Fortuna Admissions | MBA Admissions Consultants

I was super confused when looking for an MBA admissions consultant – I wasn’t entirely sure about shelling out a ton of money on top of the ridiculous amount that I spent already. I decided to do a handful of the “free consultations” with various companies before finding Fortuna and talking with Matt. He was super clear, transparent and genuine in how he viewed my profile in the 30-minute call – he didn’t try to sell me on the full package (even though it was the MUCH more expensive route). He was transparent that he thought I didn’t need the full-school package but rather could reach out to him/Fortuna later for a more “ad hoc” engagement. I really appreciated what didn’t seem at all like a sales pitch and rather a genuine conversation.
Onwards to me doing my applications myself…after I completed the vast majority of the applications and decided to reach out to Fortuna for a “last minute check” on the school I considered my top choice. I was connected with Judith at Fortuna and send her my entire application. She thoroughly reviewed all 4 of the essays and other “qualitative comments” sections of my application and provided very useful improvements, one of which was to entirely re-write one of the short response essays. All communication with Judith was via email and a phone call. The final application review process with her was very efficient and really did provide the outside expert view on how to make the essays really “pop”. The end result was me getting accepted to this school (my top choice) with a substantial merit scholarship. Would highly recommend Fortuna, especially with my positive experiences with Matt & Judith.

I worked with Tatiana recently to apply Round 2 to various MBA programs. I paid for a 2 school package but had enough material to use for 5 applications. Overall, I would highly recommend Tatiana. She is great not only at identifying key themes and insights to further develop during the essay writing process, but she is a great partner in the overall process and steadying nerves as they inevitably arise.

It has been a great experience working with Jessica from Fortuna!

With her help along the way, I got into my dream school with a GMAT that is 20 points below the average.

Jessica was always very professional and went beyond her way to help me during the application process. During the six month process, we had regular communication about my concerns, rewrote my essays countless times and discussed what the best strategy was in certain situations during the process.

As an ex-admission officer herself, she had tremendous insight into the schools that I applied to and was always willing to share these. Big thanks to Jessica and Fortuna Admissions!!

Thanks to Melissa I got into my dream business school (Cambridge Judge) despite my low GMAT score, coming from a nontraditional background and having less than 1 week to draft my application to meet the deadline. It all started with one phone call with Matt Symonds. Fortunately, I was partnered up with Melissa as my coach and the rest is history. I had less than 1 week to draft essays, get my recommendation letters and draft my resume. Melissa was extremely understanding of the short timeline and supportive throughout the process. She was very responsive and quick in reviewing my essays and resume. When I got the interview invitation, I immediately signed with Melissa for interview prep. She was not only insightful about the interview process/questions but also boosted my confidence so I wouldn’t feel nervous during the interview
Whenever I had doubts about my stats and weaknesses, Melissa would be there encouraging me throughout the way. I honestly could not have asked for a better coach. Melissa is an amazing person and someone I would like to keep in touch. I’ll definitely recommend her and Fortuna Admissions to future MBA applicants.

Karen helped me with a comprehensive package, an interview, and a few essays for additional schools. She took hours to go over my goals and timeline and helped me prioritize essays, resume, etc. I highly, highly recommend her to anyone looking to get into a top 10 business school. I got interview invites to all 4 schools I applied to and was accepted at my first choice. She was very helpful with all of my questions throughout the process and takes the time to make sure you are ready for each step of the application.

I decided to work with an admissions consultant because I wanted to be fully informed about the admissions process, and I only wanted to go through it once. I worked with Karen and Fortuna for eight months in what I found to be a very personalized process. From the start, Karen helped me prioritize the correct activities, which gave me confidence knowing that I was making the best use of my time. I also really appreciated how responsive Karen was, particularly closer to deadlines: she answered my questions almost immediately, returned edited documents within only a few hours (and sometimes even overnight), and I could schedule calls with her within 24h and at my preferred times. I found this invaluable because I could create much stronger essays shortly before deadlines. The edits Karen and her team offered for my essays were always substantial, constructive, and sometimes even challenging, but I always understood and agreed with the reasoning behind them. Working with experts gave me the confidence to redraft larger sections of my essays to help transform them from intelligible to persuasive while keeping them personal, genuine, and in my writing. Fortuna’s resources are current, extensive, and specific for every business school, which was instrumental for my essays and interviews. After submitting the written applications, Karen and I practiced for the interviews and video questions, and her feedback in our practices clarified my areas for improvement and made me feel more confident in the interviews.
Working with Karen ultimately helped me gain acceptance to INSEAD (despite below-average numbers on almost every metric of my profile), and I am convinced that I could not have done it without Karen’s help. I cannot be more satisfied with Fortuna’s support in the process and highly recommend Karen and her team – thank you!

I was initially concerned after reading Karen’s profile that she may not be a good fit for me because she did not have an MBA from my dream school (HBS). However, I am beyond grateful that I had the privilege of working with Karen.
Karen listens. She earned my trust by getting to know me and my application better or as well as I did. She would ponder on my resume, essay, story, and interviews in between sessions. She helped me solve problems with a fresh pair of eyes and perspective—giving me points to emphasize and prioritize in my resume, essays, application, and interviews. No platitudes or “cookie-cutter” feedback from Karen (like I got from other admissions consultants)— feedback was incredibly preemptive and specific, which took my applications to another level. She isn’t afraid to thoughtfully push back when it is needed.
Moreover, Karen was beyond efficient with the time I was billed. She is incredibly thoughtful and proactive about high-quality work within time constraints. On more than one occasion did she burn the midnight oil with me and was beyond accommodating for my schedule and very tight admissions timelines. I do some consulting work and I’ve tried to emulate this for my clients. I can’t believe how much we accomplished in the relatively short amount of time I was billed for.
Karen is one of the best communicators that I have worked with in my career. She isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions that the admissions committee will ask. My application was strong in a few areas (Work history, undergrad major/GPA) and had some gaping-hole weaknesses in others. Karen helped me understand how to prioritize and emphasize points to present my best application to the admissions committees.
Plain and simple, I believe that I wouldn’t have gotten accepted to HBS without Karen. I will recommend her to all friends and family seeking MBA admission moving forward.
Admissions counseling for Karen is a calling. She is excited and enthusiastic about her work—which is why she’s so good at it.
Also, one last point of emphasis: she is beyond organized and always shows up prepared. Every step of the admissions process happened through a CRM and communications were very prompt and thoughtfully managed between our sessions—giving me the right information at just the right time.

