I had the pleasure of working with Jen throughout the duration of my application process to NYU Stern. I was matched with Jen after my free 30min consultation where I explained what my goals were to one of the leaders of mbaMission. Jen proved to be just as good as advertised. She had amazing feedback on all aspects of the application which helped me tell one cohesive story. Her feedback was prompt, helpful, and gave me the boost that I needed to feel confident about my chances of getting admitted to school. As someone that did not have an elite GMAT score, I knew I would need some guidance to make the rest of my application really stand out, and Jen gave me all the tools that I needed. I am so grateful to have worked with her, and would recommend her services to any future MBA applicants looking to get a leg up on the competition.

Read More

I worked with Melissa on a 2-school package, and truly appreciate the time she put into every step of the process. From our 30-min consultation, she was really helpful in setting expectations about what was realistic and building my confidence that I could get into one of my target schools.

Melissa was really helpful in talking through potential essay topics in the application process, taking the time to get to know me as a person and highlighting stories and qualities I hadn't thought to talk about. She was extremely timely and thorough with essay edits, editing countless drafts of each essay. She answered all of my silly questions, and helped me feel confident throughout the process, which was something I definitely struggled with. She went above and beyond in the interview process, making me feel prepared not just for the interviews that were part of the school packages but for all of the business school interviews I had. In the end, I was admitted to both schools with scholarships! I can't thank Melissa enough for all of her help and support throughout the process and would highly recommend her to anyone embarking on the business school application process!

Read More

Let's be honest, getting into a top MBA programme is not easy. Perhaps the easiest bit is the grades and the GMAT. Its straight forward and you just have to study to get the right score/grades. The difficult bit is actually deciding which school to apply to, navigating through the application process and in the end, perhaps the most difficult of them all, making a selection.

I worked with Harold to apply to 6 schools. My working with Harold actually happened by coincidence. I was first matched with another consultant with whom I felt like I was not connecting very well. Stratus offered to switch the admissions consultant I was working with and paired me with Harold. This experience showed me that they really do care and want me to succeed. Stratus is really there to help any way that they can throughout the process.

Harold is very experienced at MBA Applications. He knows what schools want to hear and how you can structure your applications to stand out from the crowd. His help on my applications have been invaluable. I had so many ideas on how to structure these very short essays and I really struggled to pick which ones are the stories I should tell. Harold helped me every step of the way and explained what I should do and why I should do it. Beyond the essays, he was always there to talk to me whenever I had a question. It really was a tremendous support to have an expert by you to bounce ideas off of.

Perhaps my most memorable experience is when Harold recommended a certain MBA programme to me that was not on my radar. He found a school and a programme that had a specialization in the area I wanted to work in. School is such a good fit and my application was so successful that I got accepted into the program with a 50% scholarship despite having a GMAT score that is 40 points below the average. I must say, scholarship more than justified the fees I paid to Stratus.

In the end, I benefitted greatly from working with Harold. Not only I succeed in getting into the schools I wanted, I also learned a lot about myself and the career that I want to pursue.

Read More

Summary: Rachel helped me gain admittance to my dream school, Wharton! If you are contemplating the benefits of using a consultant, I would tell you to stop thinking about it and begin working with Rachel. Without Rachel's guidance and encouragement - I would not have even applied to my first choice school.

My Story: As I began the application process for MBA programs, I had a few friends suggest that I look to leverage an admissions consultant. Skeptical at first, but figured I had nothing to lose by a conversation, I scheduled two free 30 minute sessions; one with a competitor company and another with Rachel. As I was pleased with my first conversation with a competitor, I had high expectations before I got on the phone with Rachel. From the first 5 minutes of my conversation with Rachel, I knew she was the person I wanted to work with. Not only was Rachel familiar with the information I supplied before my consult - she came with recommendations and suggestions - something I did not expect from a free session. I thought my GMAT score would limit me on gaining acceptance to a top-tier program, but with Rachel's encouragement, I immediately began working with Rachel on my application and essays to Wharton.

Throughout the process, Rachel was my cheerleader, mentor, and personal coach. Rachel was extremely timely on providing thoughtful, candid feedback (in a good way) and challenged me to present my "best self" in my application. Rachel has a brilliant approach to storytelling and creating a coherent narrative. Rachel took the stress out of the application process for me and helped me achieve my goal of gaining acceptance to a top-tier MBA program.

