Summary

I can strongly recommend SBC and especially Christine based on my business school application experience. As a result of her excellent work and support I got accepted into Columbia Business School and Chicago Booth.

About me / whom this might help:

I am European (= international applicant) with a background in Tech, working as management consultant. Working and traveling a lot and having very little experience with business school applications, I decided to hire a consultant to help me shape my story so that I would be able to differentiate myself from the mass of management consultants and to communicate that story in the language of the Admission team while being as efficient as possible (due to my daily workload).

In retrospect, SBC and especially Christine not only met but exceeded my expectations by far.

Why SBC

I chose SBC because I believe that SBC has an edge over many other admission consultancies due to its very strong marketing position. By not only hiring a consultant but also the back office / expertise of the entire firm, SBC knows exactly how to position your profile for your respective target school (because they have it done a thousand times before). Through this rich expertise and track record my initial contact, Esther, knew in a heartbeat what I was missing in my application and which consultant – in my case Christine – could support me the best. However, I not only got a perfect match but also access to a lot of reading material, past essays, interview preparation software as well as to Lisa, who was a former Admission Officer and who evaluated my application package from a neutral perspective before I finally submitted it. I believe the best analogy to my thinking is: If you need a surgery and you can chose between a general surgeon and a medical firm that has a specialist for each type of surgery, including yours, who will most likely be prepared for all eventualities?

Why Christine

I believe Christine excels in almost any position including that of an admission consultant. This is because Christine has a very rare combination of an extremely high intellectual capacity, genuity and work ethics. She knows exactly what to do which is reflected in her very clear instructions and in the fact that she never fell behind any deadline, but usually always delivered early over our 6 months. The best example for that is when I decided last minute (48h prior to the deadline) due to a change in my calendar to also apply to Booth. Despite having many other applications, less than 48 hours and not a signed contract for my forth school (yet), Christine was up for the challenge resulting not only in two very intense days with very little sleep for the both of us, but also in an admit from Booth.

While I would have already been more than pleased at this point, there is much more I gained from our interactions and from Christine herself. By preparing my applications, I not only improved my written English, but also learnt how to best position myself in a job interview, by knowing how to best demonstrate my various strengths and capabilities in combination with what sets me apart from others. I believe this is noteworthy, because my work with Christine would still have been fruitful for me, even if I did not gain any acceptance letter.

However, what I loved most about our interactions was that Christine made the application process fun. By finding the right balance between application related and other topics and by making sure that I progressed while allowing me to learn from the process, I truly enjoyed working with Christine. In fact, I was not relieved, but said when I realized that I was done with the application process.

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After having been dinged from all the schools I applied to for the class of 2019, I knew that I wanted to use an admissions consultant when reapplying for the class of 2020. After evaluating several options, I decided to go with SBC for a couple reasons: their track record and my initial conversation with Caryn Altman.

Caryn was upfront with me and did not sugarcoat things - when telling her which schools I wanted to apply to, she said that they would be stretch schools for me, but did not discourage me from applying.

Luckily for me, I got a head start working with Caryn, signing up in early 2017. Caryn and I hit the ground running; within weeks, my resume had taken shape and, per her suggestion, I became actively involved with a couple of charitable organizations around my hometown.

Caryn was always lightning quick to respond to my emails - whether they be essay draft reviews or random one-off questions, she was usually able to respond within hours. She really went above and beyond when it came to responsiveness.

Beyond working with Caryn, I benefited from working with SBC's other consultants for the flight test and mock group interview.

Ultimately, working with Caryn was great because I trusted her and benefited from her candidness in reviewing and talking about my essays and overall candidacy. All of the essays, resume, work, etc. was mine, but Caryn gave me the tools and advice needed to properly frame all of it into a successful MBA application!

In the end, I was admitted to two schools and am proud to be able to say that I am going to be at Booth (a school where I was dinged without interview last year) this fall!!

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I worked with Caryn to apply R1 in 2017 after having unsuccessfully applied to five schools in the first round of the previous year. Caryn was on top of every detail and made sure that we stuck to our deadlines, which was critical applying to five programs no matter how far in advance we started our planning. She absolutely has a mind for this work and was able to position my experience to fit with each individual school. Most importantly though, she helped me think through where I had been and where I really wanted to go and that made my application all the more authentic and genuine. In the end, I got acceptances from Columbia, Booth, and an interview invite from Haas that I did not move forward with due to extenuating circumstances. Thanks Caryn!

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I am very happy with my decision to work with Caryn and SBC on my (successful!) application to an M7 program. Caryn's experience in admissions was apparent from the first time we spoke. She was interested in getting to know my story and helped me craft a narrative to consistently communicate this via my application. The detailed timeline Caryn provided helped me stay on schedule while managing work and other priorities. With that said, Caryn expected my full engagement as we worked through numerous drafts of the application. She was very good at providing timely feedback, which again helped me better manage my time. One very helpful part of the process was the mock interview. Practicing in front of a mirror, or with friends/family will obviously help, but you will not get the same detailed feedback that someone like Caryn can provide. I felt very prepared going into my interview and left feeling even more confident.

Overall I am very satisfied with the services provided by Caryn and SBC. I realize, however, that this does come at a cost, and that people are in different financial positions. My view is that if you are committed to pursuing an MBA at an elite program you are resigning yourself to some level of financial burden (if only in the short term) with the expectation of future benefits. With that in mind I think this service is well worth it.

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One of the best decisions I made throughout the MBA application process was the decision to work with Caryn of Stacy Blackman Consulting.

Caryn, a former Kellogg Admissions officer, was an invaluable resource to me throughout the application process. She was vital in formulating my strategy that I presented to all schools regarding my future career aspirations. Additionally, she helped me revamp both my resume and my interview responses to specifically fit the business school process.

