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Consultant Monica Okrah
Monika was recommended to me by one of my closest friends who told me “if I hadn’t worked with Monika, I wouldn’t have gotten into HBS.” I trust my friend, so I decided to work with Monika, and I feel very fortunate to have done so.
I was a reapplicant (interviewed at my top schools but ultimately rejected). I really didn’t think there was any way to improve my application as I thought I’d crafted my apps to reveal everything there was to know about me. With that said, I sent my applications to Monika to get her thoughts, and she said that while she was impressed with what I submitted the year before, my apps left her wanting more. Monika sold me when she told me that the bullet points underneath the employment section of my resume were confusing. This was a direct feedback I’d actually gotten in my HBS interview, so I knew that Monika was the real deal. To keep the review somewhat brief, I’ll highlight three areas of the application where I found Monika’s help to be truly invaluable.
Essays:
When I first applied to school, I wrote what I thought were the best essays I’d ever written. Monika, however, described the essays as “good, but predictable.” She was right. She sent me a worksheet and asked that I fill it out. The worksheet essentially was a way for me to highlight key moments in my life. She spent time digesting the information and then scheduled a phone call with me to discuss. What I really appreciated about this experience was that she didn’t take my answers at face value. She really tried to peel back the layers to get a better sense of who I was. We brainstormed potential essay topics based on our conversation and the document that I’d already filled out. We talked about our vision for each of the potential essay topics, and from there narrowed it down to one (we did this for each school to which I applied)—the one we thought would reveal more of who I was. We worked on the essays for about 2-3 months, and over the course of those months, the essays completely evolved—my first draft looked completely differ than the final draft. I sent the final draft of the essays to two friends, and the feedback was extremely positive. One of my friends, who had critiqued my HBS essay the year before (she wasn’t a fan of that essay!), simply said “wow, this is great.”
Resume:
My resume was not well crafted last year, so Monika wanted to make sure that we spent a good amount of time here so that each bullet point under my employment section was not only easily understood by a layperson, but also highlighted the impact I had at the organizations of which I’ve been a part. I think Monika was excellent in helping me to put together a very solid resume. Although she graduated from HBS herself and fully understood what I’d done at my job, she asked many probing questions to see how we could better phrase each bullet to highlight impact.
Monika also found a way to make my “interests” section quite interesting. I won’t reveal her secrets in this review, but the way we structured it made it memorable for readers. In one of the admit weekends I attended, the person who interviewed me brought up one of my interests I'd listed on my resume to a group of current students,
Short Responses:
The section is probably the first part of the application that is seen by the reader, so it’s crucial that it’s done well. Last year, I failed to give this section of the application the proper attention. Monika made sure that we changed that. We spent a few weeks drafting and refining our answers.
MBAadmissions has a timeline for turning around comments; it’s usually two days for essays and one day for the resume. Monika never missed a deadline. In fact, she was often early. She also stayed on top of me to make sure that I was putting in the time and the effort to incorporate her comments and feedback and improve whatever part of the application we were working on. Even though she was always staying on top of me, I must say that Monika was also patient. For one of my applications, we felt that the essay wasn’t quite where it needed to be. We were aiming for a Round 1 submission, but opted for Round 2, and I’m glad we did. The final output was excellent.
I feel that I could go on forever writing a glowing review for Monika, but I won’t. If you’ve continued to read up until this point, I’ll leave you with this: the service is expensive, but it’s absolutely worth it! I can say that because with Monika’s help, I was able to not only get into my top schools, but I also secures a merit based fellowship that covers my tuition and fees—that’s over $150,000!
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Katharine Lewis
I have recommended Katy to everyone I know applying to business school. She is a wonderful consultant and far outshined any competitors in my initial 30-minute evaluations. She was most helpful in helping me craft an overarching story, and succeeded because she took a tremendous amount of time getting to know me. In many ways, I felt that she had a much better idea of what I should be doing with my life than I did myself. Katy was also very effective with interview prep, and spent as much time with me as I needed in order to feel confident and prepared. I could not be happier with my experience working with her and my end result!
I first met Angela through the Forte Launch program in February 2017. From the moment she presented how to communicate your life narrative with quotes and tips from Joseph Campbell's, A Hero's Journey, I knew she would be a source I could rely on to help me craft the best version of myself to share with AdCom for bschool apps. All of her webinars were succinct, clear and engaging - particularly, her insight into how to best communicate your accomplishments in your resume and essay. I found her advice inspiring, yet practical. Her resume template and tips were especially helpful and by following the suggestions closely, I was able to make my resume really stand out. Also, I have been using the hero's arc method with all of my essays so far and its been tremendously helpful in making each one a compelling read. Above all, however, Angela has helped me to reframe my approach from "how to get in" to "how to help the adcomm understand who I am." This authenticity approach has made the process more enjoyable. Hopefully the adcomm appreciates it as well when they make their decisions! Thank you Angela!
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Lynn Moloney
I was incredibly impressed by MBA Mission as a whole and Lynn Moloney in particular. Look no further for excellent assistance throughout the application and admissions process.
