Applied to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and got into Wharton. I applied with two years of work experience, on the low side, and although I work in finance I don't come from the traditional companies. GMAT 740. Caryn helped a lot with advice on how to position myself as an applicant, both from a big-picture perspective and down to each individual word on the online application. The company had some other good resources as well - a helpful wiki, solid interview prep, etc. The comprehensive service is expensive, but I had a great, successful experience and would certainly recommend both the company and Caryn.

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Stacy Blackman on a whole, and Erika in particular, provided tremendous service and help during my application process. I chose them after talking to a couple different firms because of the initial call I had with Erika (some similarities in backgrounds, understood my somewhat obscure / specialized finance job, comparable working styles) and the comprehensive nature of SBC's service.

Erika gave critical feedback on all aspects of my application, but was most felt on the essays. Her style of being highly encouraging, but also very direct on what needs work or how something is coming across was perfect for my personality and work habits. She was very timely with responses and draft feedback and made sure to keep me on schedule for the busy timeline we had laid out in the summer (multiple applications due in September). Overall, Erika definitely exceeded my expectations.

The Flight Test from SBC, where you submit entire application a few weeks before due date and get a fresh set of eyes on it, was very beneficial for me. Some of the feedback from that led to rather substantial changes in my essays / application to get more clarity around my story and experience.

I would strongly recommend Erika and Stacy Blackman. You will get very hands on, meaningful and helpful feedback on every step of the process.

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When I started the application process for B-School, I spoke with 4 different consulting services. Given the stressful and time consuming job I already had, I wanted some help crafting my applications so I could go through the process confidently and with less stress. Stacy Blackman (and Lindsay in particular) helped me achieve this with ease. From day 1, I felt comfortable working with Lindsay and actually excited for the process. She helped me hone in on the goals I wanted to achieve during and after the MBA experience and how to best present these ideas to admissions boards. And with the two school package, she actually helped me tailor the essays individually for each school I applied to. From the beginning I thought it would be a reach to get into Columbia but because of Lindsay's help, I found out in October that I will be a member of the class of 2019. I can't recommend Stacy Blackman consulting enough.

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The MBA application process is no joke, and being a strong candidate is just not enough. That's where Stacy Blackman Consulting comes in. The team was phenomenal in setting me up with the resources I needed to turn my raw material into the most compelling application possible.

My consultant (Erika) was a treasure. She was a pleasure to work with throughout the entire process- professional, honest, and funny. Her incredible experience with the admissions process helped me identify my strongest features and turn them into a tight narrative that was complemented by each piece of my application. In the end, the products I finished with were on a completely new and higher level than I would have even considered possible.

Looking forward to starting class at Harvard in the fall!

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After an introductory call with Esther at SBC, I was matched with Maureen based on her experience working with my target program. The matching process in itself felt very personalized, unlike other companies with which I spoke (and worked) where I was randomly assigned to a consultant.

Maureen began our conversation helping me to set very realistic expectations. She forced me to think through my story and challenged a lot of my assumptions about the admissions process. Maureen was both kind and firm – the sign of a great coach – and rather than micro-editing my essays, she asked pointed questions to drive me to dig deeper and expose more of my personality.

While no one likes to be told that their initial ideas need work, or that they need to work harder, her efforts and emphasis on pushing me helped me earn admission to my target program. Maureen was always quick to respond and answered many one-off questions throughout the process (she even calmed my nerves after I realized I had a typo in one of my essays after I submitted the application).

Overall, I found my interactions with SBC to be professional, personalized, and effective start to finish. Like I said, I worked with another consultant on a different application and, though admitted to that program as well, Maureen’s ability to help me carve out my story, rather than just edit essays, was critical to my admission. Thanks SBC!

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Getting the calls from Wharton and Sloan were pretty incredible – in a single moment all of my hard work for the past several years finally felt like it resulted into something substantial. It was a really proud moment, and none of it would be possible without Bryan.

Bryan didn’t make me who I am. And he didn’t live my story. But he did listen to me and get to know me as a person, and helped me package my story in a way that was compelling to the admissions committee. He guided me to focus my story and brought out the right details when needed to make the application a holistic representation of my accomplishments and goals.

Bryan is extremely professional and goes out of his way to ensure his clients can meet their deadlines. He responds quickly, while also staying extremely thorough in his work. Bryan’s guidance helped me believe in my application and myself, and I can not be grateful enough. Thank you Bryan!

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When I initially started looking around for admissions consultancies, I began searching around gmatclub and Poets & Quants looking for the best company to use. Based on some high-level research on those sites, I came up with a list of consultancies (think Stacy Blackman, MBA Mission, Fortuna, Stratus, etc) that I wanted to have a “free consultation” with, specifically asking to speak with the consultant who I would be working with.

