When I first started researching MBA admission consultants, I had no idea of how I would go about making my choice. After a couple of free consultations I was still undecided until I spoke with Esther Magna at Stacy Blackman. Instantly we made a connection, she didn’t candy coat my weakness - BS from a state college, low GPA- rather she discussed the positives I had and how they should be promoted. Esther helped match me with my consultant Lisa Anderson. From the beginning Lisa was a great resource, very communicative and at times my own personal cheerleader. She helped guide me with school selection and was an adamant cheerleader for me through my three GMAT attempts.

I wrote all my own essays, but Lisa was there to not just help with grammar, but more importantly she kept me on task with what the question was asking. I have to admit that at times I strayed away from the question and she was extremely helpful in pointing me back in the right direction. Every time I sent her a draft she had it back to me in less than a day, usually I received back that same day.

I worked with her on applications to six schools. In the end I was waitlisted at two schools and received admittance to the other four, all of which offered me scholarships. Three of the schools gave me merit aid that amounted to full tuition and fees in either scholarships or fellowships or a combination of both. The fourth school gave me half tuition Forte Fellowship. I know that without Lisa’s and SBCs helping me to market myself to these schools I would not have received as many admission offers nor the substantial amount of financial aid that I was awarded. I highly recommend SBC; the amount of return is substantial for your investment.

Read More

The MBA admissions process was more stressful and time consuming than I could ever have imagined but I was extremely fortunate to work with Margaret Strother at Stacy Blackman. Margaret exceeded all expectations I had from an admissions consultant. She took a great deal of time initially to understand my background and help me to come up with a way to explain my experience in a way that would be attractive to business schools. She then had a clear strategy for structuring, planning and then writing each essay. I was absolutely delighted with all the essays I submitted. I had my parents read through them too and they were very impressed!

Margaret's assistance went far beyond my essays, however. She kept a check on every aspect of my application - who my referees were, what they were saying, how many alumni I had spoken to for each school, how many events I was attending and what I was saying at these events. Margaret was fantastic to work with and didn't stand for any nonsense - at one point she didn't like the sound of one of my referees and was absolutely adamant that I go out and fine another!

I feel very lucky to have worked with Margaret. Not only did I get into my first choice school, but I also feel I learnt a huge amount about myself throughout the application process. Margaret taught me a great deal about selling myself, my strengths and weaknesses, and what I needed to get out of an MBA. She helped me to refine my post-MBA targets and I feel better equipped to achieve those targets having worked with Margaret. I never expected that, in addition to my successful applications. Margaret is also a real pleasure to work with and I miss our Skype calls!

Read More

Margaret offered me exactly the kind of tips and advice I needed when applying to B schools. She was encouraging and supportive, but also realistic and pragmatic. She helped me identify programs that I was best suited for, which would add the most value to my post MBA goals.

European schools tend to have more essay-intensive applications and Margaret's copywriting background was very beneficial during the essay writing process. She worked with me to identify the most relevant details for each essay and present them in a manner that had the greatest impact.

I highly recommend Margaret's service for the MBA application process.

Read More

I worked with Stacy Blackman Consulting in 2013. My Consultant was Margaret Strother and I really enjoyed working with her over a span of five months. I was specifically interested in top European schools (only applied to Kellogg in US) and at first wasn't too sure about working with a consultant from North America. I was proven wrong over and over again by Margaret's depth of knowledge and SBC's overall support during some very tense moments of my life. Margaret and I worked closely to come up with stories that felt great to me and also positioned me as a unique candidate for my target schools. She was frank in her approach and extremely diligent in her reviews; I wrote and rewrote my essays upwards of 12 times in some instances. I was extremely impressed by Margaret's (and SBC) integrity in the whole process. It was made clear from the initial meeting that they weren't going to paint a nice but untrue story or do my work for me. While I didn't have "holes" in my application, I was considered an older candidate; Margaret was very clear on the limitations that my age might bring to my candidacy and overall application(s). However, she fully supported me all the way with even the smallest things on my applications, interviews, etc. that hadn't crossed my wildest imagination before! I was admitted to all three schools I applied to and eventually accepted the offer from IMD as it was my school of choice.
Overall, my experience in working with Stacy Blackman Consulting has been great and would not hesitate to recommend them to any interested candidate.

Read More

With the help of SBC, I was admitted to one of the top MBA programs with full scholarships for the first year! I knew SBC could help me when I spoke to Esther for the 30-mins free consultation. As I had less than two years of work experience, Esther suggested creative ways to show my maturity and leadership abilities. I was then paired up with my primary consultant Meredith, who turned out to be a great fit for me in terms of personality, writing style and professional background. Meredith is flexible, extremely resourceful and responsive. We went through over 10 drafts of my essays and every time she was able to respond within a day or two. Meredith helped me identify my strengths and guided me to find the best stories to tell in order to bring out the uniqueness in my experience. I am extremely grateful that she was also there to calm down my nerves and advise me on my career plans. Thanks to SBC and Meredith, I will be heading to the Big Apple this summer!

