After having worked hard for a few years, I knew that I wanted to put my best foot forward when applying to business school. Liza Weale at mbaMission helped me achieve this goal, and I wholeheartedly recommend her to other MBA applicants. You really won’t go wrong – with Liza’s top-notch feedback and unwavering support, you can be assured that you will have the confidence needed to produce a high quality application.

During my mbaMission free consulting session with Liza, I was struck by her enthusiasm for my accomplishments, as well as by her thoughtful comments on how I could further strengthen my profile. In a session with another company, the consultant tried to highlight how I was not a ‘rockstar’ and how it would have been more preferable if some of my experiences had been slightly different. I was appreciative of how Liza focused on what I had already achieved, and feel that her previous experiences in consulting and marketing helped her think creatively about how to shape my profile without sacrificing its integrity.

As I delved deeper into the lengthy, daunting application process, I was even more grateful to have Liza as my ‘constant’ – whether selecting schools, editing my resume, brainstorming for essays, briefing recommenders, or even deciding between schools after I was accepted. Despite a busy application season, Liza was always prompt in providing feedback and available to meet outside of my work hours. During the brainstorming process, she pushed me to come up with more examples by asking probing questions. In the process, Liza got a thorough understanding of my background and motivations, and I uncovered stories that I had initially overlooked as minor points!

Liza’s patience shined through during the essay writing process. She encouraged me to screen multiple ideas and even look at the same story from multiple angles before producing my outline and essay draft. Although I struggled initially, Liza’s encouragement and guidance helped me get out of my comfort zone and powerfully show (rather than tell) my story. Draft after draft (believe me, there were many), she provided candid, detailed feedback such that I was able to craft essays that not only highlighted my strengths, but that I was comfortable with.

Working with Liza over the last several months has been an extremely rewarding experience, beyond just the acceptances to top MBA programs. Liza enriched my overall self-reflection process and helped me build a strong sense of confidence that I will carry with me as I begin business school this year.

-Tuck & Sloan Admit

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Lynn does not have as many reviews as other Mbamission consultants, which is surprising, because she is fantastic!

Lynn helped me with two top schools and one joint degree program. All of them were beyond my wildest dreams and I am proud to say I got into all three programs. My favorite parts about working with Lynn were (1) while you brainstorm for your essays, she helps to pinpoint your best stories and identify themes. These notes aid you in the self reflection exercise that's required for MBA applications. (2) She never steals your voice! She will point out areas where she does not think your message is coming through, and push you to edit in a way that enables the Admissions Committee to hear the stories as you want them to be heard. At the end of the day, however, my applications were my applications. They represented the strongest and clearest communication of my voice, my thoughts, my achievements, my words.

I am honored to have worked with Lynn, and so thankful to be attending my dream school in the fall!

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I am writing this review to make sure others know that mbaMission's Start-to-Finish MBA application service was well worth the investment.

I purchased and enrolled in a two-school package through mbaMission and could not have been happier with the decision. I worked extensively with Hollis Kline and do not believe I would have been accepted to my #1 school without her guidance. Over the course of two months she helped me to completely restructure my resume and finalize (through 7-8 versions in between) six essays for my two applications. Reading some of the first drafts of the essays after acceptance to my first-choice program was comical. They each had come so far in their structure and content. Not only did she make sure every word count, Hollis was able to help craft a great story that led the adcom through all the personal events in my life that made me a great candidate.

I will offer a word of caution, just hiring a professional consultant will not guarantee acceptance to your dream school. The application process is very tough and no single consultant will be able to write the essays/resume for you. It takes a substantial amount of work on the applicant's part - both in brainstorming and developing a working relationship with the consultant. But if willing to give the effort necessary, I couldn't see why you wouldn't reach out to someone such as Hollis.

The biggest step in mbaMission's process is completing a 30 page document with basically outlines your entire life story and why you NEED to go to B-school. After completing this document, Hollis was able to pinpoint the best stories to present to the adcom. This is what I was most impressed with. We had never met in person, but it seemed as if we had known each other for years and knew exactly was most important in my life and what would work best in an application essay.

In closing, it is very simple - if you want to give yourself a leg up on the competition and the best shot in attending your dream school, reach out a speak to Hollis. You won't regret it.

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Liza’s input on my resume and essay outlines was pivotal. I received third-round offers from HBS and Kellogg last year. I am confident that I would have received the same outcome without her input. She helped me to construct my resume and essays to succinctly highlight attributes recruiters value and provide with well-supported, quantitative examples. She was extremely respectful of our limited time. I was amazed with the quality and breadth of feedback she consistently provided in a short period.

