School Package Reviews

I hired MBA Mission because I was a non-traditional applicant who wanted a lot of guidance throughout the process. I sought out Angela specifically because of her involvement with the Forte Foundation.

Angela is very straightforward, but is good humored and easy to work with. She provided valuable feedback and information about virtually every facet of the application, but I never felt like she was nudging me towards a certain school or writing my essays for me. Anyone can point out candidate weaknesses, but Angela had specific ideas about how to “plug the holes” that were all achievable in a constricted timeframe. I appreciated how promptly she responded to my emails and edited my essay drafts. Everything I sent her was returned to me within 48 hours.

The school package is pricey, but I felt like it was money well spent. After I paid, I never felt like Angela was trying to nickel and dime me. I never paid for extra services even though she probably could have charged me in a couple of cases.

Thanks Angela!

Read More

I met Angela through the Forte 2016 MBALaunch program. She was sharp, persuasive, and authentic. I respected her from the get-go and immediately felt like we’d get along. When it came time for applications and picking a MBA consultant, I knew Angela would be my top choice.

I have a wide network of friends/acquaintances that are in the business world, in b-school or are alums. As I was talking to folks to get a pulse of the different schools, I realized that all of them have different opinions which I was getting swayed by, and I needed a sounding board to stay true to myself in this process. A professional that would understand my life story, my goals, my dreams and not let me lose sight of myself as I applied – which is exactly what Angela did!

Angela essentially knew my entire life story after reading the 25+ brainstorming document I created prior to our first real call. She helped me think through the parts of my story that I wanted to share in that essay. My essay was a very personal life story about what I’m passionate about, why and how that came to be. After it reached a point where I felt it was final, I sent it to a 5 friends for feedback (3 applying to b-school, 1 at HBS and 1 alum). All of them had varying feedback, but they all said that I needed to vastly change my essay or at least ½ of it. One friend forwarded it to her brother. Her brother sent it to an HBS alum, who reached out to me and tore my essay apart. This was a week before the deadline, and he essentially told me I needed to start from scratch and apply round 2.

After hearing all of this feedback, I went back to Angela – confused and upset. I didn’t know what to do. Angela helped me process the feedback and think through it piece by piece. She fully supported me changing it if I wanted, but she helped me remember that this essay is a true reflection of me and my most honest and authentic answer to HBS’s essay prompt. I decided not making any changes to my essay and turned it in.

Ultimately, I was accepted into HBS! I was also accepted into Wharton, Kellogg with a sizeable scholarship, and Berkeley.

I know I couldn’t have applied to 5 schools during round 1 without Angela’s support for 3 of them. She helped me not only be true to myself, but also stay accountable. The MBA Mission turnaround time of 2 days to review submitted documents to consultants helped me not procrastinate and get my apps done in a timely manner. I turned in all 3 of my apps that I worked on with her many days prior to the deadline.

Read More

When I decided that attaining an MBA was going to be the next step in my life, I knew that I was going to need help in the application process (especially given the fact, I only planned to apply to one program). I knew that I was going to seek help from an MBA admissions consulting firm – but did not know which one I was going to choose. After having multiple 30 minute (free) consultations with a few firms (e.g. Stacy Blackman, Veritas Prep, and mbaMission), I decided that I liked mbaMission best.

However, I am not writing a review to compare mbaMission to other firms. I am writing a review of the work Kate Richardson (my mbaMission admissions consultant) performed that allowed me to get into the Johns Hopkins/MICA’s Design Leadership program with a merit-based scholarship.

Kate is truly a great consultant. She catered to my needs and made the admissions process smooth and even quite fun. I would say the top three things that Kate helped me with were: 1) essay writing/editing, 2) strategy and detail, 3) staying true to myself.

As it pertains to essay writing/editing, Kate helped me recognize what stories in my life were going to make the strongest impact on the admissions committee and helped me outline what specific parts of those stories were going to be most pertinent to illustrate. Furthermore, once I started writing the essays, Kate provided insightful notes on my drafts that allowed me to fine tune the tone, clarity, and vividness of the messages I was trying to get across.

Regarding strategy and detail, Kate helped me ensure that the content of my essays, recommendation (only one is required for the program I applied to), and Linkedin profile all dovetailed one another. This is extremely important given the fact that the essays I had to write had 500-word limits. It is not efficient or effective to say the same things in multiple essays or have your recommender share the same story you wrote about in an essay (unless he/she has significantly different things to say than you do). With Kate’s help, I felt confident that my materials never overlapped, but complemented one another.

Thirdly, Kate never pushed me to write or do anything as it pertains to my admissions portfolio that I felt wasn’t me – which I think is most important. I felt that the application I submitted was the best representation of myself that I could have provided the admissions committee (while staying true to what I believed needed to be said).

