I have been through 3 admissions consultants. The first one was an author and a H/S/W grad. She never criticized anything I did and just way too optimistic bordering on fawning. I had to fire her in no time. Then I decided to not hold back and hired a very highly rated consultant (another H/S/W grad) from a very expensive firm on a hourly rate. She was good, but I always felt she was handling way too many clients. I had to remind her in every meeting about my stories as she was getting too many clients mixed up. For one session, she was driving to a dancing class while talking to me from car. For the rate I was paying her, I felt like she was literally taking me for a ride. Anyways, I applied to a couple schools and was promptly rejected.

It has been 4 years since then and I wanted to apply for EMBA. I did not want to go with the second consultant and looked for more info on others. Fortunately I came across Angela and her reviews. Despite my bad experiences with other consultants I decided to hire her because this was my final shot at MBA. I wasn't going to apply again. And that was THE BEST decision of my MBA application process

One of the best things about Angela is she genuinely tries to know you as a person. She will ask you to write down everything about yourself and really takes the effort to study that. Unlike the other consultants she did not ever have to be reminded of my background and accomplishments. She knew them as well as I knew them at each and every meeting.

She is a story teller at heart and can make your seemingly boring accomplishments come to life so much so that you will be impressed with your own accomplishments too. She worked with me on my essays and my resume and now that I look back at my original essays I came up with, they were a disaster. With her on my side, I was able to create a very riveting story in each of my essay and remove the fluff from my resume

She is also honest if you are screwing up. In one of the iterations I tried to jazz up my stories and she called me right away to tell me that the essays did not reflect who I was. She asked me to be very genuine as my personality/demeanor did not gel with my essay and that it would be a red flag at my interview. I am glad I heeded to her advice then

Another amazing aspect of working with her was that she was amazingly fast. I never had to wait for her ever. And this despite taking a school package in which they promise only a 3 day turnaround. She worked with me to get 4 iterations of my essays done in a week and each iteration was a huge improvement over the previous one. All this while she was working from Texas, Chicago and even Europe. It did not matter where she was physically as she was so prompt

Most importantly, I felt she genuinely cared about the outcome. She really wanted me to succeed and I honestly would not have gotten admission to ALL the top b-schools (without revealing too much, I got admitted to two of the following top schools Columbia, Wharton, Kellogg, and Chicago)

If you get a chance to hire her, do not hesitate. You will not repent it. This is coming from someone who hired consultants from other apparently top consulting firms before. They are not even close to Angela in terms of quality

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I really enjoyed working with Angela throughout my MBA application process. Angela made significant contributions to my application in three key areas:

First, Angela is an excellent thought partner. She helped me through a process of introspection to better understand myself and what made me unique as a candidate. I valued the opportunity to share ideas as I crafted my essays and could always count on her to provide high quality, honest feedback that pushed my thinking.

Angela is also a gifted communicator. She helped me to present my experiences clearly and concisely in a way that would be understandable to individuals not familiar with the technical aspects of my industry. Angela’s guidance in this area was particularly helpful as I prepared for my interview.

Finally, working with Angela removed a lot of stress and uncertainty from the process. I was able to rely on her experience and intuition to get a feel for where my essays were strong and where there we opportunities for improvement. This significantly enhanced my confidence throughout the process and allowed me to work more efficiently.

Angela was a big part of my successful application to Harvard Business School. I highly recommend Angela to anyone working through the MBA application process.

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I’m a porn star. Well, technically an adult fetish model, producer, and community leader. But to anyone reading an application or resume, I’m a porn star. By day I also run my own small business in education, but it’s my other “adult” interests that were obviously my biggest concern, and obstacle in applying to business school.

Before starting the application process, I made the decision that I was going to choose to be “out” during the entire process. I didn’t want to lie to get in, and I didn’t want to live a lie at school, in constant fear of being discovered-- especially when the thing I was hiding was something I’m actually quite proud of. So I decided I was going to need help, and was hoping to find someone brave enough and bold enough to take me on as a client.