I would like to recommend Fortuna Admissions and especially Michel Belden to anyone who is applying to an MBA. As you will find out, getting into a top school is a long and difficult process. The people at Fortuna made me submit a confident application to five different universities. They are very professional and Michel, in particular, is a very patient, kind and smart person.

I worked with Karen on an application (and subsequent interview prep) to my #1 choice school and was very happy with the results. Yes, I was accepted, but I truly think that Karen helped me craft a “flawless” application – and I don’t think that my application materials would have been nearly as compelling without her help and I don’t know if I could have gotten in without Karen.
I think that Karen really stood out in two areas:
1 – First was responsiveness. Business school applications are extremely stressful and it’s rare to get everything done fully ahead of time. The last thing I would want is someone who takes half a day to get back to me. I was surprised how quickly Karen would respond – often within an hour. I truly felt like she was in my corner and 100% invested in my success. Aside from the major aspects of an application, I would bombard Karen with questions about small details of the process and she would respond as carefully to these small questions as she would in giving me suggestions on the big picture items.
2 – Attention to detail. Karen would be sure to point out any shaky details of my application. This could mean a few words on my resume or a rephrasing of a sentence in an essay. Although this could even get a little frustrating at times because she was so focused on making sure everything was 100% perfect, in the end, I was very happy that she took so much care with my application. I really did think that Karen was fully invested in my success in every aspect of the application, and her attention to detail only solidified this.
There is one caveat I want to add to my review. I absolutely recommend Karen and Fortuna, but do be aware that the onus will be on you to write your essays / the rest of the application. Karen will help you, but a consultant cannot substitute for your own introspection and hard work. It’s a time-intensive process and requires a lot of commitment on your end.

I had an introductory call with almost each and every one of the top admissions consulting firms for my MBA.

After my initial introductory call with Matt – I was sure that Fortuna was the one with the best knowledge of the European schools (was looking specifically at French business schools) and “got” my story and would help me best present my application. Additionally, he was incredibly considerate of my budget and worked with me to create a package that would be just what I needed.

I worked with Melissa for the application – and right from the get-go was Wow’ed by the level of professionalism and knowledge of the application process of both herself and Fortuna.

Melissa was an incredibly helpful consultant and advisor, guiding me through the key steps of the application and always making the next step clear.
She was able to help me make my application shine -highlighting parts of my experience I had not considered and really ensuring a coherent and holistic application.

When busy and applying to multiple challenging processes – having someone that knows the process was crucial to reducing the stress and ensuring I was able to submit on time and with a strong application.

The results: offers from all schools I applied to – with maximum scholarships for my top two preferences.

Karen is amazing! If you’re looking for a knowledgeable and supportive partner (not just consultant) throughout this really stressful and emotionally raw process, look no further. The business school application process is such an intense journey and if you come from a nontraditional background (non-IB or consulting), it can feel very isolating and you often find yourself meandering through it. This is why finding the right consultant is one of the many key decisions you have to make.
I’ve worked with a different consultant before (from one of the bigger companies) and I will emphatically say that the difference was night and day. I really felt that Karen cared about my journey from start to finish. If you have quick questions, she generally gets back to you within a few hours. She was available around the holidays before R2 which I really appreciated. She’s always open to discussing over the phone if necessary. If there’s anything that you’re worried about regarding your application/profile/essays, trust that she is also thinking about a solution offline – I know because this has happened many times throughout my time working with her. I never felt stressed about meeting the deadlines because she works thoroughly and quickly and I trusted that she would pull through for me if I needed to ask last minute questions/updates. She helped me prep for my interviews and gave very helpful suggestions on how to handle confrontational questions. She’s optimistic but also a logical thinker and you need someone who can think straight sans pessimism as you’re swimming in doubt and stress – yes that will happen, a lot.
I really can’t say enough good things about her and how she made this process, not only bearable but also enjoyable. Save yourself some valuable time and set up a call with her – as I’m headed to CBS this year 🙂
Also a quick review on Fortuna. It’s a shame that they are not as popular as the other companies because Fortuna really works with you throughout the entire process. I first connected with Judith, one of the founders, awhile back and she really cares and takes the time to match you with the right consultant. She’s also always available for any questions and we’ve pulled from her expertise countless times.

My conversation with Matt was the deciding factor for me. Unlike other consultants in the business, he did not give me generic/standard responses; instead gave me recommendations that were applicable to me. At that moment itself, I was convinced that I would want to work with Fortuna.

INSEAD was my top choice and I’d taken the full package for INSEAD and Wharton. I started working with Melissa and from early on found myself catching up as she was always very prompt. Fortuna’s strategy session & questionnaire is awesome. It is as introspective as it can be and sets one up quite nicely for the entire process. One thing that stands out about Melissa is that she is very keen on keeping the application as authentic as possible. She was always available and usually came back with her edits/recommendations latest by the next working day. Melissa had probably the best insight into the admissions process from her previous experience at INSEAD and that was not only helpful for the application but also in understanding and connecting with the school.

As an Indian male working in tech consulting, I was in the most competitive pool of applicants and don’t think would’ve gotten in without Melissa’s help. The tool that Fortuna uses for submissions, communication, resources etc. is also commendable. It has a world of knowledge hosted there.

