I owe a great deal of my admission to a top 10 business school to Maureen. She was an incredible help throughout my application process, from analyzing my strengths and weaknesses from my resume to formulating a plan on how to craft my essays and applications. She kept me aware of all deadlines, outlined strategy for my recommendations and gave feedback on my admission essays. My initial drafts were just thoughts on a page, but with her relentless help, I was able to craft them into focused, concise essays that ultimately proved worthy of admission. Maureen went far above and beyond what I expected from an admissions consultant, each one of my four essays required over ten drafts each; she would revise each essay in less than 24 hours with detailed comments and feedback. For a solid six months, Maureen was either on the phone giving me interview tips or emailing me with feedback on one of my essays on a daily basis. I do not think for a second that I would be here today if it were not for the help of Maureen and the SBC team.

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I began researching firms after reviewing schools on my own for several months in mid-May. SBC was diligent in finding the right consultant for me regardless of my background. It was nice to see how even in the first steps, they were already on my side to succeed in applying to business school.

After a couple of profiles and a few discussions, I eventually decided to work with Caryn through a comprehensive package.

Caryn is very clear in her methods and writing process which was always comforting and reassured me that everything would be on task. She definitely pushes your writing style to the best it can be for each school and challenges your thinking when it comes to essay topics and brainstorming ideas. However, knowing she was once a MBA student and worked in admissions for a school I found that she had the knowledge of both sides and her guidance was always aimed for success.

Caryn was great at addressing my weakness of school grades and building upon my thoughts on how I was a strong candidate despite not coming from a Fortune 500 firm.

I would would recommend Caryn to anyone who wants an encouraging, thorough, and knowledgeable admissions consultant!

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The application process was a very expensive one for me with the prep courses, GMAT materials, tutors, etc., but the best decision I ever made was deciding to work with Stacy Blackman and with Margaret Strother in particular. In a process that requires you to uncover your personal weaknesses, goals, strengths, and dreams, Margaret was incredibly easy to talk to and knew exactly what to do with the information that I was telling her, which was incredibly important because I had no idea what to do with it. There were bumps in the road, and weaknesses that we had to address, but Margaret helped me to develop a strategy that made my strengths as strong as possible. With her help, I was accepted to the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, my first choice school. In our last meeting, we talked about this being a "life-changing opportunity", and I'm certain that it's one that I never would have had without Margaret's help.

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Working with Lisa and SBC has been a truly great experience. From day one she was able to break down the daunting process of putting together an MBA application into smaller tasks, thereby reducing my stress level considerably. Her guidance allowed me to concentrate on putting together the best application possible. She helped me to discover and focus on the unique and positive aspects of my background and experiences that would appeal to admissions committees. Whenever I found myself stuck, she always had a different perspective that helped me to find a solution. She was always readily available via email and phone whenever I needed her advice. With her help I was able to gain admissions to the University of Texas, SMU, and Duke, the only three schools I applied to. I would not hesitate to recommend Lisa and SBC to anyone looking for a professional admissions consultant.

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I am extremely grateful to my consultant Paul and everyone at Stacy Blackman Consulting for guiding me through every stage of the business school admissions process with knowledge, strategy, kindness and patience. Thanks to them, my dream of attending Wharton will be a reality later this year. I grew up outside the United States and have a very unusual background for business school. I did not have friends to ask about the process and was becoming confused by the discussions in the forums. Paul helped guide me, answered all of my questions and spent many many late nights reviewing essays and advising on strategy. The practice session for the Wharton group interview was excellent. I gained so much from this application process, including of course, my admit! I learned a lot about myself and credit the team at Blackman for helping me with the self-discovery!