I cannot thank Rachel enough for encouraging me to apply to my dream school, guiding me throughout the entire process, and helping me gain acceptance. Rachel exceeded every expectation I had and I would highly recommend Rachel to anyone who is considering applying to business school.

Read More

Harold and Stratus were incredible and well worth the cost.

I began the application process early and worked with Harold for many months to begin refining my story to be as strong of a candidate as possible. Working with Harold through reflection periods were key to my success on the essays and crafting the right story to catch the admissions committee's eye. I know I would have written a completely different essay had it not been for Harold's insights into my own patterns of behavior that he identified just from speaking with me and understanding my background.

Harold went above and beyond every time - spending many hours on the phone and even meeting with me in person when I visited Boston to get a better understanding of who I was as a person and applicant.

As well, the complete Stratus package is incredibly thorough. With personalized interview assistance, multiple essay readers, brainstorming tools, etc. you are positioned for success and to be the most competitive candidate you can be. I would recommend the full package to anybody looking at business school who is willing to do thorough career and personal reflection.

Read More

I cannot express how deeply grateful I am to Jessica for supporting me through the entire MBA process – from the brainstorming sessions, to the essays, and interviews and perhaps more importantly, the life changing conversations. If there is one thing that I can say for certain it is that applying to an MBA program is a journey and not a destination. What Jessica excels at is really allowing you to find your story and craft your journey. There were multiple points in this process where I had to deeply reflect on what my deepest priorities were and Jessica was masterful in helping me through this thinking. In addition, she is an exceptional writer who really simplifies complexity, whilst preserving the integrity of your thinking. As i reflect on my time working with Jessica, I am confident that she has made me a better story teller, but I am as grateful for her endless curiosity, desire and commitment to stretch my thinking, find my deepest values and express them with clarity.

Read More

I will be attending the University of Michigan Ross this Fall on a fellowship, and Helen Summers was essential to this outcome and my entire business school application process. What I appreciated most was her quick turn around time for every essay draft I sent her. Seldom did I wait more than 2 days for her to turn around my essay drafts with comments. This was especially impressive given that we were working together through December/January holiday season. I also found her detailed commentary on every essay and resume draft I sent to her incredibly helpful. Helen did a fantastic job at dissecting “my story” and pointing out the flaws in my anecdotes. She challenged my writing every step of the way, and it made me better each time. Working with Helen ultimately made me more introspective about my life story and what I wanted to have come through in my application. In addition to essay reviews, I had several phone conversations with Helen throughout my process to discuss GMAT strategy and Recommendation letter strategy. It’s important to note that I signed up for MBA Mission’s Hourly Package. Because the package was based on time spent, I was extremely cognizant and aware of every minute that I used for these consulting services. That being said, I can comfortably say that I never once was concerned that any billable minutes weren’t maximized. Helen was incredibly efficient in combing through my essays and resume while giving back meaningful feedback. When it came time to purchase additional hours, more than I initially planned for, I had zero hesitation because I knew every minute spent to on my application by Helen was going to help. Although I never ended up getting my target GMAT score, Helen did a great job of keeping me focused and helping me bolster every other part of my application, including my optional essay! She will give you the “tough love” that you need, and I truly felt like she was one of my biggest cheerleaders; you can really tell that she is passionate about this stuff. If you want to get into the school of your dreams, she will best position you to do so. I also had three of my friends use Helen this past year and they all got into the schools of their dreams, schools including Wharton, HBS, and Stanford. - I would highly recommend her.

