Susan Kaplan Reviews

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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The price of mbaMission packages looks scary, but fret not, you have made a good investment. When I started the whole MBA process, I could see myself studying for GMAT and eventually getting the hang of it. However, I was scared of the essays and the admissions process. So, I decided to read reviews like this one and made up my mind to work with Susan.

Susan is a straightforward, diligent and caring person. What I really like about her is that she motivates you to give your best. The whole system that mbaMission has developed (brainstorming, outlining essays, etc.) requires lots of hours, so be prepared for some serious soul-searching and essay writing when you sign up. Susan has vast knowledge about the schools, and she is happy to discuss which schools would be a good fit for you. Take advantage of this opportunity and don’t ignore her advice! She was right from the beginning about which schools I would get into.

I won’t deny that working with Susan in the beginning was challenging, but that was mostly because I wasn’t fully prepared for B-school. Susan highlighted my strengths and weaknesses early on in the process and pushed me to think hard on why getting an MBA was important to me. Through this soul-searching, I was able to nail down the career goals part of the application (which is incredibly important). Susan is an amazing editor and will not let you walk away with BS in your essays (she will call you out on it). For my first school, I think we worked on 15 essay drafts, and each draft was significantly better than the last one because of Susan’s editing and comments. One of my biggest fears of working with a consultant was that my essays might not sound like me by the end, but with Susan, that was never the case. She will give you numerous comments in the essays, but you are the one doing all the writing. Also, the process gets easier once you write your first few essays…by the end of my applications, I would nail my essays down in 3 to 4 drafts. Susan is extremely accommodating with her schedule for calls or any last minute requests you might have. She is so dedicated to her clients that even when she takes her August “holiday”, she will still edit essays and return your work according to mbaMission’s return policy. With the flexibility of mbaMission packages, I worked on everything - from resume to my answers for the online application - with Susan along with the essays. With Susan’s help, I felt comfortable and satisfied with every application that I submitted.

Next step in the MBA game was interviewing. Susan and I did mock interviews in which she gave me good tips, based on her knowledge of schools, on how to improve my answers and make them relevant to what the school was looking for in their candidates. These practice sessions prepared me very well for the actual interviews. Funny interview story - I got super nervous in my first interview and sent a panicked email to Susan after it. She is such a positive and caring person – she wrote a long reply saying that everything was going to be fine! And she was right…I got two acceptances (with scholarship) and one waitlist from my dream schools! Another advantage of the mbaMission package – I worked with Susan to prepare an update for the school where I was waitlisted.

My acceptances wouldn’t have happened without Susan. I absolutely loved working with her, and I highly recommend Susan and mbaMission to anyone considering B-school seriously.

Thank you, Susan. You have been a great mentor!

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I worked with Susan on a 3 school package for R2 and was admitted to 2 of 3 schools, with a financial award granted at one of the schools. A total shocker and wonderful surprise to receive after 6 months of hard work and grueling hours. All schools in top 5.

Pros of working with Susan:
She's direct and candid. If it sounds like you don't have well-formulated or reasonable career goals, Susan picks up on this immediately and puts the breaks on all other aspects of application prep until this piece makes sense. Career goals are incredibly important to the admissions team, so spending a good amount of time brainstorming this aspect is well worth the time and effort.
Accountability. Simply having someone waiting to receive a revised essay draft is incredibly motivating, and necessary, when completing a long and arduous process like b school applications. Susan keeps you honest - did you sleep through the last revisions? That's a waste of your time and her time. Knowing that Susan is going to review and critique your work during each draft ensures you're putting in the necessary work along the way and not simply cramming at the final hour.
Interview prep. The mock interview sessions with Susan were surprisingly helpful. I assumed I was a well-spoken candidate with little room for improvement here, and while that was generally true, it was very helpful to work through framing answers to tough questions with Susan ("what is your Plan B if your career goals don't pan out?").

Cons:
Susan took more time than necessary during our calls to introduce the point of the call, often repeating information I already knew about the overall b school application process. It would be helpful if she discussed with her clients how much prep they had completed on their own so less time was used during the short calls to hear repeated information. I work best when being able to formulate my thoughts out loud, but sometimes felt Susan did more of the talking during the calls. Don't be afraid to push back, and you'll have a more productive relationship with Susan. She's open to it, you just need to be comfortable steering the conversation from the get-to to ensure you get what you want out of each call.
School selection discussion. Susan sent me an excel doc where I had the opportunity to list features of a b school program that mattered to me, and give each feature/attribute a ranking. This would in theory help me sort through which programs are a good fit for me. I appreciated the excel doc and understand the school research should be completed by the applicant, but would have appreciated a bit more of an opportunity (separate call(s)) to discuss my thoughts/opinions of each school with Susan. She has a depth and breadth of knowledge and I had a feeling she could have shared more about each school I was considering. Granted, holding back this information is probably in part to ensure the applicant has ownership in the process, but a little more opportunity for discussion would have been helpful in the beginning of the school exploration process.

In summary, I would definitely use Susan again and recommend her to friends. She's open to feedback while working together, truly invested in seeing her clients succeed, diligent in keeping clients on task, an excellent editor, direct, and encouraging. I enjoyed working with her immensely and attribute my acceptances to our hard work together. Thank you, Susan!

