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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As a re-applicant, I needed my second application to be the best it could be. Even though I have a strong, decade-long professional resume and was able to raise my GMAT over 60 points, I wanted to make sure I took advantage of any help that was available to me. Because I took the Manhattan Prep course, I was entitled to a 30 minute free consultation with mbaMission. After reviewing their consultants I scheduled a time with John Sisk because we have similar backgrounds in terms of our professional experience and I felt he would, more than anyone, understand where I am coming from and know how to best use it that would interest the AdComs. During the consultation he was frank with his assessment of my original applicant profile and provided me a bullet point of what he advises I should do to strengthen my candidacy regardless of if I went with him or not. I was really impressed and appreciative with his thoughts. What sealed the deal was when I told him I wanted him to be completely open and critical with me and my applications. If he felt I was overreaching applying to a certain program or my essays were junk I wanted to know. I’m an adult and straight-to-the-point and won’t take anything personally. He was on the same page and I chose the hourly service because John and I agreed that with me being a re-applicant to more than one school, applying to new schools and my primary help was with my resume and essays, the hourly “a la carte” service would be the best way to go. He would be available to me for any questions/edits/etc. I needed from the application though the interview process.

We first started working on my resume and the first revision was already a huge improvement, cutting it from two pages to one and still keeping all the important details and accomplishments in. After finalizing the resume we started working on the essays. Luckily, most of the programs I applied to last year that I planned to reapply to this year had the same essay topics so I did not have to start from page one for most. I edited my originals before I sent, integrating some ideas from books regarding business school application essays I read but still kept a lot from my first applications. I received John’s revisions and was blown away by his edit. I come from a creative background so my writing tends towards the superfluous. John made my words succinct and, most important, he described to me who my audience is and what they are specifically looking for which helped me steer my following edits. After several back and forths we finally agreed on the best, final versions of each essay I had him review for me. The most important essay we tackled together was my re-applicant essay where we were able to best explain the steps I took over the past year that improved my candidacy.

After all the applications were submitted I received more interview invites than the first time around, from programs I reapplied to and new programs. Most important, I received an interview to my top choice program and was admitted, with a scholarship, which I happily accepted.

Working with John was easy. He was both personable and professional and was readily available. I would send him an essay and he would return with his thoughts and revisions. Ultimately it would be up to me to decide if I would keep the edits, go with my original writing or figure a combination of both and when I felt it was finished. He was very amenable and we would regularly bounce ideas off each other.

I am 100% certain I would not have gotten into my program of choice, or even received multiple interviews to several top-25 MBA programs, without John’s help. Of course there were things I have done personally to better raise my candidate profile such as raising my GMAT, but John’s knowledge of the process and guidance was a difference maker. He enabled me to understand the thought process of the Admissions Committee and was 100% responsible for helping develop my story that successfully resulted in my goal of getting into the business school I wanted. I felt hiring a consultant is an investment and John is totally worth the investment.

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Going in to the admissions process, I was a nervous wreck--unconfident about both my undergrad GPA and my work experience. Just a 30 minute informational call with Krista was enough for me to see how she could dispel my insecurities, highlight my strengths, and re-package my perceived negatives into positives.

Krista was highly professional and efficient during our meetings. Especially during mock interviews, if I ever lost focus, she was quick to bring me back on track. Krista's advice during mock interviews was especially invaluable, and she pointed out flaws that I've been prone to for almost 5-6 years. Not only was her feedback useful for admissions interviews, they will be helpful for future job interviews, as well.

Because Krista helped out in the admissions office at Booth, she brings a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience. Whenever I hit a roadblock, she can think of another incident or student and draw insights from that. Krista's turnaround for essay review was fast, and she addressed weaknesses that I wouldn't otherwise have noticed, because I haven't seen the sheer volume of essays she has.

Aside from her solid feedback, Krista was also a shrink to me. She was always patient in offering me emotional support and reassurance during a highly stressful time, when I was trying to balance applications and a full-time job.