I started my journey with MBA mission through the free consultation. I chose Susan, and sent in my stats and resume, and crossed my fingers. Susan smartly decided to send my information to a few other consultants to get their opinions and insights to better help her with our first conversation. And it was at that time that Angela responded by saying essentially, “this girl seems awesome, and if she wants to hire us, I want to work with her!”

When Susan told me that another consultant had said that, I was thrilled. I felt so confident and hopeful knowing that the person I was going to be working with was not only not going to judge me and the choices I’ve made, but also was going to work hard to champion me, and was as motivated as I was to help me succeed and reach my full potential. She knew what she was up against, and she wanted the challenge.

I can say with all honesty and complete sincerity that if it weren’t for Angela, I would not have gotten in to any business school most likely, let alone my top choice (a top 15 program) with a prestigious fellowship, and a full ride to my third choice school. She was there for me during the entire process in ways that really exceeded her job description. From working holidays and extra “hand holding,” to a face to face conversation in a coffee shop about my future that I’m rather certain changed my life, Angela was there for me, pushing me to be and to do better.

Brilliantly, Angela made me take the GMAT. I had a strong score on the GRE, and had intended on simply using that score. But Angela thought it was important that I didn’t give anyone any reason to doubt my abilities, and she felt confident that I would do well on the test. So with some prodding, and some guidance on prep, I took the test, and scored a 750, which I know lent credibility to my overall application and allowed me to put my best foot forward. I didn’t want to take the test, but listening to her on that was one of the best decisions I’ve made.

Angela also worked exceptionally hard to help me write my optional essay. We decided early on that that would be the place I explained my life—who I am and the choices that I’ve made. It was always a big ask. I needed to strike the perfect tone; the just right balance of being proud but not defensive, and understanding but not apologetic. We did over a dozen drafts of that essay, and Angela sent versions around to other consultants, getting second, third, and fourth opinions from people who didn’t know me as well to make sure that we hit that tone. In the end, those 250 words are some of the best “I’ve” ever written.

Personally, Angela is one of my favorite people ever. She’s witty and smart, passionate and opinionated, and she’s fun to talk to and be around. She worked hard for me and made me want to work harder for her. She believed in me when not very many people would have, and was prouder when I got in than just about anyone else.

I’m beyond thankful to have gone on this journey with Angela, and wouldn’t want to have done it with anyone else. Together what we achieved is pretty close to miraculous, and at the end of it, I’m thrilled to have worked with someone who I now like to consider a friend.

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A little less than a year ago, I was dreading the entire business school application process. I had taken my GMATs the year before, but I had no idea how to tackle the essay questions or how to make my resume stand out. Because of this, I came to mbaMission, and to Dan specifically. Looking back now, I can honestly say it was the best decision I made in the process.

From day one, Dan really worked to understand my story and help crystalize the parts that would make me stand out among a sea of applicants. We worked through my resume line by line through countless hours to make each task I did at work come alive.

Additionally, Dan helped me brainstorm unique experiences outside of work I can bring to my application. By the end of our brainstorm sessions, I felt like he knew me better than my best friends. The process not only made my essays come alive, but also helped me realize exactly what I want to do post-business school. It was a very tiring, but ulitmately unbelievably rewarding experience.

Dan was also extremely patient with me during my application process that lasted well over 6 months since I applied in both R1 and R2. Sometimes I would blast him 5 emails at 2:00AM freaking out about every little detail. He always replied promptly and always managed to calm me down.

As a side note, mbaMission's mock interview for the Wharton TBD was also extremely helpful. I went into the real interview feeling like I know what to expect and the two experiences were very similiar.

With Dan's guidance, I was admitted to Wharton in R2 and MIT Sloan and Columbia in R1. I will most likely matriculate at Wharton this fall - thank you Dan!!!

