Caryn was a huge help in my MBA applications to several schools including Tuck, CBS, Ross and HBS. I had purchased the Early Advantage package a year and a half before I began writing my apps, and Caryn was instrumental in helping me carve out a solid application strategy back then which we worked incredibly hard to execute as we moved into 2016 which was when I would be submitting my apps.

I had good work experience at a multinational firm with an early promotion, graduated from an Ivy, and had a vague idea of my career goals but my big weakness was my poor undergrad grades in freshman year. Caryn was incisive and to the point during our initial discussion, and made sure I understood that I needed to position myself uniquely so as to mitigate my grades situation.

Over the next year or so, I nailed the GMAT, refined my career goals and made sure I picked recommenders who would write great recs on my behalf - all with Caryn's advice.

When it came to writing the actual application essays, Caryn was equally on the ball and pushed me hard so that I produced work that I was proud of. I made sure to get her at least 2-3 drafts a week and she would turn them around within a day, which was an incredibly efficient process. My essays came out sounding a lot more like me than my first drafts, and I'm so thankful for Caryn's eye for detail and ability to help me figure out the key messages I needed to get across to the admissions committees in each of my essays.

I ended up getting interview invites from Tuck, CBS and Ross, and ultimately got into Ross and CBS - with a merit scholarship! I will be attending Columbia, incidentally my alma mater, this fall with a scholarship. I'm certain I would not have been able to get this far without Caryn's extraordinary help. Thank you so much Caryn!!

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I worked with Caryn at Stacy Blackman on applications to Kellogg and Ross. I wanted to use a consultant because I made a career change one year before applying to school and was concerned about telling the appropriate story. I chose Caryn because she worked with two close friends of mine who were both admitted to their top choices (HBS).

I immediately appreciated Caryn’s honest and knowledgeable feedback, as well as her awareness of resources. She helped me create a timeline for my GMAT prep and application process, which was incredibly helpful as we moved along. She was frank about my GMAT score and guided me toward the right resources when I was struggling to get my score up. We did a good amount of work up front to craft my story and this made essay writing, interview prep, etc. later on much easier to manage.

One of the most helpful elements of the SBC package was the Flight Test. I appreciated having another set of eyes on my complete materials and was able to incorporate the feedback from Margaret to tie a few loose ends with my undergraduate transcript and career change. I also benefitted from doing the Ross group interview prep, which helped me feel more comfortable going into that session.

Caryn was a wonderful cheerleader, while always staying on top of our deadlines and keeping me on track. I always received quick responses and felt like she could accommodate my schedule as needed. I am pleased to say I was admitted to both schools, with strong scholarships at each. The result well compensated for the cost of SBC’s services.

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This past year I worked with Caryn@StacyBlackman and was tremendously satisfied with the service I received. Her advice and guidance was extremely helpful throughout my entire application process and instrumental to my Wharton admission.

As a candidate coming from an untraditional background I wanted to work with a consultant who would help me navigate the application process. After evaluating multiple firms and consultants I chose Caryn@StacyBlackman because of not only her previous adcom background and brand management career experience, but also because of how much she cared about my candidacy. While I spoke with other qualified consultants, she was the only one who I felt looked beyond our relationship being a business transaction and would be there to support me no matter what curve ball the application process threw me. This turned out to be very true, as she supported me on eight applications and advised me on multiple waitlists.

Caryn’s approach to the process was very disciplined and detailed. She would respond to my emails within 24hrs and was always patient with my questions/comments. Her comments were always honest and constructive. There is no doubt that Caryn served as an excellent sounding board for me throughout the entire application process and I am grateful for the time and effort she put in to supporting my admission to Wharton.

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Investing in Stacy Blackman's comprehensive package was a wise decision, to say the least. I was admitted to two M7 MBA programs with significant scholarships. I do not believe that I would have been accepted to these programs without the help of Caryn and the SBC team, let alone with scholarships.

