I have consulted with Katherine over the course of several months while applying to HBS and CBS. I have used around 10-15hours of her service.
Katherine's advice has been incredibly helpful in getting in to top MBA programms, whether it was about brainstorming my essay storyline or working through style of writing. She definitely approaches each applicant in a very personal way, spends required time to help (or even more!) and does not count time "to a minute" which allows for more relaxed atmosphere. She is very flexible in terms of arranging review calls, even when it comes to last minute requests. Katherine is definitely worth recommending and I would use her service again if I had to! FYI I have been invited for HBS interview (did not go through unfortunately) and got in to CBS! Good luck everyone!

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I signed up for mbaMission about 4 months before my application deadline. At that time, I felt I needed some guidance and expertise on crafting my essays with articulate goals and reasoning. I was paired up with Jen K from mbaMission and absolutely loved working with her. She was extremely patient, supportive, and gave me confidence throughout the application process. She always responded to emails before the turnaround time, and always provided me with detailed and concrete feedback on perfecting my essays. I ended up getting into my top choice school, and I don't think I would have gotten in without Jen's help.

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A former colleague of mine highly recommended Monica at mbaMission, and I'm grateful that he did. Monica worked with me, start-to-finish, on applying to HBS and Columbia for Round 2. She was an incredible resource and support system, and I got into both schools. Here are the areas where Monica was most valuable to my application process:

Essays – Monica spent a lot of time working with me before I ever wrote anything. We had multiple calls to hash out my ideas for individual essays, as well as discuss broader themes or strings to pull my whole application together. This made writing not so painful. And when it came to drafting and revising, Monica went well above and beyond textual editing. She was focused on the important things: themes, general direction, messaging. She frequently re-focused me when my essays drifted from what they needed to achieve.

Other Application Materials - Monica read through and helped me prune all aspects of my written application, including the resume and short answers. She also helped me strategically select, and approach, my recommenders.

Interview Prep – Monica's mock interviews and feedback sessions were excellent. This was particularly helpful for the HBS process. Having spent a lot of time reading my application in full (the way an admissions officer would), and having HBS-specific insight, Monica was able to hone in on the important nuances of my candidacy and ask me the tough questions.

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Last year, I applied to several business schools and was denied by all of them. It was pretty discouraging to say the least and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to try again. My company hosted an mbaMission info session and I decided I would give it another shot with their help.

I had a consultation with Angela and found her to be a great resource in the 30 minutes that we initially spoke. I quickly decided that I wanted to be paired up with her to aid me with some new applications as well as some reapplications.

During the process, Angela helped relieve a lot of the stress I had from the previous year's results. She gave me great advice on how to improve my resume and make my essays more powerful. We were able to work through each essay over a couple week period and I never found her to be unresponsive to any of my inquiries.

With the guidance I received, I was able to gain admission to some great MBA programs and had a tough decision to make in the end on where I wanted to go.

To anyone considering this service, I would highly recommend working with Angela not only because she is very knowledgeable on the whole application process but also because she is a real genuine person.

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I heard about Jessica Shklar through several friends – all gained acceptance to their top choice schools with her help. I reached out to her early (or so I thought) for the 2015 application cycle only to find out that she was already booked solid for R1. She offered to recommend another mbaMission consultant but the opportunity to work with her, coupled with other factors specific to my situation, made the choice to hold off until R2 an easy one.

After eight years in the military and multiple deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa I had plenty of interesting stories but had no idea how to effectively tie them together into something that the admissions committees could understand and appreciate. The first brainstorming session was possibly the most important 90 minutes of the entire process for me. I started with 20 pages of notes, ideas, and disjointed stories and walked away with solid, coherent themes that I was eventually able to incorporate in every application. I also walked away with a realistic list of schools to target and a clear understanding of every step I needed to take in order to submit a successful application. From the 30-minute free consultation (I’m still amazed at how well she was able to understand my story and offer relevant advice after little more than a glance at an early draft of my resume) to the final interview prep call, Jessica made manageable what would have been an otherwise unbelievably stressful process. Most importantly, I was truly proud of the applications I finally submitted.

I applied to three schools with Jessica’s help – I was accepted to two (including my top choice) and waitlisted at the other. I honestly do not believe that I would have achieved those results if I hadn’t worked with Jessica. The service is definitely a financial commitment but if you have the opportunity to work with Jessica, do so… I promise that you won’t regret it.

