I met Jessica through a 30 minute free consultation, and was immediately impressed. She was sharp, had pointed questions, wasn't shy to point out my weaknesses, and quickly illustrated she had a game plan to help me create a strong application. I choose to work with Jessica for R#1 admission for 2 school, but found working with her so valuable and insightful that I did not hesitate to expand my package ultimately to 4 schools.

The application process seemed daunting and chaotic (especially when you have a demanding full time job), but Jessica came to the table with a structured approach that was key for success. It began with a thorough brain-storming session, where Jessica quickly honed in on accomplishments/personal stories that would stand out to the admission committee. Having seen potentially thousands of application she provided invaluable insight on what differentiated me as a candidate, things that I might have potentially overlooked. Together we formed the "story" I would tell, which we continued to refine throughout the process. Even at that point I was amazed to see how vested she was in ensuring my "story" was tight, and demonstrated all the characteristics of a successful candidate.

Next was the writing process, where I think Jessica really shines. While I would rate my writing skills as above average, with Jessica's guidance I was able to take it to a higher level. In reviewing my drafts (at all hours of the night... I swear I got emails from her at 2am), her feedback was brutally honest (i.e. this sentence bores me, or love this intro but the rest just does not deliver) and full of clear guidance. Often I found it difficult to articulate what I was trying to say, so Jessica, draft after draft, would ask clarifying questions on that section until finally the right words landed on the page. This was a clear indication of her relentless commitment to ensure I had a superb essay. Similarly, when I pointed out I wasn't 100% happy with an introduction or conclusion, she never said "no its great" but pushed me to improve upon it/offered new approaches, so to ultimately ensure that the essay was the best reflection of myself.

Ultimately, I was accepted to 3 of the 4 schools an accomplishment that Jessica was invaluable to. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for someone who gives honest and transparent feedback, has a structured approach to the application process, is a great writing coach and has an unwavering commitment to the success of her clients.

Read More

Simply put, I would not have gotten into the GSB without Jessica’s honest, clear guidance and structured support. From our very first 30-minute consultation call, she was focused on my candidacy and how to best represent myself to each graduate program. She wasted no time trying to “sell” me any work/package. I ended up working with her on two “full school packages” from October of 2015 through March of 2016. Each time we spoke, it felt like she was 100% focused on me, my work and my questions.
Jessica’s guidance and working style is highly structured. I had no idea how to plan for and work effectively during the multi-month application process. Jessica was able to provide structure to (what felt like) chaos and guide me through each phase of the writing, submission and interview process. Jessica broke down a daunting application process into manageable phases of work, all stepping stones leading to a successful application experience!
I will also highlight that Jessica is clear and honest. When you’ve taken the GMAT many times and wonder if you should keep pushing for higher scores, she is pragmatic and honest when advising you yes/no. Whether your latest draft is not up to snuff or perfectly achieves its goal, she tells you. Her feedback is clear, constructive and actionable. She is highly responsive to emails and phone calls, and it is reassuring to know that her good counsel is just a click/call away whenever you need it!
Last, Jessica’s mentorship does not stop at the end of the application season. She has generously given me her time and focus to talk through graduate school funding, coursework advice and share her insights about many aspects of the b-school (and specifically GSB) experience.
Working closely with Jessica not only helped me get into the GSB. It continues to help me to get the most out of my time in b-school. Thank you, Jessica!

Read More

When I first started my MBA process in the summer of 2015, I definitely underestimated how stressful and rigorous the whole process would be, then I found mbaMission. The whole team at mbaMission was so helpful in finding me the right consultant and I am glad that they paired me up with Krista. At first I was leaning more towards the hourly service because the school package seemed too expensive and I was being very indecisive for almost a month but thankfully Krista kept her patience and even encouraged that I take as much time needed to make the best decision for myself. And boy, am I glad that I chose the package option - it just presented so much more valuable tools and information than I could get through the hourly service.
Once that decision was made, Krista and I started the brainstorming process; she really took the time to get to know me as a person, what my interests and career aspirations are, and I felt so comfortable sharing everything about myself with her. Then we crafted application strategy that reflected all the things I wanted to communicate to schools' AdCom.
Krista lives overseas but she made herself available anytime and accommodated my schedule so I never had to worry about turnaround times. She went above and beyond what was expected of her to help me create unique application and I feel like we've built this relationship that extends beyond this application process. Thank you Krista for
keeping me sane throughout the application process and helping me get into my dream school (Haas)!
I highly recommend her!

