I wouldn't have been accepted to business school without Katy's advice and perspective. I only applied to four schools (Stanford, Haas, Ross, and Foster) in the 2nd round. As a military applicant deployed to Korea, Katy always made sure to accommodate me despite the fifteen-hour time difference and my hectic schedule. Katy understood and explained how to polish each piece of my application. Katy's insight into translating military experience into essays and in my resume, were particularly helpful.

Ultimately, I was accepted to my top school. I can honestly say that I do not think I would have been admitted without Katy’s help. I strongly recommend her service, particularly to applicants with non-traditional backgrounds.

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During my admissions process, i spoke to many different consultants to see which was the best fit for me. One of my favorite things about MBA mission was that i was able to get my free 30 minute session directly with Katy. I quickly got a sense of what she was about and realized that she was the best person to help me on this journey.

She quickly understood my story and helped me find the best way to express it. I come from an nontraditional background so for me it was very important to get the right story on paper to show my best qualities. Katy was extremely helpful in the planning and brainstorming sessions and was able to ask all the right questions. She was truly interested in my story and made me feel like I was her most important client every time we spoke.

During the application process she was also outstanding, she did a fantastic job of reading and editing the essays without being invasive and making them sound as if they didn't come from me. She was very timely in her responses and was available during weekends and even during Christmas break.

Overall, I was very pleased with Katy's guidance and I am sure that she is a big reason as to why I will be attending Columbia Business School this fall!

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I was introduced to Katharine (Katy) Lewis by a good friend who worked with her throughout the 2014 application cycle. This applicant was ecstatic to have accepted an offer to Stanford GSB and admitted to many other top schools; she could not have been more excited to recommend Katy and get me started with the application process.

As part of the free initial 30 minute consultation (in January 2016), Katy reviewed my resume and discussed my work history, professional goals and interests, and initial school thoughts. My main concern was that I hadn’t achieved a GMAT score I thought was competitive enough; Katy re-assured me to keep going and check back around April / May to re-assess the situation. Once it reached April, I still hadn’t finished my testing but decided to move forward with the process in order to stay well ahead of the round 1 submission timeline. Katy was more than gracious to accept me as a client and start the process while still re-assuring me that the testing would never be an issue as long as I kept trying.

I purchased the “complete start-to-finish” package for 3 schools: HBS, Stanford GSB, and Dartmouth Tuck. HBS and Stanford were my top choices; I was slightly unsure about Dartmouth Tuck and ended up changing this school once my final school decisions were due. A few thoughts on each stage of the process:

Brainstorming: This is the starting point for all applications and consisted of a detailed questionnaire and a few brainstorming calls to solidify the overall arch to my application. It was initially a bit overwhelming -- I needed to provide very detailed commentary on my overall background, from childhood to my current professional environment -- but after diving in, it ended up being the most interesting part of the entire process. Portions of my personal history that I thought were relatively inconsequential ended up providing the best starting point for essays; Katy constantly reminded me of this. Her level of enthusiasm for my background and anecdotes gave me such confidence that I was a strong candidate – it made my essay writing process one of self-discovery rather than a chore.

School Choice / Application Round: I ended up missing round 1 deadlines due to my testing and reset my priorities to round 2; during that time, I decided to add a handful of schools through the Consortium common application and Katy was able to help me pick and choose which schools I’d be most competitive as an applicant. I ended up choosing Stanford GSB and HBS, and through the Consortium common application I chose Yale, Cornell, UVA Darden, UC Berkeley Haas, and NYU. I was amazed by Katy’s level of knowledge for each school; she’s personally spent time at each of them and can talk for hours about the pros and cons for each school. Aside from that, she was always willing to put me in touch with a former client or contact so that I could get a better sense first-hand sense of each program.

Career Goals / Personal Interests: Business school has always been a goal but I had some difficulty verbalizing my post-MBA goals. I’ve spent the last 7 years in the Risk Management division of a large Investment Bank and I did not want to give any impression that I wanted to return to a traditional banking or consulting type of role following graduation. Katy was instrumental in helping me solidify my vision for a logical career path following b-school. This was incredibly important as most (not all) interviews will dig deep here. Katy helped me focus in on a forward-looking vision that was based on my experience and a logical next step that I could believe in my head as I was interviewing.

