The Top 10 MBA Admission Consulting Firms Of 2019

FORTUNA NOW BOASTS MORE THAN 35 COACHES FROM 13 OF THE WORLD’S TOP 15 BUSINESS SCHOOLS

He maintains that the firm’s hires go through a rigorous screening process. “Many firms just vet resumes and hire only on the basis of pedigree, rather than skill,” says Shinewald. “We have a hiring committee that must unanimously agree to green light a potential new consultant at each step – from a first and second interview to our writing and editing exercises and mock client-phone sessions. Then, if someone successfully runs this gauntlet, we have a months-long training and mentorship process and then prospective consultants still have to pass a capstone exercise. We know that if we ensure that we have the highest quality inputs (our consultants!), we are going to get better client outcomes.”

When Fortuna launched in 2012, the firm had assembled a core team of former admissions directors from Wharton, Chicago Booth, INSEAD, Berkeley Haas and London Business School. “At the time there were very few ex-admissions in the industry, with many firms relying on MBA graduates to share their experience of applying to school,” says Symonds. “So Fortuna focused on building a team of admissions insiders and hired former associate directors from the top 10 business schools in the U.S. and Europe. They bring an unrivaled level of insight and understanding, based on their years of experience crafting the MBA classrooms of M7 and top European schools.”

Fortuna now boasts more than 35 expert coaches from 13 of the world’s top 15 business schools, and last year helped clients to secure a record $6 million in scholarships, adds Symonds. The majority of the Fortuna consultants are full-time and limit their work to eight clients per round, what Symonds calls “a very deliberate decision to ensure a level of personalized support and attentiveness, and not trying to juggle lots of different stories with a one-size-fits-all approach.”

MBA EXCHANGE GUARANTEES TO RESPOND TO CLIENTS WITHIN 24 HOURS, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK

At The MBA Exchange, CEO Min says the firm that helped him get his MBA at MIT Sloan was “the first admissions consulting firm to verify its effectiveness through independent, CPA-reported admissions results. Our ethics and quality are confirmed by a perfect “A+” rating as well as 13 annual Zero Complaint Awards from the independent Better Business Bureau (BBB).”

The firm guarantees to respond to all clients within 24 hours, seven days per week, including evenings, weekends, and holidays. “We share our proven strategies and proprietary tools with only contracted clients rather than diluting their effectiveness by providing free advice and publishing low-priced guidebooks for the mass market,” adds Min. “We safeguard each client from having an overloaded consultant by maintaining a low client-to-consultant ratio and establishing a liberal time allocation in advance for each engagement.”

The MBA Exchange’s consulting team features former MBA admissions officers and admissions committee members from top-tier business schools and prides itself on being the first firm to use video for interview prep, to launch a team-based discussion prep service and the first background-verification support service. “We are truly global, with consultants located in 11 countries, serving clients from over 70 countries,” points out Min. “Our thoughtful and thorough process for matching clients with lead consultants allows each client a choice. In addition to admissions consultants, we feature skilled essay editors and former MBA career services professionals.”

THE OLDEST TOP TEN FIRM IN THE BUSINESS, ACCEPTED, IS CELEBRATING ITS 25TH YEAR

When it comes to longevity, the top ten firm that wins the prize is Linda Abraham’s Accepted. She founded the firm out of necessity. “In the early ’90s, with six children under the age of 13, my husband and I decided that we needed more income, and I needed to make it,” explains Abraham. “Because of the kids, I didn’t want a 9-to-5 job or one that wasn’t family friendly if I could possibly avoid it.”

Influenced by several friends who were professional writers working from home, she decided in 1994 to draw upon her experience as an undergrad writing tutor at UCLA, as well as her MBA, to help applicants struggling with graduate school applications. With the Internet just becoming a popular medium in the mid-1990s, she started Accepted.com as an experiment two years after entering the admissions business. “The web site attracted business, and the Internet removed geographic boundaries,” says Abraham. “The experiment was a success. Demand for services almost immediately exceeded what I could provide. Accepted began to engage additional consultants and expand its menu of services.”

To attract new business, she found that producing content was helpful so Abraham became the first in admissions to offer online chats. Over the years, she added a blog, webinars, free guides, social media, videos, and our podcast and expanded into other degree consulting from the Executive MBA to the JD and MD. At Accepted, every client has one consultant, and that person becomes expert in that client’s priorities and goals as well as his or her qualifications and story. “Clients are not routinely handed off or shuffled among different consultants,” adds Abraham. “Clients regularly write me that they didn’t feel like they had a consultant; they felt like they had a valued friend and mentor guiding them and dedicated to their success.”

THE YOUNGEST FIRM, VANTAGE POINT, IS ONLY THREE YEARS OLD

The youngest firm among the top ten is the boutique Vantage Point founded in 2016 by a pair of MBAs. “We work with a limited number of clients every round and we’ve had to turn away clients due to selling out every round since we launched so that we can heavily invest our time and resources into each client,” says co-founder Melody Jones “We believe that the most successful applications to the most competitive MBA programs are authentic, personal, and differentiated. In order for us to guide our clients through the process of developing a truly personal, winning application, we know that it takes time, customization, and a highly engaged mentor who will be a thought partner through each step of the process.

“This high-touch approach allows us to tailor the application experience for each client,” she adds. “Our clients tell us all the time that they feel like they were our only a client – and that’s exactly how they should feel when they’re making an investment in our services. And our results are proof that our process works! Based on our raw data, our clients are admitted to the top MBA programs at a three to four times higher rate than the average for the school. We’re really proud of that.”

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