I started the MBA application journey quite blind to the process and would have been lost without the help of Jessica Shklar from mbaMission. I first met Jessica on the recommendation of a friend who was just admitted to HBS and quickly scheduled a free consultation with her. In this consultation we discussed my background and career aspirations with her giving me tips on target schools and ways to improve my profile before admissions season began in earnest. I knew the moment I hung up the phone that this was the person I needed to get me where I wanted to go. I purchased the start-to-finish package with Jessica and it was the best decision I could have made.

Jessica is incredibly knowledgeable on the MBA admissions process and after filling out a brainstorming document at the start of the process she was able to package my life story far better than I could hope to. Perhaps the greatest benefit of hiring a consultant of Jessica’s caliber is the ability to tie together all of the wonderful and sometimes disparate accomplishments of your life into a coherent and logical path that leads directly through your dream school to your dream job. Jessica and I conducted brainstorming sessions on all the essays from the schools I was applying to. Her ability to quickly cut to the essence of what I needed to articulate on each essay was incredible and provided a much needed starting point to avoid writer’s block. After I tailored my brand and story to each school’s brand and choice of essay I could count on Jessica to quickly respond to each draft in an astoundingly quick manner, providing the feedback I needed to hear on each. She enabled me to articulate my point in a succinct manner, saving valuable space on my word count to tell more of my story (in fact if she had reviewed this post it would already be over). Jessica was able to ensure what I wrote fit not only my brand and the school’s, but also that it answered the question of the essay. Not satisfied with just two sets of eyes on my essays, Jessica would seek out the advice of her colleagues on my essays, who would invariably provide another selling point of my existence that I had not thought of. I cannot stress enough the importance of a consultant’s role as another set of eyes on each revision. For those thinking of going it alone realize how easy it is to become wedded to your hard work on an easy that does not land in the same manner with the adcom. Jessica was there for me through countless revisions each essay, each time giving me immediate feedback that made the essay a little bit better. You are not just purchasing a consultant, but also a network. Jessica provided me with former clients at each school I was applying to. Each one was more than willing to talk over their experiences at the school and their own takes on the admissions process which proved immensely helpful.

My resume was always going to be a tricky endeavor since it was the first one I had created in my life. I entered the military right after college, and had six years of work experience that read like jibberish to the average reader. Jessica was indispensable in her ability to take each bit of jargon on my resume and turn it into something the adcom can understand and appreciate. Trust me if you are coming from a non-traditional background, just because you know what a term means that does not mean the people deciding your future will. This holds true for recommender letters as well, as Jessica will speak to anyone who is willing to guide them through the process of how their letter should read (crucial for those unfamiliar with MBA recs). Jessica will make sure the best version of you is put before the adcom. Her unremitting diligence through numerous iterations of my resume made it into something I never could have created on my own. In fact as I hit submit on my last application, the first thought that hit me was “I could have never done that without Jessica.”

After receiving interview invites, I realized that I had only won a battle and not the war. Once again, Jessica was there for me for interview prep. She gave me incredible tips on how to present myself in the interview and how not to come off as over-rehearsed. In fact her best advice was to “not over prepare,” which she told me repeatedly and thankfully I listened to. She will give you the topics you need to prep for while keeping you from becoming a robot that no school wants to admit. The package I purchased also included a mock interview for each school, with another mbaMission consultant (great to get a fresh perspective as your interviewer will not be the consultant who has known your story for 6 months on interview day). This was especially helpful for my Wharton interview, which has a unique format you will need a mock session for. As a result of Jessica’s uncanny abilities to present the best representation of my story, I was admitted to Yale, Booth, Kellogg, and Columbia while being placed on the waitlist at HBS and Wharton after interviews. I know if it were not for Jessica’s help throughout the process I would have been rejected at these and more schools.

Throughout this strenuous, stressful, and at times confusing process, Jessica was like a light that guided me through the wilderness to business school. She provided advice, encouragement, and when necessary a spur to work harder toward my goals. She became more than just an advisor but a friend. She is the best investment in your future you can make.

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For someone who usually does not write reviews, I just must write this review for Jessica - not only because she has been so super helpful, but also because this review could really help others who are trying to get into the school of their dreams!

I first spoke with Jessica when I scheduled a free 30 minutes consultation with MBA mission. At that point, I was shopping for admissions consultants and had spoken to a couple before my conversation with Jessica. After the initial 30-minute initial conversation, I was completely sure that I wanted to sign up with her. She picked up nuances of my profile that other consultants hadn't and her insights during the 30-minute conversation added so much value to the way I thought about my applications.

