I am an incoming student at H/S/W for the class of 2017. I felt obligated to post my amazing experience working with Monica Okrah at mbaMission.

I first contacted Monica two years ago, because I was starting to think about applying to MBA programs. Monica was recommended to me by a coworker who was leaving to attend an M7 program along with her husband, both of whom worked with Monica throughout their MBA applications. At the time, I decided to delay my applications to business school, because I wanted to gain more work experience and leadership experience in different extracurricular activities. Monica stayed in touch with me every few months providing free advice.

Last June, I officially hired Monica to work with me on applying to three MBA programs in the M7. Monica immediately began working with me on picking the right schools; strategizing around my career goals, strengths, and weaknesses; and finding the best stories I would tell in my applications once they were released later in the summer.

Once the applications were released, I worked with Monica on my essays and short answer questions on a daily basis. We held weekly calls and Monica was very responsive to all of my emails. Monica's comments were always insightful and she provided tons of examples to back up her suggestions. I significantly improved my essays thanks to her probing questions and feedback. I previously thought writing was a strong point of mine. I read all the time, I scored an 8/8 on the writing portion of the GMAT, and I previously scored 800/800 on the SAT writing exam. However, Monica repeatedly proved that I could improve with constructive criticism and helped me to think of how to make my essays come alive with interesting, poignant stories.

I soon found myself with interviews at two of the M7 programs. I was ecstatic. I honestly never thought I stood a chance at most of these schools. Monica worked with me throughout the entire interview process doing multiple practice interviews for each school. I was provided lots of helpful resources such as sample questions at each school. Both of my interviews went smoothly, because I was prepared and confident. I had rehearsed many of the questions I would be asked before. I was surprised leaving both interviews, because I had expected much worse.

In the end, I was fortunate enough to be accepted to two M7 MBA programs. Monica was instrumental in helping me tell my "story" and true career aspirations rather than trying to come up with what I thought MBA programs wanted to hear. Monica helped me to differentiate myself among the crowded white male in finance crowd. While I was initially skeptical of working with an admissions consultant, I think Monica provided tons of value to me. From crafting my story to keeping me on track to interview preparation, Monica was incredibly helpful.

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I hired MBA mission for the three school package. My consultant was Debbie Choy and I found her incredibly helpful. We began with identifying "selling points" and stories that I felt set me apart and showed my achievements, which we then used to mold to the questions in the essays. In particular, I found the brain storming calls very useful with Debbie. She was able to take the information I provided her with and turn it into a coherent time-line and journey which came out in all of my essays.

Having a consultant also really helped on the turn-around time with the essays. Debbie always provided thorough comments within two business days and usually after a few turn-arounds we were both happy with the essay. This was infinitely helpful when juggling applications with a full time job.

Another aspect of MBAmission that I really liked is that the consultants are happy to answer any small questions that you may have when writing the essay. There were several times when I would send an essay back and ask Debbie a few small questions or clarifications and I would always get swift and helpful responses.

I ended up getting into my first choice of school which was definitely the best fit for me and I am over the moon!! I am extremely happy I chose MBAmission and worked with Debbie and I am looking forward to starting my MBA!,

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I came into the admissions process with a solid GMAT score in the 700's but a low GPA well below 3.0. Not only that but I had no idea of where I wanted to go. Adam Grossman took the time to find out about my past, my personality, and literally coached me through making career goals. Not only did I figure out where I wanted to apply, but he helped me get a much tighter grasp on what my goals were after graduation. He helped me choose a nice mix of safe schools and ones that were not so safe given my marks but were certainly attainable (as I found out). He was very honest about what was out of my reach and where I should not waste my time. Next, Adam helped me write some absolutely brilliant applications, I can say this because they landed me interviews with schools who had average entrance GPA scores at least .9 above my own. With interviews, I felt very confident going in as we had worked out all the possible conversation topics.
I would certainly recommend mbaMission if their other consultants are as helpful as Adam. He was available to answer any quick questions I had at the drop of a hat (not a joke even on Christmas and New Years), and would return essay edits within 48 hrs. He clearly loves his job and gets results.

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Before choosing a consulting company, I had a few free sessions with various MBA Application consultants. Given the price, I wanted to make sure I felt comfortable, and confident my consultant would help me put forth my best application. Before speaking with Adam I spoke to a woman from a different company who told me it was "impossible" to get into my first choice school -Stern- because of a below average GMAT score. I was very discouraged, but went forward anyway. During my first conversation with Adam, he told me Stern was not out of reach, but I would have to work hard on my essays and get the best recommendations possible. Adam took the time to get to know me, and get to understand my history and my goals for the future. He showed me ways to emphasize my strengths throughout my application and show that despite my score I can handle a top MBA program. He helped me to clearly define my goals and experiences in a way that let my personality shine through in my essays. Most importantly, he gave me the confidence to believe that getting into Stern was within my reach. I would highly recommend Adam and MBAMission to anyone looking for an MBA consultant.

