Hourly Services Reviews

Jessica had rave reviews from my former manager (“simply the best”), and I used her for Round 1 of the 2016-2017 cycle with 2/2 admissions at HBS and Wharton.

Both a business executive and perceptive storyteller, Jessica is unique. She outperformed at every step, packing our time with prompt, actionable feedback delivered with off-the-charts energy and humor.

In our first conversation, she quickly synthesized my profile (strengths and specifics to improve – e.g. trying the GRE) and cited information on schools I hadn’t unearthed in hours of research and calls. During our sessions, Jessica took time to understand the influences that have shaped me, and my future goals. She then drew out my most compelling accomplishments and experiences, weaving them into a memorable yet strategic narrative that stood out to my target schools.

In particular, she is an exceptional writer. She is skilled at understanding the point you are trying to communicate and crafting a succinct, accessible way to get it across. She helped me tell a very context-specific story in a way that was clear and persuasive to any reader, which I believe got me into my top school.

I worked with Jessica on my brainstorming, essay (editing again and again until every word had weight), and career goals. She also demystified the process by providing honest answers on what schools expected and how I matched up (How to use the short answers, or present a low GPA?).

My engagement with Jessica gave me the edge I needed to get into my dream school, and clarity and focus going forward. Work with Jessica – you will not regret it!!

Read More

I would highly recommend working with John Sisk from mbaMission. His experience in journalism and his degree from a top business school give him a unique perspective as an admissions consultant. Entering the admissions process, I had a strong GMAT score and strong enough GPA to get into a top school, but I needed help rounding out my story. That is where Johnny was so helpful. After our free 30-minute consultation, I already had a great idea of how I wanted to put my story together, and over many iterations that story came to life with John’s help.

I hesitated in spending the money to hire a consultant, but I found that I got great value from John using the hour-by-hour option. Having been accepted into the top school, I can say that I would not have done a single thing differently. John was instrumental in strengthening my voice and I cannot thank him enough.

John continually offered strong advice and was very patient as we worked through my drafts, which made him very easy to work with. He was always completely honest, telling me what worked and what didn’t, but at the same time he was very optimistic and would ensure that the process never got me down. He was also timely in getting his responses back to me within the 2-day turnaround window, which was critical in feeling confident that my drafts were in the best shape possible before deadlines.

Thanks John!

Read More

When I set out to write my applications, my mind was a giant cloud. I had lots of ideas about why I wanted to pursue an MBA, but, as a career switcher, I didn't know much about the ins and outs of business school admissions process and what adcoms looked for. I wanted to be authentic but whenever I sat down to write, my ideas were all mixed together in a giant spaghetti ball of thought.

Jessica has a deep understanding of the application process and helped me to organize my ideas. With her direction, I was even able to understand more about myself and why I desired an MBA on the route to what I desire to accomplish. Not only was she extremely knowledgeable and affable, I felt that she genuinely appreciated my story and cared about my progress. Throughout her webinar and even the free consultation, I never felt I was being sold and received great insight from those offerings alone. That said, purchasing a couple hours to talk through my application was one of the best investments I made. Hands down, you need someone with experience with the application process and admissions to proof your entire app; I didn't know any such person, so Jessica's very professional assistance was invaluable.

Read More

I wanted to take the opportunity to discuss my experience with Krista Nannery as I navigated the MBA admissions process. Obtaining an MBA had always been a personal goal of mine but as an applicant with almost 15 years of substantial work experience across multiple products within my field, attending a top 10 business school would be the only way that I would receive a long term benefit of investing my time and money. I knew that I would have some challenges that I needed to address through the application process, and this is where I sought the help of mbaMission.
Initially I was skeptical whether the payoff of working with a consultant would be worthwhile but I can honestly attest that collaborating with Krista Nannery was well worth the investment.
Krista was instrumental in helping me strengthen my applications for the three schools I had initially targeted. I say initially because as I finished up my second application, Krista was able to leverage her previous experience as an admissions director at a top school to recommend a program at a fourth school to research. Given my work experience and ultimate career goals, this fourth school is where I will be matriculating in the next few months. I can not thank Krista enough for suggesting this program.
As an hourly client, the majority of my time with Krista was focused on essay and resume editing. In that arena, one of Krista’s key strengths is that she is able to get to the heart of the story you are trying to tell in a succinct manner that really impacts the reader, even if that person is unfamiliar with the industry or experience that you are discussing. In one instance where I chose to write about a workplace leadership experience that had happened quite some time ago in my career, Krista suggested to choose a more recent story. Due to that feedback the resulting essay was significantly stronger and more relevant to the admissions committee. Because of her prompt turnaround time I was able to finish the bulk of my essays for three schools in about two weeks, which is no small feat when each application has between 2-3 essays. For one program in particular, there was a video essay component which I had filmed and sent to Krista while she was on vacation. Even half way across the world, she provided great comments that enabled me to reshoot the video to allow the viewer to learn more about me on a personal level. Also, as a more untraditional applicant, Krista really helped me leverage all components of the application to ensure the admissions committees of each school obtained a holistic view of my work experience, impact I have made in the workplace and community, what I was seeking to obtain through a MBA program, and most importantly what I would contribute to my peer set if admitted. With a lengthy two page resume filled with professional accomplishments and community and workplace involvement outside of my day to day role, a resume review one was of the most challenging aspects of the application process for me. Krista was up for the challenge – she was able to leverage her resources and really help me consolidate my best and most pertinent highlights on to a one page resume document, which is an amazing accomplishment.
Upon entering the interview phase of the application process, Krista was a great resource during our mock interview phone call. Prior to that call, Krista and I had only communicated via email which was no issue given her extremely clear notes and great communication skills. I had not had a formal interview in quite some time so the mock interview call was invaluable preparation because it really helped me refine and better articulate my message.
On a personal level, Krista is a real pleasure to work with. She always exhibits a positive attitude but is also someone who will provide real feedback that ultimately strengthens an applicant’s admissions package. I really felt she had a vested interest in my success, and because of the time and effort she put into working with me, I can confidently say she was a key factor in my success.

