I purchased SBC's comprehensive service with Bill Chionis. Even though I have good stats and work experience, I was concerned about how my candidacy would come across to adcoms because my background is in a non-traditional industry in a developing country.

Bill helped me to decide on my application strategy and how to better present my background and post-MBA goals (and decide which of the potential paths was more appropiate application-wise). Bill is very knowledgeable about MBA programs, what each program offers, what adcoms seek in an applicant, and how the adcom will most likely interpret your profile. To me, that service alone was worth the whole investment, but that is not all that the package includes.

Bill, with his super-friendly and professional style, also helped me with:

_Brainstorming, editing, and improving the essays (with the specific structure each school prefers and why they prefer it)
_Editing textbox responses in the online application forms.
_Preparing for the interview: what questions to expect, what an appropiate response looks like, and how to behave. Bill also conducted a mock interview and gave me constructive feedback.
_SBC also provided a "Flight Test" in which another consultant looks at your application cold, as a real adcom would, and then gives you a very detailed report on what areas to improve, if any, and how they think your candidacy will be perceived.

In the end, my process with Bill was very enjoyable, he was super-responsive and helpful, he listened to my needs, and responded with insightful advice. Also, I never felt anxious or alone. I think MBA applications, like many other important moments in life, should be done with someone you can fall back-on for advice and support (remember when you bought your first home or car?).

I was admitted to Chicago Booth (and will attend) while edging on the younger side of the applicant pool. Such a result more than meets my expectations. If I were to do it all over again, I would hire Bill Chionis from Stacy Blackman Consulting and not look anywhere else.

Note: I tried services from another firm before and was not impressed. Also, I am a very demanding client, specially for the amount of $ invested in these services. I can tell you that Stacy Blackman Consulting is worth your investment.

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As a R1 applicant gunning for some of the top schools, Margaret + the Stacy Blackman team were absolutely crucial throughout my entire application process.

Margaret helped me prioritize early on in the spring, so that I could knock out things like short-answer/fill-in-the-blank questions and polish up my resume before schools officially released their essay questions. When it came to essay writing, Margaret helped me bring out the best in my essay without ever losing my distinct voice. I was amazed when I compared my first drafts with my final versions - she truly has a sharp eye for how to polish any essay and bring out your unique voice on paper. Margaret was also super responsive throughout the entire process, responding at all hours of the day on weekdays and weekends.

After I received an interview with HBS, Margaret set me up with Paul (another Stacy Blackman consultant whom I would highly recommend) - I truly believe he made the difference in my interview with HBS. He provided invaluable advice on how to differentiate myself and effectively convey what I could offer to the school during my interview. For those skeptical, he has decades of interview experience for top schools like Stanford GSB.

I ended up getting into HBS and Wharton (with scholarship), and would highly recommend SBC!

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I thoroughly researched MBA Consulting Services for weeks before deciding to seek the support of Stacy Blackman Consulting. After just an initial consultation with the Stacy Blackman team I felt confident their partnership would ensure my application was competitive and the best representation of who I was as a business professional including what differentiated me as an MBA applicant. I was partnered with Carol Grayson whose many years of MBA admissions experience were heavily apparent in her incredibly beneficial feedback, advice and recommendations. Carol was always tremendously responsive and very attentive. I benefited from an incredibly personal support system. Carol answered every question or concern I had with clear thought and care and always pushed me in my writing in a way that ensured the final result communicated my ideas in a concise, clear manner. I am thrilled to say that with Stacy Blackman Consulting and Carol Grayson's support, I was extended admission to my top program, INSEAD! I would HIGHLY recommend Stacy Blackman Consulting - if you are on the fence, trust that you will not be disappointed. Carol was an unwavering support system in all my moments of doubt, uncertainty or unease. SBC's services provide you with an unmatched confidence when navigating the rough waters of MBA applications. I HIGHLY recommend SBC and send a BIG thank you to Carol Grayson!

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Stacy Blackman Consulting exceeded my expectations and more than lived up to its excellent reputation. I worked with Maureen, who guided me through the entire application process, from crafting my story, to writing essays, and finally conducting mock interviews with me.

I was focused on a very small group of schools, all in the M7. Maureen helped me to tailor my story and application for each school, showing me how to emphasize specific aspects about myself that made me a fit for each program, allowing me to differentiate my candidacy. Maureen was extremely organized, laying out an aggressive but achievable schedule for submitting all of my applications before the Round 1 deadline. She was also incredibly responsive, typically turning around drafts of my essays within a day, and responding to all of my emailed questions within a few hours. I was accepted to both Columbia and to Kellogg with a large scholarship. I feel very strongly that without Maureen's guidance I would not have been admitted to any of the schools I applied to.

In addition to Maureen's exceptional guidance, Stacy Blackman Consulting has an outstanding set of resources that helped me throughout the process. The application flight test helped me to identify and fix weak spots in my application, and the wealth of information available on the Stacy Blackman Wiki was invaluable to me as I wrote my essays.

The MBA application process is far more competitive than I first realized, and I learned that a strong GMAT, GPA, and career path is not enough. Candidates must find ways to differentiate themselves, and Maureen and the team at Stacy Blackman Consulting showed me how to do so. If you are serious about pursuing an MBA at a top program, then I highly recommend that you consider working with Stacy Blackman Consulting.

