Alex - SBC Reviews

Alex has been a great resource during applications. I was hesitant to use consulting assistance due to the high cost, but I think that it was worth it for keeping me on track and explaining the process. Alex is very responsive and will read your essays well into the night, even at crunch time, which I appreciated. He's a talented writer and helps bring out the best content and cut fluff. Being budget-conscious, my overall process was: take notes from Adam Markus blog, 1 hour with Alex on essay topics and strategy, then writing and proofreading with 2 trusted friends, then 2-3 hours of back and forth proofreading with Alex, and finally 1 hour of miscellaneous work like resume, etc. I found that the overall value of consulting was logarithmic - invaluable at first and less relevant as the application becomes more polished and suggestions become more stylistic rather than practical. Overall, I think it was a worthwhile expense, because it reduced the stress of possibly missing something, and because it saved me time (whole process took less than two weeks).

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I am writing to share a phenomenal review of my time working with the Stacey Blackman Consulting team, specifically with my consultant Alex Liff.

After evaluating multiple consulting groups online, I came to the SBC team in January for an initial MBA Candidacy assessment. I felt that their team offered the most robust resources, experienced consultants, and breadth of professional backgrounds/experiences. Given that I was early in the process (applying for R1 that September), Esther provided a succinct, realistic evaluation of my profile/stats and provided some suggestions of where I could work to improve my profile in the coming months to strengthen my candidacy for the top programs that I was targeting. She was also frank about the fact that I came from ORM, competitive applicant pool to set realistic expectations. After the profile evaluation, I diligently worked to address my profile weaknesses and retook the GRE that moved me from the average to top range of my target schools' class.

With a strengthened profile, I reconnected with Esther in May to discuss the next step of finding a consultant to prepare for the R1 application deadlines. We reconnected for an in-depth interview over the phone where she gathered the inputs to intentionally connect me with a consultant on their team. She assessed my background and post-MBA interests, ultimately connecting me with Alex Liff. Next was the fit interviews. I'll add that the SBC team really emphasizes fit with your assigned consultant, so I would highly recommend not taking this step of the process lightly as it is critical that you connect with your consultant that you will spend hours working alongside. Given Alex's aligned background, mutual interest, and wealth of knowledge about the application process, I felt like I had won the lottery from our initial fit interviews! Therefore, I signed up for the all-in package for my two dream schools: HBS & GSB.

Alex & I hit the ground running that week, and he shared several helpful SBC proprietary resources to kick off my application journey. We started very broad by discussing and writing up all of my life experiences to date. Even if it felt like a tangential detail or irrelevant to applying to grad school, I bought into the exercise of starting to put pen to paper. This introspective process lead some key themes to emerge from my life's experiences, and Alex helped to validate as themes that would spark the intrigue of an Adcom. At the start, I remember feeling very vulnerable and uncertain of what I put to paper, but Alex was tremendously reassuring and supportive in helping bring my story to light. From there, I spent very intentional time connecting my lived experiences together in a few first draft essays. With every draft (15+), Alex provided seamless, timely feedback that allowed me to continue my momentum. Ahroughout the process he was extremely communicative, available, and honest. I found that these are the three most important attributes that a candidate can find in a consultant!

SBC offers a tremendous team-based approach to setting up their applicants for success. After I had gotten the applications to a near-finished state, Alex shared my application with my flight tester, Lisa, who was a former MBA admissions officer, to offer a fresh perspective of my entire package. This review was unique and insightful because the reviewer reviews the file in the same way as an admissions officer. An admissions committee member spends, on average, less than 20 minutes reviewing a file in full. The Flight Test provides insight into how the application stands up under the realistic, unbiased scrutiny of an adcom member versus intensely in the details as your admission's consultant. Thus, I found the perspective and feedback additive to my overall drafting process.

Ultimately, Alex was a fantastic sounding board helping me bring to light a holistic picture of my lived experiences and allowing them come to life in a coherent application. His excitement when I was accepted to the programs of my dreams was genuinely felt, and I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with someone who believed in me. I don't feel that I would have had the confidence to be so vulnerable in my application about the things I shared without Alex instilling confidence by rooting for me along the way. SBC's additional resources were also a HUGE time saver throughout the process, as I did not need to do as much in-depth research into every program I applied to, as it was already all there in their wiki. In summary, I cannot recommend Alex or my experience with the SBC team enough to future applicants, and I am tremendously grateful for the chapter that lies ahead! You will be in good hands.

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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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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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When you are looking for an MBA consulting firm, you want one that has a reputation which draws on the caliber of its consultants and has the expertise and experience across the schools that you are interested to apply to.

SBC demonstrated that from the beginning for me. Just speaking with Sarah for thirty minutes, she was able to provide insights and bring her expertise to bear on my application. SBC also stood out from other firms in that they cater to candidates coming in from every stage of the application process. In my case, they were willing to partner and go "all-in" with me even though I had only three weeks remaining for the R2 deadlines.

I worked with Alex L as my SBC consultant and I could not have asked for a better MBA consultant. Alex is one of the most professional individuals I have the pleasure of working with over my 12-year career. He was personally invested through the whole process and brought his considerable skills and expertise in each step of the application. His partnership helped to showcase my accomplishments and my personal story to its fullest. Even then, just by working with him, I was able to improve on my personal communication skills and bring that back to how I communicate at work and at a personal level.

Alex was a partner whom I could completely trust and rely on throughout the application process. He was responsive and would usually reply within a few hours. He worked with me on the deadlines and was available whenever I needed him. He added a personal touch as well, checking in on me and my recovery when I fell sick during the application process. Thinking back, I’m just floored by the level of effort and passion he brought in every stage of the application. Based on his dedication, I know it is not just a job to him, but a role where he is personally invested to help you achieve your goals. Alex is someone whom I am honored to partner with and hope to continue a friendship with even after my application process.

I applied to the Stanford GSB MSx program and it was a moonshot for me given how challenging it is to enter the program and how I had only three weeks to prepare the application, obtain letters of recommendations and study for the GRE. Yet, with Alex's help, I was able to overcome all these and obtain an admissions offer from the Stanford GSB. Thank you, Alex!

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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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