Beth Tidmarsh is a FANTASTIC consultant and I couldn’t have asked for a better one! With her help, I was admitted to 5 of the 6 T10 schools I applied to; moreover, I received SCHOLARSHIP OFFERS FROM EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL ranging from 1/3 tuition to full tuition plus stipend! She also helped me strategically select which schools to apply to with her, so that I could carry over essays and other application materials to other programs on my own. As you will see below, Beth is far more than JUST a consultant, she is someone that truly cares about the people that she works with and truly desires that they be successful.

I decided to use an admissions consultant after applying unsuccessfully on my own a couple of years ago. I interviewed 4 top admissions consultancies (as ranked by P&Q) before ultimately selecting Stacy Blackman Consulting (SBC). I selected SBC because of the open and friendly nature of the people I chatted with as well as the responsiveness of everyone I spoke with (which I didn’t get from all the companies/individuals I connected with). From the opening call, SBC made it clear that they wanted to get to know me and I felt an immediate kinship with Sarah Tsai. From there, she introduced me to Beth Tidmarsh—whom I also connected with very well—and the rest is history.

From the very start, Beth was happy to work with me as much or as little as I wanted. We communicated frequently via email but, whenever I asked if we could have a call instead, she was happy to accommodate, always responding to me promptly and making herself available if something urgent came up. Beth was invaluable as a coach and confidant and I would even go so far as to call her a friend (as we still keep in touch even now that my application/decision process is over). If I missed a self-imposed deadline, Beth would send me a note checking in on me but would do so in a way that was supportive and encouraging. This helped me immeasurably. Applying to MBA programs is hard and applying to six programs is almost overwhelming, but Beth helped keep me on track and take things one day at a time, focusing on individual steps and putting together an achievable timeline which we reviewed regularly. In fact, I liked working with Beth so much that I occasionally found myself staying up late to complete a portion of my application just because I didn’t want to disappoint her. (Who wouldn’t want that kind of encouragement?!) One of Beth’s greatest attributes is her ability to help you weave your story and to feel confident that you belong in the programs you are applying to, giving you the confidence to excel in interviews and other interactions with the schools you apply to.

Beth took a genuine interest in me as an individual and helped me to select schools whose culture truly resonated with me and that met my other criteria including significant scholarship opportunities and strong ties to MBB consulting. Her previous experience as Director of Admissions for Kellogg’s Full Time MBA program was quite apparent as she helped me to (1) understand how schools thought about different facets of my application (2) consider the content of my essays and short answer questions from a holistic perspective (3) craft “my story” and prepare for each school’s unique interview process and (4) negotiate scholarship offers following admission. Beth frequently corresponded with other consultants at SBC and even occasionally asked them to review different components of my application if she felt that I could benefit from an outside opinion, which I also found to be a great asset while crafting my unique applications to each school. In conclusion, I highly recommend both Beth Tidmarsh and SBC!

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I highly recommend Beth and the entire team at SBC. Beth was my primary partner throughout the business school application process; I was ultimately accepted to Darden, Kellogg, Stern, Ross, and Fuqua (with a scholarship!). Based upon my numbers (3.3 GPA, 700 GMAT, not a particularly strong quant background), receiving this many admissions offers at such great schools is something that I truly didn’t think was possible for me.

I was referred to SBC through a personal connection and, following an initial conversation, knew that it was the right choice for me. Beth and the rest of the SBC team struck a perfect balance between providing constructive criticism on my school choices and essays while always being immensely supportive. I was constantly impressed by Beth’s deep knowledge of the MBA application process and schools. I also appreciated SBC’s team-based approach. I always felt that I was getting the most accurate answers possible to my questions.

I was also incredibly impressed by Beth’s ability to help me to elevate my admissions essays, while ensuring that my personal voice was always coming through. We did a mock interview which was very helpful and played a large part in my success in the interviews to come. Beth also pushed me to take “Math for Management” which strengthened my application through supplementing my minimal quant background and helped me to prepare for business school next year.

Lastly, amidst the incredibly stressful and daunting MBA admissions process, Beth was an amazing partner. I feel that she truly cared about me and went out of her way to build our relationship. She has also helped me to think beyond rankings and to really ascertain my “fit” at each of the schools that I applied to.

