mbaMission | MBA Admissions Consultants

I worked with Jen for my three MBA school applications and received offers from all these schools. I was impressed by the results and knew I wouldn’t achieve these without Jen’s support.

During the time we worked together, she provided me with lots of guidance and advice so that I knew what to highlight in my essays. She helped me find some unique and exciting stories in my career and life that I was not aware of. The mock interviews we did for both Kira video questions and alumni interviews were super helpful. Jen pointed out my problem directly and gave me suggestions about improving them. I built a lot of confidence and felt well prepared through the process.

Besides her professional knowledge about the programs, Jen is very supportive and flexible. When I was unsure about myself or doubted my essays, Jen always had my back. She was also able to meet me at late nights or early mornings.

The application journey was busy and stressful, and I am so glad that I worked with Jen to go through it.

Before reaching out to mbaMission, I was really hesitant to apply to school this year and unsure of whether I’d be admitted to any program. Thanks to all the help from Nisha at mbaMission, I was accepted to my target school! Nisha walked me through every part of the application and answered all my questions. She helped frame my story in the essays in order to put my best foot forward in the application. Nisha was available over email and responded super promptly to all of my essay and application questions. Once my application was submitted, Nisha also helped me prep for the interview and conducted a mock interview that really helped me prep for the real one. Additionally, mbaMission has tons of guides to help in every part of the application process. Overall, I’m super happy with this experience.

I worked with Kate on two schools this year as part of the 2022 admit cycle. Kate was an incredible partner throughout the experience, from the very first consultation call, all the way to interview prep. She’s honest and direct while still being kind and encouraging. She’s also incredibly responsive and always eager to answer quick questions. As a result of my work with Kate, I got into both schools that we worked on together!

Kate was incredible to work with! I signed up for the 3-school package and found her to be very generous with her time. As a younger candidate in management consulting, I worked with Kate to identify my personal strengths that we could highlight throughout the application process.

We mainly worked on essay development/edits together, where I was always impressed by her attention to detail. With every review, we would discuss not only basic revisions but overall application strategy to deliver meaningful and impactful essays. Not to mention that she was incredibly responsive and engaged, with truly impressive turnaround times!

Kate is truly adept at taking the best of yourself and ensuring that it comes across in your application. She was a true partner throughout the entire process, and with every application sent, I felt proud of the quality of the submission.

Thanks to her support, I was able to secure admission to my dream M7 school!

It was such a smooth and great experience working with Debbie. She is very experienced in what she does having worked with a ton of applicants for different schools. She helped me narrow down on the schools that I ultimately applied to and was also very helpful with the various questions I had when I was choosing my recommenders. When it came to brainstorming and essay writing, Debbie had great feedback on the essays and helped me string my thoughts together into something that was unique to me and really showcased my own voice. I couldn’t have done this without Debbie and getting admitted to one of my dream schools! Thanks Debbie!

Amazingly helpful and always willing to go the extra mile. Provided candid and useful feedback helped me get into a top school and waitlisted at the top school! Really beleive the pointers he made had a signficant impact on my applciaitons.

Taking standardized test took me a longer time than expected. When I started working on the essays, I was running a little behind than the ideal application timing, and then I decided to work with Harold with a full package.

When we started, Harold helped me to identify a compelling career path story. My initial thought was to enter consulting after MBA. With Harold’s experience in the consulting industry and an understanding of my diverse professional background, he felt that entering the consulting industry wouldn’t be a compelling story to tell for my career goal essays. And he encouraged me to brainstorm and explore other potential career options. Therefore, I did some more research in the VC and entrepreneurship space, and was eventually able to identify something fits my background significantly better.

Once I identify the career path, and draft the initial essay. Harold was extremely good when it comes to ping-ponging different versions of the essay to polish it up. The first three versions always take the most effort. There were times where I felt lost and frustrated. I kept trying and kept writing, and was eventually able to create something that meets both Harold’s and my own expectation.

After the essay submission, there came the interviews. Harold was very helpful, especially when it comes to behavioral interview questions. Overall it’s a great experience working with Harold. I could not imagine to get the HBS offer without his guidance!