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Susan Kaplan is an excellent Admissions Consultant. From our initial consultation and assessment, Susan did not sugarcoat anything or spoon-feed me. She asked the important questions that matter and guided me in the right direction if ever I ventured astray. If your experience turns out to be anything like mine, you will quickly realize that the uber-introspective MBA application process will require weeks of hard work, focus, and dedication. I wholeheartedly recommend signing up with Susan Kaplan and mbaMission if you’re serious about going to business school.
I signed up for the Two School Complete Package, despite applying to a total of four schools in Round 2. The two schools that I chose not to opt for mbaMission’s direct services for had essay prompts that followed the standard “Why MBA / Why Now / Why Here” structure. Don’t fret - once you nail down your story with Susan’s help, you can apply most of those principles across multiple schools. The extensive guidance that Susan offered in editing multiple resume drafts, essay outlines, rec letters, and (of course) main essays, were invaluable to my success in this process. Her feedback was always quick, candid, and constructive.
I’m proud (and still shocked) to say that I was accepted to three schools and waitlisted at the fourth! Thanks to Susan and mbaMission, I will be getting my MBA at my dream school (Top 3) this fall!

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I started off my MBA journey pretty naive and unsure about how to approach the process. I was impressed by mbaMission from the get-go, and I was paired with Susan Kaplan who I worked with for my 4 school package (to which I added another school in the middle of the process.)

Working with Susan was, in a good way, like being in an MBA admissions bootcamp. It was not an easy process by any means. You will need to do a lot of research on your own, and as most reviewers say, the consultant will never do the work for you (which is good!) so be prepared to work pretty hard, and be rest assured that it will pay off in the end. Susan was extremely focused on helping me get to the results that I wanted, and she wasn't afraid to dish out some tough love in order to help me achieve them.

I thought I had everything figured out for my (round 1) applications. However Susan helped me understand that a major concern in my candidacy was the lack of concrete post-MBA career goals. She pushed me to research roles I was interested in (that were realistic and achievable given my current experience) and tie them back to the resources offered at each of the schools I was targeting. I poured a lot of information into our initial brainstorming session, and she was able to extract the meaningful components that I eventually used to complete the 7 essays I worked with her on. She actually helped me learn more about myself in the process.

The essays themselves were brutal, but Susan never once missed a deadline or returned my drafts late. In fact, she occasionally even returned them ahead of time so that I would have a little extra time to work on them. She was never afraid to tell me to scrap an entire section out of my essay, in which case she would provide more detailed feedback to help me get my points across more effectively. Whether it was getting an expedited review through, or adding in a school 3 weeks before its application deadline, Susan was very accommodating and understanding of why I needed the extra help. We went through almost 10 drafts for one of the schools and she worked tirelessly to help me answer the question exactly as the school would like me to.

Susan was also very proactive with my interview prep. I had 4 interviews, and even though I felt more and more comfortable with each one, she still ensured that I had a mock interview with her for each school so that I was able to handle the questions effectively.

I ended up getting into 3 out of the 5 schools I applied to (including a top 10 school), with one of the schools offering me a substantial scholarship. I am currently waitlisted at another school, and Susan has stuck by me even through the waitlist process by helping me understand what the school needed and working with me on crafting an effective waitlist update letter. She was always one of the first people I reached out to when I received every one of my decisions, and I am certainly very happy with the results.

Overall, working with Susan was hard work but very worth it. While the sensitive side of me had some difficulty with the tough love, I knew that that was what I had hired a consultant for - someone to give me the cold hard facts so I could get through this grueling process successfully.

On a more general note - I found mbaMission to be extremely focused on the client, and not so much on giving acceptance metrics or other marketing figures to draw people in. They know that you're already shelling out a lot of money for their services, and I never perceived them trying to upsell in any way. They have excellent resources (start-to-finish guide, school insider guides, interview primers), and their newsletter is actually really helpful too. Highly recommend these guys (and Susan)!

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For the first several weeks of my MBA application process, I went through it thinking that I would be able to get through everything without third party help. While this was true for most aspects of the application, I grew concerned about the quality of my resume and essays at the 11th hour. So less than a week before the deadline, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase two hours of consulting services from mbaMission to have someone look at my application materials.

I was paired with Susan Kaplan and she was absolutely great. I sent her my resume and three essays, which were swiftly sent back to me, albeit with more red marks than I was expecting to see. The commentary was excellent. I spent the next several nights taking her advice into the wee hours of the morning, practically rewriting everything from scratch. I finally submitted my materials the night before the deadline.

A month later I received my acceptance letter from Columbia, my first choice school. Things probably would not have worked out as well for me if I hadn't had Susan look at my application materials. I would absolutely recommend her services to anyone looking for an extra set of eyes on their application. My one piece of advice would be to do it a bit longer in advance than I did!

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Honestly, I would have never been able to craft my most compelling story with the same conviction without Susan Kaplan's guidance. She was incredibly pleasant and had a knack for pushing all the right buttons to bring out the very best in me. In hindsight, I should have just purchased the entire package deal because I trusted her and sought her input every step of the way in the application process.

With Susan as my coach, my work became more efficient and targeted! And, when I strayed, she was not afraid to bring me back on point. I was so confident with the strength of my final application,and subsequent interview, that I decided to apply only to my top school and wait for a decision. I was accepted – Ivy League Executive MBA!

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