Fortuna Admissions | MBA Admissions Consultants

After extensively looking for a consulting firm with the necessary experience to help me apply to the Top Canadian MBA programs, I finally decided to work with Fortuna Admissions. I worked with Melissa Jones, a consultant with solid experience helping students apply to the top business schools in Canada, and who demonstrated the necessary professionalism and attention to detail to submit the best possible applications. She used her expertise to guide me throughout the application process, from developing a compelling story that truly showcased my strengths, to helping me prepare for Skype interviews, asking relevant questions and providing feedback. Her responses were always very timely, which is a must-have in my opinion, especially when trying to meet school deadlines. There are many consultants that claim to have experience with Canadian schools, but in reality not many do. Melissa is one of the ones that do, and she can prove it.

Michel was a tremendous help to me. After getting rejected from my top choice schools last year, I wanted to work with a consultant and Michel could not have been a better partner throughout the process. She had such a tremendous depth of knowledge about what schools are looking for among applicants, from her own experience working in the Wharton admissions office. She quickly identified the flaws in my applications from the previous year, and helped me better structure my narrative for the next cycle. She helped me with everything from selecting who my recommenders should be and helping me draft notes highlighting my accomplishments for those recommenders, to prepping me for all of my interviews. The amount of time we spent going through my answers to commonly asked questions, and making sure my answers were thorough and cohesive was HUGELY helpful. We also went through draft upon draft of each of my essays, making sure that each was concise and conveyed all of the necessary information. She was so responsive, and offered deep insight every step of the way. I was accepted at Tuck (my top choice!) and 2 other schools. I was even awarded merit scholarships at the others. The overarching strategy, guidance, and insight that Michel provided was absolutely critical in terms of setting me up for success. Michel has gone above and beyond to help me in this process. During the application process, I met with alumni and adcoms from the schools I was applying to, and Michel and I talked through key questions to ask, and what I should highlight about my own experience to those individuals. Michel and I have even talked through which school I should select based on my career goals. It’s been amazing to have her as a resource throughout every single step of the process. I can’t recommend Michel and Fortuna highly enough! The fact that all of their consultants have experience working in the admissions offices of all of the top business schools is incredible, because these people know EXACTLY what adcoms are looking for, and can help you structure your narrative in an impactful way. I also loved that I had a second pair of eyes on all of my essays (big shoutout to Judith Hodara for all of her help!!), and someone to review my resume.

I mostly worked with Nonie on my INSEAD application. I also briefly worked with Caroline, who helped me polish my final drafts. Nonie has been a superstar in my successful journey to INSEAD. Everything about her is gold! Her honesty and open-mindedness are the biggest hallmarks of her coaching attributes. She has been pleasantly honest about her opinions and feedback throughout the application process, even if that meant more re-work, drafts and revisions. She has a tremendous eye for detail and helped me rectify things that are sometimes easy to overlook. Nonie is also extremely open-minded, flexible and accommodating. She never restricted my chain of thoughts; she always encouraged me to write different narratives and her insightful critique eventually helped me select the narratives that best showcased my winning attributes and presented me in the best light possible. Although, I started working on my application quite late into Round 1, and hence was always racing against time to submit my application by the Round 1 Deadline, Nonie never allowed me to settle for less or compromise on the quality of any aspect of my application for the sake of meeting deadlines. In fact, Nonie powered me throughout the journey, especially at times when I felt that I might not meet the Round 1 deadline. Despite the zonal time difference between UAE and Singapore, Nonie was very flexible, responsive and her turnaround time was exceptional. Her feedback was succinct, crystal clear, and extremely constructive. Nonie leveraged her tremendous knowledge of INSEAD to help me create a bullet proof strategy for my INSEAD application. However, it was not just tough love from Nonie all the time. She displayed abundant sensibility when I shared a few of my personal stories with her. She helped me allay my anxieties and overcome my inhibitions. The mock interviews with Nonie were a lot of fun. I feel, this is where the student-coach relationship really came to life and started thriving on an entirely different level of comfort and camaraderie. Nonie’s care and coaching was extremely personal. I could feel that she was really invested, almost like a stakeholder, in my INSEAD dream, and when time came, she seamlessly switched gears from being my essay critic to becoming my biggest supporter. She championed me and positively reinforced my thoughts right until the decision day. Her confidence in my candidacy eventually became the cornerstone of my own belief, faith and confidence. With, Nonie beside me, I never felt alone in the journey. She not only kept me in the race all the time, but also helped me get over the line. I am absolutely indebted to her. While Nonie was the superstar of my INSEAD application journey, I would like to remember Caroline as the real rockstar of my application. She had been the MBA gatekeeper at INSEAD admissions for several years, and having shaped the application procedure herself, Caroline sprinkled the much desired magic dust on my application that quite literally transformed it into a sparkling one. Caroline stressed on brevity, simplified complexities and helped me make my application a breezy read. Her comments were razor sharp and succinct. Caroline’s initial assessment and feedback about my goal was also a massive help as it genuinely made me rethink about my career goals, propelled me towards a more realistic goal and definitely helped me avoid any potential red flags in the minds of the AdCom regarding my post MBA employability. In the end when Caroline, who herself made the final decision for more than 34,000 applicants during her time at INSEAD, told me “I enjoyed reading your essays”. I did feel a lot more positive and optimistic about clicking that “SUBMIT” button, than I would have felt if I did not have Caroline’s blessings. Succeeding in my INSEAD application, while being a part of the most overly represented demographic (Indian male engineer), on the wrong end of the 20’s, with a modest GMAT score, a young family, a very demanding work schedule, and no plan B (Yes, INSEAD was the only School I had applied to) could not have been possible had it not been for Nonie and Caroline, and Matt (who posited a reservoir of optimism, faith, belief and encouragement in me right at the beginning, during the initial free consultation). As Gordon Gekko said “The most valuable commodity I know of is information”, leveraging the collective insider knowledge of INSEAD was my biggest advantage of working with the Fortuna Dream Team. The recipe for success at Fortuna pivots on a fine balance between the various stakeholders at play – the coach, the mentor and the applicant – In my honest opinion the balance, as it is, is perfect. Therefore, Fortuna’s Dream Team receives my highest and strongest recommendation.