Essays / Final Applications: Submission of the final applications was hectic given the number of schools I was applying to but Katy never missed a deadline and always had feedback that proved invaluable. The essay writing process was iterative and she never altered or made direct changes to any of my written submissions; instead, she would provide comments on ways to re-think certain aspects or strengthen ideas that seemed thin in the context of my overall candidacy. At any point in time, I was free to ‘reject’ her suggestions if I didn’t feel comfortable but I never found that to be the case. At the outset I thought I’d dread writing the essays just given the number I had to do (~14); however, the extensive brainstorming process made it super simple to pair certain personal stories with essay prompts to the point that they almost wrote themselves. I’d perhaps have 4-5 total revisions per essay on those that I cared the most about.

Interviews: I was absolutely thrilled and quite frankly couldn’t believe that I received interview invitations from HBS, UC Berkeley Haas, Yale, NYU, and Cornell. Every single school has a different approach; you may meet with any combination of current students, admissions committee members, and alumni. Katy was instrumental in helping me prep and I was never blindsided by the interviews that we prepared for.

When all was said and done, I received admissions offers from HBS, Haas, Yale, and Cornell; the result could not have been more positive and I ended up choosing my top-choice of HBS!

On a personal note, my relationship with Katy went from client to personal confidant. She was always there to keep my nerves in check and re-assure me when I was doubting myself. Her positive attitude and willingness to chat, at ANY time of the day, made this incredibly long journey surprisingly enjoyable. She was even gracious enough to invite my boyfriend and I to her home when we were in her neck of the woods.

In short, this review could never summarize how incredibly instrumental Katy has been throughout this (lengthy) stage in my life. I knew she would get results, but I’m still completely blown away by how positive the results turned out in my case. Some friends of mine have recently expressed a faint interest in b-school themselves and, as a result, I’ve gone out of my way to have them at least speak with her. I would hate for anyone to miss an opportunity to work with such an incredibly talented and caring person.

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I decided I wanted to work with Katy after reading her reviews in both Gmat Club and mbaMission website. I was impressed by how everyone said she was amazing and also, I realized most of her clients were accepted to the schools I wanted to apply. Today, after working with Katy during the whole admission process, I can understand the reason behind such reviews, Katy is truly an outstanding coach!

The thing I liked the most about working with her is how during the whole process she makes you feel like you are the one writing everything, and coming up with the ideas… because in fact you are. She is just so good in drawing the boundaries and guiding you into what are the most compelling stories for each school, but other than that you feel like her edits are mostly grammar related. That gives you a sense of authenticity during the whole process that for me was invaluable. I truly felt like the applications I submitted were 100% my input. The other great thing about Katy was that she helped me in all the aspects of the application. From the brainstorming session (which was really good and insightful) to the interview process. Even if in some subject she was not an “expert” she lets you know and shares material that is very helpful. She even got in me in touch with students from different schools when I was deciding where to apply.

I was fortunate enough to meet her personally before starting with the essays and she is a great person! Very friendly, always available (with normal restrictions) and always willing to help in more ways than she is “supposed” to. I know that I will be contacting Katy again for job related questions and I know she will be available to help me in the coming years, because even after the formal process has ended, after working with Katy, you feel more like a friend of hers than a client.

I definitely and highly recommend Katy to anyone looking for an admissions coach. She is amazing and extremely helpful, and her results are impressive!

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I worked with Katharine (Katy) Lewis, who was a terrific thought partner to advise me throughout the application process. I am delighted to share that I will be going to the Wharton MBA program!

I spoke to ~10 admission consultants from various firms and Katy stood out for her experience, track record and most importantly, a savvy ability to recognize my unique story.

Through a detailed brainstorming session, Katy was able to get to know me really well, elements of my story which she reminded me throughout the process. Katy was always available to speak and bounce ideas off (even multiple times a week if I requested) and provide feedback on my thoughts to guide me along. I appreciated that she also had the candor to indicate when she disagreed with my approach or felt that I was not conveying my story to the best of my ability. Through continuous drafts, she help me distill my prior professional and personal experiences and ambitions into a compelling and successful application! What was also really impressive was Katy's ability to be thoughtful about how to use all the various elements of my application (resume, short answers, etc.) together to reinforce and complement my story.

