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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Admitted to my target school!
It was the absolute right decision to work with Stacy Blackman Consulting on my MBA application process.
My consultant, Cathy, has been incredibly helpful during the whole process. Cathy provided very detailed, thoughtful, and customized insights. She supported me in the evaluation process of my own profile (defining strengths and weaknesses) and provided great feedback on all relevant materials. I was super satisfied with the structure of collaboration, the speed at which I got answers to specific questions (one day max), and even the interview preparation.
With the broad set of resources that SBC offers (e.g. flight test your application) I felt confident and satisfied when submitting my application.
I would definitely recommend SBC and Cathy to anyone considering working with an MBA consultant.

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Dreaming of just one admission to an M7 school. I applied to 6 of them and received acceptances to 4! I am so grateful to Dawn and excited to say that I will be matriculating at The Wharton School this fall!

After I decided to transition out of the military, I knew that a full-time MBA was the bridge that I wanted to cross to the private sector. While I felt that I had a good chance with my unique experience, I wanted someone to provide me with some direction. After my initial Plan Ahead call with Dawn, I knew that she was someone who truly goes against the “one size fits all” approach and fully supports an applicant’s future dreams during the process.

In the beginning (about 9 months out from the Rd 1 deadlines), Dawn provided me with actionable advice on how to strengthen my applications: try the GRE to compare with the GMAT, make impacts to my professional and personal communities in a COVID-inflicted environment, carefully decide between two different positions to serve my last duty in. I followed through on her recommendations, and I believe our work ahead of time truly set me up in the best position.

Once application preparation was in full-swing, Dawn would provide very customized feedback on my essays, resume, and recommender strategies in accordance with the school. While it wasn’t always easy going back to the drawing board, I really want to thank Dawn for not settling and just letting me have it my (wrong) way. Once you communicate who you are and what you want to do, she is not afraid to take more time and energy to help you get to the desired end goal. She has a gift for reading both for clarity and in between the lines.

Looking back, I was lucky to have some rocks to lean on throughout the stressful process. Dawn was a rock from Day 1, and I strongly recommend her to anyone who is serious about attending a top business school!

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Accepted by HBS and Wharton (with substantial merit fellowship) - very happy about the outcome of my cooperation with Dawn!

I am an international candidate, therefore I was not familiar with the US admissions process. From the very beginning, Dawn laid out step by step what we needed do and supported me along the way. I felt she truly cared and was very strategic. I also appreciated her kind and upbeat approach to getting things done.

All in all, I believe the investment was worthwhile. I will be going to my top-choice MBA program in the fall. Thank you Dawn!

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I was able to receive offers from both Rotman and Stern FT MBA thanks to months of back and forth working with Christine Hawkins from SBC. She was very knowledgeable about the entire process and helped me break down a daunting mission into very doable tasks by providing detailed guidance every step of the way. She was completely honest with me and gave me no-BS feedback from the very start which was what I appreciated from her the most. She also pushed me to think hard about how I can improve my application when I needed it the most. The entire SBC staff from intro to mock interview was also amazing. I couldn't have gotten these amazing opportunities without the SBC team and Christine's patience and expertise!

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Christina was an absolute pleasure to work with. From the very first session, she was extremely honest and provided the very best advice with all the information she had, which then lead to the creation of an extremely effective and impactful action plan for our time together. Things ended up working great in the end, as I got into my top MBA choice (Columbia Business School, early decision), and I have Christina to thank for a good portion of my success in the application process. She also works tirelessly for her clients and will make herself available when you need her. She is a very special individual that will be genuinely immersed in your process from start to finish and will go above and beyond the call of duty to maximize your chances of success. Words will not do justice to how much I recommend Christina’s advisory services!

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