I was approved for MBA sponsorship by my employer close to the deadlines for round two and was very stressed and worried due to the time constraint.
The decision to sign up for the Comprehensive School Package with Fortuna was the best decision I’ve made this year. Jenifer did a great job in walking me through the process and setting realistic deadlines for each part. She was also very responsive and attentive to my concerns and worries all throughout the application journey.
It was evident that Jenifer has A LOT of experience with top program applications and her tips and feedback regarding my essays was invaluable. My GRE scores were not the best, yet Jenifer’s help in putting together and polishing my overall application resulted in me receiving interview invitations from my top choices. I have so far received interview invitations for Harvard, Wharton, and IESE; my top schools of choice.
I greatly enjoyed working with Jenifer and the Fortuna team and would absolutely recommend their services to anyone aiming to get into a top MBA program.

I started my MBA applications quite late, around August. A good friend who got into a top 3 MBA program introduced me to Fortuna and I was very lucky to pair up with Jenifer. At first, I was not that articulate in terms of revealing myself or explaining why I want to pursue a MBA at this stage of my career. I had a hard time connecting the dots together, especially for schools like HBS, which requires a deep reflection on my past experience. Jenifer provided me some very informative and authentic feedback. Most importantly, she guided me to get to know myself in a deeper level. She was literally there for me every step of the way. Throughout this process, I had a truly reflection of who I am and who I want to be in the future. That’s why I said Jenifer is far beyond a MBA consultant. Not to mention she helped me land an interview in one of the top 3 MBA programs (FYI, I only applied to 3 programs and Jenifer is 100% supportive). Unlike other MBA consultants who tried to convince you to apply as many as schools, Jenifer understands what I really want from a MBA program. Overall, if you need a career/life/MBA mentor, I highly recommend Jenifer to anyone.

I was initially referred to Michel by a friend of mine who told me that they owed their seat at business school to her. I must admit though, at first, I was skeptical. I wasn’t sure if the services Fortuna offered were necessary- surely I could do it on my own… how wrong I was!

It was during my very first call with Fortuna that I quickly realized that I lacked the knowledge of what business school adcom look for, how to answer the essay questions and how to stand out from the sea of other applicants. I was promptly put in touch with Michel who, from the outset, demonstrated an incredible level of application knowledge that you would only expect from someone that had spent years as Wharton’s MBA gatekeeper.

Michel was a terrific choice for me. She was responsive to questions I had, possessed a great sense of what each of the schools look for and had an exceptional eye for detail. In one instance, I even remember Michel pointing out a grammatical mistake I had made in a 31 page application. Michel considers each of her clients’ applications as hers, treating them with a personalized touch.

Thank you, Michel, for getting me into the business school of my dreams! I know it would not have been possible without your support, encouragement and knowledge.

Melissa is the best coach I could ever have. She went above and beyond what I had expected. The full package is truly worth every penny.

From the initial free consultation call with Matt, I was amazed by his comprehensive knowledge of MBA programs I wanted to apply. After talking with him, unlike other consulting firms, I was able to see strengths and weaknesses in my profile and felt more confident in my application. He put together a detailed action plan very quickly and connected me with Melissa.

Melissa personally took the time to review all my data and all my drafts essays and CV. She was very responsive (within 24 hours) and insightful. Thanks to her, I was able to create killer applications that bring the best out of me and appeal to adcoms. With her honest feedback and encouragement, I overcame my fear of interviews.

I got admitted into my dream school with a hefty scholarship. Thanks Melissa and Fortuna!!

To start off: I got into my first choice school! M7 school, and I’ll be starting this fall!
My background: I’m an Asian engineer with a low undergraduate GPA. I did well on the GMAT, but I had some serious disconnects in my story. I was having some real real trouble putting my essays together, as well as a complete application.
I applied to 3 schools, and each application was more daunting than the one before. The word limits were too constraining in my opinion. How was I supposed to fit my entire life story into 500-1000 words? How was I supposed to stand-out from the rest of the crowd? What should I even write about? What makes me special?
Jenifer helped me do just that. Jenifer, alongside her colleague Judith, at Fortuna admissions worked with me for an entire 6 months, from start to finish.
We kicked it off in June whilst I was putting applications together. I’ve never worked so closely with folks before who care so much about your personal story, and are so heavily invested in your success. They asked the most detailed questions that allowed them to gain insight into who I am as a person, and what is it that will allow me to stand-out. All I had to do was talk to them! They helped me with the rest:
1) We started off by developing a story
2) What differentiates me?
3) How does my story play out, and come together?
Jenifer was with me every step of the way, and helped me in piecing my essays together, in my own words! I was having trouble conveying certain sentiments, and staying under the word count. This is my entire life in an essay, after all. Jenifer was with me through dozens of edits on multiple essays.
Fortuna’s services also completely re-did my resume.
Jenifer completed a very thorough check of every bit and piece of my final application, from career goals, resume information, to essays.
I was finally invited to interview, and the level of service from Jenifer shot-up. We had mock interviews, the feedback was phenomenal! I was able to practice feedback since she has interviewed many candidates in her experienced role as an admissions director.
Fortuna was with me every step of the way, and never did I once feel as if I was forgetting anything, or that I was mis-stepping. Jenifer, Judith, and the Fortuna folks know EXACTLY what they are doing, and their services were worth every penny.
I’m starting at my #1 choice school this fall, and I couldn’t have done it without them. To be honest, I was quite lost without their guidance through this time-consuming process, and I attribute my success to their hard work.
Huge thank you to Jenifer, Judith, and Fortuna!

I chose to work with Fortuna as I felt they would provide the individual attention I needed and offered me the flexibility to choose a consultant of my choice, and I am very happy that I chose to work with Brittany. Fortuna and Brittany were helpful in many different aspects of the process, including school selection for their comprehensive package, MBA fair prep, validating my follow-up emails to admissions officers, resume revamp, interview prep, etc. But for me the biggest value add Brittany and the Fortuna team provided was with crafting my essays, and in the process helping me gain a better understanding of what my post-MBA goals were, why those were my goals, and why I wanted to do an MBA.

