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Since 2001, Stacy Blackman Consulting clients have been admitted to every top business school worldwide, often with merit scholarships. Stacy Blackman Consulting (SBC) delivers results, as shown through its record of the highest number of online reviews across multiple MBA admissions ranking and review sites. Our online track record includes: #1 on MBAinsight, BeattheGMAT, ClearAdmit, and #1 out of 11 firms for our team caliber by PoetsandQuants.
We begin with meticulous matchmaking before we begin an engagement or accept payment. We recommend a primary consultant only after evaluating your candidacy strength and differentiating qualities; we respect your investment and the trust you place in us. We offer a high-touch, limited client-per-consultant experience.
Contact us to request a free MBA advising session with an SBC Principal. Just give us 15 minutes.
TEAM
SBC is the only consulting firm in the industry who has on our team a complete panel of former MBA Admissions Officers from the top US programs and European programs. No other firm has this complete talent. 75% of our MBA consultant team hails from the top seven US MBA programs as MBA graduates and/or former MBA Admissions Officers, including from Harvard and Stanford. We know what’s going on, and we know it first. We have tremendous insight as to what is currently keeping the AdCom up at night and what values they are looking for from their current students.
MODEL
The SBC System™ has eight core modules and is the most robust of all firms. SBC offers unlimited time with a carefully selected Primary Consultant, allowing for full accountability and dedication. SBC also believes in checks and balances, and thus developed our Flight Test™, which is a complete review by a former Admissions Officer. This structured feedback from a former AdCom member mimics a real AdCom review and helps to ensure that a candidate’s application is most compelling to the target audience. We also offer an "hourly first" option for applicants who prefer to test the waters initially before engaging in our All-In service.
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Yvette (SBC)
I reached out to Yvette after a recommendation from a colleague who got admitted to both HBS and GSB. I worked with Yvette on an All-In Package for the same two schools, and had a great experience.
From the very first conversation, Yvette helped to apply rigor and structure to my application and career goals, while still keeping my story authentic to who I am. Yvette applied "tough love" well, motivating me to come up with well-reasoned, "no-BS" answers for everything. By the time I submitted my application, I had done significant introspection, which paid off tremendously down the line as I was preparing for interviews. At the same time, Yvette was kind and understanding, always happy to hop on a call to help me calm my nerves, such as when I was unsure as to who should write my recommendations, despite a large time difference (I was based in Asia).
Ultimately, I was admitted first round to both HBS and GSB, and thank Yvette tremendously for the help!
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Consultant Christina (SBC)
With Christina and SBC’s help, I received offers from 5 schools with scholarships totaling over half-million dollars and an admit from HBS, 6 out of 7 of all schools I applied to. Coming from an over-represented population and industry, I felt really thankful for the results, and therefore it's my great pleasure to share my story with Christina and SBC and to hopefully inspire other people with similar goals.
During our free 30-minute free consultation, which Esther arranged immediately after I reached out, Esther's being down-to-earth and transparent won me over. Unlike other consultants, she encouraged me to pursue the very top schools and quickly pointed out my weakness with action items even if I haven't purchased their services. Esther then matched me with Christina based on my background, which was a true blessing for me. Christina and I had an introduction call and she just impressed me with her insights, personalities, and work ethics. Feeling the click that Christina and SBC will help me succeed, I didn't even talk to other consultants and decided to work with Christina on 4 schools – every of which led to an offer with scholarship.
Among all wonderful things about Christina, I want to highlight three aspects that make her a perfect consultant for me - 1) She knows what schools care about and how to most strategically "brand" me. Based on my past experiences, she helped me define my winning strategy from the beginning and gave me actionable advice to strengthen my profile and story in a couple of months leading to the application season. She encouraged me to pursue a few relevant leadership activities, which ended up being the core component of my application. 2) She is incredibly hard-working, has super high standards, and has great attention to detail. In editing my essays and application form responses, she didn’t just switch words or phrases. She’d structurally improve my essays with top-notch writing skills. I was awed every time my essay was returned with a full screen of edits. From months of reading and working through Christina’s feedback on my essay, my writing skills certainly improved as well. 3) She is a genuine person and cares about my applications more than I do. While I worked with her on only 4 schools, she’s always generous in giving me feedback on my other three school applications. Her advice and overall strategy played a critical role in my two other offers even without her direct help. Whenever I felt “slacking”, she always motivated me to bring out my best self.
I also want to call out the team support from SBC in addition to Christina’s amazing work. Lisa, as my flight tester, provided honest and reassuring feedback on my application two months before the submission and left me with plenty of time to act upon. Anthony, the observer of the complimentary Wharton’s TBD, helped us get comfortable with the TBD format and shared useful tips. SBC’s repository of past successful essays, included in the package, was also handy and helpful!
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Consultant Gina (SBC)
It was an absolute pleasure working with Gina. She challenged me to think outside the box on areas of my essay(s) that needed work. She gave me guidance on refining areas that looked good. Most importantly, Gina helped me develop my story in a clear and concise manner. I appreciate the quick responses by Gina (even during the holiday season!) and am very glad we were able to work together on this project. She was always readily available, offered great feedback and was honest in her opinions. If something looked forced or cheesy, she called me out on it and I appreciate and respect that. She did not just give me a pat on the back and say good job, she brought the best out in me and that is all that I could ask for. I highly recommend Gina. :)
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Consultant Kimberly (SBC)
Had got a reject from all b-schools previous year for Full-Time MBA applications. This year I was planning to apply only to 2 schools- Kellogg and Booth for Part-Time MBA. Got admit from Kellogg, so did not apply to Booth :)
Kim helped me
-convey story in my essays
-refine my resume which was earlier nowhere close to what bschools expect
-prepare for interview with sample questions and how to structure answers clearly
Kim was very patient and I took time to come up with improvement in my essays. I dealt with her from Oct 2019 to Feb 2020. Her suggestions brought clarity in my essays. She responded proactively to any quick questions I emailed her. She also suggested on what points from my profile should be emphasized and which ones to be hidden to provide the best possible version of myself. Without her help, my applications materials would have been vague, confusing and difficult to understand by adcom.
