Stacy Blackman Consulting

Q: Tell me a little bit about the firm. Size, number of full-time or part-time admissions consultants, how long you’ve been in business, and who do you serve?

A:  Since 2001, Stacy Blackman Consulting clients have been admitted to every top business school worldwide, frequently with substantial merit scholarships. Stacy Blackman Consulting (SBC) delivers results, as shown through its record of the highest number of online reviews across multiple MBA admissions review sites and #1 ranking by industry sites: MBAinsight, BeattheGMAT, CrushtheGRE, ExamStrategist and #1 out of 11 firms for the presence on our SBC team of former MBA Admissions Officers by PoetsandQuants. Our MBA admissions consultants guide MBA applicants, U.S. and international, to the top business school programs, including Harvard HBS, Stanford GSB, Wharton, Kellogg, LBS, INSEAD and others and also specialized programs such as deferred admission (college senior 2+2), joint degree, and EMBA.

On our team at this time are 72 consultants, including both full-time and part-time consultants.  SBC is the only consulting firm in the industry that has on our team a complete panel of former MBA Admissions Officers from the top US programs and top EU programs. No other firm has this complete talent with backgrounds as varied as yours.  75% of our MBA consultant team hails from the top seven U.S. MBA programs as MBA graduates and/or former MBA Admissions Officers, including from Harvard and Stanford. The SBC team has MBA expertise at every top US and EU school, has graduated from the elite MBA programs and understands career paths in every industry, traditional and non-traditional.

We also limit consultant load carefully because we do not want a situation where one consultant has ten clients with the same deadline all vying for attention the night before. All of our consultants are experienced, knowledgeable and NOT overwhelmed by a giant load of clients. This is why you will not see an SBC consultant on the PQ top 20 consultant list– because we intentionally offer a high-touch, limited client-per-consultant experience and not a high-volume factory. We have strategic consultants, such as the founder of the HBS 2+2 program and the originator of the Wharton team-based-discussion-interview program; those niche consultants fill important roles in their part-time/ ad-hoc roles on our SBC team.

SBC is the only large, exclusively-focused MBA consulting firm that is led by a female. 10% of SBC’s consultant pool is either Hispanic or Black, 25% of our consultant panel is of minority background, and SBC has five consultants who identify as and specialize in LGBTQ+ candidacies. This reflects the company’s mission to further diversity in the MBA applicant pool.

SBC recently launched national partnerships with two leading nonprofit organizations serving first-generation college students, people of color, and students from lower-income backgrounds.

Q: What is your firm best known for?

A:  Our reputation as the top-quality, established MBA admissions firm. That reputation is driven by SBC’s team caliber and high-touch consultant partnership, assuring MBA applicants that they are in expert and dedicated hands during a pivotal life journey.

Q: What makes your firm unique and differentiates you from other firms, large or small?

Four reasons:

1) SBC is the only consulting firm in the industry that has on our team a complete panel of former MBA Admissions Officers from the M7 U.S. programs and LBS and INSEAD. No other firm has this complete talent. See snapshot below and bios here:

–three former Harvard HBS Admissions Officers

–a former Stanford GSB Admissions Officer who holds a GSB MBA, a former Stanford GSB Admissions Officer who also worked at Haas as Director of Admissions and a former Stanford GSB Admissions Officer who worked in that role for 10 years.

–4 former Kellogg Admissions Officers who also hold Kellogg MBAs

–4 former Wharton Admissions officers including two from Wharton Lauder

–European school inside knowledge with former Admissions Officers from LBS,  INSEAD and Oxford

2) SBC’s engagement model of a dedicated consultant with additional review by our AdCom team is the most robust of all firms. SBC offers unlimited time with a carefully selected Primary Consultant, allowing for full accountability and dedication. A candidate’s identity and character are best captured with one consultant completely responsible for success. SBC also believes in checks and balances, as it has the Flight Test™ which is a complete review by a former Admissions Officer. This structured feedback from a former Admissions Officer (AdCom) mimics a real AdCom review and helps to ensure that a candidate’s application is most compelling to the target audience. We also include free access to a database of successful essays and interview questions and online guides.

3) SBC has the highest number of online reviews across multiple sites on the Internet. This is unparalleled Internet accountability. We hold the #1 ranking on MBAinsight, BeattheGMAT, CrushtheGRE, ExamStrategist and we are  #1 out of 11 firms for the presence on our SBC team of former MBA Admissions Officers by PoetsandQuants.

4) SBC’s consultants are trained consistently and overseen through quality assurance measures, including a cap of clients per round (rare in our industry), to ensure we forge a high-touch relationship with each client. Our team is carefully screened and receives ongoing training which includes conference calls with AdCom teams from top schools, in-house training with our onboarding expert, regular team calls to facilitate sharing of best practices, online resources within our company database such as sample essays, and interview transcripts.

Q: Do you have a roadmap or formula for the MBA applicant?

A:  Our partnership starts with a kick-off meeting during which your consultant will dig into the who, what, how and why that form your story. With a real sense of your history, you and your consultant will come up with a customized application strategy and manage execution by optimizing all application touch points, inclusive of essays, short answer prompts, recommender letters, resumes, and interview prep.

To inform this initial strategy session, we use an introspective questionnaire called the Application Strategy Document (ASD). Our approach allows for a personal and character-based MBA application strategy. Other firms may use a spreadsheet or matrix; that results in cursory and formulaic MBA applications. Our model entails a psychological and often “stream of consciousness” approach, and that is how the interesting stories emerge!

Q: Since you opened doors, how many MBA seekers have you helped to gain acceptance? How many successful applicants?

A:  We lost count— many thousands of clients and admits!  We don’t believe in reporting actual numbers or success rates because those are easy to fabricate especially among newer MBA admissions firms and instead recommend that MBA applicants look at our reputation, which speaks for itself and is time-tested.

Q: How can an applicant tell if your firm is a good firm for them to help them through the application process?

A: View our team page. Do you see quality, knowledge, and credentials that are ordinary or extraordinary? Compare your impressions of our team versus that of other firms.

1. Google “Stacy Blackman Consulting” and read what past clients have said about us across multiple sites (not just one source as a single source is biased due to pay-to-play and advertising realities).
2. Request a free consultation. We can share our value only after we validate that your target schools are within reach for your profile and understand your dreams. We are honest because we know that the pursuit of the MBA is life-altering for our clients. We take that process seriously.
3. Ask about how clients are matched. SBC limits the number of clients for each consultant and engages with clients only after our team evaluates and validates candidacy strength.  SBC first takes the time to understand the nuances of a profile before Primary Consultant matching. SBC’s matchmaking process includes criteria such as track record with target schools, alignment of demographic, ethnicity, nationality with consultant’s expertise, and consultant proficiency with industry category. Consultants’ level of interest and belief in the client is also closely monitored and honored and consultants are never automatically assigned a client. This concierge matching allows SBC to activate the right fit consultant and ensure a mutually enthusiastic relationship.

Q: Do you ever refer people to other firms?

A: Yes, we do at times when we are at capacity and in the scenarios when a specific MBA applicant has wild expectations that we feel we can not deliver on.

Q: Give us one free tip for applicants:

A: Think about ways to create the life story you want and then go do it.  Be in control by partnering with an expert to ensure success. The Earl of Beaconsfield said: “We make our fortunes and we call them fate.”