Working with Jessica Shklar of MBAMission is the only reason I am headed off to the bschool of my dreams this fall. From the moment I first signed on with Jessica she was nothing but focused, dedicated and enthusiastic. Jessica was instrumental in determining what schools were appropriate for me to target, leveraging both personal and professional experiences to create unique and differentiated essay story lines, editing my resume/application and keeping me on pace to complete a number of applications. Without Jessica’s help I would have had a great deal of trouble overcoming my abnormally low GMAT score. I am far from “the perfect bschool applicant” but under Jessica’s tutelage I was able to write a well balanced and well rounded application…and as I already mentioned get into the top 10 school of my dreams!

Jessica’s intellectual ability and dedication to her clients is only matched by her knowledge of the MBA process and individual business school programs. If you are serious about giving yourself the best possible chance to be accepted, get serious and hire Jessica Shklar + MBAMission.

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I started working with mbaMission after I had a free 30 minute consultation in their NYC offices where we discussed my career goals, resume, target schools, etc. I recommend doing this (especially since its free) to get a bearings of where you are at in the MBA application process.

After the consultation I signed up and worked with one of their admissions consultants, Dan Richards, on my Columbia Business School application. Dan was extremely helpful throughout the entire application process, from start to finish.

For me, the biggest benefit was for the essays - the brainstorming and ideas discussions were very beneficial in terms of conveying the core themes of my application and how I wanted to portray myself to the admissions committee. Dan was very easy to get in touch with and responded with essay comments well earlier than the agreed upon time frames.

Overall, it was great to have someone with a lot of experience with putting together successful top-tier business school applications. His help was invaluable and I highly recommend their services to anyone looking to put together an excellent b-school application.

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I worked with Angela Guido on the end-to-end package for three top-5 schools. Though I came from a typical b-school-feeder background (consulting) and had good numbers (3.7 GPA / 740 GMAT), with Stanford as my dream school I felt I needed help on telling a compelling story to separate me from the pack. My result was that I received interviews at all 3 schools, was accepted to 2/3, and will be attending Stanford in the fall.

I spoke to multiple firms to choose a consultant and felt an immediate connection when I spoke to Angela. A few thoughts on why I found her so helpful:

- I had a number of things I wanted to write about in my essays and for my overall "narrative". Instead of just spitting out a story that sounded good, Angela really took the time to listen to my disparate stories and help me weave together a compelling narrative around what was most meaningful to me, not just what would be interesting to adcoms
- Instead of just writing FOR me, Angela pushed me to communicate what I was trying to say in more straightforward and meaningful language. She really helped to cultivate my own skills in communication and self-expression, and turning those into meaningful essays
- There were many times where we had short timelines to work on, but throughout the process Angela was always punctual and reliable in terms of when she would get things back to me. This helped me to keep my work on track and lessened my already-high stress level!
- Having someone who is so knowledgeable about the b-school admissions process as a coach was absolutely invaluable just in itself. Angela helped me think through what the most impactful stories to tell for each school were and was always there to reassure me that we were on-track and making good progress.

Through my work with Angela, I not only accomplished my goal of getting into my dream business school, but I developed a keener sense of myself and how to present myself in my communications, which is a skill that will serve me well throughout my career. I highly recommend working with MBAMission and Angela!

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Please note: I am not one to write reviews. However, I feel compelled in this situation. Jessica was simply wonderful.

Background: I only applied to one school (dream school). Since the rifle approach is not exactly the smartest way to apply to school, I decided to seek counsel and hire a consultant. Jessica came highly recommended from a friend she helped in the 2012 class cycle. She is incredibly smart and hard working. She understands the process and really spends time understanding your candidacy. She is thorough and takes the time to develop a strategy and package you appropriately. Nothing deceitful – just maximizing what you have already accomplished and communicating it effectively and efficiently.
She helped me articulate why I made each career choice, placing it in the context of my broader career goal (including why B school choice was meaningful).

While hiring a consultant is expensive, I urge you to think of it as an investment in your future. Jessica gave me the best possible shot. I was admitted and I simply can’t thank her enough. She will spend a great deal of time with you; she really invests herself in your story. She cares deeply and I know finds great satisfaction in her job. Really a pleasure to work with.

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Dan was thoughtful, diligent, an expert word-smither, a great sounding board, and overall a great resource to have throughout my application process.

Dan truly made my essays better. I initially engaged Dan for only 2 hours, but by the end of the application process I had spent around 10 hours total working with him. As the weeks went on, I just kept adding hours because I knew Dan was helping my application and essays immeasurably.

I brought Dan in towards the end of the application period, but without fail he turned things around very quickly as well as was completely transparent about his process. Without a doubt, he improved the quality of my essays as well as alleviated a lot of the stress I was putting on myself. If nothing else, simply having someone say "yes" or "no" was invaluable. Though, obviously, he did a lot more!

I highly recommend Dan!

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I enthusiastically recommend Akiba at MBA Mission for the following concrete qualities and inputs:

1- She knows very well how to communicate ideas: oftentimes I had a certain accomplishment or story to convey and she helped me phrase it in appropriate ways without omitting details or making assumptions. Eventually, her coaching allowed me to write fluid essays that the Adcom can understand and that demonstrate my thought process and experiences. Akiba will spare no efforts to edit and critique the smallest details and often success comes from those small details that the experienced eye of the Adcom can spot.

