Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions Reviews

I had an excellent experience with SBC, they exceeded all my expectations:
-I was a Marine officer and I worked with SBC for HBS and Wharton, this cycle I got into HBS, Booth, and Sloan - they get results!
-Margaret was more than I could have hoped for! She showed me that she genuinely cared about me, my story, and my ambitions. She made such a big effort to get to know me and how I communicated. She made the entire process fun and was a rock to lean on throughout the entire process.
-As a military applicant without a background in business, I needed a lot of hand holding in the beginning of the process, the SBC team, especially Margaret, was there for me and helped me find a concrete footing. I asked Margaret all sorts of questions and she always was there to answer them - even the ones not fully related to my two school package. Again, she proved she was 100% on my team!
-I initially had a rocky start with SBC - I partnered with Dawn and we were not a good fit. We could not find a way to communicate effectively, I did not feel like she cared about me or my success, and I felt that she belittled me at points. When I went to SBC with my concerns, the firm came in and saved the day! They instantly went to work finding a consultant who was a better fit and I had no issues switching over. The firm as a whole proved that they cared about my experience and were dedicated to my success.

I would wholeheartedly recommend SBC to any applicant, especially military, who is serious about applying to a top-tier MBA program. They will find a good match, and ensure you put your absolute best foot forward. If you can, ask for Margaret, you will not regret it!

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One of the reasons I chose Stacy Blackman was to get cost-efficient time with various consultants, and they were able to deliver that. Some were better than others and at the end of the day I think their cumulative opinions helped me be successful in the process, really enjoyed working with Erin K.

If you are a traditional applicant like me who is honest with yourself it may not be necessary, in any other case I would recommend getting close friends or colleagues to read your essays. If you are a nontraditional applicant or have stats you need to mitigate I can see it being a great investment.

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I was hooked on Stacy Blackman after having a free consultation. After my initial conversation, it was apparent their consultants have extensive knowledge and experience in MBA Admissions. I worked with Lisa, who was extremely helpful and supportive. She helped me every step of the way, even with the small details of the admissions process. I ended up getting a full scholarship to my top school - so it really paid for itself. I know two other people that used Stacy Blackman and also got into their number one schools. If you're serious about getting into a top MBA program, I would 100% recommend!

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Working with Erika and the SBC team was one of the best decisions I made. Going into the application process, I had my eyes on only one program that I felt was within my range. After talking with Erika, I decided to shoot higher for the top 5 schools. Erika's thorough approach got the best out of me for my resume, and her advice helped me convey my true self to the admissions committees. She helped me tailor my application for each school I was applying to, prepared me thoroughly for my interview, and kept me on schedule during a hectic application season with her gentle reminders. She remained in my corner as the decisions came out, including the inevitable dings, and her encouragement helped me get through the toughest parts of process.

I'm writing this review from a study room at my dream school, and I couldn't have gotten here without Erika's help and guidance. I highly recommend her to anyone looking to put their best self forward for one of the most important decisions of their lives!

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As an applicant, I went to a top-tier liberal arts college, had a 710 when I hired SBC (a 720 by application time), and work for a well-known investing shop, but have two low quant grades from college and am on the younger side. The turnaround from learning about the world business school application consultants to enlisting Stacy Blackman Consulting was really short for me. A handful of friends who graduated the year before me in college were all accepted to business school in Round 1 of the last cycle, and they shared a tool: a great SBC consultant. I did my due diligence on a few other firms, but ended up asking Bill Chionis at SBC to connect me with three Columbia-experienced SBC consultants (I had visited the campuses of five schools, and knew that CBS was my top choice). I “interviewed” the three, and a problem arose: all three were amazing and raring to go. Bill gave me great advice with how to pick: choose the consultant who you’d like to communicate with for 6+ months. I asked to sign a one school contract with Christine for an application to CBS, and am incredibly grateful for her.

Christine went to CBS and knows how to navigate the intricacies of CBS’ application like the back of her hand. But Christine’s biggest impact on me as an applicant was not in the essay editing or in the interview preparation, but rather in how she suggested ways for me to become a better applicant to any competitive business school. She pushed me to retake the GMAT to increase my quant score and take an online Berkeley course to buttress my profile, and helped me to figure out my narrative as a CBS applicant. Christine worked with me from January to July, and I was accepted ED to CBS (one and done!). Looking back, it was so easy to go back and forth with her via email and telephone calls about brainstorming for essays, resume revisions, and the process of preparing my recommenders. She knew how I would be different and interesting to CBS’ AdCom, and recommended aspects to highlight. She gently prodded me to work really hard, but it never seemed like a drag to do any of the tasks — she explained to me why each was important, and I knew that if I gave the SBC “formula” my all, I would produce the best application I could.

Christine answered each of my questions (“how do I answer this question on the CBS application form,” “what shirt should I wear with which suit to the interview,” “what do you think about this email to my recommender to remind him about the deadline,” “should I mention that I met this person at a CBS event,” etc.) earnestly and swiftly. She always asked about how I was doing in the process, and truly rooted for me the whole way. In the end, the process with Christine far exceeded what I thought it would be like to hire a business school consultant, and I will continue to sing her praises (and SBC’s) from the rooftop to friends who are thinking about applying next cycle.

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I cannot say enough about Christina and SBC! She was my biggest advocate throughout the whole application process and believed in me from the start, making me feel confident in my ability to succeed in school.

