A colleague who got admitted to INSEAD recommended Fortuna to me. Cassandra made me feel very comfortable during our first conversation and I thought I could work well with her. Cassandra and the entire Fortuna team have superb insight into the admissions process, particularly for LBS and INSEAD, and work very hard to bring out your story and differentiate it from other applicants. This was particularly relevant for me as I come from an overrepresented applicant pool. The process was very intense and comprehensive - Fortuna ask you to fill out a positioning doc before you start which itself takes about a week to fill out. Despite tight deadlines and multiple iterations, Cassandra was always available on email and phone to provide inputs and guidance. Even during the interview phase, Cassandra took several mock interviews to make sure I was comfortable with all sorts of questions. No one can substitute the hard work that candidates themselves have to put into a successful application but Fortuna can definitely help you utilise your time efficiently and give your effort the right direction

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Fortuna - easily one of the best admissions consultant teams, by far, if not the best.

Emma and Amy both worked with me together, with Emma as Strategy Director and Amy as Day-to-Day Consultant.

Amy - is a detail oriented perfectionist, the most professional coach, and the warmest friend you want fighting your corner, especially if the school is LBS. She is honest, thorough, organised and challenges you to do better and better.
My Fortuna team was Emma (Emma's review written below) and Amy.
Amy was my day-to-day admissions coach, who from the get-go took a deep dive into my "brand". I had filled in Fortuna's self-reflection document in tedious detail, and yet, from her first read and our first chat, Amy had accurately worked out who I was and what my brand was. From that first "strategy chat" we had, I was at ease knowing I was in incredibly adept hands. While Emma was the overall strategy director, Amy was the laborious, detail oriented sculptor who chiselled away patiently and diligently at my "story" from the short essays, CV to the main answers. I think between Amy and I, we went through 10-12 drafts of each essay and 9 drafts of the CV before we both felt ready to convince Emma. And even then we tinkered away. Brevity is not my key strength, so Amy had to work doubly hard to get my key messages across while retaining all my personality. We rallied with essay versions seamlessly, quickly, and iteratively before we both were equally satisfied that it was the best final product. Amy is also a great mock interviewer - she goes into interviewer mode seamlessly and asks the deep, incisive questions you want to be prepared for and also the curve balls you don't expect. I always felt satisfied and ready after doing a tough session with Amy - and the feedback - wow so much detail and subtle points you'd never know otherwise.
When I started my application process I had one objective: to make the best application possible by demonstrating the best possible version of myself. Amy took this mission incredibly diligently and helped me achieve exactly that. I would like to add that I had worked with Amy (and Emma) to submit to Judge a year earlier and while I reached the interview I was dinged after. But I am in no doubt that it was the best application I made and the interview failure was more a sum of several things going wrong and my own circumstances. However, good things come to those who wait as the year after I applied to LBS and only wanted to work with Amy (and Emma) - I had THAT much faith in her (their) ability(ies) and the strength of our team. And voila - I had an LBS admit. And INSEAD, IESE, HEC! (Even though I worked on those myself, I had learnt enough from Amy to handle them well). All things happen for a reason! I cannot re-emphasise the admiration I have for Amy and her abilities. And what's more she was someone who genuinely and patiently encouraged me through the whole process.
You cannot ask for a better champion than Amy!

Emma - one of the most experienced, honest, and incisive consultants.
My Fortuna team was Emma and Amy (Amy's review written above).
My first contact with Fortuna was an honest, in-depth, and heartfelt conversation with Emma. I knew then and there she was whom I wanted to work with. She took the time to get to know me and my story and I could see her mind working straight away.
Emma's years of experience, solid expertise as a coach, and intimate understanding of applicant selection process (especially at LBS) shone through and through at every step of the process. As the director of my application - she guided the overall strategy and read through each and every aspect of my application as the "LBS Gatekeeper" ie with the finest tooth comb and highlighted small, subtle aspects that I would have never identified by myself. She always added that back to the bigger picture and ensured my personality was well elucidated in the application.
She took the time to get to know my personality, my story, my motivations (both personal and professional) and pushed me to always put my best foot forward in every aspect of the application and interview process. What I really loved about Emma were her helpful pep talks before interview and her calming debriefs post interview. Further, I was a re-applicant to LBS and Emma really drilled down into each and every aspect of how I had strengthened my profile - including areas I would not have thought about. What I truly admire about Emma is her no-nonsense honesty - it helps so much and saves so much time when writing an MBA essay, which is already a very involved, reflective journey.
If LBS is your dream school, I cannot recommend Emma highly enough.

