With the deadline for INSEAD applications looming and a hectic schedule at work, I knew I needed assistance in making sure I put my best foot forward. I have also made some interesting choices in my career, so telling my story was always going to be challenging. What I had in mind was someone to read over my essays and provide feedback - what works and what doesn't. I sent a few cold emails and Alex was the first to respond. I had read the testimonials online, so thought it was worth a try.

Alex's services far exceeded my expectations. He invests a lot of energy to understand your story and pick vulnerabilities. He is critical and yes, the feedback keeps on coming but I think that is the beauty of the flat fee model he offers. His experience as a HR professional also shines through. The whole experience of working with Alex felt more like a partnership in trying to get to the best product in time for the looming deadline.

One of my biggest concerns in hiring a consultant was ending up with a generic application. But Alex is more like a coach who prompts you by asking questions and things to think about when writing your responses. The final product sounds very much like me. It does mean it is a bit more work through. So if you are looking for someone to just write the application for you, then maybe he is not the one.

Highly recommend!

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I met Alex via GMAT club when he responded to my profile evaluation post early this year. I like the way he has provided a detailed feedback on my profile highlighting my strengths and my areas on improvement rather than providing a generic feedback. He also guided me in finalizing the schools which are best suited for my aspirations.

As we all know, for a strong B-school application, having a balanced mix of professional and personal achievements is really important. Alex has deep insight into what qualities B-Schools are looking in their students and how your professional and personal experience can be put together to make a strong application. Like they say you should never hide anything from your doctor or lawyer if you really want them to help you, I must say that apply same rule while working with Alex.

Alex is not a kind of consultant who will complete the application on your behalf or provide you with a pre-cooked content, rather he will work with you in understanding your story by asking relevant questions, and by encouraging you to find the answers for yourself. Also, he will never settle for any vague storyline/answers for his questions, which to be honest sometimes seems demanding but keep in mind that in the end, he is only trying to bring the best out of you and it will allow you to present yourself in the better way throughout the selection process.

My admission to one of the top B-school in Europe is an example of this. It is because of Alex’s thorough approach and persistence of not giving up on me till I come up with answers up to his expectations, I was able to put forward a strong application and there was hardly any question in the interview for which I felt unprepared.

Despite the time zone difference, Alex has always been available to answers all the questions (believe me, I always had tons of them 😊) and concerns about various aspects of the school, admission process and my application. At times, when I felt demotivated or overwhelmed with the GMAT and entire admission process of different schools, Alex always stood by me and provided me with much-needed support and motivation to move forward.

With my experience, I would definitely recommend Alex to anyone who is looking to apply for B-School. If you are looking for a knowledgeable, professional and supportive MBA consultant, who can help you in achieving your dream of getting into a B-school, look no further, Alex is your MAN😊

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Once I made up my mind to apply to INSEAD, I knew I needed help from someone who knew the school inside out. Alex, being an alumnus of the school, fit the bill perfectly. Throughout the process of writing CV, essays, preparing for interviews, it felt like Alex was available at my fingertips to get advice/help. Even though we were located on two different continents, he always showed flexibility and worked around my schedule for our phone calls. He was extremely responsive, always replied within minutes or hours, but always on the same day. He provided critical feedback and pushed me to dig deep and think of examples and stories that I would not have considered important otherwise. The best part about working with Alex was that my essays never lost their authenticity, even after being worked upon several times. This is because Alex understood my personality and motivation, and his feedback always steered me towards strengthening those aspects of me in my essays instead of changing them. In my discussions with Alex, I realized that he was not only aware of how the admission process works for EU schools but also for top US schools. He knew the deadlines, duration of the programmes and their admission criteria at the back of his hand. I would recommend Alex to anyone who is looking to apply to a B-school and needs somebody to take them through the process of understanding the school admission criteria, keeping them on track to submit a successful MBA application, provide honest, thorough and critical feedback on CV and essays and be available at all times to answer questions and provide support.

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One of the key decisions in the application process is whether to work with an admission consultant. I chose to work with Alex when I received profile review in GMATClub. Because through the feedback, I realized that I need someone who has thorough understanding of the target school and well organized writing, and that Alex is the one.
Alex is very responsive and knowledgeable. He provides constructive advice to my queries. His HR director background and INSEAD experiences ensure his ability to coach candidates properly. Alex quickly captures the characteristic of candidates and effectively helps with reflecting those in essays.
I would recommend Alex to prospective MBA candidates, especially INSEAD applicants.

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I started working with Alex roughly 1 week before 2 of my applications were due and I really enjoyed working with him. It was very daunting and stressful for me at first because of the tight timeline but we were able to get several iterations done which ensured that I submitted my best applications. In total, I worked with Alex on 3 applications including my essays, resume/CV and LORs and was accepted to all 3 schools with scholarship; including a top 15 MBA program.

We worked on crafting my story to be consistent with all aspects of the applications. Alex coached me throughout the entire process and was very responsive, prompt and easy to work with. From my research when looking for a consultant, I discovered that some of them only communicate through email and while this works for some people, I knew I needed a more open and less formal style. Alex made me feel comfortable in reaching out with any queries along the way and I liked that he made himself available where I could easily bounce ideas off of him.

My overall experience was very positive and I would highly recommend him to anyone interested in working with a supportive and knowledgeable MBA consultant.

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With the assistance of ARLee Consulting I succeeded in my dream of getting accepted by a top-5 b-school.
Before deciding to refer to ARLee Consulting, I was skeptical about the MBA admissions consultants. Having myself gone successfully through the admission process for my master's at a top EU university, I believed that an external help would only be of limited value. However, as I had been previously rejected by 4 US b-schools, I could not afford another rejection.
The successful result speaks by itself for ARLee’s input. Although we worked under a super-tight timeline, and due to my heavy schedule (working long-hours and having only evenings to work on my b-school applications) Alex Ruiz (the consultant whom I worked with) was fully dedicated to the task, always available, tireless, and fully aligned to my goal. It was indeed a team working towards a common direction. I could feel that Alex was putting as much emphasis as on the details as I did, and believe me, I am absolutely meticulous.
Alex performed his role very professionally, ensuring that it would be my personality, my viewpoint, and my personal brand that would be revealed through the essays. If you are looking for someone to do the work and write the essays for you, Alex is not the guy to go to – hopefully you are not that type of applicant, as I doubt anyone can target at a top-school with such mentality. But if you need someone who has an insight into turning a strong potential into a successful applicant, then Alex is the person to refer to.
I would highly recommend ARLee Consulting to every aspiring b-school candidate. With their assistance, this strenuous and stressful process was rendered an experience that at the end I enjoyed, culminating to the absolutely magnificent result of getting accepted to a dream b-school.

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