I had known for a while that I wanted to apply to business school – specifically, to some of the most competitive programs out there. Since the application process seemed so daunting, I decided early on to use a consultant. A friend and mentor of mine introduced me to mbaMission, and I had a 30 minute consultation with Jeremy Shinewald. Jeremy paired me up with Liza Weale, describing her as an “excellent consultant” and someone who is “very personally invested, taking each client deeply personally”. After nearly a year of working with Liza, I wholeheartedly agree.

From the moment I met Liza, I could tell that she was truly passionate about her work and took the application process very seriously. She was enthusiastic and energetic, and I was excited to begin the process together. Our first task was brainstorming – helping me to rack my brain for stories, anecdotes, experiences, etc. that I might turn into my essays. Liza helped me to craft my story, stringing together my experiences in a way that painted a true picture of who I was as a professional and as an individual. I was immediately impressed and felt much more at ease.

Liza was incredibly helpful in editing and tweaking my essays (as well as helping me with the short answers, preparing me for interviews, etc). Her comments and edits weren’t just “word smithing” – she gave thoughtful feedback with concrete suggestions for how to improve the idea/flow. She knew my “story” so well that she often suggested adding anecdotes to strengthen my essay that I hadn’t even thought about! On some of my essays, we went through 20+ iterations – and she worked just as hard on the last iteration as she did on the first.

But, it was much more than essay help. Trust me – the process can be stressful, defeating and tricky. Liza was my therapist, confidant, and strategist all in one! She ALWAYS made herself available to answer to my questions (and calm my fears) – and I had a lot of them!

Liza always went above and beyond to streamline my story and really push me to put forth top-notch applications. Perhaps my favorite part about working with Liza was how proactive she was – she didn’t wait for me to ask a question or raise a concern, but instead continuously brought things to my attention that I should consider. For example, she didn’t hesitate to suggest a re-write of my essay (taking a completely different direction), even if it meant more work for her. And often, I would get emails to the effect of “I was thinking more about XYZ, and even though my gut reaction was to do X, I think we might want to consider doing Y. Here’s why…” Liza’s dedication to her role was infectious and second to none. I felt as though she was working just as hard as I was, and really took my applications as seriously as I did. While I’m sure she had a number of clients, I always felt like I was getting her undivided, personal attention.

I owe a great deal of my success in the B-school process to Liza. I got into my dream school (HBS)! I’ve already recommended her to my friends and co-workers. If you’re serious about business school, don’t hesitate to work with mbaMission – and more specifically with Liza! It’s definitely worth the investment.

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I had many friends who applied to MBA programs a year before I did, and most of them used a consultant. However, not a single one wanted to recommend their consultant to me as they did not find their consultants to be helpful or worth the cost. Eventually, I looked into mbamission and was matched up with Liza. I’ll be attending HBS next fall, and I’m really not sure if I could have gotten to this point without all of Liza’s help.
I purchased a 3 school start-to-finish package. It was worth the cost – it took over a year from first speaking to Liza to receiving the final decision from the 3rd school, and Liza was there to give guidance at every step of the way. The unlimited assistance was very valuable. Liza played a key role in everything from brainstorming my initial essay topics to helping fill out the short answers to preparing for the interviews. I had many questions along the way and Liza answered each question quickly and thoughtfully.
There are many reasons why I STRONGLY recommend Liza. Here are a few of them:
- Liza makes your essays better. Sounds obvious but most of my friends wouldn’t say that about their consultants. It’s not hard to tell someone what you don’t like about their essays or why you don’t think they’re good. I had several colleagues apply at the same time as I did and I saw the types of comments that they received from their consultants – no concrete ideas, no specific suggestions on how to improve the essays, just high level thoughts and a few grammar changes. Liza puts thought into every single sentence in your essay. Through the brainstorming, Liza got to know me so well that she was able to think of experiences from my past that I could reflect upon in specific places in the essays. She pushed me to make each essay the best it can be through 10+ iterations per essay.
- Liza is thinking about your applications even when you’re not. There were numerous times when I got emails from Liza with ideas even when the essays were in my court. I doubt there are many consultants out there that do that.
- Liza was always prompt in getting her comments back to me. Mbamission has a 2 day policy, and in a year of working with Liza, she was never late. Not once. As someone who works long hours, I can’t stress enough how helpful it was to know exactly when you would receive Liza’s thoughts. Liza also went above and beyond the hours she had to work. She was willing to have calls on weekends when work wouldn’t allow me to have weekday calls. She was willing to review my HBS post-interview reflection on a Saturday, because I interviewed on a Friday. None of my colleagues had consultants who were willing to do the same.
I got into my dream school and I couldn’t be happier. I highly recommend working with Liza if you’re serious about the MBA application process.

