I want to thank Margaret for her help with my applications. She is extremely talented in her writing and was able to help me come up with really strong story lines and topics for my essays. I found that the way she would make me think critically on each essay was helpful for me to understand what the adcom wanted. She also guided me on how to differ my answers school to school, even when the question was very similar. I received interviews from every school that I applied to and I'm happy to announce that I will be attending my school of choice! Thank you!!!

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I hired Meredith from SBC, am headed my top choice – Tuck – this fall, and wanted to provide some candid feedback that I hope will be helpful to anyone considering using an admissions consultant.

My decision to use an admissions consultant was primarily based on a few factors:
1) As an applicant from an overrepresented group (white, male, finance) I knew I needed to craft a compelling story that would resonate with each of my target schools
2) I finished undergrad in 2006 and, as a business major, probably hadn’t written an essay in a good 8 years by the time the application process kicked off
3) Given my age and the amount of work experience I have, I was not going to pursue the full-time MBA route after this cycle

I’m laying these reasons out because while hearing whether someone found a particular consultant or consulting company useful is great and all, it is more important (in my opinion) to first decide whether you need one based on your unique circumstances. A couple of the other common factors that should be considered, but aren’t directly applicable to me:
- Do you have time? It’s tough to write 10+ compelling essays, construct a great resume, fill in a bunch of application forms (more time-consuming than you’d think), and prepare for interviews, all while pulling 100+ hr. weeks
- Can you afford it? If you’re applying to programs that may end costing you $180k+ over the course of two years, I’d argue a few thousand dollars up front is a worthwhile investment, but not everyone will see it that way or truly cannot afford to shell out for a consultant

Back to my reasons and how SBC delivered:
1) Dime a dozen – my primary consultant, Meredith, and the other SBC staff members, including Stacy herself, that I interacted with have a significant amount of experience attending, working at, and helping candidates get accepted to the specific schools I was interested in. That experience goes well beyond what you’ll garner from reading the schools' websites and attending information sessions. Their collective knowledge enabled me to put together a strong application for each school knowing the types of things they look for. Not exactly like trading on inside information, but it’s also not too dissimilar to using an expert network to supplement your research, which I think is particularly important if you are one of maaaaaany white dudes with a finance background applying to bschool.
2) Essay writing for dummies – despite having what I thought was an up-to-date resume, it took about 12 drafts before Meredith would allow me to be satisfied with how it was written, structured, and what it presented. That was just the first step. Each of my essays went through a ton of iterations with some of the first few (typical learning curve) going through 10+ drafts. And these revisions were taking place at 11 pm on a Tuesday night or 7 am on a Saturday morning – whenever I needed. During the 2+ month big push to get applications in, I was in contact with my consultant on a daily basis and experienced minimal turnaround time with regard to edits and questions. That editing process was not a burden I was prepared to put on my friends and family.
3) Old guy – my point here is that I was only going to take one shot at it and wanted to leave it all on the field, so to speak. Younger applicants might be better served taking a crack at it themselves in early rounds and then getting help later or even in the following year. However, if you are determined to get into a certain caliber of program (e.g. M7 or Top 10) now, then I think it is well worth paying the money to ensure you submit the best possible application and not have wonder about “what if?”.

Overall, SBC helped my candidacy immensely and I am confident in saying that I would not have been admitted to the schools I was without their help. At the end of the day, your application is based on your own personal achievements, stories, grades, test scores, etc. but the process of tying all that together to present a consistent, cohesive story is very important to schools and something I did not have the expertise to do on my own. Also, I did my due diligence and selected SBC over some other admissions consulting companies, but rather than bag on other professionals based on a 20 minute phone call, I will simply state that I had a great feeling from the first conversation I had with someone at SBC and that feeling was validated throughout my time working with Meredith and others at SBC.

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I finally wrapped up my experience with Stacy Blackman and can now post my review. It's hard to think back to my mindset when I was trying to figure out how to hire an admissions consultant. It feels like so long ago. I came to forums like this and reached out to the leading admissions consulting firms for the free consultations. There is a ton of information out there on other consulting firms, like MBA Exchange; those articles and posts seemed to be heavily influenced by their own advertising campaigns. Then, I weeded out the newer entrants, like Fortuna and Stratus Prep. The claims of the newbies seemed really alluring (how neat that an owner even bothered to talk to me); but I couldn't put my faith in companies that were in start up mode. Among the existing companies, there are dozens of reviews to sift through. I saw an important trend that directing my admissions consulting pursuit toward Stacy Blackman. Only SBC had posts of positive reviews as early as 2005 and 2006. Those reviews have been consistent over time and seemed the most authentic. I will be attending my first choice, INSEAD, because of this important partnership I had with Carol and the rest of Stacy's team. The ease of communication, 24/7, through holidays, and over the many weeks of our engagement, was incredible.

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While I debated hiring a consulting company for a couple of months, I couldn’t be happier with my ultimate decision to do so. I now think I was wrong to view it as an expense since it’s really more of an investment in you. My consultant, Caryn (previous admissions experience at Kellogg), was amazing from start to finish. She was extremely dedicated and responsive, with a turnaround time of less than a day most of the time. Her help on my resume, essay mapping and editing, interviews and school selection was instrumental to my success and sanity. I was accepted to 3 of 4 schools (I withdrew from the last school prior to accepting their interview invitation), and will be attending my top choice (Kellogg!) with a 75% scholarship. I also received the full tuition Consortium fellowship to Ross. There is no way this would have ever been possible without Caryn’s help, and I mean that sincerely. I know a lot of applicants hesitate due to cost (trust me, I was one of them; also, SBC offers flexible payment plans), but at the end of day I truly believe that money was a very small investment that earned me a significant amount in scholarship money. Also, many people decide to use their friends and/or mentors for essay editing. However, Caryn knew exactly what stories would work and how their effectiveness could be maximized. I don’t think many people could have shaped my essays as well as she did.