Brittany spent a considerable amount of time with me initially in helping me think more about my answers to these questions as they lay the foundation for the majority of the essays. As we worked through the essays, she was not afraid to ask why I wrote something I did, which forced me to dig deeper and in a couple of cases revamp my essays. She was able to give ideas for making the essays more marketable, e.g. with phrasing my introductory story in a more catchy manner or using a different story which she felt was more unique to me, while still keeping the essay true to myself. When needed, she also reached out to other members of the Fortuna team for advice. After we worked on the essays for the first couple of schools, I had much greater clarity on what to write for the other schools I was applying to and this made the rest of the process a lot easier. In the end, I was admitted to 3 top-10 schools and now have the problem of deciding which one to join!

I had at least a dozen assessment calls with other consultants before I was referred to Heidi. I was told by all of them that my chances of getting into the two schools that I applied to were slim to none, and no one that I spoke to seemed excited to work with me. I knew that Heidi was the right partner for me for this process during our first phone call. She was encouraging throughout the entire process, and she did a great job identifying my strengths. Going into the application process, I had no idea what I wanted to write about, but Heidi spent a lot of time working with me to craft the story I wanted to tell. I was ultimately accepted to my top choice (Stanford), and I feel immense gratitude for her her help.

I worked with Jessica on an application for a highly competitive global EMBA program. Jessica took time to do a deep dive into my background to assess my strengths and areas for improvement, using her expertise in admissions and coaching to craft a clear plan and strategy to make my application shine. With less than a month before the application deadline, she helped me re-focus my narrative and broke down the application process into manageable pieces. We re-tooled my resume to make it more results-oriented and to highlight the significant impact I made across multiple functions and companies. She also provided invaluable and candid feedback on my essays and overall helped make the application process much less stressful. Ultimately I was admitted to my top choice program.
I highly recommend working with Jessica – her support, enthusiasm, and guidance were vital in this process!

After my first consultation with Matt Symonds, I immediately knew I wanted to work with Fortuna. I could tell the entire Fortuna team had a knack for noticing the most compelling aspects of an applicant’s profile and making them shine. Matt talked me through Fortuna’s platform, their experience working with clients from similar backgrounds, as well as the flexibility I would have in choosing a coach.

I chose to work with Michel because of her extensive experience working in admissions. I came to Michel with a vague idea of my “story”. She patiently talked me through how my background, past experiences, and extracurricular interests could create a cohesive, compelling application. I initially bought the three school package, but shortly added additional hours for other schools to which I was applying. I immediately saw the “edge” Michel’s guidance added to my applications, and I wanted her guidance to put my best foot forward.

Michel was with me every step of the way. She was responsive, thoughtful, and honest. Michel always found a way to make herself available, even though my work and travel schedule was very unpredictable.

Thanks to Michel’s guidance, I was admitted to Columbia and Booth, two of my top choices! I am absolutely certain I would not have arrived at this outcome without Michel’s help. I highly recommend working with Michel – you will not regret it!

As a re-applicant and a slightly ‘older’ candidate compared to the average age of MBA aspirants, many of the consultants that I initially spoke to showed half-hearted enthusiasm about my otherwise competitive profile. Of the one’s that were optimistic and keen to work together, I finally decided to go with Fortuna Admissions post the more than heartening conversations with Matt and Heidi.

It was clear to me from the start that Heidi knew what she was doing. From our association over the past few months, her knowledge, experience, perfectionism and affability have stood out!

With her experience of having served on Stanford’s admissions committee and working as an MBA consultant, Heidi had detailed knowledge of the entire application process and a keen eye for loopholes. From Day 1, she asked me to do thorough research on my post MBA plans. The Fortuna templates that she asked me to fill were extremely helpful for guiding my research. During this time, Heidi also went out of her way to connect me to her previous clients who were involved in similar career tracks. By the end of this first step, I knew that I was in good hands and that Heidi will be able to help me see the areas of improvement that I wasn’t being able to.

Once we got into the essays, I was impressed by Heidi’s perfectionism. Not only did she help me see the weaknesses that I had not spotted, but also helped me identify the strengths that I was underplaying. Through her guidance and insistence on talking about “real” experiences, my essays sounded better than my previous attempt from the very first draft. But, Heidi wouldn’t give a green signal to an essay unless she was convinced about every single example, word, punctuation! It wouldn’t matter if we had to go through 20 drafts or start again after coming mid-way with one line of thought. At the end of this process, my essays sounded so authentic! I finally understood what the MBA blogs meant when they spoke about “letting your personality shine”. My essays were 100% mine in story, language and sentiment!

A few months into working with Heidi, I realized that I felt comfortable talking to her about anything in my life. Her genuine understanding and warmth allowed me to discuss anything that I wanted to and she always gave me the most sound advice, be it on the applications or anything at all regarding the MBA experience.

This entire experience ended with me securing admission at one of the top US B-schools! I cannot thank Heidi enough for her guidance, support and encouragement. She’s phenomenal as an MBA consultant and a blessing as a guide and mentor (that’s how I started seeing her after a while).

When I was researching into the application process I came across Fortuna Admissions. Initially I discovered them from online searches, however an old friend of mine was a former client and confirmed they were a great service.
I was paired with Sharon and it was a great fit. We started just before Summer with a goal of first round applications being completed by the start of September. I am very busy with my career so having a strong supporting team to help organize my application efforts was a tremendous help.
I work best with goals and schedules. Sharon quickly adapted to my working preferences and helped me set goals and dates to accomplish various tasks. At the end of every session I would have my “take aways” and a set date I needed to have it done by. At the start of every session we would review the work I completed on my own time in an environment and pace that worked best for me.
When I received my first interview invitation it was almost unexpected. The deadline had been a few days prior, so to hear back so soon was quite shocking (albeit a great one!). That being said, I had a business trip already planned and had to opt for their earliest time slot. This gave me a little over 24 hours to be fully prepared. Sharon was able to accommodate my rushed time frame and I walked into the interview confident.
Overall my experience with Fortuna Admissions was great, and I will be recommending them in the future to my colleagues. Thank you, Sharon!

