I am the only one of my friends who applied to business school, so working and talking with a consultant was very comforting during an extremely stressful year. From the beginning, Krista helped me break down every piece of the admissions cycle into digestible pieces, so I did not feel overwhelmed at the daunting application year that I had in front of me. I was in a less than ideal situation, still taking the GMAT during the applications process. But throughout the year, Krista helped me understand every single option to consider, including school selection and testing options. Lastly, Krista helped immensely with learning how to tell my story concisely. There is extra work at the beginning to lay out every detail of education of professional background. But the extra work was 100% worth it, when I realized how little 200 words really is.
It felt great to work with Krista because I could not have expected to replicate her experience and knowledge through google researching. At the end of the interviews and before decisions were released, I had a weird sense of content because I felt like I gave everything I had to the applications. Thankfully, that was not the case, and I could not be happier with Krista’s help.

Read More

From the beginning of my application process I had been hesitant about hiring a consultant for a variety of reasons, but now as I prepare to attend Columbia Business School next year, I can very confidently say that working with Gavriella was the best decision I made during the process. I interviewed five consultants and from the get-go I was confident that Gavriella was the right choice. She showed up to our meeting prepped on my background, was very candid about my strengths and weaknesses and proposed a concrete plan to move forward. The minute I knew for absolute sure that I had made the right decision occurred several weeks after we started working together. We were several turns into the all-important goals essay when Gavriella made the (at the time) very unpopular suggestion that we weren’t hitting the mark and that we should go back to the drawing board to make sure that we craft not just a good story but a great one. Most people would have said it’s good enough and forgone the extra work, but Gavriella was committed to our process and committed to my goal of getting into Columbia. She was always there for me to bounce ideas off, provided truly honest feedback, and at times just to listen to me complain about the whole process. No stone was left unturned from beginning to end and Gavriella pushed me day after day to make sure that I wasn’t just submitting a good application but a truly exemplary one. Gavriella guided me and helped create a narrative that showcased to the admissions board a full picture of who I am and what I am capable of.

Read More

When I first started the MBA application process, I doubted whether my profile was competitive enough to get in to a top school. Melissa helped me identify and capitalize on the unique stories and experiences from my background, helping me craft applications where I could highlight my strengths and mitigate my weaknesses. I thought I knew what I wanted to write in my essays, but Melissa helped fine tune my ideas and pointed out experiences that she felt were unique which I wasn’t considering before. She’s also a skilled editor - I tend to be a verbose writer, and Melissa easily cut 200+ words from my essays while still maintaining the content and emotions of my story. Additionally, she is an incredible mentor and cheerleader, answering my questions candidly but compassionately and reassuring me when I was overwhelmed or anxious about the process.

Ultimately, with Melissa’s help, I landed interviews at 4 M7 schools, and was admitted into 2 of them - Chicago Booth ($70k merit scholarship) and Columbia ($50k merit scholarship)! Melissa even went out of her way to review my scholarship negotiation essays and a waitlist update essay for another program. I'm extremely happy with these results and am confident that Melissa’s support and guidance was instrumental in helping me land them. If you’re in the market for an admissions consultant, look no further!

Read More

Julie-Anne played a huge role in my being accepted to my top three choice schools, Harvard Business School, Wharton/Lauder and UVA Darden in Round 1 of the 2020-2021 Admissions Cycle. While I had all the right pieces (720 GMAT, high GPA and strong recommendations), I struggled to develop my MBA story through my essays and short-answer responses. More specifically, coming from international development, I was completely lost about how to contextualize my background and skills through a business lens and articulate how I could contribute uniquely to the classroom.

Julie-Anne exceeded my expectations on every front. She was accessible, diligent, kind and strategic. She listened closely early on to understand who I was, why I wanted an MBA and what I hoped to do, and then used that knowledge to help me strengthen my voice in my essays. She read countless drafts, jumped on dozens of brainstorm calls when I hit a roadblock (even on Sunday mornings!), and calmed my anxieties the night before my interviews. She was highly professional and knowledgeable; I always felt that she knew exactly what she was doing, whether helping to tweak my resume or determine how to conclude my essays (and the results showed!). Her expertise on what the Admissions Committee values at each particular school heightened my applications and helped me to really shine. Also, the fact that Julie-Anne attended HBS, one of my top choices, and worked in consulting, my intended post MBA career, made her a real role model for me throughout the process. I highly recommend Julie-Anne!

