STACEY BLACKMAN IS AMAZING
I credit my acceptance into an Ivy League school to them. Heres why they are amazing.
1. first they get your life story and craft and general outline
2. then they plan and conquer! that means making sure that your essay, references and resume contain the RIGHT PIECES.
3. From there its all about perfecting you application. Essays and resumes go though countless iterations until your app is near perfect.

SBC is professional and focused. they have clearly been doing this for a long time and understand what it takes to get into an amazing school

I cant thank you guys enough!!!

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Lindsay was amazing to work with, she was able to bring a calming presence to a highly stressful process. Coming from a consultant background I’m still amazed with the devotion Lindsay gives to each one of her clients. She makes you feel as though you were her only client by developing such an incredible understanding of your individual situation and background. Throughout the process her honesty was refreshing and reassuring, she helped set attainable goals and build a strategy that set me apart from other candidate. My undergrad GPA was not the strongest and it was a major concern of mine. Using her in-depth knowledge of my past she was able to develop a strategy that highlighted my weak GPA in a way that made it less concerning to the Adcom. Lindsay was a pleasure to work with and I’m grateful for her help. I highly recommend SBC and Lindsay.

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I had a fantastic experience working with Maureen from SBC. I honestly believe that I put my best foot forward in my applications and, in large part, I have her to thank. She helped me with everything imaginable: decisions like whether to retake the GMAT, essay and short answer editing, recommender management, and interview prep. Maureen is also just generally a good human and was an incredible sounding board for my reservations, fears, and anxieties throughout the process.
One of the best parts of working with Maureen was her incredible essay editing skills: she made me work harder and probed me to dig deeper. She also really understands the lens through which admissions committees view essays and the entire application. I found my interview prep with Maureen to be especially helpful. My practice interview for HBS was nearly identical, in style, pace, and types of questions, to the real HBS interview.
And in the end there's proof that Maureen is awesome: I was accepted to all the schools I applied to including HBS, Columbia, and Kellogg. The b-school admissions process is long and hard but having Maureen by my side made it not so bad.

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When I first started working with SBC, the whole business school application process was a complete mystery to me. I signed up for the comprehensive service, and Erin guided me every step of the way. She worked hard to get to know me and my strengths, and helped me formulate an application strategy that highlighted those strengths and downplayed my weaknesses (as Erin said herself- EVERY application has weaknesses). The process was grueling, but Erin was there every step of the way. Looking back at the “before” and “after” drafts of my essays, the difference is truly startling. She helped with everything from essay writing to interview prep to answering my most silly and inane questions. Thanks to Erin and the SBC team, I am headed to a top 5 school this fall! SBC is pricy for sure, but you definitely get what you pay for. Highly recommended.

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Hi GMATClubers. I have been a member now on GMAT Club for years. I relied heavily on the blogs, reviews, etc., in making my decision on whether to hire a consulting firm. I realized quickly that most applicants use consulting firms. Although my PE firm is MBA heavy, I wanted to make sure I had every advantage going into the application pool. Also, as an international applicant, I wasn't dialed into the US MBA culture. I spoke with the leading admissions firms out there, including MBA Exchange, MBA Mission and Stacy Blackman Consulting. Ultimately, I chose SBC because it was the only firm that new how to sell its own services in an enticing way. My initial conversation with Esther Magna was spot on. She was honest with me about my profile and demonstrated within minutes the value of their services. I liked that her style was tailored to my profile. Not a boilerplate sales pitch with statistics like the other firms. Esther matched me with Jessica for the engagement. I knew I would have additional reviews by others on the SBC team, so I would be well taken care of. After a 5 school engagement, and 100+ hours of work, I gained acceptance to 4 out of my 5 schools, including a one year scholarship to to CBS. My investment more than paid off. I recommend SBC 110%.

