Fortuna Admissions | MBA Admissions Consultants

I met Heidi before my GSB interview. And she gave me a real interview experience that helped me to better prepare for the real one! Very worth experience!

I contacted a few companies when I started my MBA journey and almost all of them told me my dream schools were not a likely possibility. Fortuna was the only exception; they believed in me from the very start! Karen took the time to really understand me, my background, and my ideal career trajectory.

Since I obtained my ideal GMAT score in late November, she helped me streamline all 5 of my applications to M7 schools in only one month. She worked around the clock nonstop and was always available when I needed her. She ultimately became the mentor and cheerleader I needed during this frustrating process.

Out of 5 applications, I received 4 interviews. She worked with me prior to every single interview, helping me clearly tell my story and why I was a good fit for each school. As a result, I was admitted to three top programs. I am absolutely ecstatic with the results and I cannot recommend Karen enough!

It has been a long journey but at the end I am admitted to 3 Business Schools included my dream school. I am an international candidate on the older side that never applied to a US School. Heidi helped me going through the process with a clear mindset and guidance, motivating me but always with a down to earth approach. I felt she was genuine and very experienced on how to best tackle the next steps.
After submitting my application she went through the interview process and she even recommended me to her colleagues for a second opinion.

You profile is what it is but working with Heidi and Fortuna guarantees you the best chance for your application.

If you are on the fence about using a consultant, Michel was worth the cost and incredibly beneficial throughout the process. The entire Fortuna experience was great and helped take my application from good to great.

When considering a consultant, I was looking for someone who had admissions experience and would be able to candidly evaluate my application. Michel provided a unique perspective when reviewing my essays and overall application. Michel was genuine, responsive and encouraging during the crazy application season. She was a great resource from idea generation to making a final decision. I can’t thank her enough for helping me get into my dream school!

I worked with Judith and Jenifer to prepare for my Team-Based Discussion. Since I came from a non-business background (military), the Fortuna Admissions team helped me showcase my strengths while also accentuating my personality. After the mock interview and debrief, I grew more comfortable influencing fellow applicants, whom had widely different personalities and backgrounds that I was used to — a skill to improve upon for any applicant! My performance during game day rounded out my application and ultimately helped me secure a generous merit fellowship. Working with the Fortuna Admissions team will give you invaluable insight into what it could feel like during game day. Take my advice, you won’t regret it.

I highly recommend working with Sharon on MBA applications, interviews, strategy, etc.

When I decided to purchase an hourly consulting package, I was expecting help with overall strategy and a few essay prompts. In the short time Sharon and I spent together, she helped me with my overall strategy, every single essay (for 5 schools!), and short answer questions. She even proofread 2 applications before I hit submit. Sharon was extremely conscious of my time and was transparent about how the hours were spent. She made the stressful process of business school applications more manageable and enjoyable. Even more than that, I felt that she genuinely understood me and sincerely brought the best of me forward in every part of the application.

I was invited to interview at 4 out of the 5 schools I applied to. After 2 of the interviews, I decided to do an additional hour of interview prep with Sharon. I wish I had done the hour of prep in the beginning. One hour of prep with Sharon was more beneficial than days spent on my own.

In the end, I received admission offers (with scholarships!) from the 4 schools I interviewed at. I’m beyond thrilled! Even in this stage of the process, Sharon has continued to help me with my decision.

Overall, I highly recommend working with Sharon. She’s honest, funny, and truly goes above and beyond to help her clients in any way she can. I honestly don’t think I could have gotten this far without her.

Working with Karen and Judith was nothing short of exceptional. Both helped to craft my experiences and credentials into 5 compelling applications – each of which illustrated my potential and told my story better than I ever could on my own. I’m incredibly thankful for their support and confidence in me and would recommend their service to anyone. Thank you, Judith!

I couldn’t be more thankful for Karen’s support throughout this entire process. From our first phone call, I was confident she was an expert in the MBA admissions strategy and every component – from application essays to navigating the waitlist strategy. Karen gave great – and timely – feedback and helped keep my anxiety at bay during the entire process. Couldn’t have done it without her!

Karen brings three key things to the table: 1. stellar organizational skills, 2. deep experience in crafting compelling stories, and 3. sustained and personable support (and trust me you will need a lot of it)

My background was not the easiest to work with: management consultant with an undergraduate degree in business and a below-average GMAT. To add to this, I was also only looking at top schools. Over the course of several months, Karen challenged me, again and again, to go deeper into my stories to find the relevant examples that would bring my story to life. I received candid feedback in a timely manner and could always count on Karen’s extremely fast turnaround time for essays.

Above all, I particularly enjoyed how involved Karen was. She believed in me, my story and the hard work we put in. I always knew that Karen had my back and when I received the first rejection letters, she made sure that I would remain motivated. She went above and beyond, even going outside her mandate to help me with additional essays to get scholarships.

I have nothing but great things to say about Karen and I trust that whoever hires her will get the same service as I got. As for me, I am going to Booth this fall and could not be happier.

Who am I? I am a military pilot with a good GPA from a state school and an average GRE score for my target programs.

