An Intuitive and Inspired Guiding Hand

I had purchased a 2-school package from mbaMission and requested specifically for Angela Guido, due to all the glowing reviews I had read about her. As it turns out, I had made the right choice. Angela is positive without withholding constructive criticism that I needed to hear and that was exactly what I wanted. I already had two telephone calls with other consultants and one did not show any inclination to push me, whilst the other was 40 minutes late for our call and only told me whatever I wanted to hear.

One of the things I really like about Angela is her gift for reading people. From a summary about my history and achievements, she was able to assess my personality fairly accurately. This helped greatly, when it came to writing essays. I am fairly good at writing but like most people, I am not much good at reviewing my experiences and gleaning a meaningful pattern from them or presenting these experiences in an engaging way. However, with Angela's help, I was not only able to weave a compelling narrative but one that was also unique and made sense to me. She basically gave me a voice (an interesting one). It was also especially helpful that Angela is very familiar with the Asian culture, having lived in Asia for a while. This gave Angela some insight into my history, who I am and my actions, without my having to explain it all, ultimately making it easier for both of us to work through the business school essays.

Angela was my roadmap, in respect of business school applications. Applying to business school is a lot like learning about a secret society and the coded language in which members speak. Angela taught me to understand exactly what the schools want, to promote myself without being blatant about it and to find meaning in my career progression.

Whenever Angela was not entirely certain of something (eg. whether a particular school carries out a certain practice), she would confer with colleagues who have expertise in that school and revert, ensuring that I do not put a foot wrong. As you can imagine, it was very reassuring to get advice from a whole bevy of experts, when so much hung in the balance.

Angela brainstormed with me for my essays, opined on my references and looked over my application responses, all the while cheering me on. She was my number one cheerleader, always pumping me full of positivity whenever I had doubts and nudging me along, the couple of times that I lost focus.

More a friend and mentor than just another consultant, Angela went out of her way to take me and a couple of other clients for dinner, when she was last in London for business. I was really excited to meet Angela, as her warmth really came across on the Skype calls that we had and numerous e-mails that we exchanged. There was a sense that Angela really cared what happened to my applications and that she was interested in me, as a person. In fact, Angela was so concerned about giving all her clients the best chance in their MBA journey, that at the dinner mentioned above, she got her friend in management consulting to give us advice on our career goals and business school choices. How about that for going the extra mile!

Although I was not successful in my applications to either of the two schools I chose, this was mainly down to my middling GMAT score. I had only applied to two schools but these were both in the top five schools worldwide and one of these two showed strong interest in me, encouraging me to reapply with a stronger GMAT score. Amidst all this intense competition for a top MBA programme, it was Angela who gave me such a strong chance. I am forever grateful for her patience, energy and perpetual positivity, and I do not intend to waste either of our efforts - I will be giving the GMAT another go, to do justice to Angela's guidance.