Maria is a critical part of my MBA application process. As a senior in college and someone from a normal family, I could not afford those overpriced consulting services online, and that was why I initially chose the Applicant Lab.

Honestly, this turned out to be one of the best investments I made during my application. As a matter of fact, I've tried some of those "free 30min consultations" at other places and none of those shed any new insights on what I have already known. The Applicant Lab, however, was so much more substantial. Like every other DIY process, how much you get out of it depends on how much you dedicate yourself to it. I took full advantage of all the resources in the lab (and there were A LOT) and learned so many insider tricks about the entire MBA application and how to present the best version of myself while still being honest. Frankly, I feel I'm a half consultant now after using the lab - I know so much about MBA app now after using the lab.

The DIY tool made me extremely confident about the lab so I went on to book the sanity check, and then the essay and interview session with Maria, which were even more helpful! She really is one of the best persons in this field.

I rarely write reviews but I felt that I had to this time, because I truly appreciate the help I got and everything Maria was doing with the Applicant Lab. As a college student with no income yet, I'd have been completely on my own without the lab, but again, with the lab, I don't think I need those expensive consultants anymore. Maria, I said it to you privately before but again thanks so much! And for future applicants, I highly recommend trying out the Lab. There is a free trial version with your GmatClub account and you will know what I mean after giving it a shot.

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BRIEF INTRODUCTION:
- A recent T15 admit
- Still in the throes of MBA admissions
- No way a prolific writer (non-native English speaker)

MY EXPERIENCE WITH APPLICANTLAB:
- It is my single source of reliable information and advice (yes, no other consultant/ resource - just the DIY tool/the Lab)
- Helped me power through the essays in fraction of time that I would have taken otherwise (ofcourse there was a learning curve for me in the first iteration, but then it was bullet fast and far fewer iterations)
- Kept me focused on the most important aspects of the answer to all questions in the app (short-answer or essays)
- Helped manage the writer's block as well with breaking down an essay question into further mini-questions
- Extensive help with interviews as well - similar to identifying and presenting most impactful stories for essay questions
- All of the above at the price of a single MBA app!

WHY DO I THINK I COULD GET THE ABOVE LISTED BENEFITS:
- Because Maria has made painstaking efforts to get the most relevant advice from the adcom of each school (there were on-campus events that the top admissions consultants attended at B-schools pre-COVID); not to forget she has been at it for 15+ years
- The Lab presents topics in a very structured step-by-step foolproof approach - there is excruciating redundancy as the important advice is clearly marked in color and repeated across sections where necessary so the user does not need to recall or flip through links
- As an example, the essays module guides you through the steps of identifying the right stories, to writing rough drafts, to final drafts. The final drafts section contains all of the previous advice as well - so due to paucity of time (read as: I am a bad procrastinator; you too will!), I just jumped to this section and wrote almost finalized essays in first go for my easier apps
- Ofcourse the advice is for each of the top schools you'd want to apply to - and very detailed, granular instructions per question in the app (read as: cannot be made more detailed IMO)

WHO IS THIS SUITABLE FOR:
- Everyone; there are broadly two types of applicants -
- Self-Starters: these folks would proactively find time to spend with the DIY tool and work through the instructions and make effort to sense-check (heck, the Lab even gives sense-check advice!)
- Require-support: these folks can hire a 3rd-party consultant to hold them accountable and keep them on track besides giving admissions advice; but then if the self-starters were getting reliable advice from the Lab as a single source then why not use this as a sense-check/ insurance on the service you have bought that is worth '000s of dollars ?!?!

CONSIDERATIONS WHILE PURCHASING:
- Ofcourse the ROI is going to be in '000s of percentage points - however you calculate it; truly unparalleled as it is up to you to scale it with submitting as many apps as you possibly can
- Honestly, try to find time with the tool - the more you are spending time consistently on a daily basis working through the advice (if even for an hour per day), you will make phenomenal progress and will feel confident about your essays and the overall app
- If you want a 1:1 interaction with a consultant, I'd think better to take a-la-carte packages from ApplicantLab (with Maria herself) for consistency of advice and avoid getting contradicting opinions - gotta trust the process!

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I am Vietnamese, female, 27, no international experience at all, live all my life in Vietnam. I have 760 GMAT, 5 years experience, corporate finance.

I am admitted into HEC, ESADE, LBS and Cambridge. Finally choose LBS.

