The email that I wrote to Katy after submitting my applications summarizes how I think about my engagement with her.

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Katy,

With all submissions behind us, I want to take a moment to reflect on our engagement so far.

When we started in June last year - I had already spend some time brainstorming, and was lugging this 25 page memoir that I had written and a pile of post it notes/ideas/stories. What I desperately needed was a channeling force - to help shape what my restless mind was conjuring into something meaningful. Katy, you became that channeling force to me.

Irrespective of the outcome, I want to take this moment and thank you for all your support in the journey so far.

Here are the highlights of our engagement:

-Your first green signal - "You are really ready to start writing your first draft' was pivotal. As someone who over-prepares, I had not been able to say this to myself. Seeing the first draft gave me the confidence to keep the ball rolling from then on.

-Your patience was incredible. There were so many backs and forths, but I didn't see your enthusiasm waning at any point. It is so easy and enjoyable to work with you - and your humor adds a lot. Your signature smileys :) in every email and a distinct warm and lively writing style is always such a delight to read.

-Your approach of making a clear suggestion, yet never coming across as pushy created a very respectful and collaborative space. All through the process I felt you were on my side, and really wanted me to succeed. At so many times your 'I LOVE this essay', 'I think your story is great' - gave me that right boost.

-You sharing your understanding of the DNA / culture of various schools during our phone conversations helped me develop a clearer picture of every school I was applying to. While this really helped during application write-ups, I now have a greater visibility into which school is a closer fit to my needs/goals.

-Thank god for your sanity checks. "Fashion makeovers" - that's a first! I have laughed so many times on this one :)

Thank you so much once again for being a wonderful coach - who now I can call a friend! :)

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I have a non-traditional career path and was originally interested in Jessica because of her work with people like me. After my first (free) half-hour consultation, I knew that I HAD TO work with Jessica in order to help me gain admission to business school. In that first meeting she completely tore my resume to shreds, but spent the time to try and understand my motives and who I was - thereby finding a way to reconstruct my resume in a way that would positively reflect my accomplishments. I knew that without Jessica, I would be at an ultimate disadvantage.

Jessica first and foremost wants to get to know you - and from there truly helps in crafting your story in the most positive and flattering light. She doesn’t fabricate things, she just takes all of the self-doubt and self-deprecation out of your story and gives it structure. My background looked all-over the place despite my ambitions - I majored in English in college, pursued acting, then quickly began working in the non-profit sector after realizing acting wasn’t for me. I felt my past belied what I truly wanted to do and Jessica saw that and found a way to structure my past (which was true, despite my self-consciousness) in a way that was competitive and appealing to adcom committees.

Jessica works tirelessly with you - from resumes, to an exhaustive recommendation packet, interview prep, to each and every essay and short answer question. She also is a wealth of knowledge on the application process and answered my many anxiety driven questions. But she is also not afraid to utilize her network; there were times when she got second opinions on my questions or my essays from her colleagues. She gets back to you very quickly - often times within just a few minutes.

That said, Jessica doesn’t sugarcoat anything. When I got lower than expected GRE scores (quant score hovering around 70%) she frankly told me that I needed to really expand my business school search and never told me once that I would “get into” any specific school. She just made sure I crafted a well-rounded application and hoped for the best.

I applied to eight schools - all in the top 25 and was accepted to four and wait listed at one (Georgetown, UNC, Cornell, UVA, wait listed at Dartmouth). I could not have DREAMED of these results. Given my profile I was not expecting to get into any top 15 schools and was truly shocked and flabbergasted that I had a multitude of choices -with money! I COULD NOT have done this without Jessica.

I’m still waiting to hear back from Dartmouth (and Jessica is still working with me as I navigate the wait list process) but have also happily and ecstatically accepted my offer to Darden - an option I couldn’t have dreamed of six months ago, especially given my profile.

I would not be going off to a TOP business school in the fall without her. I cannot thank her enough for what she has done for me. She is a rockstar!

SIDE NOTE:

MBAmission is expensive. I spent a lot of money working with Jessica but it was worth EVERY penny. Business school is expensive but also an investment, so think of getting a good consultant as a part of this investment. If you can, why wouldn’t you try to get any advantage that you could in the admissions process?

Also, while I praise Jessica - you also have to put your work in. I worked incessantly for months with Jessica - but she won’t do the work for you. If you don’t put your all into the process she (or any consultant) won’t be able to help you - she will not write or rewrite essays for you at all. She will use what you give her and guide you, and excellently so.

