Menlo Coaching - Truly Fantastic !!! (Ross Admit)

I am really pleased that I got to know of Alice through a friend and I decided to engage Menlo Coaching for my 2019 MBA applications.

I was quite sure about pursuing MBA since 2018 and I was lucky to have quite a few friends who had gone through the process to guide me. Honestly, looking at people’s stories and career goals was a bit intimidating and having applied earlier in 2016 to a bunch of schools with no success deterred my confidence. I had a huge weakness in my profile and being in one of the most competitive pools of applicants, it definitely did not help my case.

Bottom line was that I needed expert help to guide me through my applications and maximize my chances at top 10 schools. Fortunately, I started my search for a consultant in January 2019, which I believed was quite early but as it turns out it was actually the right time, if not late. I talked to multiple consultants before deciding to go with Alice.

I was quite impressed with Alice from the get go. First of all, Alice and David are the top rated consultants on many forums. In addition to that, the note I received from Alice when I reached out to her was extremely personal and warm. It showed her genuine interest in helping candidates, even prospective clients who had not signed up with her yet.

The candidacy evaluation call with Alice was quite different as compared to other consultants. Instead of selling herself and talking about her services she was more interested in my point of view, my profile, my reasons for applying to an MBA program and my career goals. She provided a candid evaluation of my chances at different schools, she had done her homework on analyzing my resume and coming up with a plan of action to address weaknesses in my candidacy. She also provided an honest opinion on why different people choose to pursue MBA and whether it made sense for me to do the same. Alice and David are quite selective in choosing their clients and they enjoy a bit of a challenge, which my application definitely provided. Soon after my chat with Alice, I did some cost benefit analysis on choosing the right consultant - the fees, number of schools I could apply and the historical success rate. I knew that getting in a top 10 program would be very challenging and Alice, with her flat fee model and personalized approach to shape each candidate’s application, was perfect for me.

Working with Menlo Coaching was a pleasure and a true partnership. Here are a few things about Alice and her team that you should know which make them stand apart:

1. They make you work and are on your toes to make sure you make progress - helps you not lose sight in the bustle of work and personal priorities
2. They have the experience and understanding of what the admissions committee value in a prospective student - helps you clear the clutter and focus on the important parts of your story
3. They start early - extremely important to get ahead of the curve; also helps you plan out school visits and other things that can bolster your application
4. They are very methodical and structured - their succinct video tutorials, reference materials and project management tool help you keep on track
5. They are super accessible and extremely prompt in feedback - it feels truly collaborative and personal; I have been on one-on-one calls with Alice and Leslie for many hours to talk about my personal stories, education, work and goals
6. They help you think about your own story without spoon feeding templates - helps you come out as a true one of a kind candidate
7. They are perfectionists - I have had at least 20 reviews of my resume and more than 6 to 7 edits on each of my essays for all of my 8 school applications
8. They help you get into the networking mindset while you are applying - through their former clients, existing clients and affiliates (peer reviews, reports on campus visits, interview notes, etc.)
9. They go out of their way in many ways like helping candidates with their GMAT / GRE prep by providing the right resources and connects
10. They are not machines, they care about their clients and do everything to accommodate their client’s requests - I had a pre-commitment after application deadlines which meant I needed to finish all my interviews in a very short window of time, and Alice helped me expedite the interview preparation in a way that worked best for me
11. They are excellent at helping candidates prepare for interviews - professional help with speech delivery, interview presence and interview preparation through multiple mock interviews and feedback sessions
12. They do not stop at resumes, essays, video essays or interviews, they help you through all that follows as well - scholarship negotiation, waitlist updates and even pre-MBA preparation

As for my results, I got interview calls from all the schools I applied to, got accepted at 2 top-10 schools with scholarships and was waitlisted at 2 other top-5 schools. It was a total shocker for me to have turned around my profile into a compelling application and being accepted at schools of my dream.

Although my contract with Menlo Coaching was for R1 applications, Alice is such a gem of a person that she even helped me with one R2 application for a very ambitious school that I really wanted to apply to. Alice truly values the relationships she develops with each of her clients and I would not hesitate to turn to her for advice anytime in future too.

I cannot stress enough how happy I am with Menlo Coaching. They are true professionals but at the same time equally personal in their approach. Alice is a pleasure to work with and someone who I would love to be in touch with going forward.

If you are still deciding on the choice of an admissions consultant, Alice and David would be my sincerest recommendation.