helps to have the outside perspective because you may think what you have written clearly states an idea, but in reality it doesn’t because you, the writer, “fill in” all the gaps subconsciously since it’s coming from your own mind. Susan, though, cannot do that and quickly points out what is not making sense, or you’ll notice if she got the wrong perspective from your work, indicating a rewrite or clarification is necessary.

The investment was challenging for me, but I am thinking long-term and believe it will pay off since I got into my target school (and more). Do I think a talented or experienced individual can put together a stellar application without a consultant? Definitely. Can someone find all the application guidance they need through internet sites and forums? Sure. But like any decision you make in life, you need to assess your circumstances and make a well thought-out choice. For my circumstances, it made perfect sense to work with Susan, and she did her part *very well*. I couldn’t have asked for someone better.

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I took my time choosing an admissions consultant- first, because there are so many options out there! Second, honestly, I wasn’t sure if I bought into the idea. Couldn’t I do as good of a job passing my essays around to a few friends and getting their feedback? (Short answer: no.) When I spoke with Susan, I appreciated her straightforward approach. In our initial consultation, I never felt like she was pushing anything on me, but rather giving candid feedback and giving me options to consider. In that 30 minute conversation alone, the ‘food for thought’ she provided made me realize how much I stood to gain from working with Susan, and it was easy to pull the trigger after that.

Throughout the application process- brainstorming, writing essays, preparing the resume- Susan helped me sharpen my focus. She called me out when I was trying to skirt an issue or avoid adding extra details, and pushed me to spend more time thinking through each of the components of my application (Why does this matter? Do less telling and more showing!) so that the final product was true to my best work. She NEVER gave me the answer, or rewrote things for me, which I also appreciated.

Susan helped me get into Kellogg, my top choice, and I can’t thank her enough. You have everything to gain from working with Susan, and nothing to lose!

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After speaking with admissions consultants at a few companies, I ultimately selected Susan because of her amazing reviews on GMAT Club. I knew that she had a reputation for being tough, but that’s what I wanted, and that’s what I got. Susan helped me get into Stanford, my dream school, and I can’t thank her enough.

I’m embarrassed to think about how bad my applications would have been without Susan’s help. As a non-traditional applicant with an engineering background, I needed assistance with all aspects of my application – post-MBA career goals, school selection, resume, essays, recommendations, and interviews. Susan guided me through all of it flawlessly.

“This just isn’t working.” Susan never hesitated to tell me when something wasn’t working. When I was ready to give up, Susan pressed onward. We went through ten revisions of some essays, and Susan never missed the two-day turnaround.

Even if I hadn’t gotten into any business schools, going through the application process with Susan would have been worth it. She encouraged me think critically about my motivations, strengths, and accomplishments, and got me into the habit of asking why to drive down to the deepest levels of a decision or goal.

I have no doubt that the applications I submitted were the best I could possibly submit. At times, I thought it was overkill, that there was no way one more revision could make a difference. But Susan always found room for improvement. And it’s hard to argue with success.

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I purchased a school package with mbaMission thinking it would be helpful to have someone edit my resume and essays. I couldn’t have imagined how much more Susan would be for me.

When I struggled to find a way to make my story interesting, Susan helped me see how I was unique and my qualities worth sharing. When I was trying to narrow down the schools I would apply to, she was honest in telling me which she didn’t feel were great fits. When I felt unprepared and unsure during my pre-interview practices, she knew how to be encouraging while providing constructive criticism.

Even more, seeing that Susan was truly invested in my success made all of the hours spent revising my applications slightly less painful!

I know Susan was instrumental in my acceptance at Kellogg. My experience makes me think how disadvantaged other applicants must be who don’t receive the same insight and support. I would absolutely recommend Susan to anyone considering business school!

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