All Reviews > mbaMission Reviews |
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by score report [?]
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Harold Simansky
I am so grateful that Harold was part of my MBA application journey - from school selection to applications, interviews, and even negotiating scholarship offers. I first met Harold through a “ding review” promotion with MBA Mission. He reviewed my previous application and clearly outlined areas for improvement – specifically, my low GMAT score and the need to better clarify my practical post-MBA career goals.
Honestly, Harold’s encouragement, insights, and steady support were pivotal in helping me commit to the reapplication process. I truly do not think I would have gone through it again without his affirmation of my candidacy (I came from a nontraditional background, which many successful candidates do! I had been working in research as a chemist).
I was accepted to 5 out of 7 schools I applied to – Duke Fuqua, Cornell Johnson, Michigan Ross, Rice Jones, and Minnesota Carlson – with significant scholarship offers! I was waitlisted at Yale SOM and only rejected from Northwestern Kellogg. Beyond the results, I came out of the experience with a much clearer sense of purpose and confidence.
Some of the most helpful suggestions Harold offered along the way included:
1. Recommending that I switch from the GMAT to the GRE, which ended up being a better fit and allowed me to improve my score.
2. Emphasizing that every MBA application must clearly answer: Why an MBA? Why now? Why this school?
3. Teaching me how to dig into alumni career paths across programs so I could define achievable, authentic, and compelling post-MBA goals.
Thank you, Harold! You truly made a difference in this process, and I am confident you will continue to do the same for many more applicants in the future.
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Gavriella Semaya
Early on, she suggested I look into a top business school I hadn’t even considered. At first, I didn’t think it was the right fit for me, but she encouraged me to do some research and keep an open mind. A few months later, I ended up applying, and after visiting all my options, that’s the school I chose! It turned out to be the perfect match.
I had a pretty unique background, and my GMAT wasn’t super high, but Gavriella helped me turn those things into strengths. She really took the time to get to know me and made sure my applications told my story in the best way possible. Thanks to her, I got into 4 out of 6 schools, with scholarships up to 35%. I always felt supported and encouraged, and I couldn’t have done this without her.
Trust her process and advice—her experience truly makes all the difference.
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Harshad Mali
Strengths:
Comprehensive Support across every facet of the application process.
Would make the product better:
No Notes
I truly cannot speak highly enough of Harshad. His work ethic, his insightfulness, his demeanor, and the results he had a massive part in helping me attain. I have worked with other consultants for other program applications, and Harshad is the best across every metric I can conceive of by a long shot.
I am/was an applicant with an atypical background relative to other MBA applicants. I began this process unsure of what I was capable of and what I would be able to achieve. Harshad was patient, highly professional, and methodical in helping me align on how to tell my story and convey my value to schools comprehensively and efficiently. Through providing resources for GMAT prep, helping guide the selection of schools to apply to, Harshad was always direct, honest, yet kind in his coaching and when providing guidance.
His assistance in crafting applications for schools and preparing for interviews was comprehensive and incredibly valuable; however, what truly impressed me was his efforts and assistance in every other aspect of the process. He was able and willing to give advice and instruction on the best way to reach out and leverage my connections at various schools, how to ask and guide my supervisors on writing the most effective recommendations possible, and even provide templates and support after I had received acceptances on the best way to negotiate better fellowship allocations from these programs.
Beyond that, Harshad took the time to get to know me and understand my strengths, weaknesses, goals, and aspirations. He guided me through this notoriously difficult process with kindness and patience. He helped me reach a place where I felt pride in myself and my accomplishments, even before getting acceptances.
He tends to be direct in his communications, which is something I valued, but after taking the time to get to know him as well, I can say he is truly incredible at his job, and a wonderful person, and I look forward to staying in touch with him in the future.
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Gavriella Semaya
Gavriella was recommended to me by a friend from undergrad, and I’m so glad I reached out. I chose to work with her on an hourly consultation basis, and it ended up being exactly what I needed. Despite not being on a full package, Gavriella gave my applications the same level of attention and dedication. She was instrumental in helping me ideate strong essay topics, structure my application, and navigate the overall process with confidence. Her expertise, transparency, and brutally honest feedback were incredibly valuable—and exactly what I needed to elevate my materials. She was always timely with her responses and reviews, which made working with her smooth and efficient. I’d highly recommend her—10 out of 10.
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Jen Kedrowski
Strengths:
This package offering is extremely thorough. Jen worked with me on one school and is extremely detail oriented, organized, and extremely intelligent.
Would make the product better:
No recommendations for improvement, keep being great.
I decided to pursue my MBA this year after realizing it was undeniably necessary in order for me to achieve my career goals that began to feel further and further out of reach. I was still in my program exploration phase when I met Jen and new to the process, I was grateful to have met Jen via mbaMission when I did. As a woman of color, it was important to me to find a coach I believed I could connect with. A coach that didn’t make me feel like a burden or just another number and who took the time to see and understand me as an individual. From our first conversation it was undeniable that Jen was the absolute best fit for me. I am naturally an excited and driven person, imagine the joy I felt when my excitement and enthusiasm was met by Jen’s?! She is a phenomenal coach with a wealth of knowledge concerning the MBA process and programs. She is extremely skilled and helped me lock in on my story, painting a picture of who I am on paper for the reader. With her expertise coaching, I applied to my dream program with confidence and was extremely grateful to have been admitted to UVA Darden, starting August 2025.
