Stratus Admissions Counseling Admissions Consulting Reviews

Traci Thibodeaux and the Stratus team are amazing, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made and it is well worth it. They are well engaged and strive to help you succeed, at many times more engaged than you are yourself, they are seasoned professionals who have gone through the process. I learnt so much about myself and although it may sound cliche, self-reflection is truly needed during the application process. The coaching is so valuable that it reassured me and gave me the confidence I needed in proceeding further. Choosing to apply to bschool is a huge decision and a big investment and I would take countless hours consuming all the free webinars available (which was still great help) but it did not get me to where I needed and I am glad I took the dive and worked with Stratus. I'm writing this review because I feel so blessed to be accepted that this is the only way I know how to say thank you and pass on the greatness I experienced.

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In short, Stratus has helped to me to get into my dream school, a top top MBA program.

My primary counselor is Donna, and my senior strategist is Susan. I initially signed up for the four school package. Then I added three more schools in R2.

Reasons why I really enjoyed working with Donna

1)She was extremely responsible and fully committed to my success. Her average turnover time was about 24 hours. She was incredibly responsive even throughout the holiday seasons.

2)She took the time to get to know me as a person. I felt that I was being treated as a friend or a family member. One example to demonstrate that, she actually suggested that I should not waste my money to apply to the seventh school on my list (which was another safe school) when I was accepted by my dream school, even though she would make less money as a result. I also met her in person when I was visiting UNC. She showed me around town and bought me lunch before my interview.

3)She is remarkably knowledgeable about UNC and Kellogg. If you are specifically interested in these two great schools, she is the person to go to. She had worked on the admissions team at UNC for many years. Nobody knows UNC better than she does. As a Kellogg alum who had interviewed applicants in the past, she knows how to prepare you for anything.

Reasons why I am glad I chose Stratus

1)Their 4+ school guarantee made me feel secure about spending this amount of money, even though I was lucky not to end up using it.

2)The secondary viewer was particularly helpful at helping me identify possible weaknesses that I had missed.

3)My senior strategist Susan knew about every school inside and out. Even though I did not work with her directly, she helped me to build the framework in my every essay.

4)When I was accepted into a school, I was personally congratulated by everyone on the team


I also want to let you guys know that I had contacted five admissions consulting companies in total. Here are my experience at the other four companies:

Company A: Very fast response and I was able to schedule 30 minutes Skype call with a consultant for free evaluation. The consultant whom I spoke to was professional and knowledgeable. The only concern I had was that he did not have any experience working on the admissions team.

Company V: The person I spoke to said that I could not talk with one of their consultants because they have to “protect” them. I was offended by this statement. I am here to give you a chance to convince me to give you my money, why would you need protection?? You need to be protected from what?! What was also really annoying about this company was that they called my cell number and Skyped me at least seven times after I clearly said that I would contact them if I decided to use their services.

Company P: They replied to my request for profile evaluation two weeks later. At that time, I had already signed up with Stratus.

Company S: The lady I spoke to was typing the whole time during our 10 minutes conversation. She also said something about “you better sign up now because we are almost full.” I just did not like the way I was treated.

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I was first introduced to Stratus Prep through the MBA Tour in 2012. It wasn't until nearly three years later that I decided I wanted to apply to business school. Although I was applying in Fall 2016, I began working with Stratus Prep in early 2015 which I highly recommend. As a female living in NYC with 4+ years of work experience and a decent GRE score (I did not use GMAT scores) I felt as though I was a good business school applicant but definitely wanted help in shaping my story and putting together the best possible application - this is where Stratus Prep came in!
From the very beginning, even before I came up with a list of schools or even looked at the application, I was given work to help me fully understand why I wanted to go to business school and what my goals were. At Stratus Prep you work most closely with one advisor but every piece of work you put together - introspection, outlines, application - goes through multiple views and proofreads. From a comprehensive timeline of when each piece was due to my advisor to interview prep and every little question in between, having a team there to answer my questions and give me peace of mind was invaluable.
Although I do not yet know where exactly I will be attending school next fall, I have already been accepted to a top ranked program and I know I could not have done it without the entire Stratus Prep team, particularly my advisor Susan Cera.
The business school application process is draining and a lot of work but working with Susan and all of Stratus prep made the experience much more enjoyable and ultimately successful!