I’m so thankful that I made the decision to go with SBC and Beth!

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Working with SBC and Beth was hands down the best decision I could have made and completely worth the investment! Heading to Tuck next fall and am over the moon!! With confidence, I can say that I would not have accomplished this without Beth, her belief in me, and the entire SBC team!

To give some background - I applied the previous year with all rejections and was feeling so down about everything. Through networking, I realized I needed help to tell my story and decided to explore hiring a consultant. I came across SBC and four other firms, and reached out to all. Only one seriously got back to me willing to discuss - SBC. At this point, I was feeling such a lack of confidence. Sarah from SBC responded straight away and paired me with Beth to have a ding analysis done on my previous applications. Sarah really got me excited about giving this process another go.

From my initial discussion with Beth, I knew that we were a great match! She had thoughts on how I could improve my application and believed in my potential for a top MBA program. That meant the absolute world to me, and I hired her for three "All-In" packages. During the course of this journey, I actually ended up hiring her for additional hourly support to help with parts of my other applications.

Working with Beth was just FANTASTIC! Seriously, there aren't enough words to describe just how great she was to work with! She ALWAYS had my best interest at heart and spent time to understand what was important to me and what I could bring into my application. She followed up before and after ALL of my class visits, interviews and decision dates - I felt like she really cared about me and my success. She went above and beyond helping me to make my applications as good as they could be and her meticulousness was something that took my applications to the next level. Beth helped me stay on track with my timeline and was overall a great support system throughout the entire process. I felt so prepared going into my interviews and ended up getting into 3 programs - Tuck, Anderson and Tepper. I couldn't be happier!

Onto SBC - there are some products that they offer that I found to be absolute game changers. First, their flight test process is SO smart. They had another consultant on their team - Caryn - look at one of my applications to give it a fresh perspective. We ended up making a few adjustments that made my application even better! They provide a mock interview tool and have a SBC wiki page to reference. It's really well done - and all of their consultants are the best in the industry. I spoke with friends who had consultants from other firms and they were in shock when I mentioned the support SBC was providing me. It really is next level, and I can say that you won't be disappointed.

I will be forever grateful for the entire SBC team and Beth!! This journey wouldn't have been as enjoyable without them!!

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I am absolutely positive I would not have received the admits I did without Beth from Stacy Blackman Consulting. While I was worried about spending money on a consultant, it was 100% worth it in the grand scheme of things. I worked with Beth on Kellogg and Yale, and I was admitted to both. I was also able to transfer what we worked on to my Stern application (goals, resume, job descriptions, etc.) and was also admitted there with a scholarship.

I looked at five other larger and boutique consulting firms. I felt like many other consultants didn’t care much about who I was as a person/what drives me. Some encouraged me to craft a story they thought the admissions committee would want to hear (for example, one consultant told me to craft my goals around ed-tech because it is hot right now). Others said to me that the schools I was interested in were out of reach, and encouraged me to only apply to second and third-tier schools. It almost felt like other consultancies would make you doubt yourself to get you to buy their services.

SBC was the polar opposite. My first call was with Sarah Tsai, who listened carefully to my needs and matched me with Beth. Beth is a former admissions officer and has an acute knowledge of the way the process works. She was direct, highly intelligent, honest, communicative, nonjudgmental, and just overall lovely to work with. She broke down the application process into manageable chunks and helped keep me on track.

Beth took lots of time to consider who I was as a person and what drives me to help me in creating an authentic, but persuasive, application. SBC was very honest with me about my strengths and weaknesses, and carefully considered how we would leverage strengths and make admissions committees feel better about my shortcomings (quant background).

It was incredibly helpful to work with a firm that has so much admissions knowledge amongst its employees. Lisa (a former admissions officer) did a “flight-test” of my application, and then I worked to revise it with feedback. I also did a mock-interview and got feedback before my real interviews. Finally, the SBC Wiki page is beneficial. I was able to read previous admits’ essays and look at banks of interview questions that other students received to help myself prepare.

I went through 12 versions of my resume and over ten versions of my essays with Beth. SBC focuses on every little detail, down to each 100-character response on the apps.

THANK YOU SBC!!!!

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Given the long, arduous, and mysterious nature of the MBA application process, I knew I had to hire a consultant - it was just a matter of which firm and which consultant.

