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Consultant Devi Vallabhaneni
In just 1.5 months, Devi helped me prepared 4 applications from scratch! I had a lower-end GMAT core 680-700 with a non-traditional background and decided to apply to the second round very late. Devi investigated my profile on a personal level, help me build my story, and gave me so much confidence to apply for my dream schools. We worked at Harvard, Standford, Wharton, and MIT. I received interviews from HBS and MIT. I eventually got into my dream school - HBS!
Devi is highly experienced in the application process, responsive in providing feedback, and professional in our interactions. Her instincts for what the admission teams are looking for are dead-on for my essays! Devi is incredibly smart to quickly point to the spotlight of my experiences and a brilliant great storyteller to sharpen my stories. Devi gave excellent guidance on the order of school applications to work on. Following her strategy, I can thoroughly reflect and delve deeper into my story efficiently using our limited time. I truly appreciated that Devi showed some "tough-love" and kept me on track with applications during stressful times.
In preparing for the interview, Devi is unquestionably the pro with years of experience working with the admission team. Not only was Devi giving me mock interviews, but she also taught me how to verbally structure my stories better on each of my resume items and work on the strategy to lead the interview conversation to my advantage. I have to admit that I also tried to work with other consultants on mock interviews to get more practice hours. However, I was getting much better insights from even a 30 min session with Devi than a 2-hour session with other consultants (also are graduates of HSW). Devi is great at predicting interview questions and does not just focus on the resume. Most questions we practice ended up coming up in the actual interview! I was always met with encouragement when we practice. I strongly recommended working with Devi on your interviews. The quality would be beyond what you paid for!
Personally, I have learned so much from Devi in her work ethic and effective communication. Her communication was direct, concise, and articulate to get the story right. I am incredibly fortunate to have worked with Devi. She brings Harvard caliber dedication and professionalism to her work. I cannot thank her enough. You will be lucky to work with her too!
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Consultant Harold Simansky
I had the good fortune of working with Harold every step of the way of my MBA application process. Since I was embarking on the ambitious journey of putting together an entire application package from scratch, in a matter of just three months, I knew I sorely needed the around-the-clock attention and targeted advice of a seasoned expert. Harold, recognizing the tight timeline I was navigating, really came through for me in playing out this exact role. Above and beyond functioning in a mentor/advisor capacity, though, Harold also came across as a close friend/supporter throughout a lengthy and arduous process. His consistent words of encouragement were much needed, especially in the inevitable moments of self-doubt as I hammered out draft after draft in a seemingly endless cycle.
With respect to the essays, Harold provided very timely (typical turnaround of 24 hours, sometimes less) and comprehensive feedback. We went through multiple (>5) iterations for each of the essays until we were satisfied with the final versions. With each iteration, I recognized a notable step-up in how the content was presented in a compelling yet succinct manner – Harold clearly understood which life examples were most salient in building out my narrative, and helped me find the optimal angle through which these examples were highlighted. Ultimately, Harold’s stringent review of the materials conferred a high level of confidence as I hit “submit” on my application packages – I could safely say there was nothing more I could have done to polish the essays.
For interview prep, Harold took extra care in considering my unique background and objectives when helping me rehearse for a fairly unpredictable stage of the application. Perhaps where he helped deliver the most value was in being a solid thought partner in anticipating questions that would be posed during the actual interviews. Harold also demonstrated a brand of professionalism in proactively recognizing opportunities for me to do mock interviews with his colleagues at mbaMission instead, if he truly felt that that was the best path of preparation for myself. This was a clear signal that he prioritized having a game plan tailored to my personal needs / situation, and was willing to toggle between “stepping in” and “sitting out” based on what made the most sense for my preparation in that moment.
Overall, I would highly recommend Harold for anyone contemplating business school. I truly appreciated his expertise and guidance through many phases of the process, which includes advice that I can still carry and apply in contexts outside of just the business school application.
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Consultant Gavriella Semaya
Gavriella helped me get into my dream MBA programs and get admitted with scholarship offers! I opted for a start-to-finish package with 4 schools and am so glad I did.
