If you're anything like me, hiring a consultant seems a bit extra. I figured I could write decently well on my own, my resume was okay, and the interviews won’t be that bad. So why should I pay so much money for what I anticipated would be only marginal improvements to my overall application? Well, after working with Harshad, I can tell you exactly why.

Essays: Harshad takes a deep look at your life story (personal and professional) to pull-out the anecdotes that will resonate best with the AdComs. My instincts were totally off at first, but Harshad’s knowledge of each school’s specific essays saved me from writing about something that wouldn’t hit home. After that, every round of editing was thorough. Harshad does an excellent job of trimming extra words to make the word count without trimming important content. His email responses were very fast (<1 working day normally, 2 days max).

Resume: Harshad provides an excellent resume template and knows how to rephrase bullets to make them more punchy.

Other application parts: Harshad reviewed all the short answer questions in my application too. Same treatment as the resume. Very worth it.

Recommenders: Harshad provided a thorough guide for working with recommenders. This advice is 100% worth following. He also helped me manage one recommender who had limited English writing proficiency.

Interview prep: I practiced interviewing with friends and family, but nothing was more valuable than Harshad’s mock-interviews. He asked realistic questions, provided candid feedback, and tested me similarly to the real interviews. This was perhaps the most important part of the whole package.

Professionalism: Harshad responded incredibly quickly. Even when I was behind on my work with deadlines approaching quickly, Harshad always responded immediately (whether holiday, weekend, or the middle of the night in his time zone)! His responses were always thorough. Also, I live and work 5-8 time zones away from Harshad, but he was always flexible about scheduling meetings to accommodate my needs. Most importantly, Harshad is candid without being rude. He tells you what you need to hear.

Overall, I’m quite sure I would not have gotten into any M7s without Harshad’s help. Even if he charged double, I would still pick Harshad again.

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I worked with Jen for my three MBA school applications and received offers from all these schools. I was impressed by the results and knew I wouldn't achieve these without Jen's support.

During the time we worked together, she provided me with lots of guidance and advice so that I knew what to highlight in my essays. She helped me find some unique and exciting stories in my career and life that I was not aware of. The mock interviews we did for both Kira video questions and alumni interviews were super helpful. Jen pointed out my problem directly and gave me suggestions about improving them. I built a lot of confidence and felt well prepared through the process.

Besides her professional knowledge about the programs, Jen is very supportive and flexible. When I was unsure about myself or doubted my essays, Jen
always had my back. She was also able to meet me at late nights or early morning.

The application journey was busy and stressful, and I am so glad that I worked with Jen to go through it.

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Harshad was there for me in every step of the process, from explicitly choosing the schools with the best academic and social fit to getting interview invites from 3 M7 schools, and eventually, an admit from one.

Given the reflective nature of the MBA application, I wanted to work with someone who genuinely understood my history and vision, i.e. I wasn't just another client for them. After talking to several consultants (who constantly suggested that I shouldn't aim for M7 schools), Harshad was the only consultant who highlighted the positive aspects of my applications during our first consultation. After that, it was an easy choice. He and I worked on five schools, and I eventually got into the school of my choice.

Harshad believed in me, pushed me to give my best, from essays to interviews and was a constant support during the emotional rollercoaster of the application process. He went above and beyond and took calls even on the weekends as we pushed closer to the deadlines. Not once did I have any issues with turnaround time.

His stellar advocacy has exceeded my high expectations. I highly recommend him!

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Before reaching out to mbaMission, I was really hesitant to apply to school this year and unsure of whether I'd be admitted to any program. Thanks to all the help from Nisha at mbaMission, I was accepted to my target school! Nisha walked me through every part of the application and answered all my questions. She helped frame my story in the essays in order to put my best foot forward in the application. Nisha was available over email and responded super promptly to all of my essay and application questions. Once my application was submitted, Nisha also helped me prep for the interview and conducted a mock interview that really helped me prep for the real one. Additionally, mbaMission has tons of guides to help in every part of the application process. Overall, I'm super happy with this experience.

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Kate was incredible to work with! I signed up for the 3-school package and found her to be very generous with her time. As a younger candidate in management consulting, I worked with Kate to identify my personal strengths that we could highlight throughout the application process.

We mainly worked on essay development/edits together, where I was always impressed by her attention to detail. With every review, we would discuss not only basic revisions but overall application strategy to deliver meaningful and impactful essays. Not to mention that she was incredibly responsive and engaged, with truly impressive turnaround times!

Kate is truly adept at taking the best of yourself and ensuring that it comes across in your application. She was a true partner throughout the entire process, and with every application sent, I felt proud of the quality of the submission.

Thanks to her support, I was able to secure admission to my dream M7 school!

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It was such a smooth and great experience working with Debbie. She is very experienced in what she does having worked with a ton of applicants for different schools. She helped me narrow down on the schools that I ultimately applied to and was also very helpful with the various questions I had when I was choosing my recommenders. When it came to brainstorming and essay writing, Debbie had great feedback on the essays and helped me string my thoughts together into something that was unique to me and really showcased my own voice. I couldn't have done this without Debbie and getting admitted to one of my dream schools! Thanks Debbie!

