I approached Fortuna Admissions wanting to work with the best consultants and resources to maximize my chances to attend a top business school. After interviewing multiple consultants, I was paired with Cassandra. From our first meeting to the last, she engaged me and my story on a personal level. She pushed me to understand my own story and challenged me in a positive way at every stage of the process. Outside of her genuine interest in understanding her clients at a personal-level, Cassandra is a master wordsmith. Through interfacing on multiple iterations of essays, we worked collaboratively on creating intellectually and personally-rewarding statements. Together with Judith, the team that I worked with at Fortuna exceeded my expectations. Every meeting was helpful, every question was answered thoughtfully with an underpinning of experience, and, most importantly, every interaction was a joy. I would recommend them to all.

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From the initial consultation, Michel and Judith took the time to understand my story, answer my questions. They spoke with me about my candidacy with confidence and enthusiasm, which I really appreciated. I spoke to a number of other consultants prior to deciding to work with Fortuna but my initial conversations with Michel and Judith really stuck out. I worked with them over the course of 5-6 months on my application to Columbia.

From the strategy questionnaire to my essays and interview prep, Michel took the time to understand my background, strengths, and interests to help me craft a compelling story. Michel provided constructive feedback on my essays to ensure they highlighted my personality and experiences. Michel kept me on schedule and provided valuable advice at every point of the application process.

When I received an interview with a tight timeline to prepare, Michel was quick to make herself available to put me through a mock interview and I felt confident going into the actual interview as a result of that.

I felt Michel was truly invested in my success and was very excited for me when I was accepted to Columbia. I would highly recommend Michel, Judith, and Fortuna to future applicants!

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While I am generally very organized with work, I knew navigating MBA admissions on top of a demanding job and other obligations would be a different beast. I chose to pursue consultation services to help with time management, "gut checks" on essay topics of choice, and guidance on resume and career goal positioning.

The main reason I chose Fortuna was because of the faith they had in me. When I was exploring consultation services, a number of places said they wouldn't take me as a client with my current GRE score, or that they'd prefer to talk after I took the GMAT. My school goals were aspirational, yes, but I knew I was competitive. Fortuna knew it, too.

Catherine was a calm, consistent, thoughtful and responsive guide. She balanced constructive criticism with encouragement and answered questions/concerns in real-time, even though I was on an hourly rate.

I am ecstatic with my results and highly recommend Catherine and Fortuna for anyone pursuing MBA admission.

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I didn't have the chance to work with Malvina on my applications, but had the pleasure of her help on my HBS interview. Despite her being located in London, she was highly responsive and flexible in accommodating to my work schedule to speak with me on the phone and answer my questions. Malvina was extremely knowledgeable of the HBS interview and was able to make the whole prep process very tailored. Based on my application, she was able to suggest areas of my profile I should highlight, what the interviewer may ask, and how to respond to those questions. The interview process is daunting, but Malvina was patient and honest yet supportive which made it all the more enjoyable. I couldn't have gotten into HBS without her help and I 100% would recommend Malvina!

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I paid for the 2 school package after fantastic conversations with the sales consultant from Fortuna. I think the fantastic ended there.
I was applying to the mid career programs and I wanted guidance on the whole process as I am away from the academic scene for 15 years. A big questionnaire came in the email once the fees was paid. I filled part of it asking for help in filling it more based on discussions with the coach. A call was scheduled which never happened. (I am on UTC and the coach on UTC-7 i think). And then no response. I tried restarting conversation with some more info from my side - resume, etc. Got partial feedback from another team member. But then the coach has no more response. My admission deadlines looming, I put together the application with my own understanding of the process based on webinars and blogs. Just 1 school. 2nd school is not on track anymore.
The main reason for me for choosing Fortuna is to be able to help with the process itself, finalising schools, putting a framework to bring all resources at one place and then finally the right cases/anecdotes to use. None was achieved.
I wrote to them after a few months telling them that no service was rendered to me and explaining my disappointment. After 3 weeks, Matt wrote back saying he could have been more involved and that this was a partnership and letting me know they are there to help. After 3 weeks. I responded the same day with more clear response showing why I thought Fortuna failed me. And asking for a refund. Well it has been 4 weeks and I wait for the super fast team at Fortuna to write back. My usually lightning fast sales consultant on copy has not had anything to add.
Overall, if I had to spend 6,500 bucks on a consultant, I wouldn't chose Fortuna. I saw great reviews for Fortuna from regular MBA aspirants. I would assume they still hold true. After all Fortuna is the most premium service on the market - they must be doing something right. With me though it was all downhill. And my general advice will be to pay in parts to at least have a service guarantee.

