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Consultant Kate Richardson
I HIGHLY recommend Kate Richardson. I was extremely hesitant to use a consultant for several reasons, but I am 100% satisfied with my choice. I honestly don't know if I could have gone through this process and stayed sane without her.
I was so happy to get into a top-choice school, but a bit sad to not work with Kate regularly, which was an unexpected feeling! I felt extremely comfortable with Kate, especially as I had considered myself an "underdog" candidate before working with her. She instilled confidence in my abilities that I lacked before our partnership. I spoke with other consultants, and I felt a bit judged or that they wanted me to be inauthentic to myself and my story, but I never felt that way with Kate. I really looked forward to our chats throughout the pandemic - even if it meant a lot of "homework" on my end afterward. I really appreciate her kindness during a trying time.
Aside from her welcoming and approachable personality, she is EXTREMELY competent, especially with her editing skills, and her turnaround times were truly remarkable. I do not know how Kate sleeps because I would get essays and random questions answered in record-breaking time. I felt like Kate was on speed dial as a resource, and she always had a confident answer to my questions - and anxieties.
She really helped me tell my story, and I felt authentic and supported throughout this process. Seriously don't hesitate to use Kate!
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Consultant Devi Vallabhaneni
Devi made the daunting process of completing applications to 5 schools incredibly straightforward, personal, and organized. She helped me organize my thoughts, passions and truths into a cohesive personal story that organically flowed with my long term career aspirations. To say Devi is an efficient person is an understatement. Every minute with Devi is a minute well spent, and she is committed to helping her clients recognize their strengths and build an authentic personal story that is both true and compelling. She helped me maintain my focus on the aspects of my application and resume that should be highlighted/celebrated so that admissions teams could get a thorough understanding of what I brought to the table as a candidate.
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Consultant Debbie Choy
Debbie was invaluable in helping me with the weak points in my application: making my essays shine and polishing my interview. With her help, I applied to four schools early, got into two (including my top choice) and got waitlisted at two.
I'll admit I was not a believer in spending money on an application consultant at first but Debbie tangibly improved my essay and helped guide me through my crazy ideas for re-writes to ultimately craft a really strong and compelling essay that got me interviews at all four schools. I really appreciated her process: saving time on my five hour package by providing a quick gut feedback over email and letting me rewrite, and knowing when to give broad structural feedback versus detailed edits.
The interview prep I did with Debbie was also so well-structured and helpful, and probably the best hour I spent. Practicing with my friends alone would never have gotten me the level of polish and preparation that I realized I needed. I'll never forget her advice - no one ever sounds too prepared for a question!
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Consultant Devi Vallabhaneni
I was applying to business school late in the final round, and I had very little time to take the GMAT and prepare my application materials and essays. As such I decided to hire a consultant to help me frame my thoughts for my essays so that I could focus more on studying.
Devi was incredibly helpful even in our first, free phone consultation. I had what I believed to be significant weaknesses on my resume, but Devi was genuinely excited about my prospects and showed me that my perceived weaknesses could, in fact, be strengths. Devi also had a fantastic ability to help me outline my thoughts and put to words the message that I wanted to convey. With Devi’s help I was able to write a compelling and honest story in my essays, and her reframing of my perceived weaknesses helped me to feel much more confident in my interviews.
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Consultant Michael Guttman
I am absolutely thrilled of the impact that my consultant Michael Guttman had on my three MBA applications. I knew I needed help in getting into a top school because I do not have the most impressive work experience and my college grades are a little below average. Michael Guttman was super knowledgeable about the whole process and was able to help me with framing my story to be much more compelling. We also discussed my goals and tweaked them to be more realistic based on my background. Because of Michael Guttman, I was able to write better and more powerful essays.
He treated me like his only client from the very beginning. He was always available to have phone calls and very responsive with emails. He gave me advice every step of the way. We started with an initial brainstorming session and then worked on as many drafts of my essays and resume as necessary to make them perfect.
I received interviews at 2 of the 3 (the other school didn’t require an interview) schools I applied to, and he was a huge help in preparing me for each of my interviews. I really don’t think I would have been accepted without his help. Because of him, I was accepted into my top choice. I seriously recommend Michael Guttman to give yourself the best chance of admission.
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Consultant Devi Vallabhaneni
Devi was an outstanding consultant - She helped me manage the business school application process and was there for me every step along the way. It does not take long to work with her before it becomes apparent she has years of experience and valuable insight in the business school arena. She makes herself available and fully commits to her clients. She challenged me to think strategically about my essays in ways that enhanced my application and prepared me to take a major leap in my professional career. A friend referred me to Devi and I'm forever grateful to have had the opportunity to work with her. I would 1000% recommend Devi to anyone looking for assistance in this process.