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The first time I applied, I got dinged from 5 schools - no interview invites. Next year, I worked hard to figure out what went wrong and also decided to purchase a 4 school package with mbaMission.

I spent around a month just to figure out which consultant I wanted to work with and finally chose Liza Weale. I made this decision because when I spoke to her during the 30 minute free consultation, I was impressed by the fact that she could give inputs on how to improve specific points on my resume/ application (unlike some other consultants, from other firms, who would simply point out what's wrong but couldn't tell me clearly how to do it right). For instance, a consultant from another firm, after looking at my rejected application, told me that I had to take on a significant leadership role in my company within the next 2-3 months to actually have a chance at the schools I was targeting. Another said that my resume was typical of how others from my country would generally make it, it wasn't "American enough" - she couldn't tell me though how to make it more American. So, after all my research, I chose Liza because of her straightforwardness and ability to present achievements in the most impactful manner (that is, primarily, what the role of an admissions consultant is, I believe).

One thing that was certain from the very beginning, Liza was very professional. Not once did she fail to meet her turnaround deadline and this was done without compromising on the quality – I remember sending her 6-7 documents for review on a particular weekend and she was able to revert back on all of them by Tuesday!! Additionally, she was also kind enough to incorporate my requests for a faster turnaround than usual on a couple of occasions.

Coming to the work part, she initially helped me decide which schools to apply to - I eventually got in to a school that she had encouraged me to consider. During essay reviews, Liza always pointed out areas of improvement and gave me a direction to think, she never told me exactly what to write – which is a good thing because it made me feel that it was still all my work and Liza was there to guide me. Of course, we got stuck several times, especially on how to portray a past endeavor of mine where I hadn’t completely succeeded but which was a major talking point on my application. Liza helped me craft it in a way that demonstrated its impact and showed my failure as a learning step. Getting it right took 3-4 attempts but when I finally did receive my invite (call), I was told that my work on this endeavor was one of the factors they decide to offer me admission.

Another thing that I liked was that Liza would regularly encourage me push back on her suggestions and was mindful of how I felt about what I was writing. Almost every review of her was accompanied with some words of encouragement which is very important in such a grueling process (especially when you are a re-applicant).

While I had chosen only a 4 school package, I was also applying to other schools on my own and Liza often answered some questions related to those schools – which gave me a feeling that she also genuinely wanted me to get into a good school and that working with me was more than just a commitment that she had to fulfill.

I got accepted to one of the top 5 schools and got an interview invite from another (which I couldn’t convert). Additionally, I also have an interview invite from another school that I had applied to on my own. Considering what happened last year, I am so glad I made the right choice this year. I would strongly recommend Liza to anyone looking for guidance on their application.

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At first, I was highly skeptical about hiring a consultant because I wondered whether I would be able to get into my top choice schools without the hefty cost of hiring a consultant. Though I will never know if I could have done it on my own, since I ultimately did decide to work with mbaMission, I do not regret my decision at all!

I first spoke with Liza back in July to get a sense of a) what a consultant would be able to provide and b) what it would be like to work with Liza specifically. Though I spoke with other firms and other consultants as well, I fell in love with the concept of working with Liza right away!

