As an older, non-traditional applicant and someone who knew very little about MBA program admissions process, I wanted to get help to ensure I put together the best application. I have done several free consultations and Alex stood out – he listened, didn't rush the call, and gave me more personalized feedback than other consultants. Alex recognized an opportunity to take seemingly random facts in my background and create a passionate and compelling application. I believe this is truly Alex's gift – helping bring out your story and express it in the best possible way.

Alex is definitely a strategist and will help identify and recommend how to best position your strengths and address your weaknesses. He will help clarify your career goals and express it in inspiring yet realistic way. With that said, you have to be ready for a lot of self-reflection and a lot of thought into who you are. Alex will not be a substitute for detail-oriented and tactical tasks and you will own your application, but you will get answers every step of the way. Alex is responsive to emails and has also provided plenty of phone call time.

I would recommend Alex to anyone, and especially to prospective students who may not have a traditional pre-MBA background. Alex offered his help to me when numerous other consultants did not want to put the extra effort in seeing beyond cookie-cutter check boxes. Many of those consultants advised me to target schools in the top 10-15 range.

Not only did I end up getting admitted to a few M7 programs, I received fellowships and significant tuition assistance. I could have not done this without Alex's guidance, help, and simply encouragement to push harder.

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Knowing that I had limited network resources to tap on regarding the MBA application process, it was essential that I selected the best admissions consultant who could personally guide me through the journey. I spent a considerable amount of time speaking to numerous consulting firms, and Alex stood out as he was specific in outlining his approach to my profile. I also wanted to work with a “single consultant” firm and amongst all, Alex brought in the most experience, which became clear during my application process.

Alex communicated openly and candidly as he brought me through a structured approach that he had developed for each of my applications. I appreciated how he challenged me to dig deep to craft my personal narrative and objectives, rather than providing ready-made answers that did not reflect my individuality. I am certain that it was through this process of rigorous discussion and feedback that many of his clients, including myself, were able to produce uniquely compelling and successful applications.

It is also worth mentioning that Alex made great effort to accommodate scheduling challenges, to the point of his own inconvenience. He was also an expert in pacing my rate of work while making sure that timelines were comfortably met. I worked with Alex on 4 schools in total, which was sufficient as I got into my furthest reach school: Stanford GSB.

I unreservedly and wholeheartedly recommend Alex as the top choice for anyone looking for an admissions consultant, and serious about giving themselves the best chance of getting accepted at their schools of choice.

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When I first spoke with Alex in what feels like eons ago, my first impression was that he was a thoughtful and incredibly sharp guy. He gave me great feedback and made astute observations of my candidacy right from the very beginning. Most importantly, he was honest – and I was looking for someone who wasn’t afraid to give me some “tough love” but also willing to commend me in the areas where I did good.

This was mentioned in other posts but bears repeating: Alex is the one that you will work with. This is invaluable, especially in an already opaque industry where some admissions consultants build up their workforce in the pursuit of scale and not quality. Alex approaches the MBA application process with the same rigor I would expect the schools to use in their classes. He put a lot of time into getting to know me personally and through our conversations, I was better able to understand myself. Alex’s pre-application process was extremely useful when I started writing my essays and preparing for my interviews as we had a framework to use for each and every part of the application.

For me, Alex’s greatest contribution as my consultant was his ability to help me drill down on my career purpose. I had some issues in the beginning articulating exactly what I wanted to do but my conversations with Alex and the feedback I got helped crystallize my story. He was able to take seemingly disparate parts of my work experience and extracurriculars and tailor them to each MBA program, using examples from past applications and his knowledge of the school. He meticulously went through my essays with a fine-tooth comb; we must have gone through multiple revisions and drafts for each essay. The turnaround for the edits and feedback was always within 24-48 hours. The mock interview was also a great help to me – I am not a great interviewee and Alex helped put my unease to rest by giving me useful tips and walking me through each one of my responses to provide advice on how best to approach the question. I think he is the reason I felt so confident coming out of my interviews with some of the m7 schools. Thanks to his help across all areas of my application, I will now be attending one of the top MBA programs in the country.

Lastly, Alex is fantastic to work with. He has a good heart and obviously wants his clients to succeed. He is generous with his time (he offered to help me do a mock interview for a school that wasn’t part of my package) and he genuinely wants to get to know you. Part of the value of a consultant is to have someone who can truly understand your underlying motivations almost as well (if not better) as you do. That can only happen with a large investment in the person and Alex is willing to make that sacrifice for you.

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As a young applicant coming directly out of undergraduate studies at UVA, I knew how difficult it would be to achieve my goal of securing admission into a top MBA program. Working with Alex proved to be an invaluable experience. He took the time to understand my full history – academically, athletically, and personally – and was able to help me find new ways to approach my application and tell my story in the most compelling way possible. What truly set him apart was his ability to help me tailor my resume and essays to the cultures of the programs I applied for. Alex truly makes a personal investment in each of his clients, which made working with him all the more productive and enjoyable. Thanks to Alex’s help, I’m proud to be a part of UVA Darden’s Future Year Scholars Program and will begin business school in 2020.

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Alex came highly recommended to me by several of my more senior colleagues who had found success in applying to business school. Having recently completed the MBA application process with Alex, I find it easy to see why! I really believe that working with Alex allowed me to put together the best MBA application possible. I ended up getting into HBS, which was my top choice.

One of the best parts about working with Alex is that he runs all of Prep MBA (i.e. no junior consultants). As such, he gave personal attention to each of my applications and he built a deep understanding of my unique profile and the major selling points of my application; I never felt bucketed by my industry / undergraduate education. This in-depth knowledge proved especially valuable as Alex helped me brainstorm ideas for essays and prepare for interviews. I’m sure Alex has plenty of other clients, but I never felt neglected.

