Jessica is an amazing person and consultant!! She is very responsive and personable, right from the initial free to the hourly consultations. At first, I was impressed by her presentation on essay writing, and she has continued to amaze me as I brainstorm with her about my profile, recommending perspectives and resources which challenge me to stretch my scope and vision. Moreover, her efficiency is always delivered with care, and she has the remarkable ability to pinpoint my areas for improvement in essay writing and communicate them to me in a way that allows me to immediately understand and address in my essays. If you can even call it a writer’s block with MBA essay writing, I have no doubt that Jessica has helped me break through them time and time again and has made me a better writer.

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The consulting services of mbaMission helped me vastly in my application process. Lynn was very helpful but also rigorous, she pushed me in getting my ideas in order and pacing on track even while I had very limited time because of my job. She did a great job in understanding my profile and recommending essay approaches, even long after the first assessment she remembered my key strengths. She was always available and gave rapid answers to my emails. Even with a below average GMAT score (680) got into my top school choices (Haas, LBS). One of the best parts... she didn't try to convince me to apply to lower ranked schools to ensure admission, but helped me get in my top choices.

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The 30-minute phone call I had with Katy for my free mbaMisson consultation completely changed my experience with business school admissions, and I am deeply grateful that it did.

I first spoke with Katy in the summer of 2013 when I was thinking about starting to put together applications. In less than half an hour, she helped me see that I was making a mistake by applying at that point in time. I had an almost perfect GMAT score, excellent grades, good extracurriculars, and fiercely devoted recommenders from the several years I had spent working in the nonprofit sector. I thought my profile seemed pretty good … but I was wrong. I had all of these boxes checked, but what I sorely lacked was the foundation of every effective application: an honest and engaging personal narrative that ties together your past and your future. In short, I had no idea why I wanted to go to business school (or, more accurately, I didn’t know how to articulate it yet). During our call, Katy suggested that I take another year before applying. She suggested that I accept the promotion I had just been offered at work, pick up a couple more extracurriculars, and above all, take the time to really reflect on what I hope to accomplish in my life and how that explains my desire to get an MBA. It was the best advice I could have been given.

For me, that piece of advice exemplifies some of Katy’s finest qualities—namely, her honesty and integrity. She had nothing to gain (and everything to lose) by giving me that advice. By suggesting that I hold off on applying, she actually risked losing a client in any number of ways—if I decided not to apply after all, if I decided to work with someone else, if I decided I didn’t need anyone as a consultant, etc. But what Katy cares most about is your success. This was evident to me from the very beginning, and it remains true today. I’m done with business school admissions, and she still checks in every now and then to see how things are going. (I’m starting at Kellogg in the fall—an outcome I’m absolutely convinced I could not have achieved without Katy’s help.)

I took Katy’s advice and spent the next year smoothing out the edges of my application and doing the self-reflection required to craft a strong personal narrative. The following summer, I hired her on an hour-by-hour basis as a soundboard for that personal narrative and for editorial feedback on essays. In our initial brainstorming session, Katy listened to my ideas, asked questions, and offered insights that helped me solidify my story and understand how to communicate it through the application. I know this will sound like an exaggeration, but that conversation was honestly one of the best conversations I’ve had in the five years of my adult life (i.e., since I graduated from college). I left that conversation feeling like no matter what happens with business school admissions, I’ll be able to look back on the process and feel that it was worthwhile if only because I learned so much about myself along the way. The process was tremendously valuable to my personal development, in large part because of the interactions I had with Katy.

I mentioned some of Katy’s best qualities already—honesty, integrity, shared goals, commitment. On a more tangible level, the list of her redeeming characteristics is long as well. Her professional background in the admissions office at Stanford GSB allowed her to give me an insider’s perspective on key aspects of my application. Her editorial advice was always helpful—when it came to essay writing, she gave me excellent feedback on everything from school-specific topic selection to grammar and syntax. Her responsiveness and availability are also top notch. mbaMission has a 48-hour response policy, but she always does way better than that. I remember one time she went off on a wilderness retreat somewhere in the Sierra Nevadas, but she was still responding to email because she had some crazy device that brings the internet to where the internet has never gone before. There was also a time when a school wanted to interview me on very short notice, and I wanted to do a mock interview with Katy that very day. She was, of course, more than happy to accomodate the short notice, and she sent me great follow-up notes soon after our call.