You could say Krista was more than a consultant to me--she was a friend and mentor. She always tried to be available, and I looked forward to all my calls with her, where I could raise burning questions and count on her for emotional support. When I was accepted to my top choice school, her genuine excitement was palpable. I would recommend Krista to anyone in the market for an excellent admissions consultant.

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Gladly, I have recieved MBA admissions from four schools, which are Emory University, University of Rochester, Southern Methodist University, and Babson College. All of these schools had an average GMAT above my score, yet I was able to recieve admission from them. This was partially due to the help of MBAmission on my MBA Applications. They have helped me on three aspects of my applications: Essays, Resume, and School Selection.

I have worked with my consultant, Krista, to review all my essays before submitting any application. She was very critical in her reviews, where she has helped in crafting and finetuning my essays. She, also, has helped me identify potential gaps in the essays which helped in creating a smooth enjoyable story. She did research the schools or the subjects sometimes and identify potential points worth mentioning in the essay.

Additionally, She has helped me review my résumé which resulted in me changing most of it. This helped me to better present my achievment and show the career progress. Additionally, she ensured that proper aspects of my resume are present to make it more relevant to my future goals.

In terms of schools selection, she has helped me identify the critiria that should be considered for selecting a school after recieving multiple admissions. This made it easier to make my own decision, regardless of any public or official ranking.

Lastly, the things I learned through my work with MBAmission, and Krista in specific, are invaluable assets to me. My writing skills has been enhanced dramatically. I know how to better read and write a resume. I would very highly recommend them for any prospected applicant to any business school in the future.

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I have worked with application consultants throughout my life: boarding school, college, masters’ program, law school, and business school. Out of all 5 consultants I have worked with Krista Nannery was by far the best.

More so than any other consultant I have worked with Krista took a vested interest in me and my application. She took the time to get to know me as a person and got to know my interest and passions. From that we formulated an application strategy that worked to my benefit. Her feedback and responsiveness was nothing short of amazing. I never once felt like I was anything but her most important client. What really impressed me about Krista was that if she didn’t know the answer to a question she would take the time and reach out to her colleagues to get an answer.

Furthermore, Krista never let me settle for good. Whether it was my resume, my essays, my overall application, or my mock interviews she always pushed me to go further and make each aspect of the application the best it could possibly be. Furthermore, she gave great advice on further research I should be doing and people I should be taking to in order to strengthen my candidacy – things I never considered.

I truly believe that I would not have gotten into my dream school without Krista’s help. I have recommended Krista to countless potential MBA students and will continue to do so far into the future. Simply put, Krista Nannery is the best consultant I have ever had the pleasure working with and I will be eternally grateful for her help and guidance.

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This letter serves to recommend Krista Nannery as an MBA admissions consultant.

Shopping for a good admissions consultant was overwhelming. I not only had to search for a consulting company with good reviews, but I also had to pick a good consultant. Unfortunately I was late in the game with almost 1 month left to submit my application to several schools. 

I chose MBA Mission for its rating. It had very good rating and seemed to have a very good customer base. It also had various documents that could help me research the schools I was interested in. However, most of the leading consultants were occupied by “the early birds”. I was referred to Krista to be my consultant.

I did agree to interview Krista to see if I was comfortable with her being my consultant.  To say that Krista exceeded my expectation is not giving credit enough. Krista worked hard and she was very efficient. Krista was very timely with her responses, sometimes even taking just 1 day to review a new draft, adding some comments and replying to my email. In 1 month I had to craft 3 solid applications and 6 different essays, each different than the next. With the help of Krista, I was able to meet the deadlines with remarkable essays.

We first started with a brainstorming session that really helped get the ideas flowing. She cared enough to memorize and really think about my life experiences and what they meant. More often than not, Krista would recall points from the brainstorming session that I would forget. She would meticulously work with me to craft the essay to marry my life experiences with the points I wanted to portray.

