Hollis, through mbaMission, was extremely helpful throughout my application process to Wharton. We all know how stressful the application process can be and she played a big part in reducing that stress. The process they have structured helped me reflect on my life and crystallize the message and theme of my application. That brainstorming process was instrumental in selecting the topics for my essays. After selecting the topics, Hollis was very helpful in reviewing the material and continuously supported me in fine tuning my message. She was accessible, responsive and insightful and was always available to talk through my concerns or objectives in each essay. In addition, the mock Wharton TBD prep was also extremely helpful and I went into the session feeling prepared and confident. I would highly recommend her services.

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After my GMAT, I was under the impression that college applications should not be a big task because it is just about putting together all my past experiences in an interesting way(please bear in mind that what's interesting to me need not be interesting to the adcom). However, I still decided to go for the 3-school package with mbaMission because I had given my GMAT only in Oct end and I wanted to apply to the B-schools for the next year admissions; and having a consultant's help would certainly aid me in taking some quick decisions regarding what I could write for a particular essay. Back then, I had no clue that admission consultant's help could make such a huge difference to my application. I now believe that taking mbaMission's package was one of my wisest moves because there way no way that I would have managed to do such a great work on my essays without Eric's help.

Although I had a strong international work experience, I think most of the other aspects of my application weren't outstanding(they were good but not great). But considering that my background is one where thousands of other guys like me keep applying, it was very important for my essays to highlight my international experience and make it stand out from the rest. After filling up the brainstorming document, Eric and I discussed about the various positives and negatives in my application and we decided on how we would be tackling each of the questions for the college. Be that bringing my attention to some of the important things that I missed in my essay or reducing the number of words in the sentences thereby allowing me to add more content to my essays, Eric's made an immense contribution to my essays by making the experiences sound compelling. Since I started working on most of my applications with just a month left before the deadline for the b-school, I would generally manage to send the essays to review only at the last minute; during all these situations Eric has been extremely helpful and returned the essays on time. I must admit that it is very important to start early when it comes to your applications, so that you have enough time to review your essays. Working with Eric over time, I could see that my writing skills have improved dramatically(at least I would like to think so ;-)) and my most recent B-school essays had fewer reviews than my first B-school essays. Even before my interview for my dream college, Eric boosted my confidence by telling me what an MBA interviewer expects from an applicant.

I would like to highlight a mistake that I did during the whole process. Until I got a reject, I never bothered going through the start to finish guide by mbamission fully(I had read a few sections but not all of it). After I got dinged from one of the B-schools, I decided to go through the pdf and made several drastic changes to some of the important questions; I got an interview call from both the B-schools I applied subsequently and I cleared the interviews as well.

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Eric was the key to getting me into my dream program. I put in a lot of the leg work before my first chat with Eric (a month before my app was due). The good thing was that I knew where I wanted to go, why, and what my academic focus would be, but I really need help to create a cohesive application. Eric definitely brought my application up a notch. He asked key questions that helped me fine-tune my ideas and experiences into a cohesive story with specific goals. Given that I was reaching out to him almost always in a panic and at the last minute, I was so lucky that he was able to squeeze me into his schedule whenever he could and provide feedback surprisingly quickly. My only regret is that I didn't start the process a little earlier!

Eric also helped me fix up my resume to be more results-focused (instead of task-focused). Again, he was super helpful here and helped me boil down some of my industry jargon into an easy to read resume. He also asked me key questions to help highlight my most important accomplishments. I would recommend mbaMission and Eric to anyone who needs help getting to the finish line!

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I used mbaMission to help me with preparing my application and I think it was worth every penny! The company first asked me what type of working style I had and paired me with Eric Hollowaty based on my responses. Eric was very professional throughout, and provided me extensive and exhaustive support.

I went into the process not really appreciating fully the magnitude of the task ahead, and so was really thankful to have Eric help me to navigate the process. Not only did Eric help me to brainstorm ideas for essays across the four schools I applied to, but he also reviewed those essays in detail over the course of multiple iterations. He also helped me proof read my resume and the application itself, all of which allowed me to “rest easy” with the knowledge that I had an expert, extra set of eyes to ensure my application allowed me to put my best foot forward to the admission committees.

Eric also helped keep me on task. If I had done the process on my own, I’m sure that I would have let some items “slip through the cracks”, so having Eric’s reminders every now and then that, for example, I only had two weeks left and need to fill out the application itself because it takes more time than you’d expect, was really helpful to ensuring that I completed everything on time.