I received a few recommendations from colleagues and friends. I made sure to do my full due diligence and spoke to 8 consultants at 4 firms. After speaking with Beth at SBC, I knew she was the perfect fit! From the get-go, Beth was a great listener, alleviated all of my concerns, and truly helped me strategize a plan to succeed in the process. Throughout our 7 months working together, Beth was there for me every step of the way.

I applied to 6 schools (I used Beth for 3), and got into one of my top choices: CBS! I am so excited to start in August!

I would 100% recommend Beth at SBC!

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If you are at all like I was a year ago – reading this thread and thinking – is it worth it? THE ANSWER IS YES. Stop reading and go book Stacy Blackman Consulting now. SBC was invaluable in enabling me get into my dream school.

One thing is for sure in the application process -- you are going to have A LOT of questions. Maybe even doubts or concerns. Stacy Blackman Consulting will have the answers that you can TRUST and answers that are tailored to fit your INDIVIDUAL needs/skills/circumstance. This will make all the difference in enabling you to present yourself confidently, efficiently, and effectively in your written applications and in person interviews. I was amazed by how much my consultant, Beth, brought out the best in me. I have to say if you are lucky enough to work with Beth, you have hit the jackpot. Beth was nothing short of a dream. She was relentless, professional, insightful, supportive, meticulous, responsive, and worked her tail off to teach me how to put my best foot forward. I truly felt like I had superwoman on my side through this process – there to save the day if I needed her, but all the while coaching me on how to fly on my own!

In summary, go sign up for SBC and don’t look back. Their guidance is worth every penny. When you get that acceptance call from your dream school admissions, you will be so happy you did!!

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At first hesitant to sign-up for the all-in service as an applicant getting going ~2 months before applications were due, I can't vouch enough for the value Beth provided during my MBA application mission.

Beth helped structure my story as a unique applicant (despite a traditional background), provided extensive edits throughout the essay writing process (and complete story revamps), managed my timeline to a T and made it possible to go 3/3 on M7 schools as a white male with a finance background (something that I believed had put me at a disadvantage). Beth provided realistic expectations, valuable insights based on her past experiences, and was incredibly timely throughout.

Her helpfulness as part of the all-in package for Kellogg resulted in me using some of her services (hourly) for Michigan and Wharton as well. Ultimately, I was accepted to all 3 schools, which significant merit scholarships to both 2 of the schools. I can't vouch for Beth enough

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Having been rejected by three M7 schools in the last application year, I was highly doubtful if I would be successful at my MBA applications this time around. My brother happened to recommend SBC and I opted for the 10 hour service. SBC then matched me with Beth and I cannot thank them enough for it. I have mentioned this numerous times to Beth and would say it again that my Booth admit would not have possible without her guidance and support. Beth’s inputs in every aspect of the application – Resume, short answers, choice of recommenders, essays, tips on video essays and inputs on how to tackle final interviews were highly valuable. One of the aspects that I loved working with Beth was she would push me further to draw my story out and shape it in the best way possible. Highly recommended!

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I worked with Beth Tidmarsh at Stacy Blackman and she really helped me manage the application process and feel confident in the application I was submitting. She provided helpful essay feedback and application guidance, she was timely in her responses, and she was proactive in letting my know when her schedule was tight.

I'm a strong writer but I didn't know much about what was expected from an MBA application essay, and Beth helped me put my stories in their best light and noted where I could add more information or remove confusing or unnecessary content.

Beth also helped guide me on what to expect throughout the process, gave me advice for my interviews, and provided support during the stressful and uncertain process of waiting to hear back after submitting apps and completing interviews.

I felt like Beth was personally invested in my success and her help improved my applications and gave me the confidence to perform at my best in interviews. I would strongly recommend her as a consultant.

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I worked with Beth for my Kellogg application specifically on interview preparation. Beth is extremely professional, patient and knows her stuff. I worked with one other consultant from MBA exchange and it was night and day. As a former member of the admissions team at Kellogg, Beth is very knowledgeable on the application process. She spent two hours to help me prepare for the interview and I felt very confident going into it. The interview questions was exactly what we had talked about and I wasn't caught off guard by any of the questions. I would really recommend Beth if you are looking for a great consultant.

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