If top b schools are among your choices, I cannot recommend Fortuna enough.

And a final word about Matt Symonds - he is as astute as he is kind, and his team at Fortuna is the same. Whichever school, you can't go wrong with Fortuna.

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I worked with Melissa Jones at Fortuna who was perfect in every way. I purchased several services (Resume Review, Interview Prep and an 8 hour consulting pack). Melissa was thoughtful and efficient with my time and provided valuable feedback to help me properly apply to my two top schools. The level of detail was sufficient to properly guide my application, but not get bogged down in details. She helped me craft my story in a great way. Overall, she was responsive, worked on weekends when it was essential and genuinely cared about my candidacy. I cannot recommend her enough! She is a consummate professional and great at her job.

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I contacted Karen 36 hours before the merit based deadline for Columbia Business School. I initially thought my application was strong but after getting it reviewed by one more person, they insisted that I contact Fortuna. Now typically, 36 hours is not enough time to edit 4 essays and a resume. However, Karen worked expeditiously to give me consistent feedback until we were comfortable with my admissions package. We made the deadline with much time to spare. The most impressive thing about the entire process is that Karen helped me enhance my content without changing the core of what I was trying to relay to the admissions committee. I don't know if this can ever be proven, but I can honestly say that the input Karen provided me in those 36 hours played a significant role in my admission to Columbia. I cannot thank Karen enough for the quick and efficient turnaround! When the rest of my friends start this MBA admissions process, I will 100% send them to Karen and Fortuna.

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I wasn't sure how to navigate through the MBA process at top schools, so i decided to sign up for consulting services. And even though its pricey, I'm glad I did. Cassandra helped me with some career coaching and finding the best narrative to help me stand out. She has a sharp eye for detail, and is great at editing for prose, and helping your story come alive. With her help I'd say I took my work from a B to an A, which is what you need if you want to be competitive. Her industry knowledge really set her apart from other coaches that I talked to, and one great thing about Fortuna is that they have multiple specialists who help in addition to your main coach. For ex, I had a resume specialist help with the resume, a 2nd person also review my docs, and an interview specialist for a particular school that has a unique format. It was really a whole team coming together to ensure your success.

With Cassandra's help I got into 5 of the top 10 schools, and received hundreds of thousands in scholarships. I know for sure I wouldn't have gotten those results on my own.

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When I started looking for a admissions consultant for the purpose of my application to Schools of Business in the US offering specialized Master of Sciences programs in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, I stumbled upon a series of articles in Forbes magazine, which specifically mentioned Fortuna Admissions. From that point I understood that it is a serious company worth working with.

When Fortuna offered me a list of their consultants I noted that Jessica had an extensive experience with universities in the SoCal area where I wanted to apply.

After an introductory call I realized that Jessica would be the perfect consultant to work with during my application process.

Jessica proved to be a very knowledgeable, professional and easy to communicate with person. She correctly understood my background, career goals and motivations. This broad picture of my profile helped her give valuable advise on additions and corrections made to my CV, essays and other application documents.

Jessica's reaction to my questions was carried out in a very prompt and timely manner.

Besides Jessica's exceptional professional qualities I would like highlight her polite manners and wonderful communication skills which made working with her a pleasure.

Finally I would like to thank Jessica for her important contribution to my successful admission to the top-pick university in my list of options.

Thank you for helping my dream come true!

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I highly recommend working with Emma, especially for those with LBS at the top of the list. I'm coming to business school from a non-traditional MBA background and initially felt very intimated by the process - I knew it was the right next step in my career, but still felt a bit out of place among the consultants, bankers, etc. When I came to Emma and the Fortuna admissions team, I immediately felt that I was in good hands. They took the time to become acquainted with me and my background, and knew how to translate my experience into recognizable achievements to business schools. Emma helped me reflect on my career journey, craft my story and materialize my goals -- she tested me and poked holes in my story and goals until they were rock solid. Her in-depth knowledge of LBS is invaluable and she helped me understand the behind the scenes process. Emma kept my expectations realistic throughout the process and always gave excellent feedback. In her feedback, she not only tells you to change something, but why that change is important and how adjusting will serve you in your application. I especially appreciated an instance where she pushed me to rework a particular essay -- it was a few days out from the deadline and the essay was technically fine, but she knew I was a better writer than that. The final essay was significantly stronger than what I almost turned in and that wouldn't have happened without her guidance. Most importantly, in working with Emma I gained confidence in myself as an applicant. She helped me see my strengths and understand that I had a place in a top school, despite my non-traditional background. I think this confidence showed up not only in my application, but also in my interview and interactions with the admissions committee and current students. Working with Emma and the Fortuna team resulted in admission to LBS, NYU Stern, Georgetown McDonough and McCombs at UT at Austin. While application consulting is an investment, I firmly believe that working with Emma and the Fortuna team is worth every penny and cannot recommend them enough.

