My MBA admissions journey has been a roller coaster, and I imagine this could be the case for a lot of other people. After a disappointing 1-school Round 1, I decided I should invest in a consultant as a sounding board. I was not someone who had been planning to get an MBA since UG, and despite a lot of my own research, I still felt lost within the application process - what was the best way for me to communicate my story to admissions? I shopped around and interviewed 5 different consultants before going with Debbie -- I could tell she was personally invested in my success, and I could also tell she would be encouraging and confidence-building while also being realistic about my strengths and weaknesses. She was all of this and more. Debbie helped me sort through all of my experiences and really pinpoint a compelling narrative, something I was missing from my original application. She also was wonderful in dealing with all of my uncertainties and was always prompt in her turnarounds and responses to emails/questions. If I was unsure about something, even a response to a school, I reached out to Debbie. With her help, I now have 3 admissions out of 4 applications, all with merit scholarships (one M7 and two T10). If you’re waffling about whether or not to hire a consultant, end your search with Debbie!

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Debbie was instrumental in my MBA application process. I am a reapplicant from the R4 (Summer of 2020 Covid) who successfully got into schools in R2 or 2021. When it came to reapplying this year, there was no doubt in my mind that I would continue working with Debbie. She took the additional steps to ensure my application was better than the first, ensuring that any blind spots or weaknesses would be covered.

What I enjoyed about her was the transparency and the hands on help she gave with feedback and coaching. I remember one time after I did a mock interview and felt unsure of my performance, she gave me the reassurance verbally, even telling me to not purchase another hour since that is how confident she felt in me. That showed me that she genuinely cared, beyond the scope of a generic client, and that is why I would highly recommend working with her.

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Revisiting this review because apparently I'm not the only one that feels this way. Be very skeptical when you see all the 5 start marketing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MBA/comments/1eumo7u/debbie_choy_from_mbamission_for_hsw/

I hate writing reviews but this felt like such a scam that I feel like I have to help future MBA applicants feel informed by what they are signing up for. I want to be fair by giving the good and the bad, but ultimately you're going to be paying $5,000 not for "consulting" or "expertise" but for some broad-brush edits that would be indistinguishable from (or inferior to) the help you would get from a colleague or friend.

I worked with Debbie Choy on the introduction and brainstorming session. Style-wise, it felt like I was on the clock all the time and she is quite good at ending discussions. The content of the brainstorming session was perplexing as we focused a lot on high school things that weren't really relevant to the MBA application or the essays. Lastly, I was hoping to get a lot of candid feedback from an admissions perspective but it felt like pulling teeth to get answers to basic questions like what schools would be competitive. On the plus side, some of the materials she shared were relevant and helpful.

I ended up working with John Sisk for the essay portion. The positives were that the revisions were very timely and the first round of feedback was fantastic to get in the right direction. After that, however, each subsequent revision felt pretty low-effort, with unanswered questions, grammar mistakes, and generic template-like feedback. At the end the essay had all the soul written out of it and felt more like a "list" than any individual behind the story. Schools stress the important of being authentic but the result read more like a husk of a product.

At the end I'm not really sure what I paid for. My guess is that these guys are too busy or too successful and don't really put the time into your individual application. The timeliness and initial direction were nice (maybe consider their hourly) but I wouldn't recommend against anything beyond that.

Best of luck in your applications!

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Debbie was invaluable in helping me with the weak points in my application: making my essays shine and polishing my interview. With her help, I applied to four schools early, got into two (including my top choice) and got waitlisted at two.

I'll admit I was not a believer in spending money on an application consultant at first but Debbie tangibly improved my essay and helped guide me through my crazy ideas for re-writes to ultimately craft a really strong and compelling essay that got me interviews at all four schools. I really appreciated her process: saving time on my five hour package by providing a quick gut feedback over email and letting me rewrite, and knowing when to give broad structural feedback versus detailed edits.

The interview prep I did with Debbie was also so well-structured and helpful, and probably the best hour I spent. Practicing with my friends alone would never have gotten me the level of polish and preparation that I realized I needed. I'll never forget her advice - no one ever sounds too prepared for a question!

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My consultant, Debbie, was very helpful at every part of the application process. She took time to understand my background, strengths, and goals, and we worked together to tell a compelling story through my application. She responded to my emails promptly, and she did a very thorough review of all parts of my application. Debbie also guided me in brainstorming themes for my essay, and she edited my essay extremely thoroughly. She preserved my voice in the essay, while also ensuring that the essay was concise and hit all of the points that business schools are looking for. The mock interview with Debbie allowed me to practice my answers to common questions and feel confident as I went into the actual interview.

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I definitely recommend Debbie to anyone looking for an ally in the application process. From our first conversation to getting admission decisions, Debbie believed in my candidacy and calmed my anxieties. She was instrumental in helping me craft a story that was unique to me. I started with a basic goal statement that she poked and prodded until it was a compelling and achievable. She took all the ambiguity out of writing my essays. She provided structure to follow and key points to hit while always insisting on quality - no matter the number of revisions. Having an expert’s opinion and guidance throughout essay writing process was essential for me to feel confident about my essay topics and how they were conveyed. I’m very proud of the essays I wrote and I know they were instrumental to my entire application package. Thanks to Debbie, I was admitted to a top business school with a FULL scholarship!

