Hourly Services Reviews

Working with Heidi was a great experience all around. I knew my statistics were strong enough to get me into at least one of my target schools, but the final piece I needed was to strongly tell my story via essays, online applications, and short answer questions. Story telling is definitely not one of my strengths, but through phone conversations and feedback on the different drafts of my essays, Heidi got to know me very well and very effectively helped me strengthen the written portions of my applications.

Heidi was extremely prompt in responding to my emails with quick questions, as well as returning the multiple drafts of my essays.

I can happily say that I will be attending one of my target programs, and much of the credit belongs to Heidi’s assistance.

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I am happy to write this review about Nisha Trivedi. I used MBA Mission's alacarte hourly services, and used Nisha's gudidance to review and fine tune my resume, and to brainstorm and proof read essays.

Nisha was great, and provided accurate, and honest feedback. When I spoke to her for during our first 30 minute free consultation, I felt that she really made an effort to get to know me, my preferences, and needs.

She answered emails, and returned edited essays promptly. I also found the mock interviews I did with her to be immensely helpful in preparing for the real interview.

I am happy to share that with Nisha's assistance, I got accepted at all 4 of the top 25 universities I applied to. (Booth, Ross, Tepper, Kelley).

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I worked with Nisha Trivedi through my entire application process. I can honestly say I would not have been admitted to these schools without her help. She does a great job at helping you combine elements into a cohesive story that anyone can understand. She also takes the time to explain her thought process and provide options when selecting statements/stories. I would recommend Nisha to anyone in the process - she can pick up at any point, work with any personality (she's also worked with two of my friends), and help you deliver the best version for each school!

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Helen Summers was heaven-sent and instrumental in polishing my essays for Rd 1 applications. Her feedback was timely (<24 hr response) and critical when required, allowing me to refine final drafts. Her experience in the industry is clearly evident as her approach/feedback for each school was tailored accordingly. With 2 hrs of time, we were able to work on essay entries for 3 schools and complete a resume review. Helen surpassed all of my expectations. She was approachable and professional in all my interactions [called me on my BS at times too, which I needed :) ]. I highly, highly recommend working with Helen and mbaMission!

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I never planned to pay for an admissions consultant - I just wanted to use the free calls to perfect my resume.

But after many calls Harshad stood out to me. He didn't hit me with a sales pitch, he quickly responded to an email with follow-up questions, and most importantly he demonstrated an interest in and understanding of my profile that the other consultants didn't.

A couple weeks before the R1 deadline I realized I needed help telling my story. I reached out to Harshad and, despite being fully booked, he agreed to take me on as a client. Working with him was as advertised: his emails were always on time (usually early) and the one time we ran into technical difficulties he responded to a 10 PM text message.

The two most valuable things he did for me were 1) teach me how to tell a story and 2) give me directional edits. I kept an open mind and found his feedback to be invaluable. By working hard and doing the leg work I felt that we were able to maximize the time I paid for.

With his help, I submitted all my applications in time for R1. Although my H/S lottery ticket wasn't drawn, I was admitted to Wharton and 100% of the M7 and T15 schools I applied to, including some significant scholarships! He even helped me draft a professional scholarship negotiation letter.

I do recommend Harshad if you're willing to put in the leg work. My advice is to be very clear on what you want from him.

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I used the hourly package with Dan to apply to 6 schools (2 top-15 and 4 top-10) in less than 2 months. I have a solid GMAT and GPA so I was originally hesitant to make a big investment in application prep, but Dan's help was invaluable - I wound up getting into 4 schools, with full scholarships to 2 of them!!! I really don't think I could've done it without him.

My timeline was super rushed and he was so helpful with planning, keeping me on track, and providing timely feedback. His notes were incredibly thoughtful and he's a great wordsmith. It's clear he knows what the schools are looking for.

I also really appreciated that he was thoughtful of not wasting our time together. He was very to the point on our calls and kept me in the loop on how long edits were taking him. If I sent him a draft that he thought needed significant work, he would email me to check if I wanted him to spend time on a line by line edit or if I just wanted overall feedback to try again. I had previously worked with a consultant who seemed to just run up the clock, so this really meant a lot to me and saved me a lot of money.

Compared to what I've experienced with other consultants and heard from my friends, I don't think you'll find a more professional, organized, and talented consultant than Dan. I can't recommend him enough!

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I first learned of mbaMission from a close friend, who referred me to Krista Nannery. Since she was unable to take on Hourly candidates, she referred me to Harshad for a 30 minute chat. During that 30 minute consultation itself, he immediately made a positive impact on me and introduced new snippets of information even a well-informed candidate would not have access to.

