Katy was an incredible partner in this process. From the brainstorm document, which was a vital tool in crafting my story, to the essays, Katy was an incredible partner in this process and made it significantly easier to pursue. She was great at providing insight into the process and what to expect, and she was a valuable resource for interview prep and waitlist management. One of the key aspects of this was better understanding where my strengths were and how I could manage any weak points of my application. She was an incredible partner to have, and I am immensely grateful for her help. Signing up was one of the best decisions that I made

Read More

Kate was instrumental in my MBA application journey from start to finish. She was extremely insightful, helpful and resourceful. When I was struggling with GMAT, she suggested various strategies for me to break out of the plateau stage and referred great tutor to help me. When I was brainstorming essay ideas and got stuck in difficult situations, ranging from not having enough ideas to having too many ideas, she was always there and ready to share wisdom and guidance. Kate struck a perfect balance between being an independent consultant and being resourceful.  

Additionally, she was extremely responsive throughout the whole process. Whenever I had a question, she responded right away via email or phone call. Even during the rare days when she took time off, she gave more than adequate advance notice. During this challenging process with hair greying and weight loss effect :), it was so comforting to know that Kate always has my back.

If I were to do this again, I would choose Kate again in a heartbeat. Good luck to everyone looking to embark on this journey! Besides hard work, luck, and support from family and friends, Kate is the other invaluable and critical player to complete your dream team.

Read More

Attending an MBA program was a dream of mine for a couple years before I started working with Kate, and now it’s a reality! I’ve been admitted to multiple T20 US MBA programs, all with merit scholarships.

After a brutal year of studying for the GMAT and consistently scoring poorly, I felt it was even more important to work with a professional when applying to top business schools. I could not make the Round 1 deadline because I did not have a competitive score and didn’t want to risk having to re-apply the following year. For me, it was Round 2 or bust. After my fit call with Kate, I was eager to sign up for the Complete Start-to-Finish package for four schools.

Kate was instrumental in helping me formulate my story, building a strong resume, helping me guide my recommenders, and partnering with me throughout the entire process. As someone who has a very small MBA network and in a field that traditionally does not hire MBAs, I knew I would have tons of questions and Kate is a great sounding board for every and any question I had. As someone applying for the first time, I knew I wanted to do this right and Kate was a great partner and helped me feel confident that the applications I sent out were the best possible.

Having Kate was so important for me because I was still studying for the GMAT when we started working together. I can’t imagine the hours I would have spent mulling over my essays without guidance. Having Kate allowed me to send her drafts and receive fantastic feedback – freeing up time to study. Kate also helped me realize the GMAT was not working for me and pursue the GRE. This was a difficult decision because I had invested SO much time in the GMAT and I desperately wanted to earn a 700+ score, but I took the leap and didn’t look back. The GRE turned out so much better than I expected and I even admitted that the GRE was fun…I guess it’s fun when you do better than you expect!

Another weak aspect of my profile is my work experience. Kate helped me to formulate a story and make sense of my work experience within each organization I worked for and why I jumped from company to company (I had three jobs in the span of 5.5 years). This was helpful in my interview process and I was able to leverage my experience in a meaningful way to avoid being labeled a “job hopper”.

I really appreciate Kate’s dedication to my MBA journey. She often returned my documents well before the required 2-day turnaround time. Since she is on the East Coast and I am on the West Coast, I would always wake up to multiple documents returned and could tackle them first thing in the morning! Kate was strategic in mapping out my application timeline, based on the amount of work needed to complete the application. For example, we started with Duke Fuqua’s application due to the amount of work required. Completing this application took many iterations, but this helped establish a strong foundation to tackle other schools’ applications.

Kate is personable and someone who genuinely wants to help you succeed. I enjoyed chatting with her about current events and even life outside of work/business school! She shared her experiences at Booth, in consulting, and even helped connect me with MBA students in her network at schools I was interested in. All in all, I would highly recommend Kate as an admissions consultant. The application process was so much smoother than I could have imagined and I’m thrilled to be an MBA candidate this Fall!

Read More

I had an excellent experience working with Melissa. From the very beginning, I felt much more comfortable working with Melissa than other consulting firms. I told myself I'd contact two of the major consulting firms for the free half hour phone call, and Melissa came across as someone who really understood my story and believed that I could be successful, whereas the other firm felt very salesy and lacked warmness.

I had some uniqueness in my profile, and Melissa was great in helping me to shape my story and really focus my essays. One of the most important and helpful things that she did was help me to shape the optional essay. Her insight took the original draft from about a 6 to a 10. I couldn't be more pleased with how that turned out and am positive that without her help on the essays I would not have been accepted to the school I'll be attending (Booth).