Edit: Fortuna has been very responsive to my comments and I was contacted by Matt Symonds who had tried reaching me earlier at an incorrect email address. Fortuna has refunded my fees and also offered coaching for the 2nd school and interview coaching for the 1st school free of charge. It is heartening to see the effort even though they missed the mark first time around.

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I worked with Michel from early on my decision to apply for B-school. I knew that I was going to apply Round 1 and that I would be on the younger side if accepted by the schools I wanted to get into. So I did my extensive research and chatted with 6 different consulting agencies before finally choosing Fortuna.

What really set Fortuna apart from the other agencies is the level of care and detail Michel went into crafting my story. I come from a traditional consulting background but I was looking to make a career pivot with my MBA to go into something a lot more untraditional. Michel spent hours on the phone with me really dissecting why and how I came to the conclusion that business school is the right move at this stage of my career. Once that was set, we went about creating the right narrative for my applications.

Throughout the process, Michel was extremely responsive and provided strong feedback on my essays, resume, video interviews, in person interviews, recommender selection etc. Along every step of the process it became very obvious how experienced and knowledgeable Michel was with this entire MBA process. And because we started very early in the year, the pace was very manageable and at no time was I overwhelmed or stressed out.

I found it very helpful that Michel knew me very well and was able to call back on all of my extracurriculars in order to help prep me from the essays to the interviews. After each interview, Michel and I called to debrief and prep for the next one.

Ultimately I was admitted to 2 schools and waitlisted for my third! All top 10 programs! I'm thrilled and could not have done this without the expertise of Michel. If you're looking for a compassionate, understanding, patient and knowledgeable MBA consultant, Michel is the way to go!

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My experience working with Fortuna and Jessica was fantastic! Despite purchasing a limited number of hours fairly last minute, Jessica was extremely responsive and hands on in her approach. She was thoughtful from both a strategy and editing perspective, and it certainly helped me get my apps done on time.

Jessica was also helpful in providing resources to assist with the interview even if it was not the primary focus of my work with her. If there were any area to improve, it would be more recommendations about content. However, overall it was a truly fantastic experience and I would recommend her and Fortuna to any applicant applying to business school.

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I enjoyed working with Fortuna from my first interaction with Matt. They provided loads of advice on the first intro call - far more than other consulting firms I spoke with - and sold me quickly. My consultant, Sharon, was personable and helpful throughout the process. It was tougher than usual because we lived in time zones 14 hours apart, but she regularly scheduled calls in her evenings because it was more convenient for me. I appreciated her pushing me to re-work my essays multiple times. Would recommend the services, particularly for school selection and keeping me on a steady schedule to get my applications in on time.

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Working with Karen was great, she was hugely supportive, knowledgeable and helpful. Additionally, I got into my top choice and I am thrilled about that. Would absolutely recommend working with Karen in the future. She responded quickly, happily answered all of my questions, and had a lot of background on the program and plenty of insights into the strategy for managing applications and prioritizing programs. So thankful to Karen for all of her support and insight during this lengthy and time consuming process. Really appreciated all of the help during the application process because there were moments when it was challenging and difficult.

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I was hesitant to pay the hefty price tag for the full package with Fortuna, but they have delivered over and above what I expected.

I was lucky to work with Melissa Jones who has unparalleled insight into the admissions process which is clear in her invaluable feedback on the essays.

However, I believe that Melissa's true strength as a coach was her ability to get me through the self-doubt, writer's block and the numerous other obstacles that had almost caused me to give up on the application entirely.

Melissa showed a balance of patience and persistent encouragement, intuitively knowing to send amazing motivational videos and mental hacks that helped me work through the things that were holding me back.

With her support, I actually ended up enjoying the application process and was very proud of the final result. I also got admitted into my dream school!

I could not have asked for a better coach.

She genuinely cared, was very insightful and knowledgeable, and showed diligent attention to the slightest detail.

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