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Consultant Nisha Trivedi
I decided to work with an MBA consultant after been waitlisted from Fuqua in Round 3.
It wasn’t an easy decision as it represented an important investissement without any warranty of success. I knew getting into a top bschool was necessary to give me the career change I was seeking (PMM in tech) and I didn’t want to have any regrets about not putting all the chances on my side.
I shopped around the different consultants and enjoyed my first interaction with Nisha. She quickly understood my background and profile and gave me some convincing suggestions on how I should market myself. In addition, MBAmission seemed like an excellent firm with handy resources.
During my time with Nisha, she helped me understand my previous application's deficiencies that got me waitlisted. She helped me select the experiences and achievements relevant to build a clear and coherent profile true to me. She was always very responsive, organized and available when needed. She gave me great feedback and guidance on my essay and interview practices.
As a result, I got accepted at Fuqua – my top choice, where I got waitlisted the year prior.
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Consultant Rachel Beck
I applied last April when most schools extended application deadlines thanks to the pandemic. Rachel was an incredible help to me promtly putting together a solid pitch from the ground up. We did all our communication over phone and it worked out perfectly.
1) I have an uncommon background with a CS degree. Rather than jumping right into writing essay, Rachel invested upfront a significant amount of time learning my stories beyond what is listed on my resume.
2) Rachel was very responsive and honest with her feedback. Typically, I would have my piece returned within 2 business days with detailed comments and suggestions. Rachel's journalism background really differentiates herself from peers when it comes to storytelling!
3) Rachel provided a lot of tips and more importantly calmed my nerves during interview preps. Very encouraging and supportive throughout the entire process.
4) Rachel took a genuine interest in my success and I see Rachel more as a partner rather than a consultant.
Highly recommend!
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Consultant Gavriella Semaya
Spark notes:
Gavi is articulate, approachable, pragmatic, and incredibly smart. She removed any intimidation I had about the application process, and helped me cement my story and goals in a way that was strategic, calculated, but also nurturing.
Working with Gavi was like working with a good friend who wants you to succeed, but is not afraid to step back and be real with an honest, third party perspective. Her knowledge of the application nuances between each school was extensive, and she was extremely accommodating and flexible throughout my somewhat accelerated (my own fault) process.
You *will not* regret working with Gavi. I could not have made it through applications and interviews - and into programs! - without her insight, encouragement, and guidance.
Full picture:
Like many others, I decided to apply to MBA programs during a period of uncertainty. I'd already taken the GRE and researched schools, but needed clarity on my story, and direction on how to holistically incorporate my experiences and ambitions. On top of that, I was starting the application process only a month out from R1 deadlines, so everything was accelerated and I was overwhelmed.
Working with Gavi brought clarity and more - she was truly the calm within the storm in what would have been an otherwise unbearably frenzied process. My biggest obstacle was the overwhelming number of themes I was trying to incorporate, and Gavi's ability to distill them into compelling narrative was invaluable. Her clarity was particularly helpful throughout essay outlining / writing / editing, where she broke down the process into measured, achievable segments that kept me on track and on topic. Gavi has also been incredibly supportive throughout the interview process, sharing previous questions unprompted, helping me strategize, talk through themes, and brainstorm examples of past work and projects.
On top of her extensive insight and skill set, Gavi is extremely invested, caring, and supportive. She offered guidance and reassurance when I was struggling to balance a demanding full-time job with the application process, and - not only put up with, but also helped me work through - the anxiety and stress of the past 6 months. She is a fabulous MBA coach and career coach who genuinely cares about her clients’ success and happiness. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
As stated above, work with Gavi - I cannot recommend her enough.
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Consultant Helen Summers
Ask yourself, why would an HBS MBA grad do admissions consulting. The work is neither challenging not impactful. I worked with Helen in 2018.
mbaMission promises that they'll get back to you within 24-48 hours with feedback. Whenever I would receive feedback, it would not be tangible and would really miss on the key characteristics that the question is asking for. As a result, my essays were horrible and I got rejected. I later took Fortuna Admissions in 2020 and as a reapplicant got accepted though I still didn't manage to get into my top choice because of my history as a reapplicant. mbaMission has more than a thousand good reviews but that also means that each consultant is looking after 20-30 clients and not really spending the time you need them to. I would not recommend Helen or mbaMission.