I was referred to Stacy Blackman Consulting by a friend at Sloan. I had several free consultations with various companies, but felt best about Stacy Blackman based on competency and chemistry. As a younger candidate from a non-traditional business background, I was unsure whether I would be accepted to business school, let alone a top school.

My first discussions were with Esther, who was wonderful and got me off to a great start. I ultimately chose Lisa to be my consultant, and it turned out to be a great fit. I purchased a five-school package and applied to four schools independently.

From the beginning, Lisa was an incredible coach and cheerleader. She helped me focus and understand how to clearly present my unique background and strengths in leadership, research, and academia, in a way that bschools would appreciate. She was invaluable in helping me refine my resume and stories. She advised me not only about what to include, but what not to include in my essays and interview. She took the time for several phone conversations when I felt email correspondence wasn’t enough. There were a few periods when my job became especially hectic and I procrastinated on applications. Lisa would considerately check in and helped keep me motivated and on track. She provided advice and pep talks before each of my interviews, which helped me prepare well and feel confident.

Lisa was a pleasure to work with. She is intelligent, extremely professional, insightful, highly reliable, timely, and has a great sense of humor. I was accepted to five schools, four of them with scholarships. I am going to a top 15 school next year. Beyond the ranking, it is a school I am thrilled about attending because it is such a fantastic fit. I highly recommend SBC.

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I set up a phone consultation with Stacy Blackman because I was impressed with the quality of information available on their website, and my consultation with Esther Magna was comprehensive and helpful. I reviewed two other consultants' information, but I chose to work with Esther because of her positive attitude and the helpful advice she gave me even in our first conversation.

Throughout the entire application process, Esther’s proactive support and extensive knowledge of business school admissions were invaluable. Her upbeat and timely responses kept me on track, and her guidance helped me focus my applications on my most relevant accomplishments and goals. She answered all of the questions I asked, and many I didn’t know I had. Esther spent time understanding my background, and when I struggled with a few of the essay questions, her thoughtful feedback and creative suggestions helped me craft polished responses that highlighted my strengths as a candidate.

The comprehensive service is definitely an investment, but it was excellent - Esther helped me prepare for my interviews and was always available for my time-sensitive questions. I was admitted to two of the three schools to which I applied, and I received amazing fellowships from both of those schools (which covered the cost of consulting many times over).

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Working without professional guidance, I went 0/5 on my round 1 applications last year. I was clearly doing something wrong and needed help. I have an unconventional background and I simply wasn't telling my own story effectively. I contacted six consulting companies and decided to go with SBC.

I cannot believe how lucky I was to be paired with Andy. He helped me to understand why certain anecdotes or stories would be ineffective--or worse, potentially detrimental --to my application. The most valuable aspect of our partnership was Andy's ability--based on his vast experience critiquing countless essays--to tell me when the angle I was pursuing simply wasn't working. When that happened, I'd come back the next day with another idea, and he'd explain why that didn't work either and we would work through it together. Eventually, I was able to produce something that really clicked. We both knew when It hit it.

Whenever I sent Andy a draft, his turnaround was crazy fast; he must check his email every minute on the minute. He has a gift for intuitively understanding what I was striving to accomplish, and clearly providing ideas around better ways to do it. And yet, Andy is somehow capable of delivering his critiques in a good-natured, positive way. In the end, I gained admission to Chicago, Tepper, Columbia, and NYU. After my shutout from round 1, I'm not just relieved, I'm thrilled!

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The comprehensive service I received at Stacy Blackman and the admits I received as a result of this service exceeded my every expectation. I worked with Lisa Chen as my consultant on 4 schools, and I was accepted by every program (3 with scholarships). I am thrilled to be attending HBS!

I consider myself a highly motivated, organized person with the ability to tackle just about anything; however, the business school application process seemed both formidable and cryptic. I knew to give myself the best chance and to have no regrets at the end of the process I needed to seek the guidance of a consulting service. Stacy Blackman came highly recommended to me from a former work colleague who had been accepted into his first choice program.

Working with Stacy Blackman completely demystified the process. I received a workable timetable for completing aspects of the application, an entire website of resources (school info, sample essays, interview transcripts), and what seemed like 24/7 access to Lisa.

There wasn't a single facet of my life, interests, and ambitions that Lisa and I left unexplored, and it resulted in essays that were vibrant, compelling and even more true to myself than those I could have written without her mentorship. Lisa's marketing background was extremely helpful in solidifying my story, and she pushed me until my essays left no room for any school to question why I wanted to attend and what I could contribute to the community. Lisa's interview prep was also critical to my success. Her mock interview was spot on, and her analysis of my answers left me better prepared to face those questions during actual interviews.