I don’t typically write reviews, but I understand how stressful MBA applications can be so I wanted to share my experience.

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Working with Stacy Blackman was a fantastic experience. I had originally signed up with another service but decided to complement that with true excellence in the field. I feel very privileged to have worked with Paul, who graduated from the school of my choice (GSB). His insights and experience were fundamental for my success. His unwavering support and overall attention to my application were exemplary. I don't remember ever waiting for over a day from a response from him. I definitely recommend using this service! Good luck and hopefully see you in California (off to GSB). Trusting Stacy Blackman was definitely the way to go for me.

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I am what some would call a nontraditional applicant. Going into business school, I will be 25 and will have 3 years of work experience. I have worked for a nonprofit and a family business in real estate. I also have different personal interests than most people applying to business school and have done my share of moving around.

All this being said, from the moment I called Stacy Blackman, the staff were instrumental in putting my successes and achievements on paper and to life. Not only were they helpful, but they were honest, sincere, punctual, knowledgeable and resourceful. Specifically, I worked with Caryn Altman, a Kellogg graduate. Caryn takes her job very seriously. She treats your application as it is her own. Caryn would e-mail me daily, sometimes multiple times a day, with essay rewrites, tips, friendly hellos, etc. I should note that this is because I was very involved in the process and would constantly be e-mailing her first!

The Stacy Blackman team helps you construct the perfect application for business school. The consultants go above and beyond to give you advice on the GMAT (retaking it or not), the application, the essays, business school selection, the resume, and an in depth review of the interview process.

I am thrilled by my results. After applying to 6 business schools, I got into three of them (one being a top 5 school where I plan to attend next year). I plan to recommend Stacy Blackman (and specifically Caryn) to friends and relatives applying to business school in the future.

Thank you Caryn for guiding me and helping me get into business school. I couldn't have done it without you and the SB team!

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I started working on my MBA applications quite early. I am an organized person and I had no doubt that I would be able to get all my applications together early, submitted for Round 1 without a hitch. But as I started to look at each of my schools, with all of their different requirements and essay questions, I instantly became overwhelmed. I got a 730 on my GMAT and thought that alone would get me in. But my career goals were not clear and I had no idea what to write about in my essays. I reached out to two MBA consulting firms and was immediately sold on Stacy Blackman.

From day one, the consultants at Stacy Blackman made an effort to get to know me. My consultant, Caryn, kept me organized so the application process never felt overwhelming. We had a schedule and she made sure I stuck to it. We spent a lot of time on my career goals, which made the essay process so much easier. Having her as a sounding board meant that I didn't stress throughout the three month process - not once. And because Caryn kept me to consistent deadlines, the work I put in was never too much at once.

I applied to three schools - HBS, Booth and Kellogg. I was accepted to both Booth and Kellogg and could not be happier. I am convinced that without Caryn's guidance I would not have been as concise and clear with my goals and that would have negatively impacted my essays and interviews. This was the best decision I made and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

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I was unsure about applying for MBA admissions as I had been rejected by my top choices in the earlier year. One of my friends suggested that I try the ‘Free Consultation’ from Stacy Blackman and I set up an introductory call with Bill Chionis. He really boosted my confidence and made me believe that I had a chance at getting admitted this year.

I took the comprehensive package for 3 schools and an hourly package for the 4th school. Throughout my interaction with him, Bill was very professional and always very prompt in his edits and responses. When I had an issue with one of my recommenders Bill went out of his way to help me resolve it. I truly believe that his inputs on my essays and the resume made them much stronger. He gave me some great tips for the interviews which I believe would be useful even in the future. Though I didn’t get an admit from the 2 top schools of my choice I got admission offers from my backup options--both top 15 schools. The MBA application process is very stressful and I think having someone help you through the process can be a big plus.

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I worked with Kevin Rockmael through my application process as he has had plenty of experience helping students get into their dream schools. I felt comfortable talking with him, especially analyzing key weaknesses I needed to work on for my applications. I was worried about having too low of a GPA to get into a dream school, but Kevin helped me prepare a strong application strategy that ultimately succeeded.

I highly recommend Kevin Rockmael and Stacy Blackman Consulting for the MBA application process. I felt the help I needed to organize my process, create a strong application, and deal with the constant stress of writing and beating deadlines.
Without Stacy Blackman Consulting, I wouldn't have been able to get into my dream school!

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A very good friend of mine (SB clients, admitted to 3 top US B-schools) strongly suggested me to use SB professional consulting, to increase the chances to achieve my objective of being admitted to a top B-school, since I had some clear disadvantages compare to the typical top school candidate.

After talking with several consultants at SB, I found Bill Chionis to be the best choice for me. I immediately liked his positive attitude, his pragmatic way of thinking and his clear approach to the challenges.

I opted for a comprehensive service (all-in) and Bill supported me from essays to interview.

The support was outstanding.

Great tips in selecting the best topics and situations for the essays, responsive and precise feedback, always available.

The "Flight Test phase" was also important: a SB team of experts (NOT including your consultant) reviewed the application simulating they were the admission committee of the school. Great feedback there, to fine tune the presentation even more.

Interview prep went similarly: again great tips, precise feedback, anticipation of possible bad situations and how to get out of them, and so on.
The approach that Bill had stressed many times during the prep time was crystal clear, independently of my level of stress ... and that has made a huge difference.

I believe the quality of the support that Stacy Blackman gave me is as high as it can go, thanks to the passion the Bill puts in his job and to the long experience in the field, that allows him to master any possible situation.

Thank you SB for helping me to open the door of the school of my dream.

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