In terms of the essays themselves, I was not prepared for the soul searching that some of the essays for the top 4 schools required. Eric really pushed me to dig deep and identify the fundamental things about me that an admissions committee wants to understand when asking an open-ended question like “tell us something we don’t already know about you.” Eric also provided great support in ensuring that I crafted a compelling story for “Why Our School”, forcing me to get very specific on the aspects of their curriculum that aligned with my interests, as evidenced by my career.

Lastly, Eric gave me the impression that he was incredibly dedicated to my success. Even though we only spoke over the phone, I could sense Eric’s passion for helping me to achieve my goal of getting into a top-tier business school, and it made me really enjoy working with him, to the point where I hope we stay in touch moving forward.

I would highly recommend mbaMission for their professionalism, and Eric Hollowaty in particular, for the phenomenal support that they provided. I would not have gotten into my business school of choice without their help!

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The only justice I can do for the incredible service I received from Liza Weale over our eight months working together is to write this review and let others know how great she is and how worthwhile it is to hire her.

I was introduced to mbaMission via Manhattan GMAT (which I also highly recommend), so decided to check them out with their free 30 minute consultation. Based on her bio on the website, I decided to meet Liza Weale (in person, which I recommend) to judge for myself whether the lofty price tag seemed worth it. During our brief initial meeting I was instantly impressed by her ability to identify what I wanted and needed out of our process working together and walked away challenged with how to tell my story successfully.

I initially purchased the two school start-to-finish package, which was a great decision. It allowed me to work with Liza through every step of the process – from school selection to brainstorming; essay writing to resume drafting; and even through the interview process. I highly recommend the complete package because it allows you to develop a relationship and working style with your consultant, while not being worried about the cost through every essay draft and phone call. I also used Liza on an hourly basis for a third school, which was sufficient because we were able to build off the work we had done for the two school package.

Working with Liza was worth every penny (and it was a lot of pennies). She provided me with all of the “must-haves” of an admissions consultant, including: keeping me on a schedule, being readily available and reliable and proof reading my work to 100% grammatical correctness. In addition, mbaMission's general process and how Liza guided me through it was critical to my success in the process. First, they provide strong overall process and school specific guides to get you started up the seemingly unsurmountable mountain of work that is applying to business school. Second, from my experience with Liza and reading through the bios on the website, mbaMission really does hire extremely qualified people who are impressive from both an academic and professional standpoint. This provides credibility to their insight and recommendations. Also, I found it extremely useful to get an unbiased reaction to my application from a credible source that you cannot get from friends, coworkers or family. Third, the process is structured and offers a critical brainstorming and self-assessment framework to lay the foundation for a strong application. I found this part of the process to be the most critical in discovering for myself what I want to do and how I communicate that to others, both for the business school application process as well as in the future. Finally, mbaMission really does work as a team and Liza was able to share insights from other clients and consultants on a variety of important topics from essay question strategy to interview focus.

However, most important were Liza’s personal attributes, style and hard work that lead me to recommend her so strongly. Liza was a pleasure to work with as she is both a good listener as well as an idea and thought partner and genuinely personally invested in your success. She helped me through every step of the process to craft a consistent and convincing story that I could be proud to submit and confident I put my best foot forward. Best of all, Liza is just a generally nice and cool person. I can’t wait to grab a cup of coffee with her and continue our great working relationship on a personal basis. Specifically though, the top three reasons I enjoyed working with Liza and would recommend working with her are:
1) She guides you in the right direction, while still allowing your point of view and voice to shine through
• I’ve heard that other consultants will “rip you a new one” and completely change your ideas and direction. However, Liza was very constructive with me – focusing on my cool, unique attributes and not a cookie cutter application format
• By helping you to come to the conclusions yourself you can develop the most conviction behind your application and create something really genuine
2) She spends the time to get to know you and your story so she can genuinely help you brainstorm and discover your best ideas
• There were many instances where Liza would recall an experience I told her about that was worth highlighting or an angle of an experience that wasn’t as obvious to me being someone who lived it. Her attention to detail, hard work and dedication in this aspect were vital to me
3) All of her edits / revisions are timely, thoughtful, analytical and never just a check the box / check for grammar exercise (no superficial editing)
• One of my biggest writing weaknesses is being precise and knowing where I can cut. She provided a huge value add to me here by giving me concrete opinions and suggestions while still allowing my full store to come through

In the end, I was admitted to HBS and Wharton so I really couldn’t have hoped for a better result! Overall, I highly recommend working with a consultant to make sure you put your best foot forward in your application. I was extremely happy with mbaMission and Liza Weale specifically, and would recommend her to anyone serious about applying to a top MBA program.