Let me conclude by saying that I might have been accepted to 1, maybe 2 (if I was lucky), schools had I been left up to my own devices. Being accepted into every school which I applied is miraculous, and I unabashedly believe that my overwhelming success was a direct result of working with Lisa and Stacy Blackman.

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I worked with Stacy Blackman's team on my applications to four schools and was admitted to two of them (MIT and Stanford). Walter was my consultant and I was extremely happy with the work we did together.

While I was a bit dubious of using an outside consultant I would have to say I was also somewhat desperate for guidance. I did not have people in my circle who could guide me and did not feel that I could find expert and truly reliable information on my own. I also wanted personalized guidance beyond what I could find in a book etc...

Walter was amazing to work with - calm, very informed, turnaround time was excellent and an overall truly nice guy. He made the difference in my application and made the process less of a roller coaster. Writing that initial check was excruciating - I will not deny, but i truly felt that Walter and the firm earned their fee many times over.

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I worked with Maureen at SBC and absolutely loved her. It was a challenging stressful process, and she made me work very hard, but I did so knowing that I was plugging along in the right direction. Maureen served on the admissions committee at Tuck and had very useful insights into how the adcomm would assess my background and application. She was also patient, insightful and creative. I would have to say that her service exceeded my expectations. She was more responsive than promised and her inputs were more valuable than I ever could have imagined. She helped me break down the overwhelming process and tackle it in a smart way, bit by bit. When I received a significant scholarship to UCLA that covered my fees to SBC many times over, let's just say that was icing on the cake!

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I worked hard throughout college and for several years out and definitely feel that I earned my admits. However, I also don't think I would have been as successful (or possibly successful at all) without Stacy Blackman and her team, particularly Lisa who was incredible, amazing and everything in between. This is because although I had some good experiences, I did not know how to get them down on paper and when I look back at my first drafts and the kind but firm feedback from Lisa I want to laugh. I am going to HBS!

Lisa did a really good job of taking my background and finding themes to help market me. She was able to highight my strengths and help me back up the strengths with my solid stories. I think my essays were interesting and that is not how they started. My interview prep was also outstanding and really helped me to go into the interview feeling calm and to stay calm. Honestly nothing threw me - she prepped me to be ready for the curveballs. I am grateful for this opportunity and highly recommend the entire team at Stacy Blackman as everyone that I interfaced with impressed me.

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Really enjoyed working with SB Consultants - very helpful and flexible to my busy schedule! I ultimately applied in Round 1 to both HBS and Stanford and got into both, so thank you for the help! Found the interview help especially helpful!

Joyce assisted me by talking through what I planned to write and helping me organize my thoughts - invaluable. Having someone not from my company help was very beneficial

My background is in consulting for reference and before that I attended a small liberal arts college. Definitely liked having an unbiased person with whom I was able to speak .

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Caryn Altman came with the highest praise from a friend and I cannot echo that sentiment more. I was accepted to Booth and Kellogg and I couldn’t have done it without Caryn’s dedicated guidance and unwavering support.

She made every effort to get to know me as a person to put together a distinctive application. Caryn will be extremely honest with your candidacy strengths and weaknesses (which is exactly what you need), but more importantly, she commits to working with you to find solutions and positively frame your message. Her insights from AdCom’s perspective and willingness to reach out to the Stacy Blackman Consulting network for additional resources were the finishing polish that took my essays to a new level.

I can honestly say that no matter the outcome, I wouldn’t have had a single regret this application cycle because I know Caryn helped me put together the best application I know I’m capable of. A million thanks to Caryn and the Stacy Blackman Consulting team – I’m ecstatic to start at Booth in the fall!

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I didn't have a very high GMAT score and even though I had a strong resume I would have never been able to be admitted to 3 out of 3 top schools (2 with scholarship offers) without the outstanding guidance and help of Caryn Altman, consultant for Stacy Blackman Consulting.

Right from the first phone call, she made me comfortable with her always very positive attitude, which supported me all the way to my decision on which admission offer to accept. At the very beginning, she immediately understood my situation and identified the strengths that I needed to highlight in my application. Her insights and tips on the essays made my application strong and made it stand out in front of the schools' admission committees. Lastly, her tips during the mock interview were of unique value as I nailed all three interviews.

I strongly recommend SBC and in particular Caryn Altman, who I will never be able to thank enough for helping me through this decisive moment of my professional career.

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