Cassandra was with me on my MBA journey from the very start until being accepted to top schools including INSEAD and Stanford. She was tremendously helpful all along the way. She not only encouraged me to apply to the world’s most prestigious MBA programs but also helped me showcase my very best to each school. Together we crafted unique stories for each school, connecting the dots of my personal life and matching it with the specific qualities the schools are looking for in prospective students. I highly recommend working with Cassandra to anyone who is looking for best in class help to get into their dream B-School!

Hi There, I have been a passionate MBA candidate. To apply, I gave my GMAT twice within 3 years – flunking both times at 620. I knew I stood no chance for my desired MBA. However, in parallel, my professional profile was on an overdrive. January 2016: Browsing the web, I came across Matt’s profile and seeing his established credibility, booked a call with him for my profile screening. Matt did an honest screening of my profile and clearly told me: “Shubham: I am going to say something you don’t want to hear. Just give the GMAT again. I literally beg you”. According to his assessment, my profile had everything needed in a ‘Strong Application’ and my GMAT was the only blocker. Sounds pretty crazy, but the 30 min call and those words gave me the kick. I e-mailed him back: “Matt, you said something I DID want to hear!” 2017: I gave my GMAT a 3rd time, scored 720, and got accepted into INSEAD. We spoke 30 mins in Jan 2016, my post displays the impact.

I have worked with Emma for ‘Director’s Evaluation’ service as well as ‘Hourly Consulting Service’ after I was invited for the interview. I sincerely enjoyed working with her because of her expertise and knowledge about LBS, insights in admission process (behind the scene), responsive and enthusiastic attitude toward my application and me. If consultants can provide information that I can find from the web (or even worse, not knowing about the information I find), I think there is no value. In that matter, Emma, due to her time at the school, knows every bit of the school that outsiders cannot really find out. Also, even though she left the school some time ago, she is up to date with all the history and changes to the programme (curriculum, events, culture, etc.) because she is still closely connected with many LBS people. When she received my full application for the ‘Director’s Evaluation’, she was quick to recognize all the details about the programme I put in (even though some of the things were new this year), and provided more insights and details so that my application and essays looked like someone within the LBS community had written them (in my opinion). I was also able to demonstrate my fit with LBS in interviews with additional inside knowledge Emma provided. Also, as an applicant, I was always curious about what happens behind the scene with admission team when they are making a decision, and I could not really find the answer because most people can only guess (although some people/consultants are arrogant enough to say they know when they have never sat at the table). Because Emma has made the admission decision with the team before, she exactly knows what’s happening behind the scene and what the admission team is looking for. This was helpful in many ways: carving out irrelevant information in my application that would only bother admission officers to read, changing perspectives in telling my story so that I can showcase my qualities that admission team is looking for, recognizing my weakness and addressing it properly, even helping my mind to be at peace as I know what will happen when I hit the submit button, etc. Lastly, her passion for LBS applicants is tremendous! She tried to help me in any way possible and was willing to communicate at all times. For the past 2 months, we’ve had more than 100 emails going back and forth. She got back to me by the next day, and this is at the latest! She sometimes just emails me back in a real-time. Her comments and actual edits are so detailed and insightful as well. For example, I think my CV initially had all the good contents, but only with her edit, the reader could actually see and easily recognize the great content (I believe this is so important for CV!). Also, just working with someone who is so willing and passionate about my admission definitely helps when I am so tired working on applications. And I can actually build trust toward with her so that we can truly become a team! All in all, I believe I wouldn’t have received my admission if I have not worked with Emma. With Emma’s input, my initial work has improved (more like evolved) to shine! If anyone is interested in LBS, I am 100% confident that Emma is the best consultant on the planet!

I started looking at MBA applications last year, after a few years of considering an MBA an decided to go with Fortuna for some assistance during the process. After filling out the strategy form, Karen and I worked on application essays extensively. Based on my prior experiences, I filled out the essays and Karen assisted me in refining these essays, with comments sent to me normally within a few hours. The whole application process is generally stressful anyways but Karen assisted me in focusing on important aspects of the application. Karen was extremely helpful during the interview process as well and the mock interviews helped in calming the nerves. I would definitely recommend Karen as she was immensely helpful during the whole process, especially at times when you get a mind blank or a mini writer’s block. The final essays were then reviewed by Caroline Diarte, with important additional input on what should be highlighted. I enjoyed the whole process as there were important topics discussed, highlighted which I wouldn’t have thought about to state in the essays.

First off, I screwed up – I thought the deadlines were later than they were, and started on my applications with only a few weeks to spare. Tatiana told me the kind of work I would have to do to get my app in on time, and held me to the aggressive timetable she set. She’s incredibly knowledgeable about the process and kept me honest – there is absolutely no way I could have finished it, at such high quality, without her. Second, Tatiana could have been a psychiatrist in another life. She has a wonderful ability to understand you in a very short period of time, which I found to be incredibly helpful in not only writing great essays but also really self-reflecting on why I want to go to business school. This process reaffirmed the decision, and I’m very grateful to Tatiana for that.

Coming from a scientific research background, I had little prior knowledge of what business schools looked for in an application and what part of my experiences to highlight. That’s when I started working with Tatiana Nemo. She has been absolutely fantastic to work with. She took the time to really understand my story and found out vital bits and pieces that I had ignored. Tatiana, along with Judith and Heidi, made sure I stayed true to my unique story and didn’t sound clichéd to pander to the audience. She did a great job of strategizing around my weaknesses (meh GPA, overrepresented bucket, and non-traditional background). She has been incredible supportive throughout the process and boosted my confidence when I got a bit overwhelmed around the deadlines. I was also amazed by how quickly she responded to questions, essay edits, and even during the video essay practice for MIT and Kellogg. Overall, I feel working with Tatiana was a fantastic decision. I believe that with her help, I was able to submit an application far better than what I could have ever done myself. I’d highly recommend her and Fortuna!

