Out celebrating after receiving my first acceptance, my skeptical husband says out of the blue “Angela was the best investment you made – you really could not have done this without her”. That is absolutely true.

I didn’t give myself the luxury of time when applying to school. While I was fairly confident in my candidacy, I needed guidance on the process so I could get through it as efficiently as possible. Enter Angela. She delivered on this and more.

Starting from our first conversation through my decision, her enthusiasm and support was unwavering. She took the time to get to know me and dig deep into what is important to me. Even across continents at times, she was clear I was a priority, set expectations, and always delivered (and quickly!). From day one, I knew she was fully invested in helping me be successful.

Before I even started writing, Angela helped me brainstorm my stories. While I thought each story was disparate and unrelated, she drew connections among my experiences and helped me weave them together into compelling essays. She also provided actionable, honest, and direct feedback. Initially, I was writing what I thought the admissions committees wanted to hear, but Angela quickly spotted this and coached me to write about what truly mattered to me. She then helped me connect this to each particular school. When my writing was too business like – dry, boring, and overly analytical – she let me know and helped me find a tone that demonstrated my personality.

Angela will go out of her way to support you through every step of the process. When one of my essays flopped multiple times, we were no sooner on the phone starting from scratch again just days before the deadline. When I was torn between two schools we were back on the phone walking through the decision together. Angela puts you at the center and truly tailors the process to your needs and what will make you as an individual successful.

I am pleased to say that I received an interview at all the schools I applied to and was accepted into Wharton, Sloan, and Tuck. Angela was an incredible partner on this journey, and I know I could not have done it without her!

Read More

I feel confident stating that I would never have gotten into both schools I applied to with Susan's help.

A non-traditional background can be a real asset if you know which aspects of your background to highlight, and a hindrance if you focus on the wrong areas. I was completely hung up on trying to figure out how to present my story, and Susan was incredibly helpful in working with me to identify which particular skills and experiences to highlight in the various parts of my application. She also provided frank feedback when I was heading in the wrong direction.

I particularly valued her help on my essays - I was amazed at how quickly my jumbled first drafts turned into final products. It's because her comments were focused and direct. She suggested places to cut out lots of unnecessary details, pointed out areas where I should elaborate more, and left me to work on improving my next draft without getting stuck running in circles.

She also really pushed me to clarify my career goals. In addition to strengthening my application, that also made me feel much more confident that going to business school was the right decision for me.

Finally, it was great to have someone in my corner who was enthusiastic and supportive any time I had news to share about interviews or acceptances.

Read More

I highly recommend working with Debbie Choy at MBA Mission after applying to business school this past January. Debbie gave expert insight about each step of the application process and provided guidance on how to write the best essay for each school. Even with my unpredictable work schedule, Debbie was extremely patient and understanding with me and ensured that my applications were the strongest they could be.

When working on essays, Debbie provided comments that forced me to fully understand the unique aspects of my background and my motivations for attending business school. She always provided suggestions to improve the essays and ultimately let me make final decisions about content and tone. Debbie knew exactly how attack the even the most difficult essay prompts required by Stanford and Harvard which is known for its open-ended essay prompt. Debbie also answered questions I had about selecting people for recommendations for each of the schools I applied to. Lastly, she was especially helpful when I needed to prepare for alumni interviews and provided immediate feedback during our mock interview session.

While it may sound cheesy, Debbie really helped me grow as a person through the application process and I am forever grateful to her for all of her assistance. Working with Debbie and completing the applications helped me understand why I wanted an MBA and what I expect to achieve during business school and after graduation. While Debbie is an expert for all of the top MBA programs, I highly recommend her for any applicants interested in applying to Stanford GSB – Debbie is an alumna and has amazing insight into the application process and the program.