Read More

I worked with Susan on mbaMission’s start-to-finish package for 4 schools (M7), targeting Round 1 deadlines. Susan was an amazing guide through the whole process, keeping me on track to putting together applications that represented me well.

Susan has a wealth of knowledge on school-specific aspects of the application and what each school is looking for in different parts of the application. She really helped me connect the dots to craft a great narrative and taught me how to market my strengths to the admissions committee.

Susan was incredibly punctual in reviewing and providing feedback on my essays, sometimes even getting back to me ahead of schedule to help me meet my timeline. Her feedback was definitely challenging, but after working through it my application looked a lot better. She was also readily available over the phone to clarify any of her comments. My interview prep session with her was also helpful - she gave me constructive feedback on the key areas that I could definitely improve on during the days leading up to the actual interview.

It was not easy to meet the R1 timeline, even though I had started quite early. When I was falling behind, Susan didn’t shy away from giving me a wake up call and pushed me through the process. At the end of the day, I’m really happy that I got accepted to one of the programs! I highly recommend Susan for anyone looking for a consultant.

Read More

Susan has been on my business school journey with me for years, and I know that I would not have gotten to the end without her guidance and support. I started working with Susan as a college senior applying for deferred admissions programs. I knew I wanted to pursue an MBA but had no idea what the admissions process would require (I was definitely a little unprepared going in!). Working through the Complete Start to Finish Package with Susan was a complete gift – she helped me take a step back to understand my strengths and how all of my experiences fit together to tell that narrative but also where I was a little weaker and how we could strategically approach this aspect of my application. This established a great framework for the application and really helped to tell my story in a way that I was confident about. But, actually writing that story turned out to be incredibly hard. As an engineer, I had absolutely no experience writing essays or storytelling and it definitely showed! Susan really helped to transform my writing style. Her feedback is direct and she knows how much to push you to generate your best work – I went from writing long stories that were mostly “fluff” with no real content to understanding how to write strong narratives with concrete examples to really illustrate the topic. This is more than just a goal for business school applications; it is a lifelong skill that Susan helped me to build – one that has already benefited me in my career and will continue to do so in business school.

Although my first try at business school applications did not result in an offer, it provided a great opportunity to reflect and take the time to make my application even stronger. I always knew I would reapply to business school and throughout the next few years, Susan stayed in touch and was an amazing sounding board when I was trying to round out my experiences and strengthen my story. When it was time to reapply, I chose Susan again as my consultant because not only did she know my story, but I knew she was rooting for me and would give me the push that I needed to submit my best application and one that I was really proud of. I worked on a few different schools with Susan this time and chose schools that had every type of essay and interview possible – written, video, case interviews, etc. Like the first time, Susan’s feedback was invaluable and helped me to build interview and communication skills that are applicable in the “real world” and will propel me to become a stronger student, employee and leader. But, the thing that I benefited from the most this time around (besides applications that I am so proud of) is a strong sense of what I want to do with my career and how I can get there. The Complete Start to Finish Package gives you the opportunity to dive deep into your experiences, strengths and interests (which ultimately pointed me in the direction of what I wanted to do in my career). But, it was Susan who helped me lay the foundation of what I would need to do to get there and how an MBA at my target school was a necessary piece of that puzzle. Her insistence that I do my research to understand the industry and the skills needed for that role helped me develop not only a strong application but a plan that I am excited about. This process with Susan was personally instrumental in preparing me for business school, and I feel ready to take on all that it offers.

Susan embodies the perfect balance of support and feedback. She takes the time to really understand her clients as individuals and constantly strategizes to help them realize and highlight their unique strengths. She never wavers from her goal of pushing you to do your best work, and the result is always something that you will be proud to call your own. I look back on my time with Susan and am so thankful for all of the effort because without her, I would not be headed to London Business School (my dream school!).

