Working with Jessica Shklar of MBAMission is the only reason I am headed off to the bschool of my dreams this fall. From the moment I first signed on with Jessica she was nothing but focused, dedicated and enthusiastic. Jessica was instrumental in determining what schools were appropriate for me to target, leveraging both personal and professional experiences to create unique and differentiated essay story lines, editing my resume/application and keeping me on pace to complete a number of applications. Without Jessica’s help I would have had a great deal of trouble overcoming my abnormally low GMAT score. I am far from “the perfect bschool applicant” but under Jessica’s tutelage I was able to write a well balanced and well rounded application…and as I already mentioned get into the top 10 school of my dreams!

Jessica’s intellectual ability and dedication to her clients is only matched by her knowledge of the MBA process and individual business school programs. If you are serious about giving yourself the best possible chance to be accepted, get serious and hire Jessica Shklar + MBAMission.

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I started working with mbaMission after I had a free 30 minute consultation in their NYC offices where we discussed my career goals, resume, target schools, etc. I recommend doing this (especially since its free) to get a bearings of where you are at in the MBA application process.

After the consultation I signed up and worked with one of their admissions consultants, Dan Richards, on my Columbia Business School application. Dan was extremely helpful throughout the entire application process, from start to finish.

For me, the biggest benefit was for the essays - the brainstorming and ideas discussions were very beneficial in terms of conveying the core themes of my application and how I wanted to portray myself to the admissions committee. Dan was very easy to get in touch with and responded with essay comments well earlier than the agreed upon time frames.

Overall, it was great to have someone with a lot of experience with putting together successful top-tier business school applications. His help was invaluable and I highly recommend their services to anyone looking to put together an excellent b-school application.

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I worked with Angela Guido on the end-to-end package for three top-5 schools. Though I came from a typical b-school-feeder background (consulting) and had good numbers (3.7 GPA / 740 GMAT), with Stanford as my dream school I felt I needed help on telling a compelling story to separate me from the pack. My result was that I received interviews at all 3 schools, was accepted to 2/3, and will be attending Stanford in the fall.

I spoke to multiple firms to choose a consultant and felt an immediate connection when I spoke to Angela. A few thoughts on why I found her so helpful:

- I had a number of things I wanted to write about in my essays and for my overall "narrative". Instead of just spitting out a story that sounded good, Angela really took the time to listen to my disparate stories and help me weave together a compelling narrative around what was most meaningful to me, not just what would be interesting to adcoms
- Instead of just writing FOR me, Angela pushed me to communicate what I was trying to say in more straightforward and meaningful language. She really helped to cultivate my own skills in communication and self-expression, and turning those into meaningful essays
- There were many times where we had short timelines to work on, but throughout the process Angela was always punctual and reliable in terms of when she would get things back to me. This helped me to keep my work on track and lessened my already-high stress level!
- Having someone who is so knowledgeable about the b-school admissions process as a coach was absolutely invaluable just in itself. Angela helped me think through what the most impactful stories to tell for each school were and was always there to reassure me that we were on-track and making good progress.

Through my work with Angela, I not only accomplished my goal of getting into my dream business school, but I developed a keener sense of myself and how to present myself in my communications, which is a skill that will serve me well throughout my career. I highly recommend working with MBAMission and Angela!

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Please note: I am not one to write reviews. However, I feel compelled in this situation. Jessica was simply wonderful.

Background: I only applied to one school (dream school). Since the rifle approach is not exactly the smartest way to apply to school, I decided to seek counsel and hire a consultant. Jessica came highly recommended from a friend she helped in the 2012 class cycle. She is incredibly smart and hard working. She understands the process and really spends time understanding your candidacy. She is thorough and takes the time to develop a strategy and package you appropriately. Nothing deceitful – just maximizing what you have already accomplished and communicating it effectively and efficiently.
She helped me articulate why I made each career choice, placing it in the context of my broader career goal (including why B school choice was meaningful).

While hiring a consultant is expensive, I urge you to think of it as an investment in your future. Jessica gave me the best possible shot. I was admitted and I simply can’t thank her enough. She will spend a great deal of time with you; she really invests herself in your story. She cares deeply and I know finds great satisfaction in her job. Really a pleasure to work with.

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I did a lot of research into programs, and decided that MBA Mission would be the group I would use. They exceeded my expectations and were truly fantastic. I considered myself a mediocre candidate off the bat - just two years of work experience, OK GMATs and academic record. The team at Manhattan GMAT helped assess my entire profile to help find the angles that would be most effective to tell my story. I found them to be well worth every penny. They provided very powerful upfront materials - a resume and personal statement guide, interview tips, and a brainstorming document to help pull out the parts of your background worth telling through your application.

The consultant I worked with Regan Clarke was terrific - she was a pleasure to work with and really knew her stuff. I highly highly recommend both her and the MBA Mission team. She could sniff out the BS in my essays, asked questions that probed me to think harder and work smarter. I couldn't have asked for a better consultant to work with and am very grateful that I will be off to my top choice program in the fall, a school I never expected to get into in the first place. Thank you Regan and the MBA Mission team - the best in the business.

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I chose mbaMission after an info session I attended. After consulting with Jeremy Shinewald about my candidacy I gained the confidence I needed to go ahead with the application (my GPA was strong but my GMAT was below the top schools’ average). I signed for a 4-school package and contacted Rachel Beck, my advisor, to schedule a brainstorming session. Rachel is an incredible consultant: she has insightful comments, keeps you on track, presents wonderful ideas, and most importantly always there for you with quick responses to your questions and essays drafts (trust me, when crunching time arrives this is one of the most important attributes you should look for in a consultant).