And lastly - if you want to work with Jessica, book early, she fills up!

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My admission success (admitted to Wharton, MIT Sloan and INSEAD) would have never happened without Katherine Lewis. We have worked together for two years. The first year, I applied to two schools and did not get in. Katy did not let me give up. She not only motivated me to work harder but frequently went out of her way to help me submit six applications the following year. As a result, I got admission letters from Wharton, MIT Sloan, INSEAD with a substantial scholarship from Wharton. We are in touch till this day.

There are many fantastic things about working with Katy. But the following are probably the most important:

1. Responsiveness/always being there – Katy was really there for me whenever I needed her, even during the holidays and weekends. She was sending me revised essays within a day! She was always available to talk whenever I wanted to ask for her advice. When I was in Poland, she would literally work around the clock to make it work despite the time zone differences. I have always felt that she is as committed and engaged in the process as I was. I have never felt that she had other clients – although I know she had. She helped me to apply to 6 schools in 1 round!

2. Honesty and pushing back – I am educated in Eastern Europe. We are not used to writing essays in an “American way” and it took me a lot of time to adjust my style and understand how to tell my story. What I truly appreciate about Katy is the fact that she was always giving me an honest feedback, teaching me how to keep the message simple and learn how to “show” instead of “tell”. Her questions would make me think deeper about the underlying reasons and messages behind the story I wanted to tell.

3. Deep engagement and support – Katy frequently went out of her way to support me. I felt that she truly mentored me on the whole admission process, thinking with me on how to improve my GMAT score, which recommenders to choose ( I changed them from first year to the second one), which schools and programs to apply to. She did not have an easy time with me – I have sent her 40 pages of my bio before we started working with each other and she helped me to extract main massages. All of my essays had dozens of iterations. Katy's patience with me was incredible.

4. Getting to know you – I believe that trust is extremely important while working with a consultant. Katy made me feel since the beginning that I am important to her as a person. She made me feel that she was truly interested in my dreams, challenges, and career. Due to that, she was able to understand me on a much deeper level. Hence, my essays were much stronger, much more personal. I truly hope that we will keep in touch. And I more than recommend working with Katy to anyone!

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John Sisk was an incredible and invaluable help throughout the admissions process, breaking down the daunting task of brainstorming, writing and applying into small, non-intimidating components. I still can't believe how efficient and streamlined the process was. Sisk helped me refine my career story and shaped my application into the strongest I could make it. Due to his guidance and strategizing, I was invited to interview. And thanks to his rehearsing with me, my interview went really well, and I will be joining the Stanford GSB class of 2016. It is definitely worth working with Mbamission if you want to get into your dream school. Thank you again John!

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I had a great experience with mbaMission - as a non-traditional applicant I felt extremely intimidated by the process, but felt that my consultant, Susan, had my back every step of the way. She was particularly useful when I was in a bind to get my applications done on a quick timetable, and asked all the right questions to get me where I needed to be. She pushed me to really get my story straight as why I need my MBA to accomplish my goals, something I struggled to do on my own. She also was very accessible by email at all times. I highly recommend mbaMission for anyone - as I got into my first choice school.

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I worked with Rachel Beck on the two school package for Columbia Business School and London Business School.

I was immediately impressed by Rachel's thorough knowledge of the admissions process. I also think her background in journalism serves her well when it comes to drawing out interesting aspects of a candidate's background. When it comes to me personally, I did not have a traditional background and had a weak GPA (3.0) but a very strong GMAT (750). She dug in immediately and spent hours on the phone with me talking through my background, and the aspects that would resonate with the admissions boards of the schools that interested me.

We then set about the writing process, which began with conceptual discussions which evolved into outlines and then first drafts followed by numerous rounds of back-and-forth editing. The progress was steady and on schedule (I'm sure I would have fallen behind, if not for Rachel). Importantly, Rachel was always extremely responsive and did thoughtful work that improved my essays in a quick amount of time.

I was very happy with the finished product, because it was not only polished and tight, but also an honest reflection of the person I am. When it came to interviewing, Rachel made the process a calm exercise. She conducted mock interviews with me and didn't rest until I was fully prepared. Her approach made the (somewhat daunting) prospect of a business school interview totally do-able.

The final result was acceptance to both schools, and I don't think I could have done it without Rachel's help.

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I worked with Katy on a 4 school package and was admitted to my top choice and waitlisted at two others. When I first spoke with Katy during a free consultation I was immediately impressed with the amount of background research she had already done, really familiarizing herself with my resume and the company I worked for. She really took the time to address my questions and concerns and didn’t aggressively force a sales pitch upon me, which is why I knew she would be great to work with.

