When I started my application process, I found it very overwhelming. This was partly because I was taking the GMAT at the same time as I was completing my application. I realized very quickly that I needed a plan to apply to my 5 schools and put my best foot forward.

I learned about mbaMission through my GMAT prep course (Manhattan GMAT) and had a discount to take the essay writing bootcamp with Angela. In the bootcamp, Angela helped me think about all of my experiences, personal and professional, and how they may fit the different essays. The brainstorming exercise alone was one I hadn't gone through or thought of, taking the time to take stock of EVERYTHING, big/small, significant or insignificant. She helped me really understand what adcoms were looking for with each essay they were asking as well. I started to really understand how to map each story for each essay, and understand what the essays were really asking, therefore what I really wanted to tell them.

Part of the bootcamp was writing a first draft to one essay and getting a chance for her to read it and provide feedback. It was in that phone call that I realized I wanted Angela to read and critique all my essays. As an objective third party, specializing in helping people get into b-school, she was able to ask me questions that forced me to dig deeper into what I was trying to convey, and tell me when I sounded arrogant (it's easy to do when you're talking about yourself!), or when I was telling versus showing (the hardest thing to do).

You may be reading this review and say to yourself, "yes, I see the value, but it's a lot of money." I thought the same thing, but then looked at the total cost of the next two years and where I wanted to go. I knew I was committing to $100K+ over the next two years and I only wanted to go to a top 10 school, so I knew the competition would be really strong. I decided spending the money upfront to get into the best program where I'd be happy was a small price in the grand scheme of business school.

Another note on cost, I feel I actually got a return on my investment. After getting into the school I wanted, I decided to put my hat in the ring for a scholarship. While I didn't use Angela for this essay, I took the principles I learned from her, show vs. tell, to write my scholarship essay. I ended up getting it! Almost a full year of my program is now paid for!

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I found my experience with mbaMission to be incredibly rewarding and it absolutely helped me to be admitted to my top choice business school. My consultant was always available and her comments and critiques helped build my essays and resume into the best possible version.

Rachel, the consultant I worked with from mbaMission, was instrumental in my successful application to business school. Through conversation and email, I felt that she truly understood the story I had to tell and the reasons why I wanted to go to business school and then she pushed me to write the strongest versions of that story. Rachel was especially helpful at cutting to the core of thoughts and helped me cut paragraphs down to sentences - a vital task when the essay can only be a limited number of words.

I felt like she was my partner in the entire application process and would recommend her to anyone seeking admission to a top tier business school.

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Overall, mbaMission was unbelievably helpful throughout the application process. I applied to three schools, and for each I was slightly above average with my GMAT score, but well below average with respect to my GPA as an undergrad. Because of this I felt it was really important for my candidacy that my essays be clear, and stand out.

I worked with Rachel Beck, and she was amazing when it came to guiding my personal experiences into a clear and concise story, communicating exactly why I need to go to business school. Rachel was very easy to work with and didn’t sugarcoat anything, giving essential feedback whenever was necessary.

I applied to these three schools in round 1, and to be perfectly honest, my biggest fear was that I’d shoot for the stars, miss, and have to scramble to apply the following round to a few schools I wasn’t nearly as excited about. Without mbaMission, and Rachel’s guidance in particular, something tells me that fear would have spun into reality.

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Helen was great in helping me with the application process. She helped me target schools in my GMAT range and provided me with assistance in writing my application essays. Helen gave me constructive criticism and helped me learn how to enhance my resume to its fullest ability as well as how to construct and interesting and informative essay. She was very quick to respond to my inquiries and was very easy to contact and work with. The turnover time in between drafts and her critique was at the most 3 business days;she was very very efficient, yet gave me an very detailed criticisms. I would highly recommend her as a consultant .

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Dan was thoughtful, diligent, an expert word-smither, a great sounding board, and overall a great resource to have throughout my application process.

Dan truly made my essays better. I initially engaged Dan for only 2 hours, but by the end of the application process I had spent around 10 hours total working with him. As the weeks went on, I just kept adding hours because I knew Dan was helping my application and essays immeasurably.

I brought Dan in towards the end of the application period, but without fail he turned things around very quickly as well as was completely transparent about his process. Without a doubt, he improved the quality of my essays as well as alleviated a lot of the stress I was putting on myself. If nothing else, simply having someone say "yes" or "no" was invaluable. Though, obviously, he did a lot more!

I highly recommend Dan!

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I enthusiastically recommend Akiba at MBA Mission for the following concrete qualities and inputs:

1- She knows very well how to communicate ideas: oftentimes I had a certain accomplishment or story to convey and she helped me phrase it in appropriate ways without omitting details or making assumptions. Eventually, her coaching allowed me to write fluid essays that the Adcom can understand and that demonstrate my thought process and experiences. Akiba will spare no efforts to edit and critique the smallest details and often success comes from those small details that the experienced eye of the Adcom can spot.

2 - She is very professional in terms of time management and client relationship: Akiba respects deadlines and you can expect her to give her best to answer any of your questions. This created a level of trust and commitment that was essential for any applicant to business schools. Also, she gets well prepared for our calls and that is surely inspires confidence. She does not overpromise and acts as a reality check to push the client to realize that the competition is tough. This was true for pushing me to retake the GMAT to reach an acceptable level and for my expectations for interviews.

