Coming from a technical engineering role in an industry that doesn’t value an MBA like other industries, I didn’t know many people who had pursued a full-time MBA. In addition, I didn’t have the best GMAT score (below the average but within the 80%) for an “over-represented male” applicant. For these two reasons, I looked for an admission consultant to ensure I put the best application forward.

While doing my due diligence, I happened to connect with a mutual friend who had used MBA Prep School and is now at Wharton. With this lead, I connected with Tyler Cormney who took the time to understand my profile and needs. He recommended Faisal whose strengths as admission consultant aligned strongly with my needs.

I knew I would not need someone to push me to write my applications. Rather, I needed someone to ensure I was telling the best version of my story. I also knew I would struggle with telling my work experience in layman terms, so I needed a consultant who has helped other engineers in a technical line of work.

I am happy to say that Faisal met and exceeded all my expectations. Faisal took the time to learn about me in order to help me craft my story in a truthful and compelling manner. I would often leave comments regarding any part of my application (essays, resumes, short answers, etc.) to gather additional feedback from Faisal. No matter how much I wrote, he always read every comment. In addition, Faisal was excellent at helping me showcase leadership examples while removing nonessential technical knowledge to tell a clear and concise story.

The school packages were comprehensive. Every part of my application was reviewed until it was ready (no edit counts) and feedback was provided within 2-3 days. This included supplemental essays after the application was submitted and even waitlist help (if needed).

Luckily for me, I was accepted to my top choice school, MIT Sloan with $80k of scholarship. I cannot thank Faisal enough! I would recommend him anyone who feels they need a razor-sharp application to get accepted into their dream school.

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My brother in law referred to MBA Prep school and I have not regretted even a single day after I accepted their services.
To start the proceeding, I had a small 20-30 minute telephonic session with Tyler and he got to know about me, what my background was and what my expectation were from MBA Prep school. After the session Tyler told me that he will assign me Santosh Prasad ( Sam ) as my admission consultant. The next day, I had session with Sam and he gave a brief of what our plan would be and how we will approach the whole admission cycles.
Sam is very professional and extremely helpful. My first task was to find the schools I am interested in applying to. I was struggling to find the school and I told Sam about it. He carefully reviewed my profile and delved deep into which schools will be best fit for me. Once the school selection was done, Sam polished my resume. He did minute but extremely significant tweaks to my resume. After 2-3 revision, my resume was all good to go. One of other advantage I had while working with Sam was time. I had approached MBA prep school around May 2018, so I had a good 6 months’ time before the round 1 deadlines. Next on our agenda were the Essays. I think essays are the most important aspect of the MBA application. We normally think that GMAT or our work experience will land us a good MBA school. From what I have seen, that is not the case. The essays introduce you to the admission committee and that is why you need consultants like Sam who can really combine the all the pieces of your personality and experience, and come up with a good story about you. Yes, you can do the essay yourself and submit them to your friend/relative to help. But getting a professional help for your essays is not a bad option. Sam used to ask me to research about each school I was applying to and come up with draft versions of essay. Once I wrote the essays, he will review each line and add comments for the important pieces I have missed. I was really happy that someone is paying so much attention to each line and word I am writing. The edits suggested by Sam were extremely helpful. For essays too, Sam took 2-3 revisions and then we came up with the final version. For one of the essays he even got it reviewed by one of the admission committee member. It just goes to say that Sam can go lengths to make his clients happy and make them succeed.
Sam also helped me for few of the mock interviews and my (never ending) adhoc questions. He never shied away from providing his honest opinion. All his replies were in time and there was never an instance when I had to follow up with him. Sam had been admission committee member for one of the most reputed MBA school and I believe this helped me a lot. He knows what an admission committee is looking for. He will remove any extra detail from the essay and add the vital ones. Sam is also very flexible and works as per your schedule. I being a working professional, really liked this part. I did not have to worry much about the deadlines and Sam would always setup meeting as per my flexibility.
I had been dreaming to do MBA from US. With help from MBA Prep school wholesome guidance from Sam, I am able to live that dream. I am happy to tell you that I got accepted in a good school in Texas. I will not shy away from referring MBA prep school and Sam for the folks who want to do MBA from US and looking for admission help. I know taking consultant help is a big economic decision and was out of budget for me too, but with MBA prep you will never regret that decision.
Thank you Sam and MBA Prep school for all your help.

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Working with MBA Prep School was a wonderful experience - and I recommend working with Tyler and Santosh to refine and develop anyone's business school applications.

