After months of preparation and more emails than my inbox could handle, I’m can’t express how excited I am to be making plans to attend Cornell in the fall. Throughout the incredibly draining experience of taking the GMAT and completing multiple applications, Maureen made the process as manageable and at times even enjoyable as one could hope for. The direction and feedback she provided throughout the entire process, from GMAT tutors, to essay revisions, to interview prep, provided me with the confidence, structure, and edge I needed to gain admission to a top program in such a competitive year. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been matched with such a patient, flexible and insightful consultant and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Maureen and SBC to friends considering an MBA.

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Caryn was absolutely amazing to work with. Her constructive feedback helped improve my essays immensely. She was extremely responsive, and her turnaround time was astonishingly fast. (I always got a reply from her, with edits extremely quickly.) She helped me stick to a daunting schedule of completing five applications in a little under three months. Equally important, she was incredibly supportive and helped me stay confident throughout the process. In the end, I was interviewed by all five schools I applied to and was admitted to three--one of which was a JD/MBA program, two of which I received scholarship money from, and all of which I initially considered to be reach schools AND I am headed to HBS in the fall! I can't recommend Caryn and SBC highly enough.

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Despite starting the application process over a year ago, delaying a year due to a promotion, and then restarting, Erika remained patient and thoughtful while helping refine my applications. One of my constant worries throughout the process was making sure that my application stood out. Erika's candid advice was invaluable when it came to determining which experiences to focus on to ensure that my true personality and character were on display. No detail was left unchecked or unexplored, and I believe that gave me the edge I needed. Particularly in hindsight, I realize how important it was to have such an honest, experienced application mentor. If I ever had to go through the application process again, I would ask Erika to help in a heartbeat, and I would absolutely recommend her and SBC to my friends and family.

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I cannot express how grateful and appreciative I am that I had the opportunity to work with Maureen. After not getting into B-School during my first go around, I continued to pursue my dream of going back to school and reached out to Stacy Blackman Consulting. I chose to work with Maureen because of her extensive history, success rate of helping candidates get into their first B-School choices, and because of all the positive testimonies that were presented in her bio. After our first phone call and strategy session, I knew I made the right choice. In the coming months, Maureen would help me to submit the best possible applications; providing great suggestions and insights. Although I went through many draft essays for all my B-School applications, Maureen always stayed patient with me and pushed me to get the most out of my essays. The B-School admission application process is very challenging and often overwhelming; however, with Maureen I shared 100% of my thoughts, feelings and concerns. Over the course of months, Maureen and I exchanged hundreds of emails and even though I felt that I overwhelmed Maureen with questions, Maureen always made me feel important, good about my progress and that I was a top priority for her. No matter what, Maureen would always respond in a timely fashion (always on the same day, within hours of my message being sent), providing honest and respectful feedback, which served me well. With my busy work schedule, Maureen worked with me late into the night on weekdays and even worked with me on weekends. I can happily say that I was accepted into Duke and UCLA. Without Maureen, my admission success and dream of going to a top business school would not be possible. I feel that I got more than I deserved from Maureen and I would highly recommend her services to anyone that is interested. Maureen is a true professional and someone that I will always be thankful to have in my life.

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I can not thank SBC and my consultant Maureen enough for their help through out the b-school process! Maureen was patient, diligent and her insights were critical at every step of the process. She took a lot of time upfront to get to know me and was able to draw out strengths/unique characteristics from my profile that I would never have thought of on my own. I had a tremendous gaps in my profile and Maureen was very direct about what I had to do to fill those in
(additional courses, leveraging work experience, etc). She had a lot of perspective on what Admissions was looking for in a candidate, and a lot of school-specific knowledge. When we went through our mock interview prep, she was intimately aware of what the school in question was looking for. I asked Maureen just about anything and everything (and my questions were frequently borderline ridiculous), but she always replied on time and with comprehensive advice. Often times, Maureen's response time exceeded our agreed upon time. She was a thorough professional and an exceptional support throughput. I would recommend SBC unequivocally to anyone looking to get into a top school!

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When I first found Stacy Blackman consulting on internet, I expected highly of it, and I was right. The methods Stacy uses enable each applicant to not only find out the best in him/her but also during this process to understand and recognize what to really look for in MBA. This experience is definitely a rewarding one. The result turns out wonderfully, with SBC’s help, I am going to my only one dream school- Columbia Business School! What I am most impressed is the devotion of my consultant during various stages. Kevin is very professional, experienced, intelligent, encouraging, devoted, and patient. He listens to my personal story and insightfully points out the weakness. Two of us work as a team to perfect the story. As a non-native English speaker and a non-business background applicant, I constantly struggled making my meanings clearly in a business sense. However, Kevin always listens clearly and patiently to what I have in mind, and helps me to express it perfectly. I also sincerely appreciate the devotion from Kevin due to my aggressive schedule. Without his help, I can’t finish the processpeedy and smoothly. THANK YOU Kevinl!

