I considered Stacy Blackman, Veritas, and MBA Mission before choosing an all-in package. I read extensively online and held phone screens with each before making my selection. After applying during the R1, I am incredibly glad that I chose Stacy Blackman. I highly recommend SBC’s all-in package and specifically have wonderful things to say about Erika.



One of the primary reasons I was initially drawn to SBC is because they let you choose your own advisor, who you work with across all schools/applications, while the advisor will thoughtfully bring-in school-specific experts when necessary. By the time you decide to apply to b-school, your job experiences, grades, and extra curriculars are all set, so the advisor’s primary goal is to help you craft your story.



Besides her impressive background, I chose Erika because one of her previous reviewers had said that she was not afraid to “tell you when you are wrong.” Throughout the process, Erika was beyond candid, letting me know when something was great or making me start from scratch when knew it wouldn’t work. Erika was always reachable and patient, often responding within hours of my countless emails, day and night. Besides having a fantastic eye for helping to craft a narrative around your unique story, she was also very good at keeping me calm and helping me prioritize during an incredibly stressful process.



Erika takes the time to get to know you as a person – asking questions that go beyond what is typical – to make sure your whole life’s story is captured throughout the applications in a way that is impressive and not redundant. The entire time I worked with Erika, I felt like I was her only client – and I felt like she was as emotionally invested in my outcome as I was. I come from an Ivy League undergraduate school with a well-known job and a high GMAT score, so I was especially focused on finding someone to help me figure out how to make my applications standout. There is no doubt in my mind that Erika was a huge factor in my outcome. After applying to seven schools in R1, I am happy to report that I was admitted to both Kellogg and Sloan. I could not have asked for a better partner in this process.

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I had a great experience working with Caryn. She motivated me to do my best and be on top of my work. She provided timely reviews of all my essays and excellent interview pre (especially as I was last minute for round 2 and was applying to 4 schools with her). She is a straight-shooter and won't sugarcoat- which I greatly appreciated. She was with me throughout the whole process: from brain-storming stages to when I received my acceptance. As a non-traditional applicant with an average (at best) GPA, I don't think I would have gotten the results I did without Caryn. Thank you!

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I was just another lost working professional hoping to make her way into an elite business school. As someone that attended undergrad and law school, I didn’t want to take on the extra cost of business school, unless it was one of the best. I did free consultations with other companies prior to choosing Stacy Blackman. The cost for a consultant wasn’t something I took lightly, and I wanted to make sure I was picking the best company for me. My consultations with other companies were very negative, judgmental or awkward. Additionally, I had to pick a specific person based on short profiles online. Overall, I was thinking I may just have to do this on my own.

However, when I first contacted Stacy Blackman, I was immediately impressed with their process. First, I completed a short questionnaire, which was sent to all consultants that had availability. Then those consultants that felt inspired or interested in my story would connect with me to do a free consultation. I like that the people I was talking with were really interested in me and believed in me. I felt that I couldn’t be successful if someone felt forced to work with me. I talked with a few consultants at Stacy Blackman, all of which were great. But my conversation with Caryn was very easy and made me feel immediately comfortable with her. She really touched on the weak and strong points of my application. As soon as I got off the phone, I knew I wanted Caryn as my consultant. She was friendly and helpful, but also honest and direct. Which is exactly what you need in this process.

Additionally, she helped me narrow down my list of schools. Originally, I was thinking of applying to 7 schools. It was hard for me to understand the full reach of a school that wasn’t located in my immediate area (San Francisco) and how well they would do in my desired function. All the career stats looked so great! Caryn helped me cut out schools that wouldn’t easily bring me back to the Bay Area, but also had strong marketing programs. She even recommended a school that wasn’t on my original list, but has turned out to be far and away the best option, Kellogg.

After hiring Stacy Blackman and being assigned to Caryn, the work really began. She helped me walk through my career goals, after MBA, and helped me narrow down my many ideas and industries into one concise theme that flowed throughout my application. The tools she provided me with in the beginning (career insight, templates for my recommenders, resume template and tips) were incredibly helpful to get a few easier things handled right away and my outlines and essays started. Writing essays for 5 schools within a month and a half is no easy feat. I was lucky enough to have a lull in work at the beginning of August, so I began pumping out outlines and essays pretty quickly. Caryn was always prompt to respond and send me feedback on my outlines/essays. Additionally, this is when the honest and direct part really becomes useful. Seeing where my essays started and where they ended up, it is clear that I wouldn’t have gotten into the schools I did without Caryn.

