Donna Bauman is amazing!

To understand how good Donna Bauman is, I will first need to tell you a little bit about myself. I am from, perhaps, the most over-represented candidate pool (Indian male), and to complicate matters, I applied with a low GMAT, low GPA, middling extra-curricular activities, and (in my opinion) decent work experience in finance. With Donna’s help, I will now be attending one of H/S/W in the fall! Unequivocally, this would not have been possible without her.

I interviewed a lot of admission consultants, but what set Donna apart was her commitment, candor, and experience. Let me elaborate. Donna has a ton of experience working as an admissions committee member, and this gives her a unique sense of how best to position your story. Having been on the other side, she will be able to give you insights into how your application would likely be perceived by the admissions committee. International candidates, this is especially important for you. Donna has seen thousands of applications from international candidates. As an Indian male, I came from an incredibly competitive pool, but Donna’s insights helped me differentiate my application, and play up my strengths to help compensate for the low GPA and GMAT.

But there are other ex-adcoms in the admissions consulting biz, so what sets Donna apart? Her candor and commitment. From my first consultation call, she was honest with me. She straight up told me that H/S/W would be a very uphill climb, but that she would do everything in her power to help me achieve that goal. I respected her honesty, and continued to see it throughout the application process. In addition to her honesty, Donna was extremely supportive and provided me with a very personalized experience. Right from the beginning, she challenged me to introspect deeper. She took the effort to really get to know me – where I come from, where I want to go, what my beliefs and motivations were, in order to better help me tell my story.

Donna reviewed innumerable edits (on outlines, essays, resumes, emails) right until the very end, and went above and beyond what I expected– offering so much time to my story building, essays, navigating recommenders, and interview practice (even to schools I didn’t apply to with her). She was very patient with my million questions and edits. She would reply very promptly (same day), devoted an incredible amount of time to my application, and came up with insightful suggestions, edits and reviews to help me tell my story better and to tailor it effectively to each school.

I would be remiss to not mention my senior strategist, Harold, as well. Harold’s experience with finance candidates is invaluable. But more than his experience with finance candidates, he has an acute understanding of what each school wants to hear, and was so incredibly encouraging – especially at critical moments when I needed it. I very much appreciated his help in building my story, and his insightful comments on my essay outlines and the essays themselves, and would not have been able to turn out the applications I did without his help. Harold needs to be your senior strategist.

To summarize: Go with Donna! I am so grateful for everything she did for me. Yes, using an admissions consultant is pricey, but it is well worth getting into your dream school. I am confident that Donna will help you tell your best possible story. Not only is she an amazing admissions consultant, she is also such a great person, and I wholeheartedly recommend her to you.