I conducted a lot of research on which consulting companies to use for this process. I was looking for top-notch quality in consultants, their experience and service. Stacy Blackman offers fantastic services, has a record of success, and most importantly, they matched me with the perfect consultant - Beth. I could not have asked for anyone better than her! She absolutely exceeded my expectations! She had a plan of attack within 30 min of our first phone call. She was very responsive (replied to my emails even when she was on vacation), highly experienced and a wonderful person. Not only she gave me specific, clear and effective guidance, but also she was very nice, personable and easy to chat with. During each step of the way Beth mentored me, she provided me with the perfect balance between my thoughts/decisions and her suggestions. I am extremely happy with their services, their support and Beth! For anyone looking for a consulting service during your MBA application journey, I would absolutely recommend them.

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I would like to give my two cents on the comprehensive package services by Stacy Blackman. I had the opportunity to work with Erika Olson as my consultant. I had signed up for a comprehensive package for two universities.

Let me give a brief background about myself. At the time of my application, I was working as a Performance Manager with Schlumberger Middle East SA. I was based out of Abu Dhabi. Prior to Abu Dhabi, I had worked in oil fields in Iraq for a year and a half. Being a female employee and working in geographically unstable locations such as Iraq in a male dominant industry such as Oil and Gas, might sound a fantastic outline for an essay for a B-School. Unfortunately, it is not. It is quite stereotypical to assume that and to be honest a bit cliche.

Yes, there are a lot of factors that the admission committee looks into prior to shortlisting you for an interview. Erika played a very big role in helping me to understand my strengths and making sure my profile stands out; she ensured my essays clearly highlight who I am, my traits and my qualities that I bring to the table. Some people work well with people who are very strategic and organized in their approach. If you are one of such person, then Erika can definitely help you bring out the best in you in your essays.

Having said that, I also strongly believe that while your consultant can help you bring out your strengths in your stories, it is important to sometimes stick to your gut feelings.

While working on my Essays with Erika, after 10 extensive and grueling versions of my essays I changed the approach of the story completely. I felt that even after 10 versions something was not clicking. That is when you expect your consultant to be patient and open to your point of view in spite of the long hours spent by her on your essays, fixing the minor details and the tone. This is exactly what I got from Erika. Although Erika disagreed with me on few things, she respected the fact that this was my essay in the end and I should feel comfortable while telling my stories.

Erika helped me with the comprehensive package for 2 universities - Kellogg and Haas. With the help of these 2 essays, I ended up applying to 7 universities and got an invite for the interview from 6 of them. I decided to work on my Harvard Business School Interview with Erika. Given her years of experience and expertise on this subject, she clearly knew what sort of questions to expect and prepared me well for the interview. I still remember her comment at the end of my mock interview - 'You are a rockstar and I am sure you'll do well'. Needless to say, I am joining HBS, my dream college this fall.

I am very thankful to Erika for her constant support and her confidence in me. This tiresome journey of getting through my dream B-School would not have been possible without her.

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Thank you Caryn for your instrumental role in my admission to Kellogg!

Caryn's approach to consulting is structured and efficient, yet very clearly tailored to my specific situation. During one of our first calls, she helped my craft my overarching story in a way I had not thought of that ended up being very appealing to admissions committees. We were then able to move through the essays relatively quickly (at least in my opinion!) due to the clear process that Caryn outlined. If you work with Caryn, trust this process!!

Caryn had very quick turnaround with the essays and other application documents and her comments were always perceptive and highly relevant. She helped me express myself in a far more polished and adcom-friendly way while ensuring that my unique tone and style were preserved. This is not an easy task, but Caryn is a true pro!

Caryn brings prior adcom experience to the table and was an M7 graduate herself. These experiences, in addition to her discerning approach, were invaluable as we discussed strategy and approach. This was particularly valuable when I was working to gain admittance off of Kellogg's waitlist. Without her, I don't think I'd be moving to Evanston this fall.

