I'm a white guy with soso work experience and a B+ GPA, and I decided late in the game (early August) to apply to business school. I made it clear to her from the beginning that I was willing to put in the work and go for R1 on short notice, and Jessica committed to helping me get there. She was great with helping me craft a story and identify target schools based on my goals. She helped me hit round 1 deadlines for three schools and her response time was fantastic (I had at least 7 or 8 revisions on my essays for each school and she never took more than 24 hours to critique). She also assisted with revamping my resume, coaching my recommendation letters, and polishing some of the finer details on my application. The mock interviews she conducted for me also helped me prepare for the interviews I had as well.

In the end, I got in early action to Duke, so it was a huge relief that I found out where I was going in October. I withdrew my other applications since Duke's EA commitment required me to do so, but I felt confident with the other 2 applications she helped me complete. I highly recommend SBC and Jessica.

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I was drawn to Stacy Blackman Consulting after extensive research, I wanted to work with a consulting firm that only took a few candidates and really focused on providing a personalized service. Stacy Blackman Consulting definitely falls into this category. Caryn was help me to identify the things that I wanted from my MBA experience and from that we defined a plan. After this, she worked really hard to understand what my strengths were and designed my applications in a way to best showcase these strengths. We also worked on some weaknesses in my application and she came to very realistic recommendations for those. I would definitely recommend Stacy Blackman Consulting, specially Caryn.

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I evaluated multiple consulting firms when I first started my MBA application journey. Because Stacy Blackman had a strong presence and Dawn (from SBC) was highly recommended by a close friend who is now at Wharton, I chose to move forward with Dawn (fortunately she was available to work with me!).

When I started, I had a story and a ton of different ways to approach my applications. Dawn is very strategic in nature and was extremely helpful in guiding me to create a focused brand. She's very in-tune with what the top schools are looking for, which helped ensure I mentioned relevant information in each application. I applied to 4 top schools and was accepted to 3, 2 of which I received generous merit fellowships for. I have no doubt that without Dawn's help, I would not have been able to achieve this level of success.

I highly recommend Dawn!

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When I started applying for business school, I knew I had to get a consultant. After all, I'm not an all-star applicant like many of the people here on the forum. I had a below 3.0 GPA and a GMAT score below the average of my dream school, Marshall. I tried many of the "free trials" offered by consultant companies and I found SBC to be really honest and genuine with me and I went with it. I was assigned to Amy Bergrud, and my long, but rewarding journey began. Amy worked tirelessly with me to help improve my profile, and review my essays. The best thing about her is you can know 100% sure that she will answer your questions within 24hrs. We discussed extracurricular activities, classes, volunteers..etc to help me stand a better chance. Even after I was waitlisted, she continued to help me put together supplements. The whole process took a year, but in the end I was admitted! I'm super excited to attend my dream school and to pursue my ambitious career goals. I wouldn't have made it without Amy.

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Had a great experience with SBC and Bill C. in particular. He was very framiliar with my top school and helped immensely throughout the process. It was worth the price and cost without question. I enjoyed working with Bill he helped me with resumes, essays, interview coaching, and kept my spirits up. Resume review and essay editing were the biggest value add. I would recommend him to any other prospective student. Greatest skill was knowledge and expertise. Bill was punctual and always on time which I appreciate very much. I was fortunate to be admitted to my top choice due to Bill's advice, help and support. Thanks again Bill!

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When I first started the application process, I had two glaring weaknesses in my profile: a low GMAT score and a low GPA. I was unable to see past these weaknesses, which caused me to cast a lot of doubt on myself and concern about my prospects. I scoured the internet for MBA admissions consultants and decided to use Stacy Blackman Consulting, and they paired me with Lisa.

It was a true pleasure working with Lisa. She exceeded every expectation of what I thought a consultant would do. She responded to all of my emails/calls in a very timely manner. She was also approachable and knowledgeable, which made my application experience much better. I trusted her opinions and recommendations in every step of the process. Lisa's affability made me feel very comfortable; I never hesitated to ask a question, even if it seemed far-fetched.

Lisa offered great advice, usually things I had never even thought of. And she was always quick to return her edits on resumes/essays. Working with Lisa not only helped me display my strengths but also gave me the confidence to find those strengths. She was great at helping me translate these strengths on paper and she knew how to present them to admissions committees.

With Lisa's guidance, I was accepted into all three schools I applied to: Rice, SMU, and Texas A&M. I highly recommend Stacy Blackman Consulting, especially Lisa! She was with me every step of the way and I have no doubt that she will be able to help applicants with any background and situation.

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I interviewed with several consulting companies the summer before application season, I can easily say that the folks at Stacy Blackman stood out from the beginning. While some of the other companies simply looked at my resume and immediately said "no" to several of the schools on my list, my initial consultation with Esther Magna was very different. Just like the others she walked through my resume and life story, but her empathy and understanding of my nontraditional path was immediately clear and made me much more comfortable with the entire process. This is not to say that the SBC consultants weren't realistic about my odds of acceptance, but they didn't prematurely discourage me from applying to a reach school like some of the other consulting companies essentially did. I was then referred to Keauna Mason, who served as my consultant for my entire business school journey. I liked that Esther referred me to Keauna not only because she went to a school I was interested, but also because of similar personality traits and beliefs we shared. Again, this helped immensely in opening me up to the entire process and really sharing my story with Keauna. Keauna was always available for help, reminding me to stay on task (which I requested!) and incredibly quick to respond with edits or answers to questions. The business school application process is much more introspective than I would have imagined, but Keauna helped me to truly understand my strengths and weaknesses, which ultimately led me to find a program I am really excited to attend next year. I can't recommend Keauna and SBC more highly!

