I have to admit I was hesitant to sign up for consulting services. As a business professional I'm used to squeezing every penny possible and it felt ludicrous to pay someone to give me advice on a school application. Besides, I can write and I know what my story is. Right?

My essays were already written and I was ready to click submit, but a friend advised me that my top school would consider my essays very carefully and to make sure that they were top notch. He mentioned a consulting agency he had used to polish his application so I reached out.

I figured I had spent all this time preparing my application and studying for the GMAT, why waste it? Why not put my best foot forward and make sure my application shined?

I reached out to mbaMission and was assigned to Katharine Lewis. Having been in admissions herself at a top program, she really knew her stuff and had strong knowledge about my target program.

She recommended we spend our first hour brainstorming and going through my background. I thought I had written a pretty good essay at that point, but after spending that first hour with her realized I had missed important details and connections that would help my application shine. She was able to tease out these important connections to help me craft the best application possible.

We spent the next few hours reviewing my edits and polishing my essays into a masterpiece, which I’m confident would have been worse without her guidance and possibly cost me a chance at admission to my target school. The friends and family who had previously signed off on my essays were absolutely floored by how good they were after working her. My essays even brought a tears to their eyes in some cases (no exaggeration).

My friends and family agreed there was absolutely no way I wouldn’t get in. I’m happy to report, with the help of Katharine Lewis and mbaMission, they were right! I got into my top choice school and couldn’t be happier. If you have an opportunity to work with them, don’t pass it up.

Read More

I started working with Katy in August of 2014 for the 2014-2015 MBA application cycle. Before reaching out to Katy, I had done very little preparation other than taking the GMAT and truly had no idea what I was getting into to be ready to submit applications in the first and second rounds. Though Katy knew that there was a lot to be done, she made the process as easy as possible, starting with setting realistic goals for my process. I had originally planned to apply to 6 or 7 schools in the first round, and she very wisely advised me that I was setting myself up for failure, leading me to apply to three schools in the first round.

During my application process, Katy simply went above and beyond. She knows all of the programs intimately and was able to put herself in my shoes after I provided her with an in depth profile of my background during my brainstorming process. This allowed me to craft each of my applications to the best extent possible, focusing more on telling my story rather than submitting a generic profile, which was the approach I intended to take before working with Katy. Furthermore, Katy has been on both sides of the table as an MBA applicant and student herself and also as an admissions reader. This allowed her to provide me with a perspective that is truly unmatched. She was much more of a life coach during the process than a “consultant on the clock.” No matter how many drafts or how long it took to get to the absolute best application draft, Katy patiently worked with me throughout the entire process. In addition, Katy made time to work with me on other aspects of my applications besides the essays. She read my entire applications and provided me feedback, worked with my recommenders as if they were a client as well, met with me in person for every interview, and even spoke with my father countless times during the process. I can assure you that most consultants would not go to the level that Katy does for her clients. We also spoke at length about strategy, school choices, and even alternative MBA programs given the challenge I had of convincing schools that I was a compelling candidate, despite my low GMAT score.

After the first round, I was admitted to USC, which was my back up school and waitlisted to my first choice, Stanford. I decided to apply to three more schools over the holiday months and Katy worked with me through all of the applications – even on New Year’s Eve. During this time, I also experienced some irregular requests from Stanford including a request for an additional letter of reference and a phone call from the admissions office. While Katy had never seen these requests before, she helped me strategize and handled them as if they were common occurrences.

Ultimately, I was admitted to Stanford and I give Katy much of the credit. She was a master at navigating the waitlist process – making sure not to be overbearing on the school. She helped me craft the right message in my continued letter of interest and made the suggestions of retaking the GMAT and providing a peer reference. If you are willing to follow Katy’s advice, I simply do not think you can find a better partner in what is a very long and challenging process full of highs and lows. Looking back on the process, I would not have wanted to do it alone and I truly believe I would not have achieved the same outcome without her. When I called her to let her know the news, she was as excited for me as I was. I simply cannot recommend her highly enough.