Sure, I spent a lot of money on the comprehensive package and some family members thought I was crazy at first, but what I spent was less than 10% of the scholarship I was awarded and less than 5% of the total cost of business school (2-3% if you include lost wages). It was well worth it.

From the start, the SBC team provided the structure, guidance, and strategy that I needed to gain admission to a top business school. At first, the application process was complex, confusing, and overwhelming - Caryn's wealth of knowledge made it feel surmountable.

From the high-level application strategy, timeline, and list of schools, to the nitty-gritty of editing essays (sometimes up to 15 times), Caryn far surpassed my high expectations. Any work that I submitted to her was edited and returned within 24 hours, she was not afraid to give harsh/blunt feedback, and she was very strategic about how to highlight my strengths based on the specific questions being asked.

Throughout the process, Caryn, Esther, and the rest of the SBC team were a pleasure to work with. They were very professional and, in speaking with friends who have worked with other firms, I can confidently say that they are the gold standard in admissions consulting. One important note is that SBC will not do the work for you, but they will help you structure your time and energy and help you hold yourself accountable.

If you are on the fence about hiring a consultant, I would not hesitate to set up a call with Esther and discuss your candidacy. From the very first conversation, I felt more at ease with the process and, needless to say, am very happy with the results.

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I had an excellent experience working with Caryn at Stacy Blackman Consulting and would 100% recommend her! I chose to work with SBC because of Caryn; her background aligned with my future goals and she seemed like the perfect fit for me. I am former college athlete (liberal arts major) with a high GMAT score, low GPA and varied work experience. During our initial meetings, Caryn didn’t sugar coat the weaknesses in my application, but I left each meeting assured that she was as invested in my success as I was and we would create a competitive application that mitigated my weaknesses and accentuated my strengths.

I was looking for a consultant to help me figure out my “story”. Caryn proved invaluable in this pursuit. She helped me articulate my career goals, fine tune my story and create a vision that I used throughout the application process. Caryn helped me overcome my low GPA and varied work experience. She was strategic in her thinking and was very responsive to my questions. We started working together early on in the process, and Caryn never made me feel like I had used up too much of her time. She forced me to push harder in my essays, and her resume editing was incredible!

Although expensive, I chose the comprehensive package and worked with Caryn on 3 schools. I applied to 2 others on my own. I was admitted to 4 out of my 5 schools and will be attending my top choice with a large scholarship this fall. I can’t thank Caryn enough for her support throughout this process. I don’t believe I would have even been admitted to my top choice, let alone with a large scholarship, if I had not worked with Caryn. I would recommend her to anyone looking for a comprehensive consulting service! If you are hesitant to spend the money, like I was, you won’t regret it. I am attending at Top 10 school with a scholarship and this would not have been possible without Caryn and SBC.

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Applied to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and got into Wharton. I applied with two years of work experience, on the low side, and although I work in finance I don't come from the traditional companies. GMAT 740. Caryn helped a lot with advice on how to position myself as an applicant, both from a big-picture perspective and down to each individual word on the online application. The company had some other good resources as well - a helpful wiki, solid interview prep, etc. The comprehensive service is expensive, but I had a great, successful experience and would certainly recommend both the company and Caryn.

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I applied to four schools round 1 for this past year and used Caryn Altman at Stacy Blackman Consulting. In short, she was fantastic. I felt as though she was extremely invested in my success, was very strategic and always steered by in the right direction. She was also very available and communicative. She always responded to my emails and was willing to hop on the phone when I asked her to.

I got into two top schools and was wait-listed at a third. I feel really good about how the process ended up and am confident I would not have gotten to where I am without Caryn's support. I would (and already have) recommend her to anyone looking for comprehensive consulting services for top MBA programs.

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I worked with Caryn through a three school All-In Package and I also had Caryn edit my fourth application on an hourly basis. I was accepted to three of these schools and waitlisted at the fourth (all top 7 programs). I will be heading to my top choice, Wharton, this fall.

