I bought a one-school package with Nonie and that was the best investment I have made in my MBA journey.

Before signing up with her, I have read many reviews and contacted many admission coaches only to have most of them tell me that the chance of getting into a top 10 business school MBA program is slim due to my lower than average GMAT score. The first impression I got from Nonie is that she can quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of a candidate and come up with a very bespoke admission strategy, on the other hand, she also made me believe that I can achieve the goal.

Working with Nonie is also a pleasure, she is candid, honest and methodical. We have set many small deadlines for application materials and Nonie constantly checks in on the progress if my essays or other aspects of the application. On many occasions, she and I have worked out of office hours to deliver quality files before the deadline. The end result is, I submitted both my LBS and INSEAD applications a few days before the deadlines.

I also found my mock interview with Nonie was very helpful as well. I was initially intimidated by the idea of video interviews as I had no experience in the past, but working with Nonie who guided me through the themes of the and LBSand INSEAD video interview, I felt I was more confident and relaxed in my video interviews.

I ended up getting interview offers from both LBS and INSEAD and decided to accept the offer from LBS. I would like to thank Nonie for her hard work supporting my admission journey every step of the way and I would like to recommend Nonie to everyone who aspires to get on the same journey.

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Nonie possesses ALL the traits of an exceptional coach, she is methodical, organized, punctual, professional, flexible, candid, provides immensely valuable feedback, and ultimately empowers you to put your best application forward. On top of all this, she is also a joy to work with.

We worked together extensively on all aspects of my application, but Nonie's impact was particularly pronounced in my essays. I compared the initial drafts and final product and was amazed at the positive impact Nonie's feedback had on me and my essays. Often I found I knew what I wanted to say, but not necessarily how to best present it, and Nonie always provided her support to ensure my point was made. As it relates to interview techniques, I am quite a comfortable interviewer (making this more challenging for Nonie!) but even with a strong base, Nonie picked up on several small details which were difference makers that I had overlooked for ages - I still use them to this day. Lastly, I built a relationship with Nonie over the course of months of sharing stories, garnering her feedback and working together. I'm hoping to have the opportunity to thank her in person for her work! Nonie also draws on her experience with INSEAD, and stays in the know on updates and things to be aware of. While the MBA application process can be intense and stressful, I found myself enjoying it while working with Nonie.

Overall, I cannot recommend Nonie enough. If you are serious about ensuring you put the absolute best application forward, it is a no-brainer to speak with Nonie about how she can help you achieve your goals (and enjoy the process while working towards them).

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I highly recommend working with Melissa Jones as an admissions consultant. I feel fortunate to have benefited from Melissa’s expertise, guidance, and encouragement. I was recently admitted to my top-choice of a top-tier business school and Melissa’s support was critical to me achieving my long-term goal.

Melissa is the ultimate professional and will provide you with invaluable support as you navigate the often daunting business school admissions process. Melissa’s objective perspective on my application and areas for improvement were helpful as it provided me with visibility about what I needed to work toward. Melissa was also extremely patient, as she reviewed and provided feedback on multiple iterations of my application. She was always so encouraging and I appreciated her honesty.

As well, Melissa, along with the Fortuna team, have developed valuable internal processes that will provide you with the structure you need to successfully navigate the business school applications process. Part of this included a review of my CV, and Jody, Fortuna’s resume expert, along with Melissa, provided me with feedback that enabled me to develop a compelling CV that complemented my essays. I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience working with Melissa.

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After hearing about how other people applying to business school were using consultants, I knew I wanted to use one as well. When I first started looking at the different consulting companies, I had taken the GMAT once but cancelled my score because it wasn't in the range for the schools I wanted to attend (M7). After taking some time off from studying, I was getting back into studying but my score wasn't improving as much as it needed to and I wasn't sure when I'd hit the score I needed. Regardless, I reached out to a few companies and scheduled initial consult calls. The first company I reached out to didn't even want to talk to me because I hadn't retaken the GMAT yet and basically told me in so many words that I didn't go to Harvard undergrad and didn't work at Goldman Sachs or Blackstone so I had no chance at my top school choice. To say I felt demoralized is an understatement. I spoke with a few other consultants and while most were nicer, they pushed me to spin my post-business school goals in a way that felt disingenuous to the story I wanted to tell because it was what admissions wanted to hear.

