Thank you, Mark and Admissionado Team!

I applied to 7 top International Relations schools in the U.S. and Europe. With Mark’s help, I was admitted to 6 of them (incl. Columbia SIPA, Johns Hopkins SAIS and Georgetown SFS) with very sizable scholarships and waitlisted by Yale.

From our first free consultation, I appreciated Mark’s honesty. I came from a non-traditional background, trying to switch careers to international development after spending 10 years in finance. This was challenging, as I already have two masters’ degrees in Finance and all my international development experience was pro-bono. Mark never tried to give me unrealistic expectations; instead, he emphasized how he could help and support me as I worked to achieve my goal. The whole process felt more than just an essay editing service but more like having a real mentor working alongside me through this challenging journey.

Notably, because of my lack of full-time experience in my prospective field, Mark encouraged me to emphasize my transferable skills. Recognizing my capability to research information thoroughly, he encouraged me to read white paper research about my chosen field to enhance my understanding of my subject matter. This work was translated into my essays: I was able to articulate very clear, specific career goals and demonstrate knowledge of the field I'm hoping to enter. This was key to getting me into my dream programs.

Mark was open to accepting different opinions. Initially, he suggested keeping minimal of my personal anecdotes in my essays to leave more space for career goals and “why this school.” But given my non-traditional background, I felt strongly that the anecdotes were essential to demonstrate my motivations and commitment of why I’m switching into international development. Mark did eventually agree with me after knowing my rationale.

Mark had a comprehensive grasp of the English language and an elegant turn of phrase. Whether replying to emails or editing my essays, his writing read beautifully. He was extremely patient. I regularly sent long emails to him, posing multiple questions. Without fail, he answered all of them in insightful ways and gave me tailored advice on how to proceed with my work. Mark also has a speedy turnaround time, almost always returning things to me before the three-day deadline, even during the extremely busy Christmas times.

In addition to his extensive help with my essays, he transformed my resume into the next level. It remains the best professional resume I have. The two interview prep sessions with Mark were extremely helpful. His interview advice was very tailored to me and my application. He accurately predicted many of the questions I was asked. And as we worked on answers, he told me not just how to answer them but how to form answers that would leave an impact on the interviewers. Mark was also generous with his time, the two sessions were supposed to be one hour each, but we spoke for almost three hours.

Mark was a great mentor and cheerleader throughout my stressful application process. While always professional, he made a tremendous effort to get to know and understand me and my perspectives so that he could help me to the best of his ability.

I would recommend working with Mark to anyone who’s looking for professional level advice and mentorship on graduate program applications.

Claudia and Rose from the operations team also did a fantastic job pairing me up with Mark. Their lovely spirits really made the admin side of things so much smoother and more fun!