Read More

I began speaking with Katy more than a year before I applied. I sought her advice on whether it was a good time for me to apply. She helped me think through retaking the GMAT, ideal time to attend, and how my career choices might affect my application. Once it was time to apply she edited essays, helped me choose recommenders, and even reviewed my answers to the high volume of short response questions. After getting waitlisted at Stanford, my top choice, she also helped me decide how I might reach out to the school and keep them updated. In the end, I was accepted to Stanford and am very grateful to Katy for helping get there. She was there with me through the entire process and her advice was extremely useful to me at every point. In addition to giving great advice, she was always quick to respond and she really cared about my success.

Read More

I have consulted with Katherine over the course of several months while applying to HBS and CBS. I have used around 10-15hours of her service.
Katherine's advice has been incredibly helpful in getting in to top MBA programms, whether it was about brainstorming my essay storyline or working through style of writing. She definitely approaches each applicant in a very personal way, spends required time to help (or even more!) and does not count time "to a minute" which allows for more relaxed atmosphere. She is very flexible in terms of arranging review calls, even when it comes to last minute requests. Katherine is definitely worth recommending and I would use her service again if I had to! FYI I have been invited for HBS interview (did not go through unfortunately) and got in to CBS! Good luck everyone!

Read More

Context: I applied to B-school in the fall of 2014. Due to the last minute nature of my application and lack of confidence with interviews, I sought support from Katharine (Katy) Lewis at MbaMission. I wrote to her after hearing about her from a friend and after having a mock consultation with her – which left me with a strong impression of her knowledge of the two schools I was interested in (HBS and GSB). I took the hourly package and decided to reach out to Katy for support with my essay and interviews.

Things that stand out from my experience with Katy:

1. She knows the two schools that I applied to – Stanford and Harvard – EXTREMELY well. She understands the nuances in style/focus for the two schools and helps you package your essay accordingly.

2. Her knowledge of the two schools is particularly helpful in preparing for the mock interview. I did a mock interview with Katy before my GSB and HBS interview – both of which, as I realized later, differ significantly. The questions that she prepped me with for GSB and HBS had little in common and she was unbelievably spot on with the points from my resume/essay that the interviewers were likely to talk about. She made my interviews a smooth sail.

3. She is exceptionally responsive and goes the extra mile to accommodate your needs – be it in terms of responding to requests for calls/essay reviews/scheduling a mock interview/reviewing the post-interview reflection – she is a consistent, encouraging, and reliable partner through it all

4. She gives you enough room to speak about your ideas/doubts/fears and extract all that she can from you – in terms of the story for your essay as well as the interview. She then responds with very specific feedback to package it appropriately. There were times when she told me “this is perfect, you should go ahead with it”, she won’t give you advice/suggest modifications just for the heck of it. This is immensely helpful for one to remain genuine to one’s story and style throughout the process.

Result: Made it to both Stanford and Harvard (yet to make up my mind on where to go). Immensely thankful to Katy for this. She is also helping me make my decision given her deep insights into the schools.

My advice to applicants: Be thoughtful as to what you need help with when working with a consultant. Exhaust all free resources you can get access to – friends, free consultations, etc. – and then make the decision on whether or not to take help. Things that I find value in when it comes to working with a (good) consultant – validation of your theme, packaging of ideas customized to different schools, and mock-interviews.

Read More

I worked with Katy on my Round 2 applications for 3 schools. By way of background, my stats are 770, 3.7, finance background but currently working in nonprofit. I was accepted at HBS and Haas and wait-listed at GSB.

I think the most impressive aspect of working with Katy was how intuitive and insightful she is in understanding me as a person. After I filled out the brainstorming questionnaire, Katy and I had an hour long call to discuss essay topics. She surprised me halfway through by saying "this is what I think matters to you" and then explaining my values to me better than I have ever been able to do myself. I found that essay topic picking was the most daunting part of this process so I was really greatful that she could help me sort my scattered thoughts out so effortlessly.

Regarding actual essay writing and editing, Katy was good at helping me cut my first draft down (it was twice as long as the limit) by helping me remove sections that weren't as impactful. She also definitely has a knack for rewording things to get the word count down. I started the round 2 process pretty early so my main Stanford/Harvard essay went through a lot of different iterations before I submitted and she definitely provided the big picture guidance that I was really looking for through those iterations.

Katy was also really helpful in prepping me for my interviews. Mbamission has a ton of data on prior interviews which was really helpful and the mock HBS interview I did with her definitely made me feel more prepared when I walked into the room on that one.