“Tatiana’s coaching, guidance and support through this complicated process resulted in my acceptance into Northwestern’s Kellogg MBA program! Tatiana was instrumental in helping me navigate through the key steps of this process and in synthesizing my ideas, background and experience into a compelling application. Her intelligence, knowledge and commitment dedicated to my application made the whole process not only a successful one, but also an enjoyable ride. If I had to apply for another degree, I would choose Tatiana in a heartbeat!”

As someone without any connection to MBA students or alumni, I had a difficulty in compiling my essays and the overall application process. After contacting several admission consulting services and comparing their service, responses towards my questions, explanations, and overall feeling to the consultant, I decided to choose the service from Fortuna Admission. For me, to be comfortable to the consultant is essential as basically they will be your mentor who will guide you through self-reflection and question your motivations pursuing MBA, which could lead to many personal sides of life! Nicola Sandford was really an amazing mentor. I felt like she genuinely want to know about my motivation and background, pointed out several of my strengths and weaknesses, then showed me how to make my profile stood out as a unique individual. The feedback from her were really accurate and fast! She will not stop until she know the essays and the overall application are ready to be submitted. She sometimes also discuss with Caroline in supporting me and happily answering my (many) questions. As a result, I am successfully admitted to INSEAD and HEC Paris, with a significant amount of scholarship! I am sure the result will go different way if I didn’t have the support from Fortuna Admission. Many thanks to Nicola, Caroline, and Fortuna team for supporting me to achieve my MBA dream!

I have nothing but deep gratitude for Tatiana’s guidance on my application process to several universities around the world. I thought I was doing a good job putting my applications together but when she started coaching me, I realized how far off I was. She not only clarified what really needed to be done, she also helped me with my reasoning and motivation for applying to this or that university or program. To give you an idea, thanks to her coaching I was admitted to every university I applied to – The University College of London in UK; McGill University in Canada; and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Spain. I ended up choosing McGill University. If you are thinking of choosing a coach that would help you succeed in your applications, choose her! She is a highly intelligent and knowledgeable person and has a deep commitment for helping others succeed. She is also charismatic, warm and very pleasant to be around with. In short, she is the best!

My experience working with Judith was great. I was initially drawn to Fortuna after speaking with both Judith and Matt, her business partner. I had spoken with multiple consulting firms, and Fortuna really impressed me with their attention to detail on my background and what I was hoping to accomplish. Judith gave a lot of great insight into the admissions process at the various schools, drawing on both her own experience in admissions as well as that of her colleagues. I wasn’t sure how much detail was needed for each of the essays. During my first pass at an essay, she came back to me and said that I really needed to go deeper and provided a handful of helpful questions and comments that forced me to get super specific with that school. Throughout the process, she was willing to look over essays and answer last minute questions, and overall was an incredibly useful and calming presence throughout the process. Additionally, she held interview prep sessions for both 1-1 and group interviews, all of which were invaluable.

Malvina was absolutely brilliant to work with and I would highly recommend her to anyone applying to top business schools. She was always available to offer in-depth guidance (even at very short notice and just before imminent deadlines) and provide reassurance. She has a deep knowledge of the inner workings of top schools (such as HBS, Wharton and Columbia) and I have no doubt that I wouldn\’t have been anywhere near as successful with my applications had it not been for her.

I decided to use admissions consulting service at a pretty late stage for my application. After reviewing several companies and talking to some of them, I instantly decided to work with Fortuna after talking with Matt, who knows everything about the biz school dynamics and gave me so much encouragement. I worked with Caroline, whom I believe is the best fit coach especially if you want to apply for INSEAD. I finally got admitted by INSEAD with scholarship and Judge. Thanks, Caroline!

When I see how much Nonie strengthen my application, I would dare to say that hiring Fortuna Admissions was the best decision I have ever made. With only 2.5 years of working experience and not such an international background, I was clearly an outsider compared with other applicants. Yet among the three MBA programs I applied to – Cambridge, LBS, INSEAD – I have been accepted to both LBS and INSEAD. There is no doubt that Nonie’s coaching has played a decisive role in this success: whether it is on the content or on the form, she truly brought my application to a much higher level than I could have ever hoped. I could clearly appreciate Nonie’s past experience at the INSEAD: she does know what kind of candidates MBA application teams look for – and what profiles they want to avoid. Of course it’s not going to magically happen on its own just because you got a coach: you got to be committed and work hard on both your essays and your interviews, nobody is going to do it for you. But if you are serious about your application then Nonie will know how to make the most of it, her coaching being brilliant and her commitment exemplary; it is pretty likely that without Nonie’s help I wouldn’t have been accepted. Probably just like anyone reading this review, I was initially unsure whether or not hiring a coach was actually worth it; today I am really thankful to my INSEAD acquaintances who recommended Fortuna to me. Of course hiring a coach is an investment, but we are talking about joining programs that cost 100,000 USD: adding a few thousand dollars to significantly increase your chances of getting to your dream MBA program is probably the best investment you could ever make.

The guidance of Fortuna Advisers and my coach Catherine Tuttle was invaluable as I navigated the overwhelming and stressful process of applying to business school. From the outset, Judith and Catherine worked with me set expectations, select target schools and develop a timeline with key application milestones to keep me on track. Catherine’s feedback helped me craft my resume and develop my personal narrative that would standout among the other applicants. In moments of stress, Catherine’s calm and confident approach allowed me to stay focused and productive. I’m very grateful for the resources and guidance Fortuna provided and am thrilled to have been admitted to my top choice!