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
I had a really good experience with Joey and I thank him for it. Being a European, it was not really easy to understand the process. Thanks to my admission consultant, I was put at ease with it and I could ask all the questions I had.
Joey was very available, connecting on my time frame (which is very useful) and answering me very quickly. We managed to get everything done in only a few weeks. His greatest strength is his ability to understand candidates and help them give the best of themselves in process documents that match well with their personalities!
I would clearly recommand him and all the documents from SBC.
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
I had an incredibly positive experience with Joey from SBC from our first call through the entire admissions process. He took considerable stress out of the application process, and fortunately I'll be heading to HBS in the fall.
As an applicant with a traditional finance background, Joey was able to push me out of my comfort zone and emphasize the parts of my personality that made me unique. I was nervous about needing a big moment for a successful personal statement, but Joey helped me craft an essay that demonstrated my underlying character in a creative way, an essay I ended up being really proud of after plenty of iteration and phone calls with Joey.
Joey was always available for a call or via email. On my interview day, he hopped on the phone with me on a moment's notice to run through random questions that had popped into my head.
I felt incredibly supported by Joey throughout the process and would highly recommend him for anyone going through it.
Product Stacy Blackman Consulting MBA Admissions All-in Services
Consultant Joey (SBC)
Joey was paired with me and quickly showed to be a thoughtful, really smart, and just overall awesome coach and person to work with! He really took time to understand my background and aims for business school -- really a ton of thought and effort here -- and it proved quite valuable when we began discussing a plan for applications and making the actual materials.
I especially valued his feedback in that he understood my style and approach while also being super critical. He's an excellent writer and storyteller and his feedback was invaluable. All the materials I prepared struck a strong message and story thanks in large part to Joey, and I got into my dream school as a result.
His general coaching and helpfulness in all aspects was really outstanding. It was a pleasure working with Joey and I highly recommend him for helping prepare B school applications!
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Consultant Bill (SBC)
I reached out to Bill pretty late for the Booth and Kellogg spring batch deadline. He convinced me that I had a good candidacy and I could complete the application in time. That gave me the confidence to apply and as promised Bill was there to help at every step of the way. He was very responsive and clear with his feedback. His tips on handling different aspects of the application including the interviews were invaluable in helping me get through. I applied to three colleges and got a positive response from all. Thanks Bill. I would recommend him to anyone thinking about consultation for part time MBA programs.
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Consultant Joey (SBC)
Joey helped me gain admission to several M7 programs. He helped me with a complete overhaul of my CV that better highlighted the achievements that would most stand out to an adcom - and spent time helping me re-write my personal statement.
I signed up with completed applications, confident in my products, but Joey helped take those products to the next level. He was almost too generous with how he calculated time billed - always giving me extra chunks of time to get my products where they needed, and he was crucial to my interview preparation. Several of the questions that Joey asked me during our mock interview that seemed off the wall at the time were asked word-for-word by adcoms - and the line by line review we had done during our interview prep helped me deliver strong answers to the questions that adcoms would have no reason to believe that I had rehearsed.
Regardless of how confident you are with your application materials, I can guarantee that Joey will help you deliver a stronger product. Asking for Joey by name is probably the best thing you could do right now for your admissions chances.
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Consultant Sherry (SBC)
I am an international engineer and a re-applicant. Following a rough application season in 2018 where I was dinged without interview at all 3 schools I applied to, I knew I needed to seek help from a professional consulting service.
What drew me to Stacy Blackman is the team work the team embodies. I had spoken to Esther Magna, when I was still contemplating an MBA and had not even taken the GMAT. She immediately reached out to me upon my request for a free consultation. She was very forthright about my candidacy and was also very understanding of my desire to not rush through a R2 2018 application despite the fact that I am an older candidate. It was this blend of honesty about my chances at some schools and the flexibility to accommodate me that made me choose SBC.
I was paired with Sherry Holland and she immediately got to work, crafting a strategy for the upcoming application season. I went for the 4 school all-in package and while the applications were gruelling, Sherry made it enjoyable and I daresay, fun! She was meticulous and organised, and kept me on task by setting deadlines for different milestones. I did not feel as harried or stressed as I had with my previous applications. She did a great job managing my recommenders, which is one of the more stressful parts of the application. She also was not afraid to tell me when I had a wrong path with regards to the essays. We had to do a lot of course correction throughout the process.
I benefited from the Flight Test, which was done by Beth Tidmarsh, who offered may useful insights that really made my application shine. The teamwork at SBC is truly unparallelled!
In the end, I was admitted to 3 of the 4 schools I applied to, all with significant scholarship! I know for sure this would not have been possible without Sherry and the extended team at Stacy Blackman.
I will be attending Tuck in the fall and I am eternally grateful to the team at SBC! I highly recommend Sherry and SBC.