During my applications, Jessica was the person who kept me organized, my harshest critic and most importantly my voice of sanity. She helped me brainstorm through experiences and stories in my life that I had underestimated the value of. She worked with me meticulously, going through approx 25 drafts of essays for a single B school application (and we were working simultaneously on 4 of these schools). She would answer my silliest questions and doubts with the utmost patience. There was never a time when she was late - in fact she almost always sent me back stuff much in advance of the 2 day turnaround period, even on weekends a couple of times.

I applied to only 4 of the top schools and got interviews from 3 of these. Even during my interviews, Jessica was constantly a source of support helping me be prepared but not scripted. I must also mention that although I ambitiously decided to apply only to the top schools, Jessica never once pressured me to consider other "safer" bets. She was supportive of my decision and always told me that I should apply only to those schools that I would be happy going to.

I guess what I value most is that throughout the entire applications, Jessica made sure that my application maintained my tone and genuineness while ensuring that my voice was heard. I remember during one of my earlier conversations with Jessica, she had promised me that she would make sure I was totally happy with how my application was positioned before I hit the submit button. And the end result was that not only was I totally happy with my application, but I came out feeling like I had really gained from the application process. I got into one of the top three schools with a good scholarship and was waitlisted at another! :)

To all those who wish to truly give their B school applications the best shot, I would definitely recommend signing up with Jessica. I would suggest signing up for the 30-minute free consultation and making the judgement for yourself.

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I had an amazing experience with MBAmission and particularly my consultant, Jessica Shklar. She was an amazing thought partner and helped me get into my top choice school.

From my first meeting with Jessica (our free consultation), her advice was always on-point, honest, and very specific to the person I am / my specific candidacy. She thinks sharply about your strengths and weaknesses and helps you make the best case for yourself.

MBAmission asks you to compile a brainstorming document, and one of Jessica's greatest value-add's was helping me transform this long and unstructured brain-dump into 5 tangible ideas for an essay. For my main essay, I ended up coming up with my own unique version off of one of her ideas, but I don't think I could have gotten even close to such an incisive essay topic without her.

Jessica is also an INCREDIBLE editor. She will push you both on themes and word choice/sentence structure. One of her greatest gifts is also trimming down essays and cutting out unnecessary words.

In addition, I appreciated Jessica's help with interview prep. She ran a complimentary workshop before working with you 1-on-1 so for hourly clients like myself you can really maximize your time. In general, Jessica was very generous/lenient about how she billed me for time.

MBAmission as a whole is extremely prompt and stick to clear turnaround guidelines. During non-deadline times, Jessica often exceeded expectations in terms of these turnaround times.

In general, Jessica was a huge ally, thought-partner, friend and moral support throughout the process. I couldn't have done it without her!

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Jessica is an amazing person and consultant!! She is very responsive and personable, right from the initial free to the hourly consultations. At first, I was impressed by her presentation on essay writing, and she has continued to amaze me as I brainstorm with her about my profile, recommending perspectives and resources which challenge me to stretch my scope and vision. Moreover, her efficiency is always delivered with care, and she has the remarkable ability to pinpoint my areas for improvement in essay writing and communicate them to me in a way that allows me to immediately understand and address in my essays. If you can even call it a writer’s block with MBA essay writing, I have no doubt that Jessica has helped me break through them time and time again and has made me a better writer.

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I reached out to MBAmission when applying for my MBA because I was concerned about some disciplinary issues that I had faced during undergrad.

I was connected with Jessica who was in a word - superb! Jessica did 3 key things that were essential to my successful application. 1) She helped me manage my anxiety by offering specific examples of MBAmissions' success with candidates like myself 2) She provided a plan of action to address the issue in my application and 3) Offered hands-on editing support to the optional essay I had prepared. Jessica set me at ease and helped me get over this daunting phase of the application process.

I was so impressed with her, that I engaged her for further assistance editing my essays and short answer questions. She was quick to reply and was very prompt in sharing her feedback. Her edits went beyond minor wording fixes, to address content, themes, and flow. Her suggestions were insightful and actionable, making the editing process productive when it could have been stressful.

After hearing back from schools, I am thrilled with my options. I truly believe I couldn't have done it without Jessica!

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I have a non-traditional career path and was originally interested in Jessica because of her work with people like me. After my first (free) half-hour consultation, I knew that I HAD TO work with Jessica in order to help me gain admission to business school. In that first meeting she completely tore my resume to shreds, but spent the time to try and understand my motives and who I was - thereby finding a way to reconstruct my resume in a way that would positively reflect my accomplishments. I knew that without Jessica, I would be at an ultimate disadvantage.