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Daniel Richards was very helpful through my MBA application process. To be brief, I'll list the ways he helped me and could help you:

Clear expectations: Dan was clear about my chances of getting into the schools I wanted, and at the same time respected my goals. Sometimes honesty hurts, but it helps. In my case it helped me pick schools that fit me.

Editing: coming from a culture that values redundancy in writing, his help cutting down my resumé and essays was great. He did this while maintaining the full meaning of what I wanted to express. He really is great helping you with your own words, as he does not do the work for you, and is clear about the ethics of his consultancy.

Non traditional background: He was great at understanding and using my background to strengthen my app. In this aspect, as an international candidate, he was also very understanding of the different scenarios and difficulties that international candidates face.

Promptness: Never missed a deadline.

Communication: very opened about discussing issues, even over the phone.

The best thing Dan did for me is help me get to the bottom of what I wanted to gain from an MBA. His feedback, questions, and insights really helped me reflect upon various aspects of my candidacy and this will have a lasting impact beyond being accepted.

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I worked with Jen Kedrowski for my EMBA application. We started with the background questionnaire and she spent around 1.5hr over phone with me probing into details on the answers I provided and highlighting key points that I should consider while writing my essays. I had 4 essays to write for my application. Her input, thought process, suggestions and edits made my essays stand out. She is very responsive and met timeline SLAs defined by mbaMission; and in some instances she exceeded expectations in meeting the timeframes. She would listen to my views and respond to my questions very patiently. There were times when we went back and forth and she was very patient in working with me to bring the best in my essays. She also helped me with resume review and overall application review.

She is always transparent on time spent supporting me as it was critical in the hourly pattern.

Overall, I strongly recommend Jen for anyone who is looking for honest and candid input in preparation to the Business School. I truly enjoyed working with her.

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mbaMission was recommended to me by one of my mentors and its ala-carte offering was just what I needed. My aim was to get into one of the top B-schools in the world and like most others, I had access to basic information and was conversant with the admissions process elements. However, no one in my friends’ circle or peer group had been to any of the top B-schools. I needed someone who had relevant experience and knew what it may take to get into one of those B-schools. Though there is no recipe or formula to get into any of these schools but the value of advice from someone who has been through the process himself/ herself and has successfully guided a lot of others should not be underestimated. Most of mbaMission consultants have done their MBAs from top B-schools and are subject matter experts of the process. Ms. Melissa Merchant, a Kellogg alumnus, was my consultant. Her dedication, commitment and involvement was commendable and extremely reassuring. I found her recommendations and suggestions spot-on and truly useful. With a full-time job, I wrote a lot of my essays in the eleventh hour. Melissa was extremely responsive and there were multiple occasions when she had to put in long spells of extra hours and with very little prior intimation. It was heartening to see this level of commitment. A lot of consultants around give generic feedback, derive their recommendations and inputs from sources that are otherwise freely available on the web and offer very little insight. Unlike these consultants, Melissa took time to understand the nuances of my profile and coached me along the way. She helped me perform to the best of my abilities and guess what, I made it to one of my dream schools. What I loved about her was that she never offered to write the essays for me or tried to change who I was. But she encouraged me to be myself and to be a better version of myself. While there are some hygiene factors that need to be in place, but what differentiates one candidate from another is not the similarities but the differences. Melissa helped me maintain my originality and helped me explore sides of myself that I did not even know existed. I guess that it is safe to say that by the end of the process she knew more about me than a lot of my closest friends will ever do. Her insights will stay with me forever and certainly transcend the MBA admission process. Each time I am asked to share my experiences or need to appear for any interview, I will remember to go through her feedback and suggestions because she did not give me a fish to eat but she taught me how to fish. Thanks a lot Melissa. :)

