Strengths:

End-to-end coaching, school selection, essay construction, interview preparation, holistic feedback, direct & honest communication.

One first free consultation with Harshad and I knew I wanted to work with him. And I made this decision after speaking with over 10 consultants across the globe.

What stood out is his genuine care. Harshad spent hours on brainstorming sessions to understand me – not only my motivations but also me as a person. We uncovered what he calls the ‘unknown knowns’, by helping me reflect on my life decisions and how those have led me now to pursue my MBA.

Harshad’s highly organized process helped me stay on track. Right from school shortlisting, resume creation, essay editing, his methodical approach made the overwhelming process so much simpler. With separate brainstorming sessions for each school, Harshad helped break down each essay prompt and read between the lines. This helped me truly understand what each program was looking for. These conversations made me reflect intensely and pick the right stories to share.

His involvement really stood out in the turnaround time, working across time zones, late nights, and even weekends. With him as my trusted advisor, I’d reach out for the tiniest of my queries – choice of recommenders or timing my application. Often, he’d refine the essays even when we were satisfied with the drafts. His striving for so much perfection and high quality motivated me to work even harder.

His honest and direct feedback is what any candidate needs in this process. I distinctly remember my Sloan cover letter. Two days before the deadline, on a weekend, I’d sent my drafts to Harshad. He told me plainly that my cover letter wasn’t going to make it. How he is different is he provided me with strong, actionable feedback to re-curate my entire draft and worked tirelessly to express my stories exactly as I meant to in such short time. Today, the Sloan cover letter I’ve submitted remains very special to me and is world apart in quality from my first draft.

In the age of AI-driven storytelling and the noise around it, our process was entirely human - not once did we use AI nor did Harshad suggest it. This made months of working together deeply personal and transformative, and for that, I’m incredibly grateful.

As I was applying in Round 2 from an overrepresented pool, all other consultants I reached recommended targeting only T-15 schools. Harshad is the only one who believed in me and our work together enough to aim for M7s. I received interviews from four M7 schools and I’m heading to MIT Sloan this fall, something I couldn’t have achieved without Harshad’s guidance and motivation.

One of my most valuable aspects was the mock interviews with Harshad. They were so school specific – in the nature of the interviewer behavior to questions tailored to my profile, that in the actual interview, I felt super confident and ready.

Beyond all, I’m glad that I have gained a mentor for a lifetime in Harshad. He’s been one of the first few people I’ve wanted to share my every result with. He’s been my trusted advisor and continues to guide me beyond applications - from scholarship negotiations to planning my B-school journey.

The MBA application process can be a daunting experience, but with Harshad on my side, I felt confident at every step of the way! There isn’t an aspect of MBA application process he didn’t surpass my expectations in.

A five-star review doesn’t even begin to capture it :)

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Strengths:

Personalized guidance, story development, strategy, end-to-end application support

Would make the product better:

Nothing. I felt the process was seamless start to finish. Jen is very communicative and professional.

I’m so grateful I made the decision to work with Jen on my MBA applications. As a non-traditional candidate with a background in tech sales, Jen helped me understand the value of my experience and, more importantly, gave me thoughtful guidance on how to communicate it to the schools I was applying to.

Jen worked closely with me throughout the entire process, including developing my overall professional and personal story, essay and application feedback, and interview prep. She helped me identify the common thread across my varied experiences and recognize accomplishments I had often overlooked. As someone who had struggled with imposter syndrome throughout much of my career, I came out of the application process with significantly more confidence in myself and my professional story. In the end, I achieved my goal of being accepted to one of my top-choice MBA programs in UK with a scholarship.

I honestly don’t think I could have achieved this opportunity without Jen and would absolutely recommend her, especially to applicants with non-traditional backgrounds or those struggling to understand how their experiences fit into a compelling MBA story.

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Strengths:

Having Jen who knew how to coach me, with excellent industry experience leading to spot on advice every time.

Would make the product better:

It worked really well for me tbh, improvements would be marginal.

I came to Jen at mbaMission on a 2 school package - some of the best money I've spent.
My only regret is not engaging with her sooner - her advice and guidance never missed.
Jen is a delight to work with skilled and experienced in gently, but firmly, guiding you on the best path, bringing out the strongest features of your application. She makes you want to do better.
It is entirely down to her that I walked away with three offers (INSEAD, Oxford and Cambridge with over $100K of scholarships), where at the beginning of Jan 2026 I had one rejection (CJBS) and host of poor GMAT/GRE results.
Getting a consultant is much more than having someone proof read your essays - her insight and experience literally opened my brain to what was possible - you want an advocate like her.
She is the consultant I needed (and no doubt will be able to help you too) - able to give frank direct advice on the shape of my essays (I had ideas which were frankly not good); able to shape my plan and goals, keeping them grounded in realism, and excellent interview prep - her suggestions and work on points came up in the real thing.
I would have never thought to ask the scholarship committee at Oxford for scholarship money (after application) leveraging success at other schools - I did on her advice - and it resulted in an even bigger scholarship.
Highly recommend.