3 - She is personable and interested to help you: I previously worked with an Admissions consultant from another top firm and realized after the first call and discussions that I was not going to be comfortable with the person. The consultant was arrogant and with a US-centric mindset and not really interested to deep dive in the details of my experiences. When I move to MBA Mission, I quickly felt that Akiba is going to be of great help. Akiba was a trusted advisor for all the smallest details of my MBA applications and she inspired me on different levels to think more clearly, leverage my strengths, and grow as a future leader - as I believe this application process is also a terrific opportunity to develop further.

In a nutshell, I highly recommend Akiba. Without her fantastic help, I would not have been able to get into Wharton.

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Many might be skeptic of why they should invest into admissions consulting services, but trust me, it is well worth it. mbaMission's Benjamin Shinewald was very knowledgeable the field of graduate school admissions strategy. His level of expertise and professionalism really gave me the edge to get into the school I wanted. Even though I was just using their hourly services, I felt that Benjamin was providing me with same amount of attention and seriousness as any of the full package clients. The advice and strategies which Benjamin tailored to my profile and situation really impressed me, he really showed me that he had the insight and experience from many successful cases and made me feel like I was in good hands. I think I can say this with a certainty, without his help, my chances of getting into a business school was almost near zero.

Whether you are a strong candidate aiming to for the competitive top schools or a weak candidate that needs an edge getting into the school of dreams (like me), I think mbaMission has the solution for you.

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I setup the free 30 minute consultation with MBA Mission on a whim and randomly chose Rachel Beck based on her availability. I figured free advice for 30 minutes was a pretty good deal and even if I just got a pointer or two, that would be all I could really expect. However, within the first three minutes of the call, it became apparent to me that Rachel is a true professional at MBA admissions.

Rachel gets it. She knows what the AdCom is looking for (Wharton, in my case) and she knows how to structure the entire application to tell a compelling story. I thought my resume was in pretty good order when I sent it to her for review. Within hours, she sent me back a modified draft that reconstructed my employment experience to show my growth path of how I got to where I am today. (After I did some additional research on Wharton’s website, I discovered how much AdCom really values professional growth. Thanks Rachel for knowing this upfront and making this an integral part of my resume!)

When it comes to helping with the essays, Rachel is first class. I don’t know how she can turn around an edited draft with such astute comments within 24 hours (and many times a lot quicker.) Maybe it’s her professional background as a journalist. I often questioned whether she had any other clients because she was so in tune with my application and so prompt with her responses. Her writing approach is simple but profound: “show” the reader, don’t “tell” the reader. Rachel guided my essays into carefully crafted stories that provided a complete and compelling picture of who I am. Don’t you think AdCom would rather read an interesting, distinguished, well told story rather than another boring “this is who I am” essay?

Not only does Rachel provide great insight and feedback, but she also works with a tremendous respect for the billing clock. As a “per hour” client, I was apprehensive in the beginning about asking for too much help, thinking it would lead to excessive hourly charges. It became perfectly clear after we concluded the first project (fixing resume) that Rachel works efficiently and deliberately. Every comment she wrote on essays, letters of recommendations, short essays, etc. provided clarity and advanced the work in a positive manner, all while keeping the billing to a minimum. It’s certainly not cheap at $275/hour, but I would use Rachel again any day based on my exceptional experience working with her.

While I seldom write online recommendations, I was so pleased with Rachel’s that I felt it was my duty to share my experience working with her. But don’t just take my word for it, call her up for a free 30 minute session!

Thanks again Rachel for helping me get into Wharton!

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My review is specifically for Daniel Richards.

I've worked with Daniel on strategy, consulting and editing serves for admittance to an MBA program this year. Daniel is extremely experienced (he's worked with hundreds of applicants) and is professional and helpful.

What you can expect from the service:
1 - strategy of personal essays (by school, by essay type) - he clearly identified what my strengths and weaknesses were (from my resume and phone conversation), how to play up my strengths and what is most important to emphasize for the Admissions Committee.
2 - consulting and coaching - Daniel coached me on how to structure my essay and clearly tie in my experience with my reasons for enrolling in an MBA program and with my short and long term goals. His knowledge allowed me to see and think from the Admissions Committee perspective and helped me strengthen my essays in a ways I could not have done alone.
3 - editing - Daniel is an incredible writer and editor - he is concise and knows where to "trim the fat". My essays really went from zero to hero!

I know that mbamission services are expensive but the ROI on using them pay off. I strongly recommend Daniel's services.

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To frame this discussion, I will say this: I applied to the two hardest programs to get into with some less than savory topics to address in my essays. I did this at at roughly the last second... in the middle of cross-country move.

mbaMission sold me on BootCamp, which I did to prep and get oriented. When it came down to it though, I really wanted more in-depth help with the app I felt was harder and more important. Daniel not only pulled through, he was a windfall of help in the eleventh hour. He was informative, completely transparent as to the process and what he could and couldn't do, and above all the quality of his guidance was stellar - I felt infinitely more confident about my difficult situation and I know I handled it in the application 10x better than I would have otherwise. Daniel made a huge impact, without question.

Testament to this is the fact that I've gotten interviews at both schools. No decisions yet, but at the interview level I once again went to Daniel for help and he once again shepherded me through the process with really practical, credible advice - specific to me and the programs to which I applied. And once again, the end result made it worthwhile.

I'm typically very wary of services like this insofar as they can provide expensive, generic, "one-size-fits-all" advice. To the contrary, Daniel and the other folks at mbaMission know their stuff inside and out and - importantly - make it personal to YOU. And since these applications are made or broken on how well you convey yourself as an individual, that's pretty invaluable.

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