When I first started considering working with an admissions consultant, people around me warned me that my consultant will persuade me to apply to safe schools only because they care so much about their own track records. But my experience with Angela was exactly the opposite.

I got admitted to my dream school, but ended up not going, because Angela helped me get into an even better one. It's not like I was only aiming for the safe options. My GMAT, GPA, work experience is all below my school average. It's only because Angela gave me the confidence to go for it that I ended up getting into this school.

Angela is not in it for herself. She genuinely cares for your success. That's why she will push you to aim higher, work with crazy deadlines and still make sure you have the best outcome, and remember the tiniest details about you that even you yourself don't remember.

She will keep you grounded through the crazy process and keep you focused.

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I decided to hire a consultant because writing was my weakness (I had done poorly in some classes in college due to my inability to complete decent enough papers on time). On top of that I was also hoping to apply to 7 schools with only 2 months left till the Round 2 application deadlines, so I was looking to add some structure to the process that would help me avoid feeling overwhelmed. I bought a two-school package and selected the toughest applications from those 7 for Monica. Here are all the ways in which she helped me:

1) Monica helped me structure the writing process. She explained the number of drafts i would need to go through to write good essays, as well as how much time she needs to get her comments and edits back to me. I planned my essay writing around that, leaving enough time for multiple drafts before the deadline. The number of drafts is not limited by mbaMission so while some essays i finished in just 3-4 drafts, other essays took me 7-8 drafts! Realizing that i would go through so many drafts lowered my stress about the first few drafts - they did not need to be perfect. I knew i just had to put some thoughts on paper and move forward in baby steps. In the end, I had some seriously good essays!

2) Monica helped me move forward when I was stuck. A few essay topics (I am looking at you, MIT Sloan!) were really confusing and hard to relate to my own experience. I felt stuck, but I knew that I had to quickly find a way to proceed in order to complete the applications by the deadline. Monica helped me think through some ideas and find themes to my essays that could relate to my experience. At other times she suggested how to re-structure my story to make it more interesting to read.

3) Monica helped me improve my essays by asking me very good questions about the details of my stories. When i expanded on some of those details, my stories came to life.

4) Monica provided moral support and for me this was the most important part! A few times during the process i panicked and doubted myself. I thought that i should apply to some lower ranked schools instead of the top schools i was targeting. I had some flaws in my background (a lower GPA, and no brand name employment). Monica told me that it was OK, and that I did not have to be perfect to make it into a top school!!! She praised my unique accomplishments since undergrad, and assured that admissions could forgive a few mistakes if the rest of the application is solid. She helped me write the optional essay to explain the circumstances. Her kindness helped me move forward.

From the beginning my own application strategy was clear to me - I knew what in my background I wanted to highlight, and what i needed to explain in my applications.
Of course I knew my stories better than Monica or anyone else, so my best essays were the ones for which I had my own creative idea. I worked with Monica on telling this story better and became a much better writer throughout the process. Just learning from Monica how to write and tell my story was worth the money. I learned more from working with Monica than in all my college writing classes!!!

I mostly used the same essays that i worked on with Monica for all schools, (adjusting them slightly to school specifics). I applied to 7 top schools, interviewed at 5 and got accepted at 3. I am starting at my dream M7 school in the fall.

Overall Monica was AMAZING to work with and I am very grateful for her hard work and for her kindness. I highly recommend her! She will be your biggest cheerleader!!!!

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I used John during the essay & short answer portion of my application process. He was very diligent and thorough with his feedback and insights on building the best narrative that would draw the attention of the AdComm. John would not only edit my essays but also offer ideas on the structure of my story to make it efficient and effective. He was very timely in his responses as we worked through 3-4 versions of each essay. From the first draft to the final submission, I saw an incredible improvement in my story that I honestly would not have achieved otherwise. Highly recommended and worth the investment.


responding within 48 hours

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First off, mbaMission allows you to read up on bio's of the many consultants they have on their team. This is great because it allows you to choose someone who may have similar experiences to your own and makes it easier to connect with one another. That's why I chose to go with mbaMission and it worked out perfectly.

My experience with Helen Summers met all my expectations and in fact exceeded them (more on that below).

I used an hourly service and went in with a particular goal. I had my application to HBS fairly complete. I wanted Helen to essentially review my full application as if she were an admissions counselor at HBS. Based on the premise of not having any other information other than what I have provided in my application - what would her take be? Understanding that we'd be missing the recommendations component, how could I improve the overall application and chances to get to the next interview stage?

Helen provided amazing feedback on my application which helped guide me towards my final submission. Where she exceeded my expectations was that I originally asked to receive this feedback while anticipating that all my paid for hours would be used up with that round of feedback. However, Helen provided feedback on my HBS application and still left more time which allowed me to get her take on another school's application! She doesn't waste any of your precious time paid for!

In the end, I got into HBS - the school of my dreams!

Thanks Helen. And best of luck to future B school prospects!

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I read every review on GMATClub prior to deciding on an admissions consulting service, and therefore, I feel obliged to give back my share.

HBS was my dream school but without much resource or friends attending the school, I knew I needed some support. I signed up for comprehensive school packages with Monica Okrah.

