Getting into Harvard has been my dream for the last six years. I was worried, however, that I didn’t have that unique story you typically associate with people that get into these universities. Then came Katy, who helped me take a step back and weave the many seemingly unrelated elements of my life into one cohesive story that both provided me with the standout story I never thought I had and quite honestly helped me understand myself better. What I quickly began to appreciate is that Katy doesn’t take a one-size-fits all approach to MBA consulting, she really took the time to know me and then tailored how we tackled the essays based on my background and goals.

Beyond that, she was also very knowledgeable about the process answering my many questions with valuable insights from the view of someone who has been an admissions committee member herself. Even though I read virtually ever piece of MBA advice I could get my hands on over the past six years, everything I thought I knew paled in comparison to the insights Katy provided me.

Lastly, I can’t overstate how much Katy truly cares about the people she works with. The MBA process can get really stressful at times, but with Katy’s sound advice and kind words, I never felt overwhelmed by the process. I genuinely can’t recommend Katy enough and after comparing my first and final essay drafts, I honestly don’t know what I would have done without her!

(Harvard Business School and Columbia Business School Admit)

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Before Rachel was recommended to me, I had interviewed two other consultants who also came highly regarded. I hadn’t been impressed with either and when I spoke with Rachel I knew instantly it was a fit. I told her my concerns: I needed someone who would respond in a timely manner and who would help me craft my story. Rachel set clear expectations from the get-go about turnaround time and she instilled confidence in me that I had a good story to share.
From a personal standpoint, I didn’t need someone who would help me research schools and programs. I had done that on my own. Rachel is unique given her editorial background and she is a journalist by nature. That is exactly what I needed. I wanted someone who would help me brainstorm ideas for essays and give me editorial help. Rachel surpassed all expectations when it came to that. I always felt she was honest and if she didn’t feel like the story made sense or the essay wasn’t quite there she was very candid. The entire process was collaborative and with Rachel a lot less dauting.
This review wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t share a personal anecdote. The GMAT was not something that came easy to me. I wound up having to take it multiple times until I received a score I felt would not hinder me from getting accepted. Just as I was about to give up after my second time Rachel was my personal cheerleader and kept me going. She helped strategize with me regarding the school’s deadline and still taking the 3rd test in time. I can say without hesitation that if Rachel was not my consultant I would have given up on the entire process. I knew I was paying for the editorial help and brainstorming sessions. However, what I received in return was so much more.
I cannot recommend Rachel enough for her creativity, her brilliance in crafting stories, and her ability to serve as a personal coach throughout the entire process in areas one might not expect!! Do not even hesitate when choosing an advisor. I can guarantee you all expectations will be exceeded with Rachel!

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I worked with Helen Summers as part of a successful Round 1 admissions cycle for three top-tier schools. I made the decision to apply rather late (end of July) and Helen helped me cull my list to my top schools so I could dedicate the appropriate amount of focus to them, worked with me to find my story, told me the blunt truths about my essay drafts, and assisted my preparation for the interviews. She was tremendously fun to work with and did not shy away from providing tough advice, which is exactly what is required. It was an excellent experience.

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I would not have been admitted to HBS without Katy’s help. She was phenomenal to work with, start to finish, and it was so fun to work with her because it’s clear that she loves her job as a consultant and mentor.

A year before I applied, I hired Katy for a two-school prep package and worked with her closely throughout the entire application process. Katy helped me to position my candidacy; structure, review and edit my essays; provided guidance, edits and thoughts on all my short answers; and prepare for interviews. It was a long and intense process but she worked very hard to provide timely feedback and she always made herself available to answer questions.

Perhaps what I appreciated the most about Katy is her ability to listen and ask sincere questions to really get to know me. A good consultant cannot help you if they do not know you, and Katy showed a remarkable ability to understand my story quickly. Her ability was most evident at the beginning of the application process when I was trying to identify how to position my candidacy and articulate what really motivates me. Katy was extremely effective at helping me uncover the real ‘why’ behind many of my experiences and life decisions, which was crucial for how I positioned by application and structured my essays.

Katy is also very candid and honest. After several weeks of working on my essays, she reviewed them one day and told me they were really boring. It was true, and I’m really glad she let me know. I then completely revamped them with her help and the end product was far superior to what I had initially.

All in all, I found Katy to be knowledgeable, experienced, caring, genuine, and a highly effective 'thought partner'. I recommend her to everyone I know applying and am so glad I used her in my process.

