Disappointed

I worked with Chris Van Nostrand on my Kellogg application. At first I thought he had done a good job challenging me on both broader topics and specific anecdotes in my essays. He was prompt and direct with his comments, which I appreciated. We also did a mock interview over the phone that was enjoyable. When I had my on-campus interview in R1 I felt well-prepared.

Ultimately, however, I was rejected from Kellogg in R1. Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the entire process wasn't that I was rejected from my dream school despite a 780 GMAT score and otherwise competitive profile but that I received zero follow-up from Chris or the SBC team after my rejection. No condolences, no sympathy, nothing. The last thing an applicant needs when juggling rejections and waitlists and figuring out R2 applications as the holidays approach is radio silence from their consultants.

I was accepted at a T10-15 school and will be matriculating there this Fall, but I did that application entirely on my own in R2 and without the help of any consultants. Bill Chionis of SBC actually told me not to apply to the school that I'm going to now and I'm glad I went against his advice, otherwise I would have come up completely empty. Overall I felt ripped off by the entire admissions consulting process and consider it a waste of time and money. It was extremely poor client management to ghost an applicant after they are rejected.