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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I reached out to mbamission after going 0/2 last year from 2 "stretch" schools. My consultant was Akiba Smith-Francis who I selected after reading several glowing reviews. I didn’t have a whole lot of cash to splash so I selected 1 school and added another later.

I asked her which schools should I use her for and she suggested the ones that I find most difficult. She could have easily suggested the easier ones.

So I started off with two sets of applications where I didn't know where to begin as I'd used all my best stories and material last year. I was totally stumped and this is where my consultant came into her own.

We did a series of brainstorming sessions in which she pushed me to bring out some answers that truly answered the questions at hand. This only got better as she got to know me better for the second application. Akiba was so helpful in explaining which parts of my profile would be worth mentioning in my essays and which parts wouldn’t – often contrary to what I was expecting. I was very focused on what I wanted to do post MBA and what parts of my profile might help me get there, Akiba pointed out several experiences in my past that would be interesting to adcoms. By the end of these sessions I had a plan for what I’d write for all the essay questions, writing the essay was just like filling in the blanks.

In the end I had two sets of applications that were far better and focused than my previous applications. While I was waitlisted at one of these schools, my GMAT and GPA were far below the averages of these top 5 schools, and my work experience is distinctly average.

Akiba is an extremely bright woman able to frame responses in a way that will resonate with adcoms. She is very popular and I only got to use her as she had a last minute pull out, so I suggest if you are keen to engage her then start early. I highly recommend her, I don’t think I could have had anyone better!

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My review is specifically for Daniel Richards.

I've worked with Daniel on strategy, consulting and editing serves for admittance to an MBA program this year. Daniel is extremely experienced (he's worked with hundreds of applicants) and is professional and helpful.

What you can expect from the service:
1 - strategy of personal essays (by school, by essay type) - he clearly identified what my strengths and weaknesses were (from my resume and phone conversation), how to play up my strengths and what is most important to emphasize for the Admissions Committee.
2 - consulting and coaching - Daniel coached me on how to structure my essay and clearly tie in my experience with my reasons for enrolling in an MBA program and with my short and long term goals. His knowledge allowed me to see and think from the Admissions Committee perspective and helped me strengthen my essays in a ways I could not have done alone.
3 - editing - Daniel is an incredible writer and editor - he is concise and knows where to "trim the fat". My essays really went from zero to hero!

I know that mbamission services are expensive but the ROI on using them pay off. I strongly recommend Daniel's services.

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To frame this discussion, I will say this: I applied to the two hardest programs to get into with some less than savory topics to address in my essays. I did this at at roughly the last second... in the middle of cross-country move.

mbaMission sold me on BootCamp, which I did to prep and get oriented. When it came down to it though, I really wanted more in-depth help with the app I felt was harder and more important. Daniel not only pulled through, he was a windfall of help in the eleventh hour. He was informative, completely transparent as to the process and what he could and couldn't do, and above all the quality of his guidance was stellar - I felt infinitely more confident about my difficult situation and I know I handled it in the application 10x better than I would have otherwise. Daniel made a huge impact, without question.

Testament to this is the fact that I've gotten interviews at both schools. No decisions yet, but at the interview level I once again went to Daniel for help and he once again shepherded me through the process with really practical, credible advice - specific to me and the programs to which I applied. And once again, the end result made it worthwhile.

I'm typically very wary of services like this insofar as they can provide expensive, generic, "one-size-fits-all" advice. To the contrary, Daniel and the other folks at mbaMission know their stuff inside and out and - importantly - make it personal to YOU. And since these applications are made or broken on how well you convey yourself as an individual, that's pretty invaluable.

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I'm a busy lady and I decided to do this whole MBA thing last-minute - and woefully underestimated how much time and energy it would take.

I took the Boot Camp course to get oriented in the process and understand how I should be approaching the application, essays in particular. The course did that and more - it actually forced me to start in on actual essay work, which got me moving far ahead of when I would have started otherwise, and really motivated me once I understood how seriously I needed to take the essays - i.e. just being a "good writer" doesn't get you terribly far, it's really a specific writing craft that takes a lot of thought, time and revision - this course certainly prevented me from shortchanging it.

Angela is simply fantastic - she's the reason I actually took the course content to heart. I am skeptical of services like this and she was immediately credible, authoritative and clearly passionate about helping people do the very best they could with these apps. She sold me on the service and I used mbaMission for even more help subsequently.

I think this course gives you the tools you need to pull off the most important written aspects of the application well. I have gotten interviews at both schools I applied to (decisions havent come out yet) - they were extremely competitive and this program gave be very sound footing towards a real shot at both.

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I give Rachel Beck 5 stars! I got accepted to UT Austin and I couldn't have done it without Rachel's help and guidance - I would recommend her as a business school admissions consultant to anyone who is serious about applying to business school. She was very attentive, flexible, prompt and easy to get in touch with via phone and/or email. Rachel was able to work with my hectic work schedule and very quickly provided extremely detailed and insightful feedback. I was very impressed with her response time - we were under tight deadlines and she went above and beyond to help me reach those deadlines. She was always very positive and it was nice to have someone familiar with the process and what exactly the school's admissions department is focused on when evaluating the essays. I felt like I was more than just a job to her - Rachel has a great personality, is easy to talk to and really is looking out for her client's best interest.

Rachel was, without a doubt, money well spent. Before I started working with Rachel, I felt like my thoughts and essay topics were unorganized and didn't really tell the story that I wanted. As soon as I talked to Rachel, we had a plan and timeline set out that fit my needs. She took the stress away - gave me structure and small, achievable deadlines to hit when putting together the essays. She brought creativity out of me during our brainstorming sessions and key themes to my essays. I felt she really understood me and the direction I wanted to take my application. She really inspired me to write some great essays.

Her communication skills are strong and she is able to connect with clients on a professional level as well as a personal level. She is able to articulate my objectives or ideas to help me build cohesive, impactful essays. She has a talent for motivating clients, crafting and conceptualizing ideas and contributing to a final product that really reflects the client's personality and application.

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Who would you trust to review your essays? We all know how important essays are for an MBA application. But when i comes about sharing your most personal experiences (essays are basically about that) who would you trust to give you an objective point of view ? I decided to give a try with mbaMission without any specific recommendations. I had a very fast response from Aimee and in less than 24 hours i was already discussing my essays with Benjamin Shinewald. Let me get straight to the point: GREAT! The working process was amazing, I experienced it as a real teamwork! I was extremely happy with my essays and what the best thing is that it was still my essays! Benjamin really stick to your ideas and "just" help them to get sharper... all I can say: Thank you!

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I couldn't have been happier with the services of mbaMission consulting. All my questions were answered in a timely fashion, all my requests for constructive feedback were returned in a timely fashion, and all of the inputs I received were valuable. My consultant was available for mock interviews as well, and provided valuable feedback and information regarding the interview process. The mbaMission website was also extremely valuable and contained a wealth of information about the application process. I ended up getting accepted into 3 of 6 schools that I applied to, and my consultant predicted my results with great accuracy. I am convinced that using the consulting services improved my applications and made me more competitive in the application pool.

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