In closing, if anyone is thinking about get an MBA and has the capital to hire an MBA admissions consultant during the admissions process, I highly recommend Kate without reservation. She is knowledgeable, intelligent, and easy to talk with. More importantly, she gets the job done.

Read More

Krista Nannery was assigned to me as my consultant for the “Start-to-Finish” package for 6 schools whose applications I worked on from June – November 2016 for Round 1 of the 2016-2017 admissions cycle. Wow, was I lucky to have Krista, I could not have asked for anything more in the experience. She helped me beyond what I even thought was possible for an admissions consultant.

The most important way she helped me is probably one that goes overlooked when judging the value of a consultant. I am a white male with a pretty bland job, and in general I thought there just wasn’t anything that interesting about me. Krista completely changed the way I view myself, and for that I cannot thank her enough. She took the time to really get to know me and learn about all of my accomplishments and desires. She disagreed with my assessment, and over time convinced me that there were interesting and unique aspects of my profile that we could use. When it came to the essays, she had ways of tying together experiences and stories that best conveyed my message. When we would discuss topics for a given essay, she would bring up things that I had completely forgotten about. She would point out patterns in my history and personality that I didn’t even know existed. At times, it seemed that she knew me better than I knew myself. This was a priceless component of our collaboration that I am sure made the difference in my applications.

Aside from her magical ability to make a bland applicant shine, Krista was brilliant in all the technical aspects you might expect from a consultant. She is a marvelous essay reviewer and would help me transform my wordy and rambling prose into crisp, clear B-School essays. She also knows the process inside and out. She always had a plan and was one step ahead of me. As I was finishing one phase of the process, she had already mapped out what to do next, and so was constantly pushing me to get the most out of the process. If I ever asked something particularly new, she always had a colleague or contact she could ask for a second opinion, which she would get back to me extremely quickly. And that is the other thing, Krista is FAST and EFFICIENT. I sometimes felt like her only client- she would turn things around much faster than the MBA mission contractual 2-day turnaround policy. At first I was slightly worried when Krista mentioned that she was based on London (I was in NYC), but this actually turned out to be an advantage. While I was sleeping, she was working, so that when I woke up in the morning I had a beautifully edited draft of my latest essay waiting in my inbox. Krista will work really hard for you and get the job done, period.

Aside from all this, what really sets Krista apart is her personality and dedication. She has what I would best characterize as a bedside manner. The process can be stressful, but Krista will always make you feel better and get your head back in the game. For me this happened when we did our first mock interview, which I did extremely poorly. Krista handled it very well, and had some great suggestions for me. She made sure we scheduled another round before my first interview. Her advice made all the difference; I came back a different candidate, one totally prepared for my interview. Because of all this, Krista is not just my consultant, but now my friend; I feel very lucky to have met her. It is because of her that I was accepted to Booth and Wharton. I enthusiastically recommend Krista to future MBA applicants.

Read More

If you want to get into your dream MBA programs, I highly recommend using Helen Summers from mbaMission. I applied to Cornell, Duke, and Darden and was accepted to all three with a full ride to Cornell and 1/3 tuition scholarship to Duke. Before working with Helen, I did not think it was possible to get into all three schools, let alone with multiple scholarship offers, and I know that would not have been my outcome if I had not worked with Helen.

Helen first encouraged me to retake the GMAT, even though I really did not want to, but I am so glad she pushed me to do so. I then had an acceptable GMAT score and strong GPA, but my work experience was very low (only 2 years).

Helen took the time to get to know me and helped me incorporate things into my essays that I would not have thought to include. She also helped me shape my story, which was very important given I only had two years of work experience and the "Why now?" question was very important to address. My first essay went through over 10 drafts, and the difference between the first draft and the final one was night and day. She also helped me with my women's weekend essays which was a huge help.

The best parts about working with Helen are listed below:

-She is extremely responsive and organized. Her turnaround time with essay drafts was often well within the 48 hour requirement (often even within 24 hours). She sometimes even worked on the weekends so if I sent something to her on Thursday or Friday I would get it back before Tuesday. She responded to emails (quick questions) even faster, typically within a few hours.

-She made the process much less stressful. When I was struggling with an essay topic or unsure about how to ask a question to an admissions person, I simply emailed Helen asking if we could have a quick call. She is so nice and calming, so even just hearing her voice on the other end of the line made me feel much better!

-She provides open and honest constructive feedback. Her comments really made me think and pull out my best experiences to incorporate into my essays. She was also very helpful in cutting out the "fluff" in my essays to help me stay within the word count. In addition, she gave my recommenders feedback on their recommendations and encouraged them to provide stronger examples which helped round out my application.

-She genuinely wants her clients to succeed and will do everything she can to make that possible. She 100% knows what she is doing (the process, the schools), so I completely trusted her advice and feedback.

