I had an amazing MBA application experience thanks to Meg Stiphany and SBC. When I first contacted Esther Magna, she was very communicative, quick to respond, and so helpful in kickstarting the process. Esther got to know me and matched me perfectly with my primary consultant and former MBA adcomm, Meg Stiphany. We clicked instantly on our first call, and she quickly understood my strengths and themes I could leverage through my materials in my applications. Meg helped me plan out my MBA application process, including a very detailed schedule with due dates for drafts and helped me clearly write my personal and unique story. She made me feel at ease throughout. Meg was incredibly supportive and gave me so much confidence in everything I was working on. She was my cheerleader when at times I was feeling doubt. She made me believe in my story and my candidacy.

SBC provided me an incredible support system. Not only was Meg so knowledgeable in every aspect of the process, reviewed my drafts as many times as needed, and gave feedback promptly, but I also had the support and feedback of two other former adcomms, Beth and Anthony. Beth was my flight-tester and second set of eyes who reviewed my application of choice and gave me great feedback. Anthony helped me with my Wharton mock interview and gave me great points to improve on during the real interview. All in all, SBC had an amazing team of former adcomms to help me in every step of the way.

I was able to get into three out of the four schools I applied to: Wharton, Booth and Kellogg, and with significant scholarships. I would recommend SBC and Meg to anyone looking for a supportive team. Thank you, Meg, for being a remarkable consultant!

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I was accepted to Wharton, Kellogg, and Tuck with generous scholarships, and I have Stephanie and the SBC team to thank. During my admissions process, I worked with Stephanie C. (a former Admissions Officer). Working with Stephanie was great - she was very professional, helpful, and knowledgeable. Stephanie was super helpful throughout the entire process, even when I was feeling stressed and anxious. She was also always encouraging and positive! I was able to reach out to Stephanie whenever I had any questions - no matter how small. Stephanie listened to any concerns I had and always provided helpful insights. I highly recommend working with SBC and specifically Stephanie on your MBA application. I also used the flight test component of SBC, which provided additional helpful context and the Wharton TBD prep was incredibly useful to help prepare for my Wharton interview.

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You will not regret working with Christina. Choosing her was an absolute game changer in my application strategy. I worked with her through all the steps of the application…from creating a strategy that worked for me all the way to choosing which offer to accept.

Yes, CHOOSING. I got into all 6 schools I applied to, incl. my dream school: HBS, GSB, Wharton, Columbia, Booth, Kellogg!!!

She truly cares about her candidates. She chooses them carefully and truly gets to know them at a deeper level. Through our discussions, I have learned so much about myself and the path I wanted to follow: a much needed introspection ahead of an MBA and when writing your essays! Her input was crucial when building the flow and themes for my essays.
She also becomes so invested in your success that she just goes above and beyond to support you throughout this process - she will be your advisor, coach, mentor, friend, role model, shoulder to cry on (virtually), and most importantly…your Nr.1 Fan. She knows the unique ways in which you shine and is able to leverage these to help you reach your goals. She gives honest advice and makes herself available when you need her. Most importantly, she is so resourceful and will help you find the best solutions to any roadblocks you’ll encounter along the way.

I can not recommend working with Christina enough! I would not be at my dream school today if it wasn’t for her.

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Christine was my consultant and I am so happy that I was paired with her. I purchased one school's all in and, for the rest of the schools, purchased hourly for essay editing. She so thoroughly helped me strategize and plan my application which led to acceptances at Haas and CBS. She was a great support throughout the entire process from resume review to interview prep and even guided me in how to overcome obstacles with GMAT score delays.

Overall, the Stacy Blackman team made the process so easy. The resources that they give are so valuable and the flight tester, Lisa, gave me feedback that I'm sure contributed to my acceptance. So happy that I ended up choosing SBC!

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When I first spoke with SBC, I really felt the excellent team bond and dynamics throughout the entire firm. You are not just hiring one consultant, but the entire team of SBC. Sarah was my initial matchmaker and was thoughtful in her advice to me as a prospective applicant as I had called her two years and a half before applying. After evaluating all of the largest MBA consulting firms, I still remembered my conversation with Sarah, which led me to ping her again (a year after we first spoke). She was extremely attentive and eventually recommended me to match with Jennifer.

Jennifer was truly amazing to work with. When I compared my experience working with Jennifer to others’ experience working with their respective consultants, I realized just how lucky I was. She not only is one of the most thoughtful human beings I’ve encountered but also a very tactical consultant. She was extremely patient in helping me figure out my voice of the essays and was there throughout all parts of my application process.

The thing that makes Jennifer stand out is that she went beyond being a consultant and became a friend throughout the entire application process. She was so easygoing that I could ask her any question; I would text her at all times throughout the day and she would be lightening fast with her responses. Her guidance and advice were unparalleled. After we mock interviewed, she even introduced me to a former client to provide additional interview practice.