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From the first conversation I had with Debbie, I knew I was in the right place. I am happy I chose to work on my application process with her. She helped me do a lot of introspection, understand my aspirations and find the best way to communicate them. I can actually say that this process helped me to get to know myself better.
I worked with Debbie on a three school package. I ended up applying to five different schools and got an offer from three of them. Debbie's feedback was very honest and to the point, and she really helped me to put my best foot forward on my essays. You could really see that she invested time in reviewing them. When it came down to interview preparation, she helped me structure my thoughts and boosted my confidence. Even for the schools we did not worked together, her advice equipped me with a structured process to outline my essays and prepare my application.
Now, I am glad to say that will be attending my dream program at a M7 in 2021!

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TL;DR: Debbie helped me get into HBS (my top choice) and MIT Sloan, and got waitlisted for Stanford GSB. I applied to only these three schools, and I have no doubt these results wouldn't have been possible without Debbie's insight and feedback on my essays and applications.

I first talked to Debbie over phone to see which service was the better option for me. Debbie walked me through the details for hourly and package options and at the end I decided to proceed with hourly service bc of my limited budget.

I started working on the applications around mid August and was very concerned about the limited time I had until R1 deadlines. Debbie ensured me that I still had time to bring up solid applications if I focused on them. I started working on my essays and had no idea what to write, and even if I wrote something, I was totally insecure and in doubt about the contents and the fact that they might be unsuitable for an MBA application. I went through many rounds of reviews with Debbie—removed many contents from my first drafts, added new contents, and improved whatever I had first—significantly improving my essays at the end. Debbie’s comments and feedback gave me a huge peace of mind about both my essays' contents and the their format, style. I can safely say that without Debbie’s comments and insight, there’s absolutely no way I could have achieved the results I got from these three schools.
Debbie was very easy to work, patience, positive, and flexible in the process. As mentioned before I started working my applications too late and there were many instances when I needed high-level feedback on the same day. Debbie was ALWAYS open to quick, high-level questions on certain applications questions I had or something specific in the essays I had doubt on. I remember I had MANY high-level questions just 1 or 2 days before HBS, GSB, and MIT deadlines. I sent my questions to Debbie through email and she always got back to me by the end of the same day. This alone was a HUGE help. Also, mbaMission has a policy that they would review the essay drafts within 2 days after sending them to the consultant. There were a few occasions that I needed my draft gotten back to me the same day or in just one day. Debbie showed flexibility on this when it was close to the deadline and gave the drafts back to me earlier than she had to. Again, a great help and peace of mind before final submissions.
In summary, Debbie was a huge help and source of direction both on my essays and my application questions. My experience with an MBA consultant and results I got couldn’t have been better.

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I worked with Debbie for a very short amount of time – initial consultation and 2 hours of edits - but she provided me much more than I expected out of such a short time!

When I had an initial session with Debbie, I knew mbaMission/ Debbie would be the right choice because she was familiar with application strategies based on my background (international student, finance) and I loved her positive attitude! However, I ended up deciding on a different consultant because I wanted to have someone in the same time zone to reach out to whenever necessary. Later, I had a couple of occasions in which I question my consultant’s essay and resume style, so I asked Debbie for a second opinion on my resume and essays only for my top choice school, Wharton. She got my "story" from my resume/essays and gave me some hints on how to convey real episodes that lead to my future goal.

I would highly recommend working with Debbie – even for a short hourly service – to anyone who is looking for a consultant. I couldn’t have made it to Wharton without her help!

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I worked with Debbie on a two-school package and it was a great choice - I would highly recommend her to anyone! I ended up being accepted to HBS and could not have done it without her help. Debbie provided extremely helpful direction and careful revision for the essays that we worked on, and her ideas and structures translated to other schools' essays as well, making the entire application process much more manageable. HBS was actually not one of the schools we worked on together, but Debbie was still happy to provide high-level guidance on how to structure my essay, which I deeply appreciated.

Debbie was always very responsive and happy to address specific questions on my essays as nitpicky as fine-tuning phrasing or grammatical issues. I came to Debbie with countless iterations of my essays and she worked with me to refine them until we were both satisfied. I also cannot stress enough how helpful Debbie was with the recommendation process, from selecting recommenders to helping them understand what skills and areas AdComs are typically looking for. Finally, when it came to interviews, Debbie's advice was spot on. My interviewer actually called me after my acceptance to say that the AdCom was impressed with my answers, specifically in the areas that Debbie told me to focus on. Without her guidance I would not have been nearly as well-prepared and confident going into my interviews!

More broadly, the MBAMission approach is extremely thorough and sets you up for success throughout the application process. The brainstorming document encourages you to deeply reflect on your experiences across all dimensions and consider how best to present yourself in your application. I ended up working with Debbie because we come from similar professional backgrounds, having both worked in finance and consulting, and also because of her considerate and thoughtful working style. I cannot recommend Debbie enough - she is awesome and will bring out the best in you!

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