At the end of the process, I was accepted into 3 of my five schools and withdrew from one before the decision came out, as I knew I would attend Kellogg. I’m truly living a dream right now, and I know I wouldn’t have made it into Kellogg without Caryn’s help. I know the money isn’t the easiest thing to pay, however it was worth every penny to go to a great school that I love.

Choose Stacy Blackman and Caryn today!

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I initially didn’t think that I needed a consultant and planned to go through the process on my own, relying on the advice of friends who were current students or alumni from the schools that I wanted to attend. I quickly learned that everyone had wildly different opinions on how to position myself through my applications and essays. I was totally overwhelmed and reached out to SBC for help. Erin was matched as my admissions consultant, and immediately things started to turn around.

Erin was incredibly responsive and very helpful. She helped me turn drafts of my essays and gave me very direct advice on how to write more effectively and express myself more clearly. Essay advice from a friend who went through the application process once is not the same as essay advice from an admissions consultant who has worked on admissions committees and read countless essays, something I completely underestimated when I began the process. After the essay portion of the application was over, Erin also helped me prepare for interviews. My first mock interview with Erin was rough, but she gave me specific points to work on and during my next mock interview, there was a marked difference. Having this practice really took the pressure off during the actual interview because I felt prepared, tested, and totally ready.

Erin was an amazing resource both to review my materials, help me prepare for interviews, and answer any general admissions questions along the way. Without Erin’s help, I would have never gotten a spot at a top business school, so if I had to give some advice to anyone just starting the application process, it would be to hire an admissions consultant like Erin.

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I initially received a free consultation from Sarah who gave me some helpful pointers on timeline and my overall narrative. I decided to go 'all-in' for six schools because I knew I wanted to transition from my current career. From there, an SBC rep set up chats with several admissions consultants and I found someone who was a perfect fit.

DC was an incredible and professional consultant throughout the entire application process. First, she walked through my life story and got a feel for what really made me ‘tick’. Next, she helped me develop a strategic plan for my application and we began the arduous process of developing applications for six elite MBA programs.

When I sent DC my drafts, she would always be quick and thorough with reviews. In fact, I found myself hoping (to no avail) that she might take a bit longer so that I could procrastinate. She has a wealth of experience in marketing and communications, so she understood how to focus my messaging. She helped highlight elements of my personal narrative that I had overlooked but that others would find interesting.

I was impressed to find that Stacy Blackman has wiki pages that include school-specific content about culture, academics, sample essays, interview questions, etc. for every major MBA program.

In addition, she is very kind and is always helpful even with tight deadlines. My applications would have been far more time-consuming and much less focused without her guidance.

Prior my first interview, DC gave me a mock interview. She shared some honest feedback that I really needed to hear; she is always polite but will never withhold feedback that might help an applicant.

In my opinion, the admissions consultant pays for itself in terms of admissions scholarships or simply increased lifetime earnings potential.

In the end – of my six elite target schools – I was admitted to four and am currently waitlisted at one. I received 2 full tuition scholarships and a sizeable scholarship from another program. I have decided to go to MIT Sloan School of Management, and I couldn’t be happier! Thanks DC!

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Sherry was a great resource for my MBA applications. She was very timely and had invaluable knowledge of both the application and admissions processes from her days on a prestigious school's admissions committee and her experience as an admissions consultant.

Although Sherry helped me in each stage of the admissions process, I wish she would've explained to me that some MBA scholarships are negotiable. This is something that I had no idea about and a simple email to a school, at the right time, could have increased my scholarship reward.

With that being said, I firmly believe that Sherry provided me with the best opportunity to position myself for each of the four schools that I applied to. I could not have done as well in the admissions process without her.

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I used Caryn Altman as an admissions consultant. She was brilliant! I would not have been as successful without her!

Caryn was incredibly responsive. There were days where I would send her an essay and she got back to me twice with various rounds of edits.

In addition to that, she was an incredibly valuable counselor for my overall business school application strategy approach. She was honest with me around what she thought was doable and did everything she could to help me achieve my goals!

I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking to solidify his or her status at a top business school.

