Good, but not worth the money for the full-package

I decided to use an admissions consultant because I knew that with my low undergraduate GPA, it'd be difficult to get into my desired schools.

I chose to go with Liza after an initial 30 minute consultation. I was extremely impressed with her insight and with her advice, I decided to change my application strategy.

I bought a one school complete package although I knew I was going to apply to several. My plan was to utilize the important aspects of the first application on the later ones.

For the most part, she laid out the process with me and met the expectations and promises with regards to turn around times.

In the beginning, I found her insights and points very good in regards to what the admissions selection committee may think and how to address certain aspects of my application. However when it came to her comments/edits on my essays, I found them lacking in substance. Most of her essay reviews seemed more focused on meeting word limits rather than making sure the essay gave the intended impact and conveyed my message. In later essays for other schools, I found myself more critical than her and suggestions from friends and family more helpful.

She did also help with my resume and prepping my recommenders. Both of my recommenders come from non-MBA backgrounds and so I strongly believe the materials she gave me to prep them helped. However, a lot of the advice for both prepping recommenders and writing good resumes are easily found online here at GMATClub or on other admissions consultants' blogs.

Ultimately, I was rejected from the school I purchased the package for, but was admitted into 2 others and waitlisted at one. It's hard to tell how much Liza contributed to those successes however I do think she helped in some part. Whether or not I would've gotten into those schools without an admissions consultant is tough to say, but I do think much of the support and help she provided could have been gotten at a much cheaper cost to me.

Looking back, I wished that I had hired her hourly for the resume writing and recommender prep, but used a specific essay reviewing company (like Essay Snark) for the essay reviews. In the end, I'm not upset that I had used her services, however I do think I spent too much money and that for me, it wasn't worth it.

Liza's a wonderful person and extremely intelligent, however for me, who already put a lot of time researching and being critical on my own application, her value was wasted and lost.