GMAT Club

Katharine Lewis Reviews

Company: mbaMission

Spending several years reading and evaluating MBA applications for the Stanford Graduate School of Business inspired Katharine Lewis to coach business school applicants on her own for a time before becoming an mbaMission Senior Consultant. She has since earned more than 70 five-star reviews on GMAT Club, making her one of the top-rated admissions consultants in the industry. With 12 MBAs from six schools in her family, she passionately believes that business school provides essential leadership training for any career. After graduating summa cum laude from Yale, Katharine earned her JD and MBA (with distinction) from Harvard. She then joined McKinsey & Company, where she completed consulting projects for finance, forest products, retail and nonprofit clients, and designed and established two business-government advocacy groups: a roundtable partnership under David Rockefeller comprising the top New York–based CEOs, and a Washington, DC, coalition of AMEX-listed, midsize companies committed to pro-growth tax and regulatory policies. After reluctantly declining a teaching offer from Harvard Business School, Katharine practiced law with Morrison & Foerster before switching her focus to education and nonprofit consulting. She chaired finance at a highly successful start-up school, served on four school boards, and completed projects for the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation. Katharine also assisted Professor Kathleen M. Connell (the former California State Controller) in her finance class at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and contributed to Moving Up to Millions: The Life Calculator Guide to Wealth (Wiley, 2007)

5.0 /5 Average Rating
Based on 173 reviews
January 30, 2019
Gmatisthebest

Joined: Jan 30, 2019

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified GMAT Classic score:
720 Q48 V41

Katy is Amazing!

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Katy went above and beyond helping me prepare for the interview process! As someone who previously did not have a great deal of interviewing experience, I sought out Katy before my interviews - it was the best decision I made in 2018! She systematically went through question after question with me, helping me frame my answers. She helped me understand the interview process from the admissions committee’s point-of-view, and she gave me confidence in my answers. I cannot express how much her help meant to me. When you work with Katy, she treats you like family. She cares tremendously for the success of her students! Katy is outstanding in every way!

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January 28, 2019
rgtic

Joined: Sep 04, 2013

Posts: 0

Kudos: 5

Verified GMAT Classic score:
760 Q50 V42

Invaluable advice and experience

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When I first met Katy, I wasn’t sold on using an admissions consultant. I am so fortunate I did, as Katy was invaluable in my admissions journey. She made a genuine effort to get to know me and understand how my background influenced my passion for social impact. Katy provided tremendous insight into the thought process of admissions officers. Her brainstorming sessions helped me clearly articulate my background and aspirations.

Katy helped me craft a complete application, from start to finish. She paid tremendous attention to every detail of the application, which was particularly helpful in the short answers and in preparing my recommenders. Katy’s insider knowledge into the admissions process was extremely helpful in bringing my passion for social impact to life. Thanks to Katy I received admissions offers to Wharton and Booth, with merit scholarships. I would highly recommend Katy to any applicant.

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January 27, 2019
cris08

Joined: Jan 09, 2019

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified GMAT Classic score:
710 Q48 V40

I approached Katy for a two school package about a month and a half before the round 1 deadlines for HBS and Wharton Lauder. As a Latin American applicant coming from a traditional finance background, I wasn’t very clear on the messaging that I wanted to convey in my applications. Katy was HIGHLY recommended to me by 2 Latin American HBS alums and she definitely exceeded all of my expectations.

Although I was relatively late to begin preparing my application materials for round 1, Katy was an incredible resource. She was very knowledgeable about both programs and always made herself available to answer all of my questions. We did a very thorough brainstorming session before beginning to write my applications which was key to the messaging I transmitted throughout each of the applications I submitted. She also worked closely with me to device a strategy on how approach my recommenders.

Once I began writing my essays and preparing my resume and other required materials, Katy was always available to review each draft and very quick to provide feedback until I had the perfect application for each school. After I received my interview invites for both programs, Katy's mock interviews were on point and her advice was critical to my preparation for that last piece of the application process.

I would HIGHLY recommend Katy to anyone applying to a top MBA program. I am very pleased with my final results and have to admit that Katy was instrumental to my acceptance to HBS and Wharton Lauder!

