Harold was the best admissions consultant for me and he played a huge part in my success of getting accepted into Columbia Business School. Our work together focused on breaking the application process into individual components and developing a well though-out plan before any writing began.

Harold and I were successful for the following reasons:

Harold began the process by getting to know everything about me and took the time at the beginning to understand my story. Business school applications can be a very time-consuming and difficult process that requires organization and a well thought-out plan before the writing process begins. In this way, he is remarkably efficient at time management and we saved a lot of time by getting fully acquainted with my story in the beginning.

He showed me how to organize my thoughts and how to best showcase my characteristics and abilities for admissions committees. Harold was amazing at walking me through the thought process on writing essays. As someone who struggles starting an essay, Harold helped instill confidence in my writing ability and helped me get started. He also gave me clear and concise instructions on how to navigate each essay, especially focusing on the attributes and characteristics each school is looking for in a candidate. His insight was a major help.

Lastly, his turnaround time on essay comments was excellent. He communicated to me when he would have time to read through my essays almost immediately and he always returned comments well before his deadlines.

If I were to go through the application process again, there is no doubt in my mind I would choose Harold Simansky again!

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Dan is focused, honest and transparent about what you need to achieve your goal which worked perfectly for me. He was incredibly patient and when reviewing my essays and worked me hard till my essays were as strong as they could be - He wanted my application to be as competitive as possible and for all my qualities to shine through. He was also very quick to turn around feedback as he understands the urgency and need to keep things moving, which kept me driven and on-track. I was able to hit all my deadlines because of that. Overall, with Dan, I felt like I was ALWAYS moving forward and moving closer to my goal. I got into a Top Ivy League Business School with his help.

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I purchased the full package from Susan, and I was accepted to my number one choice, Columbia Business School (CBS). I highly recommend working with Susan, and quite frankly, I would not have been successful without her. She is motivating while also empathetic, and no doubt has a wealth of knowledge about MBA schools and the MBA application process.

Susan’s knowledge about CBS and its values and criteria shaped the way I approached my application and essays – and she has the same knowledge for any school you apply to. I can’t understate how important this is. Every call, despite my hours of research online, she would bring up several points that would improve my application and essay for CBS specifically and that only someone with her experience could know.

Beyond her wealth of knowledge, my favorite thing about working with Susan was her ability to remain empathetic and motivating, at the same time as challenging me to dig deeper. By “dig deeper” I mean two things: (1) MBA applications (in particular the essays) take a lot of self-reflection. She will push you to truly understand what motivates you, and it truly comes out in the essays. And (2) while you write and own all of your essays, she works with you to ensure that everything you do and write has purpose and makes sense in layman terms, which is particularly useful if you have been in industry for several years.

I would recommend Susan without hesitation.

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Jeremy knows exactly how to transform a candidate’s character traits / experiences / life story and articulate them in a way that is easily (and attractively) digestible for admissions offices.

The MBA application process is a very expensive “black box” between tutors, consultants, applications, school visits, online programs, etc. The scariest part of which is that you never truly know that you are on the best possible path towards admissions at your target program.

Jeremy takes the “black box” and lights it up for you. He is the most experienced person I have come across during my MBA application process by FAR, he knows the ins and outs of every school, is one of the best communicators that I have ever encountered, and is very easy to work with. These skills enabled Jeremy to help me in the most efficient and enjoyable way as I navigated the process, ultimately leading to admission to my top target school.

From the first phone call, I could tell that Jeremy knows this process cold. Furthermore, his ability to dictate prose and work with me to craft my story in an articulate and professional manner for admissions officers gave me comfort that I was putting myself in the best possible position to secure a position in the class of 2022.

Lastly, my final recommendation is to not be intimidated by Jeremy’s cost. What you spend with Jeremy will be returned back to you 10-fold during the process in terms of stress mitigation, time spent going in circles, and more (regardless of your MBA admissions outcome). You should plan to book Jeremy a year in advance and commit to putting in the effort with him throughout that timeframe to ensure a successful process for yourself. Jeremy’s reputation does precede him, deservedly so, and he does book up 6 – 12 months in advance of the first round application deadline. Hire Jeremy before his slate gets filled with other candidates.

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I am confident that without Krista, I would not have experienced even close to the level of success in my business school application process, let alone been accepted into my dream school.

I graduated from a top 30 undergrad university with a 3.6 GPA and applied to business schools with a 710 on the GMAT. I applied R2 to six schools: four with Krista’s help (Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, Stanford) and two without (Sloan, Haas). I received offers from Wharton, Booth, Kellogg and Sloan and will be attending Wharton.

