I had a great experience with Stacy Blackman Consulting (SBC). Erika was my consultant and was exactly what I needed. I talked to 3-4 different firms before going with SBC. Something I really appreciated about Erika was that she wasn’t afraid to tell me when she disagreed. She always gave me VERY candid feedback, which was awesome. I always knew that she would tell me exactly what she was thinking rather than letting waste time or take the wrong approach. I also loved how responsive Erika and SBC in general were. Every time I reached out or had questions, they got back to me within a day. I always felt like my application was a priority. They also had tons of helpful resources that I looked at all the time (blog, guides, wiki, etc.).

The best feeling for me out of the entire experience was that when I hit submit on my applications, I knew that I had put my very best foot forward because of the help I received from Erika and SBC. I’m headed to Wharton this summer.

Read More

I am a reapplicant (dinged at 4 schools, only 1 interview), and Margaret Strother was my consultant for the six schools I applied to (2 of which were reapplications). She was not formerly an AdCom or an MBA graduate, but she’s a fantastic writer, confidant, and advisor. She does MBA application consulting full time, so she devotes all her energy into understanding the changes and demands the AdCom have of successful applicants.
She was very conscientious in laying out how difficult and challenging the process would be while still making sure I kept my morale and confidence up. I cannot stress enough that working with a consultant is a two-way street; the consultant is not there to write your essay for you and they can only do their best work when you do yours.
At the start, Margaret reviewed my prior applications and my prior recommendations, figuring out where I needed improvement. We spent a good deal of time figuring out an overall strategy and we spent a lot of time batting around ideas for essays. We had six to seven drafts of each essay, and she was not afraid to say that the story wasn’t working and that we should rebuild from the ground up. She was also very sharp when identifying when my drafts for one school were too close to essays for another. When three of the schools had deadlines within a day of each other, she was extremely hardworking, turning around essay comments in very short order. Margaret was also easily available to answer non-essay related questions, which was very helpful with a number of the application forms. When interviews hit, she was able to give me great pep talks and advise me on a general theme for the interviews.
I also used the SBC flight test to tighten up my application for one of the schools, and the SBC Wiki was very useful as one-stop shop for general information and deadlines. The school guides were a nice complement as well.
With all this fantastic support, I came away with 5 admits (1 school I withdrew from after getting to the interview stage), 2 of which gave me substantial scholarships. I firmly believe that I would not have been as successful, and possibly staring at the dark abyss of R3/reapplying next year, without Margaret’s help. Instead, I’m going to Chicago Booth.

Read More

I originally was going for a consultant who had a track record as an admissions officer at one of the schools I was targeting. However, after talking it through with Stacy Blackman, particularly what I was looking for - a tough & honest reviewer, with deep experience, they recommended Margaret. Margaret kept me on track through the marathon of the admissions process. She was an excellent reviewer, her turnaround time was always fast, and always had insightful feedback. Her experience, encouragement, and deft touch was crucial in helping me think through key issues: school choice, positioning post-graduation, approaches to interview questions. I was offered admissions to MIT and Stanford. I highly recommend working with her.

Read More

Last year, I applied without a consultant to H/S/W plus UCLA. I got into UCLA and got wait-listed at Wharton (didn't get in). I am a 30y/o white male with a 690 GMAT but great experience and a very high UGPA from a top 50 (barely) public school. When I did it on my own, I clearly didn't do a great job at telling my story properly.

Instead of attending UCLA, I decided to wait another year and give Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, Berkeley with the help of Stacy Blackman's Sarah. With hours of Sarah's help and the adoption of her straightforward and humble style of storytelling, I was got into Wharton with a $42k scholarship. Nothing else really changed in my application (same 690 Gmat, same GPA, same work experience). The ~$6k I spent got me into Wharton and created an immediate ROI. Couldn't be happier - except maybe if I had gotten into Stanford with a scholarship. But Sarah set realistic expectations for my chances there given my age and the level of competition.

Thanks Sarah!