To SBC: I would like to point out that the BRAG SHEET is an excellent method of helping me to remember and sort out my strengths and weaknesses and your Flight Test validates that my consultant's plan for me was on target. They help not only on application preparation but also with interview preparation.

To Kevin:Every modification on my application (both on essays and resumes) plays a magic role. You can always find the perfect way to express my meanings. Thank you for listening to me patiently, working hard and efficiently, and reminding me details before interview. All of the helps really work!

To the SBC team:
Thank you for your encouragement. In the first place, I was a little bit confused about the criteria of getting into top business schools. (I always heard it is very hard) After talking to you, I felt much more confidant and encouraged on the application. I believe that the encouragement is another key factor to keep me going.

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I've been admitted to the Stanford GSB. I can't thank SBC and my consultant enough for the guidance. You played an integral role in guiding me through the mental process of successfully crafting a genuine, powerful and unique collection of essays. Interestingly, I also applied to Harvard, but completed the application without seeking outside advice. As it turns out, I was not accepted to HBS (and did not even receive an interview invitation). I think that SBC helped me clear a hurdle inside myself for the Stanford application that I didn't clear prior to submitting my HBS application. My consultant, Kevin, taught me that the application essays are about growing and about really taking a deep look inside of yourself. I am convinced that his coaching was the "difference maker" in my application. I'm extremely thankful that I reached out to your firm, and I'm thrilled that you introduced me to Kevin and the other consultants on the team. Thank you.

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As a younger candidate, expecting only 2 years of full-time experience before entering school, I was worried how MBA programs would perceive my experience when I re-applied. I had already applied to one school, unsuccessfully, so I decided to work with a consulting agency to help me create a strong personal brand.

I had a very positive experience working with Meredith on my 5 applications. She was very helpful in making sure I was displaying the different aspects that admissions committees want to see. While I was responsible for writing the essays and making corrections based on her suggestions, Meredith gave me confidence that I was sharing the best parts of my application while patching any holes that I had. Specifically, she helped me convey my work experience so that employers could see that there was great substance to it, despite its limited duration. In addition, she helped me address the fact that despite showing improving grades, my GPA was below the average for a top school.

I would recommend Stacy Blackman to a friend. While consulting services are expensive, they can pay off greatly. Not only do you know you are picking schools that you have a shot getting into, but you also know that you are putting your best foot forward. Stacy Blackman provided an objective and experienced point of view that give you constructive feedback and guidance through the application process.

In the end, I got interviews to four of my five schools (all top 25). I will update this review when I hear back from all of my schools.

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It took me weeks to decide if I wanted to use an admissions consultant, but after doing a lot of due diligence, I chose to do the All-In package for 3 schools with Caryn Altman at Stacy Blackman Consulting. I knew I had a lot of the things going for me - strong GPA and GMAT, but I also knew what my weaknesses were - a bit disjointed of experiences, never been promoted, not a ton of extracurriculars etc.

Caryn at SBC was truly awesome. She was thoughtful and prompt every time I emailed her various questions (which was very frequently!). She not only helped me to figure out which schools would be a good fit for me, but she also worked wonders in helping me to package all the things I have done thus far into a cohesive story that made sense. We probably went through 8 versions of my resume alone, and I will admit that while I did all the work myself, there is absolutely no way I could have laid it out in such a clean and compelling manner without her. I realize now that even minor word choices can send a red flag to Admissions, but I felt comfortable that I could avoid those pitfalls with Caryn, given her tenure at SBC and previous experience sitting on the Kellogg Admissions Board.

All of the SBC tools were helpful - from the Wiki page, to the Flight Test, to the practice video interviews on which I received feedback. It would be the understatement of the year to say that my experience was a worthwhile investment - not only was I admitted everywhere I applied, but I also was awarded a merit scholarship to each school! Thrilled to say I'll be headed to Kellogg in the Fall, with a $100,000 merit scholarship in hand.

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As a non-traditional candidate navigating a career change in the midst of application season, I was worried about positioning my work history and goals in a way that made sense for an admissions committee. Sarah was great at helping me get the clarity I needed on why I wanted to go to b-school and then helping me execute on the applications.
And, her help went way beyond editing essays and mock interviews - because of her I am heading to a top 10 program this fall with a solid idea of the type of career I want when I get there. To me, the clarity I have on future career decisions is just as valuable as admittance to a great program.

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