Read More

After a free 30 min consulting, I was referred to consultant, Jen Kedrowski, who was recommended after the initial point of contact decided that my style, story, and direction would be best matched with Jen. I purchased 3 hours, which I thought to be quite pricey for the amount of time, but I was willing to pay that price because I was in a place where I just needed someone I could trust to verify that my thoughts and ideas made cohesive sense. There's only so much that your friends can do, and they can only be so invested in YOUR future. So I sought a consultant because it's their fulltime job to be invested in you. So what I was actually paying for was peace of mind and another set of eyes that would help me formulate a plan for each school that I was applying to. Upon introducing my story to Jen, she listened, and gave very helpful feed back in terms of what ideas were good and what ideas weren't so great. I told her in the beginning that I want feedback to be straight up, and to not worry about hurting my feelings, because what I want from all this is the best possible application and essays I can make, and that is exactly what she delivered. I had applied to McCombs (WL), Foster (Admitted with scholarship), and Wisconsin (admitted with scholarship) with a GMAT score of 680 and a GPA of 3.1. As you can see, my scores aren't particularly exceptional, and what I believe gave my applications the edge were my essays that Jen helped me formulate. She doesn't play any gimmicks with making things up with what you should say. What she does is gather all your information, tell you what about your past stands out the most, and help you tie those important pieces together in a way that you are able to articulate your strengths while making cohesive sense to your overall past, present, and future. Even though I had gone over my time limit that I purchased, she always responded with answers to any questions I had beyond what she was paid to do, and even helped me decide which school I should attend. Long story short, she's genuine, smart as hell, and trustworthy. I would highly recommend her to anyone seeking help on essays and which schools would best suit your needs.

Read More

Heidi provided an excellent service on my essay ideas and editing. She helped me generate my most convincing strength on my essay, which made me successful in my application. Heidi always turned her editing back to me in a timely manner, never later than her promise date. I signed up total 3 hours of her time in my essay edition and I think they were more valuable than my investment. I highly recommend Heidi to everyone who wants to apply for top MBA programs. Without her help, I don't think my application process will be such smooth and efficient (I did not waste one minute in my essay).

Read More

I was connected to Harshad by Angela Guido, another mbaMission consultant and generally amazing human being whom I'd met through the Forté Foundation MBALaunch program. I'd had my sights set on attending Chicago Booth from the time I opened my first Manhattan prep book, and I knew it would be a challenging process. I come from a social impact background, and I knew I could really only afford a couple of hours of admissions support. Although I was applying to a number of schools, I decided to devote my time with Harshad to structuring and editing my Booth essay. A Booth alum himself, Harshad was incredibly thoughtful and easy to talk to, and before I knew it I was sharing my life story with him. He helped me to choose an essay topic that felt authentic and meaningful. Notably, Harshad has a depth of expertise about the school and its philosophy, and he helped me to connect the dots between my own values and those of UofC's "Chicago Approach." Harshad is an expert storyteller and with his guidance I was able to shape my thoughts into a cohesive and compelling piece of writing. He is strategic and logical, and asks thought-provoking questions. Working with Harshad felt like participating in a writing workshop, and at the end of the process I was proud to submit my application.

After I was accepted to Booth in Round 2(!) with some scholarship funding, Harshad helped me to draft a respectful inquiry about possible additional funding, and the school was able to increase my scholarship package. This fall, I'll be attending Chicago Booth with a very generous scholarship award, and I owe a great debt of gratitude to Harshad for this outcome. I would absolutely recommend working with Harshad for your MBA admissions process.

Read More

If an MBA is a personal discovery journey, working with Monica is the perfect way to prepare :)

I got to know Monica through a friend, currently HBS student.
When I had my 30-min call with Monica, I already knew what my biggest struggle would be - essay writing. I was under some time pressure, didn't have much experience in essay writing and had an unconventional career path I was struggling to take advantage of.

After our initial call, I knew I had found the right person to help me. Through her targeted questions and comments, I knew Monica would push me stay true to myself and would help me bring the best (and even leverage the worst) of my personal and professional paths.

On essay writing, Monica was a life-saver.