Read More

From the start, Julie-Anne asked hard questions that challenged they way I thought as I wrote my application essays. As a person from big tech with a mid-tier university background (and very little extra-curricular involvement), I needed her help in ensuring I stood out. The best part about working with Julie-Anne was her ability to help me turn my background into meaningful stories. Julie-Anne spent hours brainstorming with me, and when it came to providing feedback on my essays, she was incredibly honest. She encouraged me to scrap essays and start over when needed, and also dig into the details more that I otherwise would have. Without her help, my stories would've been too broad to earn interviews at top schools.

Besides her stellar editing, Julie-Anne is personable and communicative. She met deadlines and kept me on track as well. Her frankness during interview prep was greatly appreciated and helped me get into three M7 schools that I interviewed at. It seemed like every question I had asked, we had discussed in my mock interviews.

Julie-Anne even helped where she didn't need to. She checked in frequently and offered advice for negotiations. She's super knowledgeable and definitely worth the investment (especially if you are struggling with essay brainstorming/editing).

Read More

When I first met Jessica during my free consultation a few years ago, she provided (what felt like brutal) feedback about where I could feasibly expect to get in based on my current resume and extracurricular experience. I felt crushed at first but she knew what she was talking about and I now completely agree that I was nowhere near ready to apply to the schools I wanted to go to at that time (I thought my 730 GMAT would suffice). So, I took the free advice she gave me to round out my resume and get involved in more community activities over the next year and reached out to her again once I felt more qualified.

When we met again, she warned me she was tough on clients and, while I can see what she meant, she always provided fair and helpful feedback. She's like the strict teacher/parent who's always hard to impress but when you do, you know she means it. She also knows when to take a gentler approach; when I was laid off three weeks before my applications were due because of COVID19, she immediately called to console me and brainstorm ways we could use the ostensible obstacle to my advantage :).

I found having her throughout the application process extremely helpful to not only keep me on track but to teach me tricks and provide tips on how to leverage stories/experiences I already had to create a compelling application. It's also incredibly helpful to have someone who just met you review your essays because just like the people in the admissions offices reading your applications for the first time, she has no background information on you and will ensure your story is clear yet concise.

Beyond keeping me on track, she provided great insight into where I could expect to get in. I had been working as a social media associate at a travel company that's not very well-known and didn't think my experience could measure up to other applicants coming from big finance companies. Despite my trepidation, she named one M7 program she thought would be perfect for me from the start and sure enough, I was accepted!!!

I would highly recommend her to anyone interested in pursuing his/her MBA. I had several friends applying concurrently with me and I always felt ahead of the curve even though I was applying to twice as many schools. If I had to re-do the process, I wouldn't change a thing!

Read More

I HIGHLY recommend Kate Richardson. I was extremely hesitant to use a consultant for several reasons, but I am 100% satisfied with my choice. I honestly don't know if I could have gone through this process and stayed sane without her.

I was so happy to get into a top-choice school, but a bit sad to not work with Kate regularly, which was an unexpected feeling! I felt extremely comfortable with Kate, especially as I had considered myself an "underdog" candidate before working with her. She instilled confidence in my abilities that I lacked before our partnership. I spoke with other consultants, and I felt a bit judged or that they wanted me to be inauthentic to myself and my story, but I never felt that way with Kate. I really looked forward to our chats throughout the pandemic - even if it meant a lot of "homework" on my end afterward. I really appreciate her kindness during a trying time.

Aside from her welcoming and approachable personality, she is EXTREMELY competent, especially with her editing skills, and her turnaround times were truly remarkable. I do not know how Kate sleeps because I would get essays and random questions answered in record-breaking time. I felt like Kate was on speed dial as a resource, and she always had a confident answer to my questions - and anxieties. 

She really helped me tell my story, and I felt authentic and supported throughout this process. Seriously don't hesitate to use Kate! 

Read More

Devi made the daunting process of completing applications to 5 schools incredibly straightforward, personal, and organized. She helped me organize my thoughts, passions and truths into a cohesive personal story that organically flowed with my long term career aspirations. To say Devi is an efficient person is an understatement. Every minute with Devi is a minute well spent, and she is committed to helping her clients recognize their strengths and build an authentic personal story that is both true and compelling. She helped me maintain my focus on the aspects of my application and resume that should be highlighted/celebrated so that admissions teams could get a thorough understanding of what I brought to the table as a candidate.

Read More