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Simply put, Sharon is awesome and she really knows how to navigate MBA application process successfully and with the least amount of stress (trust me, this part is so important)! Her continuous guidance and support played a decisive role in my acceptance to Haas, Kellogg and Fuqua FT MBA programs and I am so grateful to Sharon for helping me realise my dream.

I approached Fortuna admissions about 6 weeks before my first deadline and I was immediately paired with Sharon. I was worried that we may not have enough time to complete all of my applications, but Sharon instantly put me at ease by clearly outlining our timeline and strategy for each individual application. At this point, it is worth mentioning that I worked with other consultants before and their “tick-the-box” approach really damaged my previous applications. But from my very first call with Sharon, I knew that this experience will be nothing like before and can only yield success.

In the beginning, Sharon spent time to really learn as much as possible about myself. I’m a bit of an introvert, but Sharon’s genuine goodness and desire to help put my best foot forward really helped me open up, making the process of pinning down my narrative effortless and enjoyable. This task was also helped by CliftonStrengths assessment; I never actually thought what my strengths were before taking this test and it was great having Sharon walk me through my results. Learning my strengths and weaknesses really helped me stay on track and keep a single theme throughout my application process. It also proved to be beneficial during my interview as I effortlessly answered strengths/weakness questions.

Sharon’s ability to deliver the message fully, yet concisely is second to none and I have absolutely no doubt that without her guidance on my essays, I wouldn’t be moving to California this coming August! She was always honest and constructive with her feedback and I really appreciated her flexibility with scheduling our calls (we had 7-hour difference between us). Sharon had no problem with scheduling multiple calls during the week, which made an entire process very efficient and allowed us to create multiple essay drafts throughout the week. This really boosted my applications and I was able to finish all of my essays few days before their respective deadlines, which definitely reduced my level of stress.

Sharon has an in-depth knowledge of b-school application process, which made interview preparations very efficient. She knew specifics of each individual school, questions they may ask and theme I should focus on to really stand out during my assessment.

Every single aspect of Sharon’s service was amazing, whether it was helping me with my essays, or preparing me for the interviews, or even helping me successfully navigate a gruesome waitlist process, she was always outstanding. But one thing that really made my experience of working with Sharon stand out is the fact that she truly cared about me and, more than anything, wanted to see me succeed. Trust me, very, very few people would pause their vacation in Europe just to check how your Fuqua interview went. Sharon also gave me personal recommendations about things to do in pretty much every city I interviewed in, so I could really explore the place where I may spend my next few years of life. This genuine care about her clients, as well as her willingness to go above and beyond, are the qualities that make Sharon stand out among all other talented MBA consultants. I can wholeheartedly recommend Sharon and I will be referring Sharon to my friends who are seeking to do MBA in the future.

Thank you, Sharon!!

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I had the pleasure of working with Melissa Jones at Fortuna regarding one of my applications for a top European business school (think INSEAD/ LBS).

From the get-go, I knew working with Melissa was the right choice, given the extremely fast turnaround time took to respond to my general inquiry and application-specific emails. In terms of content, her feedback were always spot on, detailed, and personal. I could tell that her approach was very customized to my story and that she really took time to understand my background, my motive, and personal strengths & weaknesses. Melissa and Fortuna definitely met my expectations and I recommend her wholeheartedly.

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I worked with Karla, Malvina, and Judith on my applications. I highly recommend this team! I was accepted to Wharton with a significant fellowship. I could not have done it without them. They spent countless hours reviewing my resume and essays. Their feedback was always spot on and truly shaped the way I presented myself in my applications. They also performed mock interviews that greatly increased my confidence.

I looked at several other consulting firms prior to selecting Fortuna. I am so glad I made the decision that I did. Their attention to detail, dedicated attention, and expertise is second to none.

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