As a younger candidate, expecting only 2 years of full-time experience before entering school, I was worried how MBA programs would perceive my experience when I re-applied. I had already applied to one school, unsuccessfully, so I decided to work with a consulting agency to help me create a strong personal brand.

I had a very positive experience working with Meredith on my 5 applications. She was very helpful in making sure I was displaying the different aspects that admissions committees want to see. While I was responsible for writing the essays and making corrections based on her suggestions, Meredith gave me confidence that I was sharing the best parts of my application while patching any holes that I had. Specifically, she helped me convey my work experience so that employers could see that there was great substance to it, despite its limited duration. In addition, she helped me address the fact that despite showing improving grades, my GPA was below the average for a top school.

I would recommend Stacy Blackman to a friend. While consulting services are expensive, they can pay off greatly. Not only do you know you are picking schools that you have a shot getting into, but you also know that you are putting your best foot forward. Stacy Blackman provided an objective and experienced point of view that give you constructive feedback and guidance through the application process.

In the end, I got interviews to four of my five schools (all top 25). I will update this review when I hear back from all of my schools.

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It took me weeks to decide if I wanted to use an admissions consultant, but after doing a lot of due diligence, I chose to do the All-In package for 3 schools with Caryn Altman at Stacy Blackman Consulting. I knew I had a lot of the things going for me - strong GPA and GMAT, but I also knew what my weaknesses were - a bit disjointed of experiences, never been promoted, not a ton of extracurriculars etc.

Caryn at SBC was truly awesome. She was thoughtful and prompt every time I emailed her various questions (which was very frequently!). She not only helped me to figure out which schools would be a good fit for me, but she also worked wonders in helping me to package all the things I have done thus far into a cohesive story that made sense. We probably went through 8 versions of my resume alone, and I will admit that while I did all the work myself, there is absolutely no way I could have laid it out in such a clean and compelling manner without her. I realize now that even minor word choices can send a red flag to Admissions, but I felt comfortable that I could avoid those pitfalls with Caryn, given her tenure at SBC and previous experience sitting on the Kellogg Admissions Board.

All of the SBC tools were helpful - from the Wiki page, to the Flight Test, to the practice video interviews on which I received feedback. It would be the understatement of the year to say that my experience was a worthwhile investment - not only was I admitted everywhere I applied, but I also was awarded a merit scholarship to each school! Thrilled to say I'll be headed to Kellogg in the Fall, with a $100,000 merit scholarship in hand.

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As a non-traditional candidate navigating a career change in the midst of application season, I was worried about positioning my work history and goals in a way that made sense for an admissions committee. Sarah was great at helping me get the clarity I needed on why I wanted to go to b-school and then helping me execute on the applications.
And, her help went way beyond editing essays and mock interviews - because of her I am heading to a top 10 program this fall with a solid idea of the type of career I want when I get there. To me, the clarity I have on future career decisions is just as valuable as admittance to a great program.

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In short, I was very happy that I chose to hire Stacy and team. My consultant was absolutely great. Her biggest assistance was in helping me craft my essay topics and frame my stories in a more compelling way. We'd do this by sending drafts back and forth via email, first revising the big-picture" then working on the specific wordings and grammar. Between our initial phone discussions and reading my essays, Margaret got to know me quite well so she knew what kind of personal questions to ask and suggestions to make. I believe that we were up to version 15 for some of the essays, but by the end I had full confidence that my essays were as best as they could be. Margaret also gave me a mock interview over the phone before each of my real interviews and double checked my data sheets and resume before I submitted everything. Her turn around time was no more than 24 hours for essay revisions, but normally much shorter if I just had a quick question. Margaret would sometimes check with Stacy and others on tricky aspects or judgment calls on my application. The best thing about Stacy Blackman consulting is that it is truly a consulting relationship where I felt that they were my partners and they really wanted me to succeed.

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I found that b-school applications were very much about selling myself, which is something that didn't come comfortably to me at all. Margaret helped me discover aspects about me that I previously thought were mundane, taught me to talk them up, and turned them into selling points. She also turned my marginally-readable essays into literary genius! The whole applications process was extremely demanding and just as a professional athlete has a coach and agent, having Margaret in these roles kept me motivated through this arduous process, which was critical for me in getting my best application in.The Stacy Blackman service is expensive. I found that it's absolutely worth the money because my results speak volumes. With my undergrad GPA well under 3.0, I didn't even have dreams of Haas, but with your focused gameplan, I made it in! Stacy's stats don't lie. Her clients make it in to where they want to go!

