I worked with SBC and Sherry for my MBA application in 2017. I talked to Veritas Prep and with Esther Magna from SBC, finally deciding to go with Stacy Blackman because they were always fast to reply, everything was very organized and I could see that they really cared.
I used the all-in package and it was great! It includes a flight test, mock interview and continuous support of an amazing team. Esther Magna was my initial consultant and she paired me up with Sherry. I can’t recommend Sherry enough; working with her was great since day one and she made the entire process less stressful and even enjoyable. Sherry helped me every step of the way: choosing schools, writing my resume and essays, evaluating waitlists and making a final decision. Sherry has a lot of experience and knows exactly what she is doing, she took the time to get to know me and made sure the essays really represent me. She gave great feedback and was very generous with her time, being available even during the weekends. Sherry is not only and amazing consultant, but an excellent person too. I couldn’t have asked for a better consultant and consulting company, I wouldn’t change a thing! Thank you SBC, Esther, Lisa and Sherry!!

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This is a substantial investment and one that will only be worth it if you put in the work. Margaret did an amazing job keeping me on timeline and focused on my goal. My work schedule was about as crazy as it can get and she masterfully helped me squeeze every last bit of free time out of it to put towards my applications. As an older applicant, Margaret had many of the answers to questions such as, "how do I communicate 14 years of experience in my field to the ADCOM without sounding ancient?" In the end, my life story and reasons for pursuing an MBA were brilliantly woven into a single narrative that resonated with the ADCOM and set me apart from other applicants. The best part was that it was entirely my own! The words in my essays came from me. They weren't rewritten by Margaret. They sounded like me and ultimately they got me admitted to my 1st choice program.
The admissions process is stressful and for someone who was nearly a decade outside of the academic arena, I was rusty to say the least. Margaret and the rest of the SBC team got me ready and made me the best applicant I could be. From preparing applications to rehearsing for interviews, the all-in service was truly worth the expense. If you are a non-traditional student wanting to pursue an MBA, Margaret is your gal. Bill from SBC is also a great consultant for non-traditional students in the event Margaret is booked. If you are coming from a military background, Margaret is your ideal choice as she has extensive experience preparing military candidates. If you can afford it and are ready and willing to put in the work, the all-in service from SBC is a game changer and something I'd highly recommend.

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I worked with Sherry (and SBC) for my MBA applications in the fall of 2017. I had chosen SBC based upon a feature article in The Economist magazine.

I worked with Sherry as my primary consultant for applications to three top-15 US B-Schools. Esther Magna was my initial consultant, and I was convinced to hire SBC after a chat with Esther. Beth Tidmarsh was my application flight tester for one of the applications, and she provided very insightful feedback; the team work at SBC is very synchronized, a testament also to their professional in-house intelligence for B-School applications.

I am an Indian male in the over-represented consulting background demographic. In addition, I worked with a non-target employer during my applications. I eventually got into an Ivy-League B-School and there’s absolutely no way that it could have been possible without Sherry’s help.

I want to emphasize that Sherry is just phenomenal; she is an excellent consultant and an even better person. Sherry helped me every step of the way during the applications and the interview process: She helped me write natural and polished essays and provided extremely critical feedback during the mock interview. In addition, she was always very generous with her time whenever I needed her help with proof-reading e-mails that I sent (and I sent quite a few!) to the AdCom during the excruciating waiting time after the interviews or advice re: a general road-map for how long I should wait for what. If you’re looking for a sharp consultant – who has been an AdCom member herself and knows the process inside-out – who is extremely professional and gentle, Sherry is your go-to consultant. I highly recommend Sherry and SBC to you.

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Jen and the Stacy Blackman team were phenomenal in helping this "tough case" (I'm a bit older and have a non-traditional background compared to other applicants to b-schools). Jen helped me identify how my experience and skills could be positioned to appeal to admissions committees, and we worked on several drafts of each essay before submitting. I received five invitations to interview, and Jen was incredibly generous with her time in helping me prepare. She also helped me adjust my expectations based on what I had already accomplished and how I might appear on paper to ad comms—it takes a special school to look past their own algorithms as they choose applicants. I am exceptionally grateful for the time, support, and encouragement Jen offered me during this very intense process, and I recommend Stacy Blackman Consulting and Jen wholeheartedly!