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When I decided to apply to an MBA program, I initially thought it was too late to apply for the upcoming year and would have to wait a year. Without Jen's assistance it would have been. She was able to accelerate the application process.

Going into the process I felt that my education was unimpressive, my community activities were lacking, and my career was average when compared to those applying to top business schools. Not only did the whole process seemed overwhelming, I didn't know where to start. Jen was able to help immediately. The brainstorming session became the bedrock of my application. It was frequently referenced as we went through the process, and helped me round out the story that my application told.

Jen always met the deadlines for feedback, and often exceeded them. The whole time I felt like Jen was my advocate. She had confidence in my application and in me. I can honestly say, I don't think I would have been accepted to a top business school without her help. I cannot speak highly enough about the experience I had working with Jen.

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I didn’t think I would get to write this, but I was recently accepted to my dream MBA program at Columbia and I could not have done it without Angela.

I’ve wanted to go to Columbia Business School for a long time but only decided in January to apply this year. By then, I had already missed the first two deadlines which put me in the infamously dreaded “round 3” within Columbia’s rolling admission process. Moreover, although I had good academics and work experience, my GMAT score was on the lower end of the spectrum. I had the story and the passion, but given my GMAT and timing, I knew that I would need the best help I can get.

I remembered meeting Angela during an MBA Mission session through Forte’s MBALaunch program over a year ago and loved her presentation. I decided to reach out to her specifically after speaking to almost a dozen other consultants (Stacey Blackman, Admit Advantage, Veritas, Accepted.com, MBA Admit, etc.), some of whom basically told me that I would be better off waiting until early decision next year to apply. I knew my chances were very slim but despite the naysayers, my mind was made up to give absolute my best shot and apply this year. Angela managed my expectations but ultimately said “let’s do this, and don’t look back.”

For the next two months, she became my compass, guide, coach, and friend through the entire process. We brainstormed strategically to craft my application in a way that was distinctively unique and true to me. It wasn’t easy and it was a ton of work; there were a lot edits and going back to the drawing board but Angela guided me through every single aspect of my story. She called me out on parts of my essays that were just not good enough and told me start over. I didn’t want just a good application; I wanted the most outstanding application that I can put together and Angela was on the same page with me every step of the way. Even when I disagreed with her feedback, we would get on the phone and talk it through in order to get to a point where we both felt confident on the approach. Applying to business school ended up being one of the most challenging experiences in my life. There were moments when I wanted to just give up and wait until early decision next year but Angela helped me push forward through her awesome pep talks. Her straightforwardness coupled with her genuine determination to see me succeed was incredibly refreshing.

By the time I clicked “submit” near the end of February, I knew I was extremely proud and happy with my application no matter what the outcome. Still, given the statistics of my chances, I kept my hopes in check.

Two weeks later, I almost fell out of chair when I received the invitation to interview. Angela was ecstatic for me and prepped me right away; her advice helped me to have a terrific interview. The final wait was agonizing, but amazingly, I got THE call within two weeks. Against the odds, we did it. I’m so glad to have swung for the fences this year, and Angela was absolutely the best coach to have on my side.

Here’s to our incredible “Hail Mary pass,” Angela (FTW!!)

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Context: I applied to B-school in the fall of 2014. Due to the last minute nature of my application and lack of confidence with interviews, I sought support from Katharine (Katy) Lewis at MbaMission. I wrote to her after hearing about her from a friend and after having a mock consultation with her – which left me with a strong impression of her knowledge of the two schools I was interested in (HBS and GSB). I took the hourly package and decided to reach out to Katy for support with my essay and interviews.

Things that stand out from my experience with Katy:

1. She knows the two schools that I applied to – Stanford and Harvard – EXTREMELY well. She understands the nuances in style/focus for the two schools and helps you package your essay accordingly.

2. Her knowledge of the two schools is particularly helpful in preparing for the mock interview. I did a mock interview with Katy before my GSB and HBS interview – both of which, as I realized later, differ significantly. The questions that she prepped me with for GSB and HBS had little in common and she was unbelievably spot on with the points from my resume/essay that the interviewers were likely to talk about. She made my interviews a smooth sail.

