I worked with Liza on three schools (full package): Columbia, Cambridge, and Oxford.

With Liza's help, I got in to Columbia Business School (Full-time MBA). I also got interview invites from Cambridge and Oxford - I rejected these because I got Columbia.

My stats: 720 GMAT, Male, 29 years old, Non-URM, Lawyer (Mergers & Acquisitions) at a boutique law firm in Asia, have been practicing M&A law for 5 years.

Liza is a fantastic admissions consultant who came highly recommended from friends who had worked with her previously - these friends were admitted into HBS/Wharton/Stanford with Liza's help.

Now, having worked with Liza myself, I strongly recommend that you consider working with her on your business school applications.

July 2017, I was gearing up to apply to Columbia, which was my first choice. I knew I was going to be a late applicant (Round 3) given that I had not yet hit my target 700+ GMAT score. I finally hit my 720 GMAT late December, and started working with Liza soon after for a target submission to Columbia by end of January. Given that I was a Round 3 applicant, I knew that the odds were not in my favour.

Liza was a fantastic motivator and made the daunting MBA application process a lot more manageable. For example, she was always supportive and patient with me, despite my anxiousness. It was a pleasure to work with Liza.

Liza was also very clear in crafting my overall application strategy which comprised such components as the 1. essays, 2. CV, 3. recommendation letters, 4. short answer questions, and 5. interviews. Liza gave each of these components an incredible amount of attention - nothing slipped through the cracks.

A special strength of Liza's is her ability to tease out the best qualities in an applicant. Coming from a relatively "non-traditional" background (law), my initial concern was that an admissions consultant would not be able to flesh out my stories / experiences in law adequately. I was wrong. Liza picked up on my experiences in law and translated them into tangible MBA qualities that I was able to illustrate in my essays and interviews. Liza is NOT your average admissions consultant - she is, quite frankly, the best.

Looking back on my MBA application journey, and the fantastic results I got, I am certain that I could not have gotten Columbia without Liza's help.

Liza changed my life for the better and I cannot recommend her enough.

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Got my target 720 score after approx 4 months that comprised self study, Manhattan Prep's 9-week course on Wall street Manhattan (David Mahler was our instructor), and private tutoring (also with Dave Mahler). I started with a 590 Manhattan Prep GMAT practice test. Quite frankly, I could not have managed the 720 without Manhattan Prep.

1. The 9-week course: This was a great start for me as my math skills were very rusty (haven't touched math since high school and my day-to-day work doesn't require the use of any meaningful quant skill - I'm a lawyer). The math foundations and GMAT test strategies explored in class were concise and immediately helpful. Dave Mahler was our instructor - I highly recommend him for the clarity with which he explains tough concepts (particularly Data Sufficiency and Critical Reasoning). FYI the 9-week course comes with the full suite of Manhattan Prep Books, which were all great - concise, clear, and effective - no verbiage which is good for busy professionals.

2. Private tutoring: After the 9 week course, I spent a couple of weeks wrapping up the GMAT OG and then I took a real GMAT test. Bombed it. I decided I needed more targetted tutoring, so I splurged on the private tutoring (8 lessons in total). This was worth every penny. Dave diagnosed my flawed test-taking strategies, and his private lessons sharpened my quant and verbal reasoning skills. These lessons were challenging but crucial to my success on the test - he would often ask me to explain my thought processes WHILE I solved tough problems (DS, PS, SC, CR), and this invariably forces you to think critically about every single step in your own problem-solving process. Every step in my problem-solving process was critiqued and improved upon. As important, Dave was extremely optimistic and encouraging throughout this whole process. He was a firm supporter and you feel that he's invested in your success.

TL DR: Manhattan Prep's 9 week course and private tutoring are both very strongly recommended. Manhattan Prep's books are very strongly recommended. Dave Mahler is very strongly recommended.

Read More

Got my target 720 score after approx 4 months that comprised self study, Manhattan Prep's 9-week course on Wall street Manhattan (David Mahler was our instructor), and private tutoring (also with Dave Mahler). I started with a 590 Manhattan Prep GMAT practice test. Quite frankly, I could not have managed the 720 without Manhattan Prep.

1. The 9-week course: This was a great start for me as my math skills were very rusty (haven't touched math since high school and my day-to-day work doesn't require the use of any meaningful quant skill - I'm a lawyer). The math foundations and GMAT test strategies explored in class were concise and immediately helpful. Dave Mahler was our instructor - I highly recommend him for the clarity with which he explains tough concepts (particularly Data Sufficiency and Critical Reasoning). FYI the 9-week course comes with the full suite of Manhattan Prep Books, which were all great - concise, clear, and effective - no verbiage which is good for busy professionals.

2. Private tutoring: After the 9 week course, I spent a couple of weeks wrapping up the GMAT OG and then I took a real GMAT test. Bombed it. I decided I needed more targetted tutoring, so I splurged on the private tutoring (8 lessons in total). This was worth every penny. Dave diagnosed my flawed test-taking strategies, and his private lessons sharpened my quant and verbal reasoning skills. These lessons were challenging but crucial to my success on the test - he would often ask me to explain my thought processes WHILE I solved tough problems (DS, PS, SC, CR), and this invariably forces you to think critically about every single step in your own problem-solving process. Every step in my problem-solving process was critiqued and improved upon. As important, Dave was extremely optimistic and encouraging throughout this whole process. He was a firm supporter and you feel that he's invested in your success.

TL DR: Manhattan Prep's 9 week course and private tutoring are both very strongly recommended. Manhattan Prep's books are very strongly recommended. Dave Mahler is very strongly recommended.

Read More