I've never considered admissions consultants, even 5 months into the application process. I honestly thought they were a waste of money, and anyone with some common sense and have successfully applied to top schools before (that requires essay writing) should be enough.

A good friend of mine who was helping me through the process asked me if I wanted to chat with Scott. Since the 15 min call was free, I called Scott and shared with him my story. To my surprise, he did not sugar coat his points of reservation, and was very forward about what aspects was not working. His honesty is refreshing. At no point in the conversation did I feel that he was courting me for his services. He was already serving me.

I only had budget for one or two schools. He recommended that we work together on the school that has the highest admit rate, because I was aiming to get into any top program in this application season. I chose to work with him on my reach school instead (with one of the lowest acceptance rates in the world). When I told him my school selection, he was nothing but supportive. I was worried that because I chose the hardest school to get into, he would not work as hard with me as he would otherwise, since I'm risking his "96% success rate.", but he was so professional, and gave me great guidance along the way.

Here are some things I really liked about Scott
- Readily Available. His turnaround times are crazy awesome. We burned through 5 or 6 drafts for three separate essays within a span of 2 weeks (15 drafts in total within 14 days). And I'm talking about serious edits with a lot of thought put in. This was during the short lull between R1 and R2. But when crunch time hits, he was still replying at an impressive rate of t+36 hours at the latest. You literally cannot find this anywhere else in the market.

-Honesty: Mentinoed this before, but he gives you good reason as to why an idea would not work. So whenever he greenlighted my story or essays, I knew I got something solid.

-Industry specific insights: This is probably the greatest value add of Scott. Throughout the process, you, as an applicant, will need guidance on more than just the essays. I remember just hitting Scott up for random questions like "which picture should I use for my application?" or "do you think I should write to alums to put in good word for me?" Scott can give school specific insights, and that helped a lot.

End result: I got interview invitations from 2 of HSW, and got an offer from one of them and a merit based fellowship.

Scott is worth every penny. And he's not even the most expensive consultant out there!

Scott- if you are reading this, thanks again.

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I decided to apply for MBA late in June, and to make the GMAT that I took 5 years ago count, I had to go for round 1, which left me with only 2-3 months to complete the whole thing. I talked to several friends who had MBA experience, and figured hiring a consultant would be very helpful in my case.

I did not know where to start, so I googled. After visiting a few forums, I collected a few names, including both big names with a large team of consultants, as well as smaller shops like Personal MBA Coach. After completing several free consulting sessions, it was almost no brainer to go with Scott. The big firms are super good at marketing, followed up warmly with you, but at the end, you were just talking to sales guys. You don't even know who would end up being your consultant. With Scott, it was pretty simple, what you see is what you get. I liked that he was very straightforward with the pros and cons in my profile after initial review, and he has had a lot of success with top 10 programs which are definitely my targets.

Throughout the process, Scott was very responsive. He's working really hard and I have seen him replying to my message anytime of the day. The promised turnaround is 24 hours but was usually much sooner that. He never shy away from honest opinions, but at the same time was receptive to ideas. At the end of the day, I know it was essay and I need to own it, but Scott has definitely provided a lot of valuable advice, from how to tell a story, to which word to choose.

When it comes to mock interview, he has a great network and was able to find interviewers that actually went to the school that I applied for.

I was very satisfied with the results. I applied for 2 top ten programs that I like and got offers from both. Without Scott's help, I'm not sure I could pull all these off in such a compressed timeline. His dedicated and personal approach definitely made a big difference!

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Accepted: CBS ED (full tuition)
Services Used: Comprehensive package for CBS

My application was unique in that Scott and I started the application one month before the deadline. After the initial free profile discussion with Scott, I found him to be down-to-earth, knowledgeable, and seemed to genuinely care about his clients (vs larger companies). I encourage everyone on the fence about admissions consultants to give Scott a call and test the waters.