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Consultant: Adam Grossman (mbaMission)

Personal Profile:
Undergraduate School: Brown
Undergraduate GPA: 3.3
GMAT: 670
Work Experience: 4+ years

Package purchased: 4 School Start-To-Finish

Schools Applied to and Results:
Duke Fuqua: Admitted
UVA Darden: Rejected
Northwestern Kellogg: Admitted
UCLA Anderson: TBD

Review:
Adam was absolutely invaluable in taking the mass of raw material and disorganized thoughts and ideas and helping me turn them into a clear and concise vision to present to admissions committees. From the start, Adam was a partner in the process from start to finish. He helped me finalize a list of target schools based on my interests, strengths, and weaknesses.

I identified Kellogg as my first choice and we went after that first. We customized each essay for each school taking into account each school’s individual characteristics. Adam had great perspective on how to uniquely position myself for each school. He was very responsive to questions and helped provide excellent edits. I never lost my voice throughout the essay writing process and he helped me with every single detailed question I had. Adam was always there to support and always had good answers.

He was a no nonsense guy which is incredibly important in the process. His feedback was always direct and constructive. We worked efficiently and productively together improving both my abilities and our output after each meeting.

I would highly recommend Adam and mbaMission. As a result of our work together, I got into my top choice school even with below-average GMATs.

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According to my experience, applying an MBA program is a tough job that requires not only hard work but also a strategic and focused approach. Before deciding which consulting service to use, I talked to a few consulting companies and tried their free sessions. I do suggest to “shop around” and you will find the right one. In my case, I found mbaMission was very impressive. After I provided my profile and answered a couple of questions, the consultant outlined an overview of my strength, weakness, and which schools I should target. It was simply, professional, and focused! After signing up the product, I chose to work with Pamela, a very experienced consultant. Now I have got the offer from the school of my dream. I must say I did the right choice and found the right person!

I was very happy working with Pamela. She was methodical. Everything was so well organized that I knew exactly what I would expect down the road, and I could plan my tasks down to every single day! Although the service was delivered online, the communication and collaboration was thorough and effective. During the whole process, I didn’t panic at all! What a surprise! I suggest to carefully read the documents they send over after you sign up the service. They are very useful!

Essay editing is important part of the whole service. I felt I was fully supported. For each essay, she walked it through with me from analyzing the topic to editing revisions to completing the essay. In addition, when I was stuck somewhere, she always provided a high level guidance that forced me to think in a “macro” perspective. I see this is a great approach to allow me to reshape my thoughts and restructure the content. This approach worked for me very well. I suggest writing essays on your own – you will be the person who takes the interview and you have to think a lot in the whole process!

At the post offer stage, when I was deciding which school to choose, she made sure I had full information to make the decision and provided valuable and unbiased advice. This is also an important stage, especially when you have multiple choices. For me, Pamela is an expert in this area – she knows the top B-schools well and has great knowledge in the post-MBA fields. So her advice helped me a lot!

In summary, I am very impressed and do appreciate her help and work during the whole process. I definitely recommend mbaMission, especially Pamela, to anyone who wants to apply to top B-schools. Finally, I want to say when applying an MBA program, you are not doing something for fun. You need to be serious! It is your opportunity to change your entire life! So make your choice wisely!

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Decision to Hire Angela

When I first decided to apply to MBA programs, I had no idea how competitive I was, where I had a shot of getting in, or how high I should reach. While I had good stats (3.9 GPA from a top 20 liberal arts school, 760 GMAT), I worked in accounting for 3 years and I didn’t know how to differentiate myself from the other good applicants who were applying. I didn’t feel like I had a particularly interesting story. I was intrigued by the idea of hiring a consultant but, frankly, couldn’t fathom spending that much money only one year before I would be taking out upwards of 150K in student loans.

When I got an email from mbaMission inviting me to have a free 30-minute consult live in my city, I figured I had nothing to lose. I went in thinking that if a consultant would simply save me time – tell me things I could find online, save me calls to admissions offices, etc – edit my essays, and set a schedule for me, I would skip it. But if hiring one would actually increase my chances of getting in in ways that I could never do myself, then I would consider it.