Read More

As a late applicant, I sought support from Melissa Blakeslee at mbaMission. Melissa began providing thoughtful immediate feedback during our consultation call, identifying areas of improvement for my resume structure and diction as well as overall weaknesses in my application. This first discussion was critical in guiding me to think about my essay topics and ensuring a well-rounded application.

As we began working together, Melissa's genuine interest in helping me reach my goals was evident. During our brainstorming session, Melissa asked thought-provoking questions and made meaningful connections between my stories. Melissa's ability to understand my motivations and connect the dots enabled me to develop more thoughtful essays over a short timeline.

Finally, Melissa was always available to discuss my thoughts or admission concerns. Essays, resumes, and questions were promptly answered. Melissa provided honest feedback on an array of topics related to admissions and was consistently open to sharing additional information.

Overall, I highly recommend working with Melissa Blakeslee if an applicant is seeking a COACH to guide you though the entire application process.

Read More

I really need to sit down and think through my stories in the past year – stories that both Angela and I developed together. It was June 2015 that I finished my GMAT test and wanted to talk to a professional about my overall competency to a top MBA program. I had initial 30-minute call with two consultants, including Angela. Both of them were supportive of my ambition but with different approaches. What made me decide was the video done by Angela posted on Mbamission website. She wrapped her introduction up with a statement “I want to help people and make people successful”. It touched me because I know that we share the same value. In the next couple of months, I realized the great skills that Angela possesses – the ability to know and understand people, always approach people with supportive manner, integrate pieces of information into a complete package, summarize people’s characteristics into a high level, smells from a small story or simple statement the opportunity to elaborate and expand – innate skills that also take tremendous exercises and hard work. I remember how she captured my intuition when I saw the pictures of Booth’s essay and helped me frame up the two pages document. Beyond her pure hard and soft skills is her willingness to help me at all levels. I was hesitated to ask her to advise me on other schools which are not covered in my purchase package. But she always promptly replied with her clearly structured guidance and advice. I can’t explain how much I appreciate that she has been flexible about the line in the sand. The fruition of my application process is not only the admitted decision from my dream school built on refreshed, solid understanding of my traits and goals but also the luck to meet a coach, a mentor and a friend. So thank you Angela!!!

Read More

I initially decided to do my free 30-minute consultation with Jen because I saw that she had done her MBA studies overseas (at Cambridge) and might possibly have better insight than other consultants with regard to my background (I had spent half my career overseas and didn't want to just come across as "the international guy"). Jen told me in that call, that any of mbaMission's consultants could help me present a solid narrative with my background, but I stayed with Jen because she came across very professionally and agreeably and came into that meeting with some great feedback prepared.

I was only applying to one program - Fuqua's Cross Continent MBA, so I didn't take advantage of any school selection or program compatibility services (Jen did advise that the program I'd chosen was a good fit, though).

I worked through the brainstorming exercises, which are used for all of mbaMission's school package consultations. The exercises were very thorough and got me to reveal to myself all the content I needed to put together my application, essays and all. After brainstorming on my own, Jen helped me explore the content I'd generated from many different angles, to create an even more robust collection of information to draw from when it came to essay writing.

Essay writing was an iterative process, where each draft and round of feedback brought my application closer to the story I wanted to tell. Each essay needed 3-6 rounds of revision and feedback, each round taking 1-3 days. I really appreciated the quick turnaround and thoughtful feedback on the essays. The extensive writing and revision process, along with the brainstorm material used as the basis, allowed for very rigorous essay creation.

Jen also advised me on choosing and reconnecting with recommendation writers, and everything went very smoothly on that front.

When it came time to interview, Jen helped me prepare for a mock interview with her, again using the brainstorm material. The mock interview gave me a chance to get my jitters out of the way and get comfortable talking about myself and keeping responses within my overall narrative. The interview with the adcom member went as smoothly as possible and I felt confident and prepared throughout.

To conclude, I hired Jen via mbaMission with a clear goal in mind - to put in as much time and energy as I needed to put together the best application I could for the program I'd already chosen. Jen was an insightful and responsive coach throughout the process and gave , me tools which were extremely helpful in telling my story. I was looking for help primarily with essays and the interview, but Jen helped me make sure my application was strong on all fronts, and I was admitted to my program with scholarship.