My success: 2019-2020 application cycle, applying R2, I had done zero work on my applications or essays and had roughly 45 days until the R2 deadlines. Sharon was instrumental in my ability to complete applications to 7 Top 10 MBA programs within 45 days— I was working full time. I received 6 admits, 1 waitlist, and ultimately accepted an offer to attend Wharton w/$.

How she helped:
1) Identifying the characteristics, each school was looking for and the underlying questions each essay was asking.
2) Selecting my best story to tackle each question.
3) She changed my writing style from procedural to creative writing, AKA good storytelling. Also, she corrected grammar mistakes and improved my word choice.
4) Helped me avoid applications landmines, that would have otherwise suck my applications.
5) Supporting and kept me on task, on schedule (accountability).

I worked with Sharon on an hourly basis, which was the most cost-effective route given my situation. She was very generous with her time. I felt as if she was there anytime I need help, and that my money was well spent.

I contribute much of my success to Sharon. My name is Eric; if you contact her, she can pass you my contact information and I would gladly chat 1:1.

I have worked with Sharon from start to finish on a number of applications and I can safely say that it was the best decision I made. I was admitted to Yale SOM, UCLA Anderson, NYU Stern, USC Marshall and other schools on my list and I could not have done it without her excellent guidance and help during the admissions process. She knows the business school application process and different programs really well and thoroughly cares about her clients. She dedicated an incredible amount of time getting to know me (including discussing my strengths after a CliftonStrengths assessment) brainstorming my professional goals, gave detailed feedback on my resume, all my essays (including many drafts) and all parts of the written application and worked extensively on interview prep with me which I believe made all the difference in my applications. Despite our time difference, she was very flexible and responsive over phone, Skype and Google Docs and was available at very short notice close to the deadlines. Even at most stressful times during the application process, she kept me on track with her support, positivity, and mentorship. I 110% recommend her to anyone looking to apply to the top MBA programs because you will not find a better teammate than Sharon in this process, she is a rockstar!

I’d gone into the master’s application process doing a considerable amount of research about specific programs, the kind of profiles they look for, the kind of essays they require, and so on and so forth. But after I initially signed up with Fortuna, I realized that there was so much I didn’t know. I first got in touch with Brittany after having been rejected from a school I really wanted to attend in the UK and naturally being a bit doubtful about my abilities. However, during our very first call, Brittany completely simplified the application process, detailing the action plan thoroughly. for instance, her essay writing strategy, where she clearly divided the material to be written in key concise points, helped me compartmentalize the entire process and approach it in a more structured manner. She also shared a bunch of resources with me when it came to writing the actual application, and would always respond within 20 minutes to any queries I had- no matter how small. I believe I’d submitted a strong application to MIT, however, my primary concern was preparing for the interview. Brittany shared with me detailed Fortuna guides which had things like odd-ball questions, guidance from admits, and probable questions that could be asked. The mock interview we had helped me gain tremendous confidence in answering unusual questions. In all, she helped me approach the application process in a very simplified manner and helped me feel that graduate admissions are not quite as hard as people make them out to be. I would recommend Brittany as a consultant to anyone out there looking for a simple, yet highly effective approach to postgraduate admissions.

I am so grateful that I found Sharon early on in this process. Fortuna gave me a candid assessment of my chances at my target schools and then paired me with Sharon based on the schools I was applying to. From the first phone call, I knew I’d found a good match and that she GOT me, and we proceeded with hourly consulting after that. I appreciated that in every essay, short answer, interview prep session, etc., she helped me show myself to my full potential, rather than trying to make me out to be something different than I am. She’s organized, caring, funny, savvy, and will be your ultimate cheerleader during this process. She’s also efficient and would never waste your time or money, which is so important to me. I thrilled to be able to say that I was admitted to UCLA Anderson, NYU Stern, Yale SOM, and Northwestern Kellogg–all with at least $40k in scholarships at each. THANK YOU, Sharon, for helping me through this arduous process–I’m forever indebted to you! 

I bought the 3 school package with Sharon Joyce and it was the best investment I made in preparation for the business school admission process! I strongly recommend working with Sharon as an admissions consultant.

In June/July 2019, I interviewed multiple admissions consultancies and I’m telling you right now, stop what you’re doing, stop talking to anyone else, pick up the phone and call Sharon!! By the end of our first call together I already knew Sharon was different and that I was in incredible hands. She had this remarkably wide, expansive view of the world and my place in it, yet also picked up on little (most would think innocuous) details in my stories that would go on to play major roles in our future brainstorming sessions/my essays. She has this incredible empathic ability to understand you, make you feel understood, and then bring out the best in you and your work all the while making you feel calm and relaxed during one of the most stressful times of your life. 

From resume-building to formulating clear career goals, from writing and editing essays to interview preparation, she was instrumental in helping me reach the most optimal and consistent presentation of myself. Her perspective and strategic guidance were invaluable, as were her ‘second-to-none’ organization skills and methodical preparation. She was available, flexible, undoubtedly one of the most sincere people I have ever met. In the fall, I will be attending my first choice and dream MBA/MPH program (Berkeley Haas). There is no doubt that her expertise was essential in helping me accomplish my goal. 

I will forever be grateful to Sharon for her hard work, dedication, and ceaseless belief in me.