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I have the highest recommendation for Lisa and SBC. I could not have asked for more during my application to an EMBA program. In completing research on the internet I knew SBC was a top notch support service for MBA applicants. Even with the strong reviews of SBC, Lisa exceeded all of my expectations. I had a low college GPA and barely met work requirements to be considered by schools that I desired to apply. In short, I considered myself a reach candidate for elite schools. Lisa rounded my applications using the SBC process perfectly and did an outstanding job in interview prep so that I could highlight my strengths and market myself as an asset to each program. Her help paid off, I was admitted at 2 of my dream schools. Thanks to her help, I was able to choose between my dream programs and will now be alumni of an elite school. Outside of the results, Lisa was a great person to work with. I felt like we were a team and she was just as eager to hear the results of each school as I was. Further, she was glad to help with any questions that I had and talk through each aspect of the process in detail. Again, I am extremely happy with the results we achieved, supported significantly by Lisa. I will gladly provide a recommendation on her behalf to anyone requiring an MBA consultant.

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Words really can't say express how thankful I am to Stacy Blackman Consulting and particularly to my consultant, Lisa Anderson. Without Lisa's guidance, encouragement and help, I am convinced I would not have gotten into business school. The entire application process was daunting and given my sub par GMAT and GPA, I was not feeling confident that I could even get into business school. I owe so much to Lisa from that very first phone call, she was able to build me up and actually made the entire process fun. She was very organized, professional, prompt and always available for anything I needed. I was constantly amazed at the quick turnaround for all my emails and calls. She challenged me and always gave me great constructive criticism so that I was able to present myself in a polished and compelling manner. She really believed in me and I don't think I would have ever received this much attention or hands on treatment anywhere else. Thank you so much for giving me this second chance!!!!!

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I talked to a few admissions consultants before deciding on SBC and Caryn. They all looked at my list of school and told me to have more 'realistic' expectations. They told me that given my demographic and background, I had a slim chance of being admitted to my dream schools. SBC was different. I could tell SBC really believed in me, and was committed to helping me craft my story in a way that set me apart from other applicants. Caryn's marketing background was a key success factor in our work together, as she had a good sense of how to best position my application and bring the most out of both my professional experience and extracurricular involvement. Given my ambitious list of schools, we started working extremely early (I'm talking a year before applications were due, early). And after all was said and done, I got in to HBS. I am so incredibly excited for this opportunity, and as much as I am proud of myself for successfully making it through the application process, I have to say, I could not have done it without Caryn.

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I am ecstatic that I have been accepted to my first choice program - Duke! Just a few months ago, I was reading numerous testimonials from admitted MBA candidates on the Stacy Blackman website wondering if I would be lucky enough to be accepted to a top program. With a GMAT score 640, I knew I had a slim chance and I had to win over admissions committees with my essays, recommendations and interviews. Sherry, my consultant worked relentlessly with me to PERFECT my applications. I asked a lot questions and Sherry was always available to answer my questions promptly and thoroughly. Sherry was incredibly meticulous, sincere, knowledgeable and diligent -- She was my MBA bible. The MBA application process is quite overwhelming and much more complex than I had imagined. With her help, I was able to navigate the process with ease and confidence. She reviewed my essays with a fine tooth comb each and every time (and I had over 10 drafts) and she pushed me to dig deeper and further to pull my thoughts together. Sherry and the team know what qualities and personal traits admissions committees are looking for in a candidate and this allows them to help you hone in on your best attributes and let you shine on your applications. This has been one of the most exhausting, and yet exhilarating and reflective journeys of my life and I am grateful for my success. Thank you again Sherry and the team!

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Honestly, after working with Stacy Blackman Consulting for the past months, I cannot in a million years imagine going it alone. I am so thankful that I had in Margaret an expert partner, who helped me and had my back at every turn. When I think about the most valuable aspects of my experience, there are really two that stand out: Number 1) Guidance in marketing myself. What I learned from Margaret was that I was trying to recite the details of my background like a resume, rather than telling my story in a more strategic way. So I would say "I told job A then job B, then decided to go to school" instead of explaining who what how and why! She grilled me and grilled me and got me to answer real questions about myself that went far beyond just what I did. It completely altered the way I viewed my applications. Number 2) Review layers. I had several sets of eyes on each one of my applications. Margaret guided the entire show but we always had other weighing in at different times and that was really valuable. Capturing different perspectives and opinions in a very organized way was awesome. I am very happy that I hired Margaret at Stacy Blackman and had the support of their expertise behind me. They have been in the biz longer than anyone and I do think that says a lot.

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