I had the great pleasure of having Kim Hoey as my MBA Admissions consultant. Coming from a non-traditional background, I knew that I needed someone strong to be on my team. Kim’s deep expertise in brand management and the CPG industry as a whole was invaluable. Kim was heavily invested in my success and would check-in frequently to ensure that I was on-track with my business school essays. In addition, she offered invaluable guidance on how to best tell my story and helped me to tie in different elements of my personal and professional life- even when I didn’t see the connection at first! Kim is proactive and always strives to her best in investing her time and energy in helping me. From my written application all the way to my initial interview preps, Kim had remained a consistently strong advocate. With Kim’s guidance, I will be enrolling at Stanford GSB this coming fall.

When I received the HBS interview, I started doing research. I quickly realized that HBS interview is a different challenge compared to interviews at other schools in two ways, 1)it’s holistic, meaning that the AdCom interviewer would have read my entire application package, 2)it will deep dive into a few of my past experience, instead of asking open behavioral questions. As a result, I could not provide the same stories that I would share for the typical MBA interview questions.

Devi was direct. I had two sessions with her. In our first session, she directly pointed out that my responses were too scripted. That was an awakening moment. Particularly when Devi demonstrated to me the difference between a “natural conversation” versus a “scripted presentation”. And during the actual HBS interview, the interviewer wants to have a natural conversation with me, because they really want to get to know me as a person.

I would recommend Devi to my friends and colleagues, 110%. Without the two mock sessions with her the week before my interview, I could not imagine that I would get into HBS.

If you want to get a sense of Devi’s instruction style. Here is a link to a great interview session she had with P&Q’s John, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYAxnp-ukps

I started working with Devi a week before my HBS interview, and all I can say is Devi is genuinely amazing. I came from a non-traditional background and hadn’t had an interview in almost 4 years. I felt rusty and needed some guidance for the interview process. After just two 30-minute sessions of Devi’s intensive mock simulation, I had the exact recipe on how to ace interviews. Not only did she prepare me for HBS’s interview, but the guidelines and frameworks provided helped me deliver successfully and confidently in all 6 interviews I had. Trust me when I tell you that her direct and experienced approach towards framing your story is key to succeeding with the interview process. Devi was crucial in helping me receive an offer from both HBS and GSB! 100% recommended if you are serious about getting to a top MBA program!

Devi was amazing to work with and brought the expertise I needed to nail my apps and get into HBS. I have a non-traditional background and a GMAT score shy of the 700s. If you get a chance to work with her, I would not pass up on it!! I worked with her on most of the schools I applied to. Devi comes thoroughly prepared and has thought through her point of view prior to every touchpoint. She is incredibly experienced and understands what to show off in your profile for each school and where in the process to best do that. She knows exactly how your app will be read, which allowed her to guide me on making very critical decisions- eg. length of my essay (we leaned longer), what part of my story to focus on (to show my work experience range). Every part of working with her is well thought through- even the school prep timeline and order.

Devi alone was sufficient for mock practice- north of 80% of what I got in my HBS interview I had prepped with her, and most areas we practiced in the mock were touched on during my interview. Expect her to know in the first question of a mock if you’re ready or not for the real deal. She does a great job of teaching you how to best repurpose your stories for different questions. Her rigor with mocks is intense and is the last step before you go for your “final”. She ensures that you are not only prepared to perfection, but also you feel confident in your execution. A fantastic coach and a true expert. Her work ethic is commendable and I learned a lot from her that I will be carrying into my career too!

Here’s the punchline: if you’re like me and want to walk away knowing that you did absolutely everything you could to put forward the best application, work with Devi. If HBS is your dream school, there is seriously no comparison.

Deciding to work with a consultant is a big step, and it’s really hard to tell who the right person to work with is. I spoke to friends and did extensive research on many consultants, and Devi’s track record and experience as an HBS alum, HBS interviewer, and as part of HBS admissions were clearly unparalleled – so I went all in and decided to work with her from start to finish.

By far, that was the best thing I did. Others who had worked with consultants told me that, comparatively, Devi’s commitment to this was much, much greater than what they had experienced. Devi actually understands what business schools are looking for at the deepest level, so she’s not trying to force you to come up with false pretenses to fit what many might assume the schools care about. Instead, she works to bring out your most authentic self, drawing out the stories and experiences that say the most about you in a way that is highly captivating. She will also be brutally honest, which is important. Particularly, she helped me create an overarching theme that tied my experiences together, allowing me to tell a clear, cohesive and deeply interconnected story about what really matters to me. In fact, the first draft of my essay was pretty much what I ultimately submitted because we had so extensively brainstormed and set the foundation in advance.

