Forum Home > GMAT > Quantitative > Problem Solving (PS)
All Reviews > Fortuna Admissions > Comprehensive School Package Reviews |
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by school email address [?]
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Taniel Chan
I reached out to Veritas early on in my business school journey and it ended up being one of the best decisions I made last year.
I worked with Taniel on the school-specific consultation for HBS and ended up being admitted. Taniel constantly emphasized the importance of telling my story, being realistic with my goals, and making sure my narrative and the way I described my past experiences made sense. When we first started working together, he encouraged me to not just stick to my original writing because I had already written it - he pushed me to rethink the entire process and rewrite. That ended up being one of the best pieces of advice I received in the whole process.
Taniel was always accessible, very quickly gave feedback, and was motivating and direct throughout. When I received an interview for HBS, Taniel helped me thoroughly prep and answer interview questions through a practice run - this was fantastic!
Overall, I am very grateful that I was able to work with Taniel. I highly recommend working with him!
REVIEWER IDENTITY VERIFIED by school email address [?]
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Taniel Chan
Taniel was my Head Consultant on a 4 school package (Wharton, MIT, Haas, Booth) and provided ancillary tips for me to apply to an additional 3 schools on my own (LBS, HBS, GSB).
Taniel was instrumental in helping me navigate and tackle this large task; writing seven Round 1 applications was never going to be an easy task, but Taniel helped me overcome it one sentence and paragraph at a time.
During the application writing phase, Taniel provided extensive support and guidance on how to optimise my written application. He certainly helped me put my best foot forward and I have no regrets about the final outcome (Offer for London Business School MBA 2020 class; still on MIT Sloan waitlist).
Overall, I feel Taniel did a fantastic job and I would highly recommend him as a Head Consultant and as a School Specialist, due to his in-depth, insider perspective at HBS & GSB.
Taniel is:
1) Very creative and strong at story telling - extremely helpful in crafting and structuring my application narrative arc by spending extensive time carefully listening to my stories and experiences. He picked out and highlighted the most pertinent points to include in my essays, which I would have struggled to do on my own. Through his suggestions and insights, my original draft essay evolved significantly throughout the process.
2) Eloquent and expressive - helped me bring my stories to life with great suggestions on vivid wording and phrasing of certain paragraphs. This allowed my personality to fully shine through in the right way.
3) Structured and supportive - created timeline and objectives “gant chart” to keep track of progress. Continuously encouraged me to stay focused on making progress, which enabled me to complete all 7 applications with time to spare. Helped me navigate this big task in a minimal stress manner.
4) Highly knowledgable about the HBS & GSB processes - was kind enough to give me tips and tricks on how to navigate these extremely specific processes. His experience and familiarity gave me confidence and comfort in my application; he helped demystify these blackbox processes.
5) Direct and candid with feedback - always had a substantiated/reasoned opinion on why he liked / disliked any sentences or paragraphs I had written. Gave thoughtful suggestions on how to improve the essays.
6) Always cheerful and positive - always a pleasure to interact with, was a big factor in why I chose to work with him over many other consultants I spoke with.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Taniel Chan
During my long GMAT process, I found Veritas Prep a few days before my exam and loved their Verbal content (I was hovering at like 38 and couldn't go higher. Went up 1 point with three days of their verbal content)
I wish I had prepared for the GMAT with them, but remembering that online content and that a coworker of mine had worked with their admissions consultants for her Wharton interview, I reached out to them for interview prep. I worked with Taniel for a 3 hour package as follows:
1st Hour: Crafting answers to tough questions/general career journey story telling.
2nd Hour: 30 minute mock interview + 30 minutes of feedback on answers and guidance on how to improve
3rd Hour: 30 minute mock interview + 30 minutes of feedback on answers and guidance on how to improve
Taniel was super helpful, supportive, and positive throughout. He spent time trying to understand what were core parts of my personality and my story to bring out and was honest about the process, what to expect, and especially in feedback. I don't really have "stage fright" and usually interview well, but my nerves and tendencies to ramble were tackled head on by Taniel. Additionally, the first two hours were over the phone, but since we were in the same city for the last hour, Taniel went out of his way to meet me and do an in-person mock interview which was particularly invaluable.
I am grateful for the experience because I think it made me more focused, relaxed, and confident. All important interview things! Fingers crossed it came through.