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I worked with Eric Hollowaty at mbaMission this fall to prepare my essays for two top business schools. In total, I purchased 5 hours of consulting services, and I was extremely satisfied with the results as I was recently admitted to my top choice school.

When I started the application process, I had a weak understanding and unclear idea of what I wanted to convey in my essays. In a very short time, Eric was able to help me brainstorm experiences to include and provide me with direction and advice on how I could incorporate these experiences into my essays to make them stick out.

Eric’s advice was critical to improving the quality of my essays, which in turn, contributed to my overall success in getting into school. I highly recommend his services!

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***LIZA WEALE is the most EFFECTIVE and EFFICIENT collaborator I have ever worked with!!!***
*SHE WILL HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR BEST PACKAGE POSSIBLE!*

I’m a 10 year veteran with a below 700 GMAT. I knew I would need to craft my best package possible in order to be competitive for R2 submissions. I applied to Kellogg (D), Wharton (A), and HBS (M). I began working on my applications around July and had already written my essays and resume by the time I approached Liza in October.

Even though I had engaged peers and alumni from all three schools to provide feedback on my essays and resume, I still felt uneasy with the feedback I received. My peers knew me well and had a military background – I felt I needed to engage someone with a keen eye and a different background. That’s when I reached out to MBAmission.

I got lucky by picking Liza Weale – after reading her background, she seemed like someone I would want to work with, a decision I don’t regret. She was able to relate to me, teach me new skills, keep me positive, and above all – provide an honest estimate of her services.

Liza Weale is a military brat (an endearing word to those that grew up traveling the country and world, base to base), so she had the perfect mix between knowing enough about the military to understand some context – but not enough to read past jargon. It was this balance that allowed her to provide hard hitting insight into my stories. If something made no sense – she’d give it to me straight. It really forced me to reflect on my stories in a way I could not have done on my own. This paid dividends when I interviewed at HBS. She is also extremely sharp and succinct. I had fears working over the phone – having done many teleconferences, I know what a waste of time they can turn out to be, but she was able to make every minute count. One phone call in my mind equated to 50 emails (be prepared to take copious notes when you call her!) Working with her opened my eyes to the caliber of professionals that I would potentially work with after earning an MBA. She was EXACTLY the kind of person I was seeking.

Liza Weale played the role of teacher. Regardless of the outcome of my application – I knew I was walking away from this experience a better writer. She opened my eyes to the “Show don’t Tell” technique of writing. This skill set has translated into my profession and has helped me teach others write better too.

Liza Weale played the role of a support network. Few of my friends could understand the stress I felt or odds I was up against. There were times when I doubted my own package – knowing that I was outside the median in almost every category tracked. She was always positive, over email and the phone – even when providing tough feedback. Her positive attitude never wavered and it helped crush any doubt that began to creep into my head.

Above all – Liza Weale is honest. I was willing to pay for the much more expensive deluxe service package. But after she had a chance to review my brainstorming document, essays, and resume, she recommended the hourly rate – recognizing I would not need hours and hours of her assistance. I do give myself credit – I had to play my part too – I was receptive to her insights and did the hard work of crafting and re-crafting my essays. She was acted as a rudder – providing steering direction toward my goals.

***COUNT YOURSELF LUCKY IF LIZAWEALE HAS AVAILABILTY TO HELP YOU!***
I am giving her name to all my friends who decide to pursue an MBA as well

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I am extremely happy I signed up for the Start to Finish package of mbaMission. I had an initial call with Hollis Kline in May’13 where she gave practical and specific feedback on my profile. Once I signed up for the package in Sep’13 I knew I had a strong consultant to bank on for any questions I would have (trust me, there were a lot). I couldn’t be happier as I got admission from a good B school in USA and am going to join the school this Fall 2014.
The best part I liked about mbaMission was the extremely professional and meticulous way the whole process is defined and followed. Hollis was particularly practical in her approach to admissions. She didn’t promise the stars; she helped me create the perfect stories from my life experiences to suit the schools of my fit and choice. The crux of the process was the initial brainstorming exercise we had which served as the base for essays. She drew a fine balance between aggression and caution while reviewing my list of schools and suggested the ideal mix. The application process is a marathon and I had myriad questions throughout the process and her response to my mails was always swift and helpful. I am grateful to her for her flexible and helpful approach during my hour of need. Thank you Hollis!
The only regret I have is not signing up for the package early in the admissions cycle. I strongly recommend the STF package of mbaMission for all aspiring MBA students out there. Good luck!