Free Consult

In my 30-minute consult, Angela assessed my competitiveness at all the schools I was considering, helped me with my resume, told me I didn’t need to take the GMAT again (despite getting 70% Quant and 67% IR scores) and helped me with my “story” – my reason for going to business school and my post-MBA goals. I remember leaving that 30 minutes consult feeling already like she’d added incredible value to the process. I no longer had to stress about whether or not I should retake the GMAT or figuring out what schools I should apply to.

I realized that if I thought an MBA was worth the cost of tuition and opportunity cost of not working, it was definitely worth another $3.75K to have a consultant help me with one school. After all, applying to one school would mean perfecting my resume, my “story,” and, if I picked the right school, I’d probably be able to use the essays for other schools. So I decided to use Angela for one school.

My next dilemma was which schools to choose. I had decided to apply to Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton as reaches, Booth and Kellogg as fit schools, and Fuqua as a safety. And I couldn’t figure out which one hire Angela for. If I chose Harvard to increase my chances of getting in, I figured I could still end up rejected everywhere. If I chose a fit school, then I thought my chances at HBS/Stanford went out the window. If I was only going to get into my safety, then I thought it was worth using a consultant to see if I could get scholarship money. In the end, I decided if it was worth using her for one school, it was worth using her for all of the schools. And that $8K when compared to the cost of an MBA was a drop in the bucket, especially if I could get a scholarship that would make the consultant more than pay for itself.

Hiring Angela was the best investment I’ve ever made. I ended up with full tuition scholarships to Booth and Fuqua, a partial scholarship to Wharton, and admission into HBS. I’m not at all saying that I don’t deserve admission or scholarships at these schools, but I can say without a doubt that I would not have been this successful in my applications if I had not hired her.

One of the biggest values that Angela brought to the admissions process was making me realize how strong of a candidate I was. When I first spoke with her, I thought I was a weak candidate and that Booth/Kellogg would be a reach. I wasn’t even thinking of applying to HBS/Stanford. But Angela recognized aspects of my candidacy that made me exceptional and pushed me to be as successful as I could.


Essays

She knew what I needed to highlight in my applications. At the beginning of our work together, Angela and I had a long brainstorm session in which she got to know ALL of my stories, personal, professional, and from undergrad. Because of this, whenever we started working on a new essay, Angela was able to pull from my life stories to know how I should best answer the question. Throughout the process, I was amazed at the extent to which Angela was able to tie together stories from my life that I would not have pieced together. She was able to find themes that portrayed parts of me I hadn’t identified. For someone who believes she has lived a very normal life, I didn’t think I could put together an inspiring essay. But Angela got to know me well enough to find the things about me that would make me shine in the eyes of the adcoms.

As I wrote the essays, Angela pushed me to do what she knew I was capable of. We went through 12 versions of some essays. In the first versions, she would often tell me to scratch it and start over. While I’m a perfectionist and a hard worker, Angela pushed me farther than I could have pushed myself. She often asked for more insight into what I was thinking, what my motivation was, and what I learned in a way that helped me discover things about myself that I never would have learned without her. Also important to note is that my essays (and the rest of my application) were entirely my work. She asked questions and pushed me to success, but didn’t make direct edits or in any way embellish the truth. Still, looking at the end product, I couldn’t have written the essays on my own.


Interviews

When it came to interviews, Angela delivered a workshop for all her clients with a really novel and refreshing approach to interviews. Then for each individual school interview, she helped me feel thoroughly prepared. She not only helped me come up with answers to specific questions during mock interviews but more importantly, taught me a methodology for how to answer questions, so I would never be stumped. She built up my confidence, which is perhaps the most important part of an interview. She even sent me a youtube video of an interview with a movie star so I could learn by example how to show in an interview that I’m human without apologizing. She taught me how to highlight my strengths without sounding full of myself. These are lessons I will take with me and apply to future job interviews, and I have even begun coaching my colleagues based on what I have learned from Angela.