3 months to the application deadlines, I was very confused and I wasn’t clear about how to go about my applications. I was introduced to Fortuna and I scheduled a 30 mins free consultation call with Fortuna and I was matched with Karen Hamou. After the call, I was convinced I had to go with Fortuna.
Working with Karen, especially was fantastic. She was interested in learning my motivations and story and as a result, she was able to help me structure my thoughts and appropriately convey them on paper.
Also, her turnaround time was fantastic, typically reviewing my material within a day, even during the festive period.
Within a space of 3 months, I was able to come up with my resume and application materials for 5 schools.
With a GRE score of 326, I applied to Booth, Yale, Fuqua, Darden, and Vanderbilt and I got admitted to all the schools!

Even after I had exhausted my consultation time, Karen kept in touch with me, sending me useful links and materials and wishing me success for my interviews

A big thank you to Fortuna and Karen. It was very great working with her and I highly recommend working with Fortuna, whether you’re in or outside the US.

P.S: I am from Africa.

I am glad to have worked with Caroline while I was waitlisted from INSEAD, the only business school I applied to. Caroline was sharp and experienced in diagnosing what could be the “held-back” factor in my application and suggested for me to get a few reference letters from various people. She is also helpful in guiding what are the points that these reference letters need to cover for it to be useful to INSEAD. Thanks, Fortuna!

I was recommended Karen by a friend, and I am so happy I was. I had big dreams to go to an M7, and only applied to three schools within that cohort. With a sub-par GMAT score and average GPA, I knew acceptances to these schools were likely a pipe dream and had major anxieties about taking on the process with such an uncertain outcome. That is when Karen came into the picture.

Not only was she incredibly attentive – available any time of the day, any time of the week to review my essays, answer my questions or assuage my fears – but she was incredibly effective. Not long after I started working with her I started seeing the potential she saw. She helped me craft a story that was not only true to who I was and what I wanted, but also compelling. She challenged me to think differently about myself, my experiences and my career, often asking questions I had never before considered. The result was an applicant who was confident she was ready and able to take on any of the three schools she wanted to attend.

I can go on and on about her quality of essay editing, interview prep, and story crafting. She truly does it all and does it well. But the proof is in the pudding. I’ve already been accepted to one of the schools and am waiting to hear from one other. She helped me accomplish something that is nothing short of a miracle, and I believe it wouldn’t have been possible without her keen insight and incredible knowledge of the MBA application process.

Do I recommend Karen? 100% no question. She was the shoulder I needed during this process, and I could not be more thankful.

It has been truly a great journey working with Karen. I was pretty late into the application and only started working on the process with Karen since late October. In the two months of time, she helped me to better strategize and really optimized my chances in the round 2 application.

Karen has great expertise not only in CBS but also in many other top programs. She has a clear sense of emphasis for most of the top programs and is very good at combining those focuses on the applicant’s own experience/background.

I would highly recommend Karen to anyone who is looking for a supportive and professional mentor for their MBA application process.

I worked with Fortuna on an application to a global top 10 MBA program. I sincerely believe that Fortuna, and my coach Cassandra in particular, were instrumental to my subsequent admission. To put it briefly, Cassandra is a true pro. My experience collaborating with her on this application has felt like a year’s worth of professional coaching condensed into a matter of months. She is an expert in personal branding and offered an invaluable lens on my application materials, helping me produce essays that truly spoke to my strengths. She was a consistent presence throughout the application process, swiftly responding with feedback on my drafts and carving out time in her schedule to work with me. Her investment in me gave me additional confidence in my submission. Our interview prep also proved to be a key advantage for the alumni interviews; Cassandra helped me cover all my bases and highlight my key experiences. In summary, I believe that Fortuna and Cassandra helped me paint from my professional and personal experience to produce the best application possible. I am incredibly grateful for their invaluable guidance and thankful for the opportunities they’ve helped make a reality.

I really enjoyed working with Brittany throughout the application process. She did a great job breaking it down into manageable steps so it didn’t feel overwhelming. When it came to writing my essays, I found she gave really great feedback that helped me better frame my stories and articulate my goals. I was really impressed by how quickly she responded to emails and reviewed my work. She is super efficient yet also very thoughtful. In addition, I found the practice interview I did with Brittany to be really helpful. She had great advice about what questions to prepare for and how to focus my answers. After practicing with her, I went into my interviews feeling very prepared. I was very pleased with the outcome of my application process and am thrilled to be attending my top choice school in the Fall.

Karen was a joy to work with. From the first day, she both made me comfortable with the work ahead of us and the way in which she and Fortuna would do their job to help me reach my goals. Her insight with essays and application questions were instrumental to me getting admitted, and her organization and help with the interview definitely got me over the line. She kept me on task and on time, as well as being very responsive and available whenever I needed her. Her support even gave me the confidence to submit early and secure a spot!

I enjoyed working with Karen and would recommend her to all, especially those looking at LBS as a choice of MBA.

I’m extremely happy that I chose Judith and the Fortuna team to work with me on my b-school applications. I had low standards for myself going into the process, and with Judith/Fortuna’s support, I was able to get into my top choice school (HSW).

