The business school application process, which is rightfully assumed to be a very stressful experience, was made not only seamless but extremely enjoyable by working with Katharine. I absolutely LOVED working with her, for a myriad of reasons…

Most importantly, Katharine helped me to dive deep and discover aspects of my personality and details of my work history that took my application essays and interview responses to the next level. Before writing essays, I would chat with Katharine to discuss the essay prompt. She would help me to decipher what exactly the schools were asking for, and when I was stumped in being able to answer the prompt, she would ask me varying questions in different forms until we could come up with a story that worked. Katharine was always amazing at helping me to brain storm and was extremely thought provoking – she would never give me an answer to write about, but would help me to gain the necessary insight to move forward. Without Katharine, there is no way I could have written the essays I did. And the result – an acceptance to both Booth and Kellogg, my top two schools!

On a more personal note, Katharine is simply a lovely, enjoyable and positive person. I often joked with her that she was acting as a psychiatrist in addition to a consultant for me, given her ability to help me gain insight and to coax me through the entire process, stress free.

Katharine was beyond generous with her time. I was an extremely demanding client – constantly emailing, calling, and asking questions – and never once did she disappoint. Katharine was always prompt and responsive – I truly felt like I was her only client.

I have already recommended Katharine to five of my closest friends – so you can trust me when I say working with Katharine was a true joy, and that she made the greatest difference in my application results. I hope you are lucky enough to work with her in the future!

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Debbie was a fabulous consultant during my b school application process. The most valuable part of our time together was the brainstorming process. After reading through my brainstorming doc, we got on the phone so that she could ask me probing questions about some of my responses and help me think through which experiences were most formative and important to include in my applications. She has great insider’s knowledge of how admissions committees will evaluate applicants, which meant she was able to tell me directly, “Yes, experience X will resonate with adcoms, but experience Y seems less interesting and/or relevant.” That firm guidance was incredibly valuable—she wasn’t afraid to tell it to me straight. Although our brainstorming call was pretty short (more on that below), I came out feeling like I had a good plan of attack for my essays. The next time she and I spoke, we went over my short and long-term goals after business school. She helped me craft a compelling and ambitious vision that explained how an MBA degree would help me achieve my long-term career aspirations.

One big consideration for me when signing up for mbaMission was cost. I work in the social sector, and hiring a consultant was a big investment. I knew I couldn’t do a “start-to-finish” package because it was simply out of my budget. I was a little wary about whether the hourly consulting services would be a value-add, but Debbie did a fabulous job at providing high value in the short amount of time that I could afford.

Debbie also had an extremely positive attitude throughout, which made a huge difference for me while navigating the stressful application process. Her support was invaluable to helping me get into two of my top choice programs. Thanks a million, Debbie!

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Katharine was a boon to my application process, she really helped to make me a much stronger candidate with a crisp story that was attractive to my target schools. Katharine really provided value in three ways:

1) School Choice: Katharine really knows the top schools, how they are different, what they are looking for, and after spending a lot of time getting to know you, where you would best fit. She helped steer me within my top choice schools to the applications where I should spend the most amount of time based on my fit with the school. She even introduced me to programs that weren't on my radar, but should have been. She helped to take school selection beyond the ranking and dug much deeper to help me narrow my school selection and know which aspects of my profile they would most interest them.

2) Flexibility: Katharine always holds up her end of the deal, she will work around the clock (if she has to) to meet deadlines and never got a draft back to me later than promised. She also made sure that I was comfortable hitting send, even if we needed an extra phone call or skype chat rather than email in the process. Working with her was very easy and I was always comfortable when I submit my apps.

3) Story: Katharine knows storytelling and knows how to help a candidate capture their story in a way that is sincere, most compelling to target schools, and highlights the right things. She helped to identify experiences and stories to capture for AdComs that I would have otherwise glossed over or left out entirely. Her deep knowledge of the top schools helped here as well. In the process of setting an application strategy, iterating essays, and interview preparation she constantly pushed me to capture my story in the best way possible, taking me to task whenever I would drift or miss the mark. All without letting me lost my own voice and personality in my writing.

Katharine is a great consultant, if you are looking for someone to do tell you everything you should do or do the work for you she isn't for you. Working with her, you will truly get out what you put in. She is willing to do as many iterations as necessary, but it is always you doing the work.

Overall my experience was fantastic, I felt a good fit from our first discussion when she clearly outlined what I was missing and what I was trying to say in our first conversation, something that no other service/consultant was able to do in that first meeting.

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I booked a three school package with mbaMission and got a headstart on getting ready for the application drops by having started half a year before deadlines.

We began with a free half hour counseling and after running Daniel through my resume and telling him what I was planning to do with my MBA, he directly told me which of the schools I planned applying to were reasonable and which were most likely not going to work due to a missing fit.
I signed up with mbaMission almost right after that as he was straight forward and didn't hard sell that anything were possible. I also appreciated that he didn't attempt to sell me any safety schools for his company's admit statistics.

Booked a three school package with mbaMission. Daniel did a great job pushing me and asking the right questions for me to dig deeper and come up with my best stories that I was able to use for the essays and interviews.

2/3 schools we applied to invited me to interview but put me on the waitlist afterwards. With the stories and essays ready, I was able to put together two more applications to top 20 schools, at which I got accepted, including one accept with a full tuition scholarship.