Katy also just has a lot of general knowledge about the admissions process which provided really helpful context throughout the process. She is clearly in the flow both through her personal experiences and friends at the schools I applied to, and she works with what seems to be an impressive clientele so she is seeing in real time how her clients' applications resonate with adcoms. Her follow up to our calls was always timely and professional and included materials we had discussed on the calls.

If you are considering working with Katy I would definitely at least have the free 30 minute convo with her, I got a lot of great insights from her just in that first call. Also the mbamission materials are relatively cheap and you should read all of them even if it's not exactly a beach read. Finally, I would just say that, other than being super effective and knowledgeable, Katy is just a truely lovely person who really likes working with young people who are trying to figure out what the heck to do with their lives.

Read More

I worked with Katy for both my round 1 and round 2 applications and was admitted to 4/5 of the schools I applied to, including HBS and Wharton. Working with Katy was a pleasure from beginning to end and a major factor in my admissions success. Throughout every step, Katy was there to answer my questions and give me the encouragement and support that’s so critical throughout this emotionally stressful process. Before I started the applications, I had no idea what my story would be or how I would approach the essays. Katy helped me find the real answers to “why” – why business school, why now, why me – which proved invaluable as I wrote my essays and went through my interviews. With Katy, you’re not only getting someone with incredible knowledge of the schools and admissions offices, you’re getting a life coach! If you want to give yourself the best shot at a top business school, work with Katy!

Read More

I highly recommend hiring some kind of consulting service to help you with your MBA application. It's a great tool and is just as important as taking a GMAT prep course (if not more).
When it came down for me to choose my consultant, I turned to MbaMission mostly because I read one of their books and a friend who got accepted into NYU Stern recommended them.
I was applying to and Executive MBA program, so I wanted a consultant that would best fit my particular needs (more experienced and geared towards an executive admissions process). One of the great things about MbaMission is that they have great profiles on each one of their consultants (including a video). This allows you to read up on all the consultants before choosing one. Almost like interviewing them – and since you’re about to pay them a lot of money, you should definitely conduct this “interview” process!
I ended up working with Katharine Lewis, which was one of the best choices I made in my whole application process. I chose her because she seemed a bit more refined, knowledgeable, confident, and all around the type of person you would expect to run into in an executive program. Her background was also very impressive; she got her MBA from Harvard and actually spent two years reading MBA applications at Stanford... is there any better person to have on your side than an actual admissions officer?!
Working with Katy was not a letdown! My two main concerns were my very tight schedule (I had less than a month to go from nothing to a completed application) and the fact that I was not applying to a typical full time program, but rather an executive program. In general, I felt like most resources out there (including consultants) where focusing on full time MBAs and very little attention was given to Executive MBAs, even though the requirements are very very different.
Needless to say, Katy addressed both issues very well. She was very responsive and an impressively quick reader. She worked very late hours and even weekends so she always found time to talk to me and meet tight deadlines. She knew exactly how to attack an EMBA essay and really gave me confidence that she had my back. If I had to choose the two most important things Katy has to offer (other than experience) I would say that
1) Besides doing an exceptional job, she really makes an effort to support you emotionally and to boost your confidence. This seems trivial, but I really felt comfortable with her. Even though I'm a very confident person, an MBA admissions process really critiques every aspect of your life and it's very nice to have someone be your cheerleader. Katy does just that while staying honest.
2) This one is a big one... she really encourages you to flood her with material and then she takes care of the filtering and editing. This is huge! It really makes your essays bring out who you are. Instead of wasting your time limiting yourself and filtering out information that you don't think is relevant, Katy pushes you to focus on putting it on paper and worrying about the sorting later. I am a very self-aware person, but this process gave me more than a few "AHA" moments when I held something in that Katy was able to bring out and to mold into a strong point.
An MBA can really change your life and is a very important key to your future, so make sure you give yourself all the tools to achieve success. A consultant is a no brainier.
I ended up getting accepted to my first choice EMBA program at UCLA Anderson. I worked with Katy on an hourly basis and she really did her best to give me as much input for every hour I purchased.
WARNING: the process is by no means cheap (in-fact it's pretty pricey), but at the end of the day it's an investment and well worth it. GOOD LUCK!