Overall

One of the most incredible things about working with Angela is that I always felt like I was her only client. One of my hesitations in hiring a consultant was the fear that they would give the same advice to everyone. Angela’s advice was completely tailored to me. She also responded to my emails sometimes instantly. Even when on her holiday vacation, she responded within a couple hours to any and every question I had. She could not have been more devoted or available.

Coming from an industry where we track the time spent on each client, I was also nervous that if I got a package, the consultant would cut corners and try to spend as little time with me as possible. But on the contrary, Angela went above and beyond to give her time and energy. She pushed me to write more drafts of essays. After I was accepted to schools, she initiated a call with me to discuss my thoughts and offer advice on where I should accept. After I visited schools for their accepted students events, she reached out to me to hear how they went. I truly feel like Angela cared about my success and in finding the best fit for me almost as much as I did. She was there every step of the way.

For me, as a type A perfectionist, working with Angela also considerably reduced the amount of stress and anxiety I felt during this whole process, largely because instead of worrying over details, I trusted Angela. While I had been freaking out over whether to retake the GMAT, Angela said no, so I didn’t give it another thought. There are countless questions that you will have during the application process, any of which could cause considerable doubt and anxiety. Working with Angela took all of that away. If she said to use story A instead of story B I said okay and moved on instead of second guessing myself. Angela’s fees were worth it if only because working with her during this year-long period made my life a lot easier.

I can’t express enough how valuable Angela was in this process. My friends can attest to this as I can’t count the number of times I said to them “I don’t know what I’d do without Angela.” I’ve raved so much about her to everyone I know that my friends have already referred their friends and colleagues to her.

So if I had to give those of you applying to business school one piece of advice, I would say hire a consultant, and hire Angela. The value you will get far outweighs the cost.

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I worked with Rachel Beck on my business school applications this fall, and I was accepted to all 3 of the schools that I worked on with her (all 3 are top 10 programs, 2 are top 5).

Rachel was instrumental in helping me find and tell my story. Having somewhat of a traditional business school applicant background, Rachel helped me identify my unique qualities and experiences, and worked with me to craft a story that was engaging and distinct. On top of that, Rachel was also a pleasure to work with - responsive, constructive and encouraging. She was a great sounding board throughout the process as I often bounced ideas off of her to get constructive and thoughtful feedback.

I signed up for the complete package and this was the best choice for me. By going this route, I did not feel rushed during any of our conversations and could set up phone calls as frequently as needed. This allowed me to really dive into brainstorming conversations to develop my story. I also liked that working with a consultant provided structure to the process and helped me stick to timelines, so I never felt pinched for time.

The end result of the business school application process was overwhelmingly positive for me. I have a handful of amazing programs to choose from (and many come with scholarships which may point to a potential ROI from working with a consultant).

I highly recommend working with a consultant as it provided structure and enabled me to find my story, and I would recommend Rachel to everyone. I can not imagine going through the application process any other way.

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Working with Angela was such an incredible experience that it makes me want to apply to business school again. She is incredibly thoughtful and positive - helping you discover yourself, your strengths, what makes you unique, and reminding you of how great you are when you're full of doubt about the entire business school application process. Angela never tried to get me to be someone other than my authentic self, further enhancing my self-confidence and enjoyment of the process. She was attentive and available, made time to chat when I needed it, and provided invaluable feedback on my essays and overall story. I would HIGHLY recommend using Angela for anyone who's nervous or just wants a leg up in the process. And, school results: I applied to HBS, Stanford, and Kellogg, got in to HBS and Kellogg, and waitlisted at Stanford.

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In 2013 I worked with Jessica Shklar from MBA Mission on four Round 1 Business School applications to ultra-competitive programs. Although I initially hoped to complete at most two apps prior to R1 deadlines, I found that working with Jessica helped me stay consistently organized, focused and productive throughout this extremely challenging period, allowing me produce significantly higher quality and volumes of content.