Devi also predicted how the interview would go to a tee. I felt 100% prepared. There was one specific distinction Devi called me out on in our mock and it ended up being an important discussion point in the interview – there is a reason why she is the HBS interviewer in residence!

Lastly, Devi is just a wonderful and kind person to work with! She was one of the first people I told about my HBS admission and I could tell she held such genuine happiness and excitement for me – I’m so thankful to have had her on the journey!

I did my research when selecting a consultant to help me navigate the MBA admissions process. I read many positive reviews on mbaMission’s Kate Richardson. If this review helps you choose Kate, then I will feel as if I paid it forward!

Kate Richardson is among the best, if not the best. Never did I feel alone during the daunting MBA admissions process. Kate has the unique ability to make you feel like her only client. Kate, of course, provided invaluable feedback during the resume reviews, essay edits and interview prep. But, where I found Kate’s guidance most helpful was with the intangibles. For example, no question about logistics or timeline was too small or unimportant for Kate to answer. It was really important for me to have a clear picture of expectations and a manageable schedule to complete all the steps of the application. Kate was a great partner in this. I found Kate was always encouraging while providing a realistic perspective. Kate is a serious bright spot throughout the MBA application process. If you want an advocate who will help you realize your goals, look no further than Kate!

I worked with Devi to prepare for my HBS interview. I had two 1-hour sessions with her, and it was amazing how Devi was able to get to know me so quickly and provide valuable coaching within such a short amount of time. She reviewed my full applications beforehand, and I feel that she simply cares about getting to know who I am/what I do/why I do what I do/etc/. She is also extremely dedicated to giving me personalized advice by providing actionable things to work on even though interview prep can be ambiguous and overwhelming. Most important of all, Dev is incredibly encouraging and she expressed so much excitement when she saw my gradual improvement from my first to the second session, which truly inspired me and instilled in me lots of confidence going into my actual HBS interview. I’m so thrilled to find out that I got into HBS last week, and I feel grateful for Devi’s coaching.

Now looking back at this journey, I truly believe what Devi said about her passion for coaching and helping aspirational candidates get into their dream school. I really enjoyed working with her on the HBS interview prep and I learned a ton from her. I highly recommend working with Devi based on my own experience!

Working with Devi for interview prep was the best thing I could have done for my HBS interview. I was already working with Jessica on my applications and she recommended I do a session or two with Devi for my interviews. Not only that, Devi is incredibly supportive and truly someone who wants you to succeed. She is on your team from day one. When I got my acceptance, she called me and congratulated me immediately – she cares so much for her clients and it shows. In my actual interview, because of Devi’s incredible skills of pulling out the information that was important, I actually really enjoyed it and had answered some of the questions I got in the real interview with Devi.

Devi is incredible. She is so motivating, supportive, and I truly looked forward to every single conversation with her. I learned so much from her, and she is so meticulous in her detail. In every 30-minute conversation we had, she does not miss a single thing you say. She picks up on everything, from your mannerisms to even the smallest word, and she transforms the way you think and speak about yourself in such a short, compressed amount of time and does so with incredible knowledge. She teaches you to tell your story with all the information you want to share in a very succinct manner, and more importantly, teaches you to talk business – which was the key for me as I came from a non-business discipline. During our practice sessions, when I said something new, exciting, or interesting, she motivated me so much to do things like that and really expressed her excitement. You can tell she understands people so well. She is the most supportive person I could have ever asked for, she’s truly on your team, cares so much about your success, and puts her heart and soul into helping you tell your story in the best way possible.

Although I was so nervous after my real interview, Devi’s words of advice and comfort left me feeling so much better than I otherwise would have. She raises your interview bar so high, that even if you mess up a bit, there’s a buffer for that. She spends so long reading through your whole application, and marks down every single thing to talk about — you can tell she is just so good at what she does, and getting mock interviews from an ex-HBS interviewer is really a dream.

