In May I signed up for a 5-school Round 1 package with Melissa. After our 30-minute consultation I knew she was the perfect fit, giving me the difficult-to-hear advice while also ensuring me that hard work could put me in the position I wanted to be in. At that point I had taken the GMAT 3 times and did not have a score that would allow me to apply to the business schools I wanted to attend. To make a long story short, 5 months later I had switched tests and taken the GRE twice; applied to Fuqua, Darden, Ross, Tuck; and was accepted to all four schools! None of this would have been possible without Melissa.

Although I had gone through two full GMAT courses and many private GMAT tutoring sessions, Melissa was the first person to encourage me to switch to the GRE. I took her advice and after taking the GRE twice I got a score that was well within my target school's ranges.

The essay writing process with Melissa was fun! Melissa took the time to really get to know me so the topics that we picked for each essay prompt truly reflected my personality, my reason for applying to business school, and my goals. I appreciated that Melissa asked me pointed questions, pushing me to dig deeper to "show, not tell" my experiences. In the end, I felt that my applications were a very wholesome story and I was very pleased and proud to submit them to my original list of target schools. In terms of process, Melissa far exceeded the expected turn around response time. From turning around essay drafts to responding to my questions on how to fill out other aspects of the application, Melissa was incredibly prompt, frequently responding to me within hours.

Melissa was very helpful in the interview prep process, spending an hour on the phone with me before each interview, critiquing my responses to her huge interview question bank. These sessions were incredibly helpful and gave me a lot of confidence walking into interviews.

Melissa is absolutely worth the investment, my process is proof. She is also a wonderful person who genuinely cares about her students, you're not another number with Melissa. If you're looking for someone who will get you from where you are to accepted to multiple schools by helping, guiding, and pushing you to put your best foot forward, Melissa is the best person for the job.

Read More

Working with Katy for round 1 admissions this year has been great! The advice she has given me was invaluable for my applications, and helped me get accepted to two M7 programs, both of which with scholarship offers.

When I was at the beginning of the application process, I had 30-minute free consultation sessions. In these sessions, I connected very well with Katy and she gave me incredibly helpful advice upfront, before I had even chosen to work with her. I was not feeling great about my chances at top-tier schools, and Katy made me fee more confident. Once I decided to work with Katy, we held a brainstorming session where she not only helped me decide on my list of schools, but also went deep into my background and helped me narrow down really solid, coherent stories for my essays. Without this help, combined with her amazing assistance on my essay drafts, I would not have had nearly as clear and comprehensive essays. Her advice also extended to interview prep. She has incredibly deep experience with the interviews at all of the top schools and helped me refine my interview answers, making me feel much less nervous about the interviews.

Without Katy’s help, I do not believe that I would have gotten into Kellogg MMM or Sloan. I would definitely recommend her to anybody considering applying to business school.

Read More

Top-down message: Katy is a very experienced and fantastic person and you should take Katy if you want to get in to top MBA programs such as HBS or Stanford GSB.

I was not sure at the beginning if I needed admission consultant to help me with my applications. I thought that I could easily read all the tips online, ask my friends and create a strong MBA profile. I could not be more wrong. Application process at top MBAs is very competitive and complex. There are several factors that may influence decision whether or not people are accepted. Katy, as ex-consultant, is very structured, takes care of all details and put a lot of effort even in creating perfect short answers in the application. She was able to use 100% potential from my story resulting in acceptance to Stanford Graduate School of Business.

I was impressed from the beginning how she created my story during first brainstorming session. She helped me differentiate from overpopulated pool of management consultants by bringing several insights from my personal life. During the process, she was not only my real advisor, but also a friend, who helped to keep me up during the process.

I am very grateful to her (best decision I could make!) and I recommend Katy to anyone, who would like to study at top MBA program and need some additional guidance.

Read More

In 2018 I decided to apply to various MBA programs, and I wanted to an expert to help me and guide me through the process. I researched and interviewed a lot of consultants in various companies around the world, and once I had my 30-minute free consultation with Katy, I was sure that I wanted to work with her. Not only was she kind and patient, she was honest and enthusiastic.

Katy believed in my story and I can honestly say she was an invaluable in my application to GSB, my dream school, which I got accepted to! As many of us know, applying to an MBA is a complicated process. Finding the stories you want to tell was one of the most difficult aspects for me during the application. Katy patiently listened to my story and helped me identify those stories that made me unique. I was born, raised, and currently live in Colombia, so I first thought that a consultant from a different country would not understand my story as well. Katy was amazing!! She helped me realize that coming from a different country was a special part of my story.

Katy provided wonderful insights during my essays. She was VERY patient with my constant emails and questions on next steps and new ideas I had for my applications. Also, she was very supportive whenever I had doubts about myself, and once I got invited to my interviews, I felt that she was genuinely happy because she truly believed in me. To me, Katy is a consultant that truly believes in her clients and their individual stories. She was incredibly helpful in my interview prep as well, making sure I stayed true to myself.

I want to conclude by saying: Katy was spectacular! I wholeheartedly recommend her as a consultant and if I were to do it all over again, I would choose to work with her!

Read More

My time working with Melissa Merchant and the mbaMission team on my applications was incredibly productive and rewarding. The guidance, insight, and feedback provided the foundation for me to effectively create and submit my applications on time and with minimal stress.

