At first, I chose to utilize the 30-minute free consultation with mbamission to get some pointers on application prep, and I quickly found their feedback to be incredibly helpful in the short amount of time that we had. mbamission wasn’t pushy like some of the other groups I had spoken to. Though the woman I spoke to was booked for consulting services, she strongly recommended Dan Richards (based on our backgrounds, my school choice, etc.) and I am SO happy that she did. I used hourly consulting services with Dan to receive guidance and feedback on my essays and resume for my top choice school in Round 1. I had about 2 months to improve my test score and write compelling essays. Dan exceeded my expectations. His feedback was always honest, direct and quick (usually within 1 day). If you decide to work with a consultant, I highly recommend that you first spend 20-30 minutes with Dan brainstorming your essay themes before diving into the writing- his feedback on my outline was valuable as it helped me to develop a structured set of essays. He worked with me to pull out important themes in my essays and helped me to tell a story about my short and long term goals. With Dan’s help, I was accepted to the one business school I applied to (top 10)! I couldn’t have done it without his guidance and support. I strongly recommend Dan’s services- he is a trusted professional with years of experience helping candidates get into their dream schools. It was 100% worth the investment- I strongly recommend him!

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I totally recommend Jen Kedrowski to you to brush up your candidacy and create the best application packages.

I am a non-English native as well as a re-applicant aiming at British business schools. Before starting the collaboration with Jen, I took several free consulting sections offered several consulting service providers. Then, I found that Jen would be the best to revise my applications, and decided to choose the Hourly Services at mbaMission.

There are 2 main reasons why I recommend Jen to you as your partner.

First, she has splendid analytical and editorial skills to cover your weaknesses and stand out your strengths. It is hard for most applicants to differentiate your candidacy from others. Additionally, almost all of the candidates who attempt to enroll in business schools have piled up similar careers. So, her analytical skills will help you in finding your uniqueness, and editorial ones will strongly contribute to brushing up your applications sentence by sentence, along with each school culture. In my case, she always identified points that I had to deepen or reconsider clearly. She gave me a hand to construct stories of applications as total packages accompanying consistency in the last applications. In some cases, she asked me to reconstruct whole sentences along the latest career progress, but in other cases, she simply improved part of the essays I’d hand in the last term in order to consolidate my candidacy.

Second, you will gain experience about how cultural differences should be expressed on your essays. I live in a more high-context society than the UK and the USA. In my country, people require reading between the lines, which prevented me from writing suitable sentences or showing connections of each sentence clearly. But, through the communication with Jen, I found these were signs not only to fit my sentences to each school, but also to improve sentences to best reveal my experiences with cultural differences (I did not notice this when I asked a consultant in my country last year).

If you feel you might be the lack of confidence to create best sentences for admission committees, Jen's skills to enhance your candidacies and edit your applications will become the best to bridge the gaps.

Finally, this book will help in understanding cultural differences between countries (you and admission staff), or in improving your sentences along experiences in diverse cultures (international exposures are a key for every candidate).
"The Culture Map: Decoding How People Think, Lead, and Get Things Done Across Cultures"
http://amzn.to/2xKoZMs

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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!

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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.

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I wouldn't have been accepted to business school without Katy's advice and perspective. I only applied to four schools (Stanford, Haas, Ross, and Foster) in the 2nd round. As a military applicant deployed to Korea, Katy always made sure to accommodate me despite the fifteen-hour time difference and my hectic schedule. Katy understood and explained how to polish each piece of my application. Katy's insight into translating military experience into essays and in my resume, were particularly helpful.

Ultimately, I was accepted to my top school. I can honestly say that I do not think I would have been admitted without Katy’s help. I strongly recommend her service, particularly to applicants with non-traditional backgrounds.

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I booked an hourly package with Dan Richards because I had a pretty good idea of essay topics but needed some help putting it all together and making the essays flow together. I was hesitant to use a consultant at first, but after talking to several friends who recently went through the MBA process, and after my 30 min consultation, I was convinced this would be well worth the investment -- and it was! Dan and mbaMission exceeded my expectations and helped make the application process feel much less stressful.

Dan is an extremely gifted writer; my responses would often be verbose and all over the map, but Dan has the unique ability to cut through the weeds and say "this is what I think you're trying to say, let's try to frame it in this way...". We went through 5-7 drafts on each essay, and each was significantly better than the last thanks to Dan's feedback and guidance. I am confident I would not have submitted such strong essays without his help.

What was even more valuable was that Dan really helped me map out my career path and think through what each job (and responsibilities) meant. This was key both to my essays as well as my own, personal growth. Dan is clearly very familiar with all types of career paths and can offer many details and insights to roles, responsibilities, etc.

Going into the process, I thought my resume would need minimal work - boy was I wrong! Dan helped make it MUCH stronger and cleaner. I learned that a business school resume is different than a professional one, but I also took away some tips to use in a professional context as well.