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Just wanted to drop a note about what a fabulous experience it was working with SBC during my successful application for Kellogg Executive MBA program. Getting into Kellogg is a dream come true for me, and it simply wouldn't have happened without my consultant's support. I highly recommend them to anyone applying to Kellogg due to their intimate knowledge about the school, especially the Kellogg Executive MBA program. I was hesitant to engage an admissions consulting firm, as I did not see many testimonials for Executive MBA programs. My consultants lay my doubts to rest as they were very familiar with what it takes to build a solid application for experienced managers like myself. My ideas of how to answer the ten or so Kellogg essays were very different from what they suggested. Their explanation on how to answer these essays from the ad-com point of view was eye-opening for me and worth the cost of engaging them. I am certain that if I had written the essay questions without their assistance, I would not have been able to make a strong case for my candidacy.Not only did they work tirelessly to help me achieve my objective (my edited essays were always reviewed and returned with candid feedback within hours after sending them), they also drove me hard to self-reflect during the long discovery and essay-writing process. Although I did not like that upon my consultants' insistence I had to discard and rewrite an entire 1,000 word essay (I thought it was pretty good!), I trusted their judgement. They expertly guided me to highlight my strengths (work-experience) and to address the weak areas (low-GPA) of my candidacy and at the end of the day, that made the difference.

Thank you for offering such a valuable service. I look forward to a life changing experience at Kellogg.

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I have been waiting ever since last year when I first saw Stacy Blackman's testimonial page to write the following: I have been accepted to all four of my schools!!! There is absolutely no way that this ever could have happened without the help of Stacy Blackman Consulting. When I started the process, I would have been thrilled to have been accepted to just one of my schools: UVA, UCLA, Duke or Georgetown and it was only after I started working with SBC that it dawned on me that I might actually have my pick, because my applications were looking far better than I ever imagined they would. My consultant, Margaret, guided me through every step of the application process from selecting my schools to sharpening up my resume to crafting my essays and I will be forever grateful for her help. Her insights into the essay questions were critical. She didn't write a single word of my essays, but she did help me think about the essay questions and how I could best tackle them, given my academic and professional experiences, in a way that I could never have done without her. Having gone through the process on my own a couple of years ago, I can unequivocally state that hiring Stacy Blackman Consulting is one of the smartest things I have ever done. Thank you!!!

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At first, I was very apprehensive about approaching admission consulting firms as most of my friends and colleagues also advised me not to. However, when I heard about Stacy Blackman from one of the Booth students, whom I met in one of the networking event, I signed up for free consultation to give it a shot. I was impressed by the tips and techniques that Sarah Tsai had to offer. After going through my profile, my resume, and where I am at my professional career and application process, she mentioned how Stacy Blackman could add value. She paired me with Bill Chionis. Bill is a great guy, very helpful, and, most importantly, candid with his opinion and thoughts. He and I discussed in lengths about my background, and the reason I wanted to pursue the MBA program. Unlike any other Admission Consulting firm, Stacy Blackman and their consultant act as a true partner in your MBA journey. Bill worked with me on my essays and the stories that I wanted to tell AdCom to best present my candidature. He also helped with my resume and even interview preparation. I give Bill and team of Stacy Blackman 5 stars without a doubt. Yes, their services are expensive but you certainly get the best return on your investment.

Thanks Stacy Blackman for helping me to get through the very competitive Haas application process and to eventually come out as winner!

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Stacy Blackman Consulting is a legit consulting service. The process would have been a lot more stressful without the great advice I received. The people I worked with at SBC gave me great advice. Before I began the application process, I had no idea where I fit in the candidate pool. Margaret and Esther at Stacy Blackman Consulting guided me in the right direction and helped advise me to make the right choices strategically to maximize my chances of getting into my top choice schools. I ended up doing extremely well overall. There are a lot of pretenders out there, but Stacy Blackman Consulting is the real deal!

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I would really like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Stacy Blackman and particularly to my consultant, Sherry Holland, without whom I couldn’t have succeeded in the admission process. With a sub-par GPA, a decent GMAT score and my demographics, few gave me any chance! But guess what? I was invited to interview with all the schools I applied to-Wharton, Columbia, Kellogg and Indian School of Business and ultimately made it to Columbia and Indian School of Business, and wait listed at Kellogg. I have no doubt that my consultant played an extremely critical role in my success. Her in-depth experience in MBA admissions reflected throughout the process in her thoughts, suggestions and feedback on various areas of applications-Positioning, Essays and Interviews. She was extremely diligent in her approach, even making sure that I have the right opening to get into the admission officer's head and the right ending to leave a lasting impression. In all honestly and sincerity I recommend her to anybody who is considering B-School. In fact my wife would be also using her services for her B-School applications. I believe this itself is a testimonial to my experience.

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