I worked with John using a 3 school package and I believe I would not have had the same outcomes, particularly with scholarship money, that I received if I had not worked with him. I had no idea how to frame my "story" and he came in with great ideas and excellent editing/writing abilities to help me pull my application together into a very compelling application that adcoms loved! I got into 5/6 schools I applied to, all with major scholarship money. I'll be heading to Wharton in the Fall. I think I might have gotten into some of these schools on my own, but John helped push me out of the pack and gave me an edge that led me to substantial scholarship money. He spent hours on the phone with me brainstorming ideas for essays, heavily edited essays for the 3 schools for which I was working with him (and then I rather easily transferred many of these essays to the schools I did on my own), and really helped me prep for interviews. My biggest issues with John were that he was late to almost all of our phone meetings, sometimes forgot to respond to my emails and would return essay drafts to me way after his promised deadlines. Also, there were times where I felt John lacked emotional support and was biased i.e. not congratulating me when I received scholarships to schools he didn't help me with, and when I got dinged from my top school he focused on defending himself instead of supporting me. Overall I would highly recommend John! He was not without his faults, but he definitely helped me achieve my goals and in the end that's all that really matters.

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I was referred to Heidi Granner by a colleague I worked with, who managed to get accepted to his dream program. I wanted someone who knew how to work with someone who has a highly over-represented background (i.e. Asian male in finance) to be able to stand out amongst other excellent applicants.

I would say that it took a lot of consideration before I decided to work alongside an MBA consultant, but I can say for sure that I am glad I did. I will go as far to say that without Heidi, I do not think that I could have succeeded in getting into my top MBA school - HBS.

The thing is, there are many qualified and over-qualified candidates to get into these top schools. They all have amazing backgrounds and experiences that can definitely make them prime candidates for what these top schools are looking for. The most difficult part about all this however, is grabbing all these moving parts and shaping them into a limited amount of information you can convey to an MBA admissions committee. You can have also these unique things that have happened to you in your life, but trying to show everything in a jumbled manner is not the way to go. That's where I think Heidi really played a key role in constructing my story, pulling out key highlights, and showing admissions committee who I am without completely losing them in the details.

Heidi herself has experience as an admissions member for Chicago Booth, so she definitely knows what these top programs like to see vs. what they don't like to see. And it's not that they are looking for a specific form of individual, but rather someone who can CLEARLY show who they are and be proud of what they've contributed rather than someone who wants to impress with everything he / she has.

Heidi was instrumental in providing guidance and feedback in how I should think about my own profile and positioning, essay content, and interview practice. She is incredibly responsive (and very fast), and it makes it extremely easy to work with her. She will never leave you hanging amidst this incredibly stressful process, and it definitely gives you a sense of comfort that you are working as a team and that you are not alone.

All in all, Heidi has been a sheer pleasure and more importantly, a real help that has translated to concrete success for me. Thank you Heidi for working with me through many months of my MBA application journey!

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I struggle to emphasize just how impactful working with Harold was on my MBA application process. Starting from the first meeting, to helping me choose between acceptances, Harold’s help and advice was invaluable.

I started working with Harold the June before Fall Round 1 deadlines. From the beginning he was great about taking the intimidating MBA application process and breaking it down into simple steps with an achievable timeline. Harold’s assistance in crafting my story and really honing in on my strengths and weaknesses and how they matched to my target schools set me up for success from the get go.

Harold’s impact on my application essays was extraordinary. Both in helping me with the big picture of the story I was trying to tell, and the final edits and tweaks to make the essay as specific to my target school as possible, his work was critical to my success.

Harold’s knowledge of top schools and what they are looking for in candidates in unparalleled, and this is most evident in his help with interview prep. I was invited to interview at three of the schools I applied to, and Harold was instrumental in my preparation, including offering mock interview practice.

Finally, I want to highlight the ease of working with Harold. He is always very prompt to respond to any question or request, and quick to review and provide feedback on essays. He takes great pride in his work, and truly gives person attention to all his clients.

I can confidently say that Harold’s services are worth every penny. I will be starting at my top choice MBA program this fall, and could not have done it without Harold.

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I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience with Melissa. After less success in my Round 1 application cycle, I decided to work with a consultant and apply again in Round 2. I worked on a 2-school package with Melissa and was accepted to both schools with scholarship awards. Those results speak for themselves!

Melissa’s exceptional attention to detail and incredible knowledge of what each school values in its candidates made a huge difference. While I had already done some of the leg work after applying in Round 1, Melissa's probing questions helped me dig deeper into my story and weave together my various professional and personal experiences to show where I had been, where I wanted to go, and why an MBA would help get me there. I was so impressed by how well Melissa got to know my story and was able to help me tailor it to each aspect of the application process.

Melissa also challenged me to be more detailed about why a certain school was the right fit for me. Not only did this help strengthen my application and interviews, it also helped me truly understand what type of MBA program I was looking for, and ultimately enabled me pick a school that I truly believe is uniquely positioned to help me achieve my personal and professional goals.

I highly recommend working with Melissa! She has the right combination of expertise, professionalism, energy, and compassion that not only makes her a great consultant, but also a wonderful cheerleader and mentor throughout the application process.