From the beginning, Santosh was both honest and forthright about my business school goals, and guided me on the best way to approach the process. We had spoken on the phone for two separate 30 minute sessions, and he really made me understand what to expect. He spoke to how I could effectively use my time, and how much work the admissions process required for the number of schools I planned to apply to.

We got started working together quickly after speaking on the phone, and I cannot express how helpful he was in getting the process started. I applied to 3 schools with him, and a 4th with some assistance. He's incredibly knowledgeable about individual MBA admissions processes, and was a valuable guide in navigating my goals and tasks, keeping me engaged in the process. Our time was spent mining my professional and personal accomplishments, while understanding how to present my strengths and weaknesses to present an overall polished and unique application. He helped me develop a fully thought out idea for my goals, and how I could effectively present myself as a business school candidate. Most importantly, he guided me on really thinking about why I'm interested in business school, and understanding what I want to get out of it in terms of furthering my career. Without working with him, I'm confident that my applications would not have been as polished as they turned out to be, and I wouldn't have as clearly defined goals as I do now.

I highly recommend working with Santosh. Since working with him I have been accepted to my top choice Business School, and am awaiting responses from the other schools to which I applied. He is wonderful to work with; he's honest, timely, organized, and conscious of your concerns and how you want to present yourself as a business school applicant. He was able to help me leverage my professional accomplishments to strengthen my application and achieve my goals.

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I first connected with Santosh in December 2018: at that time, I was still in the process of shortlisting colleges and writing the requisite examinations like GRE and TOEFL. It was my first attempt ever at filling Masters Applications abroad. Santosh, within a very short span of time, transformed into a genuine stakeholder to my success. His availability far surpassed anything that I had ever imagined: whether it was odd hours or last minute rectifications, he was always ready to help. Added to that was the fact that he knew the nuances of what the specific schools look for and how to not only structure an amazing application, but also to keep me motivated during the process. I got into my dream school at Anderson (UCLA), exactly 6 months after I first wrote GRE. This wouldn’t have been been possible without Santosh and MBA Prep School.

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Deciding to work with Faisal Khan and the MBA Prep School team was the best decision I could have made regarding the application process. I come from a non-business background and do not have many in my close network that are knowledgeable about MBA programs or even the graduate school application process in general. I was truly flying blind.
Faisal took me under his wing and provided me with brainstorming materials and constructive feedback that forced me to be incredibly introspective. Brainstorming with Faisal was almost cathartic. Because he was so interested in learning about me, Faisal was able to point out strengths and unique qualities that I didn’t recognize in myself. The MBA Prep School brainstorming sessions and resources allowed me to brand myself as a top MBA candidate.
I also never waited longer than a few days to get feedback and edits from Faisal on my essays, resume, interview prep questions, etc. He was prompt, professional, and clearly cared about my success. My investment in MBA Prep School resulted in an acceptance at Kellogg, Tepper, Goizueta and Foster all with either partial or full scholarship awards! 😊

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After interviewing multiple consultants and a nightmare experience with one consultant, I luckily found Mark through MBAPrep. He has truly been a critical and phenomenal resource for me throughout the MBA application process. During our first introductory call, Mark immediately identified my application strengths and weaknesses and provided thorough feedback on how I could improve. He is comprehensive and timely in his draft reviews, and has a unique ability to help craft your story into something unique and spectacular. Mark helped me prep and excel in my interviews and I always felt like a top priority for him. Mark played an integral role in helping me get into multiple top schools with scholarships/fellowships. His services were the best investment I could’ve made and I would enthusiastically recommended him for all those going through the application process!

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As a consultant from an over-represented background, without a perfect GPA, and a decent GMAT score, I knew that to get into the top MBA programs I had to have a razor-sharp story. In working with a consultant, I was looking for help with time/project management, guidance on the details and differentiation between programs (i.e. what each school cared about), and help putting a creative twist to my application. Faisal nailed all three.

During our work together, Faisal took the time to delve deep and understand me as a person, which allowed both of us to speak a common vernacular and pull from a common set of experiences to highlight in my essays and my interviews. As a proofreader, he challenged me to be provocative, precise, and answer the question(s) in my personal voice. He was available when I needed him, and made each step of the process as clear as possible. Ultimately, I think Faisal is different because he genuinely cares about his clients, and based on the other testimonials I read, this translates to strong results. I will be recommending Faisal to my friends and colleagues.

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The word consultant doesn’t even begin to describe the role Christina played during my application process for business school. I am weeks away from my first day at Columbia’s EMBA program- something that felt like a distant dream before I started working with Christina.