I worked with Harshad mostly on essays for about 10 hours on an Hourly basis. I did not need in-depth help on other parts of the application such as interviewing, school selection or application strategy. Harshad is very honest with applicants, and I needed a lot of assistance both on content and style. I can't imagine going through this process without his constant feedback and candor. People often shy away from giving intellectually honest feedback to people asking for it, but he was always constructive and fair. Harshad deserves extra points for getting back to me in a timely fashion even when I would often send him materials minutes before the deadline.

I have secured interviews to the two M7 schools I applied to and gained admission to one. I am in perhaps the most competitive profile by any metric (nonminority, engineering, finance, male), and this speaks to his ability to help me differentiate myself with my essays.

I wish Harshad every success, and recommend him without reservation to any applicant seeking admission to a top program.

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Harshad was wonderful to work with. He was prompt, direct and helpful. While I only purchased a few hours of his time, he spent time getting to know me and my strengths. I had a terrible first draft of one essay. Harshad was direct with his feedback and have extremely useful comments about how to improve and where I should focus my efforts. We had 4 rounds of comments, and each time, I feel that my essay significantly improved. He really encouraged me to dig deep into why I was applying to school, and polity told me which paragraphs were not value adds and recommended their removal.

He was very quick at replying to my emails.

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After working with Debbie on my applications, I was admitted to a top 10 MBA program! Debbie helped me with applying to 10 schools in only 1.5 months! I realized late in the game that I wanted to apply in Round 1, and I approached mbaMission to be paired with a consultant who could help me with my applications. I was very fortunate to have been paired with Debbie!

For my first school, I had already prepared drafts by myself. I gave these to Debbie for review and confidently told her that these drafts were “near final” and only needed a quick read before submission. To my surprise, Debbie told me that my drafts needed a complete rewrite. I was shocked but appreciated her candidness and honesty.

In the next week, I heavily relied on Debbie to provide feedback on my drafts. What I like about Debbie's style is that she didn’t sugarcoat anything, always pushed me to reflect deeper on my experiences, and provided good advice to help me be more succinct in my writing. In my essays, I sometimes found myself getting lost in the details that the writing lacked the "so what?" factor. Debbie would redirect my attention to focus on the big picture and tell me to cut content if necessary. Further, her flexibility and positive attitude helped calm me down in times of stress and focus on the execution of the applications.

After finishing my first application with Debbie, we had developed a great working relationship, and the rest of my 10 applications went rather smoothly. As a demanding client, I sent her at least 3 essays to review every day (Each school had 2-3 essays, so in total it was about 30 essays that I had sent her way). She always provided prompt, detailed and high-quality feedback. I even wondered how she was able to do all of this in so little time!

Debbie is great at all aspects of the application, from helping me brainstorm ideas to outlining the actual essay and providing feedback. She was available through phone, skype, and email. I even did a mock interview with her over Skype two days before my actual interview and it made a tremendous difference. Before the interview, I was stuttering on the basic questions such as "Walk me through your resume". But she gave me helpful feedback that allowed me to structure my answers and practice effectively, which made me feel confident going into my interview.

In conclusion, Debbie is a stellar, seasoned, and top-notch consultant. Completing applications for 10 schools in 1.5 months was a daunting task, but Debbie maximized the limited time we had to help me craft stellar essays. If you work with Debbie, she will make sure that you are always submitting your best work! There were times when I submitted drafts that were weak, and Debbie held me accountable by asking me to rewrite the entire essay or think of new experiences to write about. I greatly enjoyed working with Debbie and definitely recommend with flying colors!

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At first, I chose to utilize the 30-minute free consultation with mbamission to get some pointers on application prep, and I quickly found their feedback to be incredibly helpful in the short amount of time that we had. mbamission wasn’t pushy like some of the other groups I had spoken to. Though the woman I spoke to was booked for consulting services, she strongly recommended Dan Richards (based on our backgrounds, my school choice, etc.) and I am SO happy that she did. I used hourly consulting services with Dan to receive guidance and feedback on my essays and resume for my top choice school in Round 1. I had about 2 months to improve my test score and write compelling essays. Dan exceeded my expectations. His feedback was always honest, direct and quick (usually within 1 day). If you decide to work with a consultant, I highly recommend that you first spend 20-30 minutes with Dan brainstorming your essay themes before diving into the writing- his feedback on my outline was valuable as it helped me to develop a structured set of essays. He worked with me to pull out important themes in my essays and helped me to tell a story about my short and long term goals. With Dan’s help, I was accepted to the one business school I applied to (top 10)! I couldn’t have done it without his guidance and support. I strongly recommend Dan’s services- he is a trusted professional with years of experience helping candidates get into their dream schools. It was 100% worth the investment- I strongly recommend him!

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