Once I decided to go with him, Scott expedited our approach given my timeline, of course while still covering key aspects and providing top quality feedback, usually within 18 hours. Generally speaking, the first step was to fill out some forms and provide more background information on myself (typical resume history, interests, and motivations). A day or so later, we scheduled a call for Scott to really learn more about me. Scott takes into account almost everything in your life (or everything your willing to share) in crafting the perfect story for you. When all that is done, we worked together to create outlines for the essay. I think I had at least 8+ edits on 3 essays with Scott. This is really what you’re paying for – world class story crafting services with unlimited edits until both of you feel comfortable with the execution. Might I say that Scott delivers constructive criticism the way it is without the sugar coat, and is ultimately what should be provided.

All in all, very happy Scott was involved in my application process. My first drafts, the ones without Scott’s help, were terrible in retrospect. I know many are skeptical about admission consultants, but the upfront fee is nothing compared to potential scholarships or rejections. Give Scott a call to make your application standout.

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I got in Columbia CBS - 2019 thanks to Scott and his team.

I decided to have the full school package, and they helped me from determining my interests (sounds strange, but true), sourcing the schools, finalizing shortlists, editing resume, brainstorming and editing essays, application review, and interview prep. The following is what I think makes Scott better than the rest:

1. Response rate: All communication was responded within 24 hours.

2. Personal attention: All questions are answered tailoring to your situation, in full details. He actually helped me understand what the admissions committee was all about.

3. Feedback: Frank, to-the-point feedback.

4. Editing: Extremely careful editing, and clear feedback whenever needed.

Once you start working with him, you KNOW that you are NOT wasting your money, and time.

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My experience working with Scott/Personal MBA Coach started with a recommendation from a good friend who had recently been admitted to a top 10 school after working with him. Having never been through the MBA admissions process before, I knew i needed help crafting a strong application if I wanted to get into top 10/top 15 school. I had only talked to one consultant at a big company prior to Scott but I could tell after our initial conversation, he approached the process a lot differently than the other consultant. Even when I was still debating whether it was the right time to apply for an MBA program, Scott gave me sound advice based on my career goals and I ultimately decided to sign up for one of the comprehensive school packages.

Throughout the process, Scott provided thoughtful and honest advice around my overall story and always pushed for ways I could make myself stand out from the rest of the applicant pool. He challenged me to think hard about my career goals and why receiving an MBA is an important part of my career path. While I'm sure most consultants can claim they do the same, Scott's readily available for any questions you have, ideas that are running through your head, or if you're hitting any road blocks with essays. He was an invaluable asset for the entire process from brainstorming essay ideas to interview prep.

As with business school, work, life, etc. - what you put in is what you get out. If you're serious about getting into a top MBA program, Scott will give you the resources, advice, and no BS feedback to put you in a strong position but it's ultimately up to you to execute on all fronts.

I was accepted into my top choice program and I doubt I would be in this position without Scott's guidance. I cannot recommend Scott/Personal MBA Coach highly enough.

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I took the comprehensive school package with Scott. Since I had already created a shortlist of my schools, we concentrated more on essays/application content and interviews. The overall experience with Scott was excellent! With his help, I got into two of my dream schools (INSEAD + LBS).
I started preparing for applications pretty late (mid August with September timelines). This plus a demanding job meant I was working late in the night on applications and needed someone who could help me finish the applications in such short time with quick turnarounds. Scott exceeded these expectations! There were times when he replied to my mails with edits/quick responses within hours. I would send him content at 3AM in the night and he would respond by the time i woke up in morning and then I would take up the version control from there.
He is excellent at essays. He has a no BS approach to essays and when I compare the first and last version of my essays, I can see a huge difference. He gave direct and honest feedback on my essays and helped me craft my story well. His focus was not on completing the applications, but on making them perfect. This helped me create really amazing essays, resume and overall application.
One important thing - Scott is great for essays/applications/interview prep/recommendation letter strategy. However, if you are looking for someone who provides you with a lot of content (e.g. pdfs about schools, resume writing document etc) like other big name consulting companies, you may need to look for someone else. I personally was able to research well using all the free content from the internet. All other things - Scott and I ran the show together!

