Lynn was critical for me in getting into HBS. The whole process we followed, from brainstorming to storytelling was extremely helpful and useful.

Several steps we made helped me vastly:
1. Brainstorming: Developing a comprehensive brainstorming exercise was extremely useful. In my case, I had already thought about what I wanted to tell in my stories but the brainstorming made me think about many other stories I had not thought of and that I finally used. Lynn asked me multiple questions in order to get into the specifics of my stories and uncover examples that were at the end very relevant.
2. Storytelling: As an international applicant, Lynn was very insightful on giving me tips on how to tell my stories, be specific and give examples. Her constant "show don't tell" policy was extremely valuable in order to make my application stand out.
3. Support: Lynn was very supportive during my application and also pushed me to constantly improve. As the deadline was approaching, she was sincere in her thoughts about my stories and urged me to improve the areas she felt were less strong.

As a conclusion, I would definitely recommend Lynn to anyone looking for a great admissions consultant!

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Eric and I solely reviewed my candidacy for my MBA programs and worked on how to approach application questions. The result: I was accepted in my dream school (Sloan).

Throughout the process, Eric helped me because he:
1) helped me understand my profile's strength and weaknesses
2) unfolded the questions that the schools were asking.
3) was incredibly timely in getting back to my questions.

Note that I was under the deadline gun in many situations and Eric was a champ in getting back to me faster than the standard 2 days.

The only challenge was that I came from an engineering background whereas Eric seemed to have more experience with candidates with more traditional backgrounds. This wasn't a big issue - we just got hung up on minor details.

I would recommend Eric - he was very helpful but did not write anything for me and I took ownership of the applications. Read the mbaMission book, Eric goes by many of its suggestions and it pays to have read it ahead of time.

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Having decided to pursue MBA with only few months to submit application, I decided to hire a consultant to guide me through the process of application submission. At the start of the process I knew about what all was needed e.g. GMAT, recommendations, essays etc. However, I wasn't aware of nitty gritty of each step like what defines a good recommendation, or what life stories are relevant for an essay. Through mbaMission, I met Eric. He is very professional, and works with you very passionately in order to achieve your goals. Initial questionnaire and documents from mbaMission sets you up to create an outline of your essay and forces you to think hard about your life events. I really liked Eric's approach of asking the right questions, instead of giving answers and prioritizing my life stories. His feedback on essay word count reduction and creative writing style added a lot of value to my essay. I would highly recommend Eric for your MBA essays.

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I was first introduced to Eric / mbaMission by a few of my co-workers who had used the same group when they were going through the application process last year. I spoke with Eric and a couple other consultants at other firms before deciding he was the best fit, namely due to his flexibility in service offering and specific knowledge about each school I was applying to (as opposed to making generalized statements). I couldn’t be happier with the outcome—Eric is hands down the easiest, wisest and most helpful consultant I could have worked with. I opted to use the hourly service as I felt that would be the best way to get targeted feedback on what I was working on. He was great at providing exactly what I needed and stayed within my ‘light/heavy comments’ and time limit range. I used him for a thirty minute resume review, several thirty minute essay brainstorming calls, several essay reviews and an HBS interview preparation call. Each time I would submit a draft of my essay, he would send comments back well before the 2-day deadline. The level of detail and guidance he provides in his comments/questions is exactly what I needed in order to be able to successfully refine my story and not feel as though I was left stranded each time.

My most memorable moment working with Eric was the day I interviewed at HBS. We had a quick call to go over interview techniques the week prior and he had mentioned he would stay ‘on call’ to review my post-interview reflection statement if I wanted someone to take a quick glance for general thoughts. After my interview, I hung back at Spangler (my interview location at HBS) and quickly lost track of time while working on my essay. To my surprise and delight, I received an e-mail from Eric at 9pm checking in to see how the interview went and ask if I still wanted to show him my final statement before submitting. This is an example of how Eric is extremely generous with his time and makes each client feel as though he/she is his only client at the time. He remembered my story week to week even though we only chatted for thirty minutes every now and then. He is very thoughtful and really took the time to get to know me so he could provide the best insight for how I should position myself in each essay for each school. Ultimately, I got into my top choice (HBS) and wouldn’t have been able to do it without his guidance and support along the way!

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When I first made the decision to apply to business school, I was unsure as to whether I wanted to hire an admissions consultant. Looking back, choosing to work with Eric on my applications was one of the best decisions I made during the admissions process.

From our first conversation, Eric made understanding not just my background and objectives, but also my personality, a priority. He consistently took the time to understand WHY I made the decisions I’d chosen throughout my life and my career. The effort paid huge dividends when brainstorming for the admissions essays, as Eric was able to help me choose topics that brought through my personality and accomplishments while still highlighting the aspects of my background that would be most attractive to each admissions committee. Eric’s ability to combine a deep, detailed understanding of his clients with an equally-detailed understanding of what each school is looking for is truly standout.

Another highlight of my experience with Eric was his responsiveness. My work-weeks generally average 70-80 hours; in addition, we were working on a very tight timeline (my first application was due less than 1 month after we started working together). Eric was exceptionally accommodating of my schedule and never missed a deadline, at one point even working through a wedding weekend. Eric’s responses were not only prompt, but also tremendously additive to the drafting process – each essay was returned with thought-provoking, actionable comments that kept my writing focused and on point.