I could not have asked for a better partner or team member than Devi, and I am so grateful that I was able to work with her and have her support and guidance along the way.

Working with Jessica was my highlight of not only this whole process but my year. Jessica takes an incredibly stressful, arduous, and long process, and simplifies it into something that is so manageable and easy to follow. Going into working with a consultant, I had no idea what to expect, but Jessica makes you feel so comfortable and right at home from the moment you pick up your first phone call for the 30-minute free consultation. Just after those 30 minutes, I knew that she was the right person to work with. We connected so easily, and she really expresses her excitement and enthusiasm from the moment you meet her. She is a gold mine of knowledge of every school, and really understands the intricacies of each application and what to highlight to make you shine. I can say without a doubt that I would not have made it to this point without her.

Jessica listens to your story, understands the smallest details, and knows how to ask the right questions to really dive deep and get to the core of what’s important. She also never tries to change your story, she only works towards getting every detail out so it sounds as strong as possible. As someone applying on the younger side, I was a bit worried but Jessica was so motivating and encouraging along the way that I really never felt that it was a weakness in my profile. She had encouraging but honest answers to every question I asked, and even was there for me to get me back on track when I was lagging behind in the early stages of essay writing.

Jessica is truly your champion, and supports you like no other. She holds your story and profile so close to her heart and you can see the time, effort, and care she puts into making it become the best it can possibly be. She is tough at times, and is very direct and candid with her feedback — but this is what I was looking for in a consultant and what I believe made my work the best it could be.

If you want someone who is truly on your team, who supports you through all the highs and lows of the process, and really cares about you, Jessica is all of this, and more. There is no end to what I could say about how great of a consultant, and even more than that, person, she is.

From our very first phone call, Harshad was genuine, motivating, direct, and candid. With our common background in manufacturing, we immediately hit it off and I felt like I’d known him for much longer! Given my path to enter my family’s business, he suggested a program that I ultimately am now attending. It would not only allow me to return to my family business on a faster timeline but I am now attending a program in the top 10 schools. He showed me how to highlight areas of strength that I didn’t even recognize but also how to strengthen the weaknesses of my application as well. His direct advice on the path I needed to take in the next year pushed my application to the next level.

When the time came for applications, he suggested edits to my resume that really transformed the way my accomplishments were showcased. Similarly, he gave me excellent guidance on the interview process and how to approach communication after being waitlisted.

At first glance, Harshad really knows how to approach the entire MBA application process. When the panic sets in, he is more than timely in his responses when any question comes up. As you dive deeper into conversations with him, he is empathetic and is one of the people you really want on your team during this process. We worked together for over a year and I’m so grateful.

I know I wouldn’t be attending the program I am in today without him!

I worked with a different consultant for my applications but felt something amiss even after completing their mock interview. I attended a P&Q webinar with Devi and her background, confidence, and experience with HBS’ process really appealed to me. I took a risk and purchased her two-interview package because getting into HBS was my lifelong dream.

Just five minutes into my first HBS mock interview session with Devi and I knew I was exactly where I needed to be, and in safe hands. It was clear that Devi had spent ample time reading my application and understanding my story. She helped me realize and focus on the most important parts of my application. I was over-explaining things, but Devi helped me be succinct. She fixed my language, making it more business-oriented rather than technical. She also helped make my content interesting, relevant, and practical. Practicing my interviews with her became fun, and I ended up adding sessions to polish my skills even further.

When I did the actual interview, it turned out that Devi had predicted EVERY SINGLE QUESTION. Long story short, I was on a different planet before I met Devi, and she got me exactly where I needed to be to get into HBS. Not just that, she became my friend and that’s something I will always cherish.

Get this straight – I am an Indian engineer (based in India), 28, Male, non-IITian who got into the extremely competitive (especially for my demographic) MS/MBA joint degree program that only admits 30 students from across the world. If that doesn’t speak for her skills, nothing else can. You can hire her without a second thought, and you won’t regret it.

I worked with Devi to prepare for my HBS interview. We had two sessions and these two hours were very efficient and helpful! Here are objective descriptions about the process, no exaggerations.

