Susan Cera helped me get into Stanford!

Susan played a critical role in helping me make my dream of getting into Stanford MBA program a reality. She supported me all the way through the application process, from deciding which Round to apply, to crafting essays and preparing for the interviews, and helped me with every single question I had - even the most stupid questions that were on my mind.

It was important to have Susan's shoulder early on, as she helped me work out a powerful strategy and point my efforts in the right direction. In the brainstorming process, she came up with novel ideas that I somehow did not come up with on my own. Those ideas turned out to be key to my application strategy. Strategy is important, but so is implementation.

Susan was surprisingly fast to reply to my emails, especially given the amount of value her emails contained. I feel it's important to reemphasize this - every single piece of correspondence from Susan contained HUGE value for me! Her feedback on the essays helped me focus on the most impactful points, leaving non-value adding details aside, thus making the most out of the limited word space I was allowed in the essays.

I cannot overestimate the importance of Susan's help on the so-called stupid questions. Honestly, I did not expect that I would have so many of those. Turned out, the application file itself was so lengthy and contained so many little questions that seemed to be tricky. I felt that, when combined, answers to these little questions could make a difference between being admitted and being rejected. Luckily, Susan had the kind of empathy I needed to feel comfortable asking her these stupid questions.

When it came to the interview stage, Susan once again helped me focus on the most impactful parts of my story so that I felt confident sharing my story with the interviewer. It was important that I was prepared for the interview in advance, since this preparation translated into my confidence during the actual interview. I definitely would not have this courage if I was not sure I was telling the right stories to the interviewer. Susan made me believe I was.

Simply put, I would have never gotten into the Stanford MBA program without Susan's help. And I am forever grateful to her for helping me make my dream a reality.