During the next few weeks, Liza helped me with putting together my essays, my resume and my recommendation packets for my recommenders. She provided great insight and guidance on whether to take my story and always pushed me when she thought I had more to say or share (even when I did not know I had more!). Not only was she able to provide very tactical feedback on sentence structure, vocabulary choice, etc., she also provided big-picture thoughts (e.g., why did you choose this example? Is there something more here?). Most importantly though, Liza was at my corner, cheering me on at every single step of the way. It meant a lot to me that she cared so much about how my case would be presented to the admissions committee. Although I had other people read parts of my application, she was the only one who saw every aspect of my application (and the only one I trusted doing so, especially since some of these essays can get very personal). As my trusted advisor, she knew how all the pieces would fit together and whether or not the “true” me was coming through. Through the process, Liza became not only a mentor but a friend and without her emotional support, I do not know if I could have finished all my apps in time.

One of my proudest moments of 2014 was being to email Liza and tell her that I got into one of my top choices. I highly recommend at least looking into working with Liza—she is not only extremely smart, but also very caring and supportive.

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I scheduled my free thirty minute consultation with Liza because of the testimonials I read online about both Liza and MBA Mission. I had no intentions, at the time, of signing up for the consulting service, but thought it would be a great half hour review of my resume and story; however, after only a few minutes into the call, it was clear that Liza was an expert – her knowledge, her insight, and her ability to jump right into business thoroughly impressed me.

I knew where I wanted to apply and the areas in which I needed help in, and thus, I opted for the hourly option. Liza took the time to get to know me through a background assessment, ensuring I highlighted my best attributes for the applications. In her feedback, Liza was honest and comprehensive, but what impressed me the most was her genuine passion and commitment to me. Liza encouraged me to find myself and be true to who I am. Her ability to remember things I said during our calls, or minute details she would bring to life, helped truly show my voice in my application.

As I was just about finished with my essays for two of the three schools I was applying to, I changed my plan of action and decided there was only one school for me. Liza was supportive and agreed it was my best fit. When I shared the good news about my acceptance, Liza’s congratulatory note made my day. Liza built a positive and sincere relationship with me, and from the other reviews I read before engaging, it is evident she does this with all of her clients.

There is no doubt in my mind that Liza is an excellent partner for Business School applicants, and I highly recommend her.

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Liza is incredibly talented. She is everything you could want from a consultant, and was instrumental into getting me into both Sloan and Tuck. I don't have enough good things to say about Liza, but if you are considering a consultant, you should definitely hire her.

A little background on myself - this was not my first time applying. Last year, I applied to Sloan, Tuck, Wharton, and Kellogg. I was waitlisted to three of those schools, and ultimately rejected from all of them.

I decided this next time around to hire a consultant, and Liza was the perfect fit. I had spoken to a number of consultants just to get a sense of their backgrounds and to see if there would be a fit, and I could tell that Liza was perfect for me. Having gone to Sloan and having been at Bain as a consultant, I knew she had the experience of actually having been through what I was going through, not just the experience of helping past kids get into good schools.
She does not bullshit around. She does not tell you what you want to hear - she tells you exactly what you need to know to improve your essays, or resume, or to guide you through your interview. She navigated me through what was an incredibly demanding time, giving me the appropriate guidance and direction when necessary. She kept me on task when deadlines approached, and gave me a schedule to adhere to. She went out of her way on multiple occasions to get me things back in time (even before she was obligated to) so that I could work on them over the weekend. I felt like one of my interviews didn't go so well, and we completely recalibrated how I prepared and that was so critical to me doing well for the second school.

While her services (and those from similar companies) are not cheap, I feel like if getting into a top school is a seriously goal of yours, hiring Liza is 100% worth it.