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I initially reached out to Personal MBA Coach for a consultation, as I am from a non traditional background (casino industry) and not sure if I will have a chance for top B-schools. After speaking with Scott from Personal MBA Coach, I was convinced that I could actually be an ideal candidate. Based on my initial conversation with Scott from Personal MBA Coach, I knew he is very experienced in the MBA admissions consulting and really knows what candidate each school is looking for. He is also honest about the weaknesses in my application for improvement. I immediately decided to work with Personal MBA Coach. Throughout the application process, I have worked with Scott from Personal MBA Coach on brainstorming ideas to reflect my true self and weave a holistic story for each school I applied for. As I was only interested in applying to smaller MBA programs, I would not put together targeted essays without Scott's expertise and guidance. Most importantly, not only Scott is extremely knowledgeable in this field, he deeply cares about your development with heart and soul and wants to do whatever he can to help you get into your dream school. It has been a fantastic experience of working with Scott and he made my application process very enjoyable. I would not get into Haas and Tuck with scholarships if I did not work with Scott from Personal MBA Coach. I highly recommend anyone who wants to get to your dream school to talk to Personal MBA Coach and you will be surprised by the personalized services and the amount of attention you will receive from Personal MBA Coach. I am truly grateful for my choice of working with Personal MBA Coach!

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When I decided to apply to Bschool, I knew that I needed some extra support. After some research, I found Personal MBA Coach and had a chat with Scott. He was friendly, genuinely interested, and understood where I was coming from and my needs.

Scott was so helpful and open from the beginning and constantly challenged me. He critiqued my essays and references with great detail and endless patience. I have an unconventional background and was very unfamiliar with this kind of process; Scott helped me to pull out the right elements of my background and experience and convey it in the ''Bschool way''.
I had a low GMAT score for the schools I applied to and there's no way I would've gotten into LBS without Personal MBA Coach's continuous support, flexibility, advice and patience. I even got a scholarship from one of the schools I applied to! It was great to work with Scott - fun, interesting, and a great learning experience.
Thank you Scott!

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I highly suggest you schedule a short consultation with Scott before pulling the trigger with any MBA consultant. Before deciding on Scott, I spoke with a couple bigger names, and what helped make my decision was Scott's honesty, passion, and direct relationship with the applicant. Unlike some bigger names, Scott worked with me on almost every part of the process, from brainstorming schools to thinking of essay stories to even writing the blurbs in the application. He has a true interest in seeing his "students" succeed. Granted I started the process very early, so I had a lot of attention and was able to turn many drafts of my materials -- Scott helped transform my essays from very surface level writings to much deeper stories that resonate with any reader. All in all, I was admitted to my top M7 choice. It was a pleasure working with him -- I definitely recommend at least speaking with him.

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Personal MBA Coach did a great job and I could not have asked for better. Considered the big MBA consulting shops but chose Personal MBA Coach because it's his full time job to do this and he and the team have been doing it for almost a decade now and I simply felt more comfortable with them. Scott and Personal MBA Coach are very honest in the feedback and solutions focused but I valued that highly because others sugar coated feedback or suggested I not apply to certain schools. Scott was always available for helpful advice through the application process, interview process and even McKinsey Energing Scholars applications after. He is reponsive usually within 24 hours which is important considering I decided to apply for round 2 in mid November. In the end I got into Wharton and had six figure scholarship to go to another M7. If he hadn't advised me to do this or not that I wouldn't have gotten in. Word of advice for those going into this but consultants seem like a lot of money but you get what you put into it. Scott had to encourage me to work harder on my essays and I'm glad he did because if I hadn't put in the effort in some of these early rounds the material would not have come off as authentic.

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