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I was hesitant about using a consulting firm for business school applications because I was afraid of losing my personal voice and was nervous if the cost would be worth it. However, I nervously took the plunge, choosing SBC over other firms because they had a strong matching process and so many members of their team were former admissions officers with lots of experience coaching. At the end of the process I can honestly say this was the best money I have ever spent! Caryn and the whole SBC team have been incredibly valuable in the entire process. With SBC and Caryn’s coaching, I got interviews at HBS and was admitted to Wharton, Booth, Sloan and Kellogg with huge scholarships from 2/4 schools!
Caryn is particularly incredible. Her background in marketing helped her craft a strong strategy for my application. She took the time to understand my entire story and helped me craft my story without overtaking my personal voice. Additionally, Caryn is INCREDBILY detail oriented and continues to push her clients to improve. From my strategy documents to my resume to my essays and even application, Caryn and I went through at least 6-10 rounds of edits for each piece. She was strict (which I needed!) and she never let me give anything less than my best, continuing to push me to improve my essays, videos and other submissions. Until the very last detail, Caryn was there to make sure my entire application (including rec letters) was perfect. Additionally, Caryn helped me through the nebulous process of getting off Wharton’s waitlist. She helped me craft a strategy for communication that would show interest without being repetitive which eventually helped me land a spot in Wharton’s class. Finally, Caryn’s turnaround time is extremely fast. She always beat her own standards and because of this we completed many revisions and finished 6 applications for R1.
Finally, Caryn really believed in me and wants to see me succeed. She referred me to different members of the SBC community when I received interviews to make sure I was prepared. She truly believed in my application and that made all the difference!

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I'm an international applicant with a decent GMAT score and work experience, but a very weak GPA (2.9), and with no strong extra curricular work to overcome that. I decided to use a consultant to help me understand the best way to craft a compelling application given some significant gaps on paper. After speaking to a few of the most established MBA Admission consulting firms, I decided to work with Caryn at SBC because I felt that both Caryn and Esther at SBC gave me the most realistic advice in our initial conversations, and did not try to sugar coat the potential difficulties I would face in my applications (I had targeted some fairly challenging schools for my stats).

Working with Caryn was a breeze - she helped me think through my goals and stories to craft a compelling narrative, my school selection strategy, and gave me critical advice on remedying the gaps in my GPA and lack of quantitative work during my undergraduate days. She was also super quick with feedback, and would constantly push me to keep to our aggressive timeline, which I found very helpful. In addition, I found the Flight Test with Amy really helpful - and we actually rewrote an entire essay from scratch based on the feedback from that Flight Test.

I applied to 2 schools with Caryn (1 stretch and 1 target), and really used that experience to apply to a further 3 schools. I'm happy to share that I was admitted into 3 of the 5 programs (all top 15 programs), with scholarships to boot, which was really unexpected given the gaps in my application. I will now be attending a great program - and I absolutely could not have done it without the tireless support and encouragement from Caryn and the entire team at SBC. If you are looking for a highly professional consultant to enhance your chances in an increasingly competitive business school landscape - you can't go wrong with this team.

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SBC is truly amazing! Christina is a fantastic MBA consultant who truly cares about the success of her clients. With Christina’s professional advice and dedication, I received an offer from Wharton, CBS with a full tuition scholarship, Yale SOM with $100K scholarship, and Kellogg’s MMM program with $40K scholarship.

Christina not only guided me with creating an application strategy and timeline, but also helped provide me with useful tips for each school that I applied to. She is very direct and will tell you her honest, professional opinion about your application package. This was a common characteristic within the SBC team which I noticed and greatly appreciated. For example, when speaking with some other consulting agencies, they were very general and told me that my application looked good and that they could definitely help me make it even stronger. On the other hand, the SBC team was very honest and told me that while my application had potential to be very strong, at the time it lacked focus and some parts were confusing. This was very helpful for me to understand the weak parts of my application and how to improve them. Christina was also great with pushing me to stay on my timeline track!

In summary, I decided to choose SBC for 2 main reasons : 1) I appreciated the constructive criticism and detailed feedback and 2) Sarah on the SBC team matched me to Christina who I had a chance to speak with before working together, and we connected very well and had some similar interests as well.

SBC also has many helpful tips with the application and interview process. For example, SBC helps run a “flight test” where a former AdCom officer can review and provide feedback on a final application after you have worked with your consultant on it. Furthermore, the team-based mock interview simulation was very helpful and gave me a good idea of what to expect during Wharton’s interview. SBC has lots of admissions officer intel in-house, which is very resourceful!

Ultimately, it was really a pleasure working with Christina. I highly recommend her as a MBA consultant. She is very motivated and never gives up on her client. I still remember her working with me on a tight timeline and emailing me at 5am in the morning to answer my questions. Even after receiving acceptance notifications from the school, she will call me to congratulate me and help answer additional questions!

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