The conversation would go:
Me: I need to tell the AdCom that I have xxx. I’m thinking of using this story, what do you think
Krista:  That is a good story to tell but how about you give them this story instead. You could also angle it this way to solidify your claim.
Me: I see what you did there. Brilliant!

Krista completed her MBA at Booth. She also worked in the admissions office, so she knows exactly what the AdCom wants to hear. She also has a great skill at story telling at a professional level, which I believe helped tremendously.

The fact that Krista lived in the UK at the time I was applying, did not bother the process at all. She was very responsive to my questions, and she was very flexible with her time. We were always able to schedule appointments when I needed to talk to her, sometimes we would even schedule appointments the next day! Krista made the whole process as easy as it could be. She has lived and worked all around the world and is a very international personal, which I think helps international candidates.

I hired her for 3 schools. The first I got dinged to, it was a long shot. The second I got in to with a good scholarship, that Krista helped me make a case for and write about. The third school – my dream school -- I am happy to report I’ll be attending come August.

I have no hesitation in recommending Krista as an MBA admissions consultant. I truly believe she was my secret weapon to being accepted into the school of my choice!

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I worked with Krista throughout the application process. I applied to five schools round 1. It was great getting guidance throughout the process and it was stressful, but she responded in a timely fashion with great suggestions on how to help craft my story and what schools wanted to see.

I would recommend MBA mission and Krista going forward. She was quick to respond and very helpful in identifying gaps in my application. She helped me figure out how to talk about some of the unclear things in my application and the right way to go about introducing them into the essays.

It felt like more of a relationship than me paying her. She followed up asking questions and wanting updates in the process.

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Getting into my top-choice program was like a dream come true for me, and I know that I wouldn’t have achieved it without Krista’s help and guidance. I worked with Krista on a two-school start-to-finish package.
She is an absolutely incredible consultant who helped me create my MBA applications in a relatively short time and get accepted at a top business school. Taking into account my non-traditional background and work experience, and despite my solid test scores and academic profile, I didn’t consider my chances high in the very competitive pool of applicants. I became much more confident after my first conversation with Krista. During the brainstorming sessions, she highlighted the aspects of my candidacy that helped my story stand out. Interestingly, one of my hobbies, which I hadn’t considered to include in my application, formed the basis of my optional essay. Throughout the whole admission process (brainstorming, essays, interview prep, etc) I received invaluable help from Krista. I always relied on her honest feedback and recommendations. Krista has all the qualities I was looking for in a consultant. She is very professional, punctual, helpful, creative, encouraging, and the list goes on… In addition to her high professionalism and competence, she has an amazing personality, and it was a pleasure to work with her.
If I had to go through the admissions process again, I would definitely do it with Krista. A thousand words can’t explain how grateful I am to Krista, and I would recommend her to anyone.
Thank you for playing a vital role in making my biggest dream come true.

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I worked with Kate Richardson on an hourly consulting basis for my business school applications. I was initially apprehensive about utilizing an admissions consultant because I thought I knew the story I wanted to tell and had many friends who recently applied to top schools. That said, I am extremely glad that I decided to work with Kate and am sure that my application process was smoother and more successful with her help. The expertise, guidance and support she provided were invaluable throughout my application process; I now have Kate to thank for being accepted at Wharton and HBS!

I chose the hourly service because I had a good idea of where I wanted to go with my applications but I wanted someone to review my essays. I would send Kate initial drafts of my essays and she would respond with comments/questions and often we would get on the phone for an hour or so to discuss my thoughts and progress. The hourly service was perfect for this approach and even though there was very little hand-holding, I got exactly what I wanted out of it.

I am confident that my essays were greatly improved after each discussion with Kate. I would often come to her with loose ideas and she would help me explore and tease out those ideas until we found exactly how they could fit into my essay. I must say that she listened to a lot of my rambling thoughts and somehow managed to identify the best parts that could fit into essays! In addition, there were often times when I would accidently mention red flags or problem words to my schools. Kate had incredible knowledge of what each of my schools were (or were not) looking for and was able to flag these items to be edited.

