This year was my 2nd go-around attempting to business school, and I found Katy to be instrumental in the process. Being an over-represented candidate (white male, finance), Katy did a great job helping me suss out key differentiating factors and experience I had to offer. More importantly, I honestly think Katy truly just wanted what was best for me, and wasn't pushing an agenda of a specific school or anything of that nature. I was 50/50 whether I wanted to go to school or not and Katy offered up some really good advice around the pros and cons of going to school vs not, and helping me figure out what I want to do next. While I ended up deciding to go to school, when I was leaning towards not, Katy was just as happy that through the experience I had gained a better sense of what I wanted to do with my professional career next

Lastly, I want to stress that I really appreciate how much Katy seemed to be working as hard towards my acceptance goals as I was - she took calls on weekends, over holidays, on short notice, etc - definitely super invested, which was really important to me.

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Katherine Lewis aka Katy, as I call her, is my guru who helped me to re-define my personality through a unique dimension. My relation with Katy dates back to 2012 when I reached out to her to seek b school advice through 30 min free consultation program. Unfortunately, things did not materialize for me but I informed her that I will approach her if I intend to apply in future.

I planned to apply to Haas-EWMBA in 2016. Personally, things were a bit challenging for me as my wife was expecting and I had a lot going on at work front too. However, with strong support of my wife, I decided to apply in 2016 and I contacted Katy in 2015 November. I am a re-applicant to the Haas program as it is the best option for me.

In my first meeting with Katy, I was bombarded with a series of questions that I took my own sweet time to fill out. From then onwards, things got exponentially better and Katy kept surprising me every time. Few things that I loved about her:

Summarizing power: She read through my 14 page bio and gave me an absolutely brilliant summary that boosted my confidence. In fact, looking back at all my activities, the theme of my personality perfectly fits her summary. That was the point when I felt that it was totally worth it.

Extremely responsive: She reviewed all my essays and provided crucial suggestions in a timely fashion. I was sometimes late in giving back my drafts but she was never late. She made me feel comfortable with my way of portraying things and made me better at it.

Stress management: Well, I may be one of the numerous folks saying that it is extremely stressful to apply to b-school but trust me, it definitely is (with my wife expecting anytime soon and me racing against deadlines-gosh!). Katy was always there for me. She was always very supportive and helped me to look beyond the current limitations

Great counselor: Here comes the hard fact but I owe this totally to Katy. I was waitlisted in the first round and my memories from 2015 came crashing onto me. It was like a deja-vu and I was going through the most stressful times of the year. Katy came as a pleasant surprise to me. She kept confidence in me, helped me to push my application further and gave extremely constructive feedback to make my case stronger. (Have you heard of guys who did not make it as they went late to an interview- well I am an exception and I owe this to Katy-she helped me to give my best)

Economical: I was offered a free session (worth $270) once as she had to reschedule. This incidence took me by a pleasant surprise. Moreover, she wanted to see the best in me. Unlike other consultants who may charge you for every small pep-talk she gave full support to me at absolutely no cost when I was waitlisted. I really loved her spirit and enthusiasm.

To summarize, I am extremely elated to let you guys knows that I am admitted to EWMBA-Haas program and all my limitations seemed very trivial with the support of my guru/cheerleader Katy. I would definitely recommend her. Do not miss her if you are serious about getting into one of the best b-schools.

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I found that working with Krista was a very beneficial experience that was well worth the investment. She assisted me in fine tuning, organizing, and getting the most out of my essays. She was also very helpful in preparing for the admissions interviews. I appreciated that she shared her knowledge regarding the admissions process and more importantly how I could get this most out of my application.

The hourly services exceeded my expectations and I would highly recommend working with her. By having a mock interview with her, I was more confident in communicating my story, explaining why I was applying to the specific schools, and where I wanted to eventually take my career. Great experience!

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Through her expert, customized and prompt advice and her warm, welcoming demeanor, Katy Lewis helped me put the finishing touches on my HBS application.

In a short time, Katy developed a deep understanding of my personality and story. She also enhanced my understanding of the cultures of the top MBA programs, which cemented HBS as my top choice (I didn't even apply to GSB). Through our conversations, Katy helped me refine my essay in a way that much better represented my story and themes.

Also, Katy's mock HBS interview was essential! During our mock interview, Katy asked many of the questions that my HBS interviewer ultimately asked. Katy helped channel my nervousness into excitement, which made me feel much more at ease during my actual interview.

Also worth noting: MBA Mission's preparatory materials are impressive and comprehensive. They gather all sorts of extremely helpful info -- including school marketing materials, applicant testimonials, past questions, and MBA Mission's own 10-15 page school summary -- all in a digestible packet. I reviewed this packet many times as I finalized my application and prepared for my interview.

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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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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 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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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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When I first started looking into admissions consulting services, I had a specific idea of what I needed. I was confident I was applying to the right schools, but I knew my essay writing skills were a bit weak. I was matched with Kate and my entire experience working with her was very enjoyable. I never imagined how much I would get out of the experience. She was always cognizant of what I needed and was very accountable in the usage of time.

The concise feedback I received on my essays was tailored to my specific concerns. The comments really helped me focus my ideas. By the time I was working on my 5th application, I had a sort of writer's block. Kate provided the combination of constructive feedback and "cheering section" support that I needed. This 5th application was for the school that I ended up choosing to go to. I am forever grateful for Kate's help in getting through the application process.

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