As for communication, I felt as though Caryn was readily available and was always willing to hop on the phone or provide a speedy response over email. She's always a super friendly person which made working together easy and even fun.

In fact, we just finished up one of my favorite conversations of all time - celebrating my admissions into Kellogg!

Caryn is a top tier consultant, I feel very fortunate to have been able to work with her!

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Caryn is positive, honest, detailed, and exemplary at what she does! She was invaluable to my MBA application experience. She gave concrete advice, kept me on track with milestones, and made me feel confident throughout this process. She treated this journey as if we were in it together. Although it was an investment, it was definitely worth it. Not only did I gain valuable personal marketing, resume writing, and interview skills by working with Caryn (thank you, Caryn - I will use them next year during my MBA), but I also gained a 50% scholarship on tuition to the school I will be attending next fall (Fuqua School of Business at Duke University)! I’m ecstatic with this outcome! I attribute this success to Caryn’s advice and help throughout this process.

I came into this process as an 'older' applicant (age 30), with fragmented work experience (three jobs post-undergrad in two different industries), a yearlong gap the year after graduating, an atypical background (education), and limited quantitative coursework from my undergraduate and graduate coursework. I had just decided to pursue an MBA and was unfamiliar with the application process. I needed a lot of help, and I needed someone who was positive throughout the process.

Caryn helped me research and decide on programs, craft a compelling story, find direction for my short and long-term goals (which prior, were quite all over the place), and organize what I should be working on when through templates and example documents. Each of Caryn’s responses and feedback to my drafts was fast (within a few hours or the next day)! We worked together for over a year preparing thorough applications for four programs, as I started the process early and was working two jobs, so I could not dedicate as much time every week to the process. Caryn was such a great asset to the process, and I am so thankful for her help! Not only did she advise me to apply to the school I will be attending in the fall, but in the end, I received a significant scholarship there, something I never expected.

I had a friend who utilized other consulting services (Veritas Prep), and her consultant provided no examples, no guidance, and was very negative throughout the process. Stacy Blackman Consulting (SBC) and Caryn are experts at what they do.

It was such a pleasure working with Caryn, and I'm going to miss her advice and support! Don’t wait – contact SBC for Caryn’s help or help from another one of their talented consultants. Thank you, Caryn!

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I am an American engineer working abroad with 6+ years of experience. I applied and was accepted to London Business School in Round 3.

Starting a little late in the season with a very hectic work schedule, I decided I wanted support through the MBA application process. Christine was incredibly flexible around my schedule and time zone challenges and was very prompt. She was encouraging but honest throughout the process and constantly challenged me to think through my motivations and personal story. At the conclusion of the whole process, I was fully satisfied with the journey and interactions I had with Christine. She has also been so kind as to continue to support questions as I prepare to move to London and begin the program.

I highly recommend Christine and SBC if you are looking for consulting help through the MBA process.

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Of the 8 admissions consultants I interviewed, SBC truly stood out among the rest - for a simple reason too. The interview wasn't one sided. Esther interviewed me and gave me very honest feedback on my candidacy, given my need to raise my GMAT score (which I did :-) ) and the timing of applying round 3/4. There was nothing sugarcoated about the experience, and I'm super grateful for it.

Esther connected me with Ryan Barba, who has several years of adcom experience from Cornell and UNC. He was very responsive and thorough in his feedback, always pushing me to dig deeper while crafting my essays - no matter how many turns it took. Given my background in finance and startups, Ryan was instrumental in helping me nail down my narrative consistently through my resume, recommenders, and essays.

I'm very happy with my results and can't wait to attend IESE in the fall.

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I had a wonderful experience working with Sherry. I am a non-traditional applicant coming from an international development background and political science undergrad major. My GRE score was good but not stellar (160 math, 162 verbal) and I was looking for someone to help me navigate the application process and help with my essays. I had decided to apply to 6 schools, so there were going to be a lot of essays to prepare.