I recommend Veritas Prep for their consulting, but particularly Taniel, as he was so knowledgeable and supportive.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Heidi Hillis
I worked with Heidi Hillis through the Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package, and I am extremely excited to say that I was accepted to my top choice program, HBS!! I highly recommend Heidi and the Fortuna team as their insights, advice, and encouragement helped me highlight leadership examples and craft a thoughtful application despite my non-traditional and very technical background. She helped me reflect deeply on my past experiences and pushed me through numerous drafts to compose an application that I was extremely proud of. She also made the intense and overwhelming application process very manageable -- providing a clear roadmap for approaching recommenders, completing essays, and surviving the interview process. Ultimately, I was able to develop a story that expressed clear short and long-term post-MBA goals and I couldn't have successfully completed this process without Heidi's invaluable support. Thank you, Heidi and the Fortuna team!!
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Nonie Mackie
I mostly worked with Nonie on my INSEAD application. I also briefly worked with Caroline, who helped me polish my final drafts.
Nonie has been the real superstar in my successful journey to INSEAD. Everything about her is Gold! Her honesty and open-mindedness are the biggest hallmarks of her coaching attributes. She has been pleasantly honest about her opinions and feedback throughout the application process, even if that meant more re-work, drafts and revisions. She has a tremendous eye for detail and helped me rectify things that are sometimes easy to overlook. Nonie is also extremely open-minded, flexible and accommodating. She never restricted my chain of thoughts; she always encouraged me to write different narratives and her insightful critique eventually helped me select the narratives that best showcased my winning attributes and presented me in the best light possible. Although, I started working on my application quite late into Round 1, and hence was always racing against time to submit my application by the Round 1 Deadline, Nonie never allowed me to settle for less or compromise on the quality of any aspect of my application for the sake of meeting deadlines. In fact, Nonie powered me throughout the journey, especially at times when I felt that I might not meet the Round 1 deadline. Despite the zonal time difference between UAE and Singapore, Nonie was very flexible, responsive and her turnaround time was exceptional. Her feedbacks were succinct, crystal clear, and extremely constructive. Nonie leveraged her tremendous knowledge of INSEAD to help me create a bullet proof strategy for my INSEAD application.
However it was not all tough love from Nonie all the time. She displayed abundant sensibility when I shared a few of my personal stories with her. She helped me allay my anxieties and overcome my inhibitions. The mock interviews with Nonie were a lot of fun. I feel, this is where the student-coach relationship really came to life and started thriving on an entirely different level of comfort and camaraderie. Nonie's care and coaching was extremely personal. I could feel that she was really invested, almost like a stakeholder, in my INSEAD dream, and when time came, she seamlessly switched gears from being my essay critic to becoming my biggest supporter. She championed me and positively reinforced my thoughts right until the decision day. Her confidence in my candidacy eventually became the cornerstone of my own belief, faith and confidence. With, Nonie beside me, I never felt alone in the journey - She not only kept me in the race all the time, but also helped me get over the line. I am absolutely indebted to her.
While Nonie was the Superstar of my INSEAD application journey, I would like to remember Caroline as the real Rockstar of my application. Having been the MBA gatekeeper at INSEAD admissions for several years, and having shaped the application procedure herself, Caroline sprinkled the much desired magic dust on my application that quite literally transformed my solid application to a sparkling one. Caroline stressed on brevity, simplified complexities and helped me make my application a breezy read. Her comment's were razor sharp and succinct. Caroline's initial assessment and feedback about my goal was also a massive help as it genuinely made me rethink about my career goals, propelled me towards a more realistic goal and definitely helped me avoid any potential red flags in the minds of the AdCom regarding my post MBA employability. In the end when Caroline, who herself made the final decision for more than 34000 applicants during her time at INSEAD, told me "I enjoyed reading your essays", I did feel a lot more positive and optimistic about clicking that "SUBMIT" button, than I would have felt if I did not have Caroline's blessings.
