Among the best out there

The first time I applied, I got dinged from 5 schools - no interview invites. Next year, I worked hard to figure out what went wrong and also decided to purchase a 4 school package with mbaMission.

I spent around a month just to figure out which consultant I wanted to work with and finally chose Liza Weale. I made this decision because when I spoke to her during the 30 minute free consultation, I was impressed by the fact that she could give inputs on how to improve specific points on my resume/ application (unlike some other consultants, from other firms, who would simply point out what's wrong but couldn't tell me clearly how to do it right). For instance, a consultant from another firm, after looking at my rejected application, told me that I had to take on a significant leadership role in my company within the next 2-3 months to actually have a chance at the schools I was targeting. Another said that my resume was typical of how others from my country would generally make it, it wasn't "American enough" - she couldn't tell me though how to make it more American. So, after all my research, I chose Liza because of her straightforwardness and ability to present achievements in the most impactful manner (that is, primarily, what the role of an admissions consultant is, I believe).

One thing that was certain from the very beginning, Liza was very professional. Not once did she fail to meet her turnaround deadline and this was done without compromising on the quality – I remember sending her 6-7 documents for review on a particular weekend and she was able to revert back on all of them by Tuesday!! Additionally, she was also kind enough to incorporate my requests for a faster turnaround than usual on a couple of occasions.

Coming to the work part, she initially helped me decide which schools to apply to - I eventually got in to a school that she had encouraged me to consider. During essay reviews, Liza always pointed out areas of improvement and gave me a direction to think, she never told me exactly what to write – which is a good thing because it made me feel that it was still all my work and Liza was there to guide me. Of course, we got stuck several times, especially on how to portray a past endeavor of mine where I hadn’t completely succeeded but which was a major talking point on my application. Liza helped me craft it in a way that demonstrated its impact and showed my failure as a learning step. Getting it right took 3-4 attempts but when I finally did receive my invite (call), I was told that my work on this endeavor was one of the factors they decide to offer me admission.

Another thing that I liked was that Liza would regularly encourage me push back on her suggestions and was mindful of how I felt about what I was writing. Almost every review of her was accompanied with some words of encouragement which is very important in such a grueling process (especially when you are a re-applicant).

While I had chosen only a 4 school package, I was also applying to other schools on my own and Liza often answered some questions related to those schools – which gave me a feeling that she also genuinely wanted me to get into a good school and that working with me was more than just a commitment that she had to fulfill.

I got accepted to one of the top 5 schools and got an interview invite from another (which I couldn’t convert). Additionally, I also have an interview invite from another school that I had applied to on my own. Considering what happened last year, I am so glad I made the right choice this year. I would strongly recommend Liza to anyone looking for guidance on their application.