Highly Recommend. My consultant was Chi-Pei.
She is great and very experienced with Wharton admissions; she is a recent alumni. If you are looking to gain admissions to Wharton definitely speak with her. She knows exactly what they are looking for and is very helpful. Her feedback was critical in molding my essays. I should add her work ethic is phenomenal; she frequently would respond to my emails late in the evenings and fielded my calls/emails while on vacation in Thailand.

SBC has great resources for most of these top schools. I highly recommend reviewing the material before beginning the application and interview process.

I only applied to one school and fortunately got in. I will be attending Wharton this coming year.

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When I began looking to apply for MBA programs, the process seemed daunting. My wife did some research and found Stacy Blackman Consulting. I contacted SBC and we had an initial review that allowed us to start addressing some of the issues within my application portfolio, sub-standard GPA was a major concern of mine. Based on the schools I was applying they introduced me to Monica Mesa. She was an undergrad from one of my targets and an MBA from another. As it turns out she works in the city of my third target school. Overall SBC found the perfect consultant for me.

Once Monica and I got started, she made the whole process less intimidating and as we started to learn more about each other we were able to develop a well laid strategy to highlight my strengths and mitigate my weaknesses. If Monica wasn't quite sure about the best plan of action, she had SBC as a resource and would reach out to get other opinions. It was really a joy working with someone who cared as much as I do about my successful admission to B-school. It was a relief and a joy, that we both shared when I received my first interview invitation and she made ample time to practice with me.

I have been accepted to my first choice and would not have been able to do it without Monica and SBC. For that I am extremely grateful and insist that it was the smartest investment I have ever made. If choose SBC, you will not be disapointed as they want you to succeed as much as you do. And, if you do get a chance to work with Monica consider yourself lucky. I know I do.

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If you are anxious about the application process at all, I would highly recommend that you invest the money in Stacy Blackman.

First, they will find the right consultant for you. My GMAT scores were extremely low, 610, and I was paired with Amy who was able to formulate realistic goals for me as I started the process. We selected schools that fit me personally. Most importantly, she was able to read my anxiety and insecurities regarding my low score and help me be positive throughout the process.

Amy was responsive and helpful throughout every step of the application process. She was honest and straightforward. If we had an essay that wasn't perfect, she would tell me right away that it needed work and what needed to be done to fix it. She was the second set of eyes I needed during the application process and constantly found mistakes I overlooked.

Most of all, Amy acted as a great supporter and believer of me throughout the application process. If I was waitlisted or rejected from a school, Amy was able to keep things in perspective and help me understand different options I had to get into a school that fit me.

In the end, Amy helped me get into a top 20 MBA program, and I know I couldn't have done it without her and Stacy Blackman.

Thank you!

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I would recommend Caryn Altman at SBC for applicants looking for the best way to showcase themselves to AdCom - I knew I was a good applicant, but needed the perspective and coaching on how to be a great applicant. I am so pleased with the guidance and support I got from Caryn that helped me get into the 4 schools I applied to - Booth, Kellogg, Fuqua, and Ross. Caryn really helped me craft my story, starting from a rocky start at undergrad to the crucial "why MBA, why now" questions. We started by nailing the resume, which is often overlooked by most applicants. This was extremely helpful to knock out within a few days of starting with Caryn so that I no longer had to worry about it. Caryn helped me address a few blemishes in my history, such as a few weak grades in my first two years of undergrad, transferring schools, and a lower quant score on my GMAT. I also really appreciated Caryn's quick turnaround times on essays despite a significant time zone gap!

The SBC wiki resources were very helpful - specifically the examples of other students' successful essays.

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I purchased an hourly consulting package from Stacy Blackman Consulting and worked with Jessica to hone my essay approach after the first round. She was very focused and provided useful feedback that guided my writing without taking control or pushing me in a direction I felt uncomfortable with. She was ultra responsive and also helped me prep for the interview process very well. They offer a great resource for practicing online interviews that is unmatched. I was successful in getting into the school that I worked with Jessica on the application for. I'd highly recommend Stacy Blackman Consulting and Jessica.

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Oxford was only a dream till I started working with SBC and specifically Margaret Strother. When I started I didn’t have enough knowledge of how this would work, I literally made a leap of faith with SBC and it turned out to be the best investment I could’ve made. I not only ended up being accepted into the only school I applied, i.e. Oxford SBS, but also secured a full scholarship. It was all dreams come true at once. It would have been very difficult without the help of Margaret. I went in with an unrealistic demand: One school, very short deadline, not knowing where I wanted to go and essentially very vague post MBA goals. It was amazing how she could polish my thinking and bring out what was always within me specially in the lingo that adcom is looking for. The things that I did not value at all became my biggest selling points in my essays. It’s amazing how she polished everything I had to say without even putting in a single sentence of her own. Hours and hours of her asking questions and then asking some more till I’d become speechless and start to see what she wanted me to see. And it was not only essays, she guided me to ace my interview with mock interview preps too. I have nothing but praise for Margaret – she is a miracle worker :).