Lastly, my review would not be complete without highlighting Eric’s awesome personality and demeanor. He was encouraging and supportive throughout what can be an extremely stressful process, yet never sugar-coated things; he always told me exactly what I needed to hear. Throughout the process, it was always clear that he was genuinely invested in making sure my applications were successful.

I strongly recommend Eric to anyone who is considering working with an admissions consultant – he is a thoughtful, talented and hard-working advisor. In my case, I am certain that his guidance was the difference-maker that led to my being admitted to my top-choice school (Wharton).

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I worked with Liza on an hourly basis because I was not sure how many schools I wanted to apply to. My applications would not have reached their full potential with Liza’s help. Simply put, Liza’s services are well worth the price. She not only helped me with the applications directly but also consulted on which schools to apply to. Without Liza’s help I would not have known of Cornell’s strengths in the finance space. I could not have asked for a more creative, compassionate, and responsive consultant. Without Liza, I would still be stuck in my current role with no future in sight. Now, I am on my way to a successful MBA career. Working with Liza has been a pleasure.

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Simply put, Liza’s input improved the quality of my applications and interview prep to a point it would not have reached if I only relied on my friends/family and myself.

I worked with Liza on an hourly basis since I decided to engage a consultant late in the application process. I was skeptical of the value of a consultant given the support I had from both alumni and family. However, even on the short 30 minute intro call, it was clear that Liza brought a professional lens I needed. As a former management consultant herself, she could relate to the story I was trying to tell and suggested straightforward ways to improve my reasoning behind ‘why an MBA’ to make it resonate with schools. Throughout our engagement (email back and forths on apps, essays, and a couple mock interview sessions), I found her feedback to be tactical, easy to implement, and she always made it clear how her suggested edits could improve my application. The feedback was also prompt and she made it feel like we were a team that had the same priorities.

In addition to the nuts and bolts of the application, working with Liza gave me the confidence I needed throughout the process. She made me feel more prepared, which was a difficult task given the amount of constructive feedback she gave :). In the end, I got into my first choice school and I don’t think that would have happened without her support.

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Selecting Eric as my admission consultant is one of the wisest moves I made in my business schools’ applications. From the first call, he was so well-prepared that he suggested potential schools and programs that perfectly matched my career goals and profile. Eric is truly detailed-oriented; he brainstormed with me on every single essay question, drawing all my attributes and strengths mentioned in the questionnaire I had done in the very early stage of the consulting processes. When it came to the mock-interviews, he gave me invaluable feedback on each of my draft answer to the simulated interview questions, improving and broadening my views significantly. Working with Eric is extremely efficient and comfortable; he kept on his high performance while maintaining his cozy conversations.

Having been through the application processes, I realized that the admissions committees look not only for the most qualified but also for the best-fitted applicants. While the former attribute is simply shown in the GMAT score and GPA, the latter attribute must be communicated through the essays, which are usually done without sufficient effort. Admission consulting service, in my opinion, is a worthwhile investment, representing only a small portion of the total educational investment. And as in any investments, picking a correct “choice” is crucial. If you are reading my testimonial, I suggest that you just pick Eric, and I guarantee you that it will be one of your most profitable investments.

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I applied to 3 top American business schools with MbaMission's support and I got an offer from 2 of those. I think that being supported by a specialized consulting firm like MbaMission is fundamental to be accepted into different top business schools. Here what I liked about working with MbaMission:
1. It is a very structured company (you are followed step-by-step during the entire application journey)
2. It provides you with a lot of material
3. It has parent companies that can help you after the admission (financing your MBA and career development)
And now what I liked about Hollis:
1. She is very creative (she came up with a lot interesting ideas on how to present thoughts at best)
2. She is very patient in reading your essays as many time as you need
3. She is pleasant to work with

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I worked with Hollis on an hourly basis to polish up my application to 3 top ten business schools. At first I was hesitant to invest such a large sum in 60 minutes of a person's time. However, I went on to buy not one but six hours of Hollis's time, and can confidently say that every minute we worked together was the best possible use of my time and money.

Hollis was an excellent consultant for a number of reasons, here are some of my favorite characteristics:

- Prompt: Hollis always returned my material within the allotted time (48 hours), and often in half that time. This made me feel like my work was a priority to her, and it was also immensely useful to turn around final drafts and submit material in time for the Round 2 deadlines.

- Positive: All of Hollis's efforts were geared towards helping me present my best self, and that extended even to the tone and nature of our communications. She constantly encouraged me, while also giving the detailed feedback I needed to improve my application.

- Clear: Gone are the days of illusive feedback from professors about how to improve your English essays. The feedback Hollis gave on my personal statements was always very clear and easy to integrate, without losing my personal tone. This really helped me understand what the AdComs were looking for and significantly improved my statements as a result.

This Fall I will be attending Stanford GSB, a school I almost didn't apply to because it felt so far out of reach. I'm confident that Hollis played an instrumental role in elevating my application to the status that helped it get noticed and, ultimately, accepted by my dream business school.

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