Likewise, when I received interviews (at all 3 programs I applied to), Katy was incredibly helpful in my preparation. She was very thorough on thinking through and testing me on potential questions on behavioral / leadership / experience etc. She went above and beyond offering me multiple mock interviews.

In conclusion, I am thrilled to have worked with Katy, and cannot recommend her more strongly to anyone looking to apply to a top MBA program.

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I wanted to attend the NYU Stern Part-Time program for Fall 2017; unfortunately, I was facing a major hurdle a low undergraduate GPA. I reached out to MBAMission and after reading the GMATClub reviews I decided that I wanted Katherine (Katy) Lewis to help me with my MBA application. Katy had glowing reviews, helped individuals with low undergraduate GPAs before, and was located on the west coast, which I felt made working with her outside of my working hours much easier.

Katy was extremely helpful throughout the process, she was very responsive and never missed the turn-around windows. We started off with a brainstorming questionnaire, to help craft the themes of my essays and was very perceptive, she was able to identify things about my background that I had never thought of before which made for very effective essay topics that highlighted the uniqueness of my candidacy. She was also able to help me analyze my undergraduate transcripts to identify patterns that laid the groundwork on how to address my GPA issue. With her help I was able to craft amazing essays, a powerful resume, and an impactful set of application answers that resulted in my acceptance into the NYU part-time program.

I would highly recommend Katy, who was amazing to work with, easy to talk to, insightful, and is very familiar with the nature of part-time programs and its students, and especially of how they compare to full-time programs and students. I would not have been able to gain admission to NYU without her, and when I told her the great news, and she was as thrilled as I was! She was helpful even after I was accepted and her job was done, by sending me resources and information that would help me finance my MBA.

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I have wanted to go to Harvard since I was 10 years old. Katy Lewis helped me make that dream come true.

I work at a private equity megafund in New York. A lot of people here didn’t use consultants because applying from a bigger PE firm is usually a fairly routine process. I decided to go with a consultant because my view was that if anything, it certainly couldn’t hurt. I was very happy I did; results speak for themselves - I got into HBS, my top rated school.

Hiring a consultant is expensive; I began interviewing consultants in November before the application year. After speaking multiple times to about 30 different people over a 3-4 month period, I decided that it was Katy I wanted to go with. She came with stellar recommendations and I had some very positive experiences with her before we were even under contract. I had some questions around GMAT score sufficiency and re-taking, around structuring my application process, as well as some random other items that came up every now and then – I would always shoot Katy a note and she’d always answer immediately or be available to discuss on the phone, without me having mentioned anything about wanting to go with her for sure. You could say that she was putting on her best face since she was trying to get hired by me, but I assure you Katy doesn’t need to worry about being hired. It is March now and I’m trying to have my friends who are applying round I this year work with Katy, but Katy already is hopelessly booked out for Round I! Booked out in March – way before a lot of people are even starting to think about the process. So, I truly believe that when Katy spent all that time helping me with no contract, it wasn’t some marketing plot, it was just generally her being the phenomenal and kind and caring person she is. If you’re going to share the most intimate details of your life with someone, knowing that they have a good heart (which usually tends to be accompanied with people being respectful and discreet!) is important.

I tend to be ruthless and while I appreciated Katy being a mentor and a coach who calmed me down at every point in the process, I would often shut down any supporting sentiments from her end (even though I’m sure they were well intended) to get straight down to business. My view was that her job was to tell me where I was lacking, and I wanted to work in a quick and efficient manner. Katy took very well to that desired style of mine; while I could tell that she tends to be very much of a cheerleader and someone who would act as a powerful encourager to people lacking confidence etc., she worked with me in a very financy-private equity style, completely cutting all the bullshit and just helping me produce great work in the most efficient manner possible. (at the same time, if I would have weak moments, like right after my interview, she would always be there for me with open arms and an open heart, I felt she believed in me at every point in the process even at points when I had given up belief in myself, and I felt I could always come to her – while I didn’t need this much it was nice to know it was there, unconditionally, always)

