I did not enjoy applying to business school. There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty inherent to the process and each school varies greatly in both deliverables and expectations.

That said, I did enjoy working with Melody Jones at Vantage Point. It is largely due to her amazing efforts that I was ultimately admitted to Stanford GSB, Columbia Business School, and the Cal Berkeley Haas School of Business. The reality is that I did not believe I would get into any of these schools and all credit goes to both the process and diligence of people like Melody at Vantage Point for helping me flesh out and articulate a coherent, authentic story.

This last point is perhaps most important as I think the tendency for most (at least me) is to write what one believes an adcom wants to hear. Melody and her team were particularly adept at helping me find and express the best version of my personal truth in my essays. This took many drafts and much patience and Melody is exceptionally disciplined and responsive and consistently provided meaningful feedback to keep things moving forward. The fact that this specific service also included a review from an expert at a given school helped me fine tune my application prior to submission and ensure that nothing was missed along the way.

These services are expensive, but I can say without hesitation that Vantage Point represents a worthwhile investment in the future of any applicant.

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I can't say enough how great it was to work the Melody. My MBA journey started off disorganized, unsure and confusing. I've had an interesting (and very unconventional) career to this point and wasn't quite sure how to staple it all together. I have about as many red flags that one could imagine: two job gaps, eh GMAT and GPA, and switched jobs a few months before the Round 1 deadline. Despite a stressful new job and all these headwinds, Melody was super *accommodating* (can't emphasize this enough) with me throughout this entire process. She guided me on how to craft my story, clean up my resume, and write compelling essays. We must have gone through at least 10+ drafts on my first essay before I finally hit submit. The word limits forces you to be careful with how you craft your essays, but Melody’s feedback is blunt (with the best intentions) and really make you to get to the point. The service is expensive, but it's an investment. It's a stressful process and you only get out of it what you put into it. Thank you for everything, Melody!!

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I started working with Katherine in July of 2018 for round 1 applications. I was immediately drawn to her background in real estate (a field I’m interested in), her dedicated work ethic, and driven personality. During our initial call, she took the time to ask personalized questions to get to know me. I liked how Katherine continually “pushed me” to stop using b-school buzz words and helped me be very specific on my short-term and long-term goals and how business school would help me achieved them. I ended up purchasing the 3 school inclusive package and then bought additional hours for my other applications. We started with revising my resume (something I didn’t even know needed editing) to show how I made an impact in each role rather than describing the job. When writing my essays, her comments really helped me to eliminate the “fluff” and be more direct while still allowing my personality to come through. In some essays, I wrote about a personal and delicate situation in my life, and I really respected how Katherine was sensitive to that and did not exploit this experience for the sake of a dramatic essay. I appreciated how timely and professional Katherine was throughout this process. She had a very quick turnaround with essay comments/revisions – her efficiency left us with plenty of time with the purchased hours! She also helped me prep for interviews, leverage a scholarship offer, narrow down schools, and seek financial aid. Overall, Katherine exceeded my expectations and helped me immensely throughout this process! I have decided to go to Berkeley Haas and can’t thank Katherine enough for helping me get here!

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Initially skeptical about using an admissions consultant, I knew I made the right decision shortly after beginning to work with Katie. VantagePoint's approach really helps you think about, craft, and articulate your story in a unique way.

I think a huge part of this was that Katie took the time up front to get to know me personally, which informed her advice throughout the process - from school selection to essays, letters of recommendation, interviews, etc.

Another huge plus for me was her responsiveness. As a consultant traveling every week, my schedule is often unpredictable and Katie was both incredibly responsive (always getting back within 1-2 days max, and often the same day) and flexible, willing to make something work if I felt like we needed to discuss something.

I highly recommend Katie and VantagePoint for anyone that is concerned about working with a larger firm and not getting enough time and individual feedback from their consultant.

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I had a great experience working with Molly. This was my second time applying, and I wanted to make sure I had a strong application. Molly helped me take all the swirling ideas and plans I had in my head and tell a crisp, cohesive, and most importantly, authentic story. I am coming from the non-profit industry and want to stay in social justice long term. I spoke with a few other consultants who wanted me to downplay that passion and drive in favor of a more tradition post-MBA path, but Molly encouraged me to lean into what made me unique and be bold in my aspirations. She gave clear constructive feedback, pushed my thinking when I needed it, and gave me pep talks when I was stuck.