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January 24, 2019
shmual27

Joined: Jan 09, 2016

Posts: 2

Kudos: 0

Verified GMAT Classic score:
770 Q51 V42

Best Decision in my Admissions Process - Highly Recommend

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Working with Katy for round 1 admissions this year has been great! The advice she has given me was invaluable for my applications, and helped me get accepted to two M7 programs, both of which with scholarship offers.

When I was at the beginning of the application process, I had 30-minute free consultation sessions. In these sessions, I connected very well with Katy and she gave me incredibly helpful advice upfront, before I had even chosen to work with her. I was not feeling great about my chances at top-tier schools, and Katy made me fee more confident. Once I decided to work with Katy, we held a brainstorming session where she not only helped me decide on my list of schools, but also went deep into my background and helped me narrow down really solid, coherent stories for my essays. Without this help, combined with her amazing assistance on my essay drafts, I would not have had nearly as clear and comprehensive essays. Her advice also extended to interview prep. She has incredibly deep experience with the interviews at all of the top schools and helped me refine my interview answers, making me feel much less nervous about the interviews.

Without Katy’s help, I do not believe that I would have gotten into Kellogg MMM or Sloan. I would definitely recommend her to anybody considering applying to business school.

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January 24, 2019
admit1992

Joined: Mar 04, 2018

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Best decision I made in 2018!

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Top-down message: Katy is a very experienced and fantastic person and you should take Katy if you want to get in to top MBA programs such as HBS or Stanford GSB.

I was not sure at the beginning if I needed admission consultant to help me with my applications. I thought that I could easily read all the tips online, ask my friends and create a strong MBA profile. I could not be more wrong. Application process at top MBAs is very competitive and complex. There are several factors that may influence decision whether or not people are accepted. Katy, as ex-consultant, is very structured, takes care of all details and put a lot of effort even in creating perfect short answers in the application. She was able to use 100% potential from my story resulting in acceptance to Stanford Graduate School of Business.

I was impressed from the beginning how she created my story during first brainstorming session. She helped me differentiate from overpopulated pool of management consultants by bringing several insights from my personal life. During the process, she was not only my real advisor, but also a friend, who helped to keep me up during the process.

I am very grateful to her (best decision I could make!) and I recommend Katy to anyone, who would like to study at top MBA program and need some additional guidance.

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January 23, 2019
jid24

Joined: Jan 23, 2019

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified GMAT Classic score:
720 Q47 V42

Katy Lewis is a spectacular MBA Advisor!

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In 2018 I decided to apply to various MBA programs, and I wanted to an expert to help me and guide me through the process. I researched and interviewed a lot of consultants in various companies around the world, and once I had my 30-minute free consultation with Katy, I was sure that I wanted to work with her. Not only was she kind and patient, she was honest and enthusiastic.

Katy believed in my story and I can honestly say she was an invaluable in my application to GSB, my dream school, which I got accepted to! As many of us know, applying to an MBA is a complicated process. Finding the stories you want to tell was one of the most difficult aspects for me during the application. Katy patiently listened to my story and helped me identify those stories that made me unique. I was born, raised, and currently live in Colombia, so I first thought that a consultant from a different country would not understand my story as well. Katy was amazing!! She helped me realize that coming from a different country was a special part of my story.

Katy provided wonderful insights during my essays. She was VERY patient with my constant emails and questions on next steps and new ideas I had for my applications. Also, she was very supportive whenever I had doubts about myself, and once I got invited to my interviews, I felt that she was genuinely happy because she truly believed in me. To me, Katy is a consultant that truly believes in her clients and their individual stories. She was incredibly helpful in my interview prep as well, making sure I stayed true to myself.

I want to conclude by saying: Katy was spectacular! I wholeheartedly recommend her as a consultant and if I were to do it all over again, I would choose to work with her!