There’s a few very concrete items I want to call out were Katy decisively impacted my process:

• Initial brainstorm and continued work through the essay: a lot of people have mentioned this, but Katy has an unbelievable ability to draw a red thread through someone’s life and come up with that story to tell. I had my bits and pieces, but she provided the glue that fit it all together. She was the one who created one holistic, beautiful mosaic out of the different pieces of my life. I ended up absolutely loving my essay and simply writing it was a transformational journey. Katy has a beautiful ability to work with all the information you give to her and then arrange it in a logical manner, draw themes, etc. this had as a result that everything on paper is all mine, it’s all from deep within me, it’s my own work – but it is arranged in a logical manner, a coherent story, a story that people can follow – rather than the mess in my head. Please note by that I actually do a lot of writing in my spare time, have studied a lot of literature and consider myself very adept at language – what Katy brings is a whole different level. It’s not so much about being a good writer I think as it is her ability to understand what admissions wants to see, what you bring and what’s important to you to express, and how it can all be aligned

• Recommenders: Katy encouraged me to contact one recommender she felt strongly would be great to have. I would never have approached that person because I thought that there was a 50-50 shot that he would either write something great or meh, and I thought it was much too risky. Katy helped me put together a reach-out email that in a very diplomatically correct and polite yet effective manner asked for the recommendation and would also help crystallize right away whether the recommender would write the sort of stuff we would want him to write. Turns out the recommender was one of my biggest fans and my fears were completely ungrounded. He wrote an absolutely stellar rec. Had Katy not insisted I ask him, I would have never gotten that rec from him, and stuck to a much safer but probably less standout choice. Katy also helped me navigate another politically a bit tricky situation of getting a third person to volunteer to contact the university on my behalf and act as an informal recommender, without me actually ever asking that person to do so. Katy literally gave me instructions on how to just call that mentor person, have the catch-up conversation, mention HBS, and “wait for the recommender to offer.” Would never have thought this would work, but it did. I could barely believe it. I am convinced that it’s not just dumb luck this worked the way it did, but rather Katy helped me set it up the right way

• Reflection: HBS makes you write another essay within 24 hours of interview. Cruel. Looking back the thing that I had written initially was horrible. Katy helped me “see the light.” I need to be careful what I write, because if HBS somehow traces this back to me I don’t want them to withdraw my offer ;) but let it just be said Katy shaped this one decisively. Note she doesn’t obviously actually write anything for you (and there was a moment when I was really upset when at 1 in the morning after I had just landed back from Boston and the thing was due at 11am, she told me what I had written was bad, needed to be redone, and oh by the way she wasn’t going to line edit or give me specific detail since that was “against the rules” .. but she then in an incredibly practical and helpful way conveyed to me the sort of spirit this thing needs to be written in, and then offered to set her alarm for 4.30am (I could request any time I wanted) to do another turn). I literally went from feeling terrible about my interview, to in a confident and upbeat manner addressing everything in my reflection, to then as a result feeling pretty confident about my admission. ALL thanks to Katy.

In summary, I really cannot commend her enough, and I feel so fortunate to have gotten the chance to work with her. My only advice is book her early!!

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Being a second year applicant, I had already laid down my strategy and noted down my weak parts on the application. So, knowing that I needed work on my interview skills, I went on searching for an admission consultant. The search ended very quickly as just after I spoke with Katharine on the free 30-minute, I knew that she is the one I needed. And indeed I was right as she helped me a great deal and I had an amazing learning experience.