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Strengths:

Personal investment in the case. School-specific essay customization rather than generic PDFs. Fast turnaround on drafts. Clear explanations of how each school differs.

Would make the product better:

Nothing. Harold delivered.

I applied to MBA programs for three years before working with Harold Simansky and got nowhere. Harold told me in our first conversation that we could get admitted. I was skeptical. He was right: I was admitted to Wharton, Columbia, and NYU Stern.

What set Harold apart was how invested he was in my case. He did not hand me the generic PDFs that most MBA consultants circulate. He took the time to explain how each school differs and made sure every essay was built for the specific program it was going to. He was extremely responsive, his turnaround on drafts was fast, and he used our time well. When the admits came in, he celebrated with me. I have recommended him to everyone who has told me they are thinking about an MBA, and I will keep doing so.

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Strengths:

Strengths: 1. highly customized approach to MBA programs & applications. 2. encouragement to bring out the best of people.
3. school specific "Cheat-sheet" to hone in.

Would make the product better:

Areas to improve: More touch-points - sometimes when it gets to busy application season might miss out on my emails.

I reached out to Harold during a turning point in my life. Harold proved that my choice to apply for Top programs with his guidance made all the difference. I still remember the nights when I doubted myself, but I could see it in his eyes and through the conversations we had that he really believed in my potential to reach where I want to go. I ended up admitted to Duke Fuqua with prestigious merit fellowship & scholarship to fund my studies in the states. I would not be where I am now without Harold's help and encouragement along the way.

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I first met Jessica on a 30 minute call to assess my application to b-school. I had been waffling for the whole year on whether I should apply to school and there were only ~8 weeks until round 2 deadlines. Working together wasn’t on the table as all of her slots for that cycle were filled. Though she had little to gain from our call, I found her to be forthcoming, honest, and extremely knowledgeable. When one of her applicants decided to defer and a spot opened up, I jumped at the chance to work with her.

Though I had an extremely tight schedule and a mountain of work to do, Jessica was never daunted. She was truthful about how much work I had to do, but encouraging and confident that I could do it. Her experience and advice saved me countless hours of effort(e.g. should I take the GMAT or GRE? now that I have my GRE score, is it good enough or should I retake it or work on my essays more? Who should my recommenders be?). She helped me focus my efforts on the parts of my application that needed it the most. Throughout the flurry of essay edits, Jessica was extremely responsive (more than she needed to be) and I found her suggestions for me to be thoughtful and grounded in her years of experience of working with applicants. In fact, one of my recommenders mentioned that he strongly considered working with Jessica on his own applications (and one his close friends from b-school had and loved working with her). Truly, no question of mine was too big or too small for her and she treated them all with a distinct level of care.

Jessica helped me approach a very unstructured challenge (that I wasn’t very prepared for) with a modicum of efficiency and confidence. Without her, I don’t think I’d be gearing up to head to Columbia for business school this year. I am walking away from the experience of working with her more confident in myself and my own story and journey. I’d recommend Jessica to everyone and anyone.

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I approached the idea of an MBA consultant with some skepticism, but working with Gavriella turned out to be one of the best investments I made in this entire process. I was admitted to every school I applied to including three M7, and a lot of that comes down to how precisely she understood what each school was actually looking for. She provides a valuable perspective on your story and how you can best integrate different aspects of your own experience into a compelling narrative that may be hard to see yourself. Furthermore, she is critical in refining your essays to best appeal to individual school ethos. Her approach also creates a framework you can utilize across your applications which saved me an enormous amount of time and gave the whole process a coherence it wouldn't otherwise have had. Her experience and guidance on how to plan deadlines as you navigate multiple applications is extremely helpful as well.

Equally impressive is her support and responsiveness. Throughout the process, Gavriella provided timely responses to any question or email I sent her way. Her editing process is just as efficient and was critical in helping me reach tight word limits without degrading quality. As you go through applications, it is incredibly valuable to have a sounding board you can reason through your own doubts or questions with, and Gavriella was excellent at this. She offers candid, objective, feedback and guidance that helped guide my thought process. More broadly she provided a personable, reassuring, and grounding presence throughout a stressful process that I really enjoyed working with.

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Thanks to Cat’s guidance and help, I got admitted to Wharton, the only school I applied to in Round 1. I 10000% recommend Cat to anyone targeting HSW or other top MBA programs. Her professionalism, structure, and deep admissions insight will significantly elevate the application. Beyond admission results, this process also helped me better understand myself, such as my achievements, strengths, weaknesses, and long-term direction. Working with Cat was not only an application journey but also a meaningful period of personal growth.

