Kate's guidance and support throughout the admissions process was second to none. I was offered admission to Booth, Kellogg, and Tuck, each with scholarships, and I couldn't have done it without Kate!

Kate led me in developing and communicating my personal brand by guiding me through a process of self-discovery (many phone calls and Skype sessions of brainstorming and questions). She helped me see patterns within my interests and education and work experience that enabled me to tie together my story, why I needed an MBA, and why now. By being straightforward about the weaknesses in my application (a shorter work history and somewhat jumpy resume), Kate helped me address these weaknesses within my written application and prepared me to answer questions around them in interviews.

As I built my resume, short answers, and essays to tell a cohesive story, Kate's feedback was exceptional. Always timely and professional, Kate understood what I was trying to convey and made suggestions that helped me best articulate it. She was so thoughtful, remembering (and reminding me!) of small details from our prior conversations that, once incorporated, brought my essays to the next level. Another big value-add was Kate's in-depth knowledge of each program and its students/culture. While sometimes I used similar anecdotes for essay questions and/or short answers, no two answers were the exact same, as each was adjusted to fit the school's values. Kate was key in helping me show how I was a good fit at each particular school. The same held true when it came down to interview preparation: Kate helped me prepare for each school's interview, quizzing me on questions she typically sees asked at specific schools and giving me tips on how to make my responses less cookie-cutter and more unique to the values of each school. I attribute my interview-to-admit success rate to Kate's help in preparation.

After receiving the calls with good news, Kate was one of the first people I told because I was so appreciative of her help. She saw me at my best and my worst, and she was a great sounding board for all things MBA-related (and some things less-MBA-related like a potential company switch pre-MBA). I highly recommend working with Kate to anyone applying – she is the absolute best and will help you find success in the application process!

Read More

Background:
I knew I wanted an admissions consultant to help: (1) synthesize my story and goals succinctly to stand out from the crowd, (2) provide insight into which schools were targets/reaches based on my ambitions and risk-tolerance, and (3) answer one-off/random questions + ease my nerves throughout this marathon of a process.

Kate's Approach:
I had an intro call with Kate to determine 'fit' and in that call, I walked her through the main reasons I wanted an admissions consultant. I felt confident Kate would meet those goals, and after a few weeks into working with her, she surpassed all of them! We started working together in May 2019 with my resume and brainstorming my story/goals. Her turnaround time was always within the 2-business day policy of mbaMission, and at times, even sooner. What I loved about her approach was that she: (1) is flexible (including setting up last-minute calls or answering emails quickly) (2) genuinely listens to my comments/questions/concerns and (3) is happy to review any/all materials related to schools' applications that we were working on together (I got the end-to-end package for multiple schools).

Overall Review of Kate:
I highly recommend Kate to anyone seeking an admissions consultant. In addition to the reasons I listed above, I also believe she has patience, detail-orientation and dedication to see her clients succeed. She's genuinely interested in her client's success and I definitely felt that way while working with her. For anyone considering an admissions consultant, I recommend understanding why you feel that you need one and set those expectations upfront with your consultant as I did with Kate -- It helped us form an easy, trustworthy relationship that, I believe, ultimately aided in securing admission at two T15 schools! Thanks, Kate, for your incredible guidance!!