Judith brings to the table her years of experience as an admissions director, to review applications from the lens of admissions committee. I found her inputs on my applications invaluable and worth every dollar spent at Fortuna. She maintained the perfect balance between projecting my authentic self and making me stand out in the applicants pool. She went out of her way and worked through her weekend along with me for my Yale application at a time when I was approaching the deadline fast and Judith’s hands were already full. She was instrumental in helping me highlight my strengths and convey my intended message in the application, in the most succinct and presentable manner. She ensured optimum utilization of the consulting time I had with her, conducted multiple mock interviews and kept my morale high throughout the process. With Judith’s help and my determination, I got admitted into my top choice school – Yale SOM. I can’t thank her and Fortuna enough for this service.

I am so excited to write a review for Julie, who diligently worked towards strengthening my applications and preparing me for interviews. I particularly appreciated her candid approach to helping me understand the strengths and weaknesses of my profile, from the perspective of the admissions committee. Through multiple reviews and feedback, she encouraged me to go deep within myself and come up with the most impactful work/life experiences I have had, thus making my application stand out. Her mock interviews and subsequent feedback, ensured that I took my best and authentic self to the actual interviews and converted both my interview calls into admits – Kellogg and Cornell. I highly recommend Julie and Fortuna Admissions to serious aspirants for top Business schools.

Having worked with multiple admission consultants, Emma is definitely the best I had. She helped me with my interview preparation for LBS and gave me great advice when I was on the wait list. I think the first and most important thing is that your consultant is responsible and truly cares about you. Emma gave me her best advice and took the initiative of providing me with additional thoughts even after our prep session was done. Emma knows the school extremely well that she was able to provide me great insights of the school and the programs offered. When I was waitlisted for the MBA program, Emma was also able to give me good feedbacks with realistic expectations throughout the process. Her advice was great and I got off the wait list at the first round of review. I strongly recommend Emma!

I started searching for a company to work with several months prior accepting an offer from Fortuna Admissions. What amazed me about Fortuna Admissions was their expertise and excellent team of coaches with incredible background and expertise. After initial calls with the company’s head Matt Symonds, I was assigned to work with Malvina. And I must say that that was one of the best experiences I have ever had in my life working with someone. Malvina was an incredible person, coach and mentor who pushed me towards my goal of entering the best MBA program. Malvina was always there, whenever I needed help and guidance. From the first call we started brainstorming my story and narrative. She helped me to open my eyes on many things, including what makes me special among other qualified peers applying to business schools. We were able to build a unique story highlighting my strengths and adequately addressing my weaknesses. Throughout the span of 8 months, Malvina was my mentor that not only helped me to build a story for business schools but also helped me to discover myself. With what she helped me – helping discover myself and what truly makes me who I am – was and will be an invaluable experience that I will carry from now on. I am extremely grateful and lucky that I had this incredible opportunity of working with Malvina. At the end, I was admitted to GSB and Yale where I hope to accomplish my life goals… thanks to Malvina. I have no idea what would have happened without Malvina. I am so thankful to her and cannot fully express my appreciation for what Malvina helped me to accomplish.

White male from a non-target undergrad, with an average GPA, great GMAT. I first reached out to Fortuna to check if it was feasible for me to apply after only 2 years of work experience. They were encouraging and I decided to apply this year rather than next. The best part about Fortuna is DEPTH. They have specialists in each area and school. I targeted Wharton and was able to work with Michel, a former Wharton alumn / Associate Direction, and a Wharton Admissions Director (Judith Silverman Hodara). This customized service is something few other consultants can provide. They even ran a mock Team Based Discussion with other applicants which was extremely helpful. When I was waitlisted at Stanford I was able to work with a specialist on the GSB as well. Michel was stellar: responsive, thorough, and insightful. She let me write my own application but steered me away from danger (she made sure I used two professional recs rather than one profession and one academic.) Working with her added structure to the process and fostered confidence in my decisions. In the end, I was admitted to Wharton and could not be more excited. I applied a year early and got into one of the three best MBA programs in the world thanks in part to Fortuna. My only regret: that I didn’t get the full package and use Fortuna for every school.

I worked with Judith at Fortuna and could not be more thankful for her help. My first conversation with Judith was great – she was very calm, knowledgeable, and really took the time to hear my story. She provided constructive feedback and advice even during my initial free phone consultation, which immediately drew me to choosing Fortuna. They were initially going to place me with a specific consultant who had extensive experience with Wharton, but he/she was not available at the time – thus, Judith helped me instead and did not charge me extra even though she goes for the higher director’s rate. Judith was extremely responsive, efficient, and provided very helpful feedback to each iteration of my essays and application. With not much time to complete my application, Judith was never the bottleneck – she was rather a calming presence. I knew my story, but she helped refine it and frame it in a compelling way on paper. When I got to the interview stage, I had no idea what to expect as Wharton’s group/team-based interview is unique – luckily, Fortuna also offered mock team-based interview training, which I found very helpful. I went into the actual interview feeling confident and well prepared because I had gone through it with other candidates and received feedback on my performance from Judith. I felt reassured and confident every step of the way with Judith’s help because I knew she had extensive experience evaluating candidates as an admissions director herself. I will be attending Wharton in the fall and am extremely grateful for Fortuna and Judith’s support. I truly received individualized attention (even as an hourly client), and am extremely happy with the outcome!

I had such a great time working with Heidi – she was thoughtful, attentive, and knew exactly how to connect the dots among my seemingly disparate set of experiences. I was a non-traditional applicant, and Heidi did a fantastic job at helping me craft a compelling story that wove together my personal and professional sides and that highlighted the unique parts of my candidacy. I started my R1 applications a bit late, and so I appreciated Heidi’s quick turnaround on my essays and candid feedback. I signed up for the 1-school package, and I was able to reuse much of the content we developed for other schools. I’m proud to say that I’ve received admits from several top M-7 programs. From the first call I had with Judith (director at Fortuna), I got the sense that the team really treats you like their own. This has proven to be true even after the application process, as Heidi and Judith have played a crucial role in helping me decide among several great programs (a good problem to have!). I’m extremely grateful for their guidance and expertise!

