School Package Reviews

I worked with Angela on a two school package for both HBS and GSB.

What really impressed me right away was how she read into my personality so well. After reading through my initial brainstorming materials, and doing an 30 minute call, it felt like Angela had known me for years.

She was tremendously helpful in helping me brainstorm essay ideas and helping me frame my life story and interests in a convincing way! I was very happy with the end result of my essays and felt they really reflected who I was.

Angela was quick to respond to any questions I had over email, and always got drafts of my essays back to me in a timely manner.

Although I did not end up getting into either of my top choices, I was able to leverage the work I did on both schools into an application to Wharton and was admitted! Angela even helped me in my interview even though it wasn't one of the two schools I was working with her on. Talk about going above and beyond!

If anyone is on the fence about hiring a consultant, I highly recommend you spending 30 minutes (free consultation!) on the phone with Angela!

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Before I ever met Melissa Blakeslee, I was excited to work with her because of her experience working on the other end of the admissions process, as an executive director of admissions at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business. More than helping me craft essays and applications that would appeal to the admissions officers though, Melissa helped me build an authentic application because she was completely committed to getting to know me. Equal parts therapy session and brainstorm, our first meeting was a 1.5 hour call where we talked about everything from my upbringing to my work experience. During our next brainstorming session, she continued to bring up ideas that evolved some of the topics we had discussed 2+ months earlier.

When it came time to practice for my interview, Melissa was the ultimate resource because she knew me as well (if not better) than I knew myself. She suggested answers that I hadn’t considered and reminded me of experiences that I had forgotten. In the end, I was perfectly set-up for an interview that told one cohesive story, rather than a series of disjointed, one-off answers.

More than anything else though, in searching for an admissions consultant, I was looking for a real partner to guide me through a pretty overwhelming process. Someone who’d be as invested in my success as much as my mom or dad might be. In Melissa, I found exactly that. When it was crunch time, I was incredibly grateful to have Melissa with me in the trenches. She provided feedback on my essays quicker than I could edit them and was the only reason I got everything in on time. After a poor interview, Melissa gave me some much-needed perspective, helping me parse the emotional from the rational. And when I found out I had been admitted to my dream school, Melissa was my third call (after my parents and grandma). If I could go through it all over again, I wouldn’t do it with anyone else but Melissa.

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I worked with Angela from MBA mission for a 2-school package for R1 (Tuck, Haas), and then decided to add a third school for R2 (Harvard). I applied R2 to Wharton and Kellogg on my own as its a numbers game.

My background - Deals from the Big 4, 720 GMAT, 5 years of work experience, good (but not great) extracurriculars in college and afterwards.

This is the 3rd year I applied to business schools. 2 years ago did R3 at Harvard (looking back I had no shot), last year I did R2 at H/W/Tuck. All dings, with interview invite at Tuck. Over the summer I felt that this was realistically my last shot to apply, and I just didn't want to gamble with my chances.

A guide in the process. Just like you wouldn't trek across the desert on your own, you probably shouldn't apply to business school without help. You might get to the destination in the end, but youll probably take a wrong turn at some point. Last year I would spend weeks crafting a an essay, only to realise at the end that even though it was written well the story didnt work and I needed to restart (I got up to 20+ revisions last year on some essays). This time around with each revision I knew I was on the right track (only about 5-8 revisions per essay). This was INCREDIBLY useful as I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Positives
- STORY CRAFTING. Angela helped me dive into my career and college to pull out the best stories. About half of them were ones I wouldnt have included originally, but looking back now they are some of my most powerful. She also helped me get under the skin of each school and essay question so that I could change perspective and tell the same story from multiple viewpoints depending on what was required.

- TIME SAVINGS. She knew the process and always had the answer. The previous two years I constantly read online forums and books on application strategy. This killed my time and restricted how many applications I did. I also would read advice in one place, and have it contradicted somewhere else.

- SUPPORTIVE - Angela was really my champion throughout the process. She was honest in schools I didnt have a shot at (Stanford) - but also encouraged me to stretch myself and go for my dream schools. She also provided much needed encouragement when I was sick of the process and wanted to give up.