I enjoyed working with Fortuna from my first interaction with Matt. They provided loads of advice on the first intro call – far more than other consulting firms I spoke with – and sold me quickly. My consultant, Sharon, was personable and helpful throughout the process. It was tougher than usual because we lived in time zones 14 hours apart, but she regularly scheduled calls in her evenings because it was more convenient for me. I appreciated her pushing me to re-work my essays multiple times. Would recommend the services, particularly for school selection and keeping me on a steady schedule to get my applications in on time.

Tatiana excels as a listener. She probes fertile areas of your past and helps to make sense of the decisions you’ve made and the path you’ve taken. She is expert in understanding what makes you unique and in helping you to tell that story in a clear and compelling fashion. She is patient, thoughtful, and caring, and she has an uncanny knack for helping you to bring out the best in yourself.

I am lucky that I began working with Tatiana, and I am incredibly grateful for her assistance in gaining admission to my top choice school. I highly recommend Tatiana to anyone looking for assistance throughout the application process. She is wonderful!

If you want someone who is going to give you efficient, no-BS advice and who is a genuine delight to work with, choose Sharon! With Sharon’s help I was accepted in R1 to Ross, Anderson, and McCombs, with generous scholarships to each even with a low GMAT quant score! Sharon helped me with resume review, essay review, all of the questions and gut-checks I needed for communicating with the schools, interview prep, and ultimately school decision-making. Something I especially appreciated about Sharon was that I never felt like she was wasting my billed hours – she was incredibly efficient and honest if she thought I only needed 10 minutes to review/prep when we had scheduled 30, for example. She also was very flexible in terms of when we touched base and when she would review my work. Sharon is certified in the Clifton Strengths Assessment tool, which was a surprisingly helpful assessment to provide me with talking points about my personal strengths (talking about yourself is hard!). She was a genuine pleasure to work with, but always gave me no-bullshit advice which was so, so helpful – I really felt like I could trust her. I can’t recommend her more highly and think she would be helpful to anyone no matter where they are in their application process!

Michel is a wonderful coach who is responsible, dependable, patient and informative.

She thoroughly understands a student’s personality, life stories and goals. Then she helps to invite your true ideas about your career path and life plan so that you can be very confident and genuine when stating that in your essays.

She knows the schools well (with a professional Fortuna team supporting her) and so you will be quickly able to navigate down to your favorite schools and their specific styles/ requirements. Michel will help you formulate your strategy of which ones to tackle first that provides you a better experience of the entire procedure.

Michel is patient and she helped me with 6 drafts for the three essays respectively. There’s no end unless we both are satisfied with what we are presenting.

Last but not least is the interview rehearsal. She gives friendly guidance and detailed feedback so that student won’t feel unconformable/unexpected during the formal interview.

All in all, I got to my dream school and am very grateful for having her in this journey.

I wrapped up my first MBA application season with overwhelming disappointment. I was rejected from 2 top MBA programs and it was a huge hit to my confidence. I did my research and started to reach out to admission consultants i.e. 4 different firms, and yet without high expectations started to consider reapplying to business schools. After my first call with Brittany it was obvious she would provide the support I needed at that point to figure out the rationale of a compelling story. After a thorough exercise of self-reflection and questionnaire that stimulated my thinking, I started to approach the essays with more passion tapping into my accomplishments, values and drives leading to my post MBA goals.

Brittany helped me find out how my attributes and aspirations converge with certain schools’ cultures to decide which school would prove invaluable to my career progression. She was willing to keep reviewing my drafts multiple times and ask thought-provoking questions even when I was already satisfied with the level we reached. Working what seemed to be around the clock, she will reply very fast allowing maximum number of drafts within short time. Brittany is very honest, and her advice was candid; that helped me develop strong essays strategies and stand out in the interviews. She made every effort to know me at a personal level and was reachable at a short notice. I always felt her top priority was to maximize my chances of getting into my top choices and never felt a desire from her to maximize the billable hours as she would tell me when I did not need them.

After months of hard work and continuous support, I was admitted to my dream school, Wharton, and I attribute this success to the positive mindset Brittany instilled in me throughout this daunting process. I highly recommend having her by your side; she will help you put your best foot forward, and most of all, she will make sure you will stand out from the crowd.

I had a great experience with Heidi and the Fortuna team – I got into my top choice program and received an almost full fellowship at another M7 school. In my experience, Fortuna’s greatest strength is that they have consultants who have worked for the admissions teams of many of the top schools. As a result, there was always someone available to answer my school-specific questions in a very insightful way. Everyone I interacted with at Fortuna was professional, helpful, and reliable.

Heidi specifically was amazing! She did a great job perfecting my “story”, coaching my recommenders, and helping me understand and articulate my goals. Heidi seemed to know more about my story than I did and she had great ideas and edits for all my essays. She’s very good at constructive criticism – we rewrote my HBS essay probably 50 times. She was easy to communicate with (despite being in different, and constantly changing, time zones) – she always responded within a day and scheduled meetings whenever I asked. My applications were a million times better than they would have been without Heidi. Highly recommend!

I approached Fortuna Admissions wanting to work with the best consultants and resources to maximize my chances to attend a top business school. After interviewing multiple consultants, I was paired with Cassandra. From our first meeting to the last, she 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. Outside of her genuine interest in understanding her clients at a personal-level, Cassandra is a master wordsmith. Through interfacing on multiple iterations of essays, we worked collaboratively on creating intellectually and personally-rewarding statements. Together with Judith, 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 them to all.

