Angela Guido, more friend than consultant

In late November 2013 I decided to bite the bullet and apply to business school. Given my poor timing, I know that the R2 deadlines had passed for a few schools, or were coming up in the next few weeks.

I decided to use a consulting company (Google suggested mbaMission) to help me focus and distill my applications for 4 dream schools that I had in mind, in the meanwhile I began preparing to apply to 6 schools on my own – that’s right, I applied to 10 schools, hoping for a Fall 2014 admit, and hadn't written a single essay yet at that point!

I chose Angela after watching her short description video on mbaMission’s website, and was impressed with her screen writing experience – I figured it would be good to have someone like her inject some panache into my writing, and I’m happy she said yes to working with me.

I’m not a stellar candidate by any means, but I do have a diverse background, and Angela was instrumental in helping me dig through my experiences to frame very strong and emotive essays.

The key thing I’d like to clarify is that she didn't spoon feed me, in fact she only intervened in my writing when she felt it got either too verbose or lost its impact. She has such a good eye for strong narrative it’s uncanny, she’s able to rein you back in when things veer off-course.

From start to finish I had 5-6 weeks (crazy I know), and with xmas/new year breaks in between, I knew I was under the hammer. I was worried that I had chewed off more than I could handle, but Angela stepped up, and made sure to motivate me to send her numerous drafts within quick succession – I think at the 2nd week in, we were literally doing 1-2 drafts a day!

More than anything though, I believe Angela and I gelled quite well because she assumed the role of a friend, rather than someone who was being paid to help me refine my application; I was worried that the opposite might occur, and that it would be such a rigid arrangement, but honestly, couldn't have asked for better.

Full disclosure: I applied to 4 schools with Angela’s help, the top 4 b-schools, and I ended up getting admitted to Wharton (my 1st choice), and wait listed after interview at another (entirely my fault – interview was so bad since I was sleep deprived from travelling).

Of the schools I applied to on my own, I got admitted to all 6.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, while it isn't necessary to use an admission consulting service, they can help distill your mba application, and this is by no means an easy task. It’s a completely different ball game for the top few schools, and if you’re under time constraints, as I was, or are unsure of whether “reach” schools are really within reach, then I’d recommend getting in touch with Angela or mbaMission to help them help you.

Angela, you’re a star – highly recommended!