I should also note that Kate was a very helpful outlet to vent my anxieties to and confirm that I was on the right path. I would often look for a knowledgeable response on questions such as….am I way behind on this essay? How many drafts should I have done by now? Is everyone else doing this differently than I am? Having someone with the knowledge and background like Kate can put your mind at ease during this stressful process.

I was ultimately asked to interview at each school I applied to and accepted at two of the three schools. I had a great experience working with Kate and would highly recommend her!

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I’m convinced that I wouldn’t be matriculating at my dream M7 school this year without Angela’s support. I was on the fence about hiring a consultant, but after reading what so many happy people had to say, I really wanted to work with her. I’m part of very large and highly competitive demographic of applicants, and have an average GMAT score and weak GPA from a less known university. Although I’ve performed well in my professional life, due to some personal challenges I had a weak foundation and didn’t start achieving stronger results until my senior year in college. Angela was instrumental in helping me tell my story in a cohesive, compelling and impactful way. Some highlights are that she:

- Gives truly tailored advice: Angela helped me identify unique aspects about my profile and use them to effectively differentiate myself, considering my demographic, professional, and academic backgrounds to ensure that I had the best chance of standing out. I was blown away by her ability to digest information. I bombarded her with a MASSIVE brain dump in our brainstorming document, and she swiftly cut through and captured the essence of my story. Her evaluation and suggestions were spot on with the themes I wanted to emphasize to the adcom.

- Inspires you to aspire: When I started the application process, I wasn’t sure how my profile stacked up so I was aiming for schools in the top 20-30. Angela encouraged me to aim higher and gave me the confidence to apply for top 10 schools, and I got accepted to two (one from the M7)! This is the single most valuable thing she did for me, since I might not have applied to these schools otherwise. For applicants suffering from “imposter syndrome” or a lack of confidence, Angela can change your trajectory. I felt like she took it as a personal challenge to shoot for “stretch” schools, rather than convincing me to apply to a bunch of safety schools to pad her stats. Having said that, she was also very realistic about my chances, which leads me to my next point.

- Keeps it real: I really valued Angela’s brutal honestly and bluntness. She doesn’t beat around the bush and when time is of the essence, this is really crucial. I valued how open she was about the strengths and weaknesses in my profile, because it kept me focused. Make no mistake, she will help brainstorm ways to mitigate weaknesses in your application, but places much more emphasis on telling your story and highlighting strengths.

- Educates and develops: Angela will let you struggle to find your own “voice” to ensure that your personality comes through – she isn’t afraid to subject you to short-term pain for long-term gain. Instead of just telling me what to write, she would share her knowledge and experience with me so that I could become a more effective and informed writer myself. As a result, each application I worked on became easier with fewer revisions and edits.

- Maximizes efficiency: She helped brainstorm different ways to express key points to make the most of the word limits, while making sure I provided a balanced representation of myself. It’s easy to get tunnel vision while writing essays, and Angela saved me precious time and energy by providing feedback on what NOT to write about and what to cut in order to save space. She helps make every word count.

- Sticks with you: In addition to providing stellar feedback on all aspects of my application, Angela provided a level of emotional and moral support that got me through the toughest parts of the application process (i.e. waiting for interview invitations and decisions). Things came down to the wire for me. I was admitted by two schools with late R1 decision deadlines. When I hadn’t heard anything but bad news from other schools in the preceding weeks, I felt doomed. Angela kept the faith and cheered me on, sharing in the bad times. I never got the sense that she was ignoring me to devote more time to other clients with more promising outlooks. In the end the wait paid off.

Overall, I couldn’t be more thrilled. Angela went beyond what I expected from a consultant and helped me realize a dream that I once thought was impossible to achieve. Thank you so much, Angela. You’re amazing!

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