I didn’t have the chance to work with Malvina on my applications, but had the pleasure of working with her on my HBS interview. Despite her being located in London, she was highly responsive and flexible in accommodating to my work schedule to speak with me on the phone and answer my questions. Malvina was extremely knowledgeable of the HBS interview and was able to make the whole prep process very tailored. Based on my application, she was able to suggest areas of my profile I should highlight, what the interviewer may ask, and how to respond to those questions. The interview process is daunting, but Malvina was patient and honest yet supportive which made it all the more enjoyable. I couldn’t have gotten into HBS without her help and I 100% would recommend Malvina!

I worked with Michel from early on my decision to apply for B-school. I knew that I was going to apply Round 1 and that I would be on the younger side if accepted by the schools I wanted to get into. So I did my extensive research and chatted with 6 different consulting agencies before finally choosing Fortuna.

What really set Fortuna apart from the other agencies is the level of care and detail Michel went into crafting my story. I come from a traditional consulting background but I was looking to make a career pivot with my MBA to go into something a lot more untraditional. Michel spent hours on the phone with me really dissecting why and how I came to the conclusion that business school is the right move at this stage of my career. Once that was set, we went about creating the right narrative for my applications.

Throughout the process, Michel was extremely responsive and provided strong feedback on my essays, resume, video interviews, in person interviews, recommender selection, etc. Along every step of the process it became very obvious how experienced and knowledgeable Michel was with this entire MBA process. And because we started very early in the year, the pace was very manageable and at no time was I overwhelmed or stressed out.

I found it very helpful that Michel knew me very well and was able to call back on all of my extracurriculars in order to help prep me from the essays to the interviews. After each interview, Michel and I called to debrief and prep for the next one.

Ultimately I was admitted to 2 schools and waitlisted for my third! All top 10 programs! I’m thrilled and could not have done this without the expertise of Michel. If you’re looking for a compassionate, understanding, patient and knowledgeable MBA consultant, Michel is the way to go!

I worked with Karen the whole R1 season. We worked together on three things – resume, essay, and interview. Throughout the process, I was impressed by her responsiveness, trustworthiness, and flexibility. When I have questions, she usually will get me back with her answers in 4-5 hours, 60% of the times she would get me back within 1 hour. She makes me feel supported alongside.
Karen is also experienced in coaching. I had my interview with CBS right 3 days after I got the invite. Karen did 2 mock interviews with me. In each of the session, she listened carefully my answers and would identify the inefficiencies in my communication style. The comment she gave me was right to the point and helped me structure my answers in later interviews.
She’s also an inspiring coach but someone who won’t make you feel pressured. This quality makes me return to her one time after another. I couldn’t imagine how many more hours I would spend on the application if were without Karen.

The MBA application process is pretty intimidating and somewhat overwhelming on top of a full time job and unlimited online resources claiming to have the secrets to MBA admissions. When I decided to apply, I talked to many different consulting firms for fit, and was struck immediately by the demonstrated knowledge and candid approach of Fortuna and Brittany.
From the start, I was extremely impressed with Brittany. She got to know me as a candidate immediately, asking questions and digging into various aspects of my past I considered unimportant. She also demonstrated a clear understanding of my goals and the different programs that were out there. She was committed to providing candid and honest assessments of my chances and fit at many different programs. She also helped lead me to discover a few programs I had not additionally considered.
Throughout the process, she provided clear and useful advice to help me best articulate the goals and past experiences in my applications. The idea making and editing process was extremely iterative and challenged me to concisely and clearly articulate myself. Her process helped me produce the strongest essays possible. Not to mention, my elevator pitches and interview answers befitted as a result.
When interviews came around, Brittany ran a mock with me for every school, providing feedback and insight on what to expect for each school’s interview process. As a result, I was never blindsided or surprised by an interview.
At the end of the process, I walked away with 3 acceptances from schools that had originally felt like reaches. I do not think I would be choosing between three great programs without her guidance.
On top of her expertise, Brittany is a pleasure to work with. She responds quickly and thoughtfully and is readily available. I remember at one point in the process, I had an interview and was nervous 10 minutes before. Brittany called me immediately to remind me of clear points and what to expect- she calmed me down and it truly helped me succeed. Brittany provided an objective lens, but also was supportive and caring through one of the more personally challenging phases of my life. The entire process was more manageable and more enjoyable because of her, and I don’t think that I would have achieved the outcome I did without her.

Karen helped me on my application for five schools from essay building to mock interview. When I came to her, I had already drafted several versions but still feel I was not there. She really spent her time listening to my stories, analyzing my case and building up an application strategy for me. She immediately pointed out my strengths and weaknesses in my academic and working experience and crafted different strategies for different applications. She always has different perspectives and advice to my essay and other application materials to really bring my whole application to the next level.
I truly appreciated her timely feedback on every version of my application. I was under extreme pressure when finishing application for five schools within a relatively short period of time. She was able to give back her comments and advice very quickly, even during the weekends, to help me catch all the deadlines.
Also I have done several mock interviews with her. For each mock interview, she did plenty of preparations in advance and really imitated styles of different schools. She covered various perspectives in the mock interviews and gave good suggestions to my answers and also my body language.
I highly valued and recommend Karen’s coaching on MBA application. She helped me to get into my dream school (HBS).

From the initial consultation, Michel and Judith took the time to understand my story, answer my questions. They spoke with me about my candidacy with confidence and enthusiasm, which I really appreciated. I spoke to a number of other consultants prior to deciding to work with Fortuna but my initial conversations with Michel and Judith really stuck out. I worked with them over the course of 5-6 months on my application to Columbia.

From the strategy questionnaire to my essays and interview prep, Michel took the time to understand my background, strengths, and interests to help me craft a compelling story. Michel provided constructive feedback on my essays to ensure they highlighted my personality and experiences. Michel kept me on schedule and provided valuable advice at every point of the application process. She went above and beyond and took the time to speak with me about a job change mid-way through the application cycle and how to frame that in my business school applications and interviews.