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As a Latin American re applicant candidate to top business schools in the US, I found the assistance and support from SBC to be extremely valuable. Since the beginning of the process, I was matched with a true counselor that understood very well my personal story and that helped me define the best route for strengthening my candidacy. Stephanie has been the best consultant, who has helped me polish a concise, clear and powerful pitch for Admissions. With her support and Rebekah (former admissions officer as Stephanie) who provided an excellent flight test before submitting my materials, I was admitted at Duke, IESE and currently waitlisted at Tuck. I can confidently say that SBC team is absolutely professional as they provide every resource needed for creating your best application. In this long process of applying to Business School, the support & guidance of former Admission Officers and counselors is critical, as they understand very well the process, and will support you in a comprehensive way, giving you the confidence to do the best of the process.

Thanks for everything SBC!!

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I decided to engage Stacy Blackman after submitting a number of unsuccessful applications in round 1. Of the 6 schools I applied to, I was rejected from 4, waitlisted after interview at 1 and waitlisted without interview at another. Initially, I was skeptical about the value of using a consultant. However, I was blown away with Sherry and the results that she delivered!

From day 1, Sherry was very responsive and engaged and we built a great working relationship. I really valued Sherry’s honesty in reviewing my applications and together we reshaped my entire application. I found that I had a lot of support at Stacy Blackman, including the flight test, which I found exceptionally helpful! Sherry and I also conducted a mock interview, which was invaluable for my later interviews. Sherry conducted many interviews during her time in admissions and the questions she asked all came up in my later interviews!

I used the all-in package and I can’t recommend it highly enough! The package included support of a great team (including the flight test and mock interview). All up, I applied for 4 top 15 schools with Sherry. I got into 3 (including my top preference) and was awarded merit scholarships at all 3, including a 100% scholarship, 50% scholarship and 25% scholarship. Sherry helped me negotiate with the schools and the 50% scholarship was later increased to 75%.

On reflection, I wish I engaged Sherry earlier as she helped make the entire application process much less stressful. I now view the fees I spent on Stacy Blackman as an investment in winning my scholarship.

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I am so beyond ecstatic at the results of my partnership with Yvette and the SBC team! I decided on SBC after reading many outstanding reviews and seeing the results of a friend who used SBC. I was matched based on my nontraditional background with Yvette Romero, a true gem!, and my main consultant who helped me identify target schools, refine my voice through my essays, and ace the interviews. Yvette was thoughtful, encouraging, and incisively realistic while making me laugh through an otherwise stressful process. Throughout our partnership, she asked me questions that highlighted aspects of my profile that I would have never considered to be special. Her advice on how to frame my applications to appeal to adcomm revealed deep insight into the admissions process, and as a result, even small tweaks to my application felt like home runs. Her deep knowledge of MBA admissions ultimately empowered me with a road map to strategically navigate those long months.

What felt most critical to me in our partnership and something that I will always be thankful for is that Yvette gave me the confidence I needed to overcome a low GPA. She taught me how to truly and unabashedly tell my unique story and highlight my strengths. She is a gifted listener and story teller, and she imbues you with these same qualities- asking the right questions until you arrive at the key story for your application to showcase. And because she is truly invested in your success and believes that you deserve your own best work, she will work painstakingly with you until you get it right! I am so proud when I read my essays and think on my interviews, because they feel like "me". Yvette really helped my essence shine.

I received THREE acceptances from top schools, including TWO FULL SCHOLARSHIPS - one from a reach school I hadn't considered until Yvette told me to go for it! As someone with a nonprofit background and the hurdle of a low GPA, I know the price looks a little steep but it is an incredibly worthwhile investment that will pay dividends! I am thrilled to be attending a top business school in the fall and regret nothing about my SBC experience. I cannot recommend Yvette enough. She pushed me to work hard, be honest, and be proud of what I had accomplished. I have loved working with her, and if you make the wonderful decision to do the same, I know you will, too!

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I had an excellent experience working with Erika on a 4 school package. I was initially referred to SBC by a friend who also worked with Erika the previous year and was ultimately admitted to her top choice school. After hearing how great her experience was, rather than shop around at other companies, I immediately signed up for SBC.