From the first time I met with Sherry she put me at ease about the process. I did not feel overwhelmed about the next steps and she made me feel confident about what I had to offer business schools. Sherry helped me figure out which schools to look at and ultimately apply to based on my skill set and what I wanted to do (social impact consulting). We then worked on my essays, starting off with ideas in bullet points and then on through the final version.

Sherry was very upfront with me on how many hours/minutes I had left with her and also asked me to be upfront with her on what I was looking for out of the service so that she used my time efficiently. I felt like I was in control and got what I wanted out of the service - guidance, answering one-off questions, and reviewing my essays. I bought 3 hours to start off with, and then decided to buy an additional 3 hours because I enjoyed working with her so much and really felt like I would get a good amount of guidance with an additional 3 hours. It was expensive, but I think it was worth the cost.

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I came from a non-traditional background, majoring in Neurobiology and working in medical devices startup. In addition to that, I had a little short of 3 years of experience (by the time I go to MBA) under my belt. When I decided to apply to MBA, I was quite worried and not very confident. I consulted several companies, and I received comments like I needed more experience, I should switch jobs to larger companies, etc. With SBC, it was completely different. They were encouraging, helped me analyze my background, presented to me my strengths, and at the same time, being truthful on the range of schools I would probably get into. Eventually, I was paired with Lindsay.

My experience with Lindsay was amazing and I really value everything I learned from this experience. Lindsay helped me understand the application process and what business schools are looking for. She showed me weaknesses that I need to work on, but more importantly, strengths that I did not realize I had in my application. We had a structured timeline for each school, and even though it was a lot of work, I did not feel extremely pressured.

There are two parts where I feel Lindsay helped me the most: the resume and the interview. Lindsay showed me how to cater my resume for MBA admissions, helping it transition from the very technical resume with big research terms to an attractive resume where it showcased my teamwork and leadership skills. Lindsay also helped build my confidence for interviews. Her mock interview was tough, BUT it was just what I needed. Not only did she provided concrete advice for my content afterwards, she also provided behavioral advice such as my speed of talking, pauses that I should take, etc.

I will be attending Ross this fall and I am truly grateful for my experience with SBC, especially Lindsay! I highly recommend her to everyone.

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I used the comprehensive service for two of my dream schools. Both were definitely reach schools given that I was an early career applicant (3 years by the time I quit my job this summer) and came from an unconventional field (Oil and Gas Drilling). I got admitted to one of them (Tuck) and will be starting my MBA this fall (2017)!

Jen was very professional and succeeded in bringing the best out of me while helping me portray that on my applications . She managed to strike a perfect balance between keeping me motivated and also grounded and focused. Additionally, Jen's overall strategy kept me calm and confident that we were putting out best foot forward.

At the end of the day only so much is under our control. Jen helped me understand that but also helped me realize how I can leverage my story in the best way possible. Lastly, I used many of the tactics (intangibles) and the structure of my essays (tangibles) on the rest of my applications which were not included in the comprehensive package. I recommend using the comprehensive service on your dream and or reach schools. The advantages will overflow into the rest of your applications.

People talk about how this service is so expensive. There's not doubt that it costs a lot of money up front. However, looking back, this was definitely a worthwhile investment. Through Jen's help, this investment ended up being a small part of my overall MBA budget at my dream school!

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I reached out to multiple firms at the beginning of my MBA application process, and ultimately decided to go with SBC based on their prompt reply, encouraging feedback, and eagerness to work with me. They paired me up with Lindsay and I'm so thankful they did!

Lindsay was a real pleasure to work with. I knew nothing about this process at the beginning, and Lindsay walked me through it all step by step. Not only did she reassure me that I was a good and competitive candidate (I come from a non-traditional background and was worried about having the right experience), but she helped me craft my story. She guided me through the application process, talked through some of my school choices, helped me with my essays, and prepped me for interviews. I relied on her for a lot, and she was was incredibly supportive.

I'm thrilled to say that I got into my first choice MBA program, and I absolutely could not have done it without Lindsay's help. Her insight was invaluable and I can't thank her enough! I would definitely recommend Lindsay and SBC to anyone who needs a helping hand during the MBA application process.

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