I have an oddball background that is very atypical, and I am self
employed which presented issues with recommendations. My consultant at SBC was not troubled by any of my issues and knew exactly how to handle all of it. She gave great direction, boosted my confidence and saved me from sleepless nights trying to figure out what to do. I really respected Margaret, and the way she managed my applications with a lot of care as well as firm direction. Now that I am b-school bound I can say I feel like I made a friend in this process, as well as learned a lot about myself. It was a valuable journey that is ending with me at
Harvard Business School. I am grateful for the guidance that I received, and I highly recommend Stacy Blackman Consulting. It's a great company with a stellar group of people.

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I strongly recommend Ryan Barba from Stacy Blackman Consulting. My experience in working with him has been fruitful in many ways; other than the good news from my dream school I have learned new ways to project my profile that would benefit me throughout my career. I immediately decided to work with Ryan after the Intro call as he gave me pin-point suggestions about my profile and the road ahead.

Ryan, from start to end was very patient and motivated me to constantly polish my application throughout the whole process. I could have never known on my own the best practices to approach an essay or the application as a whole, but with Ryan it was much easier. The best part about the whole process was how a simple experience from my professional or personal experience was converted to a great essay!

Considering the competitive applicant pool I belong to, the final outcome of my MBA application is much better than my expectations and a huge credit goes to SBC. I recommend all targeting their dream B-schools to consider the amount spent with SBC as one of your best investments. Best of luck!

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Thank you Stacy Blackman Consulting and especially Maureen Capitolo. Anyone who is serious about applying to graduate business school should consider using Stacy Blackman Consulting. The competition for business school admissions is extremely intense, and in my case, I wanted to do everything possible to ensure that my application was as good as it could be. Maureen helped guide me in all aspects of the application so that I differentiated myself from the competition. She helped me realize that the application was more than just answering questions and listing accomplishments/achievements. The application was an opportunity to tell my story - my accomplishments, failures, background, values, etc. It was an opportunity to show the Adcom why I was a unique individual and deserved a seat at their school. It was no coincidence that I was accepted into Duke -- the one application where I received guidance.

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It was terrific working on my b-school apps with SBC and I am going to my first choice program so I am quite happy with my results. My consultant, Margaret, was awesome. She was unbelievably patient, never made me feel like any request was too much and simply gave great advice. She was calm, organized and together we put together a couple of really strong applications that I absolutely know I could not have created on my own. My biggest concern going in - would working with a consultant dilute my voice? Absolutely not. She guided me to bringing out my voice, not disguising it. I also found the SBC guides to be really helpful and used them as resources throughout. Great tips, samples, really clear guidance.

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I'm very grateful to Stacy Blackman Consulting for supporting my
business school applications. I am in a unique position to comment on them because I also worked with another firm and can compare across the two services. When i was researching firms, one firm claiming to be an expert in HBS convinced me to work with them on HBS and to feel free to hire someone else to work on other schools. I thought this seemed reasonable and decided to follow their advice. My big takeaway from that process was that the services at Blackman blew away those from the other firm. I have no desire to write a bad review trashing the others but I do think my ability to compare helps me explain why Blackman was so excellent. If I think through what really set the services provided by Stacy Blackman apart, it comes down to three things: (1) attentiveness and expertise of consultant (2) organization and professionalism of company (3) extra reviews from other members of team. The way the process was set up left me with a lot of confidence in my application, and made the experience of applying to business school a lot less painful than it needed to be. I was not admitted to HBS but am going to another top school with a sizable scholarship.

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I was accepted to HBS, Wharton, Booth,Kellogg and INSEAD! Working with SBC is an experience I recommend to all who are considering applying to an MBA. Caryn was extremely friendly, prompt, organized, and honest with her opinions (which is very important). Her suggestions to improve my essays took them to a whole new level of conciseness and clarity. Caryn’s help was invaluable in times (most often) when I did not know where to begin cutting down words so as to fit into the limits (or the 1 page resume)! She was knowledgeable not only in helping me to review drafts but also in providing advice and answers to any general question regarding specific schools and the application process. She took the time to really understand what I have achieved and what my goals are. In reviewing my achievements and failures, she helped me understand how to talk about them positively and focus on the right issues –this was especially useful and essential when we did a mock interview together. I am very grateful for Caryn and SBC’s expertise, assistance, time and effort in this long process. It was all absolutely invaluable!

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I owe a great deal of my admission to a top 10 business school to Maureen. She was an incredible help throughout my application process, from analyzing my strengths and weaknesses from my resume to formulating a plan on how to craft my essays and applications. She kept me aware of all deadlines, outlined strategy for my recommendations and gave feedback on my admission essays. My initial drafts were just thoughts on a page, but with her relentless help, I was able to craft them into focused, concise essays that ultimately proved worthy of admission. Maureen went far above and beyond what I expected from an admissions consultant, each one of my four essays required over ten drafts each; she would revise each essay in less than 24 hours with detailed comments and feedback. For a solid six months, Maureen was either on the phone giving me interview tips or emailing me with feedback on one of my essays on a daily basis. I do not think for a second that I would be here today if it were not for the help of Maureen and the SBC team.

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I began researching firms after reviewing schools on my own for several months in mid-May. SBC was diligent in finding the right consultant for me regardless of my background. It was nice to see how even in the first steps, they were already on my side to succeed in applying to business school.

After a couple of profiles and a few discussions, I eventually decided to work with Caryn through a comprehensive package.

Caryn is very clear in her methods and writing process which was always comforting and reassured me that everything would be on task. She definitely pushes your writing style to the best it can be for each school and challenges your thinking when it comes to essay topics and brainstorming ideas. However, knowing she was once a MBA student and worked in admissions for a school I found that she had the knowledge of both sides and her guidance was always aimed for success.

Caryn was great at addressing my weakness of school grades and building upon my thoughts on how I was a strong candidate despite not coming from a Fortune 500 firm.

I would would recommend Caryn to anyone who wants an encouraging, thorough, and knowledgeable admissions consultant!

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The application process was a very expensive one for me with the prep courses, GMAT materials, tutors, etc., but the best decision I ever made was deciding to work with Stacy Blackman and with Margaret Strother in particular. In a process that requires you to uncover your personal weaknesses, goals, strengths, and dreams, Margaret was incredibly easy to talk to and knew exactly what to do with the information that I was telling her, which was incredibly important because I had no idea what to do with it. There were bumps in the road, and weaknesses that we had to address, but Margaret helped me to develop a strategy that made my strengths as strong as possible. With her help, I was accepted to the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, my first choice school. In our last meeting, we talked about this being a "life-changing opportunity", and I'm certain that it's one that I never would have had without Margaret's help.

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Working with Lisa and SBC has been a truly great experience. From day one she was able to break down the daunting process of putting together an MBA application into smaller tasks, thereby reducing my stress level considerably. Her guidance allowed me to concentrate on putting together the best application possible. She helped me to discover and focus on the unique and positive aspects of my background and experiences that would appeal to admissions committees. Whenever I found myself stuck, she always had a different perspective that helped me to find a solution. She was always readily available via email and phone whenever I needed her advice. With her help I was able to gain admissions to the University of Texas, SMU, and Duke, the only three schools I applied to. I would not hesitate to recommend Lisa and SBC to anyone looking for a professional admissions consultant.

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