I ended up doing a one school package with her and adding about 4 hours of additional work to help with the essays for my other schools. I am very happy with the results. I applied to 5 top 15 programs and got into my top 3 choices, with full or almost full scholarships to 2 of them. I definitely do not think I would have had the same results without her support. I definitely recommend working with Molly!

Jane

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I worked with Meredith and Vantage Point on round 1 applications, and I am not exaggerating that she is the best MBA consultant out there. Meredith and the Vantage Point team provide a holistic, personal and strategic approach to the MBA application process that helps you submit your best possible application.

Meredith’s approach is holistic because she brings to bear the diverse ‘vantage points’ of her entire team. When you finally hit submit, you are confident because your application has already been well-received by her team of former adcoms and battle-tested consultants. Her eagerness to leverage the perspectives of her team mirrors the collaborative spirit of the top MBA programs.

Meredith’s approach is personal because she takes the time upfront to really understand every aspect of your applicant profile, and then helps you to articulate your goals (dream big!), play to your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses. Because she understands her clients so well, she is extremely effective at helping you to tease our your very best leadership examples for essays and interviews.

Meredith’s approach is strategic and efficient. When it came time to write essays, Meredith suggested I first tackle the prompts that required the deepest reflection (and the most drafts). This helped me accumulate a database of compelling anecdotes that I was able to leverage on the balance of my applications and interviews.

Most importantly, as an advisor she is spectacular. Meredith is professional, responsive, honest, supportive, approachable and positive. For nearly 12 months, I always felt like I was her only client. I am really grateful for Meredith’s support and guidance, which helped me gain admission to my dream schools - Stanford GSB and Northwestern Kellogg. Thank you, Meredith and the Vantage Point team!!!

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I started my application journey in 2017. I have to admit that I am not one of those guys who can come up with cohesive stories. Hell, my essays used to lack continuity every time. Therefore I did not get into the school I applied despite having a competitive profile and putting hours into my application. My efforts and my money paid.
Then I took the help of another consulting company wherein I think I was able to put better applications. I applied to 5 schools with them and couldn't get into any. I could only manage 2 interview invites and one waitlist. I was disappointed. Being ambitious, I had only applied to US top 15 schools.
I decided to change my approach in 2018. I went through reviews and locked in Molly. To my surprise, she was fast. With herself having Booth MBA, she knows the insights. She gives great advice and pushes to think deeper. She helped me develop my profile and constantly followed up with me to see my progress. Her turnaround time is just few hours. She was always easily approachable. I am a confused guy and would come up with new ideas every time but Molly was patient. She helped me in every stage of the application. After having had 10 plus revisions of just one application, I had almost given up but Molly didn't. After the ad-com review, I was able to put a much better application with Molly's help. I applied to three schools with her, secured an interview invite to each school and finally got one admit from US top 10 and one waitlist. When I reflect back, I hope I had met Molly before which would have saved me time and money. I would advise anyone to go with Molly blindly.

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Melody Jones at Vantage Point MBA is a wonderful consultant and I am very fortunate to have worked with her.

Firstly, if you are on the fence about hiring a consultant in general, I was in the same boat last year and I highly recommend pulling the trigger and going for it. When I first decided to apply to business school, I had never even heard of an admission consultant. The concept was foreign to me and as such I was reluctant to pay up for one. However, once I started my essays, I realized that they were nowhere near the standard required for the schools I was targeting. I was really struggling to express my "story" in a cohesive and compelling manner. Given that the MBA is such a large investment overall, I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be leaving anything on the table, and I ultimately decided to bring in a professional.

I researched most of the firms and interviewed consultants from each of them, but I was immediately drawn to Vantage Point due to its smaller size, which I felt would be most conducive to a genuine, personalized experience. When I spoke with Melody on the phone, I just knew that she was the one. Not only is Melody brilliant, but she is friendly and down-to-earth. I felt like she really understood where I was coming from and where I wanted to go. Having Melody in my corner curbed my anxiety tremendously and increased my confidence - that alone was worth every penny.