Read More

I used Stacy Blackman Consulting because I was short on time (taking classes, working, AND applying all at once) and because I had a major weakness in my application (my GPA). Going in I was honestly overwhelmed and didn't know how make the task of applying feel more manageable. My end result - I got into two of my schools and one with a significant scholarship - speaks for itself. (Full disclosure: I applied to 4 schools, SBC worked with me on 2 apps, one of which I didn't even get an interview to - but my other 2 application essays definitely benefited from what I learned working with an SBC consultant so I don' think I'd have gotten the same result on my own.)

If I could do it again though, I might have approached it slightly differently:

- I relied on my consultant too heavily for school selection. This is an area where I should've put in my leg work on my own before hiring anyone as SBC. While my consultant was helpful with "I would strongly advise not applying to that one for XYZ reason" she didn't offer any "have you looked at ABC?"

- I would have paid for additional essay hours for essays related to other schools.

The only real downside was the price. But, that said, you get quality for what you pay.

Read More

Applied to 4 schools and admitted to 2 of them.

I was going through a lot of changes in my life during the application year and I needed a mentor to help keep me on track of my MBA plans. I had evaluated about 7 to 8 admission consulting firms before choosing SBC. Fast responses (Esther at SBC responded to me on weekends), a focus on my profile during first profile evaluation call (rather than promoting their packages, or trying to “gauge my budget” for their services), and unique prospective on my profile were the reasons I decided to choose SBC.

Paul was introduced to work with me once SBC evaluated my profile and school selection. I was very impressed by Paul’s background: Harvard undergrad and Stanford MBA, worked for P&G and GS and now president of an M&A advisory firm. Despite his impressive background and experiences, Paul was an approachable and humble person. My first GMAT test was only 700. Paul encouraged me to retake and dream big. Once I got GMAT out of the way (760 in my second attempt 1.5 months later), we decided to work on HBS, Stanford, Columbia and Yale.

I felt very comfortable talking about all relevant aspects of my life and experiences with Paul. He would push me enough to unearth why and how rather than just knowing what and when. There was a lot of soul-searching for me. These open conversations during brainstorming helped a lot because we would have a lot of ideas to work on for the essays. Paul also thought highly of me for self-awareness. Thanks to his experience with MBA admissions and applicant pool, Paul guided me to focus on experiences that would differentiate me from other applicants. He would give me high-level advice on my essay content, themes, structure and tone and allow me to work on many iterations so that the essays are of my own work, before helping proof-read final versions.

Sometimes we would have disagreements on what experience to include. But every call was an intellectual discussion – we could share our opinions, try to understand each other’s perspective, be enlightened by each other and come to an agreement. Working on essays with Paul was like painting an artwork. Watching my artworks taking shape after each iteration and seeing the final results was inexplicably satisfactory.

Because essay writing was such a deep soul-searching journey, my interview practice became a natural and easy process. We spent most time working on HBS and Stanford essays and we both felt I had a good shot for the two. Although I wasn’t admitted to these two, I am very pleased with Columbia and Yale admissions. Thank you very much Paul.

Read More

I had the pleasure of working with Sherry on my business school applications. She was a tremendous resource and fantastic consultant. From beginning to end, she kept me sane and guided me through the process with lots of encouragement and honest feedback. She was available whenever I needed her – from talking about application strategy to editing essays to interview prep. It was easy to find time to talk on the phone and she replied to e-mails often within a few hours.
Sherry gave me realistic advice and I valued her as both a supporter and honest critic. She helped me put together a cohesive application that told my story in my own voice. Beginning with my resume and how to navigating school networking events all the way through negotiating scholarships, Sherry was an expert guide and reviewer.
Beyond Sherry, I worked with other members of the Stacy Blackman team to get second opinions and blind reviews. Sherry was an advocate for my application and was working to help me put together the best narrative possible and was open to incorporating ideas from others to make sure we achieved this goal.
It was absolutely worth the investment to work with Sherry and the Stacy Blackman team. Sherry was one of the first people I called to thank when I was admitted to Yale SOM!