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This Fall, I worked with Lindsay Sage from Stacy Blackman Consulting on applications for business school. It was a great experience, and I certainly would recommend taking this route to others applying to business school.

Ultimately, the most valuable thing I got from the process was a clear, organized roadmap of everything that needed to be done. Without having done the process before, I was often unaware of all the items that I needed to keep track of, from the proper etiquette for optional essays to the need for unofficial vs official transcripts.

The essay reviews were helpful - especially when it came to helping me pick out what topics make the best business school essays. Lindsay was very responsive when it came to essay edits, and was usually able to get back edits in a couple of days, even when I sent in essays for 5 schools at a time.

SBC also has a variety of additional tools - I took advantage of their practice group interview (my group interview at Wharton was the first time I had every done one), their web-video portal to practice for Kellogg's video essays (again, I'm not exactly a video blogger - helpful to get the practice), and the "test flight" to get another set of eyes on my application.

Ultimately, my application process was very successful - out of the five schools I applied to, I got in to four - Wharton, Kellogg, Tuck, and Fuqua (Once I heard back from these, I had cancelled the fifth school, Columbia, before I heard back since).

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I'm off to HBS because of Paul.

I wasn't the easiest client, I admit, but at every stage wherever I was nervous/stressed, Paul was a beacon of calmness and confidence and, in fact, used this to direct my essays and ideas.

SBC is great in that it allows you to pick the person who works with you. For me, it was no contest: Paul is a Harvard grad and Stanford GSB grad with relevant work experience and gets countless in to the top schools every year.

Our initial conversation looked at aspects of my personality, helping me to think about myself and how this could drive what I wrote and my application strategy.

From then, Paul was always available - for a chat to discuss ideas and always ready to respond to an email at double speed, no matter what time or what day of the week I sent it.

I particularly liked the fact that Paul's strategy was more hands off, concentrating less on correcting my grammar and English, and focusing more on the content and how we could target each school. A number of times he reiterated that changes might not be 'authentically' me. As a result what I handed in was a snapshot of the real (and polished) me.

He was also happy to look through each of my applications innumerable times.

I still can't express fuly how thankful I am.

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Meredith from SBC was my guiding light through the business school process this year. I never considered a consultant until my roommate mentioned that she used Meredith and got in everywhere she applied (HBS, GSB, Wharton). At first, I considered it an insurance policy. But once I started working with Meredith, I realized I couldn't have done it without her.

Meredith knows what she's doing. I had a hard time really nailing down my story -- I went through about 15 drafts of my HBS essay. Meredith was always patient with me and thoughtful with feedback. She not only helped me highlight what would be important to HBS admissions, but she also helped me really stay true to my own voice.

On top of that, Meredith answered all of my crazy/paranoid questions promptly, and she prepared me incredibly well for my interview. She was incredible, and I highly recommend using her! I don't know that I'd be starting HBS in the fall without her.

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I started out with SBC targeting a magnificent 7 B-school with GMAT score that was in range but slightly below average. I spoke to Dawn before signing on and was immediately drawn by her clear and direct approach to the application process. Dawn helped me plan my strategy; she helped me bring out things in my application that actually mattered. Things that adcom actually cared about. She put an entire strategy together with clear target dates, proof read my essays and gave me a mock interview. Her approach was systematic and through various steps she helped me think about different aspects of my application that put my essays in shape. Without Dawn and SBC I wouldn’t have put my best foot forward and wouldn’t have gone for my interview with such confidence. Today, I am finally going to my dream school and couldn’t be happier with my experience with SBC.
In summary, I highly recommend SBC and Dawn if you are targeting a top 10 B-School.

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I cannot say enough about the support I received from the SBC team. I chose hourly services as a way to help me appropriately tell my story. Erin's help was critical in allowing my voice to shine through in my essays. The team was incredibly responsive and met all timelines we agreed upon without fail and without a perceived loss of quality. Erin was completely transparent about agreed upon services that we would be using as well as an anticipated number of hours or half hours each service would deduct from our total hours prior to embarking on the service. I truly appreciated the transparency throughout the process not only with billing but also in giving feedback. I paid for real feedback from a professional who would help me achieve my objectives in a timely way. SBC delivered 100%. My experience felt tailored to me and what I needed. On the front end, we anticipated a set number of hours would be necessary to achieve my objectives, and we met that estimate. I did not have to re-buy time, nor did I feel like time was wasted at any point. I would whole-heartedly endorse SBC.

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It sounds pretty cliché, but I truly couldn’t have done it without SBC and Ryan Barba.

When I first started looking at MBA programs I realized my application had some glaring weaknesses. My GMAT was average at best, my years of work experience were lower than desired, and my ability to answer the essay questions was poor. I knew pretty early on that in order to get into my desired program I was going to need a consulting firm to help strengthen my application. In came SBC.

I ended up going with the comprehensive package and after having a kickoff call to learn more about me I was paired with Ryan Barba. I personally can’t speak for the other consultants at SBC but if they are anything like Ryan then you are in great hands.

Ryan was there for me every step of the way and exceeded every expectation I had. Reading the difference between the first and the final draft of my essays is incredible. Ryan really understood what it took to frame me as a strong applicant and helped me get there. When it came time for interviews I was beyond prepared. Every question they threw at me I was ready to answer thanks to the help of Ryan.

Not all heroes wear capes and I can truly say that Ryan Barba is a hero.

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