Read More

Applied to 5 different schools, four among them were part of the elite M7 group. Not a single ding. Invited to interview from all five of them! Now, I am on my way to enroll at my dream school, Chicago Booth! Yes, my decision to work with Heidi turned out to be a killer deal for me. But the problem with quoting just impressive statistics like these is that they are but a snapshot of a nearly year-long process and very often don’t exactly reveal the entire story. Heidi made me realize that success rates alone don’t define a consultant. It is the experience that counts. Working with Heidi was one of the best and most memorable part of my entire application journey and when I say this I am least guided by the end results. It was a realization that hit me barely a couple of weeks after I started working with her. Patient, diligent, considerate, accommodative, and I can go on with more and more adjectives to describe her. But above all, it was her comforting presence and her cheery outlook that made me feel so self-assured. At no point during the entire process did I even have an iota of doubt about the outcome. Being an Indian male with an engineering background, it was supposed to be insanely difficult to differentiate me from the entire applicant pool. But Heidi managed to do exactly that in style. I still remember the very first call we had, when Heidi, after having read my entire biography, zeroed in on seemingly inconsequential stories of my life as must-haves in all my application essays to differentiate myself from the Indian applicant pool. That statement from her stands out as a remarkable prophecy today. And it was not just about creating quality essays. Being a Booth graduate herself and having been a consultant at one of the Big 3 consulting firms, she’s not just an admissions consultant but a perfect mentor to guide you in your post-MBA goals. I can confidently state today that my business education journey started the very same day I started working with Heidi. Long story short, if you are ever looking for a person who would go beyond being just an admissions consultant and stay with you as a friend/mentor/counsellor to guide you and steer you through the rigorous application process then Heidi is the one you should be looking for. I have extremely fond memories of my application journey only because of Heidi and they are mine to cherish forever!

Read More

Going into the application process, I honestly felt like my profile was fairly mediocre for the schools I was targeting. As a white male from the finance industry and working at a largely unknown company, the competition was abundant/tough and my numbers weren’t anything special. Like many, I was initially reluctant to use a consultant because of the cost; there’s no doubt it’s a big decision. But a good friend referred me to Jessica and told me she was the best in the business and that I had to work with her. The opportunity to go to a top b-school is once in a lifetime and I’d seen it open incredible opportunities for others, so I figured I’d give it my best shot and try to get any edge I could in the application process. After all, I’d already committed to the idea of leaving the workforce for two years and spending my life savings (plus some) on school itself – so might as well do it right.

Now at Columbia Business School, I’m still pinching myself because just a few years ago this didn’t seem like a possibility. And I can say with great certainty that it wouldn’t have been without Jessica’s help. Jessica helped me tell my story in a way that took my borderline profile and made it a standout one. She’s passionate about getting the best out of her clients, and she understands the application process and the perspective of admissions committees better than anyone. Always a straight shooter, she’ll constantly push you and tell you exactly what you need to hear. It wasn’t always fun or comfortable, but I wouldn’t have wanted to do it any other way because it resulted in the best possible application. She’s truly as invested in your success as you are at each and every step of the process – she was just as excited as I was when I got accepted to Columbia. In retrospect, I can’t believe I ever considered going through the application process by myself. If your dream is to attend a top business school but you think it might be a bit of a stretch, then I can not recommend Jessica enough.

Read More

I knew there were a lot of competitors in the MBA admissions consulting space, so I made sure to do my research. On top of reading multiple external reviews and testimonials, I took advantage of each consultant's test call to get a gut feel. Out of everyone that I talked with, Krista was really the only person that didn't act like a salesperson. Instead, she took a full hour to understand my background and my aspirations; it was easy to tell that she was caring and would pay attention to you as a person.

This definitely carried over into the entire process of 1.5 years of working with her, from several months before Round 1 all the way to the end of the waitlist process. Here are the highlights of working with Krista:

1) Thoughtful and probing in edits - She made it clear from the beginning that she was not going to be writing the essay herself, but rather that she would be a guide to help probe out my own thoughts and points. This was to emphasize the originality and uniqueness of my essay. In doing so, Krista was always thoughtful when giving updates and edits by posing various hypothetical questions in how to make a point stronger or why a certain point was necessary.
2) Direct and straightforward - at the same time, however, over 15 deep iterations of an essay, Krista wasn't afraid to be blunt and give objective feedback when needed. She deleted entire sentences and paragraphs when she felt it wasn't strong or contributed to my overall message, but was not tyrannical about it - she always explained the reasoning behind her edits.
3) Strong preparation for business school interviews - Krista provided extensive preparation for the interviews, including multiple rounds of mock interviews along with deep feedback. Not only did she help me work on the interpersonal aspect with tone and intonation to guide me with the proper delivery, she also cracked down on the concrete content of the answers to the questions to make sure they were well-structured and concise.
4) Maintained a strong personal relationship even after I got admitted into school - she referred me to MBA internship positions for a large financial services firm that she previously worked with.

I highly recommend Krista to anyone really looking for a personalized consultant with great insights into any industry and school.

Read More