Read More

After working extensively with Caryn Altman of Stacey Blackman Consulting (SBC), I can honestly say that she went far above and beyond my expectations. I signed up for the ‘All-in-one’ package for 3 schools and specifically picked Caryn after reading other raving reviews about her ability to get students into their dream school and she did not disappoint! Of the four schools that I applied to, I was admitted to 3 (including my #1 choice) and waitlisted on 1 despite my low undergrad GPA and average GMAT (at best) for the top-tier schools that I was applying to. To be honest, I figured they were all reach schools when I initially started the application process however after Caryn helped me create my ‘brand,’ my confidence significantly increased. Caryn was available and responsive to emails within a day (often times within an hour) and was able to walk me through the application process each step of the way. The best part about Caryn was that she is honest, and gives it to you straight. She will not hesitate to tell you to completely overhaul an essay, and also provides invaluable advice on non-essay fields as well. Coming into the application process, I was completely unaware of the amount of hard work and dedication that would be required and Caryn’s ability to guide me until I had a seemingly flawless application greatly reduced the stress of the application process. Overall, I am 100% confident that I would not have gotten into my dream school had it not been for Caryn, and am completely satisfied with every aspect of her work. I highly encourage any prospective MBA student to work with SBC and more importantly, with Caryn Altman (but do note that she is very popular so you will need to sign-up early)!

Read More

I cannot say enough thanks to Lisa Anderson at Stacy Blackman! She was the best! Without her, I wouldn't have had opportunity to pick from Booth, Stern, Anderson and Foster (with scholarship at both Anderson and Foster).

As an older applicant who is trying to make a career switch, I was initially very discouraged after talking to some other consultants who beat m age disadvantage to no end. I didn't think i would have much a chance of getting into any of these top schools, especially my post-MBA career goal is non-traditional as well. Lisa was honest yet extremely supportive from the beginning. She made me feel at ease with my career path and school selection, and I didn't even think about my age issue after talking to her (while it was my biggest concern.) There is a lot of work and stress involved in the whole application process, so I am glad that I had her as my mentor and cheerleader the entire time.

She was very responsive and timely in all of our communications. I had something for her EVERYDAY and she always got back to me before the end of my work day. We went back and forth about 15 times on my first application essay. And she did not simply edit the flow/words of my essays - she actually made me think harder about my goals and aspirations, and how to present them in a cohesive manner. She was also very accommodating with my time even though we are two time zones apart. She always let me chat with her in the evenings (for an hour each time) when it was more convenient for me after work. (This was very different from my initial experience with another consultant who refused to talk to me after business hours when she was hours ahead of me.)

After getting the admission offers from these schools, she was extremely patient in terms of listening to me making more evaluations on my schools and my goals. Her feedbacks were still timely and honest just as before.

I am so glad that I worked with Lisa. She was not just a consultant to me - I consider her my mentor. I owe my admission success to her.

Read More

I embarked on my MBA application journey knowing that I needed someone to lean on for all application-related questions, large or small. I engaged Maureen because of her ties to and expertise with Tuck, my top choice. I was a middle of the road candidate and knew that her intimate knowledge of "what makes Tuck tick" could help me stand out from a very competitive pool of applicants. Looking back, I feel like Maureen "got" me, and helped me craft effective essays that weaved the same central themes of my story throughout each essay and each application. I only engaged her for two schools (Tuck and Darden). Maureen's response time was always within 24 hours, typically within just an hour or two. She also has phenomenal bed-side manner (the consultant's version) and helped manage my expectations throughout this process. At the end of the day, I was accepted everywhere I applied and was able to have my pick of my three favorite schools. I went into the process expecting to only get into one school and just go there - Maureen helped me TRULY put my best foot forward, and I am 100% convinced that I would not be in this absolutely amazing position that I never dreamed possible if it weren't for Maureen. Just a note: for anyone who thinks that "hiring a consultant" will make the application process easier, think again. I am confident that I worked significantly harder on my applications than I would have without a consultant. That said, you really get out what you put in. Maureen acted as my coach and adviser and really, really pushed me to put out an impeccable and thoughtful end-product. If you're serious about the application process, Maureen and SBC will help you get to where you want to be.

Read More