Going into the applications, I felt that I had a solid background (top undergraduate, good-name finance, entrepreneurship, international experience, etc.), but my profile also contained several weak points that I knew very well could derail my applications if they were not addressed thoroughly, thoughtfully and concisely. I was an on-the-fence candidate for top programs. Overall, having the opportunity to work with Jessica was one of the best investments I’ve ever made in my future and this Fall I will join my dream school, Columbia, as a Full-Time MBA student.

To anyone who’s considering working with a Consultant focused on MBA applications/admissions, I sincerely recommend Jessica Shklar. Jessica was initially recommended to me by a good friend who worked with her, had a great experience, and was ultimately accepted into Harvard Business School (along with every other school to which he applied). Below are a few of my main takeaways from having worked with Jessica on the application process.

Knowledge of Historical Trends relating to Programs & Applicant Profiles: Aside from having worked in MBA Admissions personally, Jessica went to Harvard undergrad and Harvard Business School. She has successfully navigated challenging admissions processes in her own, has firsthand exposure to the process from an AdCom standpoint, and has also held multiple managerial roles within Fortune 500 Companies. On top of this, as an MBA consultant with many years of experience and a large, diverse client-base, she possesses a (mental) archive of applicant experiences and historical trends from basically all of the top international business schools. Being able her to ask questions about curriculums, application trends, previous applicant successes/shortfalls/mistakes/etc., financial aid options, etc. all comes in very handy. Jessica can very quickly analyze your profile and is totally honest and upfront about what she thinks you may or may not be able to accomplish in this process. It’s not always what you want to hear, but it allows you to begin self-evaluating. All this being said, the MBA application process is highly unpredictable and if one doesn’t possess a strong resume, no consultant can help them overcome this.

Time Management: Jessica helped me maintain a high level of productivity, sent me reminders if I got behind, and forced me to ask questions of myself in the early stages of my essays, and to build out specific personal detail right off the bat. Without structure, one can easily find themselves spending a great deal of time spinning wheels and focusing on the wrong aspects of the application, simply because it’s less mentally grueling to do so. Jessica pushed me to continuously think deeper about the details of my essays. This can mentally draining - but it’s invaluable - AdComs need to know who you are, and what makes you unique. Jessica helped me reflect upon my life and career much more effectively than I could have on my own, while helping me keep on schedule on all of my applications from beginning to end.

Human Factor: Jessica works well with people and gets to know her applicants in a way that makes her a great sounding board for a how to approach different topics, how to phrase things. It was like having a really smart friend with super relevant personal experiences being there who was willing to take the time to hear my thoughts and give me reasons why I was or was not on the right track. She’s genuinely interested in her applicants from a personal standpoint, not solely as an applicant, and I hope to stay in touch with her going forward (just like my friend who initially referred me to me Jessica has done).

Bringing more out of you: Jessica helped me set the highest possible standards for my own quality of work. She knows how to ask the questions that will force you to recall the specific nuances of past events and will call you out if you’re taking the shortcuts and not elaborating enough – this is how you to convey the most intricate picture of who you are, and help you stand out. Having someone there prodding and not letting you off the hook with a half-baked description can mean the difference between a compelling or fluff-filled essay.

Responsiveness: No matter how busy Jessica was (she has a lot of clients), she always gave quick and thoughtful responses.

Other: Everyone has a different profile, with different concerns and questions about how their experiences might be interpreted, and Jessica has seen it all. For example, at one point I had a very specific question that I assumed was a shot in the dark and could not be answered, but Jessica replied to my email almost immediately saying she had, by chance, heard some information relating to this question through an MBA Mission colleague who had a client that attended an MBA meeting in NYC a day or two earlier and had asked several representatives from top programs the very same question. I couldn’t have attended this event since I was overseas at the time. She’s extremely plugged in, passionate about what she does, and her cumulative experiences allow her to provide guidance and perspectives in ways that I couldn't have predicted.

As a final side-note, since working with Jessica, my ability to communicate through writing has significantly improved. Even if I were to remove the goal of pursuing an MBA from my time working with her, I’d still say that my communication skills have been significantly improved - and I considered myself to be a very good writer and speaker to begin with.

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