I decided to start working with Menlo Coaching in January of 2019 and worked with Alice for almost a year. All throughout the year, Alice and her team really pushed me to go beyond what I thought was possible. For example, when I signed with Menlo, I had a 740 GMAT, and they pushed me to study some more and take it again. Additionally, Alice and her team were willing to work with me on a daily basis for months on end. I sent her drafts for the essays, and we went through dozens of drafts. Additionally, she helped me on 8 schools, of which I earned an interview with 6, and admission at 4.

As someone who has never worked at a particularly prestigious or attended a selective college, I was over the moon to be admitted to Tuck, Ross, Johnson, and Vanderbilt, with big scholarships (including two full rides). Menlo Coaching pushed me and hopefully my career to new heights!

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Yaron is a wonderful admissions coach, I really cannot ask for better support from any coach throughout this MBA journey. I applied to nine (!!!) schools, and Yaron went through every single application as thoroughly as if it was the first application. I certainly wouldn’t have gotten the six admits and two waitlists including INSEAD and Yale without him. What’s most incredible is that I got into my first choice of dream school LBS, which was a long-shot and I can’t wait to move to London later this year.

I have talked with many admission consultants before deciding to go with Yaron because I can see he will genuinely help me to maximize my chance of admission and won’t see me as just another client to churn through in an assembly line process. Yaron definitely lived up to the expectation by tailoring every step of the process to my needs, from having detailed discussion about the school selection, to tailoring the dozens of essays for my nine applications, and he never stopped challenging me to make sure I do everything I could to maximize my odds of admission.

Yaron is also very patient and didn’t mind me asking everything to the nth degree, such as selecting what folder I should bring on interview day. Lastly, he is very quick in turnarounds and it is not uncommon for us to have two to three iterations of an essay on the same day, allowing me to apply to nine schools within the tight deadlines. Most importantly, Yaron really is deeply invested in my application and the results, and he goes above and beyond for his clients. For example, my first application is due on a Monday so he logged in during the weekend just to proofread my final application so I can submit it with time to spare; there are many instances where he surprises me and sometimes I wonder if he ever sleeps!

Getting Yaron as my MBA admission coach was the best decision I made for the MBA process, and I have no hesitation recommending him to others; as a case in point, I am looking to see whether I can get his help regarding my career during the MBA programme as well.

For those who are in doubt and in particular for those who want to sign up, make sure you get in touch with Yaron as early as possible. As testament to how popular he is, there’s a long waitlist for the 30 minute initial consultation and Yaron only takes a limited number of clients each year, so you can miss out if you leave it too late, and I promise you won’t regret having a chat with Yaron.

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The structured program that Rebecca and her colleagues at Menlo Coaching employ is truly unparalleled. It is comprehensive - from school selection to mock interviews - and intensive - unlimited touchpoints and essay drafts with hours set aside to hear your personal story. Rebecca's ability to connect with her clients and overwhelming interest and dedication in your applications make me grateful to have worked with her, got me several amazing offers, and made me so thankful I chose Rebecca and Menlo.

1. The program uses a project management tool to track the numerous elements of the application. Rebecca kept me on schedule even when I got bogged down at work and was working 80 hour weeks. I don't believe I would have been able to get through the process without this.

2. Rebecca took a genuine interest in hearing my personal story - asking and listening from my childhood to present - and left no stone unturned. She is incredibly approachable and easily got to the core of my story. This made me feel confident that I was "authentically me" in my essays.

3. Rebecca is a talented writer and REALLY pushed me with my essays. She did several iterations for content - pushing me to pull narratives and examples - and then several iterations for word count, syntax, grammar, etc. I learned so much in the process that I've taken with me and applied since.

4. Ultimately, the greatest impact Rebecca & Menlo had is that I have NO regrets or doubts with my applications. I submitted something better than I could have imagined and have great results to show for it - including scholarships (even a full ride + stipend at Top 15 school) that I never anticipated. I prepared with mock interviews and even mock conversations and felt confident that I did my absolute best with every interaction with schools. I know that I submitted the best applications I possibly could. And that is invaluable.

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As a somewhat non-traditional MBA applicant trying to figure out how to navigate the process, I reached out to Menlo Coaching for a consultation and was recommended to join their "Early Bird" program. It could not have been a better fit for me, as I was given plenty of time (nearly a year) to understand more about the MBA in general and truly consider what I was looking for in a program and how to market myself in my applications. Through meeting with Alice and Leslie and speaking about my entire life story for nearly two hours, we were able to distill some salient points, stories, and themes from which to attack essays and shape my overall applicant profile. Further, in this earlier time period I was able to work with Alice to polish my resume and specifically tailor it towards the MBA application, visit all my target schools knowing what to look for and prepared with questions to ask, and even get a head-start on essay writing before the non-"Early Bird" clients started! For anyone still unsure about some (or ALL!) parts of the application process, I couldn't recommend the Early Bird program any more highly.