I worked primarily with Karen on my applications, but Judith provided valuable support throughout the entire process. When Karen was out of office at times, Judith did not hesitate to step in and provide her undivided attention. She was amazing from the start, coaching me on my recommender briefs through a short-notice phone call over a holiday weekend, to final checking my essays multiple times for each school. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Judith and would highly recommend her for anyone looking for an experienced advisor to boost your chances of gaining admission to the top business schools.

Brittany was always very supportive and helped me figure out how my application should look like. She gave me great ideas that helped me improve my essays, and also valuable insights whenever issues happened through my MBA application journey. I don’t think I would have been able to get admitted on 5 out of the 8 programs I applied, with scholarships in almost all of them, if it wasn’t for her help.

I approached Judith and Fortuna Admissions wanting to work with the best consultants and resources to maximize my chances to attend a top business school. From our first meeting to the last, Judith engaged me and my story on a personal level. She pushed me to understand my own story and challenged me in a positive way at every stage of the process. Through collaborating on multiple iterations of essays, we worked through creating intellectually and personally-rewarding statements. The team that I worked with at Fortuna exceeded my expectations. Every meeting was helpful, every question was answered thoughtfully with an underpinning of experience, and, most importantly, every interaction was a joy. I would recommend Judith and Fortuna to all.

I really enjoyed my time working with Judith. She coached me through three round-two applications and I was admitted to two schools – UNC and Emory which included a scholarship for half of my tuition. I’m from an over-represented applicant pool with a 700 GMAT and less than a 3.0 GPA from an unknown undergrad. I truly believe Judith made a huge impact, and I highly recommend her to any potential MBA applicant.

The first thing I did was complete a very thorough worksheet that spelled out my background, my career accomplishments, career path, extra-curricular, recommenders, and my general strengths and weaknesses. Then we had a long phone-call so I could explain anything she still had questions about. I really thought this was a tremendous way for us to get to know each other.

In addition to helping me pick my mix of target schools, Judith gave me tips and tricks to help me network better with students and alumni. I immediately reached out to students at all three schools and scheduled visits. Without her direction, I would’ve skipped this crucial step.

Judith’s help with my essays was by far the most helpful aspect of this whole process. I had struggled round one, unsure which themes to focus on or what aspects of my background I should highlight. Judith helped me not only select which topics/essays I should write, but also helped me condense them down into the tight word limits. I can’t stress enough how helpful this was. I was losing sleep over the essays I’d done on my own and probably re-wrote them 10-12 times. That totally changed working with Judith.

She also kept me on target for my deadlines. Everything was reviewed closely by her in advance of the deadline. None of my applications were fire drills. This made the process considerably less stressful.

Finally, when I signed up with Fortuna, I had already received an interview invitation from Georgetown. Judith was kind enough to offer a complimentary interview prep session even though we hadn’t worked on the school together which gave me a ton of confidence going into the interview.

I can’t recommend Judith enough. She really made the MBA application process easy and enjoyable. My only regret is that I didn’t start sooner!

I bought a one-school package with Nonie and that was the best investment I have made in my MBA journey.

Before signing up with her, I have read many reviews and contacted many admission coaches only to have most of them tell me that the chance of getting into a top 10 business school MBA program is slim due to my lower than average GMAT score. The first impression I got from Nonie is that she can quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of a candidate and come up with a very bespoke admission strategy, on the other hand, she also made me believe that I can achieve the goal.

Working with Nonie is also a pleasure, she is candid, honest and methodical, we have set many small deadlines for files and Nonie would constantly check in on the progress if my essays or other aspects of the application. On many occasions, she and I have worked out of office hours to deliver quality files before the deadline. The end result is, I submitted both my LBS and INSEAD applications a few days before the deadlines.

I also found my mock interview with Nonie was very helpful as well. I was initially intimidated by the idea of video interviews as I had no experience in the past, but working with Nonie who guided me through the themes of the and LBSand INSEAD video interview, I felt I was more confident and relaxed in my video interviews.

I ended up getting interview offers from both LBS and INSEAD and decided to accept the offer from LBS. I would like to thank Nonie for her hard work supporting my admission journey every step of the way and I would like to recommend Nonie to everyone who aspires to get on the same journey.

Deeply knowledgeable on the business school admissions process, Melissa provided me with some very detailed and constructive feedback on how to best showcase my professional accomplishments in my essays & resume, and stand-out to the admissions committee. She also helped structure my essays to highlight my key personal achievements and put forth a well-balanced view of my personality; ultimately helping me make it to the interview shortlist. Subsequently, she also provided me with a lot of resources and guidance on how best to prepare for the interview, and present myself on the day.

Extremely professional in her work, Melissa was always quick to get back with her reviews without compromising on the quality of her inputs, yet being very friendly and extremely approachable at all times. It was an absolute pleasure working with her, and can only offer my highest levels of recommendation for her work. I will always be grateful to her for helping me get admitted into my dream b-school.

I interviewed multiple companies and Fortuna stood out for their attention to detail, expansive view of the world, and succinctly getting to the heart of things.