Initially, I did thoughtful research on many mbaMission consultants to collaborate with. Cat came to my mind for three main reasons: 1. We both come from a sales & trading background; 2. Wharton was my first choice, and Cat is a Wharton MBA graduate; 3. As an ABC who is fluent in Chinese, I believed we would share similar perspectives and communicate efficiently throughout the process, which turned out to be very true.

We started working together in May, which I initially thought was quite early since I was only applying to one or two HSW schools and was busy at work. However, Cat never took a relaxed approach. She designed a very structured weekly schedule for me to follow. I am naturally a procrastinator, so having clear deadlines made a huge difference. Cat’s disciplined process effectively eliminated my tendency to delay work. Whenever I was slow to respond, she would proactively check in to see how things were progressing. I really appreciated this level of accountability and support.

And for the essay part, I am grateful to Cat for her guidance on my essays. Because of her Wharton background and deep understanding of the school’s culture, the essay drafting process was both efficient and enjoyable. One method I particularly loved was her request that I started with bullet points rather than fully written sentences. This approach made it much easier to generate authentic content before refining the narrative. Another thing worth mentioning is although Wharton opened its Class of 2028 application in mid-July, Cat asked me to begin drafting essays as early as June. This early preparation allowed the entire process to progress smoothly. Thanks to her familiarity with Wharton, my essays became highly polished, professional, and clearly aligned with the school’s values and culture.

Cat’s professionalism and deep familiarity with both the sales & trading industry and Wharton admissions were also invaluable in refining my resume. After multiple revisions and detailed feedback, I can definitely say this is the best resume I have ever had. She reviewed my resume from an admissions officer’s perspective, frequently asking for clarification when something was unclear and encouraging me to provide additional details. She then helped me restructure sections to make my experience more impactful and easier to understand. Most importantly, Cat leveraged her own sales & trading experience to guide me in presenting measurable achievements, including strong performance metrics. These insights were super valuable and played a strong role in strengthening my application.

For the interview preparation, I had a great experience conducting mock TBD discussions with two mbaMission consultants. In addition, Cat provided very detailed guidance for the ten-minute personal interview following the TBD. Her preparation helped me stay focused, confident, and calm throughout the interview process.

Additionally, I also enjoyed working with Cat on other parts of the application. Her meticulous attention to detail ensured every section reflected my best self. Even for activities and awards, she asked thoughtful questions and helped refine the wording to maximize clarity and impact.

And during the entire application season, I had some concerns about my application and performance of interview, I emailed Cat and Cat always reassured me and provided thoughtful encouragement, which largely helped ease my anxiety. So I’m super glad and lucky to work with Cat and highly recommend Cat to anyone who targeting an MBA program.

Thank you again, Cat!

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I truly cannot recommend Susan highly enough. She was in my corner every step of the way and consistently went above and beyond what I expected from an admissions consultant.

She helped me with everything from identifying schools and exploring potential career paths at the beginning of the process to navigating final decisions and, once I was admitted, getting into the right mindset to actually begin business school.

Susan helped me take a lot of scattered thoughts about my experiences, goals, and motivations and turn them into a cohesive story that made sense not only to admissions committees, but also to me. The brainstorming process she led me through forced me to think more deeply about what I actually wanted from business school and my career, and I came out of the application process with more clarity and direction than I expected. That made not only writing my essays much easier, but even completing the career-related pre-work for my MBA program.

Susan also helped me navigate waitlists, difficult admissions decisions, and scholarship negotiations, continuing to strategize with me even when things didn't initially go the way we had hoped. Ultimately, I was admitted to three of the four T15 programs I applied to and will be attending with a significant scholarship, and I KNOW that would not have been the outcome without her guidance.

Susan is also a rare combination of direct and comforting. I always trusted her to be completely honest with me and tell me what I needed to hear, but whenever I came to her convinced that something was a problem, she somehow had a solution and a path forward. She was equal parts advisor, coach, cheerleader, and, occasionally, big sister/mom, all while being an incredibly sharp businesswoman who knows this process inside and out.

The MBA application process had more ups, downs, and nuances than I ever anticipated, and I genuinely don't think I could have navigated it nearly as well without Susan's guidance, patience, and belief in me. I am incredibly grateful for everything she did for me and would recommend her without hesitation to anyone applying to business school.

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Working with Katy was one of the best decisions I made during the deferred MBA admissions process. She is an outstanding teacher and coach who took the time to understand me, identify the strongest parts of my story, and help me communicate them authentically. Her feedback was always thoughtful, honest, and specific, but what stood out most was how positive and encouraging she was throughout the process. Katy helped me prepare extensively for my interviews, sharpen my answers, and develop the confidence to present myself at my best. At times, I genuinely did not believe results like these were possible, but Katy helped me maintain the right mindset and believe in my candidacy. I ultimately received deferred MBA admission offers from Kellogg, Chicago Booth, Berkeley Haas, and UCLA Anderson—an outcome that exceeded my expectations. I am incredibly grateful for Katy’s guidance and would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, supportive, and genuinely invested admissions coach.

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