Read More

I have been through 3 admissions consultants. The first one was an author and a H/S/W grad. She never criticized anything I did and just way too optimistic bordering on fawning. I had to fire her in no time. Then I decided to not hold back and hired a very highly rated consultant (another H/S/W grad) from a very expensive firm on a hourly rate. She was good, but I always felt she was handling way too many clients. I had to remind her in every meeting about my stories as she was getting too many clients mixed up. For one session, she was driving to a dancing class while talking to me from car. For the rate I was paying her, I felt like she was literally taking me for a ride. Anyways, I applied to a couple schools and was promptly rejected.

It has been 4 years since then and I wanted to apply for EMBA. I did not want to go with the second consultant and looked for more info on others. Fortunately I came across Angela and her reviews. Despite my bad experiences with other consultants I decided to hire her because this was my final shot at MBA. I wasn't going to apply again. And that was THE BEST decision of my MBA application process

One of the best things about Angela is she genuinely tries to know you as a person. She will ask you to write down everything about yourself and really takes the effort to study that. Unlike the other consultants she did not ever have to be reminded of my background and accomplishments. She knew them as well as I knew them at each and every meeting.

She is a story teller at heart and can make your seemingly boring accomplishments come to life so much so that you will be impressed with your own accomplishments too. She worked with me on my essays and my resume and now that I look back at my original essays I came up with, they were a disaster. With her on my side, I was able to create a very riveting story in each of my essay and remove the fluff from my resume

She is also honest if you are screwing up. In one of the iterations I tried to jazz up my stories and she called me right away to tell me that the essays did not reflect who I was. She asked me to be very genuine as my personality/demeanor did not gel with my essay and that it would be a red flag at my interview. I am glad I heeded to her advice then

Another amazing aspect of working with her was that she was amazingly fast. I never had to wait for her ever. And this despite taking a school package in which they promise only a 3 day turnaround. She worked with me to get 4 iterations of my essays done in a week and each iteration was a huge improvement over the previous one. All this while she was working from Texas, Chicago and even Europe. It did not matter where she was physically as she was so prompt

Most importantly, I felt she genuinely cared about the outcome. She really wanted me to succeed and I honestly would not have gotten admission to ALL the top b-schools (without revealing too much, I got admitted to two of the following top schools Columbia, Wharton, Kellogg, and Chicago)

If you get a chance to hire her, do not hesitate. You will not repent it. This is coming from someone who hired consultants from other apparently top consulting firms before. They are not even close to Angela in terms of quality

Read More

I really enjoyed working with Angela throughout my MBA application process. Angela made significant contributions to my application in three key areas:

First, Angela is an excellent thought partner. She helped me through a process of introspection to better understand myself and what made me unique as a candidate. I valued the opportunity to share ideas as I crafted my essays and could always count on her to provide high quality, honest feedback that pushed my thinking.

Angela is also a gifted communicator. She helped me to present my experiences clearly and concisely in a way that would be understandable to individuals not familiar with the technical aspects of my industry. Angela’s guidance in this area was particularly helpful as I prepared for my interview.

Finally, working with Angela removed a lot of stress and uncertainty from the process. I was able to rely on her experience and intuition to get a feel for where my essays were strong and where there we opportunities for improvement. This significantly enhanced my confidence throughout the process and allowed me to work more efficiently.

Angela was a big part of my successful application to Harvard Business School. I highly recommend Angela to anyone working through the MBA application process.

Read More

I’m a porn star. Well, technically an adult fetish model, producer, and community leader. But to anyone reading an application or resume, I’m a porn star. By day I also run my own small business in education, but it’s my other “adult” interests that were obviously my biggest concern, and obstacle in applying to business school.

Before starting the application process, I made the decision that I was going to choose to be “out” during the entire process. I didn’t want to lie to get in, and I didn’t want to live a lie at school, in constant fear of being discovered-- especially when the thing I was hiding was something I’m actually quite proud of. So I decided I was going to need help, and was hoping to find someone brave enough and bold enough to take me on as a client.