Heidi did a great job of probing my mind and helping me figure out what matters most to me. In addition to acting as a consult, she doubled as a fantastic “life coach” whose mentorship I will cherish for the rest of my career. And to top it all off, I was given services to put together a very comprehensive and compelling application package that allowed me to stand out (even as “Just another engineer”). I now know what my overarching goals are for both my pre and post-MBA timeline. I believe this is more important than even the MBA itself. I’ve learned that the MBA and “training” is only a means to an end….the “will” and “passion” is literally everything. I would 100% recommend her to everyone I know – including those who don’t plan on pursuing MBA’s.

I made the mistake of not using Fortuna the first time I applied to business school (and believe me, it was a mistake – I did not get any acceptances). If you’re applying to business school, don’t make this mistake as I did. When I decided to reapply, I was weary of using another firm given the experience I had. However, Judith proved right away how her and her firm would be extremely valuable. Even before I signed on, Judith spent significant time and effort discussing with me the ins and outs of the application process and my background. When I signed on with Fortuna my day-to-day work was with Brittany. At first I was concerned because Judith had known my whole background and we worked well together. That fear quickly faded. Not only did Judith continue to work with me, but Brittany seamlessly joined in, providing great insight. Having now worked with Brittany and another consultant from a competing firm I can say without hesitation that Brittany is the best in the business. She is very easy to work with, extremely responsive, and even more insightful. She’s the safe harbor when you feel like you are caught in the middle of the storm with the application deadline approaching. Brittany will help you find your voice and put your best self forward on applications. Another thing that separates Brittany from the rest: she genuinely cares about her clients. Some firms say they do, but Fortuna and Brittany walk that walk. Case in point: she put me in touch with her own personal connections to discuss the programs I was interested in and the career path I was interested in pursuing. As a re-applicant, Brittany took a lot of time to review all of my applications and go through where she thought I could improve my second time around. Her analysis was excellent, evidenced by the fact that I am beginning at my dream program this fall (Northwestern JD-MBA). All I can say is do not hesitate to use Fortuna and, when you call them, tell them you want to work with Judith and Brittany.

Reapplying from an over-represented applicant pool within six months of being waitlisted sounded tough enough, till I reached out to Emma and the team at Fortuna admissions made me feel better about the process. I’d worked with Emma on an Admissions of my prior application followed by Hourly consulting on the essay and interview prep. Emma’s prior consulting & LBS experience meant she w as able to relate to my personal/ career progression, and highlight experiences that made me stand out. Our interactions were informal yet candid, which made working with her very easy even through a tight timeline and juggling multiple pieces of the application packet. Her feedback pushed me out of my comfort zone and towards crafting something that spoke less about only what I do, and more about who I am. Similar to the experience nearly everyone has had with Fortuna, Emma’s turnaround was both super-quick and super-detailed (I still can’t figure out how both go together 🙂 ). From my first draft to the final version, I was able to clearly see the difference in story that Emma’s inputs helped craft. Similarly during interview prep, Emma’s inputs helped me better project who I am and brought a sense of informality to my story, as opposed to a linear approach that I’d typically have followed. I definitely feel Emma’s inputs helped me in crafting a better, more rounded and personal application second time around, and was the biggest influence in helping me secure a place at LBS within six months of a prior application decision. If you’re applying to LBS, Emma should be your go-to person!

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Fortuna team. Right from the first call to, the kick-off, to preparing my application with Melissa. She was extremely professional and informative; she knows her work. She spent a lot of time with me understanding about my journey in life and guided me to pick up the right stories. Melissa has a great attention to detail and was able to pick up the insights which even I didn’t know about me. I found the whole process to be very reflective. I got accepted for MIT Sloan and I don’t think I could have made it without Melissa.

I used Fortuna Admissions to help with the only school I was applying to last November. My experience was wonderful and Melissa provided help with areas I had not even considered. Melissa was compassionate to understand my unique situation and help me position my strengths to the best possible degree. In particular, I was very impressed with the approach Mellisa took to help me handle my recommendations. Pre-work in this regard help made the process pain free for my recommenders. I also had a lot of help during the interview process as I was able to do multiple mocks with Melissa over skype. I would definitely encourage anyone who is considering Fortuna to go ahead and take the plunge as the team really helped polish all aspects on my application !

Julie assisted me in preparing my applications to the Booth and Wharton – Lauder MBA programs. During the process, Julie provided me with candid feedback on my strengths and weaknesses as an applicant and clear strategies to tailor my applications to the schools, gave me specific suggestions on how to draft cohesive storylines, and always pushed me to sharpen my messages. Thanks to Julie’s assistance, and some luck of course, I have been admitted into both programs.

The business school application process is daunting. You’re tasked with distilling who you are as a person, what your interests and career aspirations are, and how an MBA at your target schools lines up with all of it. Deciphering these key aspects are vital to your application strategy, and, in Brittany, I found an advocate for me who made sure to go the extra mile not only to understand who I was and why I wanted an MBA, but also, more importantly, use that understanding to ensure my application communicated all these things I needed the admission committee to know about my candidacy. Throughout all of it, Brittany made sure to ask the tough questions and left no stone unturned; this ranged anywhere from pushing me to be as concise and sharp on a simple short response application question, to keeping an eye on the big picture so that not just a single essay told a great story, but that all the various pieces of the application fit perfectly together, painting a picture of why I was an ideal candidate for my target schools. Working through the application proved to be a highly iterative process, and Brittany was great at quickly sending back drafts of documents with her notes and feedback. Likewise, those insights and feedback helped address weaknesses in my application and essays that I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.. Brittany is a huge reason why I’m lucky enough to be heading to business school in the fall. The wealth of experience she brings to the table having gone through this process and read through numerous applications was huge asset. If you’re thinking about applying to business school, I highly recommend reaching out to and working with Brittany.