I had a lot of doubts about timing of my application, story plots and most importantly, I lacked confidence. With her extensive experience with HBS admissions, Monica answered all my nitpicking questions, which really helped to calm my nerves and stay focused. Monica was instrumental in all parts of application but particularly stood out in the following three:

1) Letters of recommendations: Both of my recommenders didn’t have much (if at all) experience writing letters of rec for MBA admissions. MBA Mission’s templates really helped to guide and prep my recommenders. Monica provided directional feedbacks, which were especially critical for my recommenders and pushed them to provide deeper reflections.

2) Essay: Ultimately, I was in full charge of my own stories but Monica was a great sounding board and steered me to the right direction. I applied to two schools and first worked on the HBS essay. After about 4 draft exchanges with Monica, I started on essays for the other school and suddenly felt the urge to change my HBS essay similar to the second school essay. I’m really glad Monica stopped me from trapping myself in the wrong path. It took about 7 exchanges until we marked the HBS essay final. When I re-read my essay, I feel it truly represents who I am and I wouldn’t have made it without Monica’s guidance.

3) Mock interview: I would recommend working with Monica for interviews (especially HBS), even if you don’t work with her on the application. Her interview preparation was remarkable. We had our mock interview two weeks prior to the real one. We did 45 minutes interview with set of questions Monica prepared unique to my profile. After, we went through each question one-by-one discussing ways to improve and she gave couple extra questions to chew on. She also helped to answer my questions for the post interview reflection so there are no surprises!

With undergrad degree in business, MBA was a natural next-step. Monica and MBAMissions was the best investment I made to help me get admissions to my dream school. Wishing everyone best luck.

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Hello all -
I highly recommend using mbaMission and specifically I worked with Adam Grossman as my consultant. I was applying to Duke CCMBA program - Class of 2016 start date 07/15. I read reviews on GMAT club just like everyone else. It was probably one of the best decisions I could have made for myself. I contacted several consulting services but i didnt get an honest feedback. I am someone whose GMAT score was lower than an ideal candidate, but i had a good gpa for my undergraduate studies and professional experience that showed progress. Adam really helped to identified my gaps and strength. I only had a little over a month to work with him. He was really quick at getting back in terms of revisions, answering all of my concerns all the way through the process. It was a pleasure working with him. He helped me edit my resume, brainstorming and revising two essays and interview prep. I got in!!!!

Those that know which schools they would like to go - hourly services works. You dont need a full package. It worked for me. Also, I didnt have enough time to spend time going through the full package as I was also studying for my GMAT.

Five stars :)

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I am very lucky to have Angela Guido as my LBS application consultant. I applied LBS in round 3 with a very tight timetable, but got admitted with a scholarship fully covering first year tuition. Without Angela's strong help, sincere encouragement and infectious enthusiasm, I could never achieve that.

Angela was very engaged in my whole application process. She is more like a friend and mentor, who genuinely wanted me to have the best and spared no efforts to help me to attain that.

Angela is very very nice yet never hesitated to give me candid and honest feedback. I applied for two other schools in round 2 before working with Angela and got no interview invitations then. I wanted MBA this year very much and began to be a bit panic but didn't know what was going wrong in those applications until my thirty minutes free consultation with Angela. She listened to my previous application strategy carefully and pointed out that my weakness in career planning (Angela is also career consultant at mbaMission and gave me constructive feedback and advices on how to leverage my past experience to break into a new industry and then finally achieve my LT goals. She did that with solid placement statistics, broad knowledge in various industry and quick but sound analysis of my specific case).

Among other things, I especially appreciate Angela in below areas:

1. Her insights. I didn't find my edge during my previous applications, and thus while my applications had a complete and cohesive story, I cannot be remembered by adcom with a simple statement. But Angela helped me find my competitive advantage (balanced creative and logic capabilities) in our brainstorm stage after I complete a long list of questions. I really appreciate that because to me, MBA is not just about school application, but also self-reflection and self-exploration. Angela is so smart and experienced that she easily identified my strongest areas and I feel like she knows me for a long time and knows me better than myself.

2. Her encouragement. Essay writing and editing is a long and exhausting process. Sometimes I struggled to find the right angle to tell the story, while other times, I was not satisfied with what I wrote or had no idea about how to further improve it. Angela gave very specific comments about how to improve and she can always find my shining point or good paragraphs to cheer me up. It is extremely important when I was frustrated because of the time constrain. Angela believed in me which gave me a lot of confidence and inspired me to find something important of my experience I neglected previously.

3. Her knowledge. Angela really knows what makes a great essay and how to have your essay be remembered by adcom. After selecting the most impactful stories to tell, as an experience screenwriter, Angela taught me a lot on how to develop a story, how to make it more personal and how to convey the passion between lines. It is super helpful not only in terms of mba application, but also writing and presentation in general and to master the technique of storytelling really has a lifelong benefit. Besides, her golden advice of interview really helped me excel in two interviews.