When I received an interview with a tight timeline to prepare, Michel was quick to make herself available to put me through a mock interview and I felt confident going into the actual interview as a result of that.

I felt Michel was truly invested in my success and was very excited for me when I was accepted to Columbia. I would highly recommend Michel, Judith, and Fortuna to future applicants!

I had signed up for the Fortuna school package and was very fortunate to have Melissa as my coach. She certainly has unparalleled insight into the admissions process which is clear in her invaluable feedback on the essays.

However, I believe that Melissa’s true strength as a coach was her ability to get me through the self-doubt, writer’s block and the numerous other obstacles that had almost caused me to give up on the application entirely.

Melissa showed a balance of patience and persistent encouragement, intuitively knowing to send amazing motivational videos and mental hacks that helped me work through the things that were holding me back.

With her support, I actually ended up enjoying the application process and was very proud of the final result. I also got admitted into my dream school!

I could not have asked for a better coach.

She genuinely cared, was very insightful and knowledgeable, and showed diligent attention to the slightest detail.

Melissa, it was wonderful to work with you. Thank you so much!

I had spoken to a couple of other consultants before I spoke with Karen. Unlike the other consultants, Karen did not make me feel like my dream school was out of reach. She immediately told me what my weaknesses were and put forth a strategy on how to deal with them in the application process.
I came to Karen later on in the application process, but never once did she make me feel stressed about my time crunch. She was EXTREMELY responsive all the way through till the end.
At the start of my partnership with Karen, I had very little idea of what the “story” for my essays was going to be. After a long conversation on the phone, Karen helped me come up with a story that made sense with my background, but also felt extremely genuine.
Numerous times while writing my essays I would get complete writers block. This never seemed to be an annoyance to Karen as she would simply tell me to write something out (basically just get anything down on paper), send it to her and then we would discuss ways to enhance and work on what I had.
Karen also did multiple mock interviews with me. In my essays I wrote about switching industries, but I had a very surface level knowledge of the industry I was hoping to switch to. Karen went above and beyond to first discuss with me the trends and buzzwords of this industry, and then ask me industry specific questions. Without this preparation I would have completely fallen apart in my interviews.
Not only was Karen helpful with crafting my story, helping with my essays, and prepping for my interview, but she also offered unwavering emotional support. Often times when we would speak, I felt like I was talking to a friend, which is something I found to be VERY important during this stressful process.
Karen ended up helping me get into my dream school (Columbia), and I would not have wanted to go through this process with anyone else!

My Background: Asian-American male in finance with a strong GPA and GMAT score. Generally, I had a very strong profile on paper in terms of academics and career.

My Top Choice: Wharton.

Results w/ Fortuna: Accepted to Wharton and Columbia ($100,000+), and invited to interview at HBS. I only applied to these 3 schools.

Reason for Choosing Fortuna: During my initial free consultation with Matt Symonds, I found it refreshing to speak with a consultant who provides an honest assessment of the services that would be of most value to me. Matt took the time to understand my profile and suggested an hourly package to help hone my messaging. He also ensured that I could retain my voice and give full freedom to my recommenders. In contrast, many other consultants insisted on having a heavy hand in the essays (basically writing it for me) and controlling the recommendations – not my cup of tea.

Experience w/ Michel Belden: I highly recommend Michel and can’t give her enough praises. Michel’s proven experience with the Wharton process was one of the key reasons that I chose to work with Fortuna. Michel really helped me articulate and structure my message and made sure I wasn’t leaving any stones unturned in my story. She was incredibly thoughtful and gracious throughout the process, going above and beyond during the holidays by remaining accessible when I was in a time crunch. I can’t thank her enough and highly recommend you consider working with her.

I am from a non-traditional MBA background and believed a coach is necessary to help me navigate the highly competitive and complex process of MBA application. Thanks to Nicola, Matt and Caroline, the journey was instead really enjoyable. I chose Fortuna because of the recommendation from a good friend and the fact that, as ex staff from INSEAD, some of the coaches have deep insights about my dream school. Nicola and I are in nearby time zones across the Tasman Sea (AU and NZ, allowing the communications to be very timely and convenient. As I said, the entire process was very well planned with a clear timeline. I was able to focus on tasks in hand and knew everything was under control. There are specific tools and guidance for each step along the way. For example, the initial comprehensive questionnaire was extremely valuable as a tool for self-reflection and gathering material for essays. For the whole time, Nicola was extremely helpful. She had enlightened me to discover the meaningful stories of my life. In terms of the application, the essays and forms were carefully reviewed by Nicola and Caroline dozens of times. Nicola also helped me with interviews and the scholarship application. In summary, Nicola is a great coach and I highly recommend anyone choose her and Fortuna Admissions. Without their help, I probably wouldn’t have survived the admission competition and eventually receive an offer from INSEAD. A big thank you to the team. Lastly, I have to mention the Youtube channel and the website of Fortuna Admissions, which are great resources for MBA applications.

Julie was exceptional. As candidate from a small firm and a tier two liberal arts college, Julie worked diligently to help me stand out in wholly unexpected ways. She showed me how a weekend hobby wasn’t just a hobby, but a way to make my candidacy standout.

Where Julie shines is the essay. About five times, per essay I’d find myself stuck, but each time Julie was there with some wild idea that was just enough to get me going. She diligently edited the barrage of drafts I threw at her. The essays we produced were the cornerstone of my application. Admissions officers from three separate programs highlighted my essays as the key strength of my application.

Like working with any great coach, if you put in the work, you will see outstanding results.

Going into the MBA admissions process, I had a lot of questions and uncertainty despite hours upon hours of research. I depended on Michel to answer my never-ending stream of questions and vet my scatterbrained essay ideas, guiding my thoughts and application to the best ones. She helped keep me stay organized, particularly in terms of not spending too much time on workstreams I kept going back to. Having her experience, as well as the extra opinions from the rest of the Fortuna team, provided me peace of mind.