I knew that I really needed to hone my essays to make sure I had the best shot at getting into my goal schools. Gavriella has a very strong writing background and she really took the time to understand my personal story, motivations, and passions to ensure that we were able to create a story that would be appealing to the admission team while staying true to me.
I also had a tighter than optimal timeline to meet school application deadlines as I chose to apply later in year. Gavriella got us organized from the first call with a comprehensive summary and next steps. She was then extremely present and available throughout the entire process, both for application support and mental support through the uphill battle of the admission process. She kept me on track for all the schools and was always on top of essay edit turnaround times. I really appreciate that she was able to provide insight into what stands out to the admission committee at each school and what exactly an essay question is asking for.
I found the mock interviews really helpful before going into the actual interviews. They always gave me the extra bolster of confidence and preparedness I needed. Her interview prep also helped me to pace my answers and be succinct and impactful.
I highly recommend Gavriellea to anyone looking for an MBA admissions consultant!
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Consultant Krista Nannery
I don’t think I would have made it to my dream MBA program, being admitted to a number of schools with over $300k scholarship without Krista.
I am an organized and honest person and was looking for a consultant of similar traits. I was hooked right at the free 30-min consultation when I walked away from the meeting with a comprehensive page-long summary and next steps from Krista. You could easily tell from a conversation if the other person is genuine and invested in your success. I opted for a start-to-finish package with 2 schools but I could almost always turn to Krista for high-level advice wrt schools even outside of the package. Krista often checked in and made sure I was on the right track, again, even for schools outside of the package. Her support didn’t end upon my admits, it was greatly expanded afterwards ie. scholarship negotiation, broadening my network and transitioning to b-school.
Krista is an amazing consultant and companion. I am not just talking about her breadth of admissions experience, but specifically of her emotional support during the process. MBA application is a soul-searching yet stressful process. Krista always provided a helping hand and encouragement but she could be as persistent and diligent whenever I was about to give up on my GMAT. Her diligence was a key factor in my higher standardized test score and I couldn’t thank her enough for that.
When I was searching for a consultant, I was looking for someone whom I can trust. You will probably tell your consultant your deepest secrets and stories that not many people know of. And Krista somehow, I don’t know how, managed to know my stories better that I do. It was really helpful when you were prepping for the interviews and confronted with difficult questions. Needless to say how useful that was in putting your essays together so as to set up your story theme and how they should be intertwined with one another. Her amazing editorial skills really helped without getting in your way of crafting your own essays.
I would definitely recommend Krista to anyone looking for a consultant to work with. She is quick at turnaround - she was even writing from the beach when it was extremely urgent, responsive and responsible for each of her advice. Krista would turn to her team of experienced consultants for you if needed. You’re not buying a package with just a consultant but with a team who is invested in your application. Good luck with your journey!
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Consultant Julie-Anne Heafey
I came into the MBA application process knowing that I would have an uphill battle - my undergraduate GPA was below the average range at Tuck and my work experience in private wealth was good but didn't truly transcend what my peers were doing.
I knew that in order to be successfully admitted, I needed to show that I was smarter than my GPA led on (I had an upward trend and a really strong GMAT), but also I needed to convince the admissions team that I had a strong reason to get an MBA.
Julie-Anne helped me do exactly that. She reviewed my resume and helped me cut out unnecessary elements and highlight my strengths. She also made it so that my resume would be easy to read from an admissions officer point of view by helping me to concisely communicate my actions, emphasize my results, and define the recognition my employers gave me.
She also helped with my essays. As a Dartmouth undergrad, Julie-Anne knows life in Hanover and helped me provide specific details to the admissions team on what makes the experience unique (she did her first two years of undergrad at Colombia and went to HBS for her MBA so I'm sure she can do the same for those schools).
Her interview prep also helped me to pace my answers the right way and not waste my words.
Julie-Anne made the entire process very easy - she was tough but supportive. She always met her deadlines, and completely changed the quality of my work. Looking at where I started and where I ended up with my application, I really have to thank JA for being one of the biggest factors in my acceptance to Tuck (which has been a very positive experience for me).