I started my journey with MBA mission through the free consultation. I chose Susan, and sent in my stats and resume, and crossed my fingers. Susan smartly decided to send my information to a few other consultants to get their opinions and insights to better help her with our first conversation. And it was at that time that Angela responded by saying essentially, “this girl seems awesome, and if she wants to hire us, I want to work with her!”

When Susan told me that another consultant had said that, I was thrilled. I felt so confident and hopeful knowing that the person I was going to be working with was not only not going to judge me and the choices I’ve made, but also was going to work hard to champion me, and was as motivated as I was to help me succeed and reach my full potential. She knew what she was up against, and she wanted the challenge.

I can say with all honesty and complete sincerity that if it weren’t for Angela, I would not have gotten in to any business school most likely, let alone my top choice (a top 15 program) with a prestigious fellowship, and a full ride to my third choice school. She was there for me during the entire process in ways that really exceeded her job description. From working holidays and extra “hand holding,” to a face to face conversation in a coffee shop about my future that I’m rather certain changed my life, Angela was there for me, pushing me to be and to do better.

Brilliantly, Angela made me take the GMAT. I had a strong score on the GRE, and had intended on simply using that score. But Angela thought it was important that I didn’t give anyone any reason to doubt my abilities, and she felt confident that I would do well on the test. So with some prodding, and some guidance on prep, I took the test, and scored a 750, which I know lent credibility to my overall application and allowed me to put my best foot forward. I didn’t want to take the test, but listening to her on that was one of the best decisions I’ve made.

Angela also worked exceptionally hard to help me write my optional essay. We decided early on that that would be the place I explained my life—who I am and the choices that I’ve made. It was always a big ask. I needed to strike the perfect tone; the just right balance of being proud but not defensive, and understanding but not apologetic. We did over a dozen drafts of that essay, and Angela sent versions around to other consultants, getting second, third, and fourth opinions from people who didn’t know me as well to make sure that we hit that tone. In the end, those 250 words are some of the best “I’ve” ever written.

Personally, Angela is one of my favorite people ever. She’s witty and smart, passionate and opinionated, and she’s fun to talk to and be around. She worked hard for me and made me want to work harder for her. She believed in me when not very many people would have, and was prouder when I got in than just about anyone else.

I’m beyond thankful to have gone on this journey with Angela, and wouldn’t want to have done it with anyone else. Together what we achieved is pretty close to miraculous, and at the end of it, I’m thrilled to have worked with someone who I now like to consider a friend.

Read More

A little less than a year ago, I was dreading the entire business school application process. I had taken my GMATs the year before, but I had no idea how to tackle the essay questions or how to make my resume stand out. Because of this, I came to mbaMission, and to Dan specifically. Looking back now, I can honestly say it was the best decision I made in the process.

From day one, Dan really worked to understand my story and help crystalize the parts that would make me stand out among a sea of applicants. We worked through my resume line by line through countless hours to make each task I did at work come alive.

Additionally, Dan helped me brainstorm unique experiences outside of work I can bring to my application. By the end of our brainstorm sessions, I felt like he knew me better than my best friends. The process not only made my essays come alive, but also helped me realize exactly what I want to do post-business school. It was a very tiring, but ulitmately unbelievably rewarding experience.

Dan was also extremely patient with me during my application process that lasted well over 6 months since I applied in both R1 and R2. Sometimes I would blast him 5 emails at 2:00AM freaking out about every little detail. He always replied promptly and always managed to calm me down.

As a side note, mbaMission's mock interview for the Wharton TBD was also extremely helpful. I went into the real interview feeling like I know what to expect and the two experiences were very similiar.

With Dan's guidance, I was admitted to Wharton in R2 and MIT Sloan and Columbia in R1. I will most likely matriculate at Wharton this fall - thank you Dan!!!