3. She is exceptionally responsive and goes the extra mile to accommodate your needs – be it in terms of responding to requests for calls/essay reviews/scheduling a mock interview/reviewing the post-interview reflection – she is a consistent, encouraging, and reliable partner through it all

4. She gives you enough room to speak about your ideas/doubts/fears and extract all that she can from you – in terms of the story for your essay as well as the interview. She then responds with very specific feedback to package it appropriately. There were times when she told me “this is perfect, you should go ahead with it”, she won’t give you advice/suggest modifications just for the heck of it. This is immensely helpful for one to remain genuine to one’s story and style throughout the process.

Result: Made it to both Stanford and Harvard (yet to make up my mind on where to go). Immensely thankful to Katy for this. She is also helping me make my decision given her deep insights into the schools.

My advice to applicants: Be thoughtful as to what you need help with when working with a consultant. Exhaust all free resources you can get access to – friends, free consultations, etc. – and then make the decision on whether or not to take help. Things that I find value in when it comes to working with a (good) consultant – validation of your theme, packaging of ideas customized to different schools, and mock-interviews.

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I worked with Katy on my Round 2 applications for 3 schools. By way of background, my stats are 770, 3.7, finance background but currently working in nonprofit. I was accepted at HBS and Haas and wait-listed at GSB.

I think the most impressive aspect of working with Katy was how intuitive and insightful she is in understanding me as a person. After I filled out the brainstorming questionnaire, Katy and I had an hour long call to discuss essay topics. She surprised me halfway through by saying "this is what I think matters to you" and then explaining my values to me better than I have ever been able to do myself. I found that essay topic picking was the most daunting part of this process so I was really greatful that she could help me sort my scattered thoughts out so effortlessly.

Regarding actual essay writing and editing, Katy was good at helping me cut my first draft down (it was twice as long as the limit) by helping me remove sections that weren't as impactful. She also definitely has a knack for rewording things to get the word count down. I started the round 2 process pretty early so my main Stanford/Harvard essay went through a lot of different iterations before I submitted and she definitely provided the big picture guidance that I was really looking for through those iterations.

Katy was also really helpful in prepping me for my interviews. Mbamission has a ton of data on prior interviews which was really helpful and the mock HBS interview I did with her definitely made me feel more prepared when I walked into the room on that one.

Katy also just has a lot of general knowledge about the admissions process which provided really helpful context throughout the process. She is clearly in the flow both through her personal experiences and friends at the schools I applied to, and she works with what seems to be an impressive clientele so she is seeing in real time how her clients' applications resonate with adcoms. Her follow up to our calls was always timely and professional and included materials we had discussed on the calls.

If you are considering working with Katy I would definitely at least have the free 30 minute convo with her, I got a lot of great insights from her just in that first call. Also the mbamission materials are relatively cheap and you should read all of them even if it's not exactly a beach read. Finally, I would just say that, other than being super effective and knowledgeable, Katy is just a truely lovely person who really likes working with young people who are trying to figure out what the heck to do with their lives.

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Based on a recommendation from my GMAT instructor at the time, I signed up for my free, 30 minute consultation with Jessica Shklar. I was just beginning to explore the application process, and was starting from square one. During that session, Jessica listened to my background, and provided thoughtful feedback and advice on how best to proceed. From the beginning, I felt as though she genuinely wanted me to succeed in the process - she was engaged and excited. She never attempted to sell or push any services or products – in fact, when I did decide to sign up with her, I had to convince HER to take me on, because she was in such high demand.

As a somewhat nontraditional candidate, I was extremely nervous to go through the application process - and I was also keenly aware of how much of an investment MBA Mission’s services are. However, as I began working with Jessica, the returns on that investment became clear right away.

I was working on an extremely condensed timeline, and was studying for the GMAT at the same time. Jessica worked tirelessly to ensure that the applications I was able to put forth at the end of the process were the best they could be – and that they were a genuine representation of who I am as an applicant. If I had any questions, she was there with a quick response – from beginning to end.

What I appreciate most about Jessica is her honesty. I wanted a consultant that would be tough and tell me the things I didn’t always want to hear, or perhaps wasn’t capable of recognizing in my own work, and I certainly received that feedback from Jessica. If I came up with an essay idea that she knew wasn’t my best, she told me so. She never let me settle for less than my best, and that paid off immensely in the end. I am immensely grateful to Jessica for her encouragement and support during this process – and recommend her highly to anyone considering going through the application process.

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