MBA Admissions Hourly Services Reviews

To be honest, I was extremely hesitant about hiring an admissions consultant. It seemed like an expensive investment for services that had a somewhat high likelihood of not panning out successfully (what with low acceptance rates). That being said, I'm glad I decided to give it a shot and work with Stacy Blackman. Carrie was a fantastic resource and gave solid, actionable advice. She was prompt in her responses and got back to me within 24-48 hours whenever she reviewed my essays / resume. In addition to all of the help she provided, she was super friendly; once she found out that I was applying to her alma mater, she offered continuous support through the grad school process.

I would highly recommend Carrie for anyone looking to review their application with a focus on refining your theme or answering the question in an effective manor.

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For context, I'm coming from a technology background, have an average GPA from a good undergrad school, and decent test scores.

I started reaching out to various consulting services at the beginning of my application process (~late this past summer) in order to maximize any chance of getting into a top 10 MBA program. After reaching out to a few other companies w/ no response, I found SBC. Immediately after reaching out, I was able to set up a productive phone call with someone at SBC (Esther), who was able to clearly highlight the strengths & weaknesses in my application story and offer a few recommendations. I felt that conversation was honest, efficient, and helpful, so I committed to SBC. I chose the hourly option because I wanted to spread my effort out across multiple schools.

I was paired up with Alex, who went to GSB and had a similar background as I did. We spent the first couple of hours at a high level finding the "right" story for all of my applications - one that would both make holistic sense in the context of a MBA application and fit my interests/ambitions. From there, we went back and forth on revisions of my resume, essays, recommendation letters, etc...

Throughout this process, Alex was direct & honest with me while also encouraging me to offer constructive feedback to him. He was able to recognize strengths & weaknesses in my application (e.g. strong extracurriculars, weak essay writing style) and effectively communicate how to make up for those weaknesses. I believe he had unique insights which materially helped my application (e.g. talk about collegiate athletic career @ school X because they value that type of team-based experience) and which I would not/could not have recognized on my own. He was timely in all of his communications and was efficient, which helped to make the most of our hourly sessions. This helped ease any additional time pressure and allowed me to submit all of my applications ahead of the initial deadlines without sacrificing quality.

All in all, I would highly recommend working with SBC. Everything was just easy - finding the right consultant, making payments, communication, etc... - and I think that's important in this process. I would also highly recommend working with Alex. Whether or not I got into any schools, I believe working with Alex gave me the BEST possible opportunity to get into a school of my dreams. Fortunately for me, I did! I'll be attending CBS next year and am truly excited.

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I would highly recommend William(Bill) Chionis for his expertise in understanding and crafting essays and interview preparations for the Kellogg's EMBA program. Bill understands the program well and informed me of my probability of success up front. I was in touch with Bill for over 4 years before we submitted an application. This speaks volumes about how Stacy Blackman and Bill works. Bill stayed in touch with me through that time to help me develop my career and when it came time to submit an application, he guided my essays without eliminating my own voice. My essays were uniquely mine, but so much more polished and better in every way. The interview at the school felt like I had gone through it before when Bill took me through the interview questions beforehand. We rehearsed this twice and I breezed through the interview. I was ecstatic to get the call from my dream school and know that this would not have been possible without Bill and Stacy Blackman's excellent, customer focused way of operating. I highly recommend them and when my wife is ready to apply, we will enlist Stacy Blackman's support for sure! Thanks Stacy and thank you Bill. You guys rock!!

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I was very interested in several schools in California, including UCLA, where Amy was a former adcom. Her insight into the admissions process was invaluable, and I was not only accepted but offered a 50% scholarship. As a non-traditional applicant, I felt Amy’s advice was essential in helping me craft my story in a way that highlighted the positive aspects of my experiences.

I found Amy very responsive, she would review materials sent in even in the evenings/weekends and send feedback promptly, which is very helpful for someone working full time. Also critically important was her assistance on the interview process, we did numerous mock interviews and prepared for every question and scenario, but Amy also helped me understand the different schools philosophy on interviewing. Helping me understand what each school was really screening for made for a very successful interview process, with ¾ offers of admission and one waitlist from the schools where I interviewed.

Lastly, Amy was also a huge help on the resume, helping me translate technical information and industry jargon into a resume an adcom would resonate with. All in all, I was very satisfied and would highly recommend Amy and SBC as an admissions consultant!

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Having been rejected by three M7 schools in the last application year, I was highly doubtful if I would be successful at my MBA applications this time around. My brother happened to recommend SBC and I opted for the 10 hour service. SBC then matched me with Beth and I cannot thank them enough for it. I have mentioned this numerous times to Beth and would say it again that my Booth admit would not have possible without her guidance and support. Beth’s inputs in every aspect of the application – Resume, short answers, choice of recommenders, essays, tips on video essays and inputs on how to tackle final interviews were highly valuable. One of the aspects that I loved working with Beth was she would push me further to draw my story out and shape it in the best way possible. Highly recommended!