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It has been a long, stressful road to get to this point, but with Debbie’s help, I got into one of my top choices – Wharton. I started the application process for round 1 with only a month until the deadlines for some of my top schools. Super overwhelmed and only having just retaken the GMAT a second time I was scrambling to get started and decided to take the leap with Debbie. Right at the get-go, we kicked it into gear- she got to know my story and helped me formulate a strategy on what schools I should apply to and when. What I like about Debbie is that she will be honest with you. A consultant can only do so much for your application, but she has a lot of good insight into what schools are looking for and what would be a good fit for you from her perspective. She might even convince you to look at a school you have not considered before. I ended up splitting applications between round 1 and 2 to prioritize my top choices. Debbie seriously knows some of the most intimate details of my life. She helped me pick and choose what stuck out to her and what sounded interesting – those things that truly represented who I am and could help tell my story. But it was always a two-way street – if I felt uncomfortable about making something the highlight of an essay or felt my evidence was not substantial, she would help me choose a different topic or spin it a different way and make it flow so much better. I trusted her. I highly recommend working with Debbie if you are considering a consultant. Even when I was waitlisted at another top school she helped me navigate that process as well. She was always encouraging me even if I heard bad news so I felt motivated to continue. Additionally, she answered ALL my questions even if they were simply logistics related. No question was unimportant. At the end of the day, with the MBA admissions process you just don’t know what is going to happen, but having Debbie there to help me along the way and have my back really helped keep me sane and focused. I also ended up using outlines/ideas we used for many other applications outside of the package I had with Debbie which saved a lot of time later on in Round 2.

Thanks Debbie!

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Results: Admitted to Stern R2

Review: 5/5 stars

Daniel helped me through my application process by helping me craft an appealing narrative, through a methodological discovery process. He plays the role of a trusted advisor diligently since he is not afraid of providing honest feedback.


His process is very straightforward and involved. While he enables the applicant to be the primary narrator for his/her story, Daniel provides valuable insight which is critical for success.

I have since recommended Daniel and mbaMission to many friends and will continue to do so going forward.

Adjectives I would use describe Dan: Honest, diligent, insightful, and funny (sometimes)

Thanks again.

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When I decided to apply for business school, I knew I wanted support from someone who is experienced and has a strong professional background. After speaking to several admissions consultants, I chose Heidi and I could not have made a better decision! Right from the start, Heidi was candid and encouraging. She pushed me to brainstorm essay ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of if I had just gone with the most “obvious” themes. Because of our interactions, my essays became much deeper and reflective than what I could have done on my own.
As someone who is very organized, I really appreciated Heidi’s timely replies and fast turnarounds. Even though we had a 12-hour time difference, we managed to stay on schedule and I submitted all four of my applications for round 1 on time.
Heidi’s support really helped navigating the business school application and interview process much easier. I highly recommend her!

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From my first conversation with Krista, it was clear that she was incredibly smart, encouraging, kind, and fun. While I was apprehensive to spend $6k on a consultant at the beginning of the process (two school package), the return I received on my investment far exceeded my expectations. Deciding to work with Krista was likely the most important decision I made in the MBA admissions process.
Krista helped me with school selection, identifying great programs that I had originally overlooked. She recommended schools that not only have strong brands, but also have great resources and recruiting opportunities specific to my post-MBA goals.
Krista provided me with great advice on how to use the essays and my resume to communicate compelling aspects of my candidacy outside of professional experience. By including a more personal element in my essays, I was able to show that I am a more well-rounded candidate. Additionally, Krista helped me identify aspects of my candidacy that should be explained further in the optional essay. This advice was very helpful because it allowed me to control the narrative on aspects of my story that I otherwise would not have known to explain in more detail.
After I submitted my applications, Krista helped me prepare for interviews by conducting mock interviews. This preparation helped me to relax and present well when it came time for real MBA interviews.
Krista is incredibly reliable and always turns feedback around quickly! This was especially important to me because I was working on the applications on a tight timeline and needed a consultant who was very responsive.
In the end, I received admission to a top school, where I am incredibly excited to start this fall. I owe a debt of gratitude to Krista for going above and beyond my expectations and helping me achieve my goal. She was a true pleasure to work with and her guidance and encouragement made a huge difference in navigating the difficult MBA application process.
If I could do it all over, as one of the first steps in my preparation for business school, I would have set up a preliminary call with Krista and retained her.

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Michael was a tremendous help in my application process and eventual admission to LBS. I was originally referred to Michael by one of his colleagues at mbaMission and found his upbeat, can-do attitude refreshing after rather dreary conversations with consultants at competing firms. We worked over tight timelines whereby he was incredibly responsive and composed from start-to-finish (brainstorming to interview prep). I was impressed by Michael's consistency in providing valuable feedback and/or insights at each turn and found him to be a very reliable partner throughout. In summary, Michael was a true pleasure to work with and I highly recommend him.

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I had a terrific experience working with Harold. I was on the fence about working with an admissions counselor once I decided to apply to business school. A friend connected me to Stratus, and I am very glad I chose to go ahead with it.

From the start, I found Harold to be very insightful and his style to be very compatible with what I was looking for. I had taken the GMAT by the time we started working together, and was focused on the personal statement. I had a very clear idea of the part of my story that I wanted to tell in my application, but felt that my early attempts were not doing it justice. Harold helped me to pull everything together, not only for the essay itself, but also more broadly as I reflected on what my narrative had taught me. In the end, I was very proud of the personal statements I wrote, and felt confident they were genuine representations of me.

Throughout the process, Harold was extremely responsive. He had a very good balance of checking in when I had not reached out in a while, but understanding when I needed to work through things at my own pace. He was there whenever needed, from reviewing drafts to talking things out. Beyond the essays, he also provided me with advice on various other aspects of the application. The result was a successful set of Round 1 applications, with admissions to HBS and GSB, the two schools I applied to. I could not have asked for a better outcome, and I am thankful for Harold’s support throughout the process. I highly recommend working with him!

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