Read More

Consultant: Adam Grossman (mbaMission)

Personal Profile:
Undergraduate School: Brown
Undergraduate GPA: 3.3
GMAT: 670
Work Experience: 4+ years

Package purchased: 4 School Start-To-Finish

Schools Applied to and Results:
Duke Fuqua: Admitted
UVA Darden: Rejected
Northwestern Kellogg: Admitted
UCLA Anderson: TBD

Review:
Adam was absolutely invaluable in taking the mass of raw material and disorganized thoughts and ideas and helping me turn them into a clear and concise vision to present to admissions committees. From the start, Adam was a partner in the process from start to finish. He helped me finalize a list of target schools based on my interests, strengths, and weaknesses.

I identified Kellogg as my first choice and we went after that first. We customized each essay for each school taking into account each school’s individual characteristics. Adam had great perspective on how to uniquely position myself for each school. He was very responsive to questions and helped provide excellent edits. I never lost my voice throughout the essay writing process and he helped me with every single detailed question I had. Adam was always there to support and always had good answers.

He was a no nonsense guy which is incredibly important in the process. His feedback was always direct and constructive. We worked efficiently and productively together improving both my abilities and our output after each meeting.

I would highly recommend Adam and mbaMission. As a result of our work together, I got into my top choice school even with below-average GMATs.

Read More

According to my experience, applying an MBA program is a tough job that requires not only hard work but also a strategic and focused approach. Before deciding which consulting service to use, I talked to a few consulting companies and tried their free sessions. I do suggest to “shop around” and you will find the right one. In my case, I found mbaMission was very impressive. After I provided my profile and answered a couple of questions, the consultant outlined an overview of my strength, weakness, and which schools I should target. It was simply, professional, and focused! After signing up the product, I chose to work with Pamela, a very experienced consultant. Now I have got the offer from the school of my dream. I must say I did the right choice and found the right person!

I was very happy working with Pamela. She was methodical. Everything was so well organized that I knew exactly what I would expect down the road, and I could plan my tasks down to every single day! Although the service was delivered online, the communication and collaboration was thorough and effective. During the whole process, I didn’t panic at all! What a surprise! I suggest to carefully read the documents they send over after you sign up the service. They are very useful!

Essay editing is important part of the whole service. I felt I was fully supported. For each essay, she walked it through with me from analyzing the topic to editing revisions to completing the essay. In addition, when I was stuck somewhere, she always provided a high level guidance that forced me to think in a “macro” perspective. I see this is a great approach to allow me to reshape my thoughts and restructure the content. This approach worked for me very well. I suggest writing essays on your own – you will be the person who takes the interview and you have to think a lot in the whole process!

At the post offer stage, when I was deciding which school to choose, she made sure I had full information to make the decision and provided valuable and unbiased advice. This is also an important stage, especially when you have multiple choices. For me, Pamela is an expert in this area – she knows the top B-schools well and has great knowledge in the post-MBA fields. So her advice helped me a lot!

In summary, I am very impressed and do appreciate her help and work during the whole process. I definitely recommend mbaMission, especially Pamela, to anyone who wants to apply to top B-schools. Finally, I want to say when applying an MBA program, you are not doing something for fun. You need to be serious! It is your opportunity to change your entire life! So make your choice wisely!

Read More

Lynn does not have as many reviews as other Mbamission consultants, which is surprising, because she is fantastic!

Lynn helped me with two top schools and one joint degree program. All of them were beyond my wildest dreams and I am proud to say I got into all three programs. My favorite parts about working with Lynn were (1) while you brainstorm for your essays, she helps to pinpoint your best stories and identify themes. These notes aid you in the self reflection exercise that's required for MBA applications. (2) She never steals your voice! She will point out areas where she does not think your message is coming through, and push you to edit in a way that enables the Admissions Committee to hear the stories as you want them to be heard. At the end of the day, however, my applications were my applications. They represented the strongest and clearest communication of my voice, my thoughts, my achievements, my words.

I am honored to have worked with Lynn, and so thankful to be attending my dream school in the fall!

Read More