Succeeding in my INSEAD application, while being a part of the most overly represented demographic (Indian Male Engineer), on the wrong end of the 20's, with a modest GMAT score, a young family, a very demanding work schedule, and no plan B (INSEAD was the only school I applied to) could not have been possible had it not been for Nonie and Caroline, and Matt (who posited a reservoir of optimism, faith, belief and encouragement in me right at the beginning, in the initial free consultation). As Gordon Gekko said “The most valuable commodity I know of is information”, leveraging the collective insider knowledge of INSEAD was my biggest advantage of working with the Fortuna Dream Team. The recipe for success at Fortuna pivots on a fine balance between the various stakeholders at play - the coach, the mentor and the applicant - In my honest opinion the balance, as it is, is perfect.
Therefore, Fortuna's Dream Team receives my highest and strongest recommendation.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Taniel Chan
Taniel Chan went above and beyond in helping me prepare for the Harvard Business School 2+2 application. He gave me very high quality, timely, and definitive feedback on everything from my resume to internship opportunities that I was considering. He is very experienced with this process and made me feel very comfortable following his advice every step of the way.
I could always count on Taniel to listen to and understand my story, and give me personalized advice that you could never find in a business school admissions book. While being very definitive in his answers and helping me prepare the best application possible, Taniel was supportive and encouraging every step of the way. With his help, Harvard Business School's 11% acceptance rate seemed much less daunting. I would recommend his services to anyone who is seriously considering business school -- it is such a competitive process, you want to make sure that you are in the right hands.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Karen Ponte
I started looking at MBA applications last year, after a few years of considering an MBA an decided to go with Fortuna for some assistance during the process. After filling out the strategy form, Karen and I worked on application essays extensively. Based on my prior experiences, I filled out the essays and Karen assisted me in refining these essays, with comments sent to me normally within a few hours. The whole application process is generally stressful anyways but Karen assisted me in focusing on important aspects of the application. Karen was extremely helpful during the interview process as well and the mock interviews helped in calming the nerves. I would definitely recommend Karen as she was immensely helpful during the whole process, especially at times when you get a mind blank or a mini writer's block. The final essays were then reviewed by Caroline Diarte, with important additional input on what should be highlighted. I enjoyed the whole process as there were important topics discussed, highlighted which I wouldn't have thought about to state in the essays.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Malvina Miller Complainville
Malvina was absolutely brilliant to work with and I would highly recommend her to anyone applying to top business schools. She was always available to offer in-depth guidance (even at very short notice and just before imminent deadlines) and provide reassurance. She has a deep knowledge of the inner workings of top schools and I have no doubt that I wouldn't have been anywhere near as successful with my applications had it not been for her. I would highly recommend her to anybody considering applying to business school, especially international students for whom the whole process can be quite unfamiliar.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Susanne Peltz
It was a pleasure working with Susanne (and the Fortuna team) on my application, a genuinely good experience. She helped me look back at everything I had done to this point and helped me convey that to the admissions committee in a comprehensive and coherent manner. Susanne excelled at finding the balance between being a professional and someone whom you can connect with - she was critical of my work when it needed improvement and instilled confidence in me when I needed the boost. I trusted her with my application and was not disappointed. I was happy even before I got the news from the MBA programs I had applied to because I learned a lot about myself through the process with Susanne. I would definitely recommend working with Susanne and the Fortuna team to anyone considering doing an MBA.
Product Fortuna Admissions Comprehensive School Package
Consultant Caroline Diarte Edwards
I come from an overrepresented pool of applicants: Indian, Male, IT Engineer = 3 strikes right off the bat.
Given my handicaps, I realized to succeed in admissions I needed to work with the best consultants.
Seeing as Fortuna has a strong record I set up a call with Matt Symonds. Matt was so welcoming and helpful I decided to pursue working with Fortuna further.
Next, I got paired up with Natasha De Masi and Caroline Edwards. They setup a call to understand me and my profile better. Right from the get-go it was evident that they understood the challenges I had to overcome in my profile and how to bring out my advantages. Also they were really helpful in shaping my essays to make me stand out amongst the crowd.
I was incredibly impressed by their dedication to help me succeed. Natasha kept me honest and motivated to get things done. She has an incredible eye for detail and is a magician with words. At times I felt she was more invested in my application and success than I was!!
When I clicked submit for my application I felt that regardless of the outcome I had done my best and that working with Fortuna was the correct decision.
Ultimately I got admitted to INSEAD and given the odds in my profile this was nothing short of a miracle. However, this wouldnt have been possible without working with Natasha, Caroline and the rest of the Fortuna team!! Thanks Fortuna!!