I had started my journey of applying to business schools with a different consultant from another company but didn’t achieve any tangible outcomes. After working with Harshad, I could tell the difference in the quality of work. From the first call, Harshad provided me great advice on how to choose the programs that would best fit my career goals. I had a broad idea of what I wanted to achieve from a macro perspective, however Harshad helped me figure out how to narrow down my goals and bring out my life stories. He helped me organize my thinking process and structure my applications holistically. He was always very honest with his opinion and never sugarcoated my work just to make me feel better, until I presented the work with the highest quality. His feedback and editing style motivated me to present the best quality of work; my essays produced terrific content and flow. Whenever I was stuck with an essay question by not tackling the point, he would schedule a meeting to make sure I would tackle that point correctly. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to complete the process with such quality and get into my school of choice without Harshad. I highly recommend Harshad as your consultant to ensure a smooth process to complete your application!

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If you're anything like me, hiring a consultant seems a bit extra. I figured I could write decently well on my own, my resume was okay, and the interviews won’t be that bad. So why should I pay so much money for what I anticipated would be only marginal improvements to my overall application? Well, after working with Harshad, I can tell you exactly why.

Essays: Harshad takes a deep look at your life story (personal and professional) to pull-out the anecdotes that will resonate best with the AdComs. My instincts were totally off at first, but Harshad’s knowledge of each school’s specific essays saved me from writing about something that wouldn’t hit home. After that, every round of editing was thorough. Harshad does an excellent job of trimming extra words to make the word count without trimming important content. His email responses were very fast (<1 working day normally, 2 days max).

Resume: Harshad provides an excellent resume template and knows how to rephrase bullets to make them more punchy.

Other application parts: Harshad reviewed all the short answer questions in my application too. Same treatment as the resume. Very worth it.

Recommenders: Harshad provided a thorough guide for working with recommenders. This advice is 100% worth following. He also helped me manage one recommender who had limited English writing proficiency.

Interview prep: I practiced interviewing with friends and family, but nothing was more valuable than Harshad’s mock-interviews. He asked realistic questions, provided candid feedback, and tested me similarly to the real interviews. This was perhaps the most important part of the whole package.

Professionalism: Harshad responded incredibly quickly. Even when I was behind on my work with deadlines approaching quickly, Harshad always responded immediately (whether holiday, weekend, or the middle of the night in his time zone)! His responses were always thorough. Also, I live and work 5-8 time zones away from Harshad, but he was always flexible about scheduling meetings to accommodate my needs. Most importantly, Harshad is candid without being rude. He tells you what you need to hear.

Overall, I’m quite sure I would not have gotten into any M7s without Harshad’s help. Even if he charged double, I would still pick Harshad again.

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Harshad was there for me in every step of the process, from explicitly choosing the schools with the best academic and social fit to getting interview invites from 3 M7 schools, and eventually, an admit from one.

Given the reflective nature of the MBA application, I wanted to work with someone who genuinely understood my history and vision, i.e. I wasn't just another client for them. After talking to several consultants (who constantly suggested that I shouldn't aim for M7 schools), Harshad was the only consultant who highlighted the positive aspects of my applications during our first consultation. After that, it was an easy choice. He and I worked on five schools, and I eventually got into the school of my choice.

Harshad believed in me, pushed me to give my best, from essays to interviews and was a constant support during the emotional rollercoaster of the application process. He went above and beyond and took calls even on the weekends as we pushed closer to the deadlines. Not once did I have any issues with turnaround time.

His stellar advocacy has exceeded my high expectations. I highly recommend him!

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Great and thoughtful advice throughout the application process. Harshad reshaped my application to make it more on point and overall it was a great experience to work with him and would recommend him highly to others. He really helped to improve my application which allowed me to get an admit from a top top school and put on the waitlist for the top school! Thanks again Harshad. His advice and feedback was direct, honest and most of all very useful on a holistic basis for the applications. The MBA application is a daunting process so its great to work with someone who knows the ins and outs of the whole process.

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Applying during the most competitive admissions seasons was excruciating. However, Harshad's constant support and honest feedback helped me to stay on track. Moreover, Harshad is very dedicated to his clients. There have been many instances when I was very close to the deadline and Harshad turned over his feedbacks even during weekends and holidays. Harshad is also very empathetic and that helps to bring out our originality when writing the essays. He also goes above and beyond in giving suggestions to schools that I applied to on my own. Finally, Harshad also showed genuine interest in my career goal and helped me to tailor my essays accordingly, and suggested I apply to schools that I hadn't even considered before talking to him.

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Harshad is one of those no-nonsense and to-the-point coaches that will help you level up your MBA apps. From the time we first spoke during the free consultation, Harshad was genuine and empathetic with me about my ambitions and how to turn them into reality. His feedback and editing work on the essays was by far the most value-added aspect of the consultation, which turned my VERY rough drafts into essays with substance, relevance, and flow. He is extremely adept at breaking down the essay questions and what the ad coms are looking for in response so that your essay responses are clear and concise. He will work with you to revise your draft as many times as you need (believe me as I needed SEVERAL edits before I felt good about mine). He is extremely professional and responds sooner than the SLA time, and working for long stretches of time to help you meet your deadlines. Overall, his communication style and rigor is ideal and I would recommend him to anyone who is in the market for an MBA admissions consultant!