After thinking about what I was looking for in a program and working with Alice to narrow down my choices, I ended up applying to 7 programs - which might seem like a few too many - so that extra Early Bird time was extremely helpful. I was able to write at least 4 or 5 drafts of every essay without ever feeling truly rushed. Alice and Leslie were both very punctual with their feedback, rarely taking more than 24 hours to respond to my questions or newly edited versions of essays. Being based in the Netherlands, Alice usually responded to me (in California) overnight, which provided for a seamless workflow. Of the 7 programs, I received interviews for 5, and felt extremely prepared thanks to MC's provided flashcards and a 1-on-1 session with a communications coach who works with them. (Love you, Eduardo!) Eventually I walked away from the process with 3 acceptances, one of which offered a full tuition scholarship!

Lastly, working with Alice and the larger MC team was enjoyable and, dare I say, FUN...as fun as applying to MBA programs can be, anyway. Knowing how few clients MC takes on overall made me feel secure in knowing Alice would have the time and energy to devote herself fully to my success throughout the process. She really got to know me and my story, and was able to tailor her feedback to resonate with me. As the process cranked into high gear, we developed an effective working rhythm, and were able to share plenty of anecdotes and laughs along the way. Having Alice in my corner was truly indispensable, and I can't thank her enough.

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I had chatted with 15-20 consultants in the year leading up to business school, and what immediately stood out about Alice was her sense of empathy and respect for my personal story. Alice never tried to fit me into a cookie-cutter template of what a business school application should look like; rather, she carefully listened to my experiences and ensured her advice stayed authentic to who I was.

Alice took a holistic approach to my application. Beyond writing essays, Alice suggested extracurricular activities, additional experiences at work, and ways to deepen my understanding of each school. This gave us much more content to work with when it came time to writing essays and ensured each element of my application worked together to create a cohesive application.

While I worked directly with Alice, I also benefited from the power of the entire Menlo team. I worked closely with Leslie on refining each essay. Leslie provided thoughtful feedback on structure and cadence, giving each essay a passionate voice and rhythm. Throughout the year, Alice and Leslie responded promptly and never hesitated to suggest changes that would strengthen my application, even if it meant more work for the Menlo team. By the time I submitted my application, I knew my personal story inside out and how it fit into what each school was looking for.

Alice also engaged others on the Menlo team to act as sounding boards for videos and application strategies. This was particularly useful when preparing for the interviews, as it allowed me to grow comfortable with a variety of interview styles. Thanks to Alice, I received an offer from Wharton with a six-figure scholarship.

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Rebecca truly went above and beyond in helping me get into my dream school.

A few of the many things that Rebecca did that stood out to me are:

1) She set a very detailed plan for me to help accommodate my work schedule. I knew I was going to be extremely busy at work during the summer so she helped me get ahead, especially doing my due diligence with all of programs I was interested in. All of the extra effort up front made the work later on a LOT easier.

2) Rebecca had multiple calls (one of which was two hours long) with me to improve her understanding of my personal story. She showed genuine interest and was empathetic. She used that information to help me bring in key moments from my life into my application in a way that didn't make the essays sound like pity stories, something I was concerned about.

3) The application process can be quite stressful. Even after you're done applying, it's easy to become anxious while you wait for interview invites and/or decisions. Rebecca was like a friend and supported me through the emotional ups and downs.

4) Rebecca's feedback on my essays was super helpful. She never compromised on quality, even if it meant that we'd have many rounds of review.

5) Regarding interview prep, Rebecca didn't use a cookie cutter approach towards my preparation. She knew that I'd be a strong interviewer so she focused my preparation around specific areas. The goal wasn't to have sufficient responses. The goal was to have exceptional responses to each and every potential question.

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My time working with Yaron could not have been more enjoyable! I took my GMAT on July 1st with the goal of applying R1 to Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton, and knew I needed to quickly turn my attention to my applications.

I have a relatively overrepresented professional background and was concerned about how I could stand out from the many with identical work experience. I knew I wanted to engage a consultant and knew I needed someone who (1) could dedicate the time to truly understand what makes me ME, (2) keep up with my rapid pace of iterations, and (3) had a diverse client base such that he or she wasn’t giving the exact same, cookie-cutter advice to dozens of other applicants struggling with the same issue. Further, I knew that my working style would require a lot of consultation, discussions, and experimenting with ideas, thus I knew I needed an “all-you-can-eat” model (vs an hourly model).

I did an intro call with Yaron and quickly gained comfort around my couple of key criteria. I was attracted to the fact that he only takes on ~10-15 clients (vs 50+ elsewhere) and that he repeatedly told me we could chat on the phone as much or as little as I wanted. He also emphasized that he not only had worked with a number of people with my same profile, but also many people with very diverse profiles, which gave me confidence he had good context for what I bring to the table as well as a good barometer for how that would look when compared to other candidates.