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I worked with Debbie on the 3 school package for HSW through mbaMission. Throughout the entire process, Debbie was incredibly thoughtful and responsive and helped me gain admission (with a scholarship to make it even better) to my top school!

Debbie spends a lot of time getting to know you as a person rather than force fitting you into a pre-determined box, and is able to very quickly and effectively recommend what stories I should try to highlight in my essays and resume. She was incredibly thoughtful in crafting an entire compelling narrative and helping edit in ways that still remain completely authentic to who I am. She provided prompt feedback 100% of the time, set very clear deadlines for me to keep my process on track, and was thoughtful from start to finish. I cannot stress enough how helpful Debbie was throughout, and would recommend her to anyone looking to pursue an MBA!

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I did my research when selecting a consultant to help me navigate the MBA admissions process. I read many positive reviews on mbaMission’s Kate Richardson. If this review helps you choose Kate, then I will feel as if I paid it forward!
Kate Richardson is among the best, if not the best. Never did I feel alone during the daunting MBA admissions process. Kate has the unique ability to make you feel like her only client. Kate, of course, provided invaluable feedback during the resume reviews, essay edits and interview prep. But, where I found Kate's guidance most helpful was with the intangibles. For example, no question about logistics or timeline was too small or unimportant for Kate to answer. It was really important for me to have a clear picture of expectations and a manageable schedule to complete all the steps of the application. Kate was a great partner in this. I found Kate was always encouraging while providing realistic perspective. Kate is a serious bright spot throughout the MBA application process. If you want an advocate who will help you realize your goals, look no further than Kate!

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Working with Jessica was my highlight of not only this whole process, but my year. Jessica takes an incredibly stressful, arduous, and long process, and simplifies it into something that is so manageable and easy to follow. Going into working with a consultant, I had no idea what to expect, but Jessica makes you feel so comfortable and right at home from the moment you she picks up your first phone call for the 30 minute free consultation. Just after those 30 minutes, I knew that she was the right person to work with. We connected so easily, and she really expresses her excitement and enthusiasm from the moment you meet her. She is a gold mine of knowledge of every school, and really understands the intricacies of each application and what to highlight to make you shine. I can say without a doubt that I would not have made it to this point without her.

Jessica listens to your story, understands the smallest details, and knows how to ask the right questions to really dive deep and get to the core of what's important. She also never tries to change your story, she only works towards getting every detail out so it sounds as strong as possible. As someone applying on the younger side, I was a bit worried but Jessica was so motivating and encouraging along the way that I really never felt that it was a weakness in my profile. She had encouraging but honest answers to every question I asked, and even was there for me to get me back on track when I was lagging behind in the early stages of essay writing.

Jessica is truly your champion, and supports you like no other. She holds your story and profile so close to her heart and you can see the time, effort, and care she puts into making it become the best it can possibly be. She is tough at times, and is very direct and candid with her feedback -- but this is what I was looking for in a consultant and what I believe made my work the best it could be.

If you want someone who is truly on your team, who supports you through all the highs and lows of the process, and really cares about you, Jessica is all of this, and more. There is no end to what I could say about how great of a consultant, and even more than that, person, she is.

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I would highly recommend Kim to anyone on the fence about hiring an admissions consultant, or unsure of which consultant to work with. I took a chance on Kim and mbaMission after a brief phone consultation, and will be forever grateful that I did. Kim invested an extraordinary amount of time and energy into getting to know me as a candidate (and person), and channeled that understanding into helping me craft an incredibly well-packaged narrative highlighting my strengths and personal brand. Kim guided me through the admissions process every step of the way, acting as a coach, cheerleader, and teammate in one from our kick-off call to the day I received my acceptance letter from CBS. Most importantly, Kim clearly believed in me as a person and cared deeply about my success. As a result, the application I submitted was distinctly my own, rather than a contrived attempt at following some prescribed “CBS formula,” and this fact gave me a great deal of confidence going into my interview. Overall, working with Kim was an overwhelmingly positive experience, and it is safe to say that I would not be headed to my dream school next fall were it not for her guidance.

One final note: I myself was a skeptic of admissions consulting prior to working with Kim and mbaMission. After all, how much value could a consultant really add on top of what I would gain from completing a “self-guided” tour of the latest admissions literature and MBA applicant forums? As it turns out, a great deal. For example: I was by no means the perfect applicant, and had a gaping hole in my application in the form of a 710 GMAT score with a 40 on the quant sub-section (yikes). Although I had decided to hang up my cleats on the GMAT after several failed attempts at improvement, Kim talked me out of testing retirement for one last Hail Mary on the Executive Assessment. After two weeks of brush-up studying, I took the home version of the EA and walked away with a 95th percentile score. Instantly, the biggest weakness of my application transformed into a strength; not only did my EA score represent an improvement on a percentile basis, it also enabled CBS to focus on the other, stronger aspects of my profile, since EA scores aren’t factored into school rankings. Despite the confidence I placed in my own “self-guided” admissions research, I had somehow missed this incredible opportunity that ironically exists somewhat uniquely for CBS (that is, applying with the EA for the full-time program). That Kim was familiar enough with the school to catch this technicality (along with the fact that she was able to coach a very reluctant standardized tester back into the game) speaks volumes about her abilities as a consultant. If you were initially skeptical about bringing in outside help for your applications, I hope that I’ve now convinced you.

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