GMAT Club

Melissa Blakeslee Reviews

Company: mbaMission


5.0 /5 Average Rating
Based on 69 reviews
May 30, 2022
htlephan89

Joined: Mar 12, 2017

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Got accepted to both Booth and Kellogg with low GMAT score

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I got accepted to both Booth and Kellogg's part time MBA program. Without Melissa's support, I wouldn't be successful.

My case was a little bit unique since I didn't have high GMAT score. Despite my efforts with two attempts, my GMATs were at the low end of the acceptable ranges for both schools. That made me feel very nervous, but Melissa calmed me down and advised me to take EA which I wasn't aware of that time. It was the best recommendation ever! the EA wasn't that hard and was suitable for my working circumstance.

The application process wasn't stressful at all. Melissa explained the whole process with me thoroughly. That made me feel much more comfortable by understanding steps by steps I needed to do and knowing that she would be there for me at every step in the journey. For example, she got back to all my questions and documents review within a day and not later than 2 business days or writing essays isn’t my strength, but with Mellissa's active listening and incredible storytelling skills, I was able to transform my stories to the next level. With the strong collaboration and Mellissa’s prompt responsive timing, we were able to finish all requirements earlier than scheduled.

In general, the consulting investment is the best one ever I have made in life because I GO to my dream B-school- BOOTH with a SCHOLARSHIP. So, don’t worry if your profile is not strong. As long as you are determined to pursue your dream B-school and put 100% yourself in, you can do it AND working with mbaMission and particularly Melissa will increase your acceptance probability tremendously.

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May 17, 2022
nluo

Joined: Aug 12, 2020

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Melissa Blakeslee (mbaMission) Review: Highly Recommended!!

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After talking with a few consultants, I was immediately drawn to Melissa's kind nature and holistic approach. From the beginning of my MBA application journey, I knew I would have someone who would be honest with me throughout while giving me the encouragement I needed to make it through this long process.

Melissa was extremely helpful through all facets of the application. Her essay reviews provided thought-provoking comments that pushed me to bring out the best parts of my story, and I really appreciated how detail-oriented she was for short answers and resume building. With her advice on best ways to communicate and provide examples of my past work, reaching out to my recommenders felt like a breeze. I also felt very supported by her when taking the GMAT/GRE, which can be quite taxing when balancing all other aspects of the apps. Melissa didn't stop there and was an incredible mock interview partner and confidante in the final decision process.

The best part was that the whole way through I knew Melissa was genuinely interested in getting to know me and seeing me succeed. My admissions results (5 out of 6 school admissions, including 3 M7 schools and 3 scholarships) are a testament to her amazing partnership! I can't thank her enough and am so excited to attend HBS next fall!

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May 13, 2022
jd23

Joined: May 24, 2021

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified GMAT Classic score:
700 Q47 V39

Go with Melissa - Incredible Admissions Consultant

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If you are looking for someone to help you take your profile to the next level, look no further than Melissa! The energy and care that she brings to her role is obvious from the very first meeting. She takes the time to really get to know you and understand your story and goals at the outset of the relationship. This pays dividends throughout the process, as she is adept at helping her clients present themselves authentically and holistically and is quick to push back on anything that doesn’t live up to this standard.

Melissa is highly responsive in her communications, especially as deadlines approach. She was quick to answer any question or concern I had, no matter how small.

Looking back on the process now, I can’t imagine going through it without Melissa’s guidance. She helped me see the through line in my own story and ensured that I was able to put my best foot forward when it came time to apply. At the outset of our time working together, I would have been happy just to gain acceptance to my target schools. With Melissa’s help, I was able achieve not only that but, in some cases, receive substantial scholarship money as well.

TLDR: Melissa is a consummate professional who will take the time and go the extra mile to understand you and your story. If you are looking for an admissions consultant, then look no further. Absolute A+, 5/5.

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March 21, 2022
Gerimai

Joined: Mar 21, 2022

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Highly Recommend Melissa!