- Consulants are the only ones with truly OBJECTIVE FEEDBACK. Angela called me out when my essays were crap and I needed to change direction at the start. Family and friends aren't objective and don't understand the process. They should provide feedback on the essays (at the end of the process when its being tightened), but they are not the best help crafting the theme and story.

Advice I wish I could have given myself a year ago
- Speak to consulants as early as possible. I started in July and really felt like I should have started earlier to ease my stress levels as the deadlines loomed.The best consulants get fully booked months in advance, this wasnt something I was aware of going into the process.

-Personality fit is also really important and something I didnt consider as much when I started the process. Even within the same company its likely you will connect really well with some consultants, and may not well with others.

- She wont do the work for you or chase you. She guides you in the process but wont carry you. At the end of the day, its your voice, your stories - she just makes sure your best stories are picked and they come across as polished as possible.

I have been accepted to Kellogg!!!!! (and interview invite is TBD at Harvard) Although Kellogg wasnt one of the school's I worked with Angela on, there were many areas that overlapped (my "theme", interview advice, resume, letter of recs, some parts of the essays). Generally my thought process had also changed from previous applications (i.e. show - dont tell). Ironically, my Tuck application was better than my Kellogg application, goes to show sometimes its just a bit of luck.

Overall - HIGHLY recommend both Angela and MBAmission - I wouldnt have been accepted without using her. Simple as that.

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In July when I was agonizing over which consultant to choose, my conversation with Melissa B. at MBAMission sealed the deal. But when I decided to go with MBAMission, Melissa recommended Kate to me after knowing my background and my target universities. I wanted to work with an admissions consultant especially because I didn’t have many people around me who had applied for business school in my circles.

Right from school selection to first understanding my story before we went into any application, Kate was AMAZING! She was particular that I not set my sights too low and yet be pragmatic about my chances which made me apply to a range of schools in the M7 and few outside of it, especially being an international student. I finally ended up choosing 4 M7 schools and 1 non-M7 school to work with MBAMission.

I got rejects from three schools and got admitted into Booth (one was still pending at the time of writing this). What’s funny is I chose to work with Kate because I thought that it would be an advantage while writing my Booth essays. Yet, Kate’s knowledge and insights on other universities were amazing. She would always supplement my research during my essays.

When I look back at my rejections, I know very well that it was NOT because of my essays but rather a question of profile / fit / round. That said, ‘all you need is one!’ and I know fully well that my applications would be nowhere as good without Kate’s help. Her attention to detail was awesome and it always amazed me how she would transform my essay, with essentially the same story and build-up, into something absolutely different.

During my interview preparation with Kate, she gave me some truly invaluable tips which I know I will be using going forward as well! Not just that, if I felt my essays needed an additional spark, Kate would always reach out to other consultants at MBAMission and get their thoughts as well which was not something I ever expected out of her.

I think what really stood out to me while working with Kate was just how amazing a person she was and was genuinely interested in my successes and failures. That is really important while working with a consultant since you are going and pouring out details of your life story to someone whom you haven’t met before and you need to be really comfortable doing that. My calls and frequent e-mails (trust me when I say frequent!) never disappointed and I always felt comfortable and relaxed during the entire process.

Lastly, the thing that stood out to me most was when I got my rejections, she gave me additional material to prepare for my Round 2 essays if I ever needed them and ensured that I planned ahead even though I wouldn’t be working with her. Before I received my Booth acceptance, I was able to complete my essays for 2 other universities as a backup all because of Kate’s push. Thankfully I never had to use them :-D

I really can’t overstate how much I recommend her services.

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After researching a few different companies and interviewing 3 different consultants, I did not hesitate to work with Angela, and I still consider hiring her as one of the best things I did to prepare for the long process of applying to business school. She is upbeat, down to earth, kind, and the type of person who will tell it like it is and tell it how you need to hear it. Now that the process is over, I would definitely go back and choose her again in a heartbeat.

I am a non-traditional applicant- first of all, I am a 38 year old mother, so from the perspective from many Adcoms, I may as well have an AARP card. The stats for my admission to any top tier school were not good just based upon this fact alone. I am also military (I had a long commitment), but I had a late start to my career due to some flailings in my personal and professional life in my early 20’s. My extracurriculars were nothing spectacular and my college GPA was 3.3. I did, however, have a 740 GMAT, so I decided that maybe a school or two may overlook my faults if I could sell myself correctly, and this is where Angela came in.