Alex’s experience (HBS MBA and consultant since 2005) also proved to be very useful. Across the MBA forums, there is a lot of conflicting information on the application process and it was helpful to have someone with multiple years of real experience to cut through the BS and help you focus on what really matters. Alex has an informed view on the top business schools and he gives straightforward information on what they are looking for. Additionally, when you work with Alex, you also get the benefit of guidance based on his long history as a consultant. Alex provides extremely helpful examples from past clients that cover a wide range of scenarios to help you frame your thinking.

With that said, my favorite part about working with Alex was that he really pushed me to go the extra mile. When drafting my resume and essays there were many times when I thought, “this looks great, this has to be the final draft,” but Alex would continue to push me to improve every bullet point and every sentence. No detail was too small to avoid attention. Alex pushed me to maximize every aspect of my application - which is critical in today’s hyper-competitive MBA application process.

Alex was excellent resource throughout the entire process and I would highly recommend him to anyone I know planning to apply to an MBA program.

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I spoke with over 10 consultants before choosing, and I decided on Alex because of his experience and genuine care for my success. During our initial call, he was the only consultant that took the time to ask me about my background and helped me generate some great essay ideas. His HBS background and industry expertise make him the best consultant not only for HBS but also for any other business school.
Alex’s greatest strength is his creativity. He has the ability to pick out the perfect story from topics that other consultants would brush off. In my case, I came in with a few ideas I wanted to write about, but Alex encouraged me to list all possible topics. He pushed me to explore a topic that I wrote down briefly at the end of the list, and we ended up using it as my HBS 2+2 essay. Alex has the ability to take underappreciated life experiences and turn them into compelling stories.
Alex also really cares about all his clients. He willingly used my mock interview for another M7 school that I did not use his services for, which helped me get on the waitlist.
Alex was meticulous about every step in the process, from interviews to letters of recommendation to the application form itself. He definitely makes you feel like his only client. I would definitely hire Alex again!

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My journey to being accepted to business school was a long one, involving reapplications, waitlists, and a lot of nervous waiting. Alex guided me every step of the way, from connecting the dots in my professional experience to define my career purpose, mining my personal experience (including my childhood) to create compelling essay material, and overcoming the introverted side of my personality to put forth an engaging admissions interview. In addition, he was equipped to handle the less typical aspects of my specific situation, which included reapplication and waitlist processes. Lastly, Alex is a good-hearted person who honestly does care about his clients, which I believe helps to create a more personal application that is truly reflective of the person underneath the applicant. I would not have been able to get into my dream school, Stanford GSB, without Alex, and I highly recommend him to anyone considering applying to business school.

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I am so glad that I decided to hire Alex and his services for my MBA application process. Because I was studying for the GMAT and completing the application at the same time, it was extremely important that I stayed on track and was well paced for the short term deadline. Alex was flexible with my schedule and very responsive to my emails. He also helped to shape a clear story for why I was seeking an MBA from my background and personal experiences - I think this was a pivotal part in my application that would not have been as strong without his coaching. Even though I had a lower than average GPA and okay GMAT score, I felt confident about the quality in my essays and resume and the content in my application. I only applied to one school and was accepted with a scholarship in their most selective round.

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I had the experience of working with other admission consultants before I worked with Alex, and I can tell you that the level of personalized attention I got from Alex is not something other consultants provide. The other consultant I worked with was not the most responsive. When I emailed her, she would take various days to get back to me. I never felt she took the process as seriously as I did. With Alex it was a different story. He always tried to respond within the same day, and if he could not get back to me in 24 hours he would let me know when could I expect a new version of my essays. He also provided valuable advice in choosing between my recommenders. His interview prep helped me feel confident and ready for my interview. Additionally, he identified my areas of weakness so that I could improve on them before my interview. With my essays he provided direct and honest feedback indicating the gaps in my stories, but also suggesting a complete rewrite of the essays when necessary. Thanks to his guidance I was fortunately admitted to MIT Sloan, despite having a low GPA.

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During my initial due diligence on admissions consultants, I spoke with a number of large, national firms where conversations began a receptionist to gather information, not the actual admissions consultant. After this initial experience, Alex and PrepMBA immediately stood out from the competition as a hands on approach where Alex was my initial and only point of contact. Alex took a sincere interest in my story, hearing about my goals and what I was looking for in an admissions consultant. During our first two introduction calls, it became very clear that Alex’s honestly and no BS attitude was one of the keys to his success. He outlined my weaknesses from his perspective and helped me to really gauge my strengths during the application process which was extremely helpful in putting together my target school list.

I purchased a five-school package from Alex, and worked hourly for a sixth application, and the first step in the process was the Bio Sheet: nearly 50 personal questions meant to help both him and me analyze my history to craft the perfect story. This was one of my favorite parts of his process and was the first time that anyone has had me really look into my decisions and path to date for inspiration. I had a general idea of where I wanted to take my application, but I had a very hard time moving from “general” to “specific.” Alex helped me to really pinpoint my career goals and to craft an application with character, interest and even humor. Applying to six schools was a daunting task and anxious process, but Alex made sure that I moved calmly and methodically through the application process, completing one school at a time.

I would recommend Alex to anyone looking to take their application to the next level. Alex was always available to bounce ideas off of, even at odd hours while I was traveling internationally. I can truthfully say that my applications would not be a fraction of their final product if it weren’t for Alex’s mentoring and expertise along the way. I was ultimately accepted to two of my top choices, UCLA Anderson and London Business School!

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