I would highly recommend Jessica Shklar from mbaMission for anyone considering applying to a top business school program. I spoke with a few other admissions consultants from other companies before speaking with Jessica and immediately knew after our first brainstorm session that she would take a vested interest in my application to business school. She was excited about my story, provided great insights to my various questions, and even was willing to speak to my father, who had some questions of his own.

I valued having Jessica to discuss all of the intricacies and complexities throughout the duration of the admissions process. She is extremely responsive, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and realistic about MBA programs and the admissions process. Jessica continuously pushed me to be the best applicant. Over the several months that we worked together, we developed a strong relationship and I continue to reach out to her and know that I can rely on her for her sound advice.

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Because of the lofty price tag on admissions consulting, on top of the brutally expensive GMAT/application process, I was skeptical about using a consultant. However, friends at top schools persuaded me that consultants were extremely valuable and a small investment relative to the cost of b-school and potential payoff from attending a top program.

I had my 30-minute free consultation with Jessica and was blown away by how much constructive feedback she was able to give me in such a small period of time. I'd done my research to learn about characteristics and experiences that top schools look for, but I quickly found how beneficial it was to have a seasoned professional help refine my application.

Throughout the application process, Jessica motivated me to thoroughly reflect on my experiences and career goals so that I was able to most effectively present myself to admissions committees. There were so many times where I thought I had written a stellar response to an essay prompt, Jessica tore it apart (in a very nice/constructive way), and then after we reached a final product I couldn’t believe I’d been happy with my first drafts. Jessica gave me feedback that I knew I could trust because of her experience, confidence, and rationale behind each suggestion she provided.

The applications that I submitted were (seriously) the proudest accomplishments of my life because of the way I was able to tie each piece of the application into a story that truly highlighted the best me. Working with Jessica was such an amazing exercise in self-exploration, and I couldn’t more highly recommend her to anyone serious about applying to business school!

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I worked with Jessica on my interview preparation and she was one of the first two people I contacted after receiving my dream school acceptance call – my email subject line was “HAAS!!! :) We did it…speechless.” Despite living almost 8,000 miles from me and never meeting me in person, Jessica had a commitment and a sincere desire to see me succeed that I have only experienced with family.
After investing countless hours into the GMAT and my essays (also through mbaMission), I finally had three interviews. The pressure of crossing the finish line led to a “shocker” of a practice interview. Jessica’s advice was not a simple “you need to relax and be yourself” but rather she worked with me to develop the tools to let my personality shine through and for me to enter the “zone”. Going into my final and most important b-school interview, I trusted Jessica when she advised me not to look at my interview notes in the week leading up to the big day. Every interview was a success and…I had fun in those interviews.
Jessica’s positive energy kept me going during the demanding interview process, and her experience and advice allowed the best version of me to come through at every interview. A testament to the positive experience I had with Jessica and mbaMission is that my wife will be working with Jessica on a “start-to-finish” mbaMission package this year!

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My decision to work with Jessica Shklar was probably the best decision I’ve made in recent years. Although the process entailed a lot of work, I am extremely happy with the outcome as I have been admitted to my top choice school.

Prior to deciding to work with Jessica, I scheduled assessment calls with most of the well-known MBA admission consulting firms. It quickly became apparent to me that Jessica was the most experienced and knowledgeable. She was also the only one that I connected with on the personal level. And when Jessica could not take me on as a client in R1, I decided to apply in R2 just so I can work with her.

Here is a summary of what I found most helpful in working with Jessica:

1- She is straightforward. She won’t sugarcoat her feedback

2- She was really invested in the process. I felt she cared about the final outcome just as much as I did. And when I felt satisfied with my application, Jessica kept pushing me to go deeper. At the end, I emerged from this experience a better writer and a storyteller.

3- She is exceptionally skilled in formulating and synthesizing ideas into a story. Combining this with her unmatched coaching skills, Jessica proved to be the ultimate resource, helping me prepare my winning application.

The value of working with Jessica goes beyond the application process. Her support and guidance during my interviews was invaluable. I simply cannot recommend Jessica enough.