What I valued most about working with mbaMission and especially Rachel is that beyond the professional ideas and advice her belief and support in my candidacy really pushed me to work hard and reach my potential.

The bottom line is that I was rewarded for my investment and was accepted to Wharton. My advice is to go for an info session, in which you will find out for yourselves that mbaMission is the company you want to work with, and Rachel Beck is the consultant you want by your side in this long arduous process.

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I reached out to mbamission after going 0/2 last year from 2 "stretch" schools. My consultant was Akiba Smith-Francis who I selected after reading several glowing reviews. I didn’t have a whole lot of cash to splash so I selected 1 school and added another later.

I asked her which schools should I use her for and she suggested the ones that I find most difficult. She could have easily suggested the easier ones.

So I started off with two sets of applications where I didn't know where to begin as I'd used all my best stories and material last year. I was totally stumped and this is where my consultant came into her own.

We did a series of brainstorming sessions in which she pushed me to bring out some answers that truly answered the questions at hand. This only got better as she got to know me better for the second application. Akiba was so helpful in explaining which parts of my profile would be worth mentioning in my essays and which parts wouldn’t – often contrary to what I was expecting. I was very focused on what I wanted to do post MBA and what parts of my profile might help me get there, Akiba pointed out several experiences in my past that would be interesting to adcoms. By the end of these sessions I had a plan for what I’d write for all the essay questions, writing the essay was just like filling in the blanks.

In the end I had two sets of applications that were far better and focused than my previous applications. While I was waitlisted at one of these schools, my GMAT and GPA were far below the averages of these top 5 schools, and my work experience is distinctly average.

Akiba is an extremely bright woman able to frame responses in a way that will resonate with adcoms. She is very popular and I only got to use her as she had a last minute pull out, so I suggest if you are keen to engage her then start early. I highly recommend her, I don’t think I could have had anyone better!

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I chose the 'start to finish package' with Rachel - I was applying to a top 5 business school I had my heart set on and it was a bit of my reach numbers wise (GPA/GMAT). I can confidently say I would not have gotten in without Rachel's help.

Rachel is a journalist with experience conducting admissions interviews, which makes her ideally suited to listen to her client's background and help craft his or her "story". Rachel picked out pieces of my background that I may not have noticed would make me interesting to the admissions committee. She didn't sugar coat: She told me not to use some of my essay ideas and worked with me to come up with better ideas. In retrospect, my original essay ideas would not have gone over very well.

Rachel was amazing throughout the entire process and always responded quickly and knowledgeably to my questions about all aspects of the admissions process. The interview prep was invaluable and I felt that I was very prepared for the kind of questions that would be asked.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Rachel and feel that mbaMission is extremely well organized and constantly adapting to the competitive MBA admissions environment.

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I initially considered hiring an admissions consultant as a result of my insane work schedule - I was looking for support during the brainstorming process and for guidance to help me streamline the application process as a whole. I reached out to two friends of mine who had both been accepted into their top schools the previous year, and each of them emphasized the value of working with a consultant and explained that they provide so much more than brainstorming and general guidance.

Coincidentally, both of my contacts had worked with Jessica Shklar and guaranteed that she would be a great fit for me - professional, responsive, and willing to push her clients. Jessica's (and I'm sure other mbaMission consultants) knowledge of each top program was beyond impressive, and the insight she provided for each of my questions (which were plentiful) was extremely valuable. Before working with Jessica, I had determined what "stories" I would focus on through my essays, but after a 2-hour brainstorming session with her early on, she did a fantastic job of teasing out additional experiences that I had not considered which provided a more holistic picture of who I am as an applicant and as a person.

While working on my essays, Jessica was extremely responsive and most often provided feedback and constructive criticism within 24 hours (company policy is within 48 hours so earlier was always a bonus). I recall times when I considered an essay complete after the second or third draft, but she pushed me to provide more articulate details - or clarify my decision making process within the essay - or scrap everything after the first paragraph and start over (that was fun!) - which resulted in a much stronger final product.

While I am confident that I had a strong application going into this process, I am certain that my presentation was significantly strengthened by working with Jessica Shklar, and do not believe I would have been admitted to my dream school (MIT Sloan) without her support. I cannot say enough to recommend Jessica, but will warn you that she hits her max # of clients earlier than most (she was at max capacity when I first reached out to her but fortunately one of her clients decided to wait until R2 so I took his/her R1 spot - lucky me!).

Best of luck to all future applicants - the letters of acceptance are worth the months of work.

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I offer my highest recommendation to Akiba. I’ll try to sum up my experience with Akiba in 3 brief points.

1. Akiba helped me tell my story with integrity, creativity, and purpose. Always a patient listener, Akiba made the effort to get to know me. This paid off -- her in-depth knowledge of me and my experiences helped her deliver valuable insights throughout the application process. Often times her insights would be pulled and patched from conversations we had months earlier.

2. Akiba didn’t sugar coat anything. I was seeking honest feedback, and that is what I received. I was happy to hear “we need to re-think this… this could be stronger… I don’t really like where you’re going here.” This ‘real’ communication ultimately made my essays stronger. (She also offered tons of positive encouragement throughout the process). She was especially talented at restructuring sentences to lose the fluff and emphasize what was important.

3. I am extremely happy I had to the opportunity to work with Akiba. There is no doubt that my applications were stronger after working with Akiba. My partnership with her earned me interviews at 2 top 10 schools and a sizeable scholarship from a top 15. I am now reviewing offers from multiple schools. If you are going to work with MBA Mission, seek Akiba out. You won’t regret it.

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