I have a non-traditional background. Devi is very experienced and knows exactly how HBS admission would read my application. In the first session, Devi went through an HBS-type mock interview and identified a couple of major areas that needed improvements, including 1. topics that I did not know how to deliver in a clear but impactful way, and 2. answers that need to be structured. Devi gave me homework to work on those areas for a week. The second session was a fine-tuning process. Devi really GUIDED me to dig into my application, from achievements to career goals, and helped me put these pieces together and deliver them in a concise and logical way. What I mean is that besides the information/argument in career goal essays, I was able to tell why I chose this SPECIFIC role and what I would do differently from the current industry manner and why. During the session, Devi not only pointed out what I did not do well, but also gave me a chance to practice multiple times until both of us felt comfortable about the answer. Devi also motivated me to think of a couple of main pieces of information I would want to communicate during the interview and figure out how to incorporate those into the answers to different questions.

My actual interview contained 50-60% information (of course asked in different ways) that Devi helped me clear out, including career highlights. With Devi’s challenging questions, I was calm and comfortable answering those unexpected questions.

I would highly recommend Kim to anyone on the fence about hiring an admissions consultant, or unsure of which consultant to work with. I took a chance on Kim and mbaMission after a brief phone consultation, and will be forever grateful that I did. Kim invested an extraordinary amount of time and energy into getting to know me as a candidate (and person) and channeled that understanding into helping me craft an incredibly well-packaged narrative highlighting my strengths and personal brand. Kim guided me through the admissions process every step of the way, acting as a coach, cheerleader, and teammate in one from our kick-off call to the day I received my acceptance letter from CBS. Most importantly, Kim clearly believed in me as a person and cared deeply about my success. As a result, the application I submitted was distinctly my own, rather than a contrived attempt at following some prescribed “CBS formula,” and this fact gave me a great deal of confidence going into my interview. Overall, working with Kim was an overwhelmingly positive experience, and it is safe to say that I would not be headed to my dream school next fall were it not for her guidance.

One final note: I myself was a skeptic of admissions consulting prior to working with Kim and mbaMission. After all, how much value could a consultant really add on top of what I would gain from completing a “self-guided” tour of the latest admissions literature and MBA applicant forums? As it turns out, a great deal. For example: I was by no means the perfect applicant, and had a gaping hole in my application in the form of a 710 GMAT score with a 40 on the quant sub-section (yikes). Although I had decided to hang up my cleats on the GMAT after several failed attempts at improvement, Kim talked me out of testing retirement for one last Hail Mary on the Executive Assessment. After two weeks of brush-up studying, I took the home version of the EA and walked away with a 95th percentile score. Instantly, the biggest weakness of my application transformed into a strength; not only did my EA score represent an improvement on a percentile basis, it also enabled CBS to focus on the other, stronger aspects of my profile, since EA scores aren’t factored into school rankings. Despite the confidence I placed in my own “self-guided” admissions research, I had somehow missed this incredible opportunity that ironically exists somewhat uniquely for CBS (that is, applying with the EA for the full-time program). That Kim was familiar enough with the school to catch this technicality (along with the fact that she was able to coach a very reluctant standardized tester back into the game) speaks volumes about her abilities as a consultant. If you were initially skeptical about bringing in outside help for your applications, I hope that I’ve now convinced you.

My experience with Kim Hoey at mbaMission was amazing! When I was stressed about my past, Kim always encouraged me to look at the positives. With her innovation and experience, she was able to refine my story into a clear and concise narrative. She was always meeting my deadlines and always checking in on me. One thing to point out especially when you are applying to 4 or more schools is that from brainstorming to drafting essays, before you know it, the deadlines are approaching. Kim took the time to create a detailed schedule for me to stay on track. She has a special quality of empathy. I would recommend her to anyone considering an admissions consultant. Last but not least, mbaMission is a rockstar firm with many great resources for its clients. Jeremy Shinewald is leading the best team in the industry.

Fantastic support and guidance in the chaotic world of MBA applications!

Although I had my doubts initially, the first phone call with Jen put all my worries to rest. From the first minute, it was clear that she was a true professional, and we could make a step-by-step plan of action together.

It is naïve to think that someone else will do every part of the application for you, but working together can truly work wonders. Every time I received my pieces back with comments from Jen, I had an “oh my god” in my head. We worked on my CV, prepared and talked through many of the most common questions in interviews, and wrote essays for universities.