Read More

I used Jen to apply to 2 MBA programs, 1 reach school and 1 target school, I purchased the total start to finish application product and worked with Jen for many months including additional essays and preps during the waitlist period. I was waitlisted at my reach and accepted to my target school. At the time of this posting there are only positive reviews of Jen...which is not surprising at all. My experience with Jen was amazing and I second all of the comments regarding deadlines, knowledge of the application process, encouragement, her general attitude while working together, worth the money, ect...I really have nothing negative to say about the experience. One aspect of my experience that I did not see mentioned was Jens ability to work with my learning disability. She was very understanding about my unique needs in absorbing feedback, clarifying goals and clearly articulating our plan. It certainly seemed like she adapted her approach to get the best out of me...not an easy task. It was also clear that she truly cared about the results of our work together. I could not have done this without her.

Read More

Monica helped me gain admission to a very top MBA program with scholarship. This is of course what every applicant cares about the most, but getting admitted hardly explains what I've gained through the application process with Monica.

Monica was knowledgeable, embracing, and yet never afraid to ask critical questions. Not only did she understand my goals and aspirations, she also fully appreciated my non-traditional background.

Being an older applicant with a very nonlinear career path, I needed to present my journey clearly so that the admissions would see the reasons behind my choices. Monica's patience during the process of working through so many drafts of essays really paid off for me in the end. I didn't know how it was possible to show all the turning points in my life within word count, but somehow we made it happen. After the application process, I learned a great deal about myself. This is perhaps the even bigger gift from pursuing an MBA--I felt the personal transformation had already begun before the program started. And Monica was a great counselor in this stage of my life.

Monica was the first person I emailed when I found out I was admitted. I will always remember receiving her reassuring email on the morning of the interview and the incredible day that followed.

Working with Monica during the five-month application process changed my life in many ways. Monica became a dear friend who supported me in moments of indescribable joy and anxiety with her wisdom, honesty and grace.

Read More

I had a lot of anxiety going into the MBA application process. My work experience is in a field where not a lot of people go to business school, so I was worried about how admissions committees would view me. With Rachel’s help, I was able to tell my story in a compelling way and effectively convey my leadership and teamwork skills in the applications.

Rachel was there every step along the way to provide helpful feedback, from our brainstorming calls to the many versions of my essays, my resume and all the short answers on the application forms. She helped me prepare outlines of my key accomplishments at work to guide my recommenders, who had never written MBA recommendations before. She was also hugely helpful in preparing for interviews, helping me tailor my responses to each school and giving me a much-needed confidence boost in the days leading up to each interview.

I can’t thank Rachel enough for all her help in the application process and helping me get into my dream school! I highly recommend her!

Read More

With PhD in engineering and working as a researcher, it was tough for me to apply to B schools but even harder was to prepare an application that can justify my career path. When I attended one of Jessica Shklar’s session on admission process, I felt that I should definitely discuss my unique case with her. The best thing about Jessica was she never timed the 30 minute free consultation. She made me feel comfortable and at the same time posed questions that were very critical for the application process. She never pressurized me to sign up with her. Instead she asked me to work on ways to improve my application before even deciding to go with her.
I wanted to apply to only top 5 B-schools. My biggest challenge was that I had no clue how to connect dots from my professional and personal life. Everything looked very discrete and was not sure how to put them as a story in my essays. I think signing up for start to finish package was very useful. Once I reviewed my brainstorming document with Jessica, she knew exactly what examples we should focus on. The advantage of Start to finish package is if you are working on more than one application with a different essay prompt, your consultant already knows the key professional and personal parts of your life from the brainstorming document. Thus, it was easy for Jessica to suggest stories we should be including in essay 1 vs essay 2.
Jessica is very well organized. She not only keeps a track of her time but also ensures that her clients meet their deadlines. I got all my essays with edits from Jessica on or before the expected 2 day deadline. If it is a quick question, Jessica will definitely reply asap. I remember discussing some behavioral questions with her over email before one of the top school’s interview. Even though those were not quick questions, she understood my need and was very willing to respond quickly over emails. Even though it was a professional relation with Jessica, I felt a personal touch.
The other advantage of Start to Finish package is that we also get a chance to do mock interviews. Jessica’s expertise in interview preparation was very helpful. She advised that never practice your answers because you don’t want to memorize your answers. This is very true. The best advice she gave me was to read several behavioral questions and think about multiple scenarios so that I have enough examples from my past to tell during interview. It really worked for me because for one interview question I was asked to tell more than one scenario in which I showed a certain behavior. At that time I did’nt have to take that awkward pause because I already had thought about so many different situations from my professional and personal life. All thanks to Jessica for asking me do this rather than rehearsing my answers.
When I started thinking about signing up with a consultant, things were hazy. I wanted to do MBA from a top B-school but was not sure if I have done enough in my past to get admitted to the schools I want. Jessica helped me at every step of the application process and with her support I got admitted to three top B- schools. Thanks Jessica for making this happen.

Read More