Again, I would HIGHLY recommend Helen if you want to get into your dream business schools. She went above and beyond my expectations and is well worth the money. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about her and guarantee she will make your application much stronger.

Read More

I found Rachel Beck to be highly creative, responsive, eloquent, supportive and most importantly honest during my few months working with her on my applications. I recommend her to anyone applying to business school, especially those applying to top programs.

For context, I have a somewhat traditional finance background, IB and Corp Dev, and am a white male so differentiating myself was going to be key for creating a successful application. Other stats: >730 GMAT and >3.7 GPA from a state school.

When I started the application process I interviewed three consultants from three different companies. Rachel stood out because she conveyed solid ideas off the bat and understood & summarized my background very well. Her experience as a Columbia MBA, MBA consultant and business writer shined through.

I tend to be organized and process driven and treated my applications as such. Rachel set expectations around our process - essay turn around, organizing calls and email response - and kept to her word. She executed drafts consistently; I would often wake up with new drafts in my inbox sent at 530AM EST whenever there was a draft to be processed. I found this particularly helpful because I work long hours and did much of my edits at night.

Not only did Rachel do a great job with execution, but she also offered unique insights and strategies into my essays and short answers. I organized many calls to discuss her thoughts and ideas for essays knowing that she would almost always go back to my brainstorming documents to approach my background with a variety of perspectives. I appreciated that extra leg work. Additionally, she wasn't afraid to use the mbaMission brain trust and experience from other consultants often sighting their input when communicating her ideas or confirming mine.

Rachel did very well with interview prep. Having herself interviewed for CBS, she knows how to frame the conversation as an interviewer would, simulating the experience well. She offered excellent framework for responding to certain tough questions and pointed out areas of weakness.

Finally, I would be remiss not to address her supportiveness throughout. Rachel's calm demeanor and practical approach kept me cool when I received interviews and as deadlines approached. You’d be surprised how important this is.

Again, I 100% recommend Rachel Beck as a consultant to anyone interested in applying to business school – I know I wouldn’t have gotten into Wharton without her help. She is clearly top tier.

Read More

I signed up for a two-school package and I don't think it was worth it.

My main concerns were a.) a low undergrad GPA (I had a high grad school GPA and high GMAT) b.) I'm a few years over the average 3) I'm coming from a non-traditional industry, with a promotion system and titles that probably aren't familiar to them. I don't feel like she helped me showcase these in any way that was different than what I would have done.

My consultant walked me through essay outlines (which took about 30 min per essay), which wasn't where I needed help. Once I had essay drafts, she made a few superficial edits, but that was it. She gave me almost no guidance at all on my optional essay, which is what I was worried about. I don't feel like I ended up with an application that highlighted my strengths.

I paid over $5,000 and think I would have saved a ton of money going with an hourly package. I would estimate my consultant spent 10-15 hours total with me. Most of the services I got, I didn't really need. Most of the services I did need, I didn't get. I really don't understand what I paid for. I felt like most of the service were application guides that I could have bought or downloaded for free from the MBA mission store.

Anyway, I ended up getting dinged from both schools without interviews.

Read More

I am an international applicant, a non-native English speaker with non-traditional background (Physical Therapy). Working in the healthcare industry for 4+ years I decided to go back to school for exploring management roles in my industry. It was a big and a bold step for me to consider applying to a top 5 part-time MBA program as I have no business background in school and in my professional career. I was looking for an admissions consulting firm with a strong industry reputation and MBA mission stood out in the all the online forums (GMAT Club, Beat the GMAT) .

I narrowed down to Kate as she graduated from one of my target school (Chicago Booth) and I was confident she would be able to assess my profile and my fit for the school as a Booth alumni. She also helped me to decide between applying to full-time vs. part-time programs and my chances of getting accepted into them.

Kate was very thoughtful in her approach and told me from Day 1 that getting into my target school is a realistic goal if I work hard. She was able to understand and market my story in a way I could not have done it myself. I was able to highlight my leadership potential which I always thought as my weak area and career accomplishments from a quant perspective. Working on my resume inorder to make it b-school specific was the most valuable service from the package. As an international student, my profile had many challenging and unique experiences (some of which seemed irrelevant to me in the beginning) and Kate was able to highlight them in my essays.

Kate was prompt on providing her feedback on my essays and was very open to change some of her suggestions if I did not agree on them.I was fortunate to get accepted in both Kellogg and Booth weekend MBA programs and ultimately chose Booth. Kate went over my career goals and my fit with both programs and helped me to decide on my final pick. I would highly recommend Kate to prospective MBA applicants students especially working professionals.

