Greg Exceeded Every Expectation: Accepted to M7: International Female with 700 GMAT

Accepted to M7: International Female with 700 GMAT

Profile and Background

I am a female with 3 years WE upon matriculation. I studied Liberal Arts in Undergrad (Top 15 US university), and grew up in Southeast Asia. I worked at a top US bank in investment banking with no direct management experience (however with some indirect management through training analysts).

• Age: 25
• Demographics: Female with underrepresented demographic background
• Senior Analyst at top US bank (well-known household name)
• GMAT: 700 (sub-60th percentile Quant and IR scores)
• Undergrad GPA: 3.6 (top 15 US school and social science major with business minor)
• Work Experience: 3 years upon matriculation
• Applied to 1 M7 (accepted)

Overall, I felt I had good work experience and college extracurriculars but an average GPA, below average GMAT score, and the “minimum” amount of work experience (which limited my post-college leadership experience) for M7 schools. Nevertheless, I wanted to give my dream school a shot.

Choosing a Consultant and Package Selection

I knew I had below average scores and WE and knew I wanted to hire a consultant early on. I relied solely on reviews from GMAT Club and read the website thoroughly for any leads for my consultant. Business school has always been a dream of mine, and I knew that my consultant would be a big investment that would continue to pay off throughout my life.

I pretty much decided to work with Greg based on the thoroughness of his reviews. Each review commented on the attention to detail, custom care, and compassion Greg shows for his clients. Greg was my first choice early on and I quickly scheduled a free assessment call the spring before my applications were due. I learned that what everyone said was true through talking on the phone with him for just 15 minutes.

I decided to hire Greg on the spot and didn’t bother talking to other consultants. I 100% stand with my decision as Greg helped me in so many ways. I decided to enroll in the Tier 3 package which included school selection, essay reviews, interview prep, story selection, scholarship negotiations, and more.

School Selection

I had my heart set on one particular M7 so I communicated with Greg that I was very interested in this school early on/that it was my first choice. I decided to focus on this school and planned to later hire Greg for additional schools if things did not work out with this one. Greg was honest, yet optimistic about my chances. He did not sugarcoat anything but instead reassured me that together, we would produce the best package possible.

Resume Review

Greg really helped me create a business school type resume. Having been in the workforce for a few years, I was used to resumes that focused more on professional experiences. One thing that sets business school resumes apart is that business school style resumes should ideally also focus on leadership and involvement, which Greg really helped me position and hone.

Greg helped me create actionable, concise bullets for each line on my resume and helped consolidate my leadership, professional, and personal interests in one page. Greg conducted over 5+ iterations before we found it to be in a good place to submit to schools. Once we were done I felt confident that the 1 page document represented my experiences perfectly.

Essays

Greg truly went above and beyond with the essay prep and reviews. We had brainstorming calls for all of the essays my school required, with him scheduling even more calls if the topics didn’t “click”. I definitely feel like Greg helped me hone and tune my story to help me clearly articulate my goals and unique personal narrative.

Each of my essays had at least 5 iterations of reviews and each of Greg’s comments for the essays allowed me to further assess topics and enhance/refine my delivery. Greg often worked after-hours to provide me with feedback and most iterations were given back in about 2 business days, which allowed me to move fast and really focus on each essay.

I truly believe that Greg has a natural gift for telling stories. Each call helped me come up with a “skeleton” of each essay which I expounded upon. Greg’s guidance truly polished my essays and made me feel like I was submitting the best possible work. The fact that he scheduled multiple brainstorming sessions showed his dedication to coming up with the best product.

Interview Prep

Greg was one of the first people I notified when I was chosen to interview at my dream school. I was ecstatic that my hard work over the past few months was culminating with an interview invite. I wanted to schedule the interview ASAP since this was my dream school; however, Greg stressed the importance of adequate preparation.

We scheduled 2 preparation sessions of about 1-2 hours each and we conducted 2 mock interviews of about 2 hours each (all together ~8 hours even though the official interview prep service is technically supposed to be around 3 hours). I truly felt that Greg wanted me to do the best I possibly could and put in the extra work and effort to really help me articulate clearly how I could be a good fit for the school.

Greg’s preparation for the interview was so complete that I did not feel surprised on interview day. His interview prep was identical and I felt prepared for each question. Greg even gave me some tips to talk about my contributions to the school, which I think impressed the interviewer.

Conclusion

I got admitted to my first choice M7 with an average GPA, below average GMAT, and 3 years of WE upon matriculation. I genuinely believe what made me stand out in applying to an M7 was my essays and application, which Greg truly helped me with.

I have read many negative things about consultants but please do trust me when I say that Greg is worth every penny. His feedback on each deliverable went above and beyond and really helped me take my application to the next level.

I only have positive things to say about my experience and I believe that Greg exceeded every expectation I had of hiring a consultant. I always felt like my opinions, questions, and beliefs were valued. With Greg’s help and support I will be attending my dream school of 5+ years.