After speaking with 5 or 6 different consultants, I quickly eliminated 3 of them after I was told by each of them that I ought to lower my expectations and apply to schools that were lower in the rankings than where I was planning to apply. While I lacked the blue-chip names on my resume in terms of undergrad school and employers, I had a solid GMAT/GPA scores and knew that I had a unique, compelling story to tell. It was only during my call with Margaret Strother from Stacy Blackman Consulting where I not only felt encouraged about my chances at the likes of Booth/Kellogg/Sloan, but also felt inspired to shoot for the stars. Having only seen my resume and GMAT score, Margaret had a “right on, let’s do this – we can make this happen!” kind of attitude. After a 30-minute conversation with a consultant from each company, my gut told me that Stacy Blackman Consulting was my best bet.

So, I decided to trust my gut and went with Margaret from SBC. Looking back, that was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. There is no way that I could have gotten accepted to my dream school without Margaret’s help. Margaret helped me every single step of the way: from crafting my resume, finding what was unique about me in order to come up with my “story”, interview preparation, essay revisions (sometimes up to 7 rounds of revisions for a given essay), encouragement when fatigue started to set in, to the calming voice of reason whenever I entered crisis/panic mode.

Margaret has a very efficient, proven method that very obviously works for bother her and her clients. Her experience has allowed her to streamline the revision process to make the most of each party’s time and energy. She also has an uncanny ability to elicit ideas from you and take you down thought paths that you never would have explored without her help. Further, never once did I feel like I was one of many clients. I always felt as if I were her top priority. She was extremely patient through the entire 8-month timeframe during which I worked with her. Margaret took time to get to know me as a person.

I cannot stress how wonderful Margaret is and how satisfied I am as a client of hers. It was my pleasure working with Margaret and I recommend her as a consultant over and over again. While the upfront cost for an admissions consultant seems steep at first, Stacy Blackman Consulting and Margaret were well worth the money. Not only was Margaret alone worth the cost ten times over, but the additional resources (i.e. background info on schools, mock interview prep, sample essays/resumes, etc.) that SBC provides are also invaluable.

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I was paired with Sherry and I appreciate her transparency and honesty during our first conversation. I remembered being told that - every applicant has his / her reasons for selecting certain schools, some may choose not to pursue an MBA if not admitted to these schools as the opportunity cost of going through MBA is high. Her opinion resonated with my thoughts and she took the time to understand my priorities for school selection and proposed another school for my consideration (which I eventually applied to on my own).

I worked with Sherry on 2 schools. The list below calls out the reasons I enjoyed working with Sherry throughout the whole application process:

1.) Resume
- Thorough and iterative process (approximately 10 drafts) to highlight key achievements, roles and responsibilities
- Detailed explanation from Sherry on how to refine and summarize my achievements

2.) Essays
- We worked closely on 4 long essays and also a few shorter question prompts
- Started off with brainstorming sessions during which I explained how I plan to approach these essays followed by her comments and we finished off with a plan and structure.
- With the structure established during the brainstorming, we went through a few drafts to refine details and highlight key messages

3.) Interview
- Some practices before the mock interview with Sherry. I find the mock interview really helpful as she thoughtfully pintpointed weaknesses that I need to work on such as use of jargons, abbreviations and inconsistency in messages between questions

4.) Other
- She is very responsive and prompt. Throughout the application process, she reverted to me timely (I think she has always responded by the dates she promised)
- She is really good in guiding my thinking process, funnelling my ideas so that I can succinctly articulate them in essays and also during interviews
- Having a big picture i.e. knowing the theme of my application

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I worked with Erika at SBC and was admitted to both of my target schools in Round 1! I spoke with many services before selecting SBC for their honesty, professionalism, and straight-forward advice. Most importantly, I felt comfortable with Erika and sharing my perceived strengths and weaknesses. The business school application process can feel like a black hole that you're stuck in for upwards of half a year. Not only do you need someone with years of tangible experience and best practices to help you position your resume, essays and recommendation letters in the best light, but you also need someone who understands the full weight of the process to keep you above water. Throughout the application process, Erika was not only a fantastic consultant but a cheerleader and friend I could always trust would be in my corner.

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It was an easy decision for me to go with SBC after my brother had used their service and found it to be incredibly helpful and professional. Specifically, he referred Amy to me, and at the start he had nothing but high praises for her. Looking back now, I can honestly say that Amy lived up to everything that I had hoped for on this long yet exciting application journey.

SBC is an organized company, and I'm sure many of the application steps are standard amongst other consulting companies. What truly separates SBC though are the consultants within SBC. For me, Amy was the ultimate professional. From the start, she took time to understand me, my background, my goals, and my why. You really get a sense throughout the process that she genuinely cares about you. From there, she planned efficiently and strategically to highlight your strengths, compensate your weaknesses, and most importantly help you craft your perfect story.

I applied for 3 schools, and got into 2 and waitlisted for 1. The one I got into was the school I wanted to go to!

I wouldn't have asked for any other consultant to help me on this application journey.

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