Read More

Jessica is hands down the best in the business! When beginning my search for the right admissions consultant to work with, my biggest concern was whether the investment would be worth it. After initial consultations with numerous admissions consultants, I still had my doubts. That was until I spoke with Jessica. I knew right away from that initial consultation with Jessica that she was who I wanted to work with. What immediately stood out for me was her genuine passion and excitement to work with me, and that enthusiasm never wavered throughout the application process, from that initial consultation to my acceptance to my dream school!

Jessica’s approach is direct and honest, so you’ll get the best advice and feedback without any sugarcoating. This is the approach you need if you’re aiming for a top school, and it’s amazing how her feedback helped transform my weak first draft essays to powerful and impactful essays that told my story in the best way. Along with this fantastic approach, Jessica has a great background and extensive experience; she’s seen pretty much everything there is to see, so she can give guidance in any scenario. This was especially helpful for me since I was a non-traditional applicant that didn’t have friends or colleagues in my industry I could go to for advice. She always had time for even the silliest of my questions. Most importantly, Jessica was dedicated and committed to my success throughout the entire application journey. It was a big confidence booster for me knowing that she was in my corner to help me navigate through all the stressful and tough challenges that the application process can pose.

I can’t say enough just how incredibly valuable it was working with Jessica. If you’re on the fence about an admissions consultant as I was when I started my application process, do what I did and schedule an initial consultation with Jessica. You’ll quickly see that Jessica is a cut above the rest – she’s truly the best in the business and you won't find someone better that can help you achieve your dreams!

Read More

My plan to apply to a top Biz school started in 2016. It wasn't until last year that I decided to really figure out what it was going to take to get there. A friend recommended I speak to Katy. In our first 30-min conversation I instantly felt Katy's enthusiasm to help others achieve their MBA goals and also her objective and honest feedback to make sure you understood what that would take. I spoke to many other consultants and none gave me confidence like Katy. For the next four months (albeit a short time frame for apps) we worked diligently on polishing my application. Katy took interest in my personal story, guided me when I felt nervous and motivated to approach applying to business school with determination and optimism. I will be attending my dream school now, and this achievement is in part due to the amazing work and dedication of Katy. Gracias!

Read More

In brief:

Last year, I applied to business school without the help of a consultant and didn’t get in anywhere. This year, with the help of Katharine Lewis from mbaMission, I got into Berkeley Haas with a $80K scholarship, I got into Kellogg’s MMM program, I got waitlisted at Stanford GSB and I accepted my offer of admission at LBS with a £50K scholarship. Below, I will describe why our relationship was so effective, and why I think you should definitely retain her start-to-finish services.

More details about her exceptional service:

Katharine was incredibly supportive throughout the entire process, always going the extra mile because she truly cares about the people she helps. She has well-structured material and she is extremely talented at guiding you, helping you to self-reflect, think about your strengths, and what to showcase in an MBA application. She helped me on selecting between stories to make my story engaging, emotional, but also well-rounded. She then reviewed thoroughly every document I sent her (essays, short answers, and even emails I wanted to send to some alumni to network!). Not only did her help get me into all these schools, but she also taught me a lot of re-applicable skills along the way.

Applying to an MBA is stressful, and having Katharine around gave me confidence in my skills, myself, but also in pushing through hardships. On top of giving me advice, guidance, and reviewing diligently all my material, she also was there to support me emotionally and encourage me. She does not count her hours!

She also was flexible on timelines, always making me feel she prioritized me, answering emails so fast and answering any question I had. Katharine was also very patient and always happy to start-over if I was not 100% happy with an essay. She also is extremely honest and will tell you if she feels an essay needs improvement. This makes her one of the most trustworthy advisors/mentors I’ve ever encountered.

Once I was invited to interview, she helped me prepare for those and made me feel very confident going into interviews. Finally, once I was accepted into many schools, she helped me make my choice and made sure I was entirely certain of my decision. That is true start-to-finish service!

I truly recommend the mbaMission’s complete start-to-finish package with Katharine, as it includes unlimited reviews (believe me this is really important), real knowledge and experience in admission committees (Katharine was on Stanford GSB adm committee and she also knows a ton about Kellogg, HBS, and other schools) to help you "stand out". Katharine goes above and beyond, and the package is worth the price considering how many hours she spent helping me!

More details about me:

For context, I am a French woman who studied business undergrad in Canada and did not speak English before moving to the USA 3 years ago. I worked as a Deloitte consultant in Montreal, and then at Wayfair (e-commerce company) as a category manager for 2 years in the USA. I also created a non-profit aimed at helping entrepreneurs network in the USA. GMAT: 720 (better verbal, lower quant). I have done several things to help me get into a tier 1 MBA, but there are so many people applying with strong profiles! It is Katharine who truly helped me get into those top tier MBAs. Post-MBA, I want to pivot to

a new industry, but also change my career from working in big companies to early-stage startups and even launching my own startup one day.