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I chose to work with Harshad because of his direct communication style. From the onset of our partnership, Harshad never minced words about my strengths and weaknesses, making it easier to focus on executing a coherent strategy to maximize my candidacy. With Harshad's support, the application process went more smoothly than I was expecting - he pushed me to unearth stories and anecdotes to use in essays that I wouldn't have thought about on my own and was receptive/supportive when I (on multiple occasions) asked for his perspective on differing drafts for the same prompt. Overall, if you are willing to put in the work to make your application shine, I highly recommend Harshad. His support greatly helped me gain acceptance to a couple of M7 programs!

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I can honestly say I wouldn’t have made it through the MBA application process without Harshad’s help; he helped me to believe in myself when things were difficult, to craft the best stories for my essays and interviews, to come up with the best strategies to deliver results, and so much more. In the end, I ended up getting accepted to two of my top schools, and I was offered a full ride to one of them.

I contacted mbaMission sometime in the spring (R2 applicant) as I knew I had to put my best forward during the application cycle as an older applicant (31-year-old); my initial call with a different consultant was eye-opening, I could not believe all the feedback I received in such short amount of time. She suggested having a second “fit” call with Harshad as we both had engineering backgrounds. After our conversation, I knew Harshad was the one I wanted to work with as he knew exactly where I was at professionally and knew where I wanted to go.

During the next few months, I worked on improving my GMAT/GRE and though my test results were not ideal, Harshad helped me to stay positive and diligent to work on the other aspects of my application and networking with my target schools, which ultimately made a huge difference.

Harshad’s feedback is very direct and honest, which I enormously appreciated as we worked on my applications; he replied to my messages as promised or even earlier, even late at night, during the weekends, and the holiday breaks. The first reviews can be tough, but that is the nature of his work as this will help you submit the best version of yourself. I remember looking forward to my calls with Harshad as they filled me up with energy and encouragement to keep moving, to a point where writing essays, even during stressful times, became fun.

In short, Harshad is a kind, fun, smart, and hard-working consultant who has the best interest in your success and the results speak for themselves. I will ALWAYS be thankful to him.

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I hired Harshad because he had a background in Engineering and Product Management which matched my academic and professional background. I loved hearing Harshad's honest feedback on everything I said in the discovery call. He understood my background, my goals and gave me a reality check which helped me make a decision between applying for a Full time vs Part time MBA program.

Once I decided which programs to apply, he helped me craft my Resume and Essays which were a big piece in my application. I always looked forward to his thoughtful, straightforward feedback which helped me craft compelling essays. When ever I was stuck in the process, he took time from his busy schedule to call me and helped me move forward. With his guidance I was admitted to a school of my top choice. At certain times he even gave me more time than I had paid for just to help me get to the finish line. I thought that was such a sweet gesture from him.

Harshad can balance constructive criticism with encouragement and also did not sugarcoat anything during the process which was exactly what I was looking for in a consultant. He always responded on time with feedback, sometimes even sooner than expected. Hiring Harshad was the best decision in the MBA application process. I highly recommended hiring him if you want someone who can give you a honest assessment of your current situation and also help you being out the best of you in the essays. I plan to buy more time with Harshad to get his take on how to choose between multiple admits which was something I hadn't even planned for.

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Harshad helped me get through what ended up being a two-year process of applying for an MBA and I would not have got into an M7 school without him. I got the start to finish package, and deferred the first year due to having to retake the GMAT, and honestly, due to not feeling professionally or personally prepared. When I reconnected with Harshad last year to apply in R2, he was so encouraging by mentioning that he could tell that I had matured. During our first session, which ended up lasting three hours, I was able to unload everything that had happened in the past couple years and we were able to get a handle on the best areas of my application (short of essays and recommendations) and the areas that would require the most attention. I felt that I was in good hands.

Harshad is sincere without sugarcoating, helpful without being harsh. It's the reason I sought him out. Once we completed brainstorming, he not only went into depth in reviewing essays for my top choice school, but also reviewed my ideas/outlines for the other schools. His concise, honest advice was much appreciated, down to simple formulas for each type of essay question. Harshad is incredibly kind, but will not mince words in telling you what will work and what will not work. Applicants can greatly benefit from trusting his broad experience with MBA applicants and course corrections. He clearly explained how certain ideas would come off to the adcoms, and what needed to be corrected in my essays, and even what to leave in and what to leave out in my optional essay. He also gave me a quick breakdown

Harshad is also incredibly encouraging. I can recall at least two occasions that I was simply feeling overwhelmed and not confident, and he set up a quick call with me to provide me with perspective. He reiterated that he was impressed with the work I had put in and the strengths of my application, and that he is confident in me.

In short, if you appreciate someone who can deftly balance encouragement with constructive criticism, and someone who can help you stay focused on the prize, I highly recommend Harshad as your MBA consultant.

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