I have seen these same qualities in my every interaction with Karen, starting from our first conversation. Karen has been my cheerleader and supporter through every step of the application process, getting me essay edits back in less than 48 hours, answering all my emails, and helping me really refine the essence of my story and what I can bring to an MBA program. I really appreciated her flexibility in working around my schedule (we’re in very different time zones) and in helping me think strategically when I encountered challenges in my personal life during the application process. For most of us this process is a daunting one that is a test of stamina, willpower, and self-belief, but knowing Karen was on my side really helped me manage the stress and worry. There are a few things I would do differently during my MBA application process, but I would 100% choose to work with Karen in any of them, and I highly recommend her for anyone looking for a supportive, strategic, and empathetic consultant during the MBA admissions journey.

I was anxious about writing essays and interviewing for the top-tier school that I targeted. Melissa helped me tailor my essays to tell a compelling story that demonstrated why I was a great fit for the school. Despite heavily marking up my early drafts, Melissa was always positive and encouraging. Knowing that she truly believed in me gave me the confidence to continue pushing until I had the best possible application. Melissa also provided great feedback on my essays that helped me present my best self to the admissions committee. I also did a mock Skype interview with Melissa, which was extremely helpful in building my confidence and interviewing skills. Her questions were also very predictive of the questions I faced in my actual interview. Thanks to Melissa, I was accepted to my target school, with a scholarship.

Nonie possesses ALL the traits of an exceptional coach, she is methodical, organized, punctual, professional, flexible, candid, provides immensely valuable feedback, and ultimately empowers you to put your best application forward. On top of all this, she is also a joy to work with.

We worked together extensively on all aspects of my application, but Nonie’s impact was particularly pronounced in my essays. I compared the initial drafts and final product and was amazed at the positive impact Nonie’s feedback had on me and my essays. Often I found I knew what I wanted to say, but not necessarily how to best present it, and Nonie always provided her support to ensure my point was made. As it relates to interview techniques, I am quite a comfortable interviewer (making this more challenging for Nonie!) but even with a strong base, Nonie picked up on several small details which were difference makers that I had overlooked for ages – I still use them to this day. Lastly, I built a relationship with Nonie over the course of months of sharing stories, garnering her feedback and working together. I’m hoping to have the opportunity to thank her in person for her work! Nonie also draws on her experience with INSEAD, and stays in the know on updates and things to be aware of. While the MBA application process can be intense and stressful, I found myself enjoying it while working with Nonie.

Overall, I cannot recommend Nonie enough. If you are serious about ensuring you put the absolute best application forward, it is a no-brainer to speak with Nonie about how she can help you achieve your goals (and enjoy the process while working towards them).

Melissa is an incredible expert! I was very lucky to be coached by Melissa! Throughout the entire process, not only the essays and the resume, her expertise, her continuous support, and encouragement were crucial. She was able to stand out all the key points of my background to shine my application and to get me admitted in my dream school – top us MBA program. She is always relevant and very perfectionist. Beyond the final result, the experience with Melissa was also unique because it allowed me to know myself better. All of these thanks to Melissa.Thank you very much Melissa for your terrific job!

I was nervous about applying the top-tier school I was targeting with the experience I had, but Melissa helped me tailor my resume and essays to articulate why my experience was a fit for the school. Through speaking with her about my experience, she helped pinpoint certain things I should include in my resume and essays, and also helped me identify the best examples to use in my essays so that my responses were relevant and professional. I had paid for I think 3 hours of services and still had ~20 minutes left over after resume and essay editing, so we used it to do a mock Skype interview, which was super helpful in practicing and knowing what types of questions to expect. I was accepted to my target school, with a scholarship.

I highly recommend working with Melissa Jones. I feel fortunate to have benefited from Melissa’s expertise, guidance, and encouragement. I was recently admitted to my top choice of a top-tier business school and Melissa’s support was critical to me achieving my long-term goal.

Melissa is the ultimate professional and will provide you with invaluable support as you navigate the often daunting business school admissions process. Melissa’s objective perspective on my application and ideas about areas for improvement were helpful as it provided me with a clear idea about what I needed to work toward. Melissa was also extremely patient, as she reviewed and provided feedback on multiple iterations of my application. She was always so encouraging and I appreciated her honesty.

As well, Melissa, along with the Fortuna team, have developed valuable internal processes that will provide you with the structure you need to successfully navigate the business school applications process. Part of this included a review of my CV, and Jody, Fortuna’s resume expert, along with Melissa, provided me with feedback that enabled me to develop a compelling CV that complemented my essays. I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience working with Melissa.

Karen was great! I’d spoken with a few other consultants before going with Fortuna and Judith / Karen were by far the most patient, supportive, and genuine that I spoke with. Karen took the time to get to know me and the story I wanted to tell and helped me stay true to it throughout the process. She pulled the best material out of me and helped me package it properly for the applications/interviews. With her help, I applied to 4 schools in Round 1 and have happily been admitted to a great program with a very generous scholarship package. She also helped me strategize other schools to apply to in Round 2 in case Round 1 didn’t work out, but I didn’t need to go down this path. She was a constant cheerleader along the way and was always available for a call/email to help go through iterations of my essays and other materials. Working with Karen made everything so much more streamline and efficient and I can’t imagine what I would have done without her support and expertise.