Melissa did a great job of being proactive. She provided me with resources and guidelines very early on in each step of the process. This helped reduce the anxiety that comes with meeting first round deadlines for multiple schools. Also, her ability to structure a narrative about me, my career aspirations and my experience was robust and concise.

I would highly recommend working with Melissa on your application journey. She is patient, helpful, and will challenge you to put your best foot forward with your applications and interviews.

Read More

I can’t say enough positive things about Nisha. I knew I wanted to work with a consultant for the one school package. Given the steep price tag, I needed to find the perfect match for me: someone with experience in my industry, expert insight into my top choice program, and the ability to lend personal support throughout this daunting process. Nisha provided all of those things and more. I felt a genuine warmth in our first meeting which helped me decide to work with her and that positivity has carried through to the end. From a materials perspective, Nisha knows the need inside and out. I actually came to her with a resume that I already thought was in pretty good shape. Looking back now at that first draft versus what I submitted, the improvement in content and writing style is spectacular. The same goes for my essays. Together we shaped a clear story that captured everything I wanted to share with the adcom.

During the application cycle, I was also balancing a tough work environment and plans to retake the GMAT twice. Nisha’s partnership throughout this experience has been the smoothest part of an extremely stressful time period. I would highly HIGHLY recommend Nisha to anyone considering an admissions consultant. You’ll leave with so much insight and the best admissions package you can imagine!

Read More

Start-to-finish, I worked with Katy for 11 months on a six-school package with the result being accepted at five top MBA programs and accepting an offer to attend HBS. I cannot thank her enough for all of her help nor think of a better partner throughout the entire process! I can confidently say I would not have had near the success I was able to without all of her guidance and support to help turn my disparate collection of plans and ideas in to a carefully crafted admissions story.
Coming from a non-traditional background, one of one of the areas I was most nervous about was being a burden to recommenders - neither of whom had written MBA rec letters before. For me, this was one of the most helpful areas to have Katy’s support – she not only made it an easier process on them, but also allowed me to not worry as much about this part of the application. I’ve talked to both of my recommenders since the process ended and they couldn’t rave enough about how beneficial it was to have Katy’s guidance, and both rec letters were brought up by my interviewer at my HBS interview as well.
I can’t say enough about how thankful I am to have had her help throughout this process and would recommender her to anyone embarking on the MBA application journey.

Read More

I applied to business schools two years ago without success. Needless to say, I wasn't very optimistic when I decided to apply again in 2018. I had used a consultant for my prior attempt as well and wasn't too pleased with their services (I could be biased since it didn't work out that time) as they didn't even review my short answer questions.

This time around, I wanted someone who would work with my to make sure I had a holistic, well-rounded application. I'm glad I found Katy. Once again, I applied to four schools (three of the same schools as before and one new school). This time however, I was admitted into Booth, Kellogg, and Tuck. I can honestly say that Katy's help was invaluable. She guided me from the very beginning brainstorming sessions, to reviewing every single aspect of my application multiple times, and finally to preparing my for video essays and interviews.

Business school admissions are a binary result, you either get in or you don't. Even if you think you can put together a decent application on your own, that extra bump your application will get from using a consultant (especially Katy!), might be what pushes you over the dividing line. If you tend to be a little risk averse like me, or even if you aren't, I highly highly recommend Katy!

Read More

I was skeptical about paying for an admissions consultant until I visited with Katy.

I worked with Katy on a two school package - HBS and Stanford - and could not have had a more positive experience.

As a re-applicant, I was hesitant to reapply. I spoke to 10 different consulting firms and was still torn until I talked to Katy. Katy actually made me excited to reapply and explained her approach to reapplications (she wasn't prescribing the quick "how about you volunteer for the next few weeks?" - she was rethinking how I told my story). After a few short minutes I really felt like she "got me."

Katy was the only consultant I talked to who had real experience at both HBS and Stanford. I always considered the admissions process a bit of a black box and Katy was always there to answer my endless questions about process and strategy.

In terms of working together, Katy was incredibly quick, sharp, patient, and thoughtful. I was stumped on what I could possibly write about after already going through the process once, but Katy was extremely good at coaching me to approach this application differently. I was most surprised by how she was able to help me craft my story during our brainstorming session. Throughout the process, she took a holistic approach to my application (thinking about the essay in the context of my resume, my transcript, my short answers, etc.) and gave helpful feedback in that context. Katy made the process fun and easy.

Overall, my only regret is that I didn't know Katy when I first applied!

Read More

I started my search for an MBA advisor about two years before applying searching for someone who could truly understand my story and help me come across as the person I see myself. Katy has been spot on from day one and was key to my acceptance to HBS, Wharton & Lauder, Columbia and LBS.

Being an engineer who started my career as a consultant, I was afraid I would not be able to differentiate myself from the highly qualified applicants pool. Katy was very thorough in working to truly understand my story and help me choose the best stories to reflect my profile. She was a perfect mentor and friend helping me with my numerous questions and my insecurities, for example the fact that my GMAT score was not exceptional.

Katy believed in me from the start and is today someone I truly hold dear. Coming from Brazil, being able to relate to someone even never having met in person is incredibly helpful and provides comfort to really open yourself which is key to the success of the process of working with an advisor. I am very grateful to her and have no doubt that she will be able to have the same impact in your application.

Read More