4. Her dedication. Angela worked very hard to help me on my essays, letter of recommendations, short questions, resumes and scholarship essays. Personally, I am not very disciplined. However, I faced a very tight timeline. Angela helped me come out a feasible timetable and structured the whole application process which forced me to work in a very efficient manner. Angela was there for me during the entire process which really beyond her job descriptions - I greatly appreciate her advice on scholarship bargaining, school decision, career development and arts (my interest) around school.

Together with Angela, I achieved something marvellous that I could not achieve otherwise. I am beyond thankful!

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I was applying for schools while living abroad, so the hourly service was the best way for me to receive the support I needed while halfway across the world. John really helped me shape my story from the beginning, making it more logical and concise. He also challenged me in areas of my application that needed to be challenged. Moreover, I am happy that I elected to do the hourly services, because once I had the initial direction I was able to apply to my remaining schools on my own (I was admitted to both schools). My only qualm would be that it was sometimes hard to rectify stylistic differences via email, which due to our geographical limitations was my only means of communication. Overall, John was a great help and I would recommend him and mbaMission to other prospective MBA students.

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I worked with Jessica from July 2014 until March of this year. I purchased a 5 school all-inclusive package. With an overrepresented background, consulting, and a very hectic schedule, I wanted guidance as well as a “project manager” of sorts as support throughout the entire process.

Jessica is fantastic, if you are lucky enough to get her while she still has room, pay your initial deposit immediately and process everything later – she is the best. I met with other firms, and none of them even come close to what I found with Jessica. Other firms used scare tactics, like “oh you went to a state school, so we’ll address that” to “you are on the younger side so we can use this as a trial run.” On the other hand, Jessica never did this; she reviewed all the materials I submitted and listened to what I had to say and immediately saw what should be capitalized on my applications. Instead of saying state school, Jessica said, “with such a strong GPA and your M&A experience it will be easy to highlight.”

My essays were very personal in nature, and Jessica took this seriously, considering the sensitive nature and the personal side this revealed on my applications. Every essay for every school was different, even if the questions were nearly identical. I so appreciate Jessica’s time and thoughtfulness with the countless reviews. Jessica helps you describe your most important themes in the most concise and direct manner. Jessica knows the personalities of every school and ensures each client presents their best story at each school.

When you sign up with Jessica be ready for direct and honest feedback. It is something that I so appreciated with her, but it isn’t always an easy process. Jessica always remains professional and believes in everyone she works with.

Outside of just the application materials, Jessica was invaluable during the interview process. I received interviews at every school and Jessica was on point with the questions she used in each of our prep sessions. In addition, Jessica’s advice was a necessity in navigating the relationships that are made at each school, from post-interview notes to job changes during the admissions process.

Jessica is one of a kind, she helped me craft my admissions story to be one that allowed me to choose from two of the top three MBA programs.

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After completing my GMAT in late August, I decided to work with a consultant for my application, and was referred to mbaMission by a couple friends.

I started off with a 30-minute call with Jeremy, the founder, who didn’t really provide much insight on my profile, only to mention most of the consultants are fully booked so I better act fast.

Based on availability and reviews, I chose to work with Helen and signed up for a 2-school package, and subsequently followed with another 2-school package at a later stage.

Here are a few things that I think Helen does best:

- Helen’s turnaround time is quick, often ahead of the 2 business day turnaround timetable stated officially. She also responds to emails quickly, provided that it requires a short response.

- Helen is direct and will tell you upfront your ideas doesn’t work

- Helen is very passionate in helping her clients, you can sense it in her voice, her tone, and by the number of edits she made on an essay to make sure that the end product is at its best shape

- She does a good job in refining the content in my stories and shining the light on the appropriate details, while keeping my original tone in it

- She pays attention to the small details – when we were preparing for a video essay, she made comments on the lighting, background, webcam angles, my smile – things that I wouldn’t pay a whole lot of attention to normally

With Helen’s help, I was able to create a very good application piece for Stern and Booth, which led to interviews/admits subsequently. She was also able to help me edit 2 essays that I struggled with mightily and just did not have the most-fitting experience. To my surprise, I was admitted to that school as well.

Helen also did a great job in preparing me for interviews in terms of giving me feedback on my answers, my tonality, and my presentation.

Overall, my experience with Helen was great. She is a true professional, and I would definitely recommend her to anyone considering working with a consultant.

Here’s also a couple remarks/caveats to anyone that considering a consultant

- Since I did a fair amount of thinking on my essays, my profile positioning, and my school choices prior to using mbaMission, my experience working with Helen primary consisted of running ideas through her, essay edits, interview preparation, and reviewing the application as a whole. Adding to the fact that I completed my GMAT relatively late with only a 1-2 months until the first deadline, I couldn’t comment on the earlier stages in an application such as candidacy positioning, strength and weakness analysis, etc.

- While working with a consultant will enhance your story and maximize your chances, it is up to you to provide them with good raw materials, i.e. experience, to work with.

- While you might have 5+ applications to work on, a consultant will have just as many applications multiply by the number of clients they have. So it is the responsibility of the applicant to plan ahead of the deadline and inform the consultant that they plan to submit the application after this edit or a certain rounds of edits, taking consideration of the turnaround time.

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