Jessica first and foremost wants to get to know you - and from there truly helps in crafting your story in the most positive and flattering light. She doesn’t fabricate things, she just takes all of the self-doubt and self-deprecation out of your story and gives it structure. My background looked all-over the place despite my ambitions - I majored in English in college, pursued acting, then quickly began working in the non-profit sector after realizing acting wasn’t for me. I felt my past belied what I truly wanted to do and Jessica saw that and found a way to structure my past (which was true, despite my self-consciousness) in a way that was competitive and appealing to adcom committees.

Jessica works tirelessly with you - from resumes, to an exhaustive recommendation packet, interview prep, to each and every essay and short answer question. She also is a wealth of knowledge on the application process and answered my many anxiety driven questions. But she is also not afraid to utilize her network; there were times when she got second opinions on my questions or my essays from her colleagues. She gets back to you very quickly - often times within just a few minutes.

That said, Jessica doesn’t sugarcoat anything. When I got lower than expected GRE scores (quant score hovering around 70%) she frankly told me that I needed to really expand my business school search and never told me once that I would “get into” any specific school. She just made sure I crafted a well-rounded application and hoped for the best.

I applied to eight schools - all in the top 25 and was accepted to four and wait listed at one (Georgetown, UNC, Cornell, UVA, wait listed at Dartmouth). I could not have DREAMED of these results. Given my profile I was not expecting to get into any top 15 schools and was truly shocked and flabbergasted that I had a multitude of choices -with money! I COULD NOT have done this without Jessica.

I’m still waiting to hear back from Dartmouth (and Jessica is still working with me as I navigate the wait list process) but have also happily and ecstatically accepted my offer to Darden - an option I couldn’t have dreamed of six months ago, especially given my profile.

I would not be going off to a TOP business school in the fall without her. I cannot thank her enough for what she has done for me. She is a rockstar!

SIDE NOTE:

MBAmission is expensive. I spent a lot of money working with Jessica but it was worth EVERY penny. Business school is expensive but also an investment, so think of getting a good consultant as a part of this investment. If you can, why wouldn’t you try to get any advantage that you could in the admissions process?

Also, while I praise Jessica - you also have to put your work in. I worked incessantly for months with Jessica - but she won’t do the work for you. If you don’t put your all into the process she (or any consultant) won’t be able to help you - she will not write or rewrite essays for you at all. She will use what you give her and guide you, and excellently so.

And lastly - if you want to work with Jessica, book early, she fills up!

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Jessica Shklar is someone you absolutely need on your team throughout your MBA application process. Although I only applied to one (top 10) school, got an interview, but in the end, was not accepted, there's nothing I would change about my decision to work with Jessica and mbaMission.

I must admit, I was quite intimidated by Jessica initially! She has a very impressive professional and academic background, understanding of the nuances of each school/program, and communicates with an incisiveness I would equate to Sheryl Sandberg's. Having worked with her the last 6 months, I can attest to her caring, genuine and down to earth nature, and consider myself very lucky to have had Jessica as my MBA consultant this year.

Jessica made a stressful period manageable - she was available to speak anytime, answered emails nearly immediately and was never late (but typically early) for her promised turnaround period. She provided unbiased opinions and advice, which was extremely valuable during a process requiring intense self-reflection, and was very supportive when I received the news I was not accepted.

For anyone like me - on the younger side for the average MBA applicant, not a banker/consultant, previous work experience doesn't fit many 'career tracks' or appear on drop down lists, might not project the most self-confidence or take ownership for all your professional accomplishments (yet) - working with Jessica will not only boost your odds at acceptance to a top MBA program, but also strengthen your ability to clearly, present your background and 'story' to potential employers, mentors, and/or colleagues...

After explaining the projects I'd led professionally over our brainstorming call, I sent my first CV and essay drafts to Jessica. She quickly responded with feedback, encouraging me to take more ownership for the accomplishments I described on our call, in my writing. She helped tweak my language and portray my experiences in a new light that anyone could relate to or understand, while never completely revising or editing the original content.

Jessica's guidance on how to best present my professional/academic background, and explain my short/long term career ambitions, has been extremely beneficial professionally and personally - I now take ownership for my work, confidently embrace my non-traditional path, and recently landed a dream job because of it.

Had I not worked with Jessica, I highly doubt applying to bschool and not being offered admission, would've been nearly as productive of a process in the end.

You absolutely won't regret your decision to invest in a consulting package with Jessica Shklar...even if you don't get in :)

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Background: 730 GMAT; 4 years experience at a boutique investment bank; 3.4 GPA at a state school

When I decided to apply to business schools in the first couple months of 2013, I reached out to a few MBA application consulting firms for free consultations, and I immediately clicked with Jessica Shklar from mbaMission. During our 30-minute call, she was able to point out parts of my resume that I was understating and suggested a few schools that she thought would be good fits for me.

