After working with another well known service on an hourly basis and going nowhere, I enlisted Amanda from Stacy Blackman to help me with my applications.

We started out hourly and it was like a breath of fresh air. I immediately started to make progress and see the application develop. I converted to a comprehensive package and although that first check was a big one to write it was worth every penny - I honestly would have paid double.

Amanda's guidance made the applying to bschool process so much easier - I finally understood how to write my essays and felt so much more confident about the final result. I was admitted to four schools, received one full ride and couldn't be happier with my experience.

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I applied on my own and had no luck. Then a year later applied with the help of the team at Stacy Blackman Consulting. I am now going to Harvard.

I could go into details about the service but I think those two statements sum it up. I would highly recommend them because they know what they are doing. At the end of the day you want to go with a service that works. Their service works and it works well.

Dawn was able to cut right through all of the information I provided and map put what i should use to answer questions. That saved me time and helped me focus.

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I signed up with Stacy Blackman after about a month of research. I spent a lot of time on the phone with several firms and when I was finally leaning towards Stacy, I then spent a good 7-10 days screening who I would specifically work with. I think this investment up front, making sure that I had the right consultant for me, was critical to me being really satisfied with my experience. I saw at least four bios of different consultants and spoke with three of them on the phone. When I spoke with my consultant, John, I knew I had found the right person for me to go through this experience with. All of the consultants that I spoke with were competent, smart, experienced, but I did not get as good of a sense that we would click. And I really wanted someone that I could communicate with, toss ideas around. So I proceeded with John and had a very good experience working with him. I also have to give props to Julie, who I worked with up front to get settled in. She was very patient and happy to spend the time with me to make sure it was right. I had little interaction with Ms. Blackman herself outside of a few emails, but I can say she runs a very tight organization. Ultimately I was happy with my choice but I think this is personal so you have to take the time to do your own research.

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I worked with Stacy Blackman Consulting and was admitted to 3/5 schools. I also received 2 scholarship offers. My consultant, Amy, was great to work with - she has a great sense of humor and is no bullsh*t. She tells it like it is and helped me put together a far better application than I ever could have on my own. She also irritated me at times when I sent her something that I thought was great and she told me it wasn't. But I needed that feedback and respected her directness and honesty. I sweated a lot working with her - she is demanding and pushed me to bring out my best. The SBC flight test was also an awesome benefit of working with these guys. I think that extra piece of feedback improved my application and gave me a sense of confidence when I submitted. In summary - I am in and have no regrets at all about investing a comparatively small amount of money up front to get it right. I recmmend SBC and already have to many friends, actually.

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I worked very hard to submit all of my applications in Round 1. I had help from 2 of my bosses at work who graduated from HBS and were willing to guide me. In Round 1 I submitted applications to Stanford and Columbia, and was completely burnt out. I decided to hire a consultant for Round 2. In Round 2 I worked with Chadd from Stacy Blackman. We worked on HBS, Chicago and Wharton. My results say a lot about the advantage that I gained by working with Chadd and Stacy Blackman Consulting. I was admitted only to the schools I worked on with them and also received a scholarship offer from Chicago. Needless to say I am pretty pleased with the outcome and give a lot of credit to the support and guidance I received. Although I think I was a strong applicant in many ways, it was hard for me to figure out what to write about and how to organize my thoughts. This is where the guidance was invaluable. Enough said.

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Caryn Altman was my consultant at Stacy Blackman. She previously served on the admissions committee at Kellogg and I felt that she had many good insights from having worked on that side of things. I felt very comfortable with her from the first time we spoke which is why I selected her to be my SBC consultant in the first place. We spent a great deal of time on the phone at the very beginning, because I had a few "blemishes" that I needed to overcome. We came up with stories that felt great to me and we mapped out all of the essays in advance so that writing them became a lot easier. We went through many, many drafts of my essays. We had 14 drafts of my first set of essays, and I also used my client liaison to review a few of those essays. The next school was much easier. Caryn supported me all the way. I think by the time I got my acceptance letters I expected her to come to school with me - she was just completely part of the team. I also used the SBC essay guides and thought they were a great compliment to working with my consultant. Great tips that I could just turn to at any time when I needed inspiration. Caryn very conscientiously checked in with me all along the way when I procrastinated and went silent. She gave me pep talks and great information. I used no other resources and walked away with three admits. I am going to Columbia next year.

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I purchased a 4 school package - a big investment with only a small guaranteed refund if not successful. I was skeptical and I admit a pretty demanding client. My consultant was patient and knowledgeable and proved his worth very quickly. Hardest part for me was coming up with topics for the essay questions. We spent a lot of time working on topics and outlines until we were both satisfied. In the end we knocked it out of the park with admits to every school. I am still on cloud 9 and very grateful. 5 Stars - no question about it. My consultant was awesome and Stacy Blackman Cons. was professional in every way.

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I was skeptical about using a consultant, but after speaking to a friend who attended HBS, I realized that it is too difficult to understand what not to write without advice from someone who understands the industry. I picked Stacy Blackman based on some articles that quoted Stacy in BusinessWeek.

After an initial meeting, I arranged for the comprehensive service. My consultant, Margaret, helped me to clarify my own vision and pushed me to clear up my message. Her advice was instrumental in my success. I was interviewed at 3 top 10 schools and was admitted to my top two choices. I really couldn't have done it without the guidance of my consultant. As far as the company overall, several other employees reached out to make sure I was moving along in the process and didnt have questions or concerns. At no point did I feel as though I didn't have someone to reach out to if I had a question or concern.

In terms of other reviews who mention managing your own expectations, I definitely agree. A consultant will not help you create experience that you don't have. However, mine did help me to focus my application in ways that allowed me to showcase the experience that I did have.

Highly recommend Stacy Blackman.

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