Five Stars - Melissa Merchant (mbaMission)

I had the opportunity to work with Melissa Merchant at mbaMission. I worked with Melissa starting in Spring 2017 throughout the end of R1 interviews. Throughout the process, Melissa was extremely helpful and patient; she was the primary reason I was able to get into my dream school of Northwestern: Kellogg.

For starters, I have a messy background that consisted of four different jobs in the span of six years. Melissa helped me craft a compelling and logical narrative that impressed the ad-com at both Kellogg ($$) and CBS ($$$)!

Melissa's two greatest strengths are her marketing background and her insistence on pushing for the best. After I submitted my initial stats and back-story to Melissa, she came back with 10, yes 10, different storylines to use for my essays. She has truly endless creativity. I would have NEVER thought to have written about the things I wrote about if I was completing the applications on my own. Melissa helped express my background into exciting and digestible stories, which is a testament to her background as a brand manager.

She also pushed me throughout the process. I was definitely frustrated at times when I had to submit the same essay for FIVE rounds of edits, but it was ultimately what I needed to be successful :) Consulting is not cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for and I'm thankful for Melissa and mbaMission. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is interested in traversing this difficult but rewarding process!