Helped me articulate my story...and in the process define my dreams

I was ultimately successful with my HBS app and do think that my application was much stronger having working with a consultant. To give you context, I was a rather "traditional" applicant, so it was important for me to clearly articulate my story and why I wanted to go back to school. If you are in this situation, a consultant is 100% worth it - Carol pushed me really hard on narrowing my "field of interest" into a "point of interest"for my story. This was a distinction that I didn't understand and probably would not have seen if I hadn't gotten her feedback, and it is what distinguishes stellar applications vs. good applications.

My advice would be to set up a diagnostic at the very least. It's free, and they will give you an honest assessment of your candidacy and what they will work with you on. The assessment that SBC gave me about my application (e.g., strong and weak points) and the schools I was looking at were spot on - they are clearly longstanding professionals who know what they are talking about.