As someone with fairly typical background and a low GPA, I knew I needed every advantage possible if I wanted to be admitted into any of top schools. After interviewing four different admissions consulting companies, I decided to use SBC because of their established track record and breadth of offerings beyond the essay help (the flight test, the practice interviews, the sample essays, etc.,). I chose to work with Caryn in particular because of her experience as a Kellogg MBA, a Kellogg admissions officer and a marketing professional.

Caryn was a great choice. Caryn helped me connect the disparate points of my story and establish a clear narrative throughout my application. She even helped me find a couple more extracurriculars to get involved with to round out my resume. I appreciated that Caryn was willing harshly criticize my essays, forcing me to push myself to write the best essays I could. Looking at the finished product, I would say that my essays ended up being the strongest part of my entire application

Caryn was much more than an editor. Caryn helped me establish a timeline and many benchmarks to ensure that I got in all of my round one applications on time. Caryn provided essay feedback within 24 hours, and she was quick to answer all the nagging minor questions that pop up during this process.

Caryn made this inherently stressful experience a lot more tolerable. Caryn helped ensure that I submitted the best applications possible and her unwavering enthusiasm throughout the process was equally valuable. I don’t think there’s any way I would’ve gotten into one (let alone three!) top 7 schools without Caryn’s guidance, and I would definitely recommend Caryn/SBC!

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Caryn from SBC guided me through the whole Bschool application process from the beginning to the end. Without her help, i am not sure I could get such great results.

I was a reapplicant this year. I worked with another consulting firm last year and got all the Dings. The consultant at that firm was not patient and the service was not at the same level with SBC at all.

Caryn is very nice, patient but also a very professional consultant who knows what's going on in the application world. I trust all her advice and she clearly pointed to me every single details of the application.

I was born and raised in China and came to U.S. for the college. My written English was bad, and Caryn did so much more work on the basic grammars.

Caryn was very assertive on my application strategy. She was also very creative on crafting a package that is totally 'me'. For example, when I was writing the essay for UCBerkeley, the question is asking me to choose a song that best describes myself. I picked several, but all of them didn't sound right. it's Caryn at the end picked a song that's exactly who i am. Even my friends commented "wow, your consultant knows you very well!"

I got three rejections before hearing any great news. At that time, i was super stressful. But Caryn always had faith in me, and told me to sit tight and wait for the good news to come.

Applying as a Chinese citizen and competing with millions of applicants from China, I was really lucky to have worked with Caryn and SBC who helped me stand out of the poll.

I strongly recommend Caryn, and SBC. The process was smooth. Caryn was super responsible, patient, knowledgeable, experienced, and sweet!!

If you are thinking of applying bschool, i would def. recommend getting consulting service from SBC, and Caryn!

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I first thought about working with a consultant for my application process when reading on Poets & Quants. It dawned on me that a ton of applicants used consultants, and with a few obvious weak points in my application I knew I needed something to help me look competitive. I ended up selecting SBC because of its historical success, and more specifically Caryn's historical success. I had pages and pages of material of people who loved working with Caryn, and when we spoke on the phone she seemed like a good fit.

Caryn was great to work with and very helpful throughout the application process. She was honest when I needed it and helped me select the schools that I would apply to, reviewed my applications, and helped prep me for interviews. I think I had the impression going in that the consultant would essentially do the work for me and tell me what my goals are - that's not what this is, it is YOUR application but Caryn and SBC are there to answer all of your questions and tell you when you need to work on things. Caryn is FAST at responding, every day I would get feedback on a draft and then every night I would send her a new one. She never took more than 24 hours to respond, which I really appreciated as I was doing 7 applications. More importantly Caryn is honest, when I came up with an idea that wasn't going to look good in adcom's eyes she would tell me to try again. Sometimes I would have 3 or 4 different ideas before we settled on something. In the end I have 4 admits, 2 wait-lists, and only 1 reject from my 7 applications. I'm going to Kellogg where I was even granted a $100K scholarship. I know that if I didn't work with Caryn to understand the MBA application process I wouldn't have received all of this. THANK YOU Caryn.

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