I would like to start my review by indicating that please do not consider much but start to work quickly. If I summarize my personal experience:

- Last year, I was a Fulbright scholar and tried to apply to some top business schools including Chicago Booth and HBS on my own. The results were dings. I got interview invitation for Chicago Booth but a total ding from HBS and offers from some top 30 business schools.

- This year I recognized that I need professional help. However while searching I lost time and I was somewhat late to find a good consultant. I tried to make 30 minute free consultation with almost all of the consulting companies but in the end I chose mbamission which I talked to first. This process was really stressful so my recommendation is that: please trust the reviews and go ahead quickly.

During my overall MBA experience, my consultant, Erin Schumacher was the person who gave me the greatest support. In my perspective she is an amazing professional and consultant. Actually she is more than a consultant but a good friend who always shows her honesty. Some key points regarding her work:

- Erin does not say what you want to hear instead she clearly finds out the weakest points in your story, resume and essays after very effective brainstorming session. Personally, I wrote about 15 pages for the brainstorming session without knowing which stories I should use for effective MBA essays. At that point Erin’s assistance is perfectly helpful.

- In my opinion Erin is very quick and smart. When we do not have much time till the application deadline, Erin quickly revised my essays and highlighted the potential pitfalls. Actually even if we do not have much time, Erin did not hesitate to turn my essays back to me for another revision. That’s why I trust her work very much.

- For the interview preparation, Erin helped me by sending the real interview questions asked to other applicants in the previous years. Also, Erin asked me new ones during our mock interview session and then gave constructive feedback. These mock interviews are really important to feel more confident before the real interview.

- Apart from that, during the application process, I felt that Erin was a good friend who tried to do whatever she could do and never left you on your own. This part was extremely important since you would feel stressful during that process and you would absolutely need to feel a sincere person would be working with you.

Overall, I highly recommend Erin both in personal and professional settings. I appreciate her efforts and work. In the end, I got offers from my dream schools, MIT and GSB MBA programs. I want to thank Erin once again!!

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First of all, I wanted to mention that this was my second year applying and I have used three different consultation services throughout my application experiences.

I only worked with Jeremy Shinewald and Jessica Shklar of MBAMission so I only speak for these two, but I am confident that if I had ended with any other consultant within MBAMission, I would have had just as great of an experience.

In my first year applying, I utilized the help of MBA Apply and Aringo. Alex was an experienced consultant and maybe a great fit for someone already with a solid story and background, but for me, we were not a great fit. He is one of the most knowledgeable and opinionated persons about B-schools in the business, but my experience was less than stellar. So in the middle of applying, I switched to Aringo. Aringo was good as well, and Tim, in my opinion, was a better fit than Alex and we even became friends, but again, we failed to achieve a solid acceptance into any schools on my list. With Tim's help, I did get waitlisted at Johnson, but ultimately did not get in due to lack of movement on the waitlist (I applied to Columbia, Haas, Wharton, Johnson, Yale, and Stern my first year). As with any applicant who faces this kind of statistic, I was discouraged to say the least. It took a little while to dust myself off and get back on the saddle.

Then in my second year of applying, I decided to utilize MBAMission after consulting with Jeremy AGAIN (I had consulted with him my first year but decided against my better judgement due to the high cost of packages - I come from a construction background so my paycheck was not even close to six figures). He was the most encouraging consultant I had met (yes yes I know they are a business and I did consider many other consultation services and came to a conclusion that I wanted to work with someone who was more positive than some consultant who wanted to pigeon hole me into a group of schools I did not want to attend). Sometimes, to draw out the inner story in someone who had lost confidence in their own profile, you need someone positive and encouraging and who is willing to listen to your whole story without interrupting you to tell you that he or she thinks that it will not work because of conditions A,B and C.

That is how I ended up with Jessica Shklar. I asked for a drill sergeant type to keep me in check and to keep me going when going got tough. Boy did I get placed with the right consultant. She not only put on the drill sergeant hat when she needed to, but being the passionate person she is, she was quick to pick up on hints and vibes and drew out the important stories that I had thought were insignificant from my previous year of applying. We were able to put together a complete story of me; and with complete confidence, I completed all seven applications. End result? I got accepted into two sweet sixteen schools with fellowships (Johnson and Anderson for $40K) and one top twenty-five school also with fellowship (USC $40K). I will note though that the first four were reach schools (MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and Booth) and although I put together a kick-ass application, I knew going in that it was a numbers game.

