I decided to go for Stacy Blackman Consulting based on the online reviews and following the success that I have achieved in the last few weeks (Admitted to Kellogg with Scholarship and Admitted to Tuck), I definitely recommend SBC to potential candidates.

My kick-off call was set up with Esther Magna and this call in itself gave me the confidence in SBC's ability to guide a candidate through the application. Esther set me up with Seher Khanna and Seher brilliantly guided me through the entire process.

I knew my strengths and my weaknesses but Seher helped me to organize my thoughts into one single piece that was specific to each application. She continuously challenged me to improve and moreover kept me motivated whenever I felt tired or dejected during the application process (one of the very important elements of a successful application from my perspective). She was extremely flexible with my ad-hoc requests for discussions and very timely with her responses; Over those 3 months I never had to wait for her response. SBC additionally provided 3rd person peer reviews of my application and this helped me to further identify the gaps in my application.

I was honestly skeptical of SBC's claim of a "92% success rate in getting applicants into at least one of their four top schools" before I started but I can confidently state today that SBC and especially Seher's support was invaluable for me to achieve this success today.

Read More

The service provided by SBC was truly unparalleled. Highly professional and truly committed to the applicant. I did my first consult with Esther Magna. After a brief conversation, she was able to rightly identify the perfect consultant for my application- Jed Sturman. Working with Jed on my dream school, Chicago Booth, was truly remarkable. In spite of being an early career applicant, I was able able to bring forth a very strong application with Jed's help. He helped identify key stories in my life, instances I overlooked and helped me gain a deeper understanding of what I am to put forth in all my applications. The best part would be the faith he had in my dreams even when there were many around who felt it was beyond my reach. So I take this opportunity to once again thank you Jed and SBC, as a whole ,for your help in this journey and wish similar success stories for other applicants too.

Read More

I worked with Ryan Barba at Stacy Blackman and had a fantastic experience. I worked with him on my Sloan application and ended up with an offer from Sloan! Ryan had a great sense of what the school was looking for in the essays, recommendation letters, and resume. He helped me always think about my materials in terms of how they highlighted the aspects that are important to Sloan, which I think made my application particularly good compared to others that were not perfectly tailored for the school.

I was working on a tight timeline, and Ryan was able to give me feedback really quickly so that we could move ahead at my pace, which was faster than the typical pace. He was easy to work with and was able to jump on the phone at a moment’s notice. For the interview prep, he gave me really candid comments on our mock interview, and the questions he asked prepared me well for the actual interview.

I highly recommend working with Ryan and the rest of the Stacy Blackman team.

Read More

I'm writing this having received offers last week from both schools I applied to - HBS and GSB - so clearly a satisfied customer! Paul at Stacy Blackman has been a great help throughout the last 6 months. I have a traditional background (consulting/finance), and felt comfortable with the application process - what I really wanted was someone with the experience to challenge what I was writing and help tease out how to differentiate myself. I chose Paul over a bunch of other consultants who seemed like they would be more hands on - he pushed me only on the pieces that mattered, but pushed me hard on those. Thank you Paul!

Read More

After my initial 30 minute call with someone from Stacy Blackman whose name unfortunately escapes me, the woman from SB suggested I work with Paul and I could not have had a better experience / it could not have been a better match for me.

From the first hour-long call with Paul it seemed like he understood the type of person I am and the right way to craft my application to (hopefully) differentiate it from all of the other private equity applicants. The thing I appreciated most about Paul was he was very objective and didn't seem to feel the need to change things / insert his thoughts just for the sake of it. He seemed to be much more focused on understanding the big ideas you could convey and pointing you towards the ones he thinks make the most sense for you. After our first two discussions to really drill down on exactly what it is I was going to write about, we exchanged 3 drafts and we were done. Based on a number of these reviews I've read, I was expecting it to be a tedious process, but after that 3rd draft, he said "any other changes would just be changing it from your voice to mine." I was so happy that when my family proof-read my essays they commented that they sounded like me.

Paul was of course very helpful in the other aspects of the process: creatively answering short answer questions to help your entire application tie together, resume review and interview prep, and in each case his approach was very much the same.

I am so lucky and fortunate to say that after working with Paul and applying to Harvard, Stanford and Wharton Round 1, this past week I was admitted to Harvard and Stanford (and am still awaiting notification from Wharton)!

I could not recommend Paul and SB any more highly.

Read More

After having a not so great initial consultation with the service suggested by my current company, I reached out to SBC on a work friend’s recommendation. I have to say I am very happy with my results - I am officially a dual admit at both Harvard and Stanford!

I really love their system which is both structured and personalized. The initial 30 min assessment was very helpful. Esther Magna matched me up with Meredith Shields as my consultant and I couldn't have been happier. Meredith was extremely responsive and really pushed me to get the most out of my essays. She helped me present my story in the right way for each school. Her interview prep was also spot on for HBS. She even helped calm my nerves so that I didn't sweat the small stuff throughout the process. I highly recommend both SBC and Meredith in particular!

