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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My experience with Jessica was amazing! She has done much more than I ever thought was possible. All I can say is – if you are looking for someone who really cares about how things turn out for you and has nothing but your best interest in mind – go with Jessica. I requested her help to review my essays on an hourly basis. She was extremely efficient and without knowing me she figured out how to use my time in the best possible way – combination of phone and essay proofreading. She gave me detailed comments/suggestions. At the end of this exercise I was amazed at how much I felt she knew about me already. Most of her assumptions were correct and she even made me think about an event I had not given much thought to earlier. She was quick in responding to emails and made things work according to my time (whether she had a babysitter for part of that time or not) and remained focused on helping me finalize the essay until I was content with it. Since then she has emailed me to check up on me and given me advice when I’ve asked – and mind you I am not paying at this point. It just shows you how much she cares. She is 100% genuine and a warm, wonderful person. Thank you Jessica for your help and support!

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When starting my application process, I was conflicted as to whether I should hire a MBA consultant or not.

I was confident in my writing abilities and unsure as to how much value a service like this would actually add.

After speaking to Helen Summers for our free consultation, I definitely felt much more comfortable about moving forward with MBA Mission, and she followed up our conversation with a VERY comprehensive email outlining my strengths, weaknesses, and how I could frame my application to schools. Note that this was before I even hired MBA Mission.

I decided to take the plunge and was overall very happy with MBA Mission and Helen. I opted to take the unlimited package, which I certainly recommend - even for one school, I definitely went over the number of hours that they offer on an ala carte basis. It felt very liberating to keep editing, changing, and not have to worry about using up all my hours.

Helen provided concrete and useful feedback to my essays. She did not unnecessarily revise my essays for the sake of it, and was vocal about telling me whether something "worked" or not.

The numerous revisions to my resume was the most helpful - re-formatting your resume from a professional one to an MBA application version is time consuming and difficult. Helen made it easy and was never short or brief on her explanations of why she wanted something to change.

Helen was also very helpful in my interview preparation for Columbia, which according to my interviewer I "aced."

Most importantly, Helen was supportive and upbeat. She seemed to genuinely care about my application and helping me get in (which I did!).

Having someone to coach, push, and motivate you to get your application together is an excellent tool, and that's exactly what MBA Mission provides. In the end, I would certainly recommend both MBA Mission and Helen - while it's hard to quantify exactly how much a company like this helps, it gives you peace of mind knowing that you're doing everything you can to increase your odds.

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Jessica from mbaMission is truly amazing, without her I would not be going to my top choice school.

I was referred to Jessica by one of my colleagues. She stood up to her impeccable reputation! Working an 80-hour work week, I had limited time to study or write essays. Two weeks from the deadline, I had not taken my GMAT or drafted an essay. Jessica made the impossible, possible. With Jessica’s guidance, at the end of two weeks, I completed two school applications and I took the GMAT.

From the beginning, she understood not only my work style but also my story. Jessica helped me find my voice and present my story in the most impactful way. She taught me to think like an admission officer and not an applicant. That mindset coupled with her ability to bring out the best in me honestly lead to my admission to both schools. Above and beyond all of this, at the end of the day, you can truly tell she cares about her clients and wants them to succeed.

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