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.

Read More

My experience with Kim Hoey at mbamission was amazing! When I was stressed about my past, Kim always encouraged me to look at the positives. With her innovation and experience, she was able to refine my story into a clear and concise narrative. She was always meeting my deadlines and always checking in on me. One thing to point out especially when you are applying to 4 or more schools is that from brainstorming to drafting essays, before you know it, the deadlines are approaching. Kim took the time to create a detailed schedule for me to stay on track. She has a special quality of empathy. I would recommend her to anyone considering an admissions consultant. Last but not least, mbamission is a rockstar firm with many great resources for its clients. Jeremy Shinewald is leading the best team in the industry.

Read More

Rachel was invaluable in my application process. I applied to only one M7 program and can’t fathom the quality difference between my final application and the one I had started out with on my own.
Business school applications are like training for a marathon and Rachel was the best coach I could have asked for. She took the time to learn about my past, present and future in all aspects of my life, not just educational/professional. She was always honest yet gave me the opportunity to push back when I felt strongly about something. She was warm, inquisitive, and sympathetic.
Rachel always responded well-within the guaranteed time, even on vacation. She held me to deadlines without being too pushy and was able to pivot with our strategy when we hit a roadblock. We are both perfectionists; I had comfort knowing I could ask her opinion on anything, no matter how small.
When I told Rachel about my acceptance, she was genuinely as excited about the news as I was. I would recommend her to anyone looking to apply to a top-tier MBA.

Read More

I work in investment management and will be attending a part-time weekend MBA program. I worked with Kate on a two school package and she was an incredible resource in making my applications as strong as possible.

She helped me narrow in on the strengths to highlight in my applications but also helped me identify my weaknesses and developed a plan to address them. One of my key weaknesses was a lack of community engagement.

Kate kept me on task throughout the process. Her help in tailoring my story and providing constructive feedback on my writing resulted in extremely strong essays.

We did mock interviews that made me much more prepared and confident in my interviews. Ultimately I got into both of the schools that I applied to and both offered me merit scholarships that exceeded my expectations. Going into my MBA applications, I was somewhat naive to the process and all that it entailed. Kate helped me navigate all of it and prepared me better than I ever could have on my own.

Read More

I worked with Debbie on the 3 School Package. She was an excellent partner throughout the MBA Admission process.

Our beginning sessions were focused on shaping my holistic story that I would tell admissions. She spent the time to get to know who I was to better recommend what my essays and resume should highlight. This was a critical step that we took before diving into the deliverables and made the rest of the process much smoother and effective.

Debbie was immensely helpful in the editing process - she provided effective feedback in a timely manner and was always available to help answer all the questions I had through the admissions process.

I would highly recommend Debbie to anyone who wants to pursue their MBA!

Read More

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!

Read More

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.

Read More

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!

Read More

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!

Read More

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.

Read More