I signed up for mbaMissions start-to-finish package and once essay questions began to be released, my first brainstorming session with Jessica was a complete success. Even though my brainstorming document was about half the length of typical clients, she was able to ask all the right questions about my background and experiences to piece together a coherent and compelling "story" for me that I never would have thought of on my own.

After that call, I reviewed my notes and began drafting my first essay. Upon submitting my first draft, Jessica promptly reverted back to me thorough and extremely helpful comments while also making sure that I continued to write in my own voice by always being open to discuss any questions or concerns. She also kept me on track and periodically checked in on my progress given that the two schools I was applying to (HBS & Booth) had relatively earlier deadlines. Even my recommenders had nothing but compliments for her style of input. Once the time came to submit my applications, we did one final review of the entire application for each school, including all the short answers, and I was very proud of the applications I was able to produce.

If you are looking for someone that will truly make the grueling application process enjoyable and less stressful, please give Jessica a call, as she was always genuinely invested in my success all the way from school selection to essay drafting to interview prep and even post-admission advice. There was no way I would’ve gotten into Booth without her wonderful advice.

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I'm really grateful to Jessica and mbaMission for helping me craft the most compelling story and for being great support during the incredibly difficult MBA admissions process. Jessica helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses as an MBA candidate, and she gave an objective opinion every time. Now that I'm in the first couple weeks of business school, I am finding that the consulting sessions are still paying dividends. The resume that I'm now using to get internship opportunities has been edited and crafted with Jessica's help. But most importantly, I continue to use the narratives Jessica helped me uncover now that I'm looking for internships.

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First of all, I wanted to mention that this was my second year applying and I have used three different consultation services throughout my application experiences.

I only worked with Jeremy Shinewald and Jessica Shklar of MBAMission so I only speak for these two, but I am confident that if I had ended with any other consultant within MBAMission, I would have had just as great of an experience.

In my first year applying, I utilized the help of MBA Apply and Aringo. Alex was an experienced consultant and maybe a great fit for someone already with a solid story and background, but for me, we were not a great fit. He is one of the most knowledgeable and opinionated persons about B-schools in the business, but my experience was less than stellar. So in the middle of applying, I switched to Aringo. Aringo was good as well, and Tim, in my opinion, was a better fit than Alex and we even became friends, but again, we failed to achieve a solid acceptance into any schools on my list. With Tim's help, I did get waitlisted at Johnson, but ultimately did not get in due to lack of movement on the waitlist (I applied to Columbia, Haas, Wharton, Johnson, Yale, and Stern my first year). As with any applicant who faces this kind of statistic, I was discouraged to say the least. It took a little while to dust myself off and get back on the saddle.

Then in my second year of applying, I decided to utilize MBAMission after consulting with Jeremy AGAIN (I had consulted with him my first year but decided against my better judgement due to the high cost of packages - I come from a construction background so my paycheck was not even close to six figures). He was the most encouraging consultant I had met (yes yes I know they are a business and I did consider many other consultation services and came to a conclusion that I wanted to work with someone who was more positive than some consultant who wanted to pigeon hole me into a group of schools I did not want to attend). Sometimes, to draw out the inner story in someone who had lost confidence in their own profile, you need someone positive and encouraging and who is willing to listen to your whole story without interrupting you to tell you that he or she thinks that it will not work because of conditions A,B and C.

That is how I ended up with Jessica Shklar. I asked for a drill sergeant type to keep me in check and to keep me going when going got tough. Boy did I get placed with the right consultant. She not only put on the drill sergeant hat when she needed to, but being the passionate person she is, she was quick to pick up on hints and vibes and drew out the important stories that I had thought were insignificant from my previous year of applying. We were able to put together a complete story of me; and with complete confidence, I completed all seven applications. End result? I got accepted into two sweet sixteen schools with fellowships (Johnson and Anderson for $40K) and one top twenty-five school also with fellowship (USC $40K). I will note though that the first four were reach schools (MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and Booth) and although I put together a kick-ass application, I knew going in that it was a numbers game.

When choosing a consultant, I cannot stress enough that you need to really explore all of your options thoroughly. Consult with as many as you can stomach before putting down your money. I sure am glad I did. Some may say that I may have had a better chance with this service or that consultant, but I am completely satisfied with the services I received from MBAMission even with the higher price tag. I got what I paid for - more specifically from Jessica Shklar for my apps and Jeremy for running a tight show and helping me find Jessica. The Good news? I NEVER EVER have to apply again. I got in. I am traveling through the Balkans waiting to attend Anderson in the fall.

I sincerely wish the best of luck to all applicants. Cheers.

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