Thanks,
Ameya

Read More

You have most likely achieved a fantastic score on the GMAT, boast an impressive GPA from your college or university, and have your sights set on an acceptance to one of the top business schools in the country. I can tell you first hand that all your hard work in undergrad, the grueling hours of your first jobs and the secluded weekends of GMAT studying aren’t enough. Some of the smartest people you will never meet will be rejected from the schools to which you will apply. They will have better grades from a better school, higher GMAT scores, and will have held jobs that makes yours look pedestrian at best. The incredible, almost unbelievable news is that while these variables matter, they are not the only ones that matter and are often not the variables that determine acceptance or rejection at the top schools.

I was a product manager at a medical device company, but before that, I was a salesperson. I had a non-business undergrad major and never considered myself to be an “elite school” kind of guy. In speaking to one of my best friends about applying to business school, he urged me to apply to some of the top programs including Harvard Business School, where he was currently enrolled. I gave a nervous laugh and politely asked him to be serious. He replied “Bud, you have done some pretty incredible stuff so far in your career, even if you don’t think you have.” That’s when he introduced me to Angela.

The chemistry between Angela and I was immediate and while I still wasn’t convinced that I would have a chance at HBS, even with her help, she agreed to take me on as a Round 2 candidate. She was completely upfront about the process. She promised that the output of our time together would be as successful as I wanted it to be, given the amount of effort that I was willing commit. I took her at her word and after a 27 page (single spaced) brainstorming document, countless discussions about what the important themes were throughout my life, and an essay that was edited down from 4500 words after 10 rounds back and forth, I hit the submit button and waited with the hope that I would be awarded an interview and a chance to tell my story in person.

When I walked into the room with my interviewers, they had questions about items in my resume that were less than clear, but mainly, they brought me in to elaborate on the stories that were the fabric of my essay. I was more than happy to relate them in person, and so proud that the stories that Angela helped me to tell were worth 30 minutes of their time.

Angela was right there with me to the end, and she (not my wife nor my mother) was the first person I emailed to celebrate the good news that I had been accepted to Harvard. There is a reason for that. So now, a few words for my friend Angela.

Angela is the greatest gift that you can receive as you look to aim for the stars with this next stage in your pursuit to change the world. She will not do the work for you, but when the world seems as though it has abandoned you and it is you alone that can dictate your fate, you look to your right and there is Angela with you in the foxhole. Throughout the process she wore many hats. She was the cheerleader, the coach, the disciplinarian when I missed an agreed timeline, and the guide that lead me through a deep examination of myself. We are all at a stage in our lives where we believe that this one more thing, this degree or collection of knowledge is the thing that will complete us, transforming us into the people we always wanted to be. What Angela did through her coaching and help in crafting my personal statement was help me realize that the person who I always wanted to be was the person I was already. She showed me through the interpretation of all my answers in my brainstorming document and in her constant probing on the core themes of my essay that this application wasn’t about convincing the admissions committee that I was worthy of their acceptance, but rather about making them aware that I was out there in the world, and that through this introduction, they would have the chance to meet me.

After I was accepted and the whirlwind of transitioning out of work and into school began, I must admit that I had mixed emotions. I was overjoyed that all the hard work had paid off and that I was moving in a direction that I had only dreamed of months before, but I was also a bit sad that the fight was over, and that the transformation and discovery of personal value that Angela had led me through had drawn to a close. Angela did much more than coach me on my personal statement and help me re-format my resume, she objectively evaluated me as a stranger and showed me that who I was deserved the effort that I was about to put in, that the world would be better if I could play a more active role in charting its course, and that my actions and decisions over the past 10 years had made me the person that I hoped that I was. She will always be special to me, and her friendship to this day is a blessing.

Read More

Like many of you, I started doing an extensive research to select the best consultant in the industry. I have a PhD degree in engineering, 5 years of professional experience and GMAT score of 670 and my goal was to attend one of the top prestigious MBA schools to pursue a career in finance. I was 32 years old and knew that this was the last year to do a full time MBA in my life. I spent countless hours reviewing the biography of more than 100 consultants and talked to consultants from 6 different companies until I found Jessica Shklar. She had an impressive resume and she impressed again when we had our 30 minutes trial session. I stopped my search after that call ! I just knew that she was the right consultant for me.
Overall I had a great experience with Jessica. She helped me uncover my best stories She actually impressed me by telling me my own stories. Somehow she knew my stories better than I did!!! :) She also rightfully advised and later convinced me to retake the GMAT to improve my chances to get into my desired schools. She really cared for my success and went above and beyond what I was expecting ( and I normally expect a lot for my money). She helped me get prepared for the interview process and then helped me stay patient which actually, believe it or not, was one of the hardest part of the whole process. I did 4 interviews and finally got admitted into one of my top choices and can't be happier today. She is one of the best in the industry. If I were to do it again, I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else.

Read More