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It has been amazing working with Harshad Mali from mbaMission! The quality of the service I received went above and beyond my expectations. I was very tentative about working with a consultant initially for two main reasons - cost of the service, and I was concerned that the application would get heavily influenced by the consultant's writing style and personality. But these concerns were put to rest from the time I started working with mbaMission and Harshad Mali. The first big breakthrough happened in the Brainstorming session. Harshad made me talk about my story starting from early childhood, patiently listening for the most part, but every now and then asking me questions to make me think about why I reacted the way I did, and highlighting important values that I had clearly failed to see. Through my conversations, Harshad was able to point out my leadership style and also guide me to pick my best experiences to share in my applications. Following the brainstorming session, my resume and essay writing became much more simple. I was also happy that my essays were my own, and Harshad's contribution was to pick out the meat from my essays by cutting out extraneous information, so as to help me hit my word limit. Harsahd also brought his school expertise, and shared with me valuable information on labs, clubs, and activities. Because of his help and guidance, I was able to put forward a strong application, and in the end, received an acceptance from both Booth and Kellogg! I'm extremely pleased with my work with Harshad, and would recommend him to anybody wanting to put forward a strong MBA application.

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Krista was very helpful during the whole process. I decided to work with her right after my free consultation session as she sounded like a really smart and dedicated person, which was exactly what she was. Krista helped me shape up my essays very well, and particularly she helped me narrow down the topics for them according to each of the schools I applied to. Her cheerful personality made the whole process entertaining instead of stressful and when reading essays from friends who were working without consultants I could definitely see the difference her insights made on my own. It was a great experience working with her and I recommend it highly!

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Harshad Mali is incredible. With so many moving parts, I started my MBA journey scattered minded and overwhelmed. Honestly, I did not know where to start so I decided to get a consultant. After checking out the tops 3 firms, I settled on mbaMission because they showed a genuine interest even though I had a low GMAT score, which I significantly increased before applying to any school. During the consultation call Harshad and I hit it off and started immediately.

Within one call we had a clear path to my goals. Harshad’s work on my essays, resume, and all the typical material needed to complete an application was top notch, as expected, but what really stands out is the support Harshad provides that one can’t merely read about; building my confidence, being available 24/7 during crunch time, digging deep into my stories, and outstanding insight into each program. In fact, that insight played a huge role when I decided on which program to attend. Those are only a few of the many examples, but I think you get the gist.

Financially, at this point in my MBA journey, my decision to work with Harshad has been the most critical, however, it has already paid itself back in exceptional dividends. I received scholarship for a few reasons I’m sure, but the offer letter stated one being leadership abilities. In my opinion, I would not have been able to display this ability without Harshad’s dedication to showing my intrinsic strengths via essays.

Strengths:
Punctual, brilliant message conveyor, organized, high level of empathic intelligence, transparent, honest, easy going, hardworking, has a holistic application approach, and is an all-around nice guy.
Just an overall astute consultant.

I highly recommend any driven applicant, who wants to win, to schedule a consultation with Harshad.

Post script: I can’t help to think while writing this post that Harshad is going to read it and think to himself “Man, I could have said the same thing in half the words.”

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I wanted to attend business school, but I had no idea where to start. I asked my network how they got through the process, and all of them recommended using mbaMission. What should have been an incredibly stressful ordeal turned into a streamlined process that kept me confident in my outlook the entire time. Krista responded to questions in a timely manner and was available to talk at reasonable hours. She helped me narrow my list of schools and produce a compelling story for each application. It really felt like she knew me better than myself after our first sessions together. Krista was a pleasure to work with, and I've recommended her to everyone I know applying to school in the coming years.

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Here are some reasons why:
1) Angela de-stressed the process for me. After I responded to a series of questions about myself, Angela and I had a brainstorming session and she helped me thinking of themes to launch my essay. Looking at a blank sheet of paper is really hard and stressful! She helped me synthesize a story, and unpacked how to approach the school's questions.
2) Angela is ethical. This was SUPER important to me. I always feel uncomfortable getting help. Angela did not redline my essays. I was super proud of my essays because I had written every word of them. When I wrote material that was off, she would prompt me to rethink some ideas and explain the tone of what I was saying that is often hard to know if you are in the weeds.
3) Angela explained WHY she was making the recommendations she made. I sometimes would push back and we would have full conversations about her recommendations. This is important if you are to use these skills in the future.

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Working with Harshad was very beneficial for me. He challenged me to get introspective on my own experiences to craft a great story for my applications. Like anything else in life- to do great work is going to be hard work. Despite having average scores at best, we worked extremely hard and I was able to accomplish my goal of getting into a top MBA program. As a reapplicant, I wanted to do everything I can to put out the best product and I am lucky to have Harshad guide me. He was a sounding board when I had any thoughts or questions from school selection on through the interview process. He was always available for quick calls and random questions that come up. I highly recommend Harshad to any MBA applicant

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