mbaMission - Rachel Beck

Despite solid work experience, with an Undergraduate GPA in the low 2's I knew that if I was going to have any chance of obtaining admission somewhere I was going to need to be able to tell my story incredibly well.

As I scanned the profiles of consultants to work with, Rachel immediately stood out. With a background in financial journalism, I knew that if my story needed to be told well, she was the one to help me do it.

From the outset Rachel was candid and realistic about my opportunities. This was not going to be easy, and while Rachel was going to be there to assist me throughout the process, she was not going to drive the process for me.

From our initial consultation through brainstorming and mock interviews, Rachel knew almost instinctively how to interpret where I was going with something and how best to reframe it back to me.

She was there to answer my endless questions about process, or strategy, to soothe my natural paranoia in overthinking every last detail. She was there to challenge me when needed, and apply tough love, too.

I had expected a fairly impersonal process, with someone to act as a sounding board. Instead, Rachel sought to get to know me, personally, to understand my motivations, and talk through *why* I wanted to do these things to help clarify my own thinking.

Rachel half-jokes that she feels like the den-mother to her clients. She means it. She e-mailed the other day, months after we were done, just to check in amidst the COVID crisis. I find that pretty revealing.

And oh by the way, I was accepted to every school that I applied to.