I first spoke with Liza during a free thirty-minute consultation. Rather than giving me a company pitch, Liza used every minute to provide feedback on my resume. I was quite happy with my resume before the session. I had read the MBA guidebooks and followed their direction, but she highlighted many ways my resume could be improved. The personalized suggestions were invaluable. Prior to the meeting, I had not expected to hire her. After seeing how valuable her feedback was, I figured I would be silly not to engage her for a few hours to review my essays. I had put so much work into my applications; it was a small price to pay if it could make the difference and save me from having to go through the whole process again a year later.

I really appreciated her honesty. She did not try to sugarcoat my chances of getting interviews or scare me into working with her. She provided valuable advice on how we could use our time most effectively, what was necessary, and what was not.

I had made the mistake of contacting her close to the application deadline. Although I am sure she was busy helping many clients, she was respectful of my schedule and limited time. She went above and beyond to reply to me when I needed.

I never spoke with other admissions consultants, so I cannot compare, but I am skeptical that many could offer more value than Liza. Just try the free consultation and see for yourself.

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MBA consulting packages are generally very expensive... so that aside, I would say I had a very good experience. Note that the consultants job isn't necessarily to get you into the school of your dreams but to help you reflect on your strengths and weaknesses so that you can tell a compelling story. If you don't get into a school, don't blame your consultant. They can only help you brainstorm and provide feedback as to what sounds trite or cliche... ultimately it's up to you to be open to their feedback and willing to really dig deep for your story.

Also, I gave 4 stars because that last star I think the applicant needs to earn himself/herself. I think the world of my consultant, Lynn Moloney, and can't thank her enough for pushing me to think hard about what was important to me and how I should craft my story. While I had my own person reasons for choosing Lynn, I would highly recommend her to anyone.

During my initial consultation, I had 2 choices, go with someone with a PE background or someone with an online media background (one of my interests). I chose to go with online media because there are a million PE guys looking for a place at the top bschools, and I wanted a different approach to my story. Lynn helped me brainstorm, and while all the ideas I had to dig deep for, she helped me craft well honed essays that weren't just interesting stories but had a theme and a focus that ran through my entire application. Ultimately, you have to believe in your own story to be successful. Consultants can only be helpful in pushing you to dig that much deeper by providing a different perspective or from experience they have had in the past with other applicants. Lynn definitely challenged me on every topic that I wrote about in my application. "Was I just telling them what was important to me versus showing them with a relevant and personal story?" "Why is this important to me?" "Is this idea cliche because it sounds like you are preaching, or is there something in your life that is unique that specifically addresses this topic? If so what is it?"

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When I first began looking at the application process I was overwhelmed by the amount of work in front of me. I planned to work on my business school applications without the aid of an admissions consultant, but I decided to sign up for a free 30-minute consultation with Liza and mbaMission. I came into the meeting hoping for guidance on some tricky questions I was facing and I was blown away by how prepared, informative and fun to talk to Liza was. I decided then and there that I had to work with Liza and I couldn't be happier with that decision!!

I worked with Liza on three applications and I’m thrilled to be heading to my first choice (Columbia) in the fall! Throughout the entire process Liza was invaluable and in my corner, whether we were completely overhauling my resume, tweaking the 10th draft of an essay or thinking about the best way to answer short answer questions. Liza would regularly send me thoughts or suggestions even when I didn't ask her and having an expert to bounce difficult questions off was an amazing resource. After only a few weeks I really felt like we were a team.

Liza also wasn't afraid to challenge my thinking and really push me to improve my applications. I wrote what I believed to be a very strong essay and Liza showed me that I could much more effectively represent myself if I went in a different direction. When it came time to approach my recommenders Liza was so helpful in organizing my communication with them and making sure I got their full support, which turned out to be essential in my applications. And then when interviews came around, I was so prepared based on my work with Liza that I was completely comfortable and confident in what turned out to be an hour and a half interview that sealed my admission. I never could have been so effective if Liza hadn't known exactly what questions to be ready for and helped me thoughtfully answer them in a way that was true to who I am.

If I had it to do all over again I would work with Liza in a heartbeat. I have already recommended her to my close friends and couldn't imagine going through this process without her. She delivered in a big way for me both in terms of getting me through the grueling application process and also the great results!