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I applied for my MBA after only 2 years of work experience so I knew I would need help developing my story. I did initial consultations with a lot of programs but Stratus was one of the few who believed I could do my MBA despite having only a few years of work experience and a biology background.

Donna and the Stratus team helped me overcome my low work experience to not only get admitted to 3 of the 4 schools I applied to but also receive scholarships to all of them.

Donna was easily accessible via email or phone and responded to my inquiries within a few hours. With her help, I was less stressed and was able to finish applications well before the deadline. Donna went above and beyond to help me not only with applications and school choices but also with interviews. She even took the time to meet me in person before an on-campus interview and coached me in person.

I had a fantastic experience with Donna and the rest of the Stratus team. They pushed me to dig deeper and present a story I was proud of. Donna was really invested in my applications and I am so grateful for her help. Overall, Stratus Prep exceeded my expectations and I would definitely recommend them, especially Donna to anyone who is applying for business school. I’m not sure I would have gotten in without her help.

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I had an amazing experience with Stratus Prep. Although I experienced serious sticker shock at how much admissions consultants cost, I ended up with a full ride to my perfect school so that investment paid off 20 fold!

I worked with Susan Cera who I cannot say enough good things about. I was initially matched with her because she understood my athletic background and I was considering programs like Fuqua (where she went and worked as an AdCom). She responded to emails almost always within 24 hours, even when I gave her a ton of items to review. I got emails back on nights and weekends very regularly and she worked with my schedule as needed.

I knew vaguely what I wanted to do with my career but was so lost about how to craft my story. We jumped through dozen of possible career paths and she helped me not only write my story, but also discover what I am really passionate about and how I can apply that to my career. By walking through it SO MANY times with Susan, I had my elevator speech down to a science when asked why am MBA and why now!

The introspective period is very intense and at times I ended up writing some stories for Susan to review that I thought were dumb but she ended up showing me how we could show my personality traits with little tidbits from my past woven through my essays and application. Probably the most value came from various Stratus coaches telling me when my essays were off the mark, rambling, or just nonsensical. I wrote several essays that I thought were good but Stratus pushed me to go deeper. I can say without a doubt that I would not have turned in essays that were anywhere close to as good without Stratus.

Overall, I had an amazing experience and would hire them again in a heartbeat. You only get one chance to go to business school, give yourself all the tools to go to the absolutely best program for you.

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I had a fantastic experience working with Temitope Abereoje and John Buckingham (both HBS alumni), and was accepted at HBS, Wharton and Booth. Temi was my day to day contact, working closely with me on drafting my story, translating that into essays, and going over resume and interview preparation. John was the senior adviser and provided feedback on final versions of my essays as well as interview prep.

Highlights from my experience:
- Greatly appreciated Temi’s turnaround time and detailed feedback on my essay drafts, and any questions I had. Due to work demands I often didn’t have as long a lead time as suggested, but she still managed to review my work under tight timelines and provided clear suggestions that I really think notably improved my story / overall application
- One time I had an urgent question late at night and she made herself available immediately at 10pm to speak on the phone with me – that’s how helpful she was
- Most memorable part was how kind, thoughtful and funny she was – it felt like I was talking with a friend, she’d been through the process herself. E.g., when it came to interview prep, she helped identify subtle gesture and wording changes I should work on to strike the right impression
- John was also invaluable in providing honest, school-specific advice and improving the direction of my essays and confidence entering the interviews

Consultants may not be for everyone – I do have friends successful in their admissions process who only asked for advice and essay reviews from family, friends and bosses, but for me, it was definitely worth it to have professionals as a sounding board as it removed a significant amount of stress and uncertainty from the process. I would highly recommend Temi and John.