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I had a great experience with Stacy Blackman Consulting (SBC). Erika was my consultant and was exactly what I needed. I talked to 3-4 different firms before going with SBC. Something I really appreciated about Erika was that she wasn’t afraid to tell me when she disagreed. She always gave me VERY candid feedback, which was awesome. I always knew that she would tell me exactly what she was thinking rather than letting waste time or take the wrong approach. I also loved how responsive Erika and SBC in general were. Every time I reached out or had questions, they got back to me within a day. I always felt like my application was a priority. They also had tons of helpful resources that I looked at all the time (blog, guides, wiki, etc.).

The best feeling for me out of the entire experience was that when I hit submit on my applications, I knew that I had put my very best foot forward because of the help I received from Erika and SBC. I’m headed to Wharton this summer.

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After a 16 year career in Finance, I decided to change my career path and pursue my MPH - Masters in Public Health. My top choice school had an acceptance rate of less than 10%, so I decided to get help with the application process. I was also concerned because my GPA from college was less than ideal. A friend suggested Stacy Blackman. He was accepted into a top MBA program with their help.
Stacy Blackman worked very hard to match me with the best consultant based on my interests. I worked with Esther Magna who has her MBA as well as her MPH.
During our initial 30 minute consultation, Esther really focused on learning about my goals, strengths and weaknesses. Throughout the entire application process, she provided invaluable feedback and advice. With Esther's help, I highlighted my past experiences and revamped my resume and personal statement, which were especially important components in my application since I was doing a career change. Esther also prepared me for my interviews, by giving me great interview tips and drafting questions for the admissions committee. Admissions later told me the interview was the key deciding factor in my acceptance.
Esther was patient, professional and quick to reply to any emails. It was also very easy to schedule calls with her, despite the three hour time difference. Working with her made a normally stressful process very easy.
I would highly recommend Stacy Blackman Consulting to anyone applying to a masters program, even if it's not for a MBA.
I was accepted into my top choice school and I couldn't of done it without the help of Esther and Stacy Blackman Consulting.

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I am a reapplicant (dinged at 4 schools, only 1 interview), and Margaret Strother was my consultant for the six schools I applied to (2 of which were reapplications). She was not formerly an AdCom or an MBA graduate, but she’s a fantastic writer, confidant, and advisor. She does MBA application consulting full time, so she devotes all her energy into understanding the changes and demands the AdCom have of successful applicants.
She was very conscientious in laying out how difficult and challenging the process would be while still making sure I kept my morale and confidence up. I cannot stress enough that working with a consultant is a two-way street; the consultant is not there to write your essay for you and they can only do their best work when you do yours.
At the start, Margaret reviewed my prior applications and my prior recommendations, figuring out where I needed improvement. We spent a good deal of time figuring out an overall strategy and we spent a lot of time batting around ideas for essays. We had six to seven drafts of each essay, and she was not afraid to say that the story wasn’t working and that we should rebuild from the ground up. She was also very sharp when identifying when my drafts for one school were too close to essays for another. When three of the schools had deadlines within a day of each other, she was extremely hardworking, turning around essay comments in very short order. Margaret was also easily available to answer non-essay related questions, which was very helpful with a number of the application forms. When interviews hit, she was able to give me great pep talks and advise me on a general theme for the interviews.
I also used the SBC flight test to tighten up my application for one of the schools, and the SBC Wiki was very useful as one-stop shop for general information and deadlines. The school guides were a nice complement as well.
With all this fantastic support, I came away with 5 admits (1 school I withdrew from after getting to the interview stage), 2 of which gave me substantial scholarships. I firmly believe that I would not have been as successful, and possibly staring at the dark abyss of R3/reapplying next year, without Margaret’s help. Instead, I’m going to Chicago Booth.

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I originally was going for a consultant who had a track record as an admissions officer at one of the schools I was targeting. However, after talking it through with Stacy Blackman, particularly what I was looking for - a tough & honest reviewer, with deep experience, they recommended Margaret. Margaret kept me on track through the marathon of the admissions process. She was an excellent reviewer, her turnaround time was always fast, and always had insightful feedback. Her experience, encouragement, and deft touch was crucial in helping me think through key issues: school choice, positioning post-graduation, approaches to interview questions. I was offered admissions to MIT and Stanford. I highly recommend working with her.

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