During my admissions process, i spoke to many different consultants to see which was the best fit for me. One of my favorite things about MBA mission was that i was able to get my free 30 minute session directly with Katy. I quickly got a sense of what she was about and realized that she was the best person to help me on this journey.

She quickly understood my story and helped me find the best way to express it. I come from an nontraditional background so for me it was very important to get the right story on paper to show my best qualities. Katy was extremely helpful in the planning and brainstorming sessions and was able to ask all the right questions. She was truly interested in my story and made me feel like I was her most important client every time we spoke.

During the application process she was also outstanding, she did a fantastic job of reading and editing the essays without being invasive and making them sound as if they didn't come from me. She was very timely in her responses and was available during weekends and even during Christmas break.

Overall, I was very pleased with Katy's guidance and I am sure that she is a big reason as to why I will be attending Columbia Business School this fall!

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Idea generation for the essays was the hardest part of the entire application process. Rachel made it a breeze. She read through my brainstorm document in detail, and really listened to me before distilling my life stories down to a single theme. When I didn’t think I had anything special, Rachel saw the best in me and helped me pick out episodes in my life that really highlighted my strength. Thanks to her heavy lifting at the beginning, I did not feel stressed despite only starting to write the essays one month before the deadlines.

Throughout the process, Rachel was upfront but respectful, persistent but not pushy. During my moments of panic (e.g. after I thought I screwed up my interview) and self doubt, she was the one that stayed focused and helped me get back on track. She was instrumental in helping me get into HBS.

I also liked mbaMission’s systematic approach. After hearing from other friends about the services that they used, I feel like mbaMission’s framework really helped me save a lot of time throughout the process.

I highly recommend Rachel and mbaMission to anyone who considers business school!

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If you are looking to get into your target schools, but feel overwhelmed by the process and you need to get organized and motivated, I recommend working with Helen. She helped me get into 4 MBA programs including a full-ride scholarship to NYU Stern and a 3/4 of a scholarship at MIT Sloan.

A year ago I connected with different consultants (within mbaMission and with other firms) about my target schools and Helen proved to be the most qualified and most motivated willing to help me achieve my goals. I was struggling with a low GPA and an average Gmat, but Helen helped me make my application that much stronger by showing me how to effectively highlight the points I was trying to get across to admissions. Furthermore, Helen was very patient throughout the entire process, she genuinely cared about my success. She also polished my resume and interviewing skills. In the end I thought she was very responsive to any questions and/or concerns, extremely thorough in her feedback, and very experienced in the application process.

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When I first started the process of applying to business school I was really unsure if I wanted to use a consultant. Between GMAT prep class fees and travel expenses to visit schools, the cost of applying to business school adds up quickly and I wasn't sure if a consultant would be worth the cost. Since I knew people that had gone through the process of applying to business school, I had a solid understanding of the work needed to complete an application but I really needed a top consultant to help me craft my story and write strong essays...at least I thought that was all I needed.

Helen was recommended to me and after our first conversation, I knew I made the right choice. She helped me pull out the elements of my story that embodied who I was the most and pushed me to dig deeper whenever I got lazy in my writing. At times, I was so frustrated with the process I was ready to stop and Helen always lovingly brought me back on track and helped me create a plan to make the process less stressful. She provided edits and ideas very quickly and was always responsive whenever I got stuck. She also did a mock interview with me (with specific questions about my background) and coached me on how to give strong and thoughtful answers. Needless to say, many of the questions she asked me were exactly the questions I was asked in my real interview. Her mock interview was excellent preparation for the real thing.

In general, I saw Helen as more than just my admissions consultant, she was also my cheerleader and part time life coach. LOL I truly felt like she was invested in my success and because of her guidance and extreme talent in bringing out the best in people, I was admitted to several schools and will start at Stanford this fall. I couldn't be more excited! :)

I definitely recommend Helen as a top business school consultant. Thank you to her and the entire mbaMission team for helping me to achieve this dream!

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I did a tremendous amount of research and spoke with over a dozen consultants before I was very luckily referred to Jessica. After our first conversation, I knew she was the consultant I wanted to partner with. Jessica genuinely supported my goals to apply to the top MBA programs and was dedicated during the entire process.

Jessica is efficient and effective – she provided an agenda at the beginning of our talks, and we discussed and tackled those items during each session, spending additional time at the end for my specific questions. The resume support was tremendous. We went through six or seven iterations, and the final product was a complete transformation from the first draft in format, language, and theme. As a military veteran, I really struggled talking and writing about myself. Thankfully, I had Jessica to discuss my stories with and bounce ideas off of. After each of our brainstorming sessions, she helped me to identify the most defining, powerful, and compelling stories from my background, and we strategized how to approach questions for each school. As I worked through essays, Jessica provided honest, specific feedback and very fast turnarounds. Not only was she the mentor and coach that I needed, she is also an excellent teacher, and I learned to become a much better communicator through this entire process.