Read More

When I started the MBA application journey, I didn't know how necessary or valuable a consultant would be. I chose to work with Katy after reading her reviews online and chose her because she had worked in Stanford admissions, which at the time was my top choice. When we did our initial consultation, I told Katy that I was applying to Stanford, Haas, and Wharton. I didn't think I was "good enough" for HBS and didn't give it fair consideration because of this lack of confidence. Katy immediately told me that after looking at my profile she thought I should apply to HBS and having went there herself, told me about how great her experience was. I was shocked and flattered that an alumna thought I was worthy and so I decided to apply and Katy worked with me on my HBS application. We worked on about sixteen drafts of my essay, sending it back and forth to each other and it slowly came to life. Katy's help was priceless. I wouldn't have initiated a lot of the essay changes if I was working alone on it. I probably would have stuck with some of the original content that was not as strong, but when you have Katy reading it with you, she suggests ideas more objectively and challenges you to keep taking the essay to the next level. The second item that was helpful to me was organizing the information for my recommenders. Katy had an excellent template that made me a lot more confident in what I was asking my recommenders to write. She also read their letters and gave them feedback and both my recommenders said Katy was extremely helpful and appreciated the feedback as neither one of them had ever written MBA recommendation letters. I got interviews at all four programs I applied to and Katy offered to do mock interviews for all of them. Her mock interviews were very similar to my actual interviews and she had so many resources to help me prepare and feel most confident about them. In the end, I was accepted to HBS and I know for a fact that I would not have even applied if it were not for Katy saying she saw potential in me. For me, she was a true mentor. She gave me confidence and encouragement in every single email and conversation and helped keep me accountable and motivated through what can be a very long and stressful journey. I think a common struggle applicants have is always doubting if they are doing the right things in their applications and actually presenting the bet version of themselves. Having Katy there to give me that assurance and remove that doubt was invaluable. I am so thankful for Katy's help and encourage everyone to choose her as their mentor.

Read More

I had an amazing time working with Katy for my business school application process. She goes above and beyond at every step, ensuring that my application reflected the best of who I am, and that the overall experience was as seamless and stress-free as possible. Aside from responding to clients at a rapid-fire pace (even if it means she has to stay up very late on many occasions), Katy made sure that I fully understood what business schools looked for and surfaced key actionable insights (e.g., helping schools understand the myriad transitions in my life, addressing my weaknesses) that I had no previous knowledge of, even after doing copious individual research and talking to other consultants / mentors. Furthermore, Katy’s vested interest in my development was clear from the get-go -- she wholeheartedly believed in what I was doing, and helped me believe in myself; ultimately, I would say I was a lot less stressed and much happier about the way my application / interview processes were going versus many of my friends undergoing the same routine, and I can confidently attribute this to Katy.

With her unique background (e.g., HBS alumni, ex-admission officer at GSB), her tenacity to help students succeed at the highest level, and her impeccable communication skills, Katy is absolutely THE business school admission consultant to work with.

Read More

I had heard good things about mbaMission from online reviews but, unfortunately, my experience feel drastically short of expectations.

1) There were one or two instances of my essay reviews coming back with obvious errors. For example, I got feedback from my consultant and their draft had a repeated sentence. For the cost of this service I expect consultants to avoid such basic mistakes.

2) As round 1 deadlines approached I noticed that the feedback I was getting was increasingly minimal (accounting for the fact that essay quality increases with time). There was a couple instances when I only got a one sentence response

3) I also noticed that there was a lot of back and forth with the consultant's own advice. I would write A and they would ask me to write B; a little while later they would ask me to scrap B and write A again

Overall I was better off than I would have been had I not gone with a consultant but I definitely don't feel like I got my money's worth. The ideas I got from my consultant were okay at best. Additionally, I noticed a drastic drop in quality as application deadlines approached. I'm assuming the consultants here are overstaffed and couldn't keep up with the workload.

I recommend using a different service; I've heard great things about Expartus from my peers.