I come from a fairly unconventional background as an MBA candidate. I was a liberal arts major and spent most of my 20\'s working in various capacities in the world of start-ups and small businesses. Lynn was incredibly helpful in helping me orient myself in the selection, application and interview process.
Perhaps most valuably, Lynn helped me to condense my career narrative into a coherent and compelling story that was easy to communicate. I highly recommend Lynn and mbaMISSION!
Best,
-Eric
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Consultant Nisha Trivedi
It is an understatement to say I would not have gotten into business school without the help of Nisha from mbaMission. Throughout our one year working together, Nisha was a guide and thought partner I could count on. Her thoughtful feedback, rapid turnarounds, and ability to leverage other mbaMission resources made a huge difference in my candidacy.
Nisha got to know me pretty well, despite just working on an hourly engagement. Thus, she was able to give me personalized feedback at all levels: from clarifying and tightening essay language to guidance on how I could improve my overall applicant profile. Nisha provided this feedback consistently much faster than the 2-day turnaround requirement. To drive this point home: Nisha returned feedback on an essay to me within 24 hrs while on the flight to her wedding. Nisha also went above and beyond by pulling on other mbaMission resources to help me. For example, Nisha asked her colleagues for feedback on one of my video essays and shared valuable content on what specific schools look for, which was not something you could find anywhere else.
In summary, Nisha was an essential partner on my journey to business school, someone I could rely on to have my back at a moment’s notice. I can’t recommend her or mbaMission highly enough!
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Nisha Trivedi
Working with Nisha was a great experience. She was very friendly and helpful in answering every question that I had. She helped make my essays concise and set in the correct narrative structure. Nisha's turnaround was quick, it only took her a day to get back to my drafts. In addition to the essays, Nisha helped me practice for my interviews and typical why questions. I would highly recommend Nisha when the deadline was approaching she made herself available during the weekend and got back to me right away when I had questions and made sure I was 100% comfortable before submitting my application. With her help, I was admitted to Chicago Booth.
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Consultant Brian Eng
Brian Eng and I worked over the course of roughly 2 months on the application process to get into my desired MBA program. I was working roughly 10-14 hour days at the time in consulting and was very burnt out of having to wake up even earlier than normal or working later in the evening on writing papers. Brian made the process both manageable and as painless as possible. His fluid style and targeted suggestions allowed me to not only create the best possible application that I was capable of, but was also instrumental in having me achieve my target dates at each predetermined interval. On top of making me a better writer and applicant, Brian was personally a delight to work with. Maintaining a positive attitude and adding personal color to conversations helped me keep my sanity on nights where I would be writing well into the morning. Brian is world class at what he does and he is proud of his work, as he should be. I wouldn't be in my first year at Cornell (my top target school) without his dedicated help and guidance.
I certainly did. I was not afraid of tests and essays, but I was terrified about talking about myself and my journey. A lot of my fellow MBA applicants fall into this category - we have nebulous, wishy washy thoughts about our strengths and career dreams, and don't know how to crystalize them into a story. Angela completely changed that for me. Unlike other consultants and advice-givers, Angela starts with YOU as the individual, and forces you to reflect very deeply about yourself. For her, the process of career mapping is central to the MBA process, and everything unfolds from there. Career mapping should also be fun - and with her, it is! She brings a positive, humorous approach that is incredibly valuable during this often harrowing process. After working with Angela I not only feel crystal clear about my career goals and story, I also feel great about myself and my decision to pursue an MBA. Instead of dread when someone asks me "why do you want an MBA," I actually get visibly excited to share my story. How great is that? Thank you, Angela!
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Consultant Jessica Shklar
As non-traditional student with very few personal MBA connections, the application process seemed incredibly daunting. After being recommended Jessica by another non-traditional applicant who received admission at Wharton, I was undoubtedly impressed by what she brought to the application process. Not only was I accepted to the school of my (and my wife's) dreams, Jessica brought a layer to the application process I would have never discovered on my own. The sheer magnitude of self-discovery, through her method of consulting, not only helped me evaluate what I wanted from a school and how to write my applications accordingly, but what I want to accomplish both during and post-MBA. Her insights not only helped me receive admission, but helped me draw a better picture of how I want to market myself in my job hunt. I would strongly recommend Jessica to anyone wanting to apply to a top MBA, especially non-traditional candidates.
During an interview at a well known record label, a hiring manager looked at my resume, then me, and said with exasperation, "I don't understand why you are applying for this job. Your path makes no sense to me." While I had a clear vision for the path I wanted to take, I've struggled to help others understand. Angela is the first consultant who has understood my career path and my future goals within minutes. She saw connections that I see, but which I've struggled to communicate to others. In just the first session alone, Angela provided clear advice with tangible action items that gave me confidence to move forward with the daunting MBA application journey. Her passion for learning and understanding others is infectious in the best way, and she is just as strategic as she is warm and insightful. Would recommend her 10/10.