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I worked with Katy off of the rave reviews of a family friend (I contacted her as soon as I decided to apply, because she books up quickly!) and I couldn't have made a better decision. I worked on a 3 school package with her (Wharton, HBS, MIT Sloan) and I received interview invitations from all 3, accepted at Wharton, waitlist at Sloan and did not get into HBS. From the start, Katy was encouraging, knowledgable, and most importantly, honest and straightforward. We began by going through every aspect of my profile in detail and discussing target schools, as well as actionable steps I could take to strengthen my chances (recommending different volunteering opportunities to get involved in, advice for the GMAT, etc).
We extensively brainstormed and discussed a plan of action before starting any applications, and it saved me so much time. Katy is incredibly talented at "weaving" the story together- connecting examples in such a way that gets straight to the point in a powerful way. I felt so confident anytime I spoke with Katy- she really spent the time to get to know me as a person and make sure that was coming through in my application.
Editing each essay was the most time intensive part of the process. Katy made it clear that no essay was done until I was 100% confident and satisfied- we went through dozens of revisions for each essay. Every revision was returned to me extremely quickly- 1 or 2 days, impressive especially considering I was turning them around very quickly as well, often sending a revision the day back the day I received it.
When it came time for interviews, Katy coached me and prepared me for each interview individually, doing mock interviews and sending me a plethora of materials. For HBS, she prepared an entire mock interview tailored to my profile exactly like the real interview was. For Wharton, the group interview, she set me up with a practice group interview with other MBA Mission students, including feedback post-interview.
Anytime I reached out to Katy, I received a response right away. The admissions process is long and exhausting, and can be incredibly stressful at times. Knowing she was there for advice and guidance anytime I needed is what got me through this process. I never would have received the interviews I did, let alone acceptance at Wharton, without Katy. I can't recommend her highly enough!

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If you're looking for an easy route to complete your applications and for someone to write all of your essays for you, I would not use MBA Mission.

However, if you're looking for a thought-provoking, soul-searching service that makes you think critically about your career and how an MBA would help you accomplish that, MBA Mission is perfect for you.

Debbie was my consultant and she was tough in all the right ways. In no way did she write the essays for me; instead, she facilitated my own preparations for my admissions/essays. She brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table and was able to comb through all the various activities/stories/lessons I have gathered over the years, and help me identify key themes and threads that I used to weave into my writing.

In 2011, I applied on my own to full-time MBA and got dinged everywhere I applied at. in 2014, armed with a consultant who has been there before and knew what content would be relevant & interesting to admissions committees, I was accepted everywhere I applied!

I conducted free consultations with Stacey Blackman among other agencies, but MBA Mission stood out to me because of their focus on my performance - and ironically, their lack of a "guarantee" that I would get into one of the schools I would work with them on. From a business model perspective, that really resonated with me.

I could not recommend MBA Mission and Debbie enough!!

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A former Captain in the U.S. Air Force, I was skeptical (not to mention clueless!) about entering the competitive MBA space. With an undergraduate degree in engineering, a masters, and extensive project engineering experience in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Europe, my stories were endless. But where would I start? Could I be effective in telling my whole story? How could I ensure my trials and tribulations caught the AdCom’s eye?

In walked Jessica Shklar. A distinguished graduate from HBS, Jessica was also accepted into Stanford, Kellogg, and Yale. Her resume spoke for itself but I wondered, “Could she help me”? The moment of truth came during my free 30 minute consultation. Starting at 5 pm, our conversation was an interactive and intense self-analysis. In just 30 minutes Jessica gave me a critical but uplifting review of my candidacy – all for the price of FREE. She didn’t pressure me to pay for her services; she only provided incredible feedback and outlined a plan for my future. Why? Because she cares. That’s her priority. Jessica, first and foremost, wants you to succeed. She will challenge you and she will drive you, all in the name of excellence. The moment you sign her is the moment you start your journey towards business school acceptance.

It should come as no surprise that Jessica is the best at what she does. Jessica has helped potential MBA candidates like you get into their dream schools for seven years. Jessica was an expert at pulling experiences from my past and highlighting my goals. Throughout my essays she helped me articulate key points that kept my stories concise yet relevant. Are you wondering how you’ll ever convey your total life experience in two 500 word essays? Stop wondering – hire Jessica. Are you wondering if your resume can compete in a highly competitive environment? Stop wondering – hire Jessica. Are you wondering if your essays in fact answer the essay question? (many don’t!) Stop wondering – hire Jessica.

Why am I writing this? Because Jessica transformed my voice; she was my consultant and my friend. I used Jessica’s services for three schools but I didn't submit any applications. A less than stellar GMAT score coupled with a few personal issues hindered my application. Who guided me through these troubles? Jessica. Who offered alternatives, advice, and still helped me complete three stellar applications for 2015? Jessica. You’re not just hiring a consultant for getting into business school. You’re hiring a lifetime mentor who just happens to be the best in the business at helping MBA candidates gain acceptance into the school(s) of their dreams.

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