The rest of the SBC team was also amazing to work with. For example, Beth completed my “flight test” for my full HBS application. She was instrumental to make sure that my entire application tied together as well as made sure we could get another set of eyes of a former MBA admissions officer on my app.

It still feels unreal to get into my dream schools of Stanford GSB, Wharton and HBS. I could not have done it without Jennifer and could not have done it without SBC.
I would recommend working with SBC and especially Jennifer in a heartbeat! Jennifer is truly the best.

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Margaret and the team at Stacy Blackman helped me get into UVA Darden. I truly believe I couldn’t have done it without them.

I applied to 3 schools - Darden, Tuck and McDonough. I got into all of them except Tuck which was my biggest reach school anyway.

I had consultations with other consulting firms before committing to Stacy Blackman. I spoke with MBAMission and at least one other business who I felt sold my potential short. They had recommended schools like U of Maryland and Georgetown McDonough (a fall back school for my Stacy Blackman strategy). When speaking with Margaret we set the bar much higher, and I’m so glad we did.

I had some trouble with the GMAT and GRE - my scores were not where I would have ideally liked - this influenced our strategy, but by no means relegated me to a lower tier of institutions. Margaret used her deep experience and knowledge to recommend schools that would be more interested in my story as a person and less so on my test scores. The strategy worked and I got into a top ten (or near it, depending on the year) b school.

This process isn’t fun or easy - the consultant will challenge you, make you write, rewrite, and rewrite your essays again, push you to do better on the tests, reach out to current students and alumni, and more. But Margaret and the SBC Team knew exactly what needed to be done, and looking back I had no idea! I would have floundered on my own.

Thanks again to the whole team at SBC - from my initial point of contact Sarah, my “flight tester” Kim, and of course, Margaret.

Forever grateful,

Keir Gallik

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First off, Bill from the SBC team provided helpful advice for approaching the MBA consulting question, and helped match me with a fantastic consultant. My conversations with him convinced me SBC was the way to go.

I worked with Gina, who I can't thank enough for her diligence in working with me on a tighter timeline. Her guidance on each step of the application process was thorough and deliberate and she always provided prompt feedback and advice, even over the holidays and on late nights. It helped acknowledging upfront the level of work I would need to put in to turnaround quality applications in about a month and a half, and Gina helped give me the confidence I was putting my best foot forward. That was ultimately what I was hoping for out of the partnership with SBC, and that is certainly what I got.

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I signed up for Stacy Blackman's all in services and it was well worth it. My consultant, Sherry Holland, was amazing to work with. She was thorough and covered all aspects of the application, from essays to interview tips. She was extremely comprehensive and was available for all my questions even during the waitlist portion of certain schools. I would recommend Sherry to anyone looking to apply to a great business school. Along with Sherry, the entire SBC team was great to work with. From all their resources including their Wikis, which were invaluable, to the flight test option, I was impressed. Lisa, my flight tester was also great to work with and provided constructive feedback on my application.

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Before I started my business school applications, I was having trouble deciding whether or not to hire an MBA consultant, and if so, which one I should go for. After doing quite a bit of research and seeing all the positive user experiences with SBC, I ultimately decided to go for the All-In Package with SBC…which turned out to be an amazing decision as I ended up being admitted to Columbia Business School—my dream school!

Throughout my MBA application journey, I’ve received personalized service from several members of the SBC team. Ally was my primary consultant along the way (highly recommend her!), but Bill was the one who helped me find a consultant that best suits my profile, and Amy was the one who helped me flight-test my applications. In addition to that, having access to the SBC database for essay & interviewing tips was also significantly useful as well!

All in all, I’m really happy that I chose to partner with SBC the last few months, and that it would have been extremely difficult to be at the position I’m in now had it not been for their support. Thank you SBC, and thank you Ally!

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When I kicked off the MBA application process, I was not sure if I was going to be using an admissions consultant or not, but after speaking with Sarah and getting her feedback during our initial session I knew immediately that Stacy Blackman was different from the other companies I had spoken with at the time.

My primary consultant was John Naum and I could not have asked for a better consultant. John not only helped me think critically about my story and develop a strong application, but he was one of my biggest supporters and pushed me to continue forward even when I was doubting my own capabilities. I always appreciated his quick response times when it came to giving feedback on deliverables and always making time to answer my questions throughout the application process. Thanks to John and the rest of the Stacy Blackman team, I was able to not only get admitted to every school I applied to, but I also managed to secure full tuition or near full tuition scholarships to several top 10 schools.

Looking at my admission results, it was clear that choosing Stacy Blackman was one of the best decisions I made during my MBA application process and it provided a huge return on investment through all the scholarships. I can't say thank you enough to John and everyone else and would highly recommend anyone going through the MBA process to go with Stacy Blackman if you are looking for a great partner to help you through all the stress of applications.

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