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The decision to work with an MBA Consultant is undeniably a tough one – is the significant sum of money worth the benefits? Are these so called benefits quantifiable? Is there any guarantee of success? The answers to most of these questions probably fall into the grey “maybe” area for most of us. Therefore, those of us that do decide to work with MBA consultants hope that we have picked the right consulting firm to skew the probability of success in our favor (because – hell, I don’t care if it increases my probability of getting admitted into my dream school by only 5%.. that 5% could mean the difference between getting in and getting rejected!) After having gone through the process over the last year, I can (with some degree of confidence) state that choosing an MBA consultant is so much more than that – it really matters who the consultant you’re working with is, and not which consulting firm they are affiliated to. The right consultant can take that uncertain “maybe” and turn it into a definitive ROI. And that’s where Liza Weale comes in.

In my mind, there are 5 qualities that make a good MBA consultant:
1) Knows the school
2) Provides a different perspective/angle
3) Can market you as an asset
4) Is an excellent wordsmith
5) Actually cares about you/goes out of their way to ensure your success

1) Knows the school: Right off the bat I knew that I wanted to work with Liza for my MIT Sloan app because of her extensive experience with the school. Liza really knows how the Sloan adcom thinks and was able to craft my essays to match their expectations. This was a significant benefit, as the Sloan adcom is very different from other schools and students often make the mistake of using generic essays that focus on all the wrong things from Sloan’s perspective. If MIT Sloan is your first choice – do everything you can to work with Liza!

2) Provides a different perspective/angle: I feel that this is very important in bringing out the versatile facets of your application and personality. I would much rather work with someone who has the ability to provide a different angle to my story than someone who thinks/behaves like me. During my initial 30-minute free call with Liza (when I was still uncertain on who I wanted to work with), I was immediately struck by Liza’s ability to provide not one but many different perspectives on my accomplishments and milestones. In those 30 minutes Liza almost completely changed the way my Resume looked – for the better! I knew then that Liza was the person I wanted to work with for this journey.

3) Can market you as an asset: This is a vital skill for any MBA consultant. They are literally helping you sell yourself to MBA schools. A marketer at heart and by profession, Liza is really able to help you put the best “you” forward in your essays.

4) Is an excellent wordsmith: 10-15 iterations per essay. That is literally the number of iterations Liza had me go through before we concluded that the essays were perfect. During those iterations my essays were transformed from incoherent (and lengthy) ramblings into succinct pieces of art (lol I don’t really think they are pieces of art but you get the point). Liza has a knack of removing that one badly-worded phrase in your essay that you’re stuck on and replacing it with something awesome.

5) Actually cares about you/goes out of their way to ensure your success: This. I had contacted Liza really late in the game for R1 application submission and she was already overloaded with clients by then. However, Liza always kept me on schedule, was always available for a quick counseling session, and was very responsive with her emails. All in all I never felt that she was neglecting me or was only in it for the money – she actually cares about your application and is as apprehensive as you are when the decision time is due!

I recommend Liza Weale unreservedly as the MBA consultant to work with – because she gets results and helped me get admitted into my first choice school – MIT Sloan!

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Liza was my consultant for a "Start to Finish" package - I only applied to one school and Liza was instrumental in helping me get in. She helped me formulate my ideas and put them together in an organized and succinct manner. She always responded to my emails quickly and rapidly addressed and alleviated any concerns that I had. She was able to to combine her professionalism and experience with a personal touch. I can honestly say that if it weren't for Liza I would have had a much more difficult time putting my application together. Liza carries my unreserved recommendation.

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I decided to apply for an MBA a little late in the game (round 3) due to extenuating work circumstances which made things a little tricky. After reading reviews for different services and consultants, I selected Liza from MBA Mission as she had a number of accepted students to the program I was interested in. After the free consultation call I knew I had made the right choice. Liza was kind and understanding but also assertive and made sure to efficiently communicate her advice showing she respected the fact that we were on the clock. I went though several rounds of essay and resume edits for two applications with Liza and the results were night and day. Her edits and comments enabled me to step outside of my story and really portray it in a way that was conducive to the admissions committees' point of view. She is succinct, articulate, and very insightful and I have no doubt she was a driving force enabling me to attend one of my top two (and only two) schools that I applied to.