Read More

I signed for a 4 school comprehensive package with SBC and got accepted into my first choice school (top 5). I spent just over a month working with my consultant, Meredith. I honestly do not think I could have made this happen without her help. She took my pedestrian application to a very competitive one. She is very knowledgable in terms of what certain schools are looking for. She would even review my work over the weekends when I needed a short turnaround. She understood my situation fully and helped me bring out the plus points in my story and this resulted in a stellar application and an acceptance to my dream school. I highly recommend SBC services and especially Meredith if you are looking for some help and want to take your application to another level.

Read More

I had been through this process before. Three years ago, I had applied to the University of Michigan, Duke, and UCLA. I was denied admission from all three schools. This time around, I knew I had to do something drastically different and decided to invest in a consultant to help me.

I was definitely skeptical of the MBA consultants out there. This was also going to be a huge cost investment so I wanted to be sure I would be paired with someone I trusted and felt comfortable with. I interviewed at least 5 consultants, including consultants from SBC, MBAMission, and Aringo. I had a list of tough questions for each of them. After speaking with Sherry Holland from SBC for five minutes, I already knew I wanted to work with her versus all the others I interviewed. Being a Duke admissions counselor for over 4 years, Sherry's input seemed invaluable -- and it absolutely was.

I purchased the 4 school package with SBC and Sherry helped me with the whole process from start to finish. First, she helped me strategize which schools I should apply for. I actually would not even have applied to Columbia Early Decision if it weren't for her recommendation, as I had thought this was a school that was out of my league! She also helped me brainstorm topics for each essay and gave me great feedback on my essays, resume, and practice interview. Sherry was also FANTASTIC at getting back to me at a timely manner (despite the fact that we were working on different coasts!) and even accommodated to my schedule by working weekends to get me back feedback during crunch time. I would say that I'm an extremely demanding and tough client (for example, I sent her ~10 drafts of one of my essays), but Sherry certainly surpassed all of my highest expectations.

I could not have asked for a better consultant. Thank you Sherry for helping me get into this amazing school. I could not have done this without you and this was absolutely worth the investment. I highly highly recommend Sherry Holland!

Read More

I had a very positive experience with Stacy Blackman. I found them to be professional, realistic, and overall a real support - they injected an element of rigor into how I approached my essays and applications. I don't think I could have done it without them!

I was paired up with Aliceson Robinson who had a similar background to me. After our initial conversation, I felt we were a good match - she understood me and motivations in a way others had not (I had done a few initial conversations with other admissions consultancies).

Aliceson was fantastic and was a pleasure to work with. I felt that she took the time to know the details of 'me' and because she knows the application process so well and the schools I was applying to, she could provide insights that benefitted my application. She reviewed my first set of essays countless times (and would remind me the "the next set of essays [would] be easier"...which they were!) and really helped me get through those humps when I thought I couldn't possible do anything more to my essays - she always came back with good ideas which made immediate improvements.

The guides and online resources that SBC has are extensive, those helped a lot when I was starting to write as there are sample essays, essay tips for each school, etc. I also appreciated the social media review that came with the comprehensive package - Paul helped develop a Social Review Strategy which I found was very helpful (for not just the application process but for my professional career too!).

In general, applying to business school is a very stressful process (especially if you are working). SBC helped me get through this in matching me with the right person and providing great resources. Very grateful and satisfied in my choice to use them!

My last two cents - If you are like me and have been considering whether admissions consultancy is worth the price tag...I would say it was totally worth it. If you really want to go to business school and you have a busy schedule like me (or even if you just have no idea about how to go about applying), SBC will be a tremendous help in keeping you in check and supporting you through the process.

Read More

White Caucasian Male
GMAT: 610
Undergrad: A western state college
School of Choice: Ross Business School


As many do, I researched and researched all the consultants and weighed the costs of paying someone to help me through this tedious process of applying to b-school. After narrowing down to Aringo, MBA Mission, and Stacy Blackman, I ended on Stacy. This was no mistake and am ever so grateful for Bill Chionis and his
expertise in helping me. As I interviewed all of the consultants, the one thing that stood out to me about SB is the fact that they were direct with me. I spoke with Esther Magna and told her my GMAT score, she simply stated, "we can't help you get into a top tier full time program". Ha, I had taken the GMAT 3 times and knew my score was weak, but had 5 years work experience and a lot of extra curricular activities. I knew I wouldn't make it into a top 10 school full time, so because of my weak GMAT score, I strategically went with a top school that offered a Weekend program. This way I knew my chance was better.
Why I liked SB was that there was no BS, she was direct, no trying to just make a sale, and set proper expectations. Comparing to another consultant who I won't name, they told me, sure we can help you get into a top tier school regardless of GMAT score, although nice to hear, it's unrealistic. SB is realistic and helped me work with what score I had.
After deciding on SB, I was paired with Bill. He was and is always prompt in returning emails, most of the time same day unless it was for an essay review. Again, Bill was direct, realistic and helped me map out in words what I wanted to say in the essay. He was an excellent coach when it came to the interview prep. I probably spent 3 hours or more with him between 2 or 3 session to prep for my interview.
The experience was great, and the day I received the call from Ross, made this long trek of applying to b-school all worth while. I highly recommend SB, and would highly suggest the comprehensive package. If you have a low GMAT score, they can't work miracles, but can set you proper expectations. Very pleased!

Read More