The service that I received from SBC was excellent. I truly felt like they delivered more than I expected at every touch point. From the minute I signed up, I received access to many very helpful documents as well as the resource center and their guides. Most importantly I had my amazing consultant by my side. What I liked most about Karla is that she challenged me at every turn, She kept saying "you can always make it better" and she would push me to think deeper, ask more of myself. She was always asking me questions - why? why? that caused me to develop essays that were a lot deeper than the surface level stories I initially thought of writing. I also found the interview prep to be extremely helpful. I took advantage of many resources. I used their video platform, which gave me many practice hours. I also did mock interviews with Karla and did the group interview with Rachel. I was extremely confident (but still nervous) going into my interviews because I had practiced all of my stories so many times. As it turned out I was very prepared - I had several identical questions to what we had practiced.I knew that I was going to sign up for a consultant because I was going for top schools and wanted to give it my all. Upon researching I settled on three firms that were clear leaders. Once I talked to them all, I had no doubt I wanted to go with Stacy Blackman. It was a big investment but one that I knew I wanted to make and one that absolutely paid off as I am now going to Wharton next year.

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I worked with Karla at SBC and had a top notch experience. I had done nothing on my applications when I hired SBC. They came highly recommended from a friend and I felt very comfortable with Karla's bio and my chat with the SBC team, so I decided to take a leap of faith and sign up. What I liked about Karla is that she knew exactly what she was doing and she took control and led me through step by step. She was no BS - very direct feedback but she also was fun to work with and I looked forward to our exchanges. She shared my successes and challenges and I definitely felt that I had a partner throughout - a much wiser, more seasoned partner! She was extremely responsive and would even check in with me if I was falling behind what she felt to be a good pace. There were times that I felt frustrated and burnt out (I applied to five schools), but she was a constant and I did have comfort knowing that she was lighting my way. I received 4 admits, two of them with aid. I know that those scholarship $$$ were based on the strength of essays that she really pulled out of me, line by line. I would not have known that I had it in me and I have to say that I am proud of my finished products. I had a great experience with SBC and give them my highest recommendation. In fact, a close friend has already signed up for next year. Money well spent and if I factor in my scholarship dollars, it was an investment that has already paid very concrete dividends.

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