Michel was the best! Not just the results, but working with her through the process made it much less stressful. She has a great personality to work with, and her knowledge base to pull from makes the process even easier. During the consultation, I gave her my list of schools (3 Ivy M7s). She asked a bunch questions and really got to know me. After taking my stats into account, she told me that my goals were high-reaching, but felt confident we could differentiate my application together. Michel had great ideas to help me stand out, and she identified the best parts of my story that makes me unique. She was always available to talk on the phone about all her great comments on my progress and how to connect the dots. I was extremely proactive, and she had advice for all of my concerns, and she would discuss them until I felt comfortable. Only 100% positive feedback so that when I hit “submit” on my applications, I could rest assured knowing I showed my best, and Michel’s guidance was a big factor in my conviction. When I was asked for an interview, she coached me extremely well so that I felt confident. With all of her help I was admitted to one of my target schools! I highly recommend Michel!

From start to finish, Heidi was a great sounding board who really helped me think about how to structure the thoughts and messages I wanted to put across within my applications. She was always readily available and really proactive in checking in on my progress. Her feedback was almost immediate and working with her felt like a very personalised experience. I felt she knew me inside out by the time applications were due and will always be thankful for her guidance and suggestions – no stone left unturned!

Judith and Catherine were both amazing during my unique process. I originally started to work with them back in 2015. When starting the application process, I was hoping to improve my GMAT score. Unfortunately, I did not get my dream GMAT score. Instead of recommending to still apply in 2015, they both advised me to get my GMAT score up and then apply. I really appreciated that candid answer from them because they definitely could’ve led me down a different path. I eventually got the score I needed and worked with them on a fast track to hit R1 deadlines. They pushed me to put forth the best application and showcase my authentic self (instead of just writing what I thought the admissions wanted to hear). I am proud to say I got into my dream school and I could not have done it without them!

I decided to work with an MBA admissions coach 12 weeks before the HBS Round 1 application deadline. From the first minute of my 1,5h application kick-off call with HBS expert Malvina, I felt that she shared my desire to win. I felt so lucky to work with someone who is passionate about coaching, and even though we would only spend 8 hours together, Malvina clearly considered my application her Full-Time job. Malvina developed a highly customized essay framework based on the “key selling points” that she had identified from my responses to the “Fortuna questionnaire”. Already during my second call, I felt like if Malvina had known me for over 20 years. Between our calls, Malvina reflected in depth on my application and thanks to her excellent essay editing skills and her continuous availability, we managed to come up with a picture-perfect essay in less than four weeks. Malvina also played a crucial role in helping me to complete the application que stionnaire (employment history, additional information, etc) and to select the right recommenders. The interview-prep call with Malvina was very similar to the actual interview, and she shared extremely valuable HBS insider tips that no-one else (eg. HBS alumni,…) would provide me. Working with Malvina – who knows HBS inside out – really made the difference. Five months after I started working with Fortuna, I can call myself a proud HBS admit, and I don’t know how I would have done without Malvina’s help.

I worked with Malvina for my R1 submissions to H/W as well as to review my app to S. I got accepted to both H&W and was rejected pre-interview to S. Absolutely no regrets about working with Malvina / Fortuna. In fact, the work we did together would have been very helpful for apps to other schools as well, if I had not gotten into top 3. It was a great experience working with Malvina. She is very knowledgeable about the schools, incredibly friendly and easy to work with. She really made an effort and ensured that I received all the time and help that I needed – including putting together my apps and preping for interviews. I am not sure if I would have achieved similar outcomes without her. I decided to work with Malvina / Fortuna after having had intro calls with a few other big names as well. Very glad that I ended up working with them.

My initial conversation with Matt Symonds was the most informative of the many consultancies I reached out to. He was very knowledgeable despite my non-traditional background, and ultimately was the reason I chose Fortuna over others. I used the CSP for the major business school in the UK, and was accepted. Emma was part of the team at Fortuna, and was involved in the later stages of the application process. She came in once the entire application was close to finalised and looked at the whole applications (essays, short answers, CV, etc.) and provided some key insights. I did a mock interview with Emma and also with Karen, and this variety of interviewers was very helpful. Fortuna also used a project management software which was very intuitive and really helped the overall process (vs. traditional email). I am grateful to Emma, Karen and Fortuna for their help, and would thoroughly recommend them especially to anyone who may have a less traditional background for an MBA.

My initial conversation with Matt Symonds was the most informative of the many consultancies I reached out to. He was very knowledgeable despite my non-traditional background, and ultimately was the reason I chose Fortuna over others. I used the CSP for the major business school in the UK, and was accepted. However, the reason I am recommending Fortuna is because of my experience with Karen as a consultant. She was extremely professional, always available to answer any questions and of course her insights were very valuable on essays, mock interview and video interview. Emma Bond was also involved in the later stages of the application, and provided excellent high-level feedback looking at the application as a whole. Fortuna also used a project management software which was very intuitive and really helped the overall process (vs. traditional email). I am grateful to Karen, Emma and Fortuna for their help, and would thoroughly recommend them especially to anyone who may have a less traditional background for an MBA.

Having gone through the application process unsuccessfully the previous year I am able to especially appreciate the constant support and guidance that I have received from Catherine throughout my application journey this year. We worked together on three schools and I received admission offers from two of them while being wait-listed for the third. I daresay I actually enjoyed the application process this time around as Catherine not only helped me identify the right schools but also helped me present my best case as to why I should be a part of their class. Her suggestions and interventions made all the difference in my applications and interviews and her constant availability and support helped make this a stress-free experience. Looking back I do not think I could have asked for a better guide. Going to Business School is a significant investment of time and money and is probably one of the most important decisions I have made. I am glad to have had Catherine’s advice, encouragement and support during this journey and could not recommend her and Fortuna highly enough.

