re-applicant - John Sisk/mbamission Highly Recommend

As a re-applicant, I needed my second application to be the best it could be. Even though I have a strong, decade-long professional resume and was able to raise my GMAT over 60 points, I wanted to make sure I took advantage of any help that was available to me. Because I took the Manhattan Prep course, I was entitled to a 30 minute free consultation with mbaMission. After reviewing their consultants I scheduled a time with John Sisk because we have similar backgrounds in terms of our professional experience and I felt he would, more than anyone, understand where I am coming from and know how to best use it that would interest the AdComs. During the consultation he was frank with his assessment of my original applicant profile and provided me a bullet point of what he advises I should do to strengthen my candidacy regardless of if I went with him or not. I was really impressed and appreciative with his thoughts. What sealed the deal was when I told him I wanted him to be completely open and critical with me and my applications. If he felt I was overreaching applying to a certain program or my essays were junk I wanted to know. I’m an adult and straight-to-the-point and won’t take anything personally. He was on the same page and I chose the hourly service because John and I agreed that with me being a re-applicant to more than one school, applying to new schools and my primary help was with my resume and essays, the hourly “a la carte” service would be the best way to go. He would be available to me for any questions/edits/etc. I needed from the application though the interview process.

We first started working on my resume and the first revision was already a huge improvement, cutting it from two pages to one and still keeping all the important details and accomplishments in. After finalizing the resume we started working on the essays. Luckily, most of the programs I applied to last year that I planned to reapply to this year had the same essay topics so I did not have to start from page one for most. I edited my originals before I sent, integrating some ideas from books regarding business school application essays I read but still kept a lot from my first applications. I received John’s revisions and was blown away by his edit. I come from a creative background so my writing tends towards the superfluous. John made my words succinct and, most important, he described to me who my audience is and what they are specifically looking for which helped me steer my following edits. After several back and forths we finally agreed on the best, final versions of each essay I had him review for me. The most important essay we tackled together was my re-applicant essay where we were able to best explain the steps I took over the past year that improved my candidacy.

After all the applications were submitted I received more interview invites than the first time around, from programs I reapplied to and new programs. Most important, I received an interview to my top choice program and was admitted, with a scholarship, which I happily accepted.

Working with John was easy. He was both personable and professional and was readily available. I would send him an essay and he would return with his thoughts and revisions. Ultimately it would be up to me to decide if I would keep the edits, go with my original writing or figure a combination of both and when I felt it was finished. He was very amenable and we would regularly bounce ideas off each other.

I am 100% certain I would not have gotten into my program of choice, or even received multiple interviews to several top-25 MBA programs, without John’s help. Of course there were things I have done personally to better raise my candidate profile such as raising my GMAT, but John’s knowledge of the process and guidance was a difference maker. He enabled me to understand the thought process of the Admissions Committee and was 100% responsible for helping develop my story that successfully resulted in my goal of getting into the business school I wanted. I felt hiring a consultant is an investment and John is totally worth the investment.