Once we started working together, I was extremely impressed by Yaron’s commitment to my application push. He spent hours on the phone with my drawing out every detail of my childhood up through my current job, taking detailed notes and spit balling some potential essay topics. Yaron was also willing to speak with my parents for a few hours and used that conversation to fill in some of the detail around my younger years. What I was most impressed by, however, was the pace at which Yaron turned things around – I would send him multiple full essay drafts almost every night before I went to sleep (~between 12am and 3am) and would get back thoughtful comments on each draft the very next morning (even on weekends!). Yaron’s geographic location (Europe) allowed for this dynamic, and it was clear to me that he was reviewing my essays for hours starting from the moment he woke up.

I was incredibly proud of how my applications turned out and I attribute a great deal of my success to Yaron’s hands-on, white-glove approach to the process. I got the sense that he really cared about getting to know me and helping me reach my goals, which made the whole process that much more enjoyable and productive.

I have enthusiastically recommended Yaron and Menlo to all my coworkers and friends and hope my excitement has come through here. With Yaron’s help, I ultimately earned acceptances at Stanford GSB and Wharton (along with a deferral at Harvard that is still pending at time of writing). Thank you again, Yaron!

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I cannot recommend Alice highly enough because her service is mind-blowing and has resulted in a miracle: I would not have been admitted to HBS without Alice and her team, who are top-notch for a number of reasons:
1. I can always count on Alice for highly personalized advice. She was instrumental in highlighting my specific developmental areas so that I could prioritize my time and effort. There are few exercises so you can be assured that your application will be truly unique. As a result, my application stood out although I have an overrepresented background and odds are against me.
2. Alice pushed me to become better. I would not have done some of the most useful preparation without her.
3. Alice always tells the truth. Unlike every other consultant who told me confidently that I could get into a target school, she asked me to wait for one more year before applying, the best advice that I have received.
4. Alice strives for perfection and has incredible work ethic. For instance, without being asked, she made further iterations on my essays. She also works incredibly hard. She did not let her work slip one bit when a significant family member passed away.
5. Alice and her team work seamlessly together, providing prompt responses almost 24-7. I find this particularly helpful given that I live in a different time zone and that some situations require fast turnaround.
6. Alice makes an extra effort to solicit opinions from her team (particularly David). In several occasions, Alice and I decided on the best course of action, drawing upon a diverse set of ideas and suggestions.
7. Most importantly, I find Alice personally invested in my success. Working with her is beyond a professional service; it is not transactional. She goes out of her way to best prepare me. For example, she connected me to students and alumni, helping me to gain insights into schools and practice for interviews.
8. Lastly, Alice and her team are always looking for ways to improve their services. They take feedback seriously and works on initiatives to provide useful resources.

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Choosing to work with Menlo coaching was the best choice I made and getting accepted to both my top choices with scholarships proves it!
When you work with Menlo you get the impression that you are their only customer and top priority. Even though Leslie and I are in different time zones, I never even noticed. Weekends, early mornings, evenings, it felt as though she was available 24/7 and responses were almost instantaneous.
They guide you through the process from A to Z with a systematic approach and without the stress and panic. Their knowledge, expertise and commitment to your success are unmatched. From helping you choose schools, narrow down your career goals, writing essays, video interviews, in person interviews and scholarship applications, there isn't anything they can't do. Choosing to apply 3 weeks before the deadline didn’t matter. Leslie kept me calm and ensured that everything was done on time, but more importantly, that I provided an output that I can be proud to submit.
Even though I worked mostly with Leslie, from day 1 both Leslie and David took the time to get to know me and my goals and provide valuable insight and guidance. I felt like I had an entire team devoted to me to ensure that I can shine throughout the entire application process.
Their expertise and large network not only helped provide guidance on choosing my second school (which I chose to attend), they also put me in contact with others that work in related fields to my career goals, providing clarity on my career choices and allowing me to build my network right from the start!
The application process is stressful, tricky and there are so many moving parts. If you want to ensure your success, choose to work with the Menlo team!

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Rebecca helped me get into my no.1 choice. She was professional, patient and compassionate. She genuinely cares about her client and is a great pleasure to work with. I really appreciate Rebecca's guidance and support that made my application process more manageable and less stressful. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for top notch MBA coaching.

Rebecca gave very thoughtful comments and asked good questions that lead me find new angles and connect the dots. She also gave excellent advices on writing styles. I made multiple iterations of my essays and each time her response time was exceptional, sometimes even at nights and during weekends. Her dedication was a life saver especially when deadlines were approaching.

One time, Rebecca came out of her way to schedule an extra meeting with me to share her personal experience with prioritizing an important deadline, and convinced me to make a trade-off between work and application preparation when it became absolutely necessary. I'm really glad that I followed her advice because it would not have worked the other way around given my extensive work hours.

In addition, Menlo's platform and processes are also exceptional. I found Basecamp to be very intuitive and user-friendly. Alice and Rebecca held a joint call to brainstorm creative ideas for a video essay, and Alice and David helped to give second opinions when needed. Overall I feel extremely supported and well prepared for the essays and interviews.

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