Guido is the one!!!

To work with Angela Guido is to have an MRI performed on your soul.

After a 30-minute consultation with Angela, I was stunned by the accuracy with which she summarized my motivations, character, and potential. Other consultants took one look at my stats (3.1 GPA, mid-ranked public university, ~600 practice GMAT score) and either steered me towards 2nd & 3rd tier schools or ignored me altogether. Not so with the MRI of Souls.

During our consultation, she saw right through my unimpressive stats and assured me that I was a strong and differentiated applicant for a top program, then provided evidence for this assertion by highlighting the strengths of my candidacy. Where other consultants were hesitant to provide too many details for free, Angela was generous: She gave me a specific GMAT goal, a short list of top schools with which she thought I was a fit, and guidance on when to apply, all during the FREE call. She was professional, affable, and direct. I knew that I had to work with her when, in one sentence, she summed up my post-MBA aspirations more precisely and succinctly than I had ever stated them myself – to her or anyone else, for that matter.

I was sold and signed up for a 3 school complete package. Given my budget, she assured me that after we worked together, I would understand the process and be able to complete additional applications on my own. We decided to work on Harvard Business School (HBS), Wharton, and a Master’s in Public Policy application at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) together. I applied on my own to MIT Sloan and Yale SOM.

It became clear how lucky I was to work with Angela during our first brainstorming call. She had me complete a lengthy questionnaire in advance – I was sure she would need me to clarify a few things, but I was wrong; She already had me completely figured out. She has this uncanny ability to channel the essence of who I am. She thought the way I thought. She understood my voice. She could articulate things about me that I hadn’t fully realized myself.

This was particularly useful in my case because I have an unusual amount of varied experiences in my background and needed help choosing the most persuasive stories to tell. She noticed this (of course) and identified several experiences in my life that were formative, interesting, or revealing. She then suggested a few different narrative arcs that I could use to tie those experiences together into an essay, and left me to my own devices to pump out a draft.

Working with Angela is wonderful, in part because she teaches you the process as you go through it. There is always an overarching strategy, and she will explain the tactics as she guides you through the process. She will not write anything for you, and because she knows what your best effort is, she will reject sloppy substitutions for your best work. The process is demanding, but it is a lot of fun. She roots for you. She’s in your corner. She pushes you in a direction that she knows will be authentic for you. She will give you a pep talk whenever you need one, and in the end you really want to make her proud.

I eventually got my GMAT score up to 720 and submitted all my applications in Round 1.

And what were the results?

I was admitted to Harvard Business School – My dream program! I was also admitted to MIT Sloan with a Dean’s fellowship (1 ½ yrs tuition: ~ $107,000). I was dinged without an interview at Wharton, Yale, and HKS.

HBS & Wharton were no surprise to Angela – She’d told me all along that I was a strong HBS fit but wasn’t the Wharton “type”. Yale made sense to me – I didn’t have a clear rationale to go there. HKS was a surprise, but it wasn’t our fault: The essay that she pushed me to write was a masterpiece. I could not have made a stronger case and never would have gone in that direction on my own. So if that application didn’t get me admitted, nothing could. I’m fine with that.

I’m sure that a number of consultants could have helped me get into HBS, but Angela Guido’s services stand out because in addition to helping me submit the strongest possible applications, she’s also given me a bonus gift: A deeper understanding of myself than I’ve ever had before. This self-awareness leads to incredible confidence and is a tremendous competitive advantage.

So for anyone out there who isn’t sure about Angela Guido, you should be. A 30-minute call with her two years ago changed my life forever. It just might change yours, too.