Her phenomenal support and advice helped me get admitted to all three universities I applied to. I am genuinely grateful to her and would be happy to recommend her to my acquaintances who will also be applying to MBA programs soon.

From the very first conversation, I could tell that Jen was a great listener who cares deeply about her work and has a real passion for what she does. For such deep reflection that is required for these applications, you want to feel comfortable as a client in telling your consultant the most intimate details about your life. At least for me, this was important. And Jen made the environment so welcoming and inviting from the start.

I feel that after 6+ months I can speak quite accurately to her abilities. I didn’t have the strongest application profile in the world, and had no idea what industry I was after or even what type of school I was looking for. Jen’s attention to detail is second to none, and she did an incredible job in molding many pages worth of material as well as countless hours of conversation and other worksheets into a cohesive story.

This MBA process was an incredible introspective journey, and Jen was so good in helping me find my “why”. Always approachable and quick to respond, I felt like I could reach out to her at any time for anything, which is a tremendous feeling when working with someone in this capacity. She truly cares about her clients, and that became apparent quickly. As I applied to 4 schools, you can imagine the amount of work and written drafts I needed to produce and she never missed a deadline in editing my work.

Over the course of 3-4 drafts per essay, she would force me to really think about what I wanted to say until I had the specific, detailed, exact answer that was required. Jen pushed my writing in a way that it hadn’t been in a very long time, and always knew how to guide me to the finish line. She has a very kind and warm demeanor, and this works well in making critiques and letting me know what needed to be done.

As someone who was skeptical of the price and value of an MBA consultant, I can tell you that Jen is worth every bit of time and money and she is fantastic at what she does. I would recommend her 100/100 times, and if you work with her then you can feel confident you made the right choice.

I work in investment management and will be attending a part-time weekend MBA program. I worked with Kate on a two-school package and she was an incredible resource in making my applications as strong as possible.

She helped me narrow in on the strengths to highlight in my applications but also helped me identify my weaknesses and develop a plan to address them. One of my key weaknesses was a lack of community engagement.

Kate kept me on task throughout the process. Her help in tailoring my story and providing constructive feedback on my writing resulted in extremely strong essays.

We did mock interviews that made me much more prepared and confident in my interviews. Ultimately I got into both of the schools that I applied to and both offered me merit scholarships that exceeded my expectations. Going into my MBA applications, I was somewhat naive to the process and all that it entailed. Kate helped me navigate all of it and prepared me better than I ever could have on my own.

I worked with Debbie on the 3 School Package. She was an excellent partner throughout the MBA Admission process.

Our beginning sessions were focused on shaping my holistic story that I would tell admissions. She spent the time to get to know who I was to better recommend what my essays and resume should highlight. This was a critical step that we took before diving into the deliverables and made the rest of the process much smoother and effective.

Debbie was immensely helpful in the editing process – she provided effective feedback in a timely manner and was always available to help answer all the questions I had through the admissions process.

With her help, I was able to get into my top MBA choice!

I would highly recommend Debbie to anyone who wants to pursue their MBA!

I tried to get into b-school for 3 years. I worked with Harold and got in 2 months later.

When Harold works with you, it’s like you’re the only client in the world and nothing else matters. Harold was personally invested in my success and he was my first call whenever I received good news in the process since he was part of the journey and I wouldn’t have wanted to celebrate without him.

Harold was absolutely amazing;
1. Very specific advice for each part of the application
2. Extremely skilled in personalizing your application to you specifically, for the school you’re applying for
3. UNREAL turnaround times. I would send him 3 separate emails for 3 different schools and he’d send them back like it was ping pong.

I cannot say enough good things about Jen Kedrowski & her character, honesty, and expertise; the entire experience was all anyone could dream of. I was fortunate enough to get into my top-choice MBA program and know for certain I wouldn’t have been accepted without the guidance, support, and friendship of Jen. To borrow a boxing reference, she is the best person to ‘have in your corner’ through the long & (often) stressful process of applying to business school. The attention to detail, time, and energy Jen dedicates to her clients’ essays, interview prep, and overall ‘story’ is unrivaled; she really cares about each individual- and it shows. At the start of this process, I truthfully didn’t think I would get in anywhere, much less the top Ivy League program I was admitted to. Jen was simultaneously realistic but optimistic, helping me shape my story to put my best foot forward. I’m so glad it worked out the way it did & I cannot recommend Jen enough to help you achieve your MBA goals. Best of luck to those applying!