Looking back at the process, I can't imagine having done it without Katy’s help. Whether you need a start-to-finish type of package or just targeted help on certain pieces of your application, look no further than Katy Lewis. Deciding to work with Katy will be the best decision you make during this whole process.

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MBAmission has an extremely solid process for start-to-finish MBA application completion. Beginning with their brainstorming document they helped me create an idea of what was and was not important to include in my essays. The fact they have been through the process provided them an amazing advantage and unprecedented insight into how I could best succeed with each school I applied to.

I did have some concerns however int that over time there were instances that I often had to wait extensively for revisions, and had to remind my consultant about these important deadlines that were due. Overall, however, my consultant was attentive and strongly concerned that I put forth my best application at the schools which would be right for me. Without my consultant I would not have been able to address the key points that needed to be addressed to convey my candidacy for each school. While this seems like a simple process, little things such as connecting dots from every 6 months of my career is something that MBAmission helped me achieve.

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I reached out to MBAmission when applying for my MBA because I was concerned about some disciplinary issues that I had faced during undergrad.

I was connected with Jessica who was in a word - superb! Jessica did 3 key things that were essential to my successful application. 1) She helped me manage my anxiety by offering specific examples of MBAmissions' success with candidates like myself 2) She provided a plan of action to address the issue in my application and 3) Offered hands-on editing support to the optional essay I had prepared. Jessica set me at ease and helped me get over this daunting phase of the application process.

I was so impressed with her, that I engaged her for further assistance editing my essays and short answer questions. She was quick to reply and was very prompt in sharing her feedback. Her edits went beyond minor wording fixes, to address content, themes, and flow. Her suggestions were insightful and actionable, making the editing process productive when it could have been stressful.

After hearing back from schools, I am thrilled with my options. I truly believe I couldn't have done it without Jessica!

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Very simply, I'm not sure I would have gotten into Booth - my first choice school - without Helen at mbaMission. After sending in my brainstorming material, Helen helped me uncover the key themes in my personal story that I wanted to highlight in my application. She helped me frame the application and suggested an overall organizational structure. Helen's greatest strength was speaking directly. She provided blunt, honest, and constructive feedback. And, she was always right. Helen won't project manage you, and you'll need to own your deadlines and the pacing to get things done. But, if you're looking for straightforward and substantive input on your work, Helen might be the perfect fit. You'll never be confused about what she thinks is working and what isn't.

Ultimately, I produced an application I was really proud of and the outcome was as good as I could have possibly hoped for - thanks to Helen.

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Lynn was extremely helpful throughout my MBA application process. I came into it fairly unprepared and behind schedule for the deadlines I wanted to achieve but Lynn was instrumental in getting a schedule down and helping me through the process.

The brainstorming was great and helped me to define the experiences I have had personally and professionally that would be applicable for business school. This really helped me get ideas for essay writing and Lynn again gave great tips to think about how to improve my essays. Lynn also helped to think about the application holistically, and what parts of my career would best be suited to be in the application and which should come out through the essays.

Finally, the mock interview was perfect. Most of the questions I received in my actual Columbia interview were asked by Lynn in our mock interview and I felt calm and relaxed because I had already answered these questions two days prior.

I was accepted by Columbia Business School which was where I really wanted to go. I would highly recommend Lynn if you are applying to business school.

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I first heard about mbaMission through MGMAT and given that i had a very positive experience with MGMAT i felt comfortable in choosing them. I did, however, talk to consultants from at least 3 other consulting firms since i knew that getting help on 4 schools was going to be a significant short term investment. Of all the consultants i had researched, i felt that no one other than Angela had such positive reviews and client feedback history on various online forums, including GMATClub, spanning several years.

Once i signed up and had Angela as my consultant, she sent over a very thorough brainstorming document which took me more than one entire day to fill out. It forced me to think about EVERYTHING that has happened in my life so far, which was great because it helped me build a clear and concise picture of why i want to really pursue an MBA and several schools' essay questions themselves were answered through stories narrated within the document. We scheduled our first call and discussed the strategy for which 4 schools i would work with her on. We chose Stanford, MIT, Wharton & Booth.

