Harshad Mali is incredible. With so many moving parts, I started my MBA journey scattered minded and overwhelmed. Honestly, I did not know where to start so I decided to get a consultant. After checking out the tops 3 firms, I settled on mbaMission because they showed a genuine interest even though I had a low GMAT score, which I significantly increased before applying to any school. During the consultation call Harshad and I hit it off and started immediately.

Within one call we had a clear path to my goals. Harshad’s work on my essays, resume, and all the typical material needed to complete an application was top notch, as expected, but what really stands out is the support Harshad provides that one can’t merely read about; building my confidence, being available 24/7 during crunch time, digging deep into my stories, and outstanding insight into each program. In fact, that insight played a huge role when I decided on which program to attend. Those are only a few of the many examples, but I think you get the gist.

Financially, at this point in my MBA journey, my decision to work with Harshad has been the most critical, however, it has already paid itself back in exceptional dividends. I received scholarship for a few reasons I’m sure, but the offer letter stated one being leadership abilities. In my opinion, I would not have been able to display this ability without Harshad’s dedication to showing my intrinsic strengths via essays.

Strengths:
Punctual, brilliant message conveyor, organized, high level of empathic intelligence, transparent, honest, easy going, hardworking, has a holistic application approach, and is an all-around nice guy.
Just an overall astute consultant.

I highly recommend any driven applicant, who wants to win, to schedule a consultation with Harshad.

Post script: I can’t help to think while writing this post that Harshad is going to read it and think to himself “Man, I could have said the same thing in half the words.”

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I wanted to attend business school, but I had no idea where to start. I asked my network how they got through the process, and all of them recommended using mbaMission. What should have been an incredibly stressful ordeal turned into a streamlined process that kept me confident in my outlook the entire time. Krista responded to questions in a timely manner and was available to talk at reasonable hours. She helped me narrow my list of schools and produce a compelling story for each application. It really felt like she knew me better than myself after our first sessions together. Krista was a pleasure to work with, and I've recommended her to everyone I know applying to school in the coming years.

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Helen Summers was heaven-sent and instrumental in polishing my essays for Rd 1 applications. Her feedback was timely (<24 hr response) and critical when required, allowing me to refine final drafts. Her experience in the industry is clearly evident as her approach/feedback for each school was tailored accordingly. With 2 hrs of time, we were able to work on essay entries for 3 schools and complete a resume review. Helen surpassed all of my expectations. She was approachable and professional in all my interactions [called me on my BS at times too, which I needed :) ]. I highly, highly recommend working with Helen and mbaMission!

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I never planned to pay for an admissions consultant - I just wanted to use the free calls to perfect my resume.

But after many calls Harshad stood out to me. He didn't hit me with a sales pitch, he quickly responded to an email with follow-up questions, and most importantly he demonstrated an interest in and understanding of my profile that the other consultants didn't.

A couple weeks before the R1 deadline I realized I needed help telling my story. I reached out to Harshad and, despite being fully booked, he agreed to take me on as a client. Working with him was as advertised: his emails were always on time (usually early) and the one time we ran into technical difficulties he responded to a 10 PM text message.

The two most valuable things he did for me were 1) teach me how to tell a story and 2) give me directional edits. I kept an open mind and found his feedback to be invaluable. By working hard and doing the leg work I felt that we were able to maximize the time I paid for.

With his help, I submitted all my applications in time for R1. Although my H/S lottery ticket wasn't drawn, I was admitted to Wharton and 100% of the M7 and T15 schools I applied to, including some significant scholarships! He even helped me draft a professional scholarship negotiation letter.

I do recommend Harshad if you're willing to put in the leg work. My advice is to be very clear on what you want from him.

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I used the hourly package with Dan to apply to 6 schools (2 top-15 and 4 top-10) in less than 2 months. I have a solid GMAT and GPA so I was originally hesitant to make a big investment in application prep, but Dan's help was invaluable - I wound up getting into 4 schools, with full scholarships to 2 of them!!! I really don't think I could've done it without him.

My timeline was super rushed and he was so helpful with planning, keeping me on track, and providing timely feedback. His notes were incredibly thoughtful and he's a great wordsmith. It's clear he knows what the schools are looking for.

I also really appreciated that he was thoughtful of not wasting our time together. He was very to the point on our calls and kept me in the loop on how long edits were taking him. If I sent him a draft that he thought needed significant work, he would email me to check if I wanted him to spend time on a line by line edit or if I just wanted overall feedback to try again. I had previously worked with a consultant who seemed to just run up the clock, so this really meant a lot to me and saved me a lot of money.