When choosing a consultant, I cannot stress enough that you need to really explore all of your options thoroughly. Consult with as many as you can stomach before putting down your money. I sure am glad I did. Some may say that I may have had a better chance with this service or that consultant, but I am completely satisfied with the services I received from MBAMission even with the higher price tag. I got what I paid for - more specifically from Jessica Shklar for my apps and Jeremy for running a tight show and helping me find Jessica. The Good news? I NEVER EVER have to apply again. I got in. I am traveling through the Balkans waiting to attend Anderson in the fall.

I sincerely wish the best of luck to all applicants. Cheers.

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I would highly recommend Jessica Shklar from mbaMission for anyone considering applying to a top business school program. I spoke with a few other admissions consultants from other companies before speaking with Jessica and immediately knew after our first brainstorm session that she would take a vested interest in my application to business school. She was excited about my story, provided great insights to my various questions, and even was willing to speak to my father, who had some questions of his own.

I valued having Jessica to discuss all of the intricacies and complexities throughout the duration of the admissions process. She is extremely responsive, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and realistic about MBA programs and the admissions process. Jessica continuously pushed me to be the best applicant. Over the several months that we worked together, we developed a strong relationship and I continue to reach out to her and know that I can rely on her for her sound advice.

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Because of the lofty price tag on admissions consulting, on top of the brutally expensive GMAT/application process, I was skeptical about using a consultant. However, friends at top schools persuaded me that consultants were extremely valuable and a small investment relative to the cost of b-school and potential payoff from attending a top program.

I had my 30-minute free consultation with Jessica and was blown away by how much constructive feedback she was able to give me in such a small period of time. I'd done my research to learn about characteristics and experiences that top schools look for, but I quickly found how beneficial it was to have a seasoned professional help refine my application.

Throughout the application process, Jessica motivated me to thoroughly reflect on my experiences and career goals so that I was able to most effectively present myself to admissions committees. There were so many times where I thought I had written a stellar response to an essay prompt, Jessica tore it apart (in a very nice/constructive way), and then after we reached a final product I couldn’t believe I’d been happy with my first drafts. Jessica gave me feedback that I knew I could trust because of her experience, confidence, and rationale behind each suggestion she provided.

The applications that I submitted were (seriously) the proudest accomplishments of my life because of the way I was able to tie each piece of the application into a story that truly highlighted the best me. Working with Jessica was such an amazing exercise in self-exploration, and I couldn’t more highly recommend her to anyone serious about applying to business school!

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In late November 2013 I decided to bite the bullet and apply to business school. Given my poor timing, I know that the R2 deadlines had passed for a few schools, or were coming up in the next few weeks.

I decided to use a consulting company (Google suggested mbaMission) to help me focus and distill my applications for 4 dream schools that I had in mind, in the meanwhile I began preparing to apply to 6 schools on my own – that’s right, I applied to 10 schools, hoping for a Fall 2014 admit, and hadn't written a single essay yet at that point!

I chose Angela after watching her short description video on mbaMission’s website, and was impressed with her screen writing experience – I figured it would be good to have someone like her inject some panache into my writing, and I’m happy she said yes to working with me.

I’m not a stellar candidate by any means, but I do have a diverse background, and Angela was instrumental in helping me dig through my experiences to frame very strong and emotive essays.

The key thing I’d like to clarify is that she didn't spoon feed me, in fact she only intervened in my writing when she felt it got either too verbose or lost its impact. She has such a good eye for strong narrative it’s uncanny, she’s able to rein you back in when things veer off-course.

From start to finish I had 5-6 weeks (crazy I know), and with xmas/new year breaks in between, I knew I was under the hammer. I was worried that I had chewed off more than I could handle, but Angela stepped up, and made sure to motivate me to send her numerous drafts within quick succession – I think at the 2nd week in, we were literally doing 1-2 drafts a day!

More than anything though, I believe Angela and I gelled quite well because she assumed the role of a friend, rather than someone who was being paid to help me refine my application; I was worried that the opposite might occur, and that it would be such a rigid arrangement, but honestly, couldn't have asked for better.