To start, Katharine consulted me for about 1 hour for free in the free 30 minute consultation. She, didn't just provide me the best consultation ever over that hour, but she also helped me out connect with people that can help me strengthen the application. This worked quite well for me as I got to connect with people from my country who have gone to schools that I was aiming at going at. And all this was even before I hired her. :)

Two months later, right after I got my first interview invite, I purchased Mock Interview Service with Katharine. The day I purchased it, she sent me a lot of materials to read about the interview, studied my application in detail and provided with ideas on how to construct my interview. She was great at identifying what might be considered as weak on my application and at what I should emphasize in the interview. After that I went on to sit on that and then did a introductory mock up interview that lasted well over 1 hour. Besides consulting me over the phone, she also took notes with feedback on improvement and sent them to me. The notes and feedback was just amazing. I studied them and prepared a schokingly great second mock up interview. I was amazed at how well I answered the many questions we practiced together. I became very confident on the things I was saying and loved the way I answered them. This turned out just great as she did not just help me out rock in one interview, but in all the others I received an invite on.

Aside from the mock up interview, Katharine also connected me with an amazing current student of the school I had to interview on. The current student met with me and gave me very valuable insight and information that were useful in the interview. He was a previous client of her.

Katharine, while not obliged to do it, she helped me out with the pre interview essay, the thank you note and finally with results and decisions well after the interview.

I highly recommend Katharine for the services she offers especially the mock up interview service as she indeed helped me truly get very confident on the interviews and got out of her way to help me out in all the steps. The best experience ever.

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Came from a pretty blue-chip background, but was concerned about differentiating myself within the very competitive cohort of management consultants. I chose Katy after completing free 30-minute calls with several different consultants across several different firms. I chose Katy because of three main reasons: one, she had substantial experience at HBS and Stanford (alum of one, reviewed applications in the other), which were the only two schools I was planning to apply to; two, she seemed to have a thorough grasp of what business schools were looking for at a level deeper than what I was getting on forums, books, school profiles, etc.; and three, she had a much more friendly, down-to-earth attitude and approach than other consultants I spoke to, which really resonated with me.

Katy's number one strength is her RIDICULOUSLY uncanny ability to draw a trendline in your life -- to figure out "what matters most to you and why" by listening to the choices you've made in your career and personal life and the experiences that have shaped you. This is the foundation of any great business school application, and its importance cannot be overemphasized. As someone with a fairly strong writing background, I probably could have managed most of the essay writing and editing myself, but her services were worth the cost for this thematic identification alone. It was something I was struggling with, and it wasn't until she said "this is what I think matters most to you" (after two hours on the phone talking through my life) that it all "clicked." I think it's what ultimately differentiated me, and I'll be headed to Stanford in the fall. Would enthusiastically recommend Katy to friends and family.

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The MBA application process, as it stands today, is challenging - it requires huge amounts tactfulness, perseverance and optimism. Katharine’s coaching through the process helped me realize the importance of several subtleties (in addition to obvious aspects) in presenting my case, and her enthusiasm helped keep my morale at elevated levels through the process.

Tactfulness: While there are several aspects of your application you can’t change (GPA, GMAT score, Demographic group, Brand affiliations) there are several other aspects, obvious and obscure, that you can play around with to affect you candidature. Katy, armed with her years of experience coaching applicants, helped me champion every available open lead. For instance, she helped me sort through my aspirations to identify a long-term goal that was ambitious, yet achievable given my background and recruiting at HBS. She then helped me articulate my goals in a meaningful way and encouraged me to model my essays, around life events that were generally aligned. She made several other golden recommendations regarding referrals, essays, interviews etc.

Perseverance: Writing an application is hard work. I did 10-12 iterations on each essay/response following feedback from Katy, my wife and friends. Katy was patient and quick going through my drafts and gave me succinct directional feedback on each iteration. She was always available to discuss ideas and helped me understand where each idea could fit into my story. The same before and after each one of my interviews.

Optimism: Time and again, during the process, one tends to wonder whether the effort is worth it. The anxiety of doing well at work, taking tests, finding time to write your essays, attending networking events, figuring out your career and most importantly enduring the long time-gaps between steps in the process can be tough to deal with. This is where working with Katy helps the most. Her cheerful persona and perpetual enthusiasm helped keep up my morale and focus. I’d often chat with her just to find enjoyment in the process while looking forward to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

If I had to apply again, I’d do it under Katy’s mentorship all over again. I wouldn't have made it to my schools of choice (HBS, Wharton, Booth) were it not for Katy's coaching!

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