When I talked to Judith and Karen at Fortuna, it was a completely difference experience. They were so understanding of my goals and how I wanted to convey them in my application and supported me in getting started on applications while also balancing studying for the GMAT. While I know many people navigate the process successfully without a consultant, I needed somebody who knew how to navigate it most efficiently that I could bounce ideas off of for multiple iterations at any time of day. Karen was amazing at helping bring the best content and presentation out of me while also helping me stay true to how I wanted to present it. Karen was a lifesaver during the application process. With her help and organization, I applied to my top 4 school choices in Round 1 and she helped me strategize for potential Round 2 applications that thanks to her help I didn't have to prepare. I was accepted in Round 1 and even offered a very generous scholarship and I really think her expertise at helping me prepare for the application / interview was key in these results.

My friend is also applying to business school this year and using a different consulting company. In talking about our experiences with our consultants, it's really night and day. Karen and everybody at Fortuna is so generous with their time and just proactively reaching out to wish you good luck with interviews / decision results and sets you up with everything you need for success. I would think that this is similar to the experience you'd have with other consultants, but my friend sadly hasn't had the same experience (but take this with a grain of salt, as it's just one data point).

All in all, I'm very happy with my experience. With Karen, I was able to tell the story I wanted tell and have a positive outcome. While Karen helped polish my story (and it needed alot of polishing), she didn't change its fundamentals. Her patience and care made me feel supported every step of the way. I think a good consultant is an unconditional cheerleader that's still realistic, and Karen was this for me.

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I knew going into the application process that I definitely wanted to work with a consultant, since I did not know anything about the business school process. Luckily, my friend recently worked with Michel and strongly recommended her, and I didn't hesitate to move forward with her after our initial consultation! My work with Michel and Judith, as well as the broader resources of Fortuna's platform, has been extremely valuable and key to my acceptances to three top business schools (2 M7s).

Working with Michel was incredibly easy. I found Michel to be very quick to respond, thoughtful, and honest. She would always find time for us to chat, even if she was out of town herself. I especially found Michel very skillful and patient with helping me prepare mock interviews. Interviewing is something that has always scared me, but after even our first mock interview I felt so much more prepared and knowledgeable about how to convey certain stories and how to speak confidently.

Generally I would say Michel took a lot of the stress out of the business school application process that I would otherwise have. From helping me brainstorm essay topics to pumping me up for interviews, and finally debriefing after interviews, I have so much appreciation for the care Michel took into being my advocate and supporter, and I know she will continue to put in the same time and effort with her future clients.

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At the outset, I had very high expectations because of all the great reviews about Karen and Fortuna. My high expectations were not just met but were exceeded.

Karen didn’t just help with essays, but she made every single part of the process advance as seamlessly and smoothly as possible – taking a lot of stress away – and ultimately allowing me to put my best foot forward. All throughout my time working with Karen, she really did care about me and worked very hard reviewing and helping me craft my material. She did so in a very timely, professional and caring way.

Karen was not just my admissions consultant – instead, she was more like a sports coach – she sat in my corner and her insights, encouraging voice and detailed questions helped propel me to a level I would not have reached without her.

The quality of her advice, MBA-specific knowledge, and essay reviews/comments/edits are unparalleled. She is also an extremely strong wordsmith and I’ve learned many things about writing from her.

Summary of key aspects of Karen’s help:
1. Resume – through phone calls and many rounds of review, Karen helped me produce a resume that I was proud of. She dug deep into my choice of particular words/phrasing. By listening to my career experience, she helped me select the most impactful things to show. All throughout the rest of the process, Karen retained my key work experience information and often prompted me to inject a certain piece of work into a part of an essay where it was relevant. Often surprising me as to how good her memory of my work experience was.

2. Essays – helped me understand and articulate my story better. Through many rounds of detailed review and questioning, Karen helped me craft powerful and compelling texts about my career journey, and why MBA and this school.