Karen was amazing to work with. She was always very quick to give me feedback on my essays or other questions I had regarding my application, it felt as though she was as invested in the success of my applications as I was.

I am going to end up going to the University of Chicago, but also was offered a full scholarship to NYU. Karen’s assistance with everything definitely played an important part in the success of my applications, and I’m very glad to have worked with her.

If you are considering working with Karen, think no more, she is the right choice!

I knew going into the application process that I definitely wanted to work with a consultant, since I did not know anything about the business school process. Luckily, my friend recently worked with Michel and strongly recommended her, and I didn’t hesitate to move forward with her after our initial consultation! My work with Michel and Judith, as well as the broader resources of Fortuna’s platform, has been extremely valuable and key to my acceptances to three top business schools (2 M7s).

Working with Michel was incredibly easy. I found Michel to be very quick to respond, thoughtful, and honest. She would always find time for us to chat, even if she was out of town herself. I especially found Michel very skillful and patient with helping me prepare mock interviews. Interviewing is something that has always scared me, but after even our first mock interview I felt so much more prepared and knowledgeable about how to convey certain stories and how to speak confidently.

Generally I would say Michel took a lot of the stress out of the business school application process that I would otherwise have. From helping me brainstorm essay topics to pumping me up for interviews, and finally debriefing after interviews, I have so much appreciation for the care Michel took into being my advocate and supporter, and I know she will continue to put in the same time and effort with her future clients.

It has been a great experience working with Karen over the last several months. She really took the time to understand who I am – my goals, my stories, and how everything about me fit into an MBA application. In some instances, she proved she had learned who I am better than I knew, as she was able to help me get off the ground where I struggled for ideas.

Karen was always very attentive to my application process. She was exceptionally timely in everything from responding to simple questions to returning a full set of essay or resume edits. She always made a great effort to fit our work into my schedule, rather than fitting into hers. And she always found time to help me through last-minute emergencies with recommenders or applications, no matter the time or short notice.

While Karen helped me succeed in all aspects of the application process, I thought her biggest strength was in reviewing my essays. No matter how great I thought my first draft or even late-stage revisions were, Karen always found a page full of ways that I could improve every piece of writing I submitted. She couldn’t have been more thorough, and the results really showed in my final essays.

I’m certain that every component of my many applications was markedly improved by working with Karen. She really was a key piece to my success in applying for business school.

Well a little background on me. My GMAT is below average for all the M7 schools and I was considering retaking the exam, infact I had started preparing. Also, as an international from Africa, I felt I needed to do more since the acceptance hasn’t been so good (at least with people that I know that applied). So overall I probably have the most average background you can think of, I even had a lot of loopholes in my undergrad transcript.
After Fortuna reached out to me and we scheduled a 30 minute call to discuss my career and life ambitions, I really felt they genuinely wanted to help and they even offered a discount to me (talk about putting your money where your mouth is).
What Karen helped me do was to present my story in the best possible way and connect the dots in my personal and professional life that made it possible to convince the adcom to want to interview me at the very least. At the end of the day, some parts of your application has to stand out if you have a lot of weaknesses and presenting yourself in the most polished way possible would go a long way.
Her reviews on every part of my applications were very thorough and she was always willing to assist in areas where I got stuck in addressing concerns over my application. Also, her turn around time was commendable and even though I had not met her, it felt like we were really working together throughout the application process. I honestly would recommend her to anyone who is interested in applying to Columbia.

At the outset, I had very high expectations because of all the great reviews about Karen and Fortuna. My high expectations were not just met, but were exceeded.

Karen didn’t just help with essays, but she made every single part of the process advance as seamlessly and smoothly as possible – taking a lot of stress away – and ultimately allowing me to put my best foot forward. All throughout my time working with Karen, she really did care about me and worked very hard reviewing and helping me craft my material. She did so in a very timely, professional and caring way.

Karen was not just my admissions consultant – instead, she was more like a sports coach – she sat in my corner and her insights, encouraging voice and detailed questions helped propel me to a level I would not have reached without her.

The quality of her advice, MBA-specific knowledge, and essay reviews/comments/edits are unparalleled. She is also an extremely strong wordsmith and I’ve learned many things about writing from her.

Summary of key aspects of Karen’s help:
1. Resume – through phone calls and many rounds of review, Karen helped me produce a resume that I was proud of. She dug deep into my choice of particular words/phrasing. By listening to my career experience, she helped me select the most impactful things to show. All throughout the rest of the process, Karen retained my key work experience information and often prompted me to inject a certain piece of work into a part of an essay where it was relevant. Often surprising me as to how good her memory of my work experience was.

2. Essays – helped me understand and articulate my story better. Through many rounds of detailed review and questioning, Karen helped me craft powerful and compelling texts about my career journey, and why MBA and this school.

3. Biodata forms – similar to the above, Karen helped me craft the best possible content into extremely tight forms

4. Interview prep – I was invited to 3 interviews and was admitted to all 3 schools. A big reason why was the live mock interviews (including Wharton’s TBD) that Karen conducted with me. She would finish each mock interview with a candid assessment of my performance on each question. When the real interview came around, I felt very well prepared

5. General prep for MBA fairs – Karen helped me plan/refine/practice my elevator pitch for meeting admissions staff at MBA fairs

6. Fee discussion with schools – post-admission Karen has continued to share her MBA-specific knowledge with me, to help me navigate the complexities of deciding which school to attend and financial aid

7. Backed by Fortuna – Karen is amazing, but she is also backed by a strong team. Secondary reviewers performed a final review of all materials.