I was initially on the fence about hiring an admissions consultant because of the price, but now that I’ve completed the application process, I am extremely glad that I did – it was worth every penny. I picked mbaMission because my friend applied to schools during R1 and got into her top choice. She had great things to say about her consultant, so I decided to give it a shot. After speaking to Krista on an intro call, I was very impressed with how professional, straight-forward and organized she was. My main concerns were 1) relatively low GMAT score and 2) starting the application process late (I had my initial call with her in mid-November and apps were due the first week of January). Krista helped me set proper expectations in terms of the schools I wanted to apply to and was able to reduce my concerns about timing by very clearly laying out the steps of the application process.

Krista was an absolute whiz at helping me figure out my story. One of the first things I did after signing up with her was fill out a background memo on myself. I spend a few hours answering the questions (some of which seemed random at the time). After hopping on a call, however, we were able to piece together my story which I hadn’t even realized existed in my answers. She found connections that I never would have recognized, and I was able to leverage her insight and suggestions to write my essays.

Krista is also exceptionally organized and never missed any deadlines to return her edits to me. Her comments were very helpful and I knew that I could count on her to provide perceptive answers to my questions (regarding relevance, flow, sentence structure, word choice, among others). She would push me to explain the reasoning or meaning behind my words which resulted in me writing better essays. Every time I spoke with her, we set a timeline of when I should send the next deliverable to her, and it made staying on top of all my applications effortless.

By the end of my process, I felt like Krista knew me better than I knew myself. She could have easily answered any interview question better than I did during my interviews. She was incredibly invested in my success, very timely in her responses and an absolute pleasure to work with. I strongly recommend Krista as an admissions consultant!

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Nisha was extremely helpful with every step of the process, breaking down what seems to be such a daunting task into digestible steps and pieces. Even knowing that I wanted to pursue an MBA and having a target list of schools, there still was a great deal of guidance and support which only comes from experience that Nisha provided in terms of best practices and strategies. From school selection, to research and brainstorming, to application crafting, to essay writing and editing, and to decision strategies, Nisha was greatly beneficial, and I am very appreciative for her support along the way.

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Katharine was instrumental in helping me in my goal of getting into Haas. Over the course of two years we worked together to find not only the best time to apply, but also the best way to apply. Katharine consulted me on all things about Haas, and the most important areas I would need to improve on in order to get in. The biggest factor for me though was the confidence that she instilled in me during the process. No hurdle was too big, no blemish on my application too damning. She always was there to be my biggest supporter and fan. Without her I could not have gotten into school, that I am sure of.

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As a member of an over-represented group (white male in financial services), I found Katy’s keen insight and expertise to be particularly helpful. With only a 720 GMAT (weak on quant) and a 3.7, I would not have been admitted to Kellogg (and potentially Booth!) without Katy’s brilliance. Here’s what I found helpful in list form:
– Right off the bat, Katy helped me figure out what I want from my MBA with our brainstorming sessions
– She helped me create a plan for which schools to apply to and when I would need to execute each step
– Her expertise really shined on the resume and letters of recommendation. These are without a doubt the most overlooked part of every application, and I think she’s the best in the industry at it. None of my friends applying to M7 programs got anywhere near as acute of advice as Katy gave me.
– She knew how every program interviewed and helped me prepare for each interview based on the school’s specific style
– She has an insanely high hit rate on getting clients admitted from waitlists and navigated me through the waitlist process at Kellogg and Booth.
– Her coaching has been paramount as I’ve negotiated for financial aid

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I initially was unsure whether to use an admissions consultant at all. Looking back, I'm so glad I found Katy and decided to work with her through this process -- I couldn't be happier after having been admitted to my two top choice programs, HBS and GSB. Katy truly "got" my story from day 1 and guided me through the entire process to help me put my best foot forward while staying completely true to myself -- and coaching me through a number of broader life and career choices along the way! Highly recommend for everyone, especially for others who may have very busy day jobs -- the resources and experience Katy was able to bring to bear really made the process as smooth and efficient as it could possibly ave been. Could not be happier with Katy and mbaMission.

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I first heard of Katy when a friend who had worked with her mentioned how generous she was with her time during the initial consultation, going beyond what he had expected from a free consultation. I had the opportunity to see her work in action as we teamed up for an application to my dream school. From basic questions that I'd email off to her at a moment's notice, to long and thorough interview prep sessions, Katy wowed me. She always went above and beyond, never failing to provide timely and discerning feedback and even going so far as to connect me with some of those in her personal network to help me attend a particular class on campus. Her Stanford/Yale/Harvard/McKinsey credentials don't even do her justice. She's a true expert in every sense of the word.

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