I knew that I would give this one shot- no reapplying next year, so I wanted to make it count. I bought the 5 school comprehensive package and paid the nearly $10,000 fee (gulp!) With her advice, I decided to apply to MIT, Yale, HBS, Kellogg, and Foster (U of Washington). Here are a few of thoughts about my experience with Angela:

1. I am an extremely private person, yet I felt completely comfortable sharing things with Angela that even some of my closest friends don’t know. Not only is she not judgmental, but I also felt that in sharing certain things with her, she was able to understand me as a total person, which was key when helping me craft compelling narratives.

2. She was ALWAYS on time and NEVER missed a deadline or phone call. Ever. She was always prepared for the call.

3. I am not by nature a procrastinator, so I did not hire her to help me stay on track. I hired her because she knows what she is doing. She did not disappoint.

4. I had one minor recommender-related crisis that occurred half way through the process that I freaked out about. Angela was on the phone with me almost immediately and talked me down off the ledge and gave me some much-needed direction.

All of this was still hard work on my part. Having Angela as a consultant did not mean less work for me- on the contrary, it probably resulted in more. I had anywhere from 3-6 drafts on each essay, but as a result, my applications were WAY better than they would have been had I not been working with her. There are so many ways to screw up an essay, and I probably would have if left to my own devices.

I ended up receiving a full scholarship to Yale and a $40K scholarship to Foster. I was offered an interview to both MIT and HBS but was waitlisted at MIT and rejected to HBS. I was rejected to Kellogg (they interview everybody). All in all, not too shabby for someone with my stats! I probably would not have gotten into Yale at all or Foster with such a large scholarship without Angela. So the way I see it, this was a great ROI on my initial 10K. Aside from the economics, working with her just made the process… well, better. It was nice not to have to bug my friends to read my essays and I liked having a totally unbiased opinion. I looked forward to our brainstorming sessions and I felt like she really got me. All in all, I would do the same exact thing and hire Angela again if I had to re-do this process (which I don’t, thank goodness!).

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I was introduced to mbaMission by a friend who is currently attending CBS, the university I wanted to attend myself. She told me that the consulting service was an important part of her acceptance so I decided to order it as well. As I made a late decision to apply to business school, there were not consultants who had attended CBS available anymore. That made me a bit concerned, I remember. So, I read carefully the consultants profiles and chose to work with Kate Richardson, mainly because practical experience is something very important for me and she had been through several human resources roles. The call we did to meet each other was very friendly and enlightening. Afterwards, during the essays reviewing process, she demonstrated a great care with my application, by giving attention to details and trying to help me tell my story in a plain way. Even though a kind person, she would always give me honest feedback, which is something I value much and which definitely enabled me to improve my work along the way. Clearly, Kate has the knowledge to help applicants be accepted in any great school they wish to attend.

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I could not have asked for a better experience. Before I picked mbaMission and met Jen, I had been searching for detailed information on the full-time MBA program at Columbia and for structure in my application process. In little to no time, Jen supplied multiple guides (including an up-to-date insider's guide on Columbia), helped me identify and organize many tasks and got to know me really well. Each time I hit a brainstorming brick wall, Jen reminded me of a pertinent example I had shared in our first week that would tell my story effectively in an essay or interview setting. Thanks to Jen, I felt confident and enjoyed my application process!

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I worked with Daniel Richards on the end-to-end package for three top 25 schools. With a 640 GMAT, all of these schools would have been considered out of reach in the traditional sense, but Dan was able to bring my non-traditional work experience and community involvement to light resulting in acceptance to all three schools. I am convinced that without Dan, I would not have been accepted to these schools.

Through multiple conversations with Dan, we were able to identify the most unique experiences that would lead to differentiation between my application and others. Additionally, Dan encouraged me to take calculated risks, such as videos or creative submissions, when the essay prompt allowed, furthering my differentiation.

As the MBA process can be stressful and daunting, Dan always maintained a positive attitude, while still pushing me. Additionally, Dan was always available for questions (both email and phone), and returned all communications within two days, but usually within only a few business hours. Dan’s flexibility and prompt responses allowed me to work unconventional hours while still meeting all application deadlines.