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I decided to reach out to an admissions consultant, after having already taken the GMAT 3 times and having put off applying to business school for a year. I knew I was a competitive candidate in all other aspects - I worked at a top management consultant firm and was being sponsored for my MBA, had a 3.75 GPA, and plenty of community involvement - so I decided I was going to accept my 630 score and hope for the best. My targeted schools were Kellogg and Booth, since I was hoping to be in the Chicago area.

I received Jessica Shklar's name from a friend who had only used her for a few hours, but said those few hours made all the difference in her application (she is now at Wharton). When I first had my 30 minute free consultation with Jessica in August 2013, I immediately expressed my concerns regarding my GMAT score. I explained my test taking history and that I was scoring significantly higher on my practice tests, and Jessica recommended I take the test again. The best part was her directness - in her follow-up email after our call she outlined my 3 options: 1. accept your score, 2. give the GMAT another try, 3. apply to a few schools round 1 and take the test again depending on the results. She strongly recommended option #2, which was certainly not what I wanted to hear, but it ended up being the right choice. Even more impressive, was that Jessica went as far as to recommend specific tutors at Manhattan GMAT (since I had already taken their course) that I could do a few sessions with to get back on track.

I decided to take her advice to take the GMAT again, and Jessica promised to save a spot in her Round 2 line-up for me. She even followed-up into the fall to make sure the tutor was working out. I ended up taking the GMAT for the 4th time at the end of November, and scored a 690 - exactly what I needed to get into my targeted schools. Thanks to Jessica's advice, I felt confident in my application and decided to apply to 4 schools during Round 2 - Wharton, Kellogg, Booth and Ross. I went with a 2 school package from MBAMission and after comparing essay questions and discussing it with Jessica, I decided to have her help me with Wharton and Kellogg.

During our initial brainstorming sessions, I already felt that working with Jessica was helpful. She quickly narrowed down my stories that would work for the essays and those that didn't. She talked through the narrative of how exactly to communicate the story to make it appealing from an admissions perspective. By the end of the call I knew exactly what story or narrative I was going to use for each essay and had a good outlines already going in my head. I took very detailed notes during that sessions (literally typed every word) and ended up using a good portion of that original content in the essays I submitted.

During the editing process, Jessica was timely with her feedback and I almost always accepted her changes. I also really appreciated that she knew not all of her changes would be accepted, as some things are just personal style. Overall, her feedback and edits were on-point. At one point in the real heat of the application filling-out process, she sent me a note saying something to the affect of, "I just want you to know you're doing a great job" - it was just the boost I needed and was just so nice to hear.

In the end I was admitted to Kellogg, Booth, and Ross. While Jessica only helped me with Kellogg and Wharton, I was able to leverage a good portion of the materials I developed with her for the other schools. The only one negative I will mention, is that she's hard to get! My boyfriend reached out to her in March 2014 (with my recommendation) and she was already full for Round 1. Jessica is helpful, responsive and really knows her stuff - I highly recommend her to anyone looking for MBA application support.

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My experience with Jessica was amazing! She has done much more than I ever thought was possible. All I can say is – if you are looking for someone who really cares about how things turn out for you and has nothing but your best interest in mind – go with Jessica. I requested her help to review my essays on an hourly basis. She was extremely efficient and without knowing me she figured out how to use my time in the best possible way – combination of phone and essay proofreading. She gave me detailed comments/suggestions. At the end of this exercise I was amazed at how much I felt she knew about me already. Most of her assumptions were correct and she even made me think about an event I had not given much thought to earlier. She was quick in responding to emails and made things work according to my time (whether she had a babysitter for part of that time or not) and remained focused on helping me finalize the essay until I was content with it. Since then she has emailed me to check up on me and given me advice when I’ve asked – and mind you I am not paying at this point. It just shows you how much she cares. She is 100% genuine and a warm, wonderful person. Thank you Jessica for your help and support!

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Jessica from mbaMission is truly amazing, without her I would not be going to my top choice school.

I was referred to Jessica by one of my colleagues. She stood up to her impeccable reputation! Working an 80-hour work week, I had limited time to study or write essays. Two weeks from the deadline, I had not taken my GMAT or drafted an essay. Jessica made the impossible, possible. With Jessica’s guidance, at the end of two weeks, I completed two school applications and I took the GMAT.