Working with a consultant is truly worth all the guidance, but I did have a poor experience prior to this where I hardly received guidance. I am so glad I gave finding a consultant another shot and was lucky that Melissa had the time to take me on as a client. She was extremely understanding of my candidacy regardless of my low test scores, quick to get back to me always, and provided candid feedback. Melissa still continues to support me in my process and I would not be able to create such a great story if it was not for her help! 100% I would recommend Melissa.

Dear Future Admitted Students,

First and foremost, as a reapplicant in the MBA process and an extremely curious person, I have read a lot of information about all aspects covering the application process from the most reliable sources, such as GMAT Club, Poets & Quants, mbaMission, and others. It’s valid to mention that I have joined, easily, more than 40 online events from a lot of schools and third-party webinars, including Centre Court. Second, I have worked with 3 different admissions consultants in the 2020-21 applications cycle, in which I applied for 7 schools, to only get waitlisted (Haas).

That being said, as I have an atypical profile, I engaged pretty seriously in finding the BEST person to help me, so I decided to give a shot to mbaMission. After reading the profiles and watching ALL video presentations at the site, I finally picked JESSICA SHKLAR to be my consultant. In the very first minutes of the call, being really empathetic with my goals, she laser-focused on rearing my story and on which aspects of my previous applications to improve. It was pretty impressive to see her in action since in 30 mins, she had already laid a plan and rationale to best present me to the adcom. Indeed, this is a CRITICAL part of the process, because the candidate will have to address this logic not only in the essays but also in some interview questions. For instance, “walk me through your resume”, “tell me about yourself”, “how did you get to this point of your career”, and others.

Another point that is truly vital, if not the MOST one, is the school’s selection. Certainly, this is a scary part of the process, because the candidate wants to pick her/ his dream school, but be realistic in getting accepted. Jessica, continuing exceptionally proactive and encouraging, sent me an email in less than 20 min after our call, laying out the best schools for me. To my surprise, she hand-picked schools and programs that are in the top 10 schools of US News. She remarkably maximized my chances by doing so.

In a nutshell, in my point of view, MBA applications are all about strategy and Jessica has extraordinary interpersonal and “MBA skills” to address all the candidate’s needs to land a spot in one’s dream school. She constantly impressed me with her ability to provide feedback in a direct, candid, and fast manner. Also, she responded to general questions exceedingly reliably and timely. Noticeably, I was pleasantly surprised with how effectively she dug into my personal and professional background to help me present my goals and storyline. Additionally, she was able to set an application strategy efficiently and successfully, landing me a spot in my dream school. By the way, I’m still waiting for the decision of 2 more schools, both top 10.

Ultimately, I highly recommend Jessica and mbaMission to anyone both looking to apply to a competitive MBA program and searching to have a joyful application experience. Trust me, it makes all the difference. I, definitely, would not have made it without her guidance, insights, and genuine support. As Isaac Newton said: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Katharine was my first choice after browsing through potential advisors on MBA Mission. Katharine helped guide me through my essays and provided some great feedback as to how to tell my story throughout the application. I would recommend her to anyone!

I successfully completed all six interviews with top ten MBA programs!

If you are fortunate enough to work with Devi, you would be making a mistake to do anything else. I worked with Devi specifically on interview preparation. Devi is likely the most skilled interview coach you can work with. I made it through each of my six interviews successfully (all six of which were top ten schools), which is the strongest testament to Devi’s coaching. Her approach is highly personalized, focusing on bringing you from an average or good interviewer to a stellar one. She will not shy away from the constructive feedback you need to be your best, but she has a gift of instilling confidence in you along the way. She gets to know you and who you really are, and then helps you convey who you are in a way that is genuine and true to yourself – this is quite a refreshing approach given all the formulaic interview advice that’s available. I could feel a meaningful difference in my skill set and confidence after working with Devi. She knows more about the nuances of interviewing than anyone I’ve met, and I cannot recommend her enough. Please work with Devi if you have the opportunity to. You will be happy you did!