Before we started on a school, i tried restructuring my resume from a coding/technical-jargon filled page to a more business school resume and sent it to her for review. She came back with several important highlights and indicators as to where i need to put more content or expand on a bullet more to show impact/result. In the meantime, we also discussed our strategy for the first school and i got to work on the essays as well so that i wasn't idle while she was reviewing the resume. I really liked this tandem work ethic because we were both then working on a document without wasting any time in between and it carried on till we were done with all the schools.

Six reviews of the resume later, after we couldn't identify any bullet/heading/formatting to improve on, my resume looked completely different than what it was to start off with. It presented my achievements and the results/impact that i've had in a very succinct and meaningful manner and in which i definitely could see how it was much better for business schools than what i had been able to do on my own. We went through a similar number of reviews for each essay and also reviewed the short answer questions within the schools' online application forms.

For each of the schools that we worked on we would schedule a call to discuss what the general strategy should be for me to answer the question properly and what stories about me i should definitely mention in the essay. Angela also answered any questions i had regarding any parts of the application from the schools we were not working together on. There was no doubt that she was definitely concerned about my outcome; apart from answering all my questions she highly recommended applying to a safety school myself as a back up several times since i was applying to only M7 schools. When the deadlines got closer she would even reply to any questions and even send back essays over the weekend even though she didn't have to as per the contract.

When i got an interview invite from MIT she coached me through the interview process, conducting a mock interview, giving me suggestions on structuring my thoughts and what to ask at the end. She also shared with me a list of questions other mbaMission clients had been asked so far in the interview process this season.

When i finally got an admit to MIT i couldn't have been more thankful and relieved. All of a sudden my initial hesitation to spend so much money on a consultant seemed totally worth it. Without Angela's expert opinions, suggestions and coaching i don't think i would have had as good a chance to get into my dream school. Even though i didn't make it to the other 3 schools i worked with Angela on, looking back i now realize the importance of 'fit'. While i was researching the application process, i had heard of how important 'fit' is and how each school had a distinct culture but i didn't think much of it until i actually interviewed at MIT and met people there and saw how much i can relate to them. I feel i got into MIT because of my personal story and how much more it identifies with MIT's culture as compared to other schools and Angela was instrumental in bringing that out in me.

I would highly recommend Angela Guido if you're looking to apply to business school and hire a consultant. Its great to have someone with several years of experience reviewing your work and guiding you during such a crucial stage of your career.

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Lynn provided exactly the support I needed to select and communicate my most powerful stories in an engaging, authentic way. She helped me preserve my voice and personality throughout the process, but truly brought out the best version of me as she pointed out what she was learning about me from each my stories. It was so helpful to have someone who didn't know me at all give me a cold reaction to my initial drafts, and then help me refine them as she got to know my values, passions, goals, and experiences in detail.

When I was filling out the short answers in the application, Lynn helped me get the most value out of every character / word I was allowed. I don't think I ever would have been able to communicate so much about myself with such little space, and it really gave me confidence that my full application was as strong as it could possibly be.

In the end, with Lynn's help, I got into both schools to which I applied.

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After my initial MBAmission consultation, during which I gave brief descriptions of my career path, aspirations, and target schools, I was connected with Melissa Merchant. Melissa’s help has proven to be instrumental for my acceptance into Duke Fuqua. Since Melissa went to a Bschool that has a similar collaborative culture as Fuqua’s, she not only shared her experience of living and learning in such tight-knit communities but also helped me arrive at the conviction that Fuqua is the right program for me. During our brainstorming session, she gave a refreshing perspective on my past experiences and helped me understand how my strengths are aligned to the characteristics of an ideal Fuqua candidate. Her edits of my essays were absolutely outstanding: she fixed my grammar, transformed my sentence structures, and enriched my writing style. She also asked encouraging questions in her edits to prompt me to give more examples to support my point.

While working with Melissa, she was incredibly responsive: she often returned her edits to me well before the 2-day return policy. She also gave her edits back to me on Fridays so that I can re-write over the weekend.

I highly recommend Melissa and MBAmission to anyone who is applying to top MBA programs. They will guide you through the process, help you craft your best story, and offer insight that you need along the way!

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