Full disclosure: I applied to 4 schools with Angela’s help, the top 4 b-schools, and I ended up getting admitted to Wharton (my 1st choice), and wait listed after interview at another (entirely my fault – interview was so bad since I was sleep deprived from travelling).

Of the schools I applied to on my own, I got admitted to all 6.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, while it isn't necessary to use an admission consulting service, they can help distill your mba application, and this is by no means an easy task. It’s a completely different ball game for the top few schools, and if you’re under time constraints, as I was, or are unsure of whether “reach” schools are really within reach, then I’d recommend getting in touch with Angela or mbaMission to help them help you.

Angela, you’re a star – highly recommended!

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I worked with Jessica on my interview preparation and she was one of the first two people I contacted after receiving my dream school acceptance call – my email subject line was “HAAS!!! :) We did it…speechless.” Despite living almost 8,000 miles from me and never meeting me in person, Jessica had a commitment and a sincere desire to see me succeed that I have only experienced with family.
After investing countless hours into the GMAT and my essays (also through mbaMission), I finally had three interviews. The pressure of crossing the finish line led to a “shocker” of a practice interview. Jessica’s advice was not a simple “you need to relax and be yourself” but rather she worked with me to develop the tools to let my personality shine through and for me to enter the “zone”. Going into my final and most important b-school interview, I trusted Jessica when she advised me not to look at my interview notes in the week leading up to the big day. Every interview was a success and…I had fun in those interviews.
Jessica’s positive energy kept me going during the demanding interview process, and her experience and advice allowed the best version of me to come through at every interview. A testament to the positive experience I had with Jessica and mbaMission is that my wife will be working with Jessica on a “start-to-finish” mbaMission package this year!

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This was my second time to the application rodeo. Three years ago, I applied and got dinged everywhere. I took some time off the applications process, got a new job and decided this year was the year I needed to go to school.

After 7 years post-undergrad, I felt I had a lot of stories and trouble finding the right ones. I also have non-traditional background and non-traditional career goals. On top of that, I had low GMAT and GPA. With all of these factors, I wanted to pony up for a consultant and find someone who would be a trusted advisor throughout the process.

I had my initial consultation with Rachel who, given my needs for editing support and career vision, recommended John.

John has a direct and efficient working style which I appreciated. "I'm going to take a hammer to your first draft." Go right ahead, John!

Early in the process, John picked up on an old career goal - something I thought was irrelevant. In our discussions, John showed how I could reposition a previous career goal into a strong foundation for my essays. In fact, I still use this repositioning in my networking. John's prior experience in Stern's career center really paid off here.

From the smallest grammatical detail to the larger picture we were trying to paint, John was incredibly supportive. I credit this with his journalist background. I felt strong investment from him in getting to know me and the experiences that shaped me and would make my a strong candidate for an MBA.

In researching other consulting firms, I felt mbaMission's personal touch and full-time model right for me. With other firms, I felt like I would be paying someone to walk me through a template process. With mbaMission, I felt John me truly customized service focusing on areas where I needed work and support in areas I knew I could handle on my own (interview prep). I was also weary of working with someone who was admissions consulting part-time or had a full-time day job.

In the end, I applied to four programs - all top 15 - and was accepted to two including my top choice. Profound thanks to John and mbaMission!

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My decision to work with Jessica Shklar was probably the best decision I’ve made in recent years. Although the process entailed a lot of work, I am extremely happy with the outcome as I have been admitted to my top choice school.

Prior to deciding to work with Jessica, I scheduled assessment calls with most of the well-known MBA admission consulting firms. It quickly became apparent to me that Jessica was the most experienced and knowledgeable. She was also the only one that I connected with on the personal level. And when Jessica could not take me on as a client in R1, I decided to apply in R2 just so I can work with her.

Here is a summary of what I found most helpful in working with Jessica:

1- She is straightforward. She won’t sugarcoat her feedback

2- She was really invested in the process. I felt she cared about the final outcome just as much as I did. And when I felt satisfied with my application, Jessica kept pushing me to go deeper. At the end, I emerged from this experience a better writer and a storyteller.

3- She is exceptionally skilled in formulating and synthesizing ideas into a story. Combining this with her unmatched coaching skills, Jessica proved to be the ultimate resource, helping me prepare my winning application.