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My admission would absolutely not have been possible without Liza. Liza was not simply a consultant that plugged in when needed, but a thought partner that worked with me every step of the way. Her holistic approach helped me create an application that encompassed my most pertinent professional and personal experiences and allowed me to tell my story.

Beginning with a brainstorming session, Liza asked the probing questions necessary to get a true sense of who I was and what I had to offer. This in turn lay the foundation for our work moving forward. With every school’s application, Liza would draw pieces from our initial brainstorm that she felt best addressed the objectives of each application question. Once we began diving into the outlining and drafting stages of the essays, Liza provided very detailed notes as well as high-level feedback to guide my thinking. One of the main advantages of working with Liza and MBA Mission in general was that this feedback was not always a product of one person’s thinking, but rather the community of consultants at the company. If we came across an obstacle during the writing process, Liza would reach out to colleagues who had experienced a similar situation with a client of their own. It was never a matter of providing a quick-fix, but rather conducting the due-diligence to arrive at the most appropriate solution. Liza’s working style turned out to be very beneficial as well, as she would continuously urge me to push back on her suggestions rather than accepting them verbatim. This in turn created a dialogue that helped me craft a better strategy for tackling the questions at hand and ultimately a clearer story.

Liza’s assistance went beyond the multiple essay drafts though. She worked closely with my recommenders to help create letters that highlighted traits deemed most important by my target schools. She helped me build a resume that showcased my leadership abilities rather than a compilation of projects I had been involved with. She conducted mock interviews via Skype and helped me prepare in a fashion that allowed me to respond confidently using my own words and ideas rather than spouting a set of rehearsed responses. She even reviewed my short answer responses to make sure that I was taking full advantage of the application’s real estate. And she did all of this while managing a timeline to make sure that I met each school’s application deadline.

In short, Liza and MBA Mission were one of the best investments I’ve ever made and I would highly recommend the service and Liza in particular to anyone who is serious about receiving that coveted letter from the school of their choice.

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The value proposition of mbaMission was readily apparent to me. I liked the structure of regular, accountable feedback intervals, clearly established expectations, and a focus uniquely tailored to my business school goals.

Right from our first 30-minute discussion, Liza wowed me with her engagement and excitement about my short and long term plans. It was not a sales pitch whatsoever, and she was clearly committed to my success. This level of dedication, and the sense that Liza truly cared not only about my success through the application but also about my longer term career goals was what made working with Liza such a joy.

I ended up signing up for the four school complete start to finish package. Liza was with me every step of the way. She coached me through late-submissions from my recommenders, a last minute change on which schools I applied to, and iteration upon iteration of my essays, resume, and short answer. There were late night emails, notes of encouragement during my HBS interview day ("it's supposed to feel challenging - it's HBS!"), countless phone calls and quick status updates. She was my closest confidant through the application process.

Her feedback was on point, and empathetic. I experienced such tremendous personal growth through Liza's coaching and support. This was not something that I expected out of the process, and speaks volumes to the depths Liza goes to in order to understand her clients. When we were not getting to the core of one of my essays, we spent an early Saturday morning working through the story and rehashing the outline at the eleventh hour before the submission. Above and beyond does not even begin to describe Liza.

The greatest part about working with Liza was I could be my authentic self. I submitted applications which were a very polished version of me, but a truly honest story of who I am and my leadership journey. Liza kept me grounded as well. Hours before I was due to hear back from HBS and Stanford GSB, she sent me an email saying "this cannot and will not define you." Of course, our tune was a bit different once I was accepted to both programs and Wharton a week later.

I can say with certainty I would not have delivered such an
exceptional admissions package with a flawless acceptance rate without Liza's feedback and support. She was a joy to work with, and worth every penny.

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