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Melissa was an excellent resource throughout the MBA admissions process. She provided thoughtful, useful insights on my essays that allowed me to express myself in the best way possible. Her feedback was always clear and concise, and she was not afraid to provide constructive criticism when needed.

She built an effective and fun working relationship with me, and was quick to turnaround any documentation I sent to her for review. Melissa is everything one could hope for from an admissions consultant and I am grateful for to have worked with her. I got into all of the schools I applied to and would highly recommend Melissa to anyone applying for a MBA.

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February 01, 2022
pg5701

Joined: Jan 31, 2022

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Melissa will bring out the best in you!

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From the moment I met Melissa during our initial consultation, I knew she was somebody I could trust. I went into the 2021-2022 business school application season with a lot of nerves about the strength of my candidacy and the unknowns of the process – I honestly didn’t think I even had a shot with my mediocre GPA and fewer than average years of WE. But she immediately put me at ease with her calm demeanor and extensive experience. From then on, she was such a strong partner from start to finish: from school selection (which Melissa helped me tremendously with) to resumé editing, essay drafting, and interview prep.

I think Melissa’s biggest strength is that she’s able to bring out the best in her clients. During our brainstorming session, I went on a self-discovery journey with her by my side and she was able to help me identify the most formative experiences in my life that I could draw upon in my essays. By the end of it, we had put together essays that I didn’t even know I was capable of writing - a narrative that elegantly touched on personal and professional moments that have made me who I am today.

I knew I could send her any and every question that popped into my head (even sometimes at 2 AM), and she would always have a calm and informative answer for me in no time. She turned around everything I sent her (sometimes several emails on various topics in one day) under the 48-hour mark and her responses were always thorough and insightful.

I am so grateful to have met Melissa - she is kind, patient, and so so so genuine. It’s incredibly clear that she cares deeply about her clients and I know that my MBA journey wouldn’t have been successful without her. The thought work we did together in many ways was reflected in my acceptance to Fuqua and Ross, both with merit-based scholarships. She is simply among the best and I guarantee that working with her as a prospective business school applicant will be so worth it!

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February 01, 2022
le65

Joined: Aug 29, 2021

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Self-reported Score:
680 Q47 V35

Awesome professional relationship

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Throughout the application season, Melissa made herself available to help me with any aspect of the application that I felt uncertain about. She was always able to sense my uncertainty and provide immediate advice and feedback.

At the start of our partnership, Melissa made sure that she understood my perspectives through countless emails and calls. Not only did she take in all my stories A-Z, but also helped immensely in shaping them to convey my strengths across applications.

It never felt like a bother whenever I wanted to ask Melissa for her opinions, rather she was always happy to extend her services to me. She consistently ensured that I was content with all essay responses, and that they felt authentic. Overall, her willingness to triple check all application components and revisit any aspects I may have changed allowed for a genuine application that I felt confident in and content with.

During interview rounds, Melissa provided very thorough prep sessions that covered all bases from response timing to structure. She helped me prep for each program individually and always asked how I felt after sets of questions - willingly devoting more of her time to helping me.

Overall, Melissa was exceedingly supportive of my thoughts. She took in every idea I had and helped me develop them into well-formed responses. I certainly recommend her services - best partnership I’ve had!

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January 24, 2022
skm32

Joined: Jan 24, 2022

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified GMAT Classic score:
690 Q44 V40

TLDR; Melissa genuinely cares about you, is relentlessly supportive, and is highly dependable - but most importantly she isn't afraid to give the critical feedback you need to hear.

After interviewing a few MBA consultancies, it was clear mbaMission was unmatched in its quality of consultants, abundance of application resources, and overall commitment to genuinely caring about applicants.

I could not have asked for a better consultant to work with than Melissa Blakeslee. Melissa was a true partner to me. She consistently provided thoughtful, critical feedback that really pushed me to become a stronger writer. She very much cares about making sure essays feel authentic to you and your experiences, putting special emphasis on the pre-writing brainstorming process. It makes a HUGE difference. She will work on as many iterations of an essay as you want, so that by the end you are 100% confident in each piece. I really appreciated how willing she was to spend so much time on an essay, never rushing the process (but always keeping an eye on timelines of course!)