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January 21, 2019
robertclemons

Joined: Jan 21, 2019

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Indispensable Partner in the Admissions Process

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Start-to-finish, I worked with Katy for 11 months on a six-school package with the result being accepted at five top MBA programs and accepting an offer to attend HBS. I cannot thank her enough for all of her help nor think of a better partner throughout the entire process! I can confidently say I would not have had near the success I was able to without all of her guidance and support to help turn my disparate collection of plans and ideas in to a carefully crafted admissions story.
Coming from a non-traditional background, one of one of the areas I was most nervous about was being a burden to recommenders - neither of whom had written MBA rec letters before. For me, this was one of the most helpful areas to have Katy’s support – she not only made it an easier process on them, but also allowed me to not worry as much about this part of the application. I’ve talked to both of my recommenders since the process ended and they couldn’t rave enough about how beneficial it was to have Katy’s guidance, and both rec letters were brought up by my interviewer at my HBS interview as well.
I can’t say enough about how thankful I am to have had her help throughout this process and would recommender her to anyone embarking on the MBA application journey.

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January 20, 2019
hammadrahman

Joined: Jan 20, 2019

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified GMAT Classic score:
740 Q50 V40

Strongly Recommend Katy Lewis (Re-applicant)

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I applied to business schools two years ago without success. Needless to say, I wasn't very optimistic when I decided to apply again in 2018. I had used a consultant for my prior attempt as well and wasn't too pleased with their services (I could be biased since it didn't work out that time) as they didn't even review my short answer questions.

This time around, I wanted someone who would work with my to make sure I had a holistic, well-rounded application. I'm glad I found Katy. Once again, I applied to four schools (three of the same schools as before and one new school). This time however, I was admitted into Booth, Kellogg, and Tuck. I can honestly say that Katy's help was invaluable. She guided me from the very beginning brainstorming sessions, to reviewing every single aspect of my application multiple times, and finally to preparing my for video essays and interviews.

Business school admissions are a binary result, you either get in or you don't. Even if you think you can put together a decent application on your own, that extra bump your application will get from using a consultant (especially Katy!), might be what pushes you over the dividing line. If you tend to be a little risk averse like me, or even if you aren't, I highly highly recommend Katy!

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January 17, 2019
cs4690

Joined: Jan 13, 2019

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified GMAT Classic score:
770 Q50 V45

No Better Admissions Consultant -- Katy was the best!

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I was skeptical about paying for an admissions consultant until I visited with Katy.

I worked with Katy on a two school package - HBS and Stanford - and could not have had a more positive experience.

As a re-applicant, I was hesitant to reapply. I spoke to 10 different consulting firms and was still torn until I talked to Katy. Katy actually made me excited to reapply and explained her approach to reapplications (she wasn't prescribing the quick "how about you volunteer for the next few weeks?" - she was rethinking how I told my story). After a few short minutes I really felt like she "got me."

Katy was the only consultant I talked to who had real experience at both HBS and Stanford. I always considered the admissions process a bit of a black box and Katy was always there to answer my endless questions about process and strategy.

In terms of working together, Katy was incredibly quick, sharp, patient, and thoughtful. I was stumped on what I could possibly write about after already going through the process once, but Katy was extremely good at coaching me to approach this application differently. I was most surprised by how she was able to help me craft my story during our brainstorming session. Throughout the process, she took a holistic approach to my application (thinking about the essay in the context of my resume, my transcript, my short answers, etc.) and gave helpful feedback in that context. Katy made the process fun and easy.

Overall, my only regret is that I didn't know Katy when I first applied!

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January 17, 2019
JPLL

Joined: Jan 17, 2019

Posts: 0

Kudos: 5

I cannot imagine a better MBA advisor

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I started my search for an MBA advisor about two years before applying searching for someone who could truly understand my story and help me come across as the person I see myself. Katy has been spot on from day one and was key to my acceptance to HBS, Wharton & Lauder, Columbia and LBS.

Being an engineer who started my career as a consultant, I was afraid I would not be able to differentiate myself from the highly qualified applicants pool. Katy was very thorough in working to truly understand my story and help me choose the best stories to reflect my profile. She was a perfect mentor and friend helping me with my numerous questions and my insecurities, for example the fact that my GMAT score was not exceptional.

Katy believed in me from the start and is today someone I truly hold dear. Coming from Brazil, being able to relate to someone even never having met in person is incredibly helpful and provides comfort to really open yourself which is key to the success of the process of working with an advisor. I am very grateful to her and have no doubt that she will be able to have the same impact in your application.

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34 Older and Non-Verified Reviews for Katharine Lewis
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