In retrospect, I wouldn't have gotten these two accepts had I not received help making these stories shine and the interview prep we did via Skype.

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Just like the title says, Angela is really somebody who cares about getting to know you as an applicant, and not just putting together a package that she thinks the Adcom wants to see. I've heard a number of horror stories of other applicants who used lesser consultants, and ended up with cookie-cutter applications that didn't really say who they were.

Angela's process started with a lengthy consultation and questionnaire. At first I was reluctant to fill another lengthy document on top of the application that I was about to embark on, but its value was very quickly apparent. After reviewing that document and through subsequent conversations, Angela really got to the core of who I was and what motivates me. Without Angela's guidance, I certainly would have taken a much more standard approach to my application, laying out accomplishments, career points, etc. With her help, my application was tailored to who I was, and my personality came through.

On top of her guidance through the essays, it was very comforting to have someone as experienced as Angela to bounce questions off of. Every little thought that you have on the application -- even as trivial as what font should I use -- she'll have good advice for, even if that advice is "don't worry about that...seriously".

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I used the complete start to finish package from mbaMission. John not only gave me fantastic guidance and feedback but also meaningful support and encouragement. He helped to keep me on the right track during the brainstorm process, and helped me to view the application as a whole, as the admissions board would. He helped me to market and capitalize on my strengths and ensure these were communicated in my application. During the essay writing process, John asked all the right questions to direct my focus on the right topics and pushed me to perfect my essays. John also helped me tremendously during the interview process which was the most stressful part for me. He gave clear and constructive feedback, helped me to stay focused and calmed my nerves. Lastly, John was always available via phone and email for quick questions and support. I got into both of the two schools I applied to with John's assistance.(CBS and NYU) I highly recommend his services!

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After using Manhattan GMAT prep to prepare for the exam, my instructor told me she would pair me with mbaMission's best consultant, Angela Guido. I was already impressed by the strong recommendation, but during the free consultation with Angela I was further impressed with the candor she spoke of my candidacy, the concrete advice she provided me, and the fact that she did not try to push her consulting services on me. I decided to work with Angela on a 2 school Complete-Start-to-Finish Package and I would highly recommend Angela to anyone comparing MBA admissions consultants.

Before the school applications were even released, Angela worked with me through 13 revisions of my resume. She dissected every sentence and we worked through every word, "de-jargoning" my resume. I later sent my resume to a friend (and Kellogg admissions fellow whose opinions I trust greatly), and he informed me that my resume was the best he'd seen. I attribute this praise to Angela solely.

Angela, was very responsive to my correspondence, often returning multiple drafts of documents within a single day. Aside from resume prep, Angela's greatest strength in my view is her ability to pick out the aspects of my background that led to major life decisions I'd made, and subsequently articulate these insights on my application.

I can't recommend Angela highly enough. If you plan to use mbaMission, Angela should be your first choice. If you aren't planning to use mbaMission, Angela Guido should be a strong reason to reconsider.

I was admitted to Wharton, Sloan, and Booth and I know that I couldn't have done it without Angela.

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I used mbaMission for my bschool application a few years ago. I worked with the consultant Adam Grossman doing hourly consulting. We had an initial phone call to understand my background and he spent a lot of time reviewing my essays and giving me ideas. I really liked the changes he helped me change on my address and he was very easy to reach and had really fast turn around time. He brought up some good points to add to my address that I did not think of, and he helped me polish the essay to make them sound consistent.
I think his guidance really helped me succeed in my applications. I would definitely recommend them.

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I was hesitant to hire an admissions consultant, but a good friend who got into HBS highly recommended Angela so I did a trial call. I quickly hired her.

I could speak of how she overhauled my resume – still 100% accurate but much more impressive, or how she understood me so quickly and what to highlight for my story, or the quality of her feedback that helped me shape my essay into the masterpiece I feel it is (my HBS interviewer told me “I love the way you write”). Yet I feel the most telling example is when Angela told me she woke up in the middle of the night and realized we HAD to add back a portion of the essay we just removed. That’s the kind of person you want to work with.

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Applying to business school was an overwhelming experience for me. I was a non-traditional applicant and struggling with how to present myself. I knew what I wanted schools to know about me, but wasn’t sure how to express all of that eloquently in essay form. When I contacted mbaMission, I specifically requested a consultant who would be comfortable working with an unconventional applicant, because it was important to me that I stay authentic to myself throughout the process.

Working with Kate was such a pleasure from day one. She is incredibly insightful and knowledgeable when it comes to what various schools are looking for, and is an outstanding editor. I applied to a giant number of schools (a total of seven in round one). She was extremely organized and kept me motivated while I was nearing the finish line, especially given all those different deadlines and essay topics. Kate was full of very honest and straightforward feedback, while still managing to be kind and encouraging. Most importantly, Kate was really able to draw upon my strengths to create compelling applications, and asked me all the right questions while I was working through the essays. After submitting each application, I was certain that I had put my best foot forward, and that confidence in myself and in my story would not have been possible without Kate’s help and expertise.

I am 100% convinced that I would not have had the same successes in being admitted to top business schools if I hadn't worked with Kate on every application. I’ve already recommended Kate to friends of mine going through the business school application process right now. Kate is such a gem for anyone applying to business school, and it was truly a pleasure to work with her.

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