Life has not been the same since being accepted at INSEAD, and I don’t want to imagine what it would have been like if I hadn’t been accepted. Prior to applying, my goal to get accepted to INSEAD was clear and I did not intend on taking any chances in this process, so I went with Fortuna. The full package is a little bit on the pricier side, however keep in mind that the consulting team that you will be working with have in depth insider knowledge regarding the application process and will safely guide you past many easy traps along the way. The package also includes one on one preparation for interviews with your consultant, a full resume review, and a lot of cheering from the sidelines! I am eternally grateful to the dream team. And a big thank you to the main lady Melissa.

Nonie has been with me from day 1 of my application preparation for INSEAD MBA. And this is the best decision I have made! Whether you think your application is already solid or that you have to start from scratch, Nonie will play a key role in building the best possible application with you. Nonie has been available all the time and her turnaround was all always very quick and of top quality. She consistently provided detailed comments, explaining her reasoning and thoroughly helping me to rethink all the details of my application until perfection. She has demonstrated her outstanding knowledge of the application process, of the school profiles and of the best way to put oneself forward. Her commitment and empathy were so high that I sometimes had the impression it was her own application and this gave me even more motivation. A very important difference with other consultant is probably that Nonie call into questions all your arguments and examples to make sure that they are absolutely bullet proof. This forces you to think again and again but also prepares you for the interviews. Finally, Nonie has been a very enjoyable person to work with. It is rare to show such top class professionalism and expertise and to be such a friendly and nice person. When you feel a bit down after weeks of working on your essay or when you are waiting for your results, Nonie is also even here to cheer you up! I extremely happy that I have been admitted to INSEAD MBA, and I owe a big part of it to Nonie. But even if I hadn’t made it through, I would start the application adventure with Nonie again and again, as she no doubt helped me put my best feet forward! Thank you!

Nonie and the team at Fortuna are professional and know exactly what they are doing, they are organized, have different experts for the different stages of an application and make the process smooth and “relatively” easy. What set Nonie apart from the rest is that she continuously went the extra mile and while doing so showed real caring and interest in my application. Even though I was one of many getting support from Nonie, she always had time when I needed her – even when I needed last minute help as a reference wasn’t coming through. She as well showed that she really cared about my success – sending me good luck messages on the day of my GMAT test as well as celebrating with me when I got through the first round and when being admitted to INSEAD. Nonie – thank you very much for all your support!

I worked with Melissa at Fortuna Admissions for my successful application to INSEAD for the class of 17D. I had spent time developing my application and was unsure whether, in my case, a full admissions package was required. However I really wanted some feedback on my essay and my application in general. Fortuna’s hourly consultations was just the solution I needed. Less than ten minutes into my first phone call with Melissa, I knew I had made the right call. She provided an excellent background on the INSEAD process and provided clear guidance on the elements of my profile that fitted well with the school. This allowed me to tweak a few essays and submit a finished application confident in the knowledge that someone of Melissa’s experience had reviewed it. I cannot recommend working with Melissa highly enough; she is professional, responsive and hugely knowledgable of the INSEAD process (I can’t speak for other schools, but I imagine she excels at others as well!) Good luck in your applications!

I was overwhelmed by the thought of facing the MBA application process. Especially for INSEAD, which continues to add more requirements each year and has one of the longest applications of any MBA program. Fortuna, and especially Nicola, really helped me get organized from day one, making sure I took adequate time to reflect on my background/motivations and develop a cohesive story, and then guiding me through each hurdle of the process. Nicola helped me gain the confidence that I was submitting an application that not only displayed my story in the best possible light, but was also directly targeted INSEAD. Because Fortuna has years of experience on both sides of the admissions process (both as admissions consultants and admissions gatekeepers), they really know how to get the best out of you. For example, while I did not have a ton of international experience prior to applying, Nicola helped me successfully emphasize the things that were most relevant to the INSEAD admissions team. Nicola and the Fortuna team know INSEAD better than anyone, and I am forever thankful for their guidance over the past year.

I contacted Fortuna with a tight timescale to apply for R4, less than three weeks before the deadline. I talked first to Matt and it clicked quite well. He explained everything about the process and took way more time than the allotted 30 min free consultation (as opposed to other consultancies where I felt rushed), including acknowledging the shortcomings of my application and addressing my concerns with it. After our first conversation he proposed a custom hourly service plan which seemed very sensible to me, so I went ahead with it and started working with Melissa. Melissa took the time to go through all the data I provided and created a picture of me. During our phone and mail interactions we shaped that picture, with my draft essays and CV as starting point, to create a killer application. We chose on what to focus and dug in the areas that needed some more work. It was really easy to work with Melissa: she’s a very open individual, response times were really fast (despite a 6h time difference) and the recommendations were spot-on. We even had one hour left by the time I submitted the application, so we used that for my interview preparation, which was also really useful and efficient. All in all, A+ for Fortuna and specially Melissa!

Fortuna really helped me synthesise my achievements, and choose which to present to best serve my stated goals. As I knew nobody close to me who had already applied to an MBA, working with Fortuna also helped me understand the hidden rules of this universe. Finally, I appreciated the “team spirit”, timeline, feedback and encouragement. The storytelling work that Nonie helped me perform was also useful to me later for job applications.