My story was not easy to layout in an MBA application as I changed jobs every 2 years, only had ~4 years of experience, and wanted a different job and industry post-MBA, but Katharine helped me see the storyline and made my application so much better! I applied to 6 schools (all in round 2): Stanford GSB, London Business School, Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, Kellogg MMM Program, and Berkeley Haas. I got 4 interviews: Stanford GSB, London Business School, Kellogg MMM Program, and Berkeley Haas. I finally got the results I mentioned before.

I hope this helps highlight how much Katharine helped me. Believe me, she is the edge to securing several offers from the best B-school worldwide! Don't forget that this investment can lead you to your dream MBA, so 200% worth it!

Cap
London Business School, Kellogg MMM, Berkeley Haas admit, $140K in total merit scholarship awarded and waitlisted at Stanford GSB

Read More

I can honestly say I wouldn’t have made it through the MBA application process without Harshad’s help; he helped me to believe in myself when things were difficult, to craft the best stories for my essays and interviews, to come up with the best strategies to deliver results, and so much more. In the end, I ended up getting accepted to two of my top schools, and I was offered a full ride to one of them.

I contacted mbaMission sometime in the spring (R2 applicant) as I knew I had to put my best forward during the application cycle as an older applicant (31-year-old); my initial call with a different consultant was eye-opening, I could not believe all the feedback I received in such short amount of time. She suggested having a second “fit” call with Harshad as we both had engineering backgrounds. After our conversation, I knew Harshad was the one I wanted to work with as he knew exactly where I was at professionally and knew where I wanted to go.

During the next few months, I worked on improving my GMAT/GRE and though my test results were not ideal, Harshad helped me to stay positive and diligent to work on the other aspects of my application and networking with my target schools, which ultimately made a huge difference.

Harshad’s feedback is very direct and honest, which I enormously appreciated as we worked on my applications; he replied to my messages as promised or even earlier, even late at night, during the weekends, and the holiday breaks. The first reviews can be tough, but that is the nature of his work as this will help you submit the best version of yourself. I remember looking forward to my calls with Harshad as they filled me up with energy and encouragement to keep moving, to a point where writing essays, even during stressful times, became fun.

In short, Harshad is a kind, fun, smart, and hard-working consultant who has the best interest in your success and the results speak for themselves. I will ALWAYS be thankful to him.

Read More

Dan helped me with a one school package to an m7. After a string of rejections applying R1 on my own, I turned to Dan's help in identifying unique aspects of my profile and crafting a really unique story that spoke to my background and potential contributions to the class profile. I had a lot of concerns regarding what to convey in my essays and thinking my background didn't really have any unique or interesting points to craft a compelling essay behind. With Dan's help he identified some unique aspects to my story and helped me highlight what I thought was a minor aspect of my background (a part-time job I had in college) to become a compelling story for my admissions profile.

Dan was extremely efficient with his comments and his ability to streamline my writing and help me more concisely express my points in my essays were extremely valuable. Comparing the results for the applications that i did on my own versus the ones I had Dan's help with, I noticed a huge difference in results, clearly speaking to the help that MBadmissions offers and Dan's expertise in this space.

Besides the essay editing services, the interview prep was also extremely helpful as Dan's advice on how to concisely discuss my work experience and doing a mock interview helped give me confidence during my interview.

Read More

I could not be happier that I worked with Katy and mbaMission. Katy was an amazing partner: she was knowledgeable, motivating, insightful, kind, and everything ran like clockwork. Honestly, she made the process fun.

I am a strong writer, and was initially skeptical of using an admissions consultant. I did a few calls to sense it out, and when I spoke to Katy I immediately knew I wanted to work with her because she (magically) intuitively understood my career experience, interests, and how I was thinking about business school. She had such a deep understanding of the schools I was interested in, I knew she could guide me as I crafted applications.

Katy's help was more profound than essay writing: she helped me see themes in my life and career that I hadn't been able to articulate but are absolutely true. I felt totally authentic through the entire essay-writing process, but I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to write the essays that got me admitted to my top choice schools without her.

Katy was always there when I needed help or advice in the application process, and she reminded me of important timelines while also giving me time and space when I was busy with work. It was as stress-free as possible.

After I got interview invitations Katy was extremely helpful at preparing me -- she went above and beyond, and gave me extra help when I was nervous about one interview. I did interview practice with other people, but working with a professional (and more neutral party than a friend!) was very useful.

Beyond all the tactical admissions help, Katy helped me understand the schools themselves. She knows these places thoroughly, and gave me useful insight into which would be the right fit for me.

Katy is wonderful, and I hope you're lucky enough to work with her!

Read More