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My experience with Eric Hollowaty was nothing short of EXCELLENT! After a friend recommended working with MBAmission, I spoke with Eric and decided to start by paying hourly for general advice and brainstorming. I quickly realized the value he was able to offer and purchased the start to finish packages. To truly get the most value from your package, I highly encourage applicants to begin working with consultants as soon as possible and leave as much time for brainstorming and essay revising as you can.

During our brainstorming, Eric genuinely wanted to get to know me and was able to point out strengths and weaknesses about myself I had not considered. Eric spoke to me about things both on and off my resume and encouraged me to include an extracurricular hobby I had not previously planned to – he was right, all of my interviews wanted to talk about it.

Eric was able to take an outside, objective view and offer invaluable advice on how to meaningfully tie my experiences together, which truly brought my application to life. I had initially planned to use similar essays for all of my schools, but Eric was able to advise me on the intricacies of each school and how I could address them in my essays – particularly for HBS, his alma mater. Eric was very honest and pointed out which lines on my resume were not substantive and what parts of my essay were just fluff.

Eric was also instrumental in helping my recommenders – (non-typical business school recommenders) – who were struggling to differentiate between valuable insight and just re-listing my resume.

More personally, Eric is a really nice and positive person who genuinely wants to help his clients.

In summary, I got into all four top-5 schools to which I applied, and I could not have done it without Eric’s help!

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I knew from the beginning of my MBA admission process that I needed an MBA admission consulting service. The reason was simple. I needed an expert who could dig out my work experience details through brainstorming. This is important as normally we do lot of things, which we think are part of our regular day to day activity but in reality may be portraying a crucial leadership skill.

With a GMAT score on the lower side, I wanted to go with a company/individual with a good reputation. “MBA Exchange” and “mbaMission” were the two top companies after my initial high level research via internet. The reasons for choosing mbaMission were their prompt response time and personalized approach. I was quickly assigned a consultant Eric Hollowaty. After our initial one hour discussion I knew where I stood and what needs to be done.

My experience working with Eric was extremely satisfying and rewarding. As I said earlier one critical part of the process was to pick your brain and bring forward your professional accomplishment. This may sound very easy, but believe me, it is difficult. I think the brainstorming document and the following brainstorming discussion session with Eric were instrumental for creating a strong application. Eric was respectful, valued my thought but more importantly gave me the right direction for my thought process. His response time was also as per contract and on multiple occasions even earlier than the contractual window. I could connect with Eric very easily and he was approachable. Eric did exactly what I was looking for.

I selected the 2 school package program and received admission offer from both the schools. Overall I am very satisfied with Eric Hollowaty and mbaMission. They did an excellent job. I should also mention some points that I think are critical for the experience and success. You should be on top of things. When you hire an admission consultant, it doesn’t mean, you will be in the back seat and the consultant will drive you. It is just the opposite. You need to take the lead and seek help that you need from the consultant. You need to know your experiences, skills, skills gaps and future aspirations in order to get into a B-school, continue the learning through the MBA program and finally implement the learning in your future endeavor.

I can vouch for Eric’s expertise and would definitely recommend him for anyone looking for MBA admission consulting service.

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I signed up for mbaMission's all-inclusive school package. At first, I was having a hard time to justify the price but when I started working with Liza Weale, I directly knew that it was worth it. Liza was genuinely invested in my success. With her dedication and enthusiasm, she knew how to push me to think outside the box and identify the best examples of my life for the essays. She also succeeded in creating a momentum that helped me work on my application and stay focused and on track, while I managed a very demanding job. Liza tirelessly looked for ways to improve my essays by giving life to the stories I told and conveying the underlying messages in a clear and persuasive way. Liza was instrumental in my acceptance in one of the top international B-school – despite a low GMAT score. I wouldn’t have made it without her help.

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I have a 3.0 GPA and got admission offers from all the business schools I applied to - All the business schools are within the top-5 globally.

I worked with Liza Weale from February 8th through July 10th, with a single additional interview prep session afterwards. I had 9 essays to write, they turned out great.

I've counted 141 email conversations between Liza and myself, with many shorter conversations and some longer (10+ emails back and forth). During these conversations Liza always replied with her edits and suggestions within two business days, per mbaMission's terms of service.
In addition to emails we had regular Skype calls to ease and accelerate our communication.

I found Liza's feedback and suggestions very helpful and valuable:
- She helped me decide to redo my GMAT and add 40 points to my score,
- She helped me add a great narrative structure and flow to my essays, and
- She helped me identify my key differentiating traits and distribute them across the various essays.

While not cheap, I can only recommend mbaMission and Liza Weale. The value they provide is most definitely greater than their price tag.

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