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Kate Richardson
As an applicant with over 10 years of experience, I was not a typical candidate for a full time MBA. However, I wanted to pivot into a consulting career path, and I was excited to pursue full time programs which have structured recruiting for consulting firms. With Kate's exceptional support and strategic guidance, I applied to five Top 15 Programs, and I was admitted with Consortium and Forte Fellowship and a 50% scholarship to one of my top choices.
Kate is a superb MBA admissions consultant who met me where I was! She listened attentively, provided thoughtful feedback, and guided me through the demanding MBA application process. She helped me refine my essays so they highlighted my experiences and career goals in a way that resonated with admissions committees. Beyond the applications, she went above and beyond by proactively sending me additional information when I started interviewing for schools. Further, she gave invaluable advice on ultimately selecting a school and launching into my MBA. I'm so grateful to have worked with Kate - her expertise, encouragement, and commitment made a tremendous difference in my MBA journey!
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Harold Simansky
Strengths:
Top advice and service
Access to onTrack
Harold is a very knowledgeable, responsible and proactive consultant – I would absolutely recommend him for anyone who is looking for the best outcome.
Harold was truly invested in my applications. During the brainstorming stage, he pushed me really hard to flesh out an authentic story, which was fundamental to the MBA application. Since I had very specific post-MBA goals, he provided tailored advice on my school selection strategy and shared many insights into schools that I had very limited knowledge of. That well-crafted strategy was proven a huge success, as I was able to leverage a scholarship offer from a lower-tier school (which I hadn’t even been considering initially) to secure a meaningful scholarship from my top-choice school.
Harold was also super supportive throughout the process. It was an extremely competitive year for international students even in Round 1, and I felt I could improve the outcome in Round 2. He continued to offer attentive support and share intel that helped strengthen my candidacy, despite the pro-longed process. Eventually I received multiple M7 and T15 offers with scholarships – an outcome I was very happy with.
In addition, although the standard turnaround time is approx. 2 business days, Harold had almost always got back to me within 1. This was especially helpful as I was juggling between a demanding job, GMAT prep, MBA applications and other life commitments.
This was hands down a 5-star experience from start to finish.
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Melissa Blakeslee
Working with Melissa was an enjoyable and extremely productive relationship from day 1. She took a very detailed and hands-on approach to ensure I was set up for success, enabling me to craft the best application possible! While the MBA application process is long and arduous, Melissa alleviated much stress and angst that I otherwise likely would have had. Her responses and communication were very consistent throughout the entirety of the process, allowing me to always have something to work on. Melissa's guidance, knowledge, and expertise of the process was evident from day the beginning and ultimately helped me gain admission into an M7 program. 10/10 recommend!
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Heidi Wiese Granner
Strengths:
Clear, actionable and detailed feedback to help improve my storytelling capabilities and convey my work in the best way
Heidi helped bring such clarity to a complex process. She was kind, responsive, and direct in her feedback - the combination of which was critical to building my confidence during the process and leading to a very successful outcome!
Of note, Heidi did a wonderful job at helping me build my own storytelling capability - explaining the why behind potential suggestions and edits - which was so important in how I conveyed my story to AdComs.
Last but definitely not least - she sincerely cares (and demonstrates it consistently) about her clients. I always knew Heidi was looking out for me and to have that kind of support was invaluable in what can be an overwhelming and stressful process. Thank you, Heidi!
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by school email address [?]
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Harold Simansky
Looking back on my MBA application experience, I can say with total confidence that the best decision I made was choosing Harold as my consultant - I would not have made it into my top-choice program—let alone with scholarships—without his help. He brings a mix of responsiveness, structure, and strategic insight that made the whole experience manageable and perfectly tailored to my strengths.
First off, Harold is incredibly responsive. Whether I had a quick question or needed feedback on an essay draft, he was always just a text or email away—usually replying within minutes. That kind of fast back-and-forth made it easy to keep momentum during some of the most intense stretches of the process.
On top of that, he excels at bringing structure to what can otherwise feel like a chaotic process. I was working full-time during my applications, and the schedule he set up—complete with milestones, check-ins, and realistic deadlines—helped me stay on track without burning out. It never felt rushed, but we were always moving forward.
What really set Harold apart, though, was how strategic he is. He deeply understands what each MBA program is really looking for, and he takes the time to get to know you—your story, your goals, your strengths, even the things you might overlook. There were multiple moments when I thought I was highlighting my best qualities in an essay, only for Harold to help me reframe or redirect toward something more aligned with a particular school. That kind of insight carried over into interviews too—more than once, interviewers actually called out specific points Harold helped me craft.
Through it all, he stayed positive, encouraging, and genuinely invested in my success. The whole experience felt far less overwhelming because of him—and in the end, I got into several top programs with scholarship offers. I couldn’t recommend Harold more highly.