SBC Recommendation

I hired Meredith from SBC, am headed my top choice – Tuck – this fall, and wanted to provide some candid feedback that I hope will be helpful to anyone considering using an admissions consultant.

My decision to use an admissions consultant was primarily based on a few factors:
1) As an applicant from an overrepresented group (white, male, finance) I knew I needed to craft a compelling story that would resonate with each of my target schools
2) I finished undergrad in 2006 and, as a business major, probably hadn’t written an essay in a good 8 years by the time the application process kicked off
3) Given my age and the amount of work experience I have, I was not going to pursue the full-time MBA route after this cycle

I’m laying these reasons out because while hearing whether someone found a particular consultant or consulting company useful is great and all, it is more important (in my opinion) to first decide whether you need one based on your unique circumstances. A couple of the other common factors that should be considered, but aren’t directly applicable to me:
- Do you have time? It’s tough to write 10+ compelling essays, construct a great resume, fill in a bunch of application forms (more time-consuming than you’d think), and prepare for interviews, all while pulling 100+ hr. weeks
- Can you afford it? If you’re applying to programs that may end costing you $180k+ over the course of two years, I’d argue a few thousand dollars up front is a worthwhile investment, but not everyone will see it that way or truly cannot afford to shell out for a consultant

Back to my reasons and how SBC delivered:
1) Dime a dozen – my primary consultant, Meredith, and the other SBC staff members, including Stacy herself, that I interacted with have a significant amount of experience attending, working at, and helping candidates get accepted to the specific schools I was interested in. That experience goes well beyond what you’ll garner from reading the schools' websites and attending information sessions. Their collective knowledge enabled me to put together a strong application for each school knowing the types of things they look for. Not exactly like trading on inside information, but it’s also not too dissimilar to using an expert network to supplement your research, which I think is particularly important if you are one of maaaaaany white dudes with a finance background applying to bschool.
2) Essay writing for dummies – despite having what I thought was an up-to-date resume, it took about 12 drafts before Meredith would allow me to be satisfied with how it was written, structured, and what it presented. That was just the first step. Each of my essays went through a ton of iterations with some of the first few (typical learning curve) going through 10+ drafts. And these revisions were taking place at 11 pm on a Tuesday night or 7 am on a Saturday morning – whenever I needed. During the 2+ month big push to get applications in, I was in contact with my consultant on a daily basis and experienced minimal turnaround time with regard to edits and questions. That editing process was not a burden I was prepared to put on my friends and family.
3) Old guy – my point here is that I was only going to take one shot at it and wanted to leave it all on the field, so to speak. Younger applicants might be better served taking a crack at it themselves in early rounds and then getting help later or even in the following year. However, if you are determined to get into a certain caliber of program (e.g. M7 or Top 10) now, then I think it is well worth paying the money to ensure you submit the best possible application and not have wonder about “what if?”.

Overall, SBC helped my candidacy immensely and I am confident in saying that I would not have been admitted to the schools I was without their help. At the end of the day, your application is based on your own personal achievements, stories, grades, test scores, etc. but the process of tying all that together to present a consistent, cohesive story is very important to schools and something I did not have the expertise to do on my own. Also, I did my due diligence and selected SBC over some other admissions consulting companies, but rather than bag on other professionals based on a 20 minute phone call, I will simply state that I had a great feeling from the first conversation I had with someone at SBC and that feeling was validated throughout my time working with Meredith and others at SBC.