Couldn't have done it without her!

I met Angela through the Forte 2016 MBALaunch program. She was sharp, persuasive, and authentic. I respected her from the get-go and immediately felt like we’d get along. When it came time for applications and picking a MBA consultant, I knew Angela would be my top choice.

I have a wide network of friends/acquaintances that are in the business world, in b-school or are alums. As I was talking to folks to get a pulse of the different schools, I realized that all of them have different opinions which I was getting swayed by, and I needed a sounding board to stay true to myself in this process. A professional that would understand my life story, my goals, my dreams and not let me lose sight of myself as I applied – which is exactly what Angela did!

Angela essentially knew my entire life story after reading the 25+ brainstorming document I created prior to our first real call. She helped me think through the parts of my story that I wanted to share in that essay. My essay was a very personal life story about what I’m passionate about, why and how that came to be. After it reached a point where I felt it was final, I sent it to a 5 friends for feedback (3 applying to b-school, 1 at HBS and 1 alum). All of them had varying feedback, but they all said that I needed to vastly change my essay or at least ½ of it. One friend forwarded it to her brother. Her brother sent it to an HBS alum, who reached out to me and tore my essay apart. This was a week before the deadline, and he essentially told me I needed to start from scratch and apply round 2.

After hearing all of this feedback, I went back to Angela – confused and upset. I didn’t know what to do. Angela helped me process the feedback and think through it piece by piece. She fully supported me changing it if I wanted, but she helped me remember that this essay is a true reflection of me and my most honest and authentic answer to HBS’s essay prompt. I decided not making any changes to my essay and turned it in.

Ultimately, I was accepted into HBS! I was also accepted into Wharton, Kellogg with a sizeable scholarship, and Berkeley.

I know I couldn’t have applied to 5 schools during round 1 without Angela’s support for 3 of them. She helped me not only be true to myself, but also stay accountable. The MBA Mission turnaround time of 2 days to review submitted documents to consultants helped me not procrastinate and get my apps done in a timely manner. I turned in all 3 of my apps that I worked on with her many days prior to the deadline.