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SBC is great as compared to their competitors, because they gave me the option to have 1 hour chat with a different consultant. So, I chatted twice with a Booth former adcom member and once with a Ross adcom member.

The SBC staff was in scheduling consultants with only 24 hour notice, as compared to the competitors which required one week notice.

I took SBC mock-interview for 1 hour. It was great because it gave me an opportunity to dry run my story. I got good feedback on how to slightly improve my story. I presented the improved story during the actual interview at Booth. The Booth admission com feedback later during the admitted call feedback was that I did very well in the interview.

I also obtained Booth essay feedback. The feedback was good, but, could have been better. The feedback was good because it prevented me from going down the wrong track. However, the consultant was unable to offer me ideas on how to improve the essay.

I also obtained Ross essay feedback. This was really good as the consultant both helped me improve the matter as well as we together brainstormed what stories to tell in the essay.

Overall, great experience. I owe some credit to SBC for helping me get into Booth. They helped me gain confidence and polished my story, which was beneficial for the interview and essays.

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Bill was very professional and knowledgable. During our first discussion, he helped explain to me the pros and cons for each of the program I was considering. His feedback helped me filter the list of schools I was considering and helped me save money on applications. That alone was worth every penny!

Throughout the process, I felt a lot more comfortable with the help from Bill. He was clearly knowledgable of business schools, and the application process. Bill made the process a lot less nerve wrecking.

Overall, I would definitely refer Bill and SBC to my friends and colleagues who are interested in business school admissions consulting.

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Let me cut to the chase: Margaret is the consultant you will never regret to work with! Margaret is the consultant who brought me to the next level, push me further, and keep challenging me on essays while I felt exhausted after 6, 7 revisions: three days before one school’s deadline, I thought my essays are final but Margaret kept pushing me to the next level. She clearly laid out the strategic applications plan for me and a lot of the information I had never thought about even after tons of research both from online and from peers who had applied MBA programs. Down the road, because of the enormous experience she has, she even predicted the “career goal confusion” I would face after networking with too many current students and alums, and gave me advice on how to handle it. She even predicted that the strategy some schools use to give offers and I was able to get admitted after her encouragement knowing that it’s one of the strategies the school uses. I did tons of research online before I finally decided to work with Margaret, and one of the questions I asked every consultant is: “what drives you to be a consultant.” Margaret’s answer resonates with me so much: “to help others make their dreams come true is also a dream come true itself, right?” She took time to understand who I am, in order to help my strengths, uniqueness, shining through both in my application materials and interviews: really focusing on who I am. I could keep writing the good things about Margaret forever… but to sum: I was admitted at two S16 schools, with scholarship at one of them: None of this would be possible without her help. I would recommend her to anyone: I recommended Margaret to one of my close friends who is also applying this year: “she is popular and GOOD, I MEAN GOOD! and you better get on her calendar quick!”

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Being international and not having a vast network of colleagues/peers in top business schools, I knew starting off that I would need help with my application process. Additionally, considering my age and other personal factors, timing was critical from my side, and I absolutely needed to put my best foot forward in my application.
Going primarily off of online reviews, I decided to try out SBC. However, I was a bit skeptical initially given the high cost of services. I was paired with Bill, and at the very outset, was pleasantly surprised by his professional yet warm attitude. He was genuinely interested to build a good working relationship and he even suggested that I purchase hourly services to keep my costs low (and my costs indeed turned out much lower than I had initially anticipated). I was also very impressed by his knowledge of the whole admissions process. Quite honestly, although I knew I wanted to do an MBA, I was a bit fuzzy on my exact career path, and by way of the application process, Bill explained the business world really well and prepared/mentored me on possible career paths based on my background, interests & goals. I must emphasize that the interview prep session was especially helpful and I will carry my learnings from that throughout my career. I had only applied to one top business school and was thrilled when I was admitted to that program.
I definitely recommend his services to anyone considering consultation for his/her application.

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I purchased a hourly package from Stacy Blackman Consulting in Oct 2017 and began working with Margaret to apply to four schools. I was a non-traditional MBA candidate and felt overwhelmed identifying "my story". Margaret was instrumental in helping me craft it. She was efficient and supportive with keen insights. I appreciated that she was also conscious of making the most of my hours - we were able to accomplish a lot with our time together. She was astute and excellent at breaking down the process into manageable steps. I am happy to report I was accepted to three schools and waitlisted at one. I highly recommend Margaret.

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