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I came from a non-traditional background in Fashion Design so when I decided to apply to business schools, many of them top tier, I knew I needed some guidance in the application process. I had already taken the Veritas prep course, so I decided to add on their Admissions Consulting service as well. I knew which schools I was applying to already so I really just needed help reviewing my essays. At first I was a little hesitant that our communication was going to be via email or phone only, but it was never an issue. Joe was excellent at going through my essays and providing insightful comments to improve specific sentences, as well as highlighting key areas that were unclear. We were able to go through all my essays for 8 schools within the 3 hour time block. Joe was also good at providing honest advice about my shortcomings and how to address them. In addition to reviewing my essays, Joe answered any questions I had about the admissions process and discussed with me the best steps I should take to improve my chances. Overall, I felt that having an admissions consultant was an invaluable resource for me throughout the process.

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Going with Veritas Prep is one of the best decisions I made during the MBA apps process. Coming from a nontraditional background, I didn't realize how immersive and time-consuming applying would be. Veritas helped me set a game plan and easily extracted what the strengths and weaknesses were in my profile. From there it was an exercise in speaking to my strengths while doing what I could to improve in other areas, notably, everything to do with quantitative materials.

Joe was an amazing consultant: great listener, great mentor, and I knew he had my back throughout the whole process. Joe & the Veritas team wanted me to succeed, so they certainly didn't sugarcoat it when they needed to give me tough love. But that was the best thing they could have done in order to manage my expectations and to show where exactly I needed to push harder.

Veritas goes the extra mile for you. Your success is their success so you know they are giving you premium advice and attention.

Though I am still waiting to hear back from one more school, I have been accepted to a dream school, and I have Veritas to thank for that.

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I had already used Veritas Prep during my preparation for the GMAT (mock exam package), and while I had completed my MBA applications without using any consulting service, I decided to purchase Veritas Prep's Mock Interview Package costing $600.

The package included two mock interview sessions (an hour each). Veritas Prep assigned an admission consultant who used to interview applicants on behalf of the very business school that invited me for an interview. First, I sent all relevant information about myself (resume, application essays, and any other specific demands), to which the consultant replied with very minute and specific replies and comments regarding how I should prepare the first mock interview. After the first mock interview, the consultant sent me a very detailed feedback with suggestions on how to improve and how to craft the answers in a more impactful way. The second mock interview went the same way as the first one, followed by a very minute feedback as well.

The sessions were very helpful. In my particular case, as a government worker, I had a rather non-traditional profile for business schools, and I was particularly concerned by my relative youth (graduated college just a little bit over a year ago). The consultant showed very clearly what was expected of me as well as which points I should emphasize the most. The sessions also made me a lot less stressed about the real interview, since the two hours of mock interview made me familiarized with the admission interview environment. Another positive aspect was that before, during and after the consulting period, I could ask any question by mail and a reply would soon land in my mailbox within 24 to at most 36 hours.

I wholeheartedly recommend Veritas Prep's mock interview sessions to anyone who requires an optimal preparation for his or her MBA admission interviews.

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I thoroughly enjoyed working with Stratus Prep. I'll admit that I did not know that using an admissions counseling service was so popular when I first decided to pursue my MBA. After attending fairs and doing some online research, it became clear to me that I only had one shot at this and I should be sure I'm putting the strongest application forward. I currently work in media/advertising, and not many of my colleagues have their MBA or were considering pursuing one. It was clear to me that I needed the advice and expertise of a seasoned counselor to help me make my application shine.

Beyond being professional, responsive, and pleasant to work with, the most valuable part about working with Stratus Prep was that they encouraged me to broaden my target school list, and made me think critically about what was most important to me in an MBA program. I was initially set on staying in my home state of California, and did not want to move. My counselor told me that I should seriously consider a program on the east coast, and recommended why I would be such a great fit given my strong interest in the culture and community of a school. She ended up being right in the end, and I am so glad I followed her advice as I will be attending a top ranked program next fall.

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