Working with Fortuna Admissions is probably the best decision I made during my MBA admission journey. I have a pretty competitive profile (Consultant / IT / Male / 30) and my GMAT was not stellar (680, well balanced) so I really needed someone to put my story in the best perspective as possible. Thanks to this collaboration I have been admitted to a top MBA! I had several free consultations with other competitors but I have to say that Fortuna made the difference since they took time to study my profile prior to our call and gave me meaningful advice even before we started working together. I chose the full package (essay + interview + scholarships support) and I was assigned to Melissa. She is really a great coach and gives useful advice. She perfectly knows what to say and not to say, how to say it, which is in a perspective of writing essays, priceless! She was very available (2 days in average for a full review of your essays depending on the quality) and I did not feel any uncomfortable situations, I could ask any questions I had, and she is really honest with you. The full package includes a full review of your file from Caroline Diarte Edwards, former director of admission at INSEAD, and her feedback was really important to ensure that your story is compelling enough and you did not miss anything important.

Business school applications can be daunting, competitive, and it’s not uncommon to hear about well-qualified applicants get rejected. I chose to work with Brittany (Fortuna) to make sure I didn’t make any “silly mistakes” and let that be the cause of rejection. I worked with Brittany one-on-one throughout the course of the application process. She took the time to know my professional background,and my relevant personal stories to help me think through how to best express myself in my application. Interestingly, I probably spent more time on my application because I worked with Brittany, than I would’ve otherwise if I’d done it myself. She made me reflect hard on my past experiences and gave me candid feedback on how I was coming across in my application. She pushed me to make sure that I was putting my best self on my application, while making sure that I was always still in control of where I wanted to go with my responses. In the end, I got admitted to HBS. Working with her was well worth it, and I’d definitely recommend her to others seeking to apply.

Melissa was definitely the perfect consultant for my aspirations. Her help was truly invaluable and I couldn’t have put together such a great application without her help. The process of working with Melissa was delightful, she made me realize that I had a great story to tell and awesome ideas I could develop further to make my application more attractive. Melissa was very fast in replying to my e-mails and answering my questions; she also took time to get to know me and knew exactly which aspects I should highlight. Working with a former admissions officer is a great advantage. Melissa is a great person and she made the whole process much easier and enjoyable. With her and Matt I was able to see that they really cared about my goal of getting into INSEAD, making it their goal too! Both of them were key in my admission to both INSEAD and Cambridge Judge. Their experience, availability and interest during the process gave me confidence to attractively show who I really am. Fortuna is really a great team of not only experts, but also people. I’m very happy of the process and results, I recommended INSEAD to a friend of mine and he’s impressed by how professional Fortuna’s team is. I would recommend anyone applying to and MBA to choose Fortuna to secure a place in their dream school.

Hi All, I wanted to write about my experience working with Fortuna through the MBA application process. I had worked in the US for 3.5 years in management consulting and was now looking for a more diverse and global experience for my MBA; upon doing my research, I decided that I only wanted to apply to INSEAD, LBS, and Cambridge; three very diverse and competitive schools. Since INSEAD and LBS were my top picks, and given how competitive they are, I was definitely seeking help and guidance on how to go about the application process. It only takes one google search to realize that Fortuna is really at the forefront, especially when it comes to European schools. I still went ahead and did the ‘free consultation’ with about four to five companies and it quickly became very apparent to me that Fortuna was the only one who was really respectful and mindful of my story and did not force a certain ‘success story’ in my application – rather, they looked for the unique factors in my own experiences. Despite being slightly late to the process, they managed to team me up with Carolina Diarte Edwards (previously an Admission Director at INSEAD) and Melissa Jones (former Assistant Admission Director at INSEAD). Needless to say, they knew exactly how to mold my experiences, exposures, and story to INSEAD’s requirements. INSEAD’s application is very detailed and they ensured I stayed on top of my work so that there were no last minute stresses. I spoke to Caroline once at the beginning and then worked with Melissa on a day-today basis; Caroline did, however, review almost each new edit I made to my essays, so essentially each of my essays had been reviewed by two very well-versed people countless times and within less than a 24-hour turnover mostly. Melissa was beyond responsiveness to each small query of mine. I am quite a type-A person and had a fair few push backs to suggested edits etc., in which case Melissa, very patiently, worked diligently with me to get to an optimal solution. In my application submission nervousness, I also had quite a few last minute nervous questions, in which case Melissa almost held my hand to the submission button, even though we were in different cities, and reaffirmed me that I had worked very hard on my application and was ready! Once I got an interview scheduled with the INSEAD alumni, Melissa quickly scheduled an hour session for the two of us to do a mock-interview and really just hit-the-nail-on-the-head with the prep and feedback she provided me. All-in-all, Melissa is unbelievably approachable, knowledgeable, diligent, and respectful, and it really was a dream-team to work with her and Caroline on INSEAD. As for LBS, again they both knew a lot; I almost had a writer’s block for one of the essays, and they pretty much helped me create a flow diagram in my head to attack the question at hand. As with INSEAD, the process was extremely smooth and their guidance was only too valuable to successfully put together and complete a fairly challenging application. The amazing difference with the LBS process, however, was that Melissa actually got me in touch with her colleague, who was a former LBS admissions director; Emma Bond made time immediately for me and was absolutely amazing to work with, particularly on the interview prep piece. Melissa and Caroline continued to edit my essays and put in perspective from a LBS standpoint, and helped me be ready almost a month before the application was due. I got into both schools! The excitement Melissa and I shared was amazing since we had worked so hard together through this process. I am now deciding where to go and continue to bug her with questions, and she, as usual, continues to get back to me within less than 24 hours. I have even picked up the phone and called her multiple times, and she is as responsiveness and respectful, even if she has multiple other commitments. The MBA application process is one of real soul-searching and is by far one of the hardest processes to go through and it really helps to team with someone who is not trying to get elements of your story and fit it to the ‘ideal candidate’ garb (as several other leading consulting companies I spoke to pushed me to do), instead Fortuna’s process really helped me get my thoughts together and the team I worked with brought me out as an individual keeping in perspective the school all the time (it also really helps that they were such leaders at the schools in question that they knew almost everything inside out!). A long winded way of saying – at least in my experience for INSEAD and LBS – do not think twice to contact Fortuna and work with the dream team I had the opportunity to work with.