3. Biodata forms – similar to the above, Karen helped me craft the best possible content into extremely tight forms

4. Interview prep – I was invited to 3 interviews and was admitted to all 3 schools. A big reason why was the live mock interviews (including Wharton’s TBD) that Karen conducted with me. She would finish each mock interview with a candid assessment of my performance on each question. When the real interview came around, I felt very well prepared

5. General prep for MBA fairs – Karen helped me plan/refine/practice my elevator pitch for meeting admissions staff at MBA fairs

6. Fee discussion with schools – post-admission Karen has continued to share her MBA-specific knowledge with me, to help me navigate the complexities of deciding which school to attend and financial aid

7. Backed by Fortuna – Karen is amazing, but she is also backed by a strong team. Secondary reviewers performed a final review of all materials.

Karen was far better than other consultants I’ve seen my friends and workmates rely on. Karen dug deep underneath the surface, remembered critical details about me, and really pushed me to produce great content.

I can 100% vouch for and recommend Karen.

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Applying to 3 schools next to an extremely busy job (IB) seemed like a "scary" idea. Fortuna took away this feeling from minute one and guided me smoothly through the whole application process from strategizing and outreach to essay writing and interviews and today I'm admitted to my top choice INSEAD for 2021.

Cassandra was there from the start and with her kind and empathetic character she took time and truly understood me and my story from the inside. She helped me craft an application that I was really proud on and which 100% represented me while making me shine in just the way that the respective adcom teams are looking for.

Throughout the whole process, but particularly in the heated times before the deadlines, Cassandra was extremely responsive with reviews or answering questions. During the interview prep she tested me with all the difficult questions and pushed me as much possible, which set me up to sail smoothly through the actual interviews.

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Catherine came in as a blessing during a phase of high uncertainty during my college applications and careers transitions. Given that I come from an overly represented and therefore, a very competitive pool of Indian applicants, I was confused between whether to go for an Admissions Consultant based out of India or whether to take the services of someone closer to the ground based in the US. At the time I was exploring, I came across Fortuna Admissions and the kind of confidence Matt showed in my profile made the decision fairly easy for me.
But it was only when I started working with Catherine that I finally started believing in the power of her insight and the value of working with a Consultant who is so close to the Admissions process as she is. From school selection, Resume building, writing clear and articulate career goals and writing & editing essays, interview preparation to the process of school finalization- to say that Catherine’s calm and rather astute understanding of each school’s application process is very comforting would be a huge understatement. Not only does she understand your application in and out, she is always ready to brainstorm and reach the most optimal messaging to put in the application, as per each school’s needs. Catherine, through this entire process, has literally just been a phone call/ message away. She has been a huge calming factor and my backbone in this entire process of MBA admissions. I have calls from Kellogg, Ross, Fuqua and Tuck with scholarship offers as well and it’s all thanks to her.
For anyone looking for a guide, mentor and friend during the MBA application process, I would highly recommend Catherine. Working with her is like a breath of fresh air!
Thank you, Catherine! I will forever be grateful 😊

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I first started my business school process without a consultant. I applied to 8 different schools and got denied by all 8 without 1 interview invitation. I realized that I needed to do something different and did some research online about MBA consultants. I chose the top 3 consultants based on reviews and had a preliminary call with all 3. Fortuna was far and beyond the most impressive, not just in terms of knowledge, but in terms of optimism and energy. I knew it was the right fit. I had Karla Cohen for HBS and Judith Hodara for Wharton. I cannot say how grateful I am for the work they did on my application. I have probably spoken to both of them on the phone for 50 hours each at this point! I would even joke that they were my co-therapists. Both of these consultants take the time to really get to know their clients so they can shape each application in a unique way. The relentlessness both Judith and Karla demonstrated in the pursuit to get me into a school was nothing short of astonishing. They went above and beyond what I asked of them and next fall I am headed to Wharton. If you are considering any top tier business school I implore you to give Fortuna a shot, you will not be disappointed.

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Working with Fortuna was a great experience overall. My first Skype call with Matt went for 1.5 hours and we walked a lot about my background and the potential coaches he thought would be a good fit. I had my first discussion with one of the Fortuna coaches but didn't really feel any connection with them. After I provided feedback to Matt, he organised another discussion with Melissa. (All of this before I had paid anything!)

I had an excellent experience working with Melissa. She helped me identify the strongest aspects of my personal story and craft a coherent, concise and strong application. She always responded promptly to my communications and worked within my own timelines.

I only applied for INSEAD and Melissa shared with me INSEAD specific insights and Fortuna material crafted specifically for INSEAD applicants as well. In the end I was accepted to my dream school and am very thankful for Melissa's support on my journey.

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