I applied to GSB, HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, Haas, and CBS. I received interview offers at five of the schools, was accepted to four, and waitlisted at one. There is no way I would have accomplished my dreams without Jessica.

On a closing note, going into the application process, as an older candidate with a low GPA, I felt my goals were lofty and my chances, realistically, were slim. However, I didn’t want to leave anything on the table. Regardless of the outcome, I knew that this investment was going to be worth every penny. It has proved to be so much more than I would have ever thought. Not only did the start-to-finish packages and mock interviews prepare me for the business school application and interview process, it has also prepared me for pre-MBA summer program and internship applications. All the tools that I learned to use when writing my essays and preparing for interviews have been invaluable even after acceptance to business school.

Make the investment to work with Jessica. It is hands down the most helpful thing you can do to prepare for business school applications AND beyond.

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I highly recommend working with Melissa and mbaMission. I started the process really late - I did not start school research or essay preparation until December, but Melissa was able to help me move very fast and I was able to meet the R2 deadlines. I especially like her candid way of communication.

The essays are from my personal experiences. But the most impressive aspect about Melissa was that she was always able to bring out the noblest/most touching aspects of those experiences. She was also very critical in examining any potential red flags in my essays which I never thought about.

Melissa was extremely responsive. She was quick in replying my emails and questions. They have the two-day policy for returning essays, and Melissa was sometimes able to return the work back to me before deadline. There was a time I needed to expedite, and for some technical reasons Melissa was a little late. She was so sorry about it that she offered to expedite a second time for me for free.

There was a time when I had a tricky question about finding the appropriate recommender, and Melissa asked other consultants in mbaMission for their opinions before giving me an answer. It was very reassuring to have collective wisdom on tricky questions.

I got admitted into my dream school – a top 10 school (to gmatclub admin: please do not disclose my school, I do not wish to disclose it. I have verified my student status.)

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I was introduced to Katharine (Katy) Lewis by a good friend who worked with her throughout the 2014 application cycle. This applicant was ecstatic to have accepted an offer to Stanford GSB and admitted to many other top schools; she could not have been more excited to recommend Katy and get me started with the application process.

As part of the free initial 30 minute consultation (in January 2016), Katy reviewed my resume and discussed my work history, professional goals and interests, and initial school thoughts. My main concern was that I hadn’t achieved a GMAT score I thought was competitive enough; Katy re-assured me to keep going and check back around April / May to re-assess the situation. Once it reached April, I still hadn’t finished my testing but decided to move forward with the process in order to stay well ahead of the round 1 submission timeline. Katy was more than gracious to accept me as a client and start the process while still re-assuring me that the testing would never be an issue as long as I kept trying.

I purchased the “complete start-to-finish” package for 3 schools: HBS, Stanford GSB, and Dartmouth Tuck. HBS and Stanford were my top choices; I was slightly unsure about Dartmouth Tuck and ended up changing this school once my final school decisions were due. A few thoughts on each stage of the process:

Brainstorming: This is the starting point for all applications and consisted of a detailed questionnaire and a few brainstorming calls to solidify the overall arch to my application. It was initially a bit overwhelming -- I needed to provide very detailed commentary on my overall background, from childhood to my current professional environment -- but after diving in, it ended up being the most interesting part of the entire process. Portions of my personal history that I thought were relatively inconsequential ended up providing the best starting point for essays; Katy constantly reminded me of this. Her level of enthusiasm for my background and anecdotes gave me such confidence that I was a strong candidate – it made my essay writing process one of self-discovery rather than a chore.

School Choice / Application Round: I ended up missing round 1 deadlines due to my testing and reset my priorities to round 2; during that time, I decided to add a handful of schools through the Consortium common application and Katy was able to help me pick and choose which schools I’d be most competitive as an applicant. I ended up choosing Stanford GSB and HBS, and through the Consortium common application I chose Yale, Cornell, UVA Darden, UC Berkeley Haas, and NYU. I was amazed by Katy’s level of knowledge for each school; she’s personally spent time at each of them and can talk for hours about the pros and cons for each school. Aside from that, she was always willing to put me in touch with a former client or contact so that I could get a better sense first-hand sense of each program.

Career Goals / Personal Interests: Business school has always been a goal but I had some difficulty verbalizing my post-MBA goals. I’ve spent the last 7 years in the Risk Management division of a large Investment Bank and I did not want to give any impression that I wanted to return to a traditional banking or consulting type of role following graduation. Katy was instrumental in helping me solidify my vision for a logical career path following b-school. This was incredibly important as most (not all) interviews will dig deep here. Katy helped me focus in on a forward-looking vision that was based on my experience and a logical next step that I could believe in my head as I was interviewing.