I have not many stories to tell. Applicant lab helped me to structure my story. The modules are all self study, which I found very efficient and helpful. I learnt a lot about the admission process without having to dig into various review pages. I especially like the tips Maria gave on each step of the application process, as recommendation letter, essay, CV... Very insightful.

Definitely recommended for those who want to self-study and do MBA application on your own speed.

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This is one of the best tools out there for MBA applications. The structured approach walks you through all the necessary steps and helps you assemble all the necessary points for a great application. The videos and explanation accompanying each step helps to stay on track and the advice at each step helped me improve my application profile. The ApplicantLab process walked me through each aspect of my past work and education and helped me rediscover my own strengths that are important for an MBA and helped me pen them down in applications. Maria is great with individual school knowledge as well and helped me with specifics that needed to be included in essays. The interview prep module has been a great tool and contains all the interview questions and helps you to find answers for each of them. This tool has helped me immensely and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great, cost-effective resource for MBA applications.

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What? - AL is an amazing MBA admissions guidance product by HBS alumni Maria which replaces traditional, expensive and 'not always reliable' admissions consulting firms. It lays out all pieces of admissions process right from 'attending b-school info sessions' to interview prep into 15 broad areas, connected seamlessly into a framework. Imagine you can see the whole application process end-to-end in one dashboard so that you never lose touch of the bigger picture.

Why it's so awesome? So in my case I stumbled on AL when my friend from Oxford Said found it valuable and suggested me to try. I love great products. I wanted to try and see how it works. I have worked with 2 MBA consultants earlier however I wasn't convinced with them. They mainly contributed in refining the essay structure, editing essays and fitting the essays under word limit (not worth 1000s of $). When I checked AL, I was surprised my precise insights that makes the application robust. It goes deep into the thought process, individual strengths/weaknesses, story building, and every other ingredient that makes the application genuine and unique to an applicant. All at ~1/10th of typical admissions consultants cost. Worked with both the AL tool and multiple admission consultants, I feel that most b-school applicants do not require consultants to be true. Even if you are considering hiring a MBA consultant, do check the trial version of AL first. It boils down great practical tips and insights of Maria.

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ApplicantLab is just the best tool out there! I needed help in preparing for my LBS interview and purchaed the tool, which I think is the perfect one-stop shop for MBA interview prep. The material is exhaustive and I'm sure I would have benefitted more had I bought access to the tool much earlier.

After going through the modules, I wanted to do some live prep. I booked a session with Maria, and I got a lot more out of the 90 mins that I thought I would - we deep dived into all the questions I needed help on and I also got a pulse check on my overall storyline for my long and short term goals.

Maria came thouroughly prepared for the session and knew my application inside out. She listens and provides tailored and actionable feedback. The overall prep experience injected the right dose of confidence which came across during my interview. My only regret is that not starting out with the product sooner prior to crafitng my essays. Highly recommend Maria and ApplicantLab!

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I got into Wharton and Chicago Booth as a deferred applicant, and I owe all the success to Maria and ApplicantLab!!
As a deferred applicant, I was very skeptical about using ApplicantLab, because I felt that most of the advice was for traditional applicants with work experience, and I wasn't sure how without any personal interaction I'd be able to craft a compelling story. I did my research and talked to over 10 admissions consultants through the free consultations, but as a deferred applicant with no savings of my own, I couldn't get myself to spend thousands of dollars, and after reading numerous amazing reviews, I decided to go ahead with ApplicantLab. I was proven so wrong about my apprehensions from the first day I started to use the lab.
This is what I absolutely loved about ApplicantLab, and why I feel EVERYONE needs to stop using traditional consultants and switch to ApplicantLab:
1) The lab took me through a step by step process, starting from identifying my strengths and weaknesses, to very specific advice for all parts of the application. The videos and the advice was so thorough that I didn't need to look anywhere else. The lab helped me with the exact structure of the essays, resume, and other short questions in the application.
2) Maria and Carin are available at all times, and every time I'd send them any doubts through the chat feature on the ApplicantLab, they'd get back to me with to the point answers. I could see from her responses that Maria was super interested in my story and wanted me to succeed.
3) The interview module is OUT OF THIS WORLD, and the approach ApplicantLab has for all the specific interview questions is going to help me all my life!!
4) I also used the additional services, including sanity check (career vision and resume review) and essay review. If not for these services, I would've made a couple of huge blunders in my applications! But, that being said, if you're diligently following the advice on the lab, you won't even need these services and the lab should be enough. But, it really helped me in turning a good resume/essay into a great one.
Maria has done a fantastic job with ApplicantLab, and where consultants would've charged me over 5000$ for my applications, I got in with spending just 269$. Don't think twice, go with ApplicantLab!