Karen was far better than other consultants I’ve seen my friends and workmates rely on. Karen dug deep underneath the surface, remembered critical details about me, and really pushed me to produce great content.

I can 100% vouch for and recommend Karen.

I am very happy to have worked with Fortuna Admissions and with Caroline Diarte Edwards for my admission to INSEAD from waitlist. When I applied, I pieced together what I thought was a strong application with help/proofreading from people who’ve been through the application process. Even so, I got waitlisted. What went wrong?
After sifting through reviews, I decided to engage the services of Fortuna Admissions, and I got to work with Caroline, who I had hoped to work with. Caroline is easy to work with even through a 16-hour time difference. She is very thorough – she’ll ask for all details of your application, including interviews and recommendations.
As past Director of Admissions, she has the ability to zoom in on all of those components and identify areas where the application might be weak. The expert perspective certainly helped me focus on where or what I could improve, and we worked together to polish my story. And through the process, I also felt that Caroline was personally invested in my success.
I couldn’t recommend Caroline and Fortuna Admissions more. If you’re in the waitlist, consider their services to get admitted. If you’re just starting an application, their services could help you craft a seamless MBA application. All these provided you do your part, of course! Highly recommended!

I had a very low GPA and was an older applicant than most. Before Karen, many consultants looked at my profile and said I at best had a shot at a school around the 20th-30th rank range.

Karen helped me get admitted to CBS and also I received an interview invite from Wharton. Although I didn’t get in with Wharton, being admitted to CBS has far exceeded my expectations. I am really glad that I worked with Karen and I couldn’t be happier.

I could not have been happier with my experience working with Heidi at Fortuna, especially after having been accepted to my top choice of school, the Stanford GSB!

Starting off the application process, I was very worried that there was nothing “special” about my story, which was concerning as an applicant from an over-represented background (banking to PE). After some helpful brainstorming sessions, Heidi bore with me as I went through at least half a dozen completely different ideas for my main essays. While most of these initial ideas / drafts needed to be scrapped, Heidi was able to pull out an anecdote, characteristic, or theme from each one, and bit by bit she helped to connect the dots and turn seemingly unimportant and unrelated events from my life into a cohesive story!

The actual process of working with Heidi was also very seamless. She made herself available to speak at extremely convenient times for me, which was especially helpful given my busy work / travel schedule. When I provided her with outlines or drafts, she was always very quick to turn them back to me with edits and thoughtful feedback – often helping distill my (lengthy) writing into a much more efficient use of word count. Her knowledge of the key differences between the HBS and GSB applications and what their respective AdComs were looking for was invaluable, especially when it came to interview strategies and mock interview prep.

In the days leading up to my decision dates, I would often re-read my entire application and become more and more confident with each pass. I knew that they were simply the best I ever could have made them… and I have Heidi to thank for that!

Catherine came in as a blessing during a phase of high uncertainty during my college applications and careers transitions. Given that I come from an overly represented and therefore, a very competitive pool of Indian applicants, I was confused between whether to go for an Admissions Consultant based out of India or whether to take the services of someone closer to the ground based in the US. At the time I was exploring, I came across Fortuna Admissions and the kind of confidence Matt showed in my profile made the decision fairly easy for me.
But it was only when I started working with Catherine that I finally started believing in the power of her insight and the value of working with a Consultant who is so close to the Admissions process as she is. From school selection, Resume building, writing clear and articulate career goals and writing & editing essays, interview preparation to the process of school finalization- to say that Catherine’s calm and rather astute understanding of each school’s application process is very comforting would be a huge understatement. Not only does she understand your application in and out, she is always ready to brainstorm and reach the most optimal messaging to put in the application, as per each school’s needs. Catherine, through this entire process, has literally just been a phone call/ message away. She has been a huge calming factor and my backbone in this entire process of MBA admissions. I have calls from Kellogg, Ross, Fuqua and Tuck with scholarship offers as well and it’s all thanks to her.
For anyone looking for a guide, mentor and friend during the MBA application process, I would highly recommend Catherine. Working with her is like a breath of fresh air!
Thank you, Catherine! I will forever be grateful 😊

I’ll start off by saying I recommend Tatiana 100%, especially if you are applying to a top tier program. Tatiana was an excellent, efficient, and insightful resource throughout the essay-writing, application, and interview prep process, and she is experienced in knowing what the top schools are looking for in candidates’ responses. Rather than stick to a specific formula for success for applicants, Tatiana invested time early on to hear my story and understand me as a person and candidate, and thus cater her approach to my needs. This created a healthy environment where I felt very comfortable identifying my areas of improvement with her and dissecting any problem areas together.