I highly recommend Julie-Anne to anyone looking for an MBA admissions consultant.
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Consultant Harold Simansky
Working with Harold was nothing short of humbling. His institutional knowledge guided me through the NYU Stern MBA application with a successful result.
He had a plan of action from the start and met with me to ensure we were aligned on execution. We worked through multiple iterations of my resume and essay where Harold provided guidance on how to improve my application. The best part of working with Harold is that he understood what the result should look like but would not give away the answers. He spent time coaching me to ensure I learned as the process progressed. Harold was prompt with his responses to my emails and always made sure I was clear on the task at hand.
Harold would be my top choice if you are planning to apply to any top tier MBA programs.
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Consultant Cat Ho
Cat was a pleasure to work with and helped alleviate a lot of the anxiety that comes with the MBA application process. She exceeded my expectations as a consultant and shed light on a lot of the processes related to MBA applications (what a school is looking for in an application, what a particular essay question is asking, etc). Cat guided me through the brainstorming process to help me identify stories from my background that fit each school's essay and gave direct and thoughtful feedback on my writing and mock interview. In the end, I applied R2 and was admitted to 8/8 schools, including Stanford, HBS, Wharton, and Sloan.
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Consultant Nisha Trivedi
I got a 3-school package and chose Nisha Trivedi as my consultant after speaking with a couple of other people - Nisha gave the best vibes and I could not be happier with my decision!
Nisha was invaluable throughout the entire application process and helped me get into my #1 choice! She made sure to really get to know you in order to provide the most support and was attentive and thorough the whole time and provided great recommendations for the essays. I absolutely loved working with her. I highly recommend choosing Nisha as your mbaMission consultant of choice, you will not be disappointed!
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Consultant Nisha Trivedi
One of the best decisions I ever made was choosing to work with Nisha on my MBA applications. After unsuccessfully applying only to Kellogg’s MBA program two years in a row (I really had my heart set on staying in Chicago and going to Kellogg), I decided to take the plunge and hire an MBAmission consultant. As a non-traditional applicant, coming from a career in the nonprofit world and very little business background, I didn’t want to risk not getting into a top program and wasting yet another year. After reading each consultant’s bio, I ultimately chose to go with Nisha because of her extensive experience in the philanthropy world and feeling that she would best understand my background and translate my story strongly and favorably. And I was NOT wrong.
Nisha did an excellent job of understanding me and my professional and personal experiences, asking all the right questions, picking up on details I myself did not even notice, answering all of my questions thoughtfully, and making the most of our short time together. She was extremely thorough, efficient, and QUICK to get my essays back to me (sometimes even the same day). She actually helped me better understand myself, my worth, my goals, and improved my self-confidence. Nisha helped me refine my story, advising which details and experiences were worth focusing on, explore and clarify my short and long term goals, and practice talking about it all in preparation for my interviews.
Due to some personal matters, I did not start my applications until late in the game, I was in a huge time crunch to get my applications done with only six weeks to go until the Round 2 deadlines. She did an excellent job in helping me determine the best program fits for me and meet the deadlines for the two schools (Duke’s Fuqua and Michigan’s Ross) with which she helped. Her help and expertise ultimately landed me admittance into Duke’s Fuqua (my number one choice) and UCLA’s Anderson, as well as waitlisted at University of Michigan’s Ross. I cannot recommend Nisha enough for anyone looking to hire a consultant, especially if you have a background in philanthropy and are looking to pivot. Truly the best professional investment and choice I have ever made.
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Consultant Harshad Mali
Applying during the most competitive admissions seasons was excruciating. However, Harshad's constant support and honest feedback helped me to stay on track. Moreover, Harshad is very dedicated to his clients. There have been many instances when I was very close to the deadline and Harshad turned over his feedbacks even during weekends and holidays. Harshad is also very empathetic and that helps to bring out our originality when writing the essays. He also goes above and beyond in giving suggestions to schools that I applied to on my own. Finally, Harshad also showed genuine interest in my career goal and helped me to tailor my essays accordingly, and suggested I apply to schools that I hadn't even considered before talking to him.