Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions Reviews

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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Last year, I applied without a consultant to H/S/W plus UCLA. I got into UCLA and got wait-listed at Wharton (didn't get in). I am a 30y/o white male with a 690 GMAT but great experience and a very high UGPA from a top 50 (barely) public school. When I did it on my own, I clearly didn't do a great job at telling my story properly.

Instead of attending UCLA, I decided to wait another year and give Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, Berkeley with the help of Stacy Blackman's Sarah. With hours of Sarah's help and the adoption of her straightforward and humble style of storytelling, I was got into Wharton with a $42k scholarship. Nothing else really changed in my application (same 690 Gmat, same GPA, same work experience). The ~$6k I spent got me into Wharton and created an immediate ROI. Couldn't be happier - except maybe if I had gotten into Stanford with a scholarship. But Sarah set realistic expectations for my chances there given my age and the level of competition.

Thanks Sarah!

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I used Stacy Blackman Consulting because I was short on time (taking classes, working, AND applying all at once) and because I had a major weakness in my application (my GPA). Going in I was honestly overwhelmed and didn't know how make the task of applying feel more manageable. My end result - I got into two of my schools and one with a significant scholarship - speaks for itself. (Full disclosure: I applied to 4 schools, SBC worked with me on 2 apps, one of which I didn't even get an interview to - but my other 2 application essays definitely benefited from what I learned working with an SBC consultant so I don' think I'd have gotten the same result on my own.)

If I could do it again though, I might have approached it slightly differently:

- I relied on my consultant too heavily for school selection. This is an area where I should've put in my leg work on my own before hiring anyone as SBC. While my consultant was helpful with "I would strongly advise not applying to that one for XYZ reason" she didn't offer any "have you looked at ABC?"

- I would have paid for additional essay hours for essays related to other schools.

The only real downside was the price. But, that said, you get quality for what you pay.

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Bill was absolutely amazing. I purchased the hourly service (6 hours in total), and now I wish I worked with him for full service and for a longer time period – and that’s after getting into all the schools to which I applied. I was not the strongest candidate (gmat and gpa wise) but he was able to guide me through these challenges incredibly.

Bill tells you everything straight - which is what you need to hear. If you can't make realistic goals, then you probably shouldn't be applying to b-school. He worked on every data point and focused on what each school looked for in their applicants. This was crucial for the essays / interviews – displaying how you’re unique and how this uniqueness will benefit the school and how the school will help in nourishing your unique abilities.

Bill, to me, was very easy to get along with and also very available to all my questions/concerns. You will have to work hard, but he makes you work hard on the things that matter, so you don’t waste time with dead-ends or items the schools will not care about. I got into every school I applied to (3 U.S. News top 25’s) and definitely could not have done that without his guidance.

I am very glad to have worked with Bill. He was a definite stress reliever and believed in me more than I believed in myself.

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Applied to 4 schools and admitted to 2 of them.

I was going through a lot of changes in my life during the application year and I needed a mentor to help keep me on track of my MBA plans. I had evaluated about 7 to 8 admission consulting firms before choosing SBC. Fast responses (Esther at SBC responded to me on weekends), a focus on my profile during first profile evaluation call (rather than promoting their packages, or trying to “gauge my budget” for their services), and unique prospective on my profile were the reasons I decided to choose SBC.

Paul was introduced to work with me once SBC evaluated my profile and school selection. I was very impressed by Paul’s background: Harvard undergrad and Stanford MBA, worked for P&G and GS and now president of an M&A advisory firm. Despite his impressive background and experiences, Paul was an approachable and humble person. My first GMAT test was only 700. Paul encouraged me to retake and dream big. Once I got GMAT out of the way (760 in my second attempt 1.5 months later), we decided to work on HBS, Stanford, Columbia and Yale.

I felt very comfortable talking about all relevant aspects of my life and experiences with Paul. He would push me enough to unearth why and how rather than just knowing what and when. There was a lot of soul-searching for me. These open conversations during brainstorming helped a lot because we would have a lot of ideas to work on for the essays. Paul also thought highly of me for self-awareness. Thanks to his experience with MBA admissions and applicant pool, Paul guided me to focus on experiences that would differentiate me from other applicants. He would give me high-level advice on my essay content, themes, structure and tone and allow me to work on many iterations so that the essays are of my own work, before helping proof-read final versions.

Sometimes we would have disagreements on what experience to include. But every call was an intellectual discussion – we could share our opinions, try to understand each other’s perspective, be enlightened by each other and come to an agreement. Working on essays with Paul was like painting an artwork. Watching my artworks taking shape after each iteration and seeing the final results was inexplicably satisfactory.

Because essay writing was such a deep soul-searching journey, my interview practice became a natural and easy process. We spent most time working on HBS and Stanford essays and we both felt I had a good shot for the two. Although I wasn’t admitted to these two, I am very pleased with Columbia and Yale admissions. Thank you very much Paul.

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For round 1, I only applied to HBS and didn't use a consultant. I was well aware of consultants, but felt that I wanted to do the process on my own. I felt that using a consultant would make my application unauthentic. I didn't get in.

For round 2, I decided that I needed the help. I did my research and landed on SBC. I was paired up with Andy and couldn't have been happier with the outcome. I was admitted to Stanford and Wharton.

Andy was incredibly helpful in crafting my story. To my surprise, my application did not lose any authenticity. In fact, I felt like Andy was able to help me better tell my own story and ultimately helped give my application depth and personality. I picked Andy because of his experience in writing and editing, and it paid off. He always gave great edits and feedback in a very timely manner. I really can't say enough positive things about Andy and the help that he gave me. He's a great guy and a great consultant.

Coming from someone who consciously decided not to use a consultant for Round 1, the truth is in the facts. I was dinged on my own with HBS and was 2/2 with Andy's help.

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I had the pleasure of working with Sherry on my business school applications. She was a tremendous resource and fantastic consultant. From beginning to end, she kept me sane and guided me through the process with lots of encouragement and honest feedback. She was available whenever I needed her – from talking about application strategy to editing essays to interview prep. It was easy to find time to talk on the phone and she replied to e-mails often within a few hours.
Sherry gave me realistic advice and I valued her as both a supporter and honest critic. She helped me put together a cohesive application that told my story in my own voice. Beginning with my resume and how to navigating school networking events all the way through negotiating scholarships, Sherry was an expert guide and reviewer.
Beyond Sherry, I worked with other members of the Stacy Blackman team to get second opinions and blind reviews. Sherry was an advocate for my application and was working to help me put together the best narrative possible and was open to incorporating ideas from others to make sure we achieved this goal.
It was absolutely worth the investment to work with Sherry and the Stacy Blackman team. Sherry was one of the first people I called to thank when I was admitted to Yale SOM!

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