From the beginning, she understood not only my work style but also my story. Jessica helped me find my voice and present my story in the most impactful way. She taught me to think like an admission officer and not an applicant. That mindset coupled with her ability to bring out the best in me honestly lead to my admission to both schools. Above and beyond all of this, at the end of the day, you can truly tell she cares about her clients and wants them to succeed.

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Jessica is very thoughtful, positive and responsive. I felt that she likes what she is doing very much, which is crucial for clients. I am a non-native, aged 31, and did my bachelor`s degree in my country with low GPA. And I have never written a single essay in my life. So, I decided to work with a consultant, otherwise, I knew that I couldn't make it. After carefully reading reviews of different consultants and companies, I decided to try a 30-minute free phone consultation with Jessica Shklar at MBA Mission. That was one of the best decisions I ever made. During that 30 minutes, I was impressed by her ability to give advices with limited information. She gave me advice that I would get from someone who had known me for a long time and knows my strengths and weaknesses very well. So I knew that if I worked with her and shared more about who I am, she could market me very well.

So I stopped my market research and decided to work with Jessica Shklar on four different business schools with full admission packages. Jessica gave me crucial advice on choosing schools and recommenders, did mock interviews, and changed my resume to the world class one I would say (I sent my resume, recently, to a manager of one of the top consulting firms. She said, "Your resume is just brilliant.") Most importantly, without Jessica, I would not be able to write such great essays. We worked on at least five drafts for every single essay. Also, she connected me with her past clients who are alumni or current students at different business schools, and they were extremely happy to share their experiences with me and provide me with a lot of helpful information.

As you imagine, the application process was very stressful and I had lot of ups and downs. Having someone during that time encouraged me a lot to work harder. My interview-hit rate was 100% and I chose to attend my top choice. As soon as I heard news from schools to which I applied, such as interview invitations and admission decisions, the very first person I shared my emotion with was Jessica. After telling Jessica, I told my wife and parents ☺.

If you are serious about getting into a top 10 program, you are going to need some professional help to produce a flawless application. I highly recommend Jessica Shklar at MBA Mission as an admissions consultant.

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I highly recommend Jessica Shklar at MBA Mission as a MBA business school admissions consultant. I began the Admissions process as a non-traditional applicant (with a career in the international non-profit development sector) and was an older applicant for full-time MBA programs. Being completely foreign to the MBA admissions process and with no time or years to waste, I decided to hire a consultant to help guide me through the process, keep me on target, and help me tell my story. After reading many reviews, I hired Jessica and she surpassed my expectations at every stage of the admissions process.

Jessica is highly professional and responsive. From our initial consultation, to our brainstorming, and our interview prep – she was always supportive but was unafraid to ask difficult questions to help tease out my story. In my many iterations of essays, she provided constructive feedback which vastly helped me make my essays more concise while also delivering more compelling content. While I had read that my background and age could be hurdles, Jessica helped them become my strongest assets. She was also able to give advice to my recommenders who had never written recommendations for an MBA application. At times I forgot that she was my consultant, as she felt more like my mentor.

With Jessica’s help, I received interview invites from every school I applied to, gained acceptance to 2 schools and was waitlisted at the other 2 schools (Chicago & MIT). I decided to not pursue my waitlisted schools and accept a fully funded fellowship. With Jessica’s help, I will actually be paid to go to business school and pursue my dreams. I never thought that was even possible. Jessica is worth the investment.

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I highly recommend Jessica Shklar at MBA Mission as a business school consultant. She was an integral part of my application process this past winter/spring. From our first phone call, she quickly identified what made me unique as an applicant and gave me the confidence to apply to business school this year.
I especially valued Jessica’s feedback on my essays. Together, we took my somewhat rambling brainstorming document and turned into several succinct 250- and 500-word essays. Not only did she help me formulate and articulate my reasons for going to business school, but she also made my writing clearer and more precise. The interview prep was also helpful. We wrote out bullet points, walked through my answers, and went over different interview strategies for each school.
With Jessica’s help, I gained acceptance to 4 out the five schools I applied to - UCLA, Columbia, Kellogg, and Wharton. One final quality that I greatly appreciated was her responsiveness to emails at all times. She answered all my “quick questions” and was the perfect soundboard throughout the entire process.

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