Essays / Final Applications: Submission of the final applications was hectic given the number of schools I was applying to but Katy never missed a deadline and always had feedback that proved invaluable. The essay writing process was iterative and she never altered or made direct changes to any of my written submissions; instead, she would provide comments on ways to re-think certain aspects or strengthen ideas that seemed thin in the context of my overall candidacy. At any point in time, I was free to ‘reject’ her suggestions if I didn’t feel comfortable but I never found that to be the case. At the outset I thought I’d dread writing the essays just given the number I had to do (~14); however, the extensive brainstorming process made it super simple to pair certain personal stories with essay prompts to the point that they almost wrote themselves. I’d perhaps have 4-5 total revisions per essay on those that I cared the most about.

Interviews: I was absolutely thrilled and quite frankly couldn’t believe that I received interview invitations from HBS, UC Berkeley Haas, Yale, NYU, and Cornell. Every single school has a different approach; you may meet with any combination of current students, admissions committee members, and alumni. Katy was instrumental in helping me prep and I was never blindsided by the interviews that we prepared for.

When all was said and done, I received admissions offers from HBS, Haas, Yale, and Cornell; the result could not have been more positive and I ended up choosing my top-choice of HBS!

On a personal note, my relationship with Katy went from client to personal confidant. She was always there to keep my nerves in check and re-assure me when I was doubting myself. Her positive attitude and willingness to chat, at ANY time of the day, made this incredibly long journey surprisingly enjoyable. She was even gracious enough to invite my boyfriend and I to her home when we were in her neck of the woods.

In short, this review could never summarize how incredibly instrumental Katy has been throughout this (lengthy) stage in my life. I knew she would get results, but I’m still completely blown away by how positive the results turned out in my case. Some friends of mine have recently expressed a faint interest in b-school themselves and, as a result, I’ve gone out of my way to have them at least speak with her. I would hate for anyone to miss an opportunity to work with such an incredibly talented and caring person.

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I worked with Harshad to apply for b-school in late 2016, and really appreciated all of his help and work! Due to taking the GMAT later than expected I had a short timeframe to get my applications done (about a month), and Harshad worked tirelessly in order to ensure that he provided advice quickly and efficiently.
After undergoing the initial brainstorming for my applications, Harshad was able to analyze and boil down my various experiences in order to suggest an essay path forward that properly highlighted my best qualities to admissions. Even during a short timeframe (and over the holidays) Harshad responded almost immediately to every request or e-mail I sent. He was always available for a call in order to go through potential ideas or changes, and he was available 7 days a week. His edits of my writing were a lifesaver and he really helped me focus my message in all of essays and applications. He was 100% committed to helping me achieve my goals, and I ended up gaining admission to the school that I applied to!
I would recommend Harshad to anyone who is applying to b-school. He was a great help, both in the admissions process and in providing great advice on all aspects of the b-school decision.

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Kate greatly exceeded my expectations.
At first, I was reluctant to hire a consulting service as I was afraid of getting a cookie-cutter approach resulting in a bland application.
However, Kate took the time to understand what I wanted to say, was straight with me when I was being repetitive, and helped me suggesting edits while keeping my voice intact throughout the application. Furthermore, as it often happens, I had little time left to submit my application and was very thankful that Kate responded to all my inquiries promptly and comprehensively according to a scheduled she shared with me at the start of the engagement.
Other consultants I spoke to briefly wanted to “force” me into applying to certain schools whereas Kate helped me polish my essays to accurately show what I liked of each school and how I felt I fit in.
I am very happy with the outcome and feel proud of my applications for I know I drafted 100% of the content that got me accepted, but Kate’s input was instrumental in polishing my essays and ensuring all my messaged were received as clearly as possible.

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I genuinely enjoyed working with Kate because she genuinely cared about my unique story and encouraged me to apply for top MBA programs despite my low GMAT score. Kate laid out a structured plan to address low GMAT verbal by recommending that I take a communication class and obtain an A to demonstrate my verbal proficiency and boost my entire candidacy. Throughout the entire process, Kate was extremely phenomenal at helping me structure my MBA resume and incorporate specific and important aspects of my story into my essays, which flowed like a conversation. She will promptly return all my draft essays with detailed improvements that helped me articulate my MBA goals in a succinct manner.

I was absolutely thrilled to work with her and I ended up getting into one of my dream schools. I whole-heartedly recommend her for your MBA application experience. She is extremely knowledgeable and makes the application process easier than studying for the GMAT.

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