2 - She is very professional in terms of time management and client relationship: Akiba respects deadlines and you can expect her to give her best to answer any of your questions. This created a level of trust and commitment that was essential for any applicant to business schools. Also, she gets well prepared for our calls and that is surely inspires confidence. She does not overpromise and acts as a reality check to push the client to realize that the competition is tough. This was true for pushing me to retake the GMAT to reach an acceptable level and for my expectations for interviews.

3 - She is personable and interested to help you: I previously worked with an Admissions consultant from another top firm and realized after the first call and discussions that I was not going to be comfortable with the person. The consultant was arrogant and with a US-centric mindset and not really interested to deep dive in the details of my experiences. When I move to MBA Mission, I quickly felt that Akiba is going to be of great help. Akiba was a trusted advisor for all the smallest details of my MBA applications and she inspired me on different levels to think more clearly, leverage my strengths, and grow as a future leader - as I believe this application process is also a terrific opportunity to develop further.

In a nutshell, I highly recommend Akiba. Without her fantastic help, I would not have been able to get into Wharton.

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I did a lot of research into programs, and decided that MBA Mission would be the group I would use. They exceeded my expectations and were truly fantastic. I considered myself a mediocre candidate off the bat - just two years of work experience, OK GMATs and academic record. The team at Manhattan GMAT helped assess my entire profile to help find the angles that would be most effective to tell my story. I found them to be well worth every penny. They provided very powerful upfront materials - a resume and personal statement guide, interview tips, and a brainstorming document to help pull out the parts of your background worth telling through your application.

The consultant I worked with Regan Clarke was terrific - she was a pleasure to work with and really knew her stuff. I highly highly recommend both her and the MBA Mission team. She could sniff out the BS in my essays, asked questions that probed me to think harder and work smarter. I couldn't have asked for a better consultant to work with and am very grateful that I will be off to my top choice program in the fall, a school I never expected to get into in the first place. Thank you Regan and the MBA Mission team - the best in the business.

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Many might be skeptic of why they should invest into admissions consulting services, but trust me, it is well worth it. mbaMission's Benjamin Shinewald was very knowledgeable the field of graduate school admissions strategy. His level of expertise and professionalism really gave me the edge to get into the school I wanted. Even though I was just using their hourly services, I felt that Benjamin was providing me with same amount of attention and seriousness as any of the full package clients. The advice and strategies which Benjamin tailored to my profile and situation really impressed me, he really showed me that he had the insight and experience from many successful cases and made me feel like I was in good hands. I think I can say this with a certainty, without his help, my chances of getting into a business school was almost near zero.

Whether you are a strong candidate aiming to for the competitive top schools or a weak candidate that needs an edge getting into the school of dreams (like me), I think mbaMission has the solution for you.

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I setup the free 30 minute consultation with MBA Mission on a whim and randomly chose Rachel Beck based on her availability. I figured free advice for 30 minutes was a pretty good deal and even if I just got a pointer or two, that would be all I could really expect. However, within the first three minutes of the call, it became apparent to me that Rachel is a true professional at MBA admissions.

Rachel gets it. She knows what the AdCom is looking for (Wharton, in my case) and she knows how to structure the entire application to tell a compelling story. I thought my resume was in pretty good order when I sent it to her for review. Within hours, she sent me back a modified draft that reconstructed my employment experience to show my growth path of how I got to where I am today. (After I did some additional research on Wharton’s website, I discovered how much AdCom really values professional growth. Thanks Rachel for knowing this upfront and making this an integral part of my resume!)

When it comes to helping with the essays, Rachel is first class. I don’t know how she can turn around an edited draft with such astute comments within 24 hours (and many times a lot quicker.) Maybe it’s her professional background as a journalist. I often questioned whether she had any other clients because she was so in tune with my application and so prompt with her responses. Her writing approach is simple but profound: “show” the reader, don’t “tell” the reader. Rachel guided my essays into carefully crafted stories that provided a complete and compelling picture of who I am. Don’t you think AdCom would rather read an interesting, distinguished, well told story rather than another boring “this is who I am” essay?

Not only does Rachel provide great insight and feedback, but she also works with a tremendous respect for the billing clock. As a “per hour” client, I was apprehensive in the beginning about asking for too much help, thinking it would lead to excessive hourly charges. It became perfectly clear after we concluded the first project (fixing resume) that Rachel works efficiently and deliberately. Every comment she wrote on essays, letters of recommendations, short essays, etc. provided clarity and advanced the work in a positive manner, all while keeping the billing to a minimum. It’s certainly not cheap at $275/hour, but I would use Rachel again any day based on my exceptional experience working with her.

While I seldom write online recommendations, I was so pleased with Rachel’s that I felt it was my duty to share my experience working with her. But don’t just take my word for it, call her up for a free 30 minute session!

Thanks again Rachel for helping me get into Wharton!

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I chose mbaMission after an info session I attended. After consulting with Jeremy Shinewald about my candidacy I gained the confidence I needed to go ahead with the application (my GPA was strong but my GMAT was below the top schools’ average). I signed for a 4-school package and contacted Rachel Beck, my advisor, to schedule a brainstorming session. Rachel is an incredible consultant: she has insightful comments, keeps you on track, presents wonderful ideas, and most importantly always there for you with quick responses to your questions and essays drafts (trust me, when crunching time arrives this is one of the most important attributes you should look for in a consultant).

What I valued most about working with mbaMission and especially Rachel is that beyond the professional ideas and advice her belief and support in my candidacy really pushed me to work hard and reach my potential.

The bottom line is that I was rewarded for my investment and was accepted to Wharton. My advice is to go for an info session, in which you will find out for yourselves that mbaMission is the company you want to work with, and Rachel Beck is the consultant you want by your side in this long arduous process.

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