Right off the bat, I felt that Erika's personality was a great fit for me. She was honest, had a sense of humor and made what was quite a stressful process a bit more enjoyable. Throughout the process, Erika was a great sounding board for all questions both large and small, and she provided useful feedback on both my essay content and writing style. Turnaround time was always extremely fast yet her edits were always thorough and appreciated. My flight test with Rebekah and the rest of the team at SBC also offered additional value support that can't be matched by smaller companies. Plus, the entire suite of SBC resources from interview guides to essay samples provided an additional edge that I greatly appreciated. Lastly, the mock interview with Erika was one of the most valuable parts of the process. Prior to our mock, I was experiencing severe interview anxiety and did not feel prepared. With Erika's help, I fine-tuned answers to key questions, built my confidence and truly felt like I aced my interview.

I do want to share a few minor points of feedback that I hope SBC will continue to work on. Firstly, I wish we had spent more time crafting an overall strategy to my applications. In speaking with other friends who used consultants (both within and outside the SBC family), it seemed that other consultants spent more time developing a strategy of how best to position their clients and pinpointing the qualities to highlight in essays. While Erika did mention a few strong points in my background in our initial call, we did not ever circle back to these. In most cases I would write my first draft on my own and Erika would edit from there, but I would have preferred to spend more time brainstorming initial ideas together to ensure I was positioning myself best. Additionally, I sometimes felt that my doubts were not taken seriously or I was not being held to a high enough standard - being told that my essays were "fine" was not exactly reassuring as I applied to schools with sub 10% acceptance rates. To this point, I was surprised to find that my flight tester offered almost zero negative feedback and said I was an "interesting candidate" for a school to which I later did not even receive an interview (a school that I was directly told I had a solid chance of admittance at during my initial consult)

With all this in mind, I still wholeheartedly recommend working with Erika and the entire SBC team. With their support, an extremely daunting experience became manageable and I gained insider knowledge that I could not have gotten elsewhere. After a long process, I am excited to be attending Booth this fall and I could not have done it without Erika's guidance.

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My experience working with Sherry Holland on the 2-school consulting package was wonderful. Sherry is not only an expert consultant but also a genuinely kind, encouraging, and positive person (which really does make a difference when you work with someone for months on your personal story and goals). Sherry understood that I was weary of the MBA application process and literally walked me through each and every step. (1) School selection - this was one of the many areas where Sherry’s deep knowledge and experience as an adcom member was invaluable. I had a long list of schools and Sherry was able to give me an idea of the culture of each school, what kind of students thrive there, and other things to consider like the cost of living and what kind of companies were in the area, etc., allowing me to narrow down my list. (2) Resume and essays - Sherry pushed me to turn drafts on both my resume and essays until they were perfect. She really took the time to get to know me as a candidate, resulting in essays that were authentically me. Sherry also turned comments around very quickly, was always available throughout the process, hopped on the phone with me to talk me through my concerns, and was super flexible and understanding about my work and family commitments. She kept me on track and made a very difficult process manageable. (3) Interview preparation - my interview prep with Sherry was harder than my actual interview. She provided thoughtful, actionable feedback and most importantly, helped me feel prepared going into my interviews. (4) Decisions and waitlist - I worked on 2 schools with Sherry, Darden and Fuqua, and ultimately was accepted to both schools - a 100% track record! I had initially been waitlisted at Fuqua and felt very discouraged. All the blog posts I had read made it sound as though getting off Fuqua’s waitlist was next to impossible. Sherry again took the time to consult with me about what I really wanted and let me know that if Fuqua was where I wanted to be, we could work together on strategies to get off the waitlist. She explained that it really was not hopeless and not to be swayed by blogs. Upon Sherry’s advice, I prepared updates and additional information for Fuqua’s adcom and was offered a place in Fuqua’s class of 2020! Thank you, Sherry, I really couldn’t have done it without you!

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I had a wonderful experience with SBC - receiving the all-in services for my Wharton Round 2 Application. From the outset, my diagnostic and initial conversations with Esther (onboarding) were incredibly helpful and informative. That conversation led to my decision to go with SBC instead of other firms I was speaking with (Veritas, Ivy).

From there I moved to work directly with Meghan, my dedicated consultant. As a former Wharton admissions officer, she was able to provide differentiated advice and guidance to support my Wharton application. She helped me think through my story and highlight the most impactful aspects of my professional and extracurricular experiences.

Equally important, was the mock team-based discussion preparation session that Meghan held for myself and five other candidates who received interview invitations for the Wharton Round 2 Interviews.

Meghan's candor in reviewing my application and in assessing my mock TBD performance informed my approach and strategy on interview day. I had no issues with any aspect of the service.

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