Her approach gave me the confidence to put my thoughts on paper in a coherent manner, especially during times when I struggled to verbalize or structure my thoughts, as she was able to synthesize my thoughts better than I could even after just a few conversations! Throughout the process, I felt the freedom to edit and rework my content as much as needed until I felt like my work was an accurate reflection of myself, and I felt very grateful for Tatiana’s patience and willingness to help throughout.

Thanks to her help I got into both of the programs I applied to (including my top choice). Cannot recommend Tatiana enough!

I worked with Sharon on three sets of essays. She is candid and provides excellent feedback, and has an excellent ability to bring to life the ideas I had. She turned around feedback very quickly and was always available to reach during the weeks I worked with her. She was able to help me bring my essays to a whole new level through her in-depth understanding of the process and her thoughtful feedback. Sharon is outstanding and I would certainly recommend her to others who could use her help!

Applying to 3 schools next to an extremely busy job (IB) seemed like a “scary” idea. Fortuna took away this feeling from minute one and guided me smoothly through the whole application process from strategizing and outreach to essay writing and interviews and today I’m admitted to my top choice INSEAD for 2021.

Cassandra was there from the start and with her kind and empathetic character she took time and truly understood me and my story from the inside. She helped me craft an application that I was really proud on and which 100% represented me while making me shine in just the way that the respective adcom teams are looking for.

Throughout the whole process, but particularly in the heated times before the deadlines, Cassandra was extremely responsive with reviews or answering questions. During the interview prep she tested me with all the difficult questions and pushed me as much possible, which set me up to sail smoothly through the actual interviews.

Finally, I can only say: Big THANK YOU!!! 🙂

I purchased an 8 hour package service package with Fortuna Admission and I worked with Nonie, who was an absolute pleasure to work with. She helped me tailor my application materials to better present myself by making sure that the points in my essays have come through to meet the selecting criteria of INSEAD. She pointed out things I never thought of and helped me identify the aspects that needs to be emphasised and the ones to be avoided. Many of my essays were finalised close to the deadline, and thanks to Nonie, who always found a way to respond to my last minute requests, my application was successfully submitted on time.

I found my mock interview with Nonie was very helpful as well. I was initially intimidated by the idea of video interviews as I have done it poorly in the past, but working with Nonie who guided me through the themes of the INSEAD video interview, I felt so much more confident afterwards and improved my video interview performance in a short time.

My final application result was successful, and I don’t think it would be this smooth without the help from Fortuna Admission and especially Nonie. I would highly recommend her!

Taniel was very thorough and thoughtful about all parts of the application and he played a pivotal role in my acceptance to HBS. He meticulously considers how ALL parts of your application (not just the essay) will land with an admissions committee. He was very helpful guiding me across the entire application from the perspective of an admissions committee member to deliver a consistent, powerful story across the entire application package (essays, resume, supplemental responses, etc.). Taniel is a very gifted communicator, and that trait shows with his essay guidance. His interview prep guidance made a real difference, as I felt exceptionally prepared for my interview.

Six months ago, I had just taken the GMAT and decided to go all-in for Round 1 for the class of 2022. I figured I needed all of the help I could get and started to contact all of the consultants I could find. I spoke with probably a dozen, some said I’d get in, others said I wouldn’t. I got the same questions about my GMAT scores, what I wanted to do with my MBA and who would write my recommendations. It sounds cliché, but one was different, and that was Karen. She tried to understand me as a person and what led me to my current path. She made no promises about where I would get in or not get in, but she did say we would try our best together and see where we ended up, which resonated with me.

During the application process, Karen served as a mentor, proofreader, guide, therapist, and cheerleader. She kept me on pace as I entered a busy time at work and kept me focused on the parts of the application that would have the biggest impact. We exchanged hundreds of emails at all times of the day and night, and I knew whenever I sent Karen something, she would review it in-depth and promptly. She pushed me to put forward my best and let me know when she thought that I could do better. She worked with me to personalize every single aspect of my application to highlight the traits that make me who I am. With other consultants, there’s no way we would have reached the depth needed to present my story as effectively.

Without Karen’s help, I can confidently say that I wouldn’t have come close to reaching the goal I set when I started down the path of applying to business school. If you’re on this page and considering working with her, I’d stop right now and get in contact with her before her class fills up.

I was on the fence about whether to work with a consultant for my MBA applications and finally made a decision to go for it just 3 weeks before my Round 1 deadlines. Working with Sharon was such a great experience and I am so glad I made the decision to do it. I was thrilled to hear that got into MIT Sloan which was one of my top choices!!

Sharon is incredibly perceptive and did a great job at getting up to speed on what I was thinking. I had already done quite a bit of the prep work at getting applications ready so really appreciated her honest take on how many hours would be helpful and what type of support might be the most useful to get me over the finish line. It was great to have her as a sounding board to get answers to my random questions and think through the final details.

I got interviews at both schools I applied to in Round 1 and went back to Sharon for a few more hours of interview prep. She gave really insightful feedback on how to position myself for a few questions I had been struggling with in my independent prep and notes on personal presentation that were great to keep in mind during the interviews.

Overall, I highly recommend working with Sharon – she is super organized, offers quick and thoughtful responses, and could not have been easier to coordinate with even though I was in Kenya. It was a really great experience and helped so much with making the stressful process of applying to schools much more manageable!