Read More

I contacted many different consulting groups, but SBC listened and answered my needs the most. SBC asked what I was looking for, realistically evaluated my chances of getting in, and came up with a few consultants to choose from. I interviewed each one and decided to work with Sherry Holland. From then on I had one point of contact, but I always felt that Sherry could use all of SBC’s large resources to support our ideas and help us move forward.
Sherry is extremely efficient, professional and fun. Sherry always answered my emails/calls within a day at most and I never felt I was waiting long for anything. Having worked in the admissions office and attended prestigious schools, Sherry knows what it takes to get you into your dream school! Sherry has helped me figure out what I really wanted to do with my life/career and which school to ultimately attend. Even when all was said and done, Sherry continued to reply to my emails with advice: I had not received a scholarship from my dream school, but we agreed it was worth asking again. She advised on how schools evaluate scholarships and looked over my “essay”. A few weeks later, I had received a scholarship! I will attend my dream school and the money I spent with SBC was worth it with or without the scholarship!

Read More

Maureen was truly the best MBA admissions consultant that I could have worked with. Her insights and perspectives were critical in helping me refine my application strategy, develop a good "story" (based on my past experiences and future plans), and write essays that best reflected my strengths and career vision. I insisted on applying to just 4 schools (all of which were dream schools) and decided to apply to all these schools in Round 1. Maureen worked with me round the clock to make sure that we achieved this goal. I never had to wait for more than an hour to hear back from her. I always got nervous before hitting the submit button on my applications and Maureen continued to be patient and helped me work through those challenging times. We managed to finish all of our applications on time.

Initially I was rejected from some of the schools I applied to and was disheartened. Maureen tried her best to keep me motivated.

I was fortunate enough to get into Tuck, an MBA program that is the best fit for me in so many ways. I have to say that Maureen deserves a lot of credit for helping me demonstrate to Tuck that I was a great fit for their program, her experience with that school made me very aware of how every single detail in application would be viewed by the admissions staff.

Finally, as a consultant I work to please my clients everyday, and that experience has helped me recognized that Maureen's level of customer service is hard to achieve without a strong passion for your clients' success.

I highly recommend that you work with Maureen. She is an invaluable resource for any MBA applicant.

Read More

I can 100% confidently say that hiring a consultant was the best decision I made throughout the entire MBA Admissions process. I worked with Erika through Stacy Blackman Consulting and I could not have achieved my goals without her. I was admitted to 2 of the 5 schools I applied (admitted at Wharton and Stern; also applied to HBS, Kellogg and CBS) and even received a very sizeable scholarship/fellowship to Wharton!


While my application and essays were fully written and completed by me, Erika was extremely helpful in helping me create and craft my story to tell it in the most succinct, effective and creative way possible! Looking back on my finished product, I am so proud of what I submitted and I know without her I would have submitted very different applications and essays that would have paled in comparison.


Not only was Erika a huge asset in helping me craft my story, but she also was invaluable helping me prepare for interviews. Her insight and advice during this process put me at ease and helped me focus. In fact, she was one of the first people I told when I received good news!

Erika was an absolute pleasure to work with! She motivated and encouraged me when I needed it but also knew when to push me for more. She knew when to tell me to slow down and relax...in the best way possible. She brought the best out of me in this process and I can honestly say that I think we made an incredible team!

Additionally, Stacy Blackman also offers comprehensive support services such as a client liaison, flight tests and group interview prep that I didn't really find anywhere else. I used each of these resources and I am certain that they helped me create a better package.


While the investment is not cheap (SBC does offer payment plans), at the end of the day I viewed it as an investment in myself and my future. I look back at the entire process knowing that I did everything I could possibly do to put myself in the best position to get into a top program, and the #1 thing on that list was partnering with Erika at Stacy Blackman Consulting.

Read More

When I started the application process, I had a month to the first round deadline for my dream school, hadn't really started the essays and was just pretty overwhelmed with the process. Stacy Blackman came to may rescue. My consultant not only took the time to get to know me and my personality but was also able to find the smaller stories in my life and help me tell them in the most interesting way possible. She also gave me a lot of tips about additional things I could do to get into my dream school. She also worked very closely with me to establish whether was dream school was truly a good fit for me. I am very grateful that I chose Stacy Blackman.

Read More

I just want to give many thanks to Bill. I think he is an amazing consultant and he does his job super professionally. It is really hard to underestimate his participation in my success. I got two out of two! Chicago Booth EMBA and LBS-Columbia GEMBA program have accepted me. I hesitated before getting a consulting service and was not sure of its worth for EMBA. I tried six different firms and consultants but he seemed the best. It was one of the best choices in my life. His guideline changed my view not only on the application process but really helped me to develop my personal mid- and long-term strategy. His answers were always efficient and came very quickly. During the interviews, I felt very confident as adcoms asked exactly the same questions that we discussed. I just gave them a very impressive story of my life that he helped me to create. I will strongly recommend him to anyone who may be looking for a top program.

Read More