Read More

I could not have asked for a better experience working with Rachel. She came highly recommended from a family friend, and early into my 30 minute consultation call I could see why. She knew exactly what questions to ask to get the ideas flowing, and her brainstorming activity was an integral tool to the entire application process. She helped me tell MY story and I truly feel like my applications showed the most genuine, honest version of myself and highlighted what made me a strong applicant. I feel like the entire process not only helped me tell my story, but made me reflect on why I want to go to business school, setting me up for success once I actually begin. Her thoughtful approach made the process fulfilling and exciting.
Rachel gave excellent feedback throughout the process, and was prompt in responses. While mbaMission promises a 48 hour turnaround, Rachel often got back to me sooner than that. We communicated via email almost daily, but whenever I wanted to chat on the phone she was super quick to get something on the calendar, even that same day. We worked on three schools together and with each school I could feel myself becoming more confident in my story and a stronger advocate for myself. After the applications were submitted, Rachel was a huge help in my interview prep. mbaMission's insight into interviews made what can often be an intimidating process quite pleasant. I genuinely looked forward to showing off my interview skills at each school, and was saved from being stumped on some really tough questions through the firm's guides.
I would recommend Rachel to anyone. As hard as I worked, I could feel her effort mirroring mine. I only applied to three schools, and used Rachel's services for all three. I could not be more thrilled that I got accepted to all three of those schools, and now Rachel is helping with the hardest part-- choosing the best one for me! Thank you mbaMission for matching me with an awesome consultant, and a great supporter and friend (by this time, she knows me better than most!), in Rachel Beck.

Read More

Deciding to work with Kate was easily one of the best decisions I made during my MBA application process! Kate and I worked together for over a year, and she was fabulous, responsive and incredibly helpful the entire time. As a non-traditional applicant, Kate expertly helped me to see and succinctly explain my strengths, frame my career path narrative, and craft a polished, professional application package. Furthermore, Kate made me feel confident and supported from the very beginning and working with her made the application process a fun and introspective experience, allowing me to let go of the inherent stress, enjoy the process and learn a lot about myself along the way. She is an incredible brainstormer, and talking through essay ideas with her helped me to tell my story in an engaging and interesting way. She gave me great advice along the way, including taking MBAMath, which I believe strengthened my application and preparedness for school. Her advice to connect with as many current students and alumni as possible, to attend webinars and chats, and to speak with people in my desired career, allowed me to understand and articulate why each program I applied to was a strong fit for me, and what value I would add to each program. I ultimately was admitted to both Kellogg and Tuck, my two top choice programs, and truly believe she was integral to my acceptances! Finally, Kate is professional, respectful, kind and genuinely cares for her clients - I would recommend her to anybody!

Read More

I was dinged from the 3 schools I applied to the previous year without interviews. This left me feeling unmotivated and unworthy of getting into a top program. Then Harshad entered into the picture. Not only did he help me get into the school of my dreams (one I was previously dinged from before), he helped to instill in me the confidence that I truly deserved it and was capable of getting there. Simply put, he believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. So, thank you Harshad. Thank you for the time and energy you put into helping me craft my best stories. Thank you for your patience in my emotional struggles. And thank you for helping me push my limits and get into the school I always knew I belonged at.

Read More

I was very fortunate to be connected with Rachel by a friend whom she had recently guided into the Columbia Business School Class of 2021. As a resident of NYC with no intention of moving, I was very focused on earning admission to CBS. Rachel immediately connected with my story, and unlike several other consultants I had spoken with, she was optimistic about my credentials. Rachel’s process is thorough – she requests a ton of information upfront to better understand the candidate’s background and she is masterful at synthesizing that information into a compelling application tailored for each program. Additionally, her superior knowledge of the CBS admissions process was invaluable for crafting an application that would ultimately resonate with the admissions committee. I was admitted to CBS, and I am forever grateful to Rachel for helping me achieve that outcome.

Read More

Krista at mbaMission is a true delight. She was highly responsive, organized, and resourceful regarding each school's admissions process, key programs, and application components.

Krista was able to highlight each school's thematic areas while helping me seriously shape my application narrative. She did this efficiently (I was an hourly client) and with exceptionally high standards.

I was considering working with another well-regarded admissions consulting firm, but after my 30 minute introductory call with Krista, I could not imagine working with anyone else. I could always count on Krista to provide thoughtful, detailed feedback on my essays and applications while maintaining good humor, perspective, charisma, and enthusiasm.

During the process, we discovered that both Krista and I are big readers, and I really enjoyed getting to know Krista on a more personal level, sharing our book lists, and chatting about our favorites. I highly recommend Krista for your application needs and consider myself lucky to have found her services. I was ultimately admitted to my first choice program in R1!

Read More