I came into the process with fairly low expectations but Michele bolstered my confidence, which I needed to execute on my applications. I ended up getting interviews at almost every school I applied to, and eventually ended up in the program that best fit me. The MBA admissions process is tough, but having Michele and Fortuna at my side made it almost enjoyable, as I was able to spend more of my time reflecting and executing instead of worrying over details and uncertainties.

Thanks Sharon for prepping me for the interviews. I got admitted to UCLA Anderson, UC Berkely Hass, Yale SOM and MIT Sloan. Some of them offered almost full or half scholarship.
When I contacted Sharon for interview preparation, the deadline was approaching and I have nearly zero knowledge about the interview. Thanks Sharon for the quick response and talking with me on such a short notice.
I truly enjoyed the 2-hour conversation with Sharon. She was able to provide insightful feedback and suggestions during the conversation, and also answered my follow-up questions via email with great patience. She gave me a good start on my interview preparation by identifying my strengths and weaknesses.

I could not have asked for better experience working with Jessica. We focused on my top choice only and I ended up being admitted to the school. Throughout the few months we worked together, Jessica was always responsive, discerning and honest. She provided valuable insight of what the program’s admissions committees are looking for, which helped me keep my essays in the right direction. I also appreciated her providing clear timeline of how the application should move forward and making sure I was on track. With Jessica’s help on my interview skills, I was able to walk into the actual one feeling confident.
I would highly recommend her to any future applicants. Thank you Jessica!

I can’t imagine what the application process would have been like without the Fortuna team. They made everything tangible, and much more enjoyable even from the first call. The entire process was an adventure in itself and helped me gain a better understanding of myself including my strengths and weaknesses as well as my goals. I worked with both Melissa Jones and Emma Bond- a great duo. They are both extremely professional and helpful, had great insights on the process, paid great attention to detail and knew how to position my profile in the best way possible. They went above and beyond to help me prepare for my interviews and always available for questions. I know I was successful with my applications because of Fortuna and am extremely thankful I made the decision to work with them. I highly suggest working with them.

I can’t imagine what the application process would have been like without the Fortuna team. They made everything tangible, and much more enjoyable even from the first call. The entire process was an adventure in itself and helped me gain a better understanding of myself including my strengths and weaknesses as well as my goals. I worked with both Melissa Jones and Emma Bond- a great duo. They are both extremely professional and helpful, had great insights on the process, paid great attention to detail and knew how to position my profile in the best way possible. They went above and beyond to help me prepare for my interviews and always available for questions. I know I was successful with my applications because of Fortuna and am extremely thankful I made the decision to work with them. I highly suggest working with them.

Throughout my application process, Julie was supportive and provided excellent guidance. She helped me refine my “story” and weave it throughout each of my applications in a way that would appeal to each school. She is very knowledgeable, dedicated, and keeps things fun! I strongly recommend Julie to anyone looking to apply to top-tier schools.

Thank you, Julie, for all of your help!

I worked with Sharon during Round 2 of the 2017 – 2018 season and could not have had a better experience. I got a late start on applications and Sharon was crucial in not only getting my applications completed, but perfecting them before submission, helping to present the best and most honest version of me to admissions committees. Due to this time constraints and the difficulties inherent to the application process, I ultimately selected Sharon and Fortuna because they gave me an honest, no-BS perspective on my candidacy (as compared to other consultants I spoke with that were just happy to take my money), saving me time by helping me target my strengths and avoid schools that weren’t a good fit.
I initially purchased a 3-school package from Fortuna but added on essay editing for a fourth school after I saw how valuable Sharon’s insights and edits were. Sharon was constantly available, even for the smallest question, and always within 24 hours. I consider myself a good writer/interviewer, but Sharon’s talents for editing took my essays and interviews to the next level. With all of her experience working on various admissions committees, Sharon helped me avoid school-specific pitfalls and highlighted important themes relevant to each school that made my applications stronger. Sharon went above and beyond in helping me explore all of the areas that made me valuable as a candidate, providing activities and psychological exercises to get to the “real me.”
Sharon constantly provided the honest feedback I needed, as well as immensely helpful essay and interview ideas that highlighted the uniqueness of my application. I’m confident I would not have gotten as far in the admissions process if it wasn’t for her unique insights and ideas on how to present my story. With Sharon’s help, the immensely stressful and time-consuming application process was made much easier. I was ultimately admitted to a top 10 program and am on the waitlist at Stanford ( what I would consider a moonshot that never would have been possible without Sharon’s help).

I can’t even put into words how amazing Melissa was during my whole MBA application process. She guided me through every step and always gave me invaluable advice. Melissa got to know me very well, both from a professional and personal standpoint, so when I started thinking about what to include in the MBA essays she was really able to help me pinpoint the most compelling stories that really showcased my strengths.
Melissa was always very responsive on email and available to help whenever I had a question. She is also extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the top MBA programs – especially INSEAD.
I would highly recommend the comprehensive MBA package.

It was only a week away from the deadline when I decided to retain an MBA admission consultant because I was struggling with the optional essay. I contacted several companies that provide MBA admission consulting service, and Fortuna was the only company that was able to meet my deadline. Sharon from Fortuna contacted me within 24 hours and worked with me over the weekend to review my admission package. Not only she provided great guidance on my optional essay, she also offered incredible insights on my other essays and the entire package. Since I had already spent more than one month writing my other three essays, I thought they cannot be any better until Sharon mentioned a few points. Looking back, I would have not got into Stern without correcting those mistakes on the essays.
I cannot thank Sharon and Fortuna enough for what they have done. Sharon sacrificed her weekend and weeknights just to make sure my work is perfect. I would highly recommend Fortuna and Sharon to any MBA applicants!!!