The value of working with Jessica goes beyond the application process. Her support and guidance during my interviews was invaluable. I simply cannot recommend Jessica enough.

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I worked with Katy Lewis from mbaMission for my Round 3 2+2 application the Harvard Business School and was ultimately admitted. As a non-STEM student, I knew it would be an uphill battle to convince the Admissions Committee that they should accept me to the program. Right away, Katy made me feel comfortable going forward. No matter how many questions or concerns I brought to her attention, she was always enthusiastically helpful, aiding me in portraying my best self to the Admissions Committee, from the application portion all the way through the interview. Katy was crucial in helping me craft my story. Before we spoke, I was unsure and unclear with my vision for what I wanted to put in my application and how best to present myself. Through our essential brainstorming session, Katy got to know me better than I knew myself, helped me refine and carefully choose which parts of my experiences were appropriate, and ultimately made me feel more than confident in my ability to put together a stellar application. Any time, any place – Katy was there to read through a draft (or several!) and suggest creative and unique ways to answer those tough application questions. In fact, after looking at my profile, Katy understood the career path that was best suited for me at this time, and that would shed my past experiences in the best light. She is more than an admissions consultant; she is like a career and life coach! And, I am glad to call her not only my trusted advisor, but also my friend! If you want to ensure the best chances of acceptance at your dream school, do not miss out on working with Katy!

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I decided to reach out to an admissions consultant, after having already taken the GMAT 3 times and having put off applying to business school for a year. I knew I was a competitive candidate in all other aspects - I worked at a top management consultant firm and was being sponsored for my MBA, had a 3.75 GPA, and plenty of community involvement - so I decided I was going to accept my 630 score and hope for the best. My targeted schools were Kellogg and Booth, since I was hoping to be in the Chicago area.

I received Jessica Shklar's name from a friend who had only used her for a few hours, but said those few hours made all the difference in her application (she is now at Wharton). When I first had my 30 minute free consultation with Jessica in August 2013, I immediately expressed my concerns regarding my GMAT score. I explained my test taking history and that I was scoring significantly higher on my practice tests, and Jessica recommended I take the test again. The best part was her directness - in her follow-up email after our call she outlined my 3 options: 1. accept your score, 2. give the GMAT another try, 3. apply to a few schools round 1 and take the test again depending on the results. She strongly recommended option #2, which was certainly not what I wanted to hear, but it ended up being the right choice. Even more impressive, was that Jessica went as far as to recommend specific tutors at Manhattan GMAT (since I had already taken their course) that I could do a few sessions with to get back on track.

I decided to take her advice to take the GMAT again, and Jessica promised to save a spot in her Round 2 line-up for me. She even followed-up into the fall to make sure the tutor was working out. I ended up taking the GMAT for the 4th time at the end of November, and scored a 690 - exactly what I needed to get into my targeted schools. Thanks to Jessica's advice, I felt confident in my application and decided to apply to 4 schools during Round 2 - Wharton, Kellogg, Booth and Ross. I went with a 2 school package from MBAMission and after comparing essay questions and discussing it with Jessica, I decided to have her help me with Wharton and Kellogg.

During our initial brainstorming sessions, I already felt that working with Jessica was helpful. She quickly narrowed down my stories that would work for the essays and those that didn't. She talked through the narrative of how exactly to communicate the story to make it appealing from an admissions perspective. By the end of the call I knew exactly what story or narrative I was going to use for each essay and had a good outlines already going in my head. I took very detailed notes during that sessions (literally typed every word) and ended up using a good portion of that original content in the essays I submitted.

During the editing process, Jessica was timely with her feedback and I almost always accepted her changes. I also really appreciated that she knew not all of her changes would be accepted, as some things are just personal style. Overall, her feedback and edits were on-point. At one point in the real heat of the application filling-out process, she sent me a note saying something to the affect of, "I just want you to know you're doing a great job" - it was just the boost I needed and was just so nice to hear.

In the end I was admitted to Kellogg, Booth, and Ross. While Jessica only helped me with Kellogg and Wharton, I was able to leverage a good portion of the materials I developed with her for the other schools. The only one negative I will mention, is that she's hard to get! My boyfriend reached out to her in March 2014 (with my recommendation) and she was already full for Round 1. Jessica is helpful, responsive and really knows her stuff - I highly recommend her to anyone looking for MBA application support.

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