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The only justice I can do for the incredible service I received from Liza Weale over our eight months working together is to write this review and let others know how great she is and how worthwhile it is to hire her.

I was introduced to mbaMission via Manhattan GMAT (which I also highly recommend), so decided to check them out with their free 30 minute consultation. Based on her bio on the website, I decided to meet Liza Weale (in person, which I recommend) to judge for myself whether the lofty price tag seemed worth it. During our brief initial meeting I was instantly impressed by her ability to identify what I wanted and needed out of our process working together and walked away challenged with how to tell my story successfully.

I initially purchased the two school start-to-finish package, which was a great decision. It allowed me to work with Liza through every step of the process – from school selection to brainstorming; essay writing to resume drafting; and even through the interview process. I highly recommend the complete package because it allows you to develop a relationship and working style with your consultant, while not being worried about the cost through every essay draft and phone call. I also used Liza on an hourly basis for a third school, which was sufficient because we were able to build off the work we had done for the two school package.

Working with Liza was worth every penny (and it was a lot of pennies). She provided me with all of the “must-haves” of an admissions consultant, including: keeping me on a schedule, being readily available and reliable and proof reading my work to 100% grammatical correctness. In addition, mbaMission's general process and how Liza guided me through it was critical to my success in the process. First, they provide strong overall process and school specific guides to get you started up the seemingly unsurmountable mountain of work that is applying to business school. Second, from my experience with Liza and reading through the bios on the website, mbaMission really does hire extremely qualified people who are impressive from both an academic and professional standpoint. This provides credibility to their insight and recommendations. Also, I found it extremely useful to get an unbiased reaction to my application from a credible source that you cannot get from friends, coworkers or family. Third, the process is structured and offers a critical brainstorming and self-assessment framework to lay the foundation for a strong application. I found this part of the process to be the most critical in discovering for myself what I want to do and how I communicate that to others, both for the business school application process as well as in the future. Finally, mbaMission really does work as a team and Liza was able to share insights from other clients and consultants on a variety of important topics from essay question strategy to interview focus.

However, most important were Liza’s personal attributes, style and hard work that lead me to recommend her so strongly. Liza was a pleasure to work with as she is both a good listener as well as an idea and thought partner and genuinely personally invested in your success. She helped me through every step of the process to craft a consistent and convincing story that I could be proud to submit and confident I put my best foot forward. Best of all, Liza is just a generally nice and cool person. I can’t wait to grab a cup of coffee with her and continue our great working relationship on a personal basis. Specifically though, the top three reasons I enjoyed working with Liza and would recommend working with her are:
1) She guides you in the right direction, while still allowing your point of view and voice to shine through
• I’ve heard that other consultants will “rip you a new one” and completely change your ideas and direction. However, Liza was very constructive with me – focusing on my cool, unique attributes and not a cookie cutter application format
• By helping you to come to the conclusions yourself you can develop the most conviction behind your application and create something really genuine
2) She spends the time to get to know you and your story so she can genuinely help you brainstorm and discover your best ideas
• There were many instances where Liza would recall an experience I told her about that was worth highlighting or an angle of an experience that wasn’t as obvious to me being someone who lived it. Her attention to detail, hard work and dedication in this aspect were vital to me
3) All of her edits / revisions are timely, thoughtful, analytical and never just a check the box / check for grammar exercise (no superficial editing)
• One of my biggest writing weaknesses is being precise and knowing where I can cut. She provided a huge value add to me here by giving me concrete opinions and suggestions while still allowing my full store to come through

In the end, I was admitted to HBS and Wharton so I really couldn’t have hoped for a better result! Overall, I highly recommend working with a consultant to make sure you put your best foot forward in your application. I was extremely happy with mbaMission and Liza Weale specifically, and would recommend her to anyone serious about applying to a top MBA program.

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