She helped me brainstorm the structure of my essay, what my stories and decisions meant to me, and which anecdotes would best convene my personality and would be more authentic. She would criticize, praise, help me think through my experiences and have a magical way to helping me communicate what I was really trying to say, even if I didn't know it at first (it's borderline scary sometimes). Plus, as a non-native speaker having Monica helping me was essential - she would turn convoluted sentences into incredibly powerful messages.

Monica also helped me prepare for my interview - and here again she was an amazing help.

Monica helped me understand the mindset of the interviewers, the best pace, depth, breath, and also what were the must-have questions/answers that I would need to prepare to. Thanks to Monica I was able to feel confident and relaxed, and follow her advice of being as genuine and authentic as possible during the interview :)

In the end I got an admitted to my target school - HBS - and I could not be more happy I got to work with Monica on this journey!!

Thank you Monica!! :)

Read More

Working with Jeremy Shinewald from mbaMission was a gift and a pleasure. I signed up with him a mere 3 weeks before my Round 2 deadlines. I figured “the leverage” of using a somewhat pricey consultant made sense for a couple reasons – (1) If I get into my dream school, it leads to huge dividends for my future and (2) If I get awarded financial scholarships, on an immediate monetary level, the consulting services pay for themselves…I am fortunate to say that both outcomes happened to me. I got into my dream school and with a $25k+ scholarship.

I chose mbaMission because they were referred to me by ManhattanGMAT which I had an amazing experience with. I chose Jeremy because he is the founder of mbaMission and happened to be the only consultant available for my very short 3-week timeline.

Jeremy in particular, added a phenomenal amount of value to me personally and my applications. On a personal level, he helped me do some soul-searching and gain clarity on what I wanted, my past experiences and my strengths. As a “Type A” type of person, I can often be hard on myself and Jeremy helped me see a bigger and wider picture. On application materials, Jeremy truly went above and beyond, turning around tons of work back to me on tight deadlines (i.e., hours) without charging me an extra penny and despite the “two-business-day response” in our contract. The quality of Jeremy’s writing skills are tremendous and he understood the schools I was applying to on a much better level than I could from my own research.

In short, I highly recommend mbaMission and Jeremy. Whether you choose to go with them, I highly suggest taking advantage of the free 30-minute session as that short call on its own added a lot of value to me plus gave me a feel of their services without having to pay anything.

Read More

My stats: 740 GMAT/3.3 GPA/5 years WE in tech. I applied late in the game (took the GMAT end of Otc, applied for Round 2 to 5 schools starting in late Nov).

I took the Manhattan Prep course and they recommend mbaMission so I signed up for the 30 minute free consultation with Monica. She was absolutely on-point, pointing out weakness in my EC and providing feedback on my target schools. It was such a productive session I signed up for a package deal for hourly consulting. Given the price of business school, the price of consulting seems absolutely worth it, especially given the potential pain and price of having to apply again if you don't get in to a target school.

I worked with Brian Eng, who was really helpful in a number of key ways:

1. He listened to my story, helped me understand and reflect on what exactly I wanted, and how I could fine-tune my goals and express continuity from where I was to where I wanted to go. He didn't re-write my story or push me to change anything so much as say something to the effect of "it sounds like you want to be involved in X in the long term, why not spell that out as your long term goal?"

2. He provided very pointed feedback about line items in my essays as well as general thoughts on gaps I needed to fill or directional issues in my essays. This was always according to my asks however. I would generally request either high level review to start with, and then ask for more line item reviews when I got to a later draft.

3. He would match my quick pace during phone calls so we could get the most out of our time. I really appreciate that because there were some essays I would have a lot of questions about and others I would have just a few pointed questions about. Some of my questions were really broad e.g. of these 5 ideas, which one do you think best addresses this prompt and shows a new side of me? He was great at getting to the point and moving quickly from topic to topic as per my request.

4. He helped me figure out what each essay questions was really trying to "get at" in terms of what schools wanted to find out about me. Rather than telling me what kind of stories to use, he would point out that certain essays were better answered with personal rather than professional anecdotes, or constantly explain how much more school-sspecific and tailored I would need to make my essays. Ultimately the big questions are why b school, why now, why this one, short term goal, long term goal. And Brian helped me determine which essay or place in the application I would be best served putting each answer since it's not always possible or advisable to answer all those items in one prompt.

If I had any constructive feedback, it would be that I was expecting a touch more hands-on help in terms of help brainstorming essay ideas and responsiveness, but those were both mostly driven by the fact that I was in a time crunch and very stressed. That said, it was fairly minor and I appreciated that he encouraged me at every turn and mentioned he had been in a similar situation when he applied for schools. Ultimately, he helped me get accepted to 2 top 10 schools, both my top choices.

In terms of how "worth it" the service is, I definitely think from a price perspective it is worth it given how much you're already paying for business school and applications. The best way to optimize the service's worth is to brainstorm questions and ideas before calls/emails and hit all your concerns at once. From an application management perspective, it's absolutely worth it if you don't have a lot of people who have previously applied to help you out. I also really appreciated all the free school guides the website provides!

Read More