Melissa's dependability and quality of work also never failed to exceed my expectations. She works unbelievably quickly - more often than not, she sent edits back far faster than the contractual 48-hour turnaround time.

Melissa is also super helpful in interview preparation - in actual interviews, I didn't receive a single question that she and I hadn't prepped. Insanely helpful and impressive.

Most importantly, at the end of the day Melissa made me feel motivated, confident, and prepared, even at times when I doubted myself. She got me into my top choice school, which I thought was impossible!!

If you want a true thought partner who genuinely cares about you, but isn't afraid to give you the critical feedback you need, you will not be disappointed if you hire Melissa.

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January 20, 2022
jayeshanu

Joined: Jun 16, 2021

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Melissa Blakeslee is who you are looking for here

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I was working on a tight deadline. With a month and a half for submission date for my application, I got cold feet about my essay. I was applying to a top 7 MBA college and needed help with my essays.
I was directed to Melissa by a college alum, and I am glad I trusted her. She was the only consultant I contacted and by the end of initial consultation I knew there was no one else I would have wanted to work with.
Melissa is super popular, and she books up really fast and my application timeline wasn’t working with her schedule and so I came here to look for another consultant based on the reviews here. I literally went through every single review tallying the number of positive reviews a consultant had and guess who won that tally. Melissa!!
She was super nice in accommodating me and loved the process she had established. Her feedback was direct and poignant. The best part about her was that she made you think for yourself, which made you feel you owned the final product. She encouraged to dig deep within myself and my past experiences to really understand myself in a deeper way.
Working with her is perfect for driven people as she sets high standards for herself and for you. I loved working with her and would go as far as to say that I wouldn’t have received an admit into my dream college without her guidance.

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January 19, 2022
mbaa00

Joined: Jan 19, 2022

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified GMAT Classic score:
730 Q49 V41

Melissa goes above & beyond for hourly clients!

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At first, I was hesitant about hiring an admissions consultant, given that I had already done quite a bit of brainstorming on my story and essay topics. For that reason, I opted for hourly services and had an absolutely wonderful experience with Melissa!

It was super helpful to talk through my thoughts with Melissa as an objective sounding board. I initially purchased the 5-hour package and ended up adding one additional hour for interview prep. We met once at the start to strategize major themes across both of my applications (I was applying to two M7s in R1). From there, Melissa provided timely feedback on my essay drafts and answered all of my questions in thorough detail via email so I could best position myself in my applications. In our final hour, Melissa helped me with a mock interview to prepare for my interview with Sloan - giving me feedback on each response and making me dig deeper into areas I could explore.

As an hourly client, I 10000% appreciated the time Melissa spent above and beyond what I had signed up for, to help me tie up the loose ends even after my time "ran out".

Ultimately, I was ELATED when I received my admission to Sloan, and CANNOT WAIT to attend next fall!!!

Melissa is an absolute JOY to work with - super responsive, transparent, friendly, warm, genuine, strategic, ALL the best qualities you'd want in a consultant! It is clear that she cares deeply about her clients - I can't recommend her enough!

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May 17, 2021
PTMBA23

Joined: May 08, 2020

Posts: 3

Kudos: 0

Melissa Blakeslee: Look no further - Hire Immediately

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After prospecting several business school consulting firms, I had my introductory conversation with Melissa and knew right away that she was in a class of her own. I initially did not gain acceptance to any of the programs that I applied to the first time around, so I decided to hire Melissa for my reapplication process.

If I could describe her consulting style in one word, it would be a partnership. The MBA application process can be a very individualistic and lonely process, however Melissa ensures that she is with you every step of the way. From initial brainstorming sessions, outlining essay messaging, to admissions interview prep; she provides honest and constructive feedback to best position you for the admissions process.

I would recommend Melissa to ANY prospective admissions consulting client. I am confident that I would not have gained admission to both Ross and Booth without her help.

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