Having experience with a previous admissions consultant I can attest that Dan is truly the best. Dan’s intellectual ability and dedication to his clients is only matched by his knowledge of the MBA process. It was one of the most worthwhile investments I have made - not only for the edge I gained with my application, but for the encouragement, support and confidence he gave me (and the confidence is really a long term benefit). I highly recommend working with Dan and mbaMission!

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I have an unusual profile for an MBA applicant, so early-on I decided that it would be best to work with a consultant. I went on to have 2 free sessions with the biggest consultancies out there. One session felt very general and impersonal, and the other one was with Angela. It was a complete accident that I spoke to Angela. She kind of just randomly chose my name from the list. Best randomness ever! Just in the intro, the free 40 min consultation, she was on-target and specific. No general stuff, no blablabla, very focused and directed. It was a clear choice for me to work with her. Plus she has like the best reviews out here. Now, she has one more AMAZING RATING from me.

I could write for ages about the journey I had together with Angela towards reaching my goals. She was there when I was excited, when I was exhausted mentally, when I completely lost it (like I was wondering down the streets, completely brain-dead), but also when I finally got admitted to 3 RAD programs. But I'll try to be more to the point. After 6 months of talking and working together, I see Angela as a friend - to the point that I invited her over to my hometown, to give her a tour. (BOOK YOUR TICKET, ANGELA!)

I have an unusual profile. I know, I know, I said that already. But I was terrified the schools wouldn't see past that. So I had to write down my life story for Angela - I wasn't sure which parts were relevant and which weren't. Angela analyzed everything, and together we selected the best stories to fit into those specific school essays. Her depth of analysis, her multi-angle viewpoint and her power to bring out the VERY BEST out of you is the top feature that you need to remember. That is what you want from your consultant, that is what you need from your consultant. Also, she's like really, really, cool. And supportive. And encouraging. All that plus a bag of chips.

Now, to the specific stuff that is borderline voodoo. I didn't know what schools I should be targeting. Angela said HBS, Kellogg, Wharton, Booth, and after some negotiation with me, we added CBS, and LBS. MARK MY WORDS - from the free 40 min intro session in April 2015, she told me: "You'll be a strong candidate for Booth, Wharton, and Kellogg. HBS is a risk, LBS, and CBS are gonna be more difficult."

This September, I got rejected from HBS, LBS, and CBS. This December, I got admitted to Booth, Wharton, and Kellogg. But wait, there's more - she was like - yeah, you might end up with a scholarship from Booth. GUESS WHAT? I DID.

So Angela CALLED IT! She actually called the cards in April. This is how well she knows the schools. This is how well she can analyze you based on a 10 minute intro about your life. This is how well she knows where you fit. What more do you want?

So in case you missed the point, I don't only recommend Angela. I would not have wanted to work with anyone else IN THE WORLD but her. And I'm not just saying it, she is my friend, and I feel lucky I got to know her.

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I worked with Tanya for round 1 applications to three schools using the complete school packages. I was already well into my application planning by the time I started working with mbaMission, so we moved quickly through the initial phases of the complete school package phases.

It was extremely helpful to have Tanya review my essays and provide feedback on them as I was applying to three schools within a three week time window. It was extremely stressful time but having Tanya to review one essay while I began work on the next helped me manage the limited time I had. Tanya is well connected to many of the other consultants, so if she ever feels that another individual is better suited to answer your particular question, she'll leverage the other consultants to get you the best possible information.

Tanya quickly grasped my profile and background and made suggestions about what to include in my various essays/applications that I hadn't even made the connection to. That was particularly helpful when I ran into road blocks as to what to write about for very different essay prompts. I benefited from the mbaMission model for the standard personal essay format. Initially I thought the format/feedback on the personal essay was somewhat generic, but in the end I realized I needed the constant feedback from Tanya to clearly/concisely answer those seemingly simple questions about "why an mba? short/long term career goals?" in my essays.

My recommendation for anyone considering working with an mbaMission consultant/Tanya Gaskins is to make the decision as early as possible in the application process as to be in a position to fully take advantage of the complete school packages.

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