I needed a consultant who would help me from start to finish: from researching programs, to laying out practical timelines, or brainstorming essay topics, to conducting mock interviews. I had no idea if I was months behind, or weeks ahead in the application process. Christina helped me break it all down and kept me on schedule.

Christina cares deeply about her clients’ success. We spent weeks upon weeks just on my resume. Every draft I sent over was flipped back in a timely manner, with thoughtful edits and helpful suggestions.

One of Christina’s best qualities is her candid feedback. She won’t tell you what you want to hear, she will tell you what you need to hear to get into the best school possible. I wasn’t your cookie cutter consultant/finance executive applying for an EMBA. I had flaws in my school records- she found ways for us to address it. I had limited leadership experience- Christina provided ideas for how to enhance other qualities I could emphasize.

In the end, I only applied to Columbia. With EMBA programs having different deadlines for different schools, it worked out that by the time I was ready to send off my second application (NYU Stern) I was already accepted into Columbia.
While my friends and family were great outlets for support, Christina was my coach through the application process. She truly brought out the best qualities in me- some I didn’t even knew I had.

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I highly recommend hiring Chris to help you through the grueling MBA application process. My only regret is not reaching out to him earlier to help me optimize my entire application.

I only reached out to Chris after getting an interview at my top choice. With a week to spare, I shot him an email asking to set up a mock interview. Even though he’s a very busy guy, he squeezed me in on a Saturday afternoon. Chris was a consummate professional: he was thoroughly prepared for our interview, as he had already read through my application very closely and done a bit of brainstorming on how I could answer certain questions. As for the mock interview itself – my first attempt at an interview like that – it did not go well. But Chris walked through each type of question with me and helped me articulate better examples to paint a consistent picture of who I am as a candidate. Furthermore, he gave me some additional background on the interview process and the different ways each school approaches it. After my hour with Chris, I felt like I had a much better grasp of the process and how to frame my experiences. I also immediately regretted not reaching out to him earlier for the broader application process.

I ultimately was accepted to my top choice school. If you’re serious about getting into an elite business school, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not reaching out to Chris for a consultation. I’m very confident that without his help, I would’ve had a much lower probability of success.

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I was one of the biggest skeptics of MBA consultants when I started down my MBA journey. Not only was I (a then public sector employee) shocked by the consultant fee, but I also got very little out of MBA consultations. In these consultations, I felt like I was not getting an honest assessment of my candidacy.

I only seriously thought about hiring a consultant after I had a call with Chris. For the consultation, Chris started by asking pointed questions to understand my background, school identification process and career goals. The questions were challenging and, as a result, helped me better understand exactly where I was in my MBA journey. Chris also gave me an honest and insightful assessment of my candidacy. Admittingly, it was not what I wanted to hear, instead it was exactly what I needed to hear.

I knew I wanted to work with Chris after this call, but had to convince myself whether I would be crazy to spend thousands of dollars for help with my application. Looking back now with acceptance and a scholarship offer from my top school, the only crazy thing was how much I agonized over one of the best decisions I made in all of last year. I owe 100% of this success to my collaboration with Chris.

Working with Chris was the most fulfilling, challenging and enjoyable collaboration I have been a party to. Similar to other consultants, Chris created a project platform to track our progress and utilized an array of different materials and videos. What makes Chris different from the rest is his ability to read and understand you, which is a product of his genuine interest in you as a person. Of course, he wants you to get into your top school. More importantly, he cares for you as friend and wants you to succeed in your life goals. Because he is so invested in you he matches, if not exceeds, the effort you put into your applications. For instance, Chris stayed up past midnight for three straight days to help me get an application done and helped me work through a break up that happened 3 days before my interview.

When I got my first interview, Chris was the first person I emailed and a few minutes later he called to congratulate me. I never felt like I was working with a consultant because Chris became a dear friend and my go to person throughout my applications. I miss collaborating with him on a regular basis, but still regularly connect with him whether through an email with interesting tid bits or an update in my MBA journey.

To end, here are my three pieces of advice for you:
1. If you get the chance to work with Chris, then DO IT!
2. If you are 100% sure you want an MBA but would not be ready to have a consultation yet because it was hard to fill out all the information on the form, then FILL IT OUT as best you can and start working with Chris! I wish I had started earlier in my process.
3. If you are worried about the fee, then DON’T! This investment is pennies compared to the cost of business school and the reward of scholarships can be huge.

Cheers and good luck!

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