Coming from an engineering background where going to business school was a foreign concept, I decided I wanted to go with the comprehensive 4 school package. This turned out to be a great decision. As someone totally unfamiliar to the application process, the comfort of always having someone to turn to for the even the smallest questions proved to be invaluable and really allowed me to relax and focus of getting my story across. From the outset, Katy helped me narrow down the schools I should apply to based on the criteria that were most important to me, a step I feel is often overlooked. During our brainstorming sessions, she delved deep into my experiences and aspirations to really get at the heart of who I was and what I bring to the table as a candidate. Taking the time to be thorough early on really aided in essay writing and interview prep later on.

Katy was also instrumental in honing my essay writing and interview skills. In an ultra-competitive process such as applying to top B-Schools, you never know which little mistake may be the difference between acceptance and rejection. Katy helped me get my message across in a clear and concise way while avoiding the pitfalls of coming across as too arrogant, too modest, too wordy, etc. Our mock interview sessions, while exhausting, proved to be just the tune up I needed prior to my actual interviews, allowing me to walk in feeling confident and relaxed.

Overall Katy was extremely helpful through every step of the application process. She went above and beyond the “required” duties of a consultant and really built a relationship with me. I would strongly recommend Katy to any prospective students applying to top schools.

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I worked with Dan Richards in 2014 and was admitted to my top choice - a top 3 school – and received money at another. I owe Dan much credit for making those schools options of mine.

I used a consultant because my work experience is difficult to explain and I needed help presenting a cohesive story. And, I wanted a third party to evaluate and help me better each aspect of my candidacy. I sought to work with Dan because we’d met before and I trusted him instantly.

Dan helped hugely, first with my resume - using it to show achievements, put in layman's terms what I do, and cut the fluff; and second, with crafting my pitch by asking probing questions that made me think about how I could make myself a more appealing candidate at each of my schools. Put simply: Dan helped shore up gaps/inconsistencies in and contributed many good ideas to my applications.

What I liked most about working with Dan wasn’t his editing skills (and he's good!), but rather his honest and frank approach. That allowed us to spend our energy on what was actually important. Dan believes in doing things right and not just what’s most convenient, and that's where he added most value. Sometimes Dan gave feedback I didn't *want* to hear but *needed* to hear ("that essay topic is not optimal, how about you write about this?" or "that sentence seems forced, let’s cut that," etc.). I took Dan’s advice and am in the enviable position of choosing among many top schools.

Dan's a professional, thoughtful, and smart guy. Even better, Dan knows his MBA applications. I’m thankful Dan was on my side throughout this process.

Can't recommend Dan Richards enough!

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I worked with Angela Guido from mbaMission for the one-school package. I just applied to HBS and was admitted. Working with Angela was one of the smartest decisions that I made during my application process. I was very late in getting my application together for Round 1. So for me, her ability to help me work/navigate through the time crunch, yet still help me convey my true feelings was incredibly helpful. It’s fair to say that our timeline was even unreasonable, yet Angela figured out ways to make it work.

Angela’s biggest strength is her ability to help you bring out what is meaningful in your story. We spent a lot of time going through numerous stories and lessons in my self-reflection (brainstorming) doc and ultimately synthesize what was most meaningful. She helped me dig deep and recognize valuable life-lessons that I would have otherwise missed. Angela is clearly a vet – she knows what is important from an admissions perspective and can help you showcase your best qualities.

After the themes of my essays were decided, Angela continued to help me craft the perfect story. She was incredibly helpful in helping me put together a clear, fluent, well-written essay. And her editing was on-point as she managed to improve my drafts without losing my personal touch. Every time I sent her a draft, she would respond (promptly) with clear feedback and thoughtful edits.

Overall, Angela was wonderful in every category. She was thorough and helped me with each part of my application (including my resume and the post-reflection essay). She was also very responsive which was critical to me meeting the deadline. I would highly recommend Angela!

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I used the hourly option from MBA Mission and thought Jen did a fantastic job! I did not feel that I needed comprehensive application help so the hourly option worked well for me, allowing me to focus on revising drafts of my essays and short answers. In only 4 hours, Jen was able to help me complete 4 separate applications. Jen always provided thoughtful comments that helped focus my essays and clarify potential misconceptions. Her comments were timely (even during crunch time). I was particularly impressed by Jen's ability to cut words when necessary. Overall, a great experience! Thank you, MBA Mission and Jen.

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