After receiving my acceptance to HBS, I immediately sent a note to Dawn: "DAWN, WE DID IT!!!". I say "we" because I truly could not have rendered such a thoughtful and thorough application without Dawn's remarkable guidance. From the beginning of the written application through the conclusion of my interview, Dawn provided clear, actionable, and insightful guidance that I would have been completely lost without. I never thought I'd be the one to say this, but I actually enjoyed the application process as I learned more and more about myself in my sessions with Dawn. Dawn's greatest strength - amongst many - is her ability to look granularly at every single element of an application (literally, line by line of an essay if she needs to) while also taking a holistic approach to ensure a compelling story is told for the admissions committee. Her guidance is also a masterclass in keeping the application process moving and progressing: she always keeps you informed of timelines, what progress needs to be made, and why she is recommending certain edits. When I had my intro call with Dawn, there were a few minutes of pleasantries followed by a tactical discussion of how we would succeed - after those short moments, I knew Dawn was best-in-class. For anyone thinking about applying to business school, I have two pieces of advice: 1) hire an admissions consultant, and 2) make sure it's Dawn. Thank you again, Dawn, for all of your help, I could not be more grateful.

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I had a great experience using the SBC comprehensive package. I was referred to SBC by a former colleague who matriculated at a T10 MBA program with scholarship. While I was looking at consulting firms, I was already impressed during my initial introductory call with Esther and her evaluation of my profile's strengths and weaknesses. After my initial conversation with Esther, I was matched with Dione as my dedicated admissions consultant.

Dione was an incredibly experienced and dedicated admissions consultant. Her expertise shone during our first few calls where we started working together to craft my application strategy and career vision. Throughout the application process, she was extremely responsive and provided feedback on my resume, essays and revisions, and other materials within 24 hours. I also appreciated the team-based approach that SBC took, e.g., Kim, a former Admissions Officer at Booth, conducted a flight test of my application before submission and Anthony, a former Admissions Officer at Wharton, helped conduct a mock team-based discussion in preparation for my Wharton interview

With Dione and the rest of the SBC team's support, I was accepted to two M7 schools, Wharton and Sloan with significant scholarship offerings from both schools. I would strongly recommend the Dione and SBC for anyone with the goal of being admitted to a top business school!

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Just received an offer from Kellogg!! I simply can’t wait to share how much I appreciate the support from Alex and SBC!
My experience with SBC started with Sarah who demonstrated deep insights of the admission procedure. She was also able to point out a few areas that I need to work on in our very first meeting. Based on my personal background and target schools, she recommended Alex.
In addition to being professional on application, Alex is a strategic, organized and super responsive mentor. Working with him has been more than pleasant and beneficial. He guided me to set up the overall game plan and timeline, provided insider prospectives on my profile, and mostly importantly, helped me stand out among other candidates of some extremely competitive programs. His vast experience with past cases over the years also gave me unique angles to view certain challenges, and he went beyond expectation to answer of any of my questions. Needless to mention, Alex has amazing editing skills and did a fantastic job translating my engineering achievements into the language of business.
I would also thank Caryn for the flight test, an assessment with a former admission officer. Based on her feedbacks, I was able to work with Alex to address some of the concerns that might be raised during the actual admission procedure.
Overall, I would highly recommend Alex and SBC!!!

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I was for a while not sure I wanted to invest in a consultant, but I am so happy that I did. My consultant Carol had such a strong hold on what the admissions committee's were looking for and was able to help me craft my application in a way that best told a story as well as highlighted my best attributes. I am so grateful for the all-in process and the speed with which everyone at SBC got back to me. The service felt bespoke and personalized, and it was very helpful to have a constant open resource to work with. I looked at a few other consulting agencies but couldn't be happier with my choice. I got in to my top 2 schools!

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Before starting my MBA application, I spoke to at least 10 admission consultants. Stacy Blackman stood out to me because of consistently good reviews and also because I felt they were very straightforward while analyzing my profile.

I worked with Dawn Clare, who is one of their senior consultants. Dawn has a very high admit record for whoever works with her on a 4 school package.

My experience with her was extremely positive. I felt so comfortable discussing all my personal stories with her. Dawn has a strategic bent of mind to use the stories and help form strong narrative for the essays. She helped me distinguish my profile which was specially important given I come from an overcrowded background (Finance / India). Her way of working with the candidates is very interesting. She makes the process so smooth - I was able to work on my essays in a very stress free manner compared to my colleagues who used other consultants and were overwhelmed with the process most of the times.

I would STRONGLY suggest anyone to work with her. For me, it was a completely worthwhile investment.

I would be going to Columbia Business School next fall - thanks to Dawn!!