I had a 700 GMAT and not-so-great GPA and I was applying to some of the very best schools. On our kick-off call, Melody kept it real with me and was upfront about where my weaknesses were (later, she helped me develop a game-plan to directly address each of these challenges), but she NEVER attempted to discourage me from applying to the programs I'd set my sights on. I believe that it is crucial to work with a balanced consultant like Melody, who makes a point to manage your expectations but then puts in an insane amount of effort to elevate your application to the highest possible level as if your weaknesses didn't exist.

Melody is an MBA expert and if I hadn't worked with her, I'm certain my application strategy would have been all wrong. Admissions folks only spend ~15 minutes reviewing your entire application and I was surprised to learn that most of them do not have business backgrounds. Therefore, you must present yourself and your materials in a way that is drastically different from a job interview, for example. MBA essay-writing requires a significant amount of introspection and Melody possesses the rare skill of helping you spin life experiences (that to you may seem mundane) into captivating stories. Melody worked tirelessly to help me put together seriously killer essays (I'm talking 10+ drafts each). She will not do any of the work for you, but she asks very pointed questions that force you to dig deeper and she will not let you off the hook until every single sentence is perfect. There were many occasions when, after 5-8 drafts, I thought my essay had finally reached perfection and I had mentally checked out of it, only to receive yet another completely red version from Melody. I cannot stress this enough -- if you work with Melody, she will not simply check the box by providing a few iterations of useful feedback. Rather, she will be totally personally invested in you and your success. On that front, this review would not be complete without a shout out to Katherine Canning, who graduated from Wharton and works in my industry. She took time out of her vacation (!!) to do a final, last-minute review of my Wharton essays before submission. The consultants at Vantage Point are passionate about what they do and are seriously dedicated to you.

Finally, pretty late in the process, I realized that one of my 4 target schools actually wasn't the best fit for me and I decided to switch it out for another top 10 school (which I will be attending in the fall!!) just a few weeks before the deadline. I NEVER would have had the courage to take such a big turn so close to the end without Melody's encouragement. When it came time for interviews, Melody held several mock interviews with me. I went from being terribly awkward during the first mock interview to absolutely rocking it at the real thing! Also worth mentioning that throughout the process, I experienced several SNAFUs (the kind you never expect to happen), and if I didn't have Melody to guide me and calm me down, I would have had a meltdown and handled the situation incorrectly.

TLDR: Do something special for yourself this year and hire Melody Jones from Vantage Point MBA!

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I'd first admit that I am one of those who couldn't do this without a consultant. Trained as a scientist, I knew I needed someone from the business world to polish my application package and to take the anxiety out of the process through discussions.

I had another consultant before Molly. During that time, the vision for my application was less clear and I was falling behind the schedule. It got the point that I thought I was not going to make it and I hated the process. That's when I was introduced to Molly. Molly helped me make everything happen and she's even turned the application process into something almost enjoyable. She first streamlined my application plan while giving me the necessary confidence to finish all the work in time. She was very responsive and usually gets back to me in just a few hours. Above all, her insight helped me find and highlight the most relevant information in my application. By the time I submitted my applications, I knew I did my best and I have shown my best of readiness for business school.

Highly recommend!

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Choosing Vantage Point and Melody as my admissions consultant for my CBS application was the best decision I ever made. I originally entered the process feeling a bit uneasy with my average stats and my ability to stand out from a crowded pool of applicants possessing a similar background. Beginning immediately with our first phone call, Melody understood my goals and pinpointed the exact areas I had to improve on. We worked through numerous drafts of developing all aspects of my story, while also showcasing the unique qualities of my profile where her experience proved to be most impactful. She was always available through phone call/email despite being across the country. I highly recommend the Comprehensive Package because I was able to maximize my output while working a demanding job schedule and the interview prep gave me confidence heading into the real thing. I truly cannot express enough gratitude for the honest and thoughtful work Melody and her team dedicate themselves to.

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