Professional Aspects
--Before the all in package: I spoke with another consultant, Esther, about my candidacy and to determine who the best consultant to work with would be. Esther was extremely responsive and knowledgeable about the elements of a strong application. She immediately matched me with Christina (it was a perfect match in my opinion!).
--Christina: She has had lots of professional experience in retail and understood the challenges that I faced coming from that industry, which is a less common pre-MBA career. She also completed her MBA at Harvard and understood the rigor of applying to and attending a top program.
--Creating a “brand” and application strategy: Christina quickly helped create a targeted application approach and helped me focus in on the programs that most aligned with my interests and personality. She was so helpful in getting an understanding of the MBA landscape. She also helped create an application that played to my strengths and offset my weaknesses in order to stand out among thousands of competitive applicants.
--Writing essays: Christina’s writing skills are top notch. In fact, I’m pretty sure my grammar and creative writing skills have improved after working with her. She helped me articulate my thoughts, create an outline, and polish my essays so they jumped off the page and reflected my personality.
--Interview prep: We prepped for one interview together and Christina was prepared with a list of questions that school had asked in recent years. After a mock interview, she gave thorough feedback for each question and helped make sure I was as polished and confident as possible going into the interview. She even went the extra mile and sent good luck messages leading up to the interview day!

Personal Aspects
--Christina truly cares about her clients and it shows. She and I frequently spent long hours on the phone weighing the pros and cons of various schools, discussing post-MBA career paths, editing essays, and prepping for interviews. She quickly became one of the first people I talked to about professional developments because of her positive and constructive feedback. She has been a huge force behind my personal and professional development through the application process - both supporting me and giving helpful feedback.
--Christina is full of positive encouragement, but she will also push you because she wants you to have the strongest application possible. I had a long list of things to do leading up to application submission. While I was stressed at times, Christina was always extremely encouraging and built my confidence.
--When choosing a consultant, I recommend thinking carefully about what it is that you are seeking help with. I was looking for someone to help guide me through the whole process, so I decided to go with SBC’s “All In” package. I also wanted someone who understood my industry and the challenges that came with coming from a less common pre-MBA career. Finally, I wanted someone who I would get along well with and would help me grow throughout the application process. Christina was the perfect match in every single way. Our phone calls often went well beyond the application itself, and into areas of personal development. Christina goes above and beyond her responsibilities, and that is largely because she genuinely cares about her clients. She is exactly the kind of person you want in your corner throughout the application process!!

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When searching for a consultant to work with, I was looking for someone who was both knowledgeable about the application process and the schools I was applying to (Booth, primarily). However, most importantly, I was looking for someone who wasn't afraid to be candid with me, but also someone who was responsive and supportive. I found all these characteristics in Kimberly at SBC.

Kimberly was an excellent mentor and coach throughout the business school application process. From the start, I connected with her very easily because she was patient, friendly, understanding, and had experience working with many types of situations. This allowed me to feel at-ease, which helped me open up quickly, and ultimately made the discovery process for outlining my strengths/weaknesses and talking points that much more efficient.

As someone who had never been through the application process, I had tons of questions and often insecurities, which I would often shoot over to Kimberly whenever they popped into my mind. She always responded thoroughly and very quickly, often by the next day, and did a great job of assuaging my anxieties. On the flip side, Kimberly was never afraid to be candid and let me know if I was overthinking something or whether my points were not succinct enough. It was this candor that helped me refine my essays to some of my proudest pieces of writing as well as improve my own confidence in speaking about myself.

Overall, I could not be happier with the partnership between me and Kimberly and would highly recommend her services to anyone going through the business school application process, especially if Booth is in your top choices!

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I worked with Chris Van Nostrand on my Kellogg application. At first I thought he had done a good job challenging me on both broader topics and specific anecdotes in my essays. He was prompt and direct with his comments, which I appreciated. We also did a mock interview over the phone that was enjoyable. When I had my on-campus interview in R1 I felt well-prepared.

Ultimately, however, I was rejected from Kellogg in R1. Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the entire process wasn't that I was rejected from my dream school despite a 780 GMAT score and otherwise competitive profile but that I received zero follow-up from Chris or the SBC team after my rejection. No condolences, no sympathy, nothing. The last thing an applicant needs when juggling rejections and waitlists and figuring out R2 applications as the holidays approach is radio silence from their consultants.

I was accepted at a T10-15 school and will be matriculating there this Fall, but I did that application entirely on my own in R2 and without the help of any consultants. Bill Chionis of SBC actually told me not to apply to the school that I'm going to now and I'm glad I went against his advice, otherwise I would have come up completely empty. Overall I felt ripped off by the entire admissions consulting process and consider it a waste of time and money. It was extremely poor client management to ghost an applicant after they are rejected.

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I have nothing but great things to say about Erika with Stacy Blackman Consulting. She helped me tell my story in a unique and creative way that brought admissions success. The admissions process is undoubtedly stressful, but Erika is familiar with the process and helped provide internal deadlines that brought clarity and organized the chaos. I ended up getting into all three schools that I worked with Erika on, and the insights she provided also helped with schools outside of my SBC package. She turned things around quickly and provided comments that helped me reflect on the story I wanted to tell. The all in package took me from blank page through the interview (and post interview reflection) and helped reduce stress along the way.

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I was very lucky to work with Erika at SBC on my HBS application this year and couldn’t be more pleased with the process.

I’m sure each applicant struggles with information overload when applying to MBA programs – there are many (and often conflicting) opinions available online that can over-complicate the application process.

I found Erika’s approach to be extremely thorough yet efficient, which was particularly valuable given I was applying from a finance job that didn’t leave a lot of time for second guessing my application materials and approach.

Erika has a gift for quickly internalizing your “story” and nuanced qualities of your overall applicant profile and helping you highlight elements that you may otherwise overlook or take for granted. This fresh, focused perspective really helped me to communicate what was most important through the various components of the application and submit with confidence.

Finally, I found SBC’s database of application resources to be extremely helpful in keeping my application process focused and saved me going down “rabbit holes” searching through discussion forums for answers.

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