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Without reservation, I give my highest recommendation to Stacy Blackman Consulting and, particularly, my consultant Bill Chionis. I signed up for the "all-in" package, and although SBC was one of the more expensive consulting companies I considered, I ultimately chose SBC because of the fact that their consultants work full-time on MBA admissions, offer unlimited contact, and put their clients' application materials through a pre-application "flight test" with a former admissions committee member.

After having worked with Bill for the past 4 months, I can enthusiastically say it was well worth the money I spent. Bill helped me in numerous ways, but I'll specifically list the areas in which he provided the most value to me personally:

• Identifying Strengths: I have a somewhat atypical background for someone seeking an MBA. Prior to signing up with SBC, I had doubts about whether top programs would be interested in someone with my skill set. After a couple of phone calls, however, Bill was able to identify a number of strengths that would interest the admissions committees and make my application stand out. Some of the strengths he focused on were ones that I never would have thought to highlight in my application.

• Solidifying Career Goals/Telling My Story: I had a handful of ideas for why I wanted to pursue an MBA, but Bill was able to probe my interests in a way that allowed me to more fully develop my ideas. He also helped me tie my background to these ideas so that I could tell my personal story in a very compelling fashion.

• Identifying Realistic Target Schools: Initially, my knowledge of the differences among business schools did not extend much beyond the rankings and various snippets I had found online. Bill was able to provide me with perspective on each school's strengths, weaknesses and unique culture. Then, based on my background, personality, and goals, Bill identified the schools he thought would be the best for me. There is no way I could have gotten all this information through my own research. Only someone with years of experience in the industry can provide this type of intelligence.

• Time Management: I have a demanding job and made the choice to apply to programs roughly two and a half months ahead of the application deadlines. Despite the tight time constraints, Bill put together a schedule that kept my stress level to a minimum throughout the process and kept me on track to submit my applications well ahead of the deadlines.

• Essay Direction: This may be the area in which Bill's help was the most valuable for me. For each essay, Bill was able to give me specific direction as to the type of response each school was looking for. While I consider myself to be a capable writer, most of the questions are open-ended enough that it is difficult to discern what the admissions committees truly want to know. Additionally, even though some schools have similar questions, Bill knew the unique pieces that each school was looking for. Had I answered these essays on my own, I probably would have re-engineered the same material for each school and simply changed the school references. Finally, I had concerns about how to deal with certain weaknesses in my background. Bill advised me on how to thoughtfully and intelligently address those areas in my application.

• Interview Prep: Bill walked me through the full range of questions to expect for my interviews. Then, after I prepared answers for all of the questions, we did a mock interview over the phone and he provided feedback for each of my answers. I went into the interviews feeling very confident and was prepared to answer everything the interviewers asked me—including a few curveball questions.

• Deciding Between Programs: I was fortunate to be accepted by all three programs that I applied to. Bill did such a good job in directing me toward programs that fit me that I had a really hard time deciding which school to choose. Having worked closely with him over the last few months, Bill was able to help me filter everything down to determine the program that would give me the best chance to meet my personal and career objectives.

BOTTOM LINE: Bill was an incredible resource to me throughout the application process. He saved me an enormous amount of time and stress. I was able to focus on the important aspects of my applications and avoid a lot of wasted time spent researching online and asking for opinions from others. To anyone looking for an MBA admissions consultant with proven results, I highly recommend SBC and Bill Chionis.

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SB is a tremendous consulting group and I am very pleased with their services. John was there every step of the way and extremely accessible. Whether in the evenings, weekends, early mornings, he was accessible via text, phone calls, voicemail, and email.

There was never a moment where I was wondering where responses were. The responsiveness was extremely key.

Also, they did a fantastic job of leveraging other consultants, tools, and perspectives to help build my story. To me, this is important because it made sure the story was robust and outsides with fresh perspectives could understand it easily.

John & SB made this process as enjoyable as possible. Obviously this is a stressful, LONG, process, and they met all of my expectations. They have a great experience and perspectives from their plethora of consultants, and it definitely helped me on my path.

I would definitely recommend them.

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Initially, I never considered hiring a consultant for the MBA application process. Being from a management consulting background with plenty of alumni contacts and strong senior support from my firm, why would I need one? At the end of this process, however, I was certainly glad I made the investment.

I applied to six schools and enlisted Erika's support for two of them, including Booth where I am pleased to be starting this coming fall.

Erika provided great and timely service to all of requests and helped me stay on track and on-target through the process. She provided great insight into what admissions committees look for and was able to bring a good level of school-specific knowledge as well. Overall, however, I found her greatest value-adds were as follows:

1) Erika was not afraid to tell me that I was wrong; she pushed me to course correct drastically midway through my Booth application, and while that was a difficult pill to swallow at the time, it undoubtedly paid off.

2) Erika did a great job managing my recommenders; she provided them key insights into what admissions committees look for and helped provide feedback I would not have been comfortable giving myself. This is something that benefited all my applications - not just the two I formally enlisted Erika's help with.

Beyond my personal experience with Erika, SBC's online wiki of resources was extremely helpful, and my now fiancee also leveraged a different SBC consultant and had great results (she, too, will be starting at Booth this fall).

Overall, I highly recommend Erika and SBC.

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