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Maria does a great job of breaking down the entire application process and even address the various reasons for someone who is getting their MBA. The most valuable part for me was the brainstorming portion where I categorized my different stories and mapped it to specific parts of the application essays. She provides various approaches (probing questions) to guide your story development which really helped with the brainstorming aspect. Maria clues you in on how to tailor your resume for applying to MBA school as it is different from a normal job resume. She even has interviews with students going through their resume and nitpicking on things to improve. A great resource for anyone looking to apply to grad school! I'd highly recommend this like I have to all my peers.

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To begin this review I will start off by saying that Maria at Applicantlab is amazing and this program helped me so much! If you take anything away from this review, let it be that.

I applied to the following schools for their part-time programs and received acceptance into each one: University of Michigan (Ross), UCLA (Anderson), USC (Marshall), and IU (Kelley).

Once I was finished with my GMAT, I had absolutely no idea how to write my essays or resume for business school. I probably would have just used my work resume and I don't think being proficient in Microsoft Word would have impressed any of the schools.

I considered getting an MBA consultant because I was so lost but this program was perfect. I loved how easy it was to use and how each school had its own advice. I never in a million years would have known how to answer the Ross essays (I mean 100 words max - that's tough enough let alone knowing what they actually wanted you to answer)

Here is how it works. Applicantlab has a set of videos that give specific advice on how to approach your essays and resume. These videos are incredibly informative and let you know what from your work/life history you need to pull to complete your essays and resume. After watching these videos, you answer some questions and the answers to those questions will be used to help organize your thoughts.

There is a section of Applicantlab where you input which universities you are applying to. Applicantlab will then give you videos to watch on each of the school's essays. Maria has done the work and talked to the Ad-Coms to learn what they are looking for. This type of advice alone is worth the money. Trust me!!

This type of program requires the user to do most of the work. I had plenty of questions during my applications and would return to Applicantlab all of the time. There is a chat function where if someone is available you can ask your question right then and there. If someone isn't available, the chat function will send an email and you will hear back fairly quickly.

I for sure, would not have gotten into some of the schools I did had it not been for Applicantlab. If you are lost and don't know how to move forward in the MBA application process then Applicantlab is for you. Plus it is easily the most cost-effective admissions advice out there.

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My journey to securing a spot at my dream MBA schools would not have been possible without Applicantlab!!!

I am a South African and was never exposed to the typical US/Europe Ivy league school application process. I had written the GMAT and scored 640, so I knew that my success would hinge on the rest of the application. To put it simply, I needed the remainder of my application to be extraordinary!

I did my research and found that Applicantlab was the best in the market. It is incredibly cost-effective and very convenient as much of the work is done on a pre-established platform, eliminating complexities related to timezones and consultant availability.

I was skeptical at first and decided to sign up for the FREE trial. After a few short sessions, I felt extremely confident in the product quality and decided to take the plunge and purchase the full package. I have never regretted making that decision.

The platform is aesthetically appealing and very user-friendly. It takes the applicant on a journey and puts him/her in the shoes of the admissions committee member. Writing with the perspective of the Adcom member in mind forced me to speaks my truth without losing the attention of my target audience.

The platform is structured in such a way that by the time you get to essay writing, you have already developed a few anecdotes and key stories to use when answering those daunting essay questions. I’m an accountant by trade, so essay writing and storytelling doesn’t come naturally to me. Another plus about the tool is that you can revisit the modules as many times as you want at no extra charge.

I then booked an essay review session with Maria, where she went above and beyond my expectations. She not only provided written guidance on how to improve my essay but included an audio recording, where she clearly explained her thoughts, which allowed me to understand how to action any recommendations. Her turnaround time was phenomenal, always responding to every query within 24 hours.

I subsequently submitted my essays, and when I got shortlisted for interviews, I was able to progress to the interview module at no added cost. I did a mock interview with Maria, and I can honestly say she is EXTREMELY thorough. She prepared me for all kinds of questions, which left me extremely confident on the actual interview day.

Honestly, had it not been for Applicantlab (and Maria’s support), I would have never been accepted to neither INSEAD nor OXFORD. She not only helped me with my application essays but also helped me with the scholarship essays that resulted in me securing funding for both schools.

If you’re still not sold on the many benefits of Applicantlab, I highly recommend that you signup for the free trial. You won’t regret it!

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