One of her great qualities as an admissions consultant is her ability to communicate. I never had any worries about not hearing her answers to my questions or seeing her edits to my essays in a timely fashion. Her email responses were thorough, and her edits always went above and beyond. Additionally, at any critical juncture (or whenever I felt I needed guidance), she was willing to jump on a phone call. She maintained this same diligence throughout the waitlist process. When working with Caryn, it is important to reciprocate her communication style and be organized / diligent.

I believe that I maximized my potential to get into a top MBA program by working with Caryn!

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I am an international applicant with a non-traditional background. I applied to several programs last year, but failed to get admittance. Before approaching SBC, I did not have a good understanding of my strengths or feasible career goal. My journey started with a 30-min phone call with Esther for an initial evaluation. Esther has the talent and acumen to quickly summarize the main issues in my previous applications and point out the key theme to draft my story and career goal. Her suggestions became the foundation of my application strategy. She is the reason why I chose SBC instead of other prestigious MBA consulting firms.
I was then assigned to Maria as my primary consultant and opted for the comprehensive 3-school package. SBC truly cares about matching you with the right consultant as Maria is a former Adcom in one of my target schools. She was instrumental in guiding me to refine my career goals and craft my story from an Adcom’s perspective. She persuaded me to visit the schools and talk to current students, which I found to be very critical in writing a genuine essay that stands out.
SBC’s Flight Tester was a game changer for me. They bring in a 2nd consultant to review the entire application package for my first school. In my case, Caryn, a former Adcom for that specific school reviewed my application. She responded quickly and gave vital advice on my essays. I honed in on her message and made critical changes to my essay based on her feedback, which I think secured my admission for that school.
As a non-traditional applicant with a very niche major and in one of the most competitive international application pools, my problem has always been getting over that initial bump of acquiring an interview invite. I am glad to say that Maria and the team were able to get me interview invitations from all three schools. I was admitted to two schools with a large amount of scholarship to cover 50-80% of the tuition (a great return on my SBC investment)! This would not have been possible without my team of super consultants: Esther, Caryn, and Maria. I highly recommend SBC for applicants like me who have great potential, but do not know how to package themselves well and stand out in the application pool.

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I am from Latin America, I had a story a little different from traditional applicants (I know everyone thinks they have, but I really did). My stats weren’t that great and I only applied to CBS since I was already living in NYC and it was the school I had always dreamed to go. From the first call we had, Christine perfectly understood my story, my experience, my strengths and weaknesses and what was the exact angle we could exploit so I could become an attractive candidate for CBS. Very quickly she generated various ideas and proposals which were tailored made to my profile, experience, and goals, giving me a clear direction to follow and the confidence that all the effort was going to be worth it. Her ability to help you during essays drafting was AMAZING, she really helps you get inspired and bring to words the best of your thoughts.

At one point during the preparation of the application, I was very busy because of work and on top of that, I was also studying to take again the GMAT and thank god that Christine was there for me, supporting me with the preparation, accommodating to my busy schedule and delivering an EXCELLENT service. If she had not been there, there was NO WAY I could have made it successfully through the application process. For the interview, her preparation was exactly what I needed and from the moment I applied in about a month CBS had already accepted me.

Christine perfectly knows the culture of CBS, what the AdCom thinks and what is exactly what they are looking for in applicants. I really can’t imagine a better advisor than Christine. It was a pleasure working with her and I STRONGLY recommend anyone to work with her!

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I had the pleasure of being paired with Caryn Altman and truly know I wouldn't have gotten into two top schools (Booth & Kellogg) without her support, patience, project management skills, and ability to see how my application worked as a whole. I worked with her on 3 schools and applied to another two on my own using some of the same strategies I developed with her. Start to finish SBC was a great investment from my initial point of contact, to my flight tester (Beth who is a former adcom), to additional folks who provided a second opinion on essays for me when Caryn and I disagreed (not often!). SBC is absolutely the way to go if you're thinking about working with a consulting company. They know what they're doing and all the positive outcomes vouch for that. Thanks again for everything!!!!!

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I worked with Beth Tidmarsh at Stacy Blackman and she really helped me manage the application process and feel confident in the application I was submitting. She provided helpful essay feedback and application guidance, she was timely in her responses, and she was proactive in letting my know when her schedule was tight.

I'm a strong writer but I didn't know much about what was expected from an MBA application essay, and Beth helped me put my stories in their best light and noted where I could add more information or remove confusing or unnecessary content.

Beth also helped guide me on what to expect throughout the process, gave me advice for my interviews, and provided support during the stressful and uncertain process of waiting to hear back after submitting apps and completing interviews.

I felt like Beth was personally invested in my success and her help improved my applications and gave me the confidence to perform at my best in interviews. I would strongly recommend her as a consultant.

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I had a great experience working with Stacy Blackman and in particular, my consultant Dawn.

When looking for an admissions consultant, I wanted someone who was ethical and who could best help craft my story and position me for each school's unique criteria. I selected Dawn because it was clear she was a very intelligent, strategic thinker who would give me honest feedback.

While working together Dawn developed a very helpful strategic plan/assessment for my candidacy - a roadmap for mitigating my weaknesses and highlighting my strengths. As someone who is not naturally and consistently introspective, this was feedback was very helpful! I flipped back to this plan often while writing my essays.

In addition, Dawn's honesty and willingness to hold me accountable were important throughout the application process. During one stretch, I was so jammed at work that I was not able to write a quality essay, and instead sent Dawn a half-baked draft. Dawn held me accountable and told me to completely re-do the draft, which was definitely the honest feedback that I needed to submit the best application possible.

All in all, I had a very good experience and it led to a great outcome - I will be going to Wharton next year! Thanks Dawn!

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