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I had an unbelievable experience using the SBC comprehensive package. I was a reapplicant (I used SBC the first time as well but I wasn’t as successful) and I am ecstatic to say that I have numerous options to choose from this year.
After my initial conversation with Esther, I was matched with Lindsay. She had already worked in Admissions at NYU (which was one of my target schools) so it was a perfect match. From the get go, Lindsay went above and beyond in all of our interactions. She was not only extremely responsive via email but she was willing to meet in person as well. She really wanted to hear my story and helped me tailor my essays for each specific school. She has such a deep knowledge of what each school wants to hear and it was a true pleasure to work with her. I could not have gone through this process without her.
As I started to receive interviews from schools, Lindsay deferred me to Bryan who was superb as well. He knew how hard I worked on getting into these schools and he was happy to have mock interview sessions over the phone several times. He really helped me deliver my story and reconfirm that I belong in these schools.
After all of this work I am happy to say that I received an offer from Yale, NYU Stern (full merit scholarship) and Wharton and that I will be attending Wharton this summer. Wharton has always been my dream school and there is no chance I could have been here without the help of Bryan and Lindsay.

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I am delighted to write this review for the comprehensive service rendered by SBC and Kevin. if one word could explain the team it’s their “Professionalism” that stands out.

Kevin was a great support, he spent quite sometime listening to my story..to a much further past, he was a great listener n then he gave some pointers like... 'this is what your essay should look like' and 'your resume should highlight these about you' .. Initially i was quite annoyed as ... i am the one who is paying and i am doing all the work too.

Eventually after 5-6 reviews my resume and essay took shape,and i saw the advantage of doing my own essay and resume, when you are the author,it makes you the person in command, which definitely helped during my interviews as details were queried.

I am so excited that i made it the first time, the risk that i took was to keep all eggs in the same basket (it has it merits too).

Thank you so much to SBC, Bill, Ester and Kevin, keep up the good work and I strongly recommend SBC to anyone seeking consulting service.

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I highly recommend SBC, especially Seher Khanna, for admission consultants for top MBA programs. With their support, I have been admitted to my dream school and waitlisted at another top program.
As an applicant with a non-traditional background and diverse experiences, I was concerned about the application process and wanted the assistance of professional to properly capture my story through the application materials. After our initial call, Esther Magna provided me with options for consultants that best matched my background and goals. Upon her recommendation, I chose to work with Seher.
Seher was particularly excellent at tailoring my personal narrative for each application. After our first two-hour discovery phone call, she was able to deeply understand aspects of my background and stories, and precisely identified strengths and potential weakness in my candidacy. Her insights on which examples highlighted my strengths were invaluable. She was also honest about which examples added little to my application. I applied for schools both in Round 1 and Round 2, and through this ten-month application process, Seher was always flexible and available. She also encouraged me when I was rejected and waitlisted from my target schools in Round 1.
SBC also provided another consultant, Denise, to conduct a Flight Test to provide another perspective for my application. Seher was comprehensive to the point of going out of her way to get another consultant to review my essay. I appreciate all of her support, patience, and guidance in helping me realize my dreams and could not recommend her more highly to any potential applicants!

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I applied to four schools round 1 for this past year and used Caryn Altman at Stacy Blackman Consulting. In short, she was fantastic. I felt as though she was extremely invested in my success, was very strategic and always steered by in the right direction. She was also very available and communicative. She always responded to my emails and was willing to hop on the phone when I asked her to.

I got into two top schools and was wait-listed at a third. I feel really good about how the process ended up and am confident I would not have gotten to where I am without Caryn's support. I would (and already have) recommend her to anyone looking for comprehensive consulting services for top MBA programs.

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I purchased SBC’s comprehensive package with Jennifer Vargo, and I couldn’t be happier with the experience!

After my initial 2-hour phone conversation with Jen, she was able to help me identify important life experiences that I could write about – stories that I didn’t think was all that important. Jen was also extremely responsive, and always responded within 24 hours (sometimes at 4am in the morning!) What I really appreciated was Jen’s patience and her honest feedback, as she would at times tell me that my essay theme didn’t work or that I should try using a different example to better convey my point, and I would start over and re-write the entire essay. I had two different drafts for one of my schools (each highlighting a different personal experience), and Jen and I disagreed on which version was better. Instead of just letting me pick one, she went out of her way and asked another colleague within SBC for a third opinion. This again shows the level of dedication that Jen has to make sure that you feel the most confident with your final work. After countless versions and drafts, I was very happy with my final essays because I think they really represented who I am. I am happy to say that I got my top choice at HBS!

Aside from Jen, all the staff members at SBC were amazing! Everyone was extremely helpful and I felt that I had more than what I needed to prepare for all my essays and interviews (such as the complimentary SBC guides, the flight test, and their interview questions vault). I highly recommend SBC and Jennifer – especially if you’re looking to apply for highly competitive, top tier schools.

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