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I had little to no understanding of the mba application process and Kimberly helped me every single step of the way. We had very thorough calls on what was expected, detailed outlines on what was to be done by what date, and I could email her whenever I was confused, stressed, or in need of any form of help. There were many times when I emailed her at night and she would respond; Kim is just on it! She is friendly, understanding, and has many insights into what each school expects. She knows what they want. I did the all-in package with Kim for two schools: Booth and Kellogg. I chose Booth with scholarship.

Absolutely could not have done it without Kim. She broke the whole process down so that I could tackle each portion in manageable pieces. She explained what the adcoms were looking for in each section. She was supportive even when I had my doubts. Thank you Kim!!

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As a candidate who failed to secure an interview from any of the schools I applied to last year, I came to SBC with my confidence historically low. Bill, as my "match maker", patiently listened to my story and stringently paired me with the outstanding consultant Alex Liff. Bill is also flexible in making the consulting / payment plans specialized to my needs. Definitely appreciate that.

Working with Alex is a smooth, demanding, and satisfactory experience.
He encouraged me and helped me stand out among the over-representative candidate pool. Needless to praise his skills of writing and editing, I was impressed by his extraordinary humbleness and decisiveness. He patiently and stringently collected as much information as he can to help me solve all sorts of difficulties during the process. When facing a dilemma, Alex would not hesitate to tell me his true thought and help me make a decision substantiated with abundant experiences and past cases. There was no politics working with Alex and the entire process was efficient and effective. I would recommend Alex to every candidate, especially to those who face dilemmas and need plans tailored to tackle them. Alex will give you peace of mind during the daunting MBA application process.

Lastly, I would highly recommend the "Flight Test", an unique opportunity to receive valuable and fresh feedback. The test allowed Alex and me to step back and listen to feedback from other consultant (Lisa worked on mine), who had no interaction with me and was able to pin-point multiple issues that Alex and I would never think of.

All in all, appreciate the hard work from the team!

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I'm an international applicant who is over 30 and comes from a non-feeder industry (non-IB or consulting). Before signing up to work with SBC, I also had calls with several other firms (Admissionado, Personal MBA Coach, Fortuna, among others). I decided to work with Margaret and cannot recommed her more highly. She knows all of top MBA programs inside out, doesn't "market" herself, and always tells it as it is. During our initial call, unlike several other consultants, she didn't encourage me to include schools outside of T10 in my application package and advised that I apply to just 3-4 schools, focusing on quality of the stuff that I do (others recommended that I go for 6-8 schools). I added two more schools to the initial package of four in December as I still had time.

The results of my work with Margaret exceeded my expectations. Out of six schools I applied to (5 with Margaret, 1 on my own, for which one Margaret still gave me insights), I received interview invites at five (four of them M7 schools!). I got admitted at Wharton, Booth, and Yale, and received some scholarship $ too! All of this in a year of COVID-19 with a surge in applications. Margaret's guidance was instrumental in securing these admits.

If you're hesitating over who to work with the way I did, think no more and just go with Margaret. She knows what schools are looking for, has a clear process in place, and has an answer to ANY question or concern you might have. Margaret is wise and has a great sense of humor, and this makes working with her a great pleasure. Special thanks to the rest of the SBC team I interacted with - Bill, my initial matchmaker, Beth, my flighttester, Toni, Tina, Esther.. Highly recommend!

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Yvette was great in the process - helping me understand the different parts of the application and understanding the nuances of each school. I was referred to her by a former colleagued who spoke highly of Yvette, and I am so glad I decided to work with her! She gave me frank feedback and was not afraid to voice her opinions.

In addition, the team based aspect of the Stacy Blackman experience, where another consultant looks at your application is really helpful. Yvette also pivoted quickly after the additional feedback which helped me see my application from a different lens. I would highly recommend working with both Yvette and Stacy Blackman.

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Like many folks, I was on the fence about hiring a consultant, but SBC came highly recommended by a friend. I'm so glad he did because I truly don't know how I would have fared without Emily and the SBC resources. Since I applied to mostly top 10 programs, I was concerned about my OK GPA and non-quant background. With Emily, I felt an immediate kinship. Amid the stress of the process, as well as the uncertainty of applying during the pandemic, she put me at ease and kept me abreast of insider admissions goings-on. As a writer herself, she was able to edit and fine-tune my overarching stories and essays. I have a strong verbal background, so I felt pretty confident in writing my essays, yet it soon became clear I needed someone to help speak AdComm’s language, while staying true to myself and my story. My resume also went through several rounds of edits -- I shudder to think I would have submitted my first draft in the absence of working with SBC! Emily was also super diligent. Although I know she has many other commitments in her personal life, as well as other clients, I felt like her main priority. She was quick to follow up with me, took a very proactive approach to our relationship, and kept me on track with deadlines. I ultimately applied to six programs (five of which are top 10 programs). I was invited to interview at five schools (the SBC interview prep resources were a HUGE help), accepted to two and waitlisted at two others. I just submitted my deposit at Sloan and couldn't be more thrilled.

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