Compared to what I've experienced with other consultants and heard from my friends, I don't think you'll find a more professional, organized, and talented consultant than Dan. I can't recommend him enough!

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Here are some reasons why:
1) Angela de-stressed the process for me. After I responded to a series of questions about myself, Angela and I had a brainstorming session and she helped me thinking of themes to launch my essay. Looking at a blank sheet of paper is really hard and stressful! She helped me synthesize a story, and unpacked how to approach the school's questions.
2) Angela is ethical. This was SUPER important to me. I always feel uncomfortable getting help. Angela did not redline my essays. I was super proud of my essays because I had written every word of them. When I wrote material that was off, she would prompt me to rethink some ideas and explain the tone of what I was saying that is often hard to know if you are in the weeds.
3) Angela explained WHY she was making the recommendations she made. I sometimes would push back and we would have full conversations about her recommendations. This is important if you are to use these skills in the future.

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Working with Harshad was very beneficial for me. He challenged me to get introspective on my own experiences to craft a great story for my applications. Like anything else in life- to do great work is going to be hard work. Despite having average scores at best, we worked extremely hard and I was able to accomplish my goal of getting into a top MBA program. As a reapplicant, I wanted to do everything I can to put out the best product and I am lucky to have Harshad guide me. He was a sounding board when I had any thoughts or questions from school selection on through the interview process. He was always available for quick calls and random questions that come up. I highly recommend Harshad to any MBA applicant

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I first learned of mbaMission from a close friend, who referred me to Krista Nannery. Since she was unable to take on Hourly candidates, she referred me to Harshad for a 30 minute chat. During that 30 minute consultation itself, he immediately made a positive impact on me and introduced new snippets of information even a well-informed candidate would not have access to.

I worked with Harshad mostly on essays for about 10 hours on an Hourly basis. I did not need in-depth help on other parts of the application such as interviewing, school selection or application strategy. Harshad is very honest with applicants, and I needed a lot of assistance both on content and style. I can't imagine going through this process without his constant feedback and candor. People often shy away from giving intellectually honest feedback to people asking for it, but he was always constructive and fair. Harshad deserves extra points for getting back to me in a timely fashion even when I would often send him materials minutes before the deadline.

I have secured interviews to the two M7 schools I applied to and gained admission to one. I am in perhaps the most competitive profile by any metric (nonminority, engineering, finance, male), and this speaks to his ability to help me differentiate myself with my essays.

I wish Harshad every success, and recommend him without reservation to any applicant seeking admission to a top program.

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Right from the initial free consultation, I wanted to work with Katy. She was more thorough, professional and insightful than the other consultants I spoke with. I was impressed with the level of detail in her follow-up email analysis where she assuaged some of my fears about my candidacy. After signing up for a 2 school start to finish package, she clearly laid out the road map, with information about key checkpoints such as when to start working on the resume, recommendations, short answers, etc. This helped me focus on the right aspects of my application at the right stages.

During our brainstorming, Katy helped me to take an introspective view which enabled me to craft compelling essays. She has a great ability to see how various parts of one’s application come together to deliver the best possible impact. I did not have great stats, but I was able to build a strong application around my unique story and solid work experience, thanks to Katy. Her feedback during the mock interview proved vital, and in the end, I was accepted to Booth – a school which I initially thought was out of my league. I can't thank Katy enough!

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I interviewed three other MBA consulting firms, but only Rachel at mbaMission clearly pointed out my weaknesses during the one-hour consultation. Her confidence, background in Journalism and being a CBS grad herself really made her stand out from others. After the consultation, I decided to sign up for the one school package with Rachel and was accepted to CBS couple months later.

Rachel was amazing to work with from start to finish. She was very organized and set up clear expectations at the very beginning. I was very stressful during the brainstorming process but it’s Rachel who helped me to pick out the most critical pieces of experience, crafted them into story and connected them throughout my application. She knows how to tackle the essays well and understands what admission officers are looking for. She is not only an phenomenal writer but an incredible story teller.

Throughout the process, Rachel was always supportive, honest and critical. She replied to emails, questions and essay drafts promptly and provided candid feedback. When it came to interview preparation, Rachel herself was once an interviewer so she was able to provide lots of useful tips. We had a mock interview over the phone and I was able to receive real-time feedback, which really helped me to succeed at the actual interview.

Overall, it’s a great experience working with Rachel and it wouldn’t have been possible without her.

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