Read More

I started working with Katharine about 3 weeks before my application deadline, which I initially thought was a lot of time to review my application, but proved to be short, because Katharine had so many positive changes to suggest.
I sent the first draft of my application to her:
Essay 1: Personal statement and why I want to pursue an EMBA now?
Katharine put life into my story and beautifully complemented one fact with the other, making a firm case to the Admissions committee on why they should accept me. She carefully asked me questions about my life & career that would strengthen my application and added the same.
Even though she is from a legal background, and I work in Finance, she really made an effort to understand my work environment and animate the same in my essay

Essay 2: How will you take advantage of being at the very centre of business?
Katherine pointed out that there was overlap between what I had written in my 1st essay and this one, so she strongly suggested I come up with reasons other than Essay 1. She forced me hard to think of reasons and well research the program website.
She always kept giving me feedback from the perspective of an Admissions committee member (since she used to review applications for a little bit at Stanford), which was very useful. She made me see her how an admissions person (not from my field) would look out for in my application, at the same time making my application unique and not commonplace.

Essay 3: Tell us something that your Cluster would be pleasantly surprised to know about you
This was the hardest question for me. Katharine did a few phone calls with me and pushed me hard to think about this one. When I actually put some disparate facts together, she put it together so well, that only after that could I see a story falling in place. Being able to give your application a unique touch and doing so in an interesting yet concise way, is the least to describe Katharine's talent. She was able to understand me and make me see how I could add value to Columbia, and represent the same in my application

Finally she reviewed my entire application front to back. Her prompt reviews on my application material esp towards the end, her close attention to detail (and I can say this because I work in Finance) and her unparalleled wisdom to see someone like me in my current environment and use the same in the application to give it a unique touch proved very valuable to me. This got me into the Columbia EMBA program and I would be more than happy to recommend her to anyone I know.

The interview prep:
Katherine prepped me so well in the interview, that I felt very relaxed when I was actually at the interview. She forced me to think of examples from my life to present to the admissions counseler. I actually HAD fun at my interview and came off as a natural. Kudos to her!!

Overall, 5 out of 5

Read More

I was accepted this year at HBS and waitlisted at Stanford. The day I found out, I had (stupidly) forgotten to charge my phone, and as I stared at my Harvard acceptance letter, I realized I had about two calls left before my phone was going to die. I called my family, and then I called Katy Lewis. I had to tell her there was no way I could have gotten that letter without her.

Applying to business school is confusing and intimidating, but in every way I needed help, Katy was there. Two years ago, when I first called her for a consultation, she gave me one of the most important pieces of advice I ever got, about how to craft my nontraditional “story” in a way that makes sense to a business school. She has spent time at both HBS and GSB and has actually been an admissions officer there, so she was able to explain how they would see my background and what I would need to do to make it “make sense” to them. Her insight into how these schools worked was invaluable and helped guide my entire application process.

During that first conversation, I also asked Katy if it was better to apply that year or wait till I had a chance to spend time preparing. She was unflinchingly honest, and while everyone around me was saying “oh, go ahead, do it now, you’ll be fine,” she was the voice that advised caution and pointed out the potential pitfalls of applying too soon. It was a harbinger of one of the best parts of working with Katy: she is unfailingly realistic and honest (and also inevitably right). She was the one who told me what I needed to hear about my first GMAT score—retaking it on her advice was one of the best decisions I made. She steered me away from schools that were bad fits and helped me figure out what I most wanted out of my education. And, because I knew she wasn’t afraid to tell me the unvarnished truth, I knew I could really trust her when she encouraged me to take risks. She gave me the courage to apply to top schools despite my concerns about my quant score (which she helped me mitigate) and to move ahead with a relatively unconventional personal essay. Without her encouragement, I’m not sure I would have even applied.

Occasionally I had questions that no website or friend/family member could answer, like whether it was okay for a recommender to write a letter if they had gotten fired, or whether I could integrate a clarification of a bad answer into a post-interview thank you note. Katy’s answers and advice would always come immediately, by phone or by email, reflecting her seasoned understanding of what really matters to schools and what applicants can or should do. Katy was also freakishly accurate as a mock interviewer. Her HBS practice interview style was exactly what I found when I did my real interview a week later, so much so that it basically felt like the same experience.

For two years I have relied on Katy’s judgment and been buoyed by her confidence and kindness. To someone who is starting their own application journey, I can’t say enough about how helpful it is to have her on your side.

Read More