Lastly, Dan helped me decide when enough was enough, and to just submit and stop worrying :-) I think you can go on forever refining essays, resumes, etc., but at one point that becomes more detrimental than helpful! Dan helped me decide when that point was reached.

With Dan's help, I was able to get into my top choice school!!

I felt Dan was very respectful of our time together and I would not hesitate to recommend him, or mbaMission, to a friend. Well worth the investment!

A side note about mbaMission:
I originally spoke with Katy from mbaMission during my 30 min consultation. When it turned out she was booked for hourly work, she was quick to recommend Dan based on my background and choice of schools. I get the sense that mbaMission has a lot more camaraderie than some of their peers -- which I think is great! I had several 30 min consultations and was most impressed by mbaMission's professionalism, breadth of knowledge, and superior recommendations. I would certainly use them again.

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During my admissions process, i spoke to many different consultants to see which was the best fit for me. One of my favorite things about MBA mission was that i was able to get my free 30 minute session directly with Katy. I quickly got a sense of what she was about and realized that she was the best person to help me on this journey.

She quickly understood my story and helped me find the best way to express it. I come from an nontraditional background so for me it was very important to get the right story on paper to show my best qualities. Katy was extremely helpful in the planning and brainstorming sessions and was able to ask all the right questions. She was truly interested in my story and made me feel like I was her most important client every time we spoke.

During the application process she was also outstanding, she did a fantastic job of reading and editing the essays without being invasive and making them sound as if they didn't come from me. She was very timely in her responses and was available during weekends and even during Christmas break.

Overall, I was very pleased with Katy's guidance and I am sure that she is a big reason as to why I will be attending Columbia Business School this fall!

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When I first started the process of applying to business school I was really unsure if I wanted to use a consultant. Between GMAT prep class fees and travel expenses to visit schools, the cost of applying to business school adds up quickly and I wasn't sure if a consultant would be worth the cost. Since I knew people that had gone through the process of applying to business school, I had a solid understanding of the work needed to complete an application but I really needed a top consultant to help me craft my story and write strong essays...at least I thought that was all I needed.

Helen was recommended to me and after our first conversation, I knew I made the right choice. She helped me pull out the elements of my story that embodied who I was the most and pushed me to dig deeper whenever I got lazy in my writing. At times, I was so frustrated with the process I was ready to stop and Helen always lovingly brought me back on track and helped me create a plan to make the process less stressful. She provided edits and ideas very quickly and was always responsive whenever I got stuck. She also did a mock interview with me (with specific questions about my background) and coached me on how to give strong and thoughtful answers. Needless to say, many of the questions she asked me were exactly the questions I was asked in my real interview. Her mock interview was excellent preparation for the real thing.

In general, I saw Helen as more than just my admissions consultant, she was also my cheerleader and part time life coach. LOL I truly felt like she was invested in my success and because of her guidance and extreme talent in bringing out the best in people, I was admitted to several schools and will start at Stanford this fall. I couldn't be more excited! :)

I definitely recommend Helen as a top business school consultant. Thank you to her and the entire mbaMission team for helping me to achieve this dream!

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Kate greatly exceeded my expectations.
At first, I was reluctant to hire a consulting service as I was afraid of getting a cookie-cutter approach resulting in a bland application.
However, Kate took the time to understand what I wanted to say, was straight with me when I was being repetitive, and helped me suggesting edits while keeping my voice intact throughout the application. Furthermore, as it often happens, I had little time left to submit my application and was very thankful that Kate responded to all my inquiries promptly and comprehensively according to a scheduled she shared with me at the start of the engagement.
Other consultants I spoke to briefly wanted to “force” me into applying to certain schools whereas Kate helped me polish my essays to accurately show what I liked of each school and how I felt I fit in.
I am very happy with the outcome and feel proud of my applications for I know I drafted 100% of the content that got me accepted, but Kate’s input was instrumental in polishing my essays and ensuring all my messaged were received as clearly as possible.

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I genuinely enjoyed working with Kate because she genuinely cared about my unique story and encouraged me to apply for top MBA programs despite my low GMAT score. Kate laid out a structured plan to address low GMAT verbal by recommending that I take a communication class and obtain an A to demonstrate my verbal proficiency and boost my entire candidacy. Throughout the entire process, Kate was extremely phenomenal at helping me structure my MBA resume and incorporate specific and important aspects of my story into my essays, which flowed like a conversation. She will promptly return all my draft essays with detailed improvements that helped me articulate my MBA goals in a succinct manner.

I was absolutely thrilled to work with her and I ended up getting into one of my dream schools. I whole-heartedly recommend her for your MBA application experience. She is extremely knowledgeable and makes the application process easier than studying for the GMAT.

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