I worked with Harshad on my MBA application this year for my first choice school, and I am glad to say that I got in and will be commencing my studies!

Harshad has been direct, straightforward with his views and he never tells you something he doesn’t believe in. This is an extremely useful quality to have in a consultant because you have limited time to apply and you need someone to tell you like it is, without any fairy dust sprinkled on top.

Despite being straightforward, however, Harshad will still motivate you to do your very best. He has been a constant source of support, constantly motivating me to apply to even better schools. After my admit, we are currently also working on another application for an M7 school!

Last but not the least, Harshad makes the effort to not only be your consultant and advisor but also your friend. He asks about your life and follows up on previous conversations about work and things unrelated to MBA applications which make you feel cared for and like you are in the company of a good friend. Cannot recommend him enough.

I had the good fortune of working with Harold every step of the way of my MBA application process. Since I was embarking on the ambitious journey of putting together an entire application package from scratch, in a matter of just three months, I knew I sorely needed the around-the-clock attention and targeted advice of a seasoned expert. Harold, recognizing the tight timeline I was navigating, really came through for me in playing out this exact role. Above and beyond functioning in a mentor/advisor capacity, though, Harold also came across as a close friend/supporter throughout a lengthy and arduous process. His consistent words of encouragement were much needed, especially in the inevitable moments of self-doubt as I hammered out draft after draft in a seemingly endless cycle.

With respect to the essays, Harold provided very timely (typical turnaround of 24 hours, sometimes less) and comprehensive feedback. We went through multiple (>5) iterations for each of the essays until we were satisfied with the final versions. With each iteration, I recognized a notable step-up in how the content was presented in a compelling yet succinct manner – Harold clearly understood which life examples were most salient in building out my narrative, and helped me find the optimal angle through which these examples were highlighted. Ultimately, Harold’s stringent review of the materials conferred a high level of confidence as I hit “submit” on my application packages – I could safely say there was nothing more I could have done to polish the essays.

For interview prep, Harold took extra care in considering my unique background and objectives when helping me rehearse for a fairly unpredictable stage of the application. Perhaps where he helped deliver the most value was in being a solid thought partner in anticipating questions that would be posed during the actual interviews. Harold also demonstrated a brand of professionalism in proactively recognizing opportunities for me to do mock interviews with his colleagues at mbaMission instead if he truly felt that that was the best path of preparation for me. This was a clear signal that he prioritized having a game plan tailored to my personal needs / situation, and was willing to toggle between “stepping in” and “sitting out” based on what made the most sense for my preparation in that moment.

Overall, I would highly recommend Harold for anyone contemplating business school. I truly appreciated his expertise and guidance through many phases of the process, which includes advice that I can still carry and apply in contexts outside of just the business school application.

In just 1.5 months, Devi helped me prepared 4 applications from scratch! I had a lower-end GMAT core 680-700 with a non-traditional background and decided to apply to the second round very late. Devi investigated my profile on a personal level, help me build my story, and gave me so much confidence to apply for my dream schools. We worked at Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and MIT. I received interviews from HBS and MIT. I eventually got into my dream school – HBS!

Devi is highly experienced in the application process, responsive in providing feedback, and professional in our interactions. Her instincts for what the admission teams are looking for are dead-on for my essays! Devi is incredibly smart to quickly point to the spotlight of my experiences and a brilliant great storyteller to sharpen my stories. Devi gave excellent guidance on the order of school applications to work on. Following her strategy, I can thoroughly reflect and delve deeper into my story efficiently using our limited time. I truly appreciated that Devi showed some “tough love” and kept me on track with applications during stressful times.

In preparing for the interview, Devi is unquestionably the pro with years of experience working with the admission team. Not only was Devi giving me mock interviews, but she also taught me how to verbally structure my stories better on each of my resume items and work on the strategy to lead the interview conversation to my advantage. I have to admit that I also tried to work with other consultants on mock interviews to get more practice hours. However, I was getting much better insights from even a 30 min session with Devi than a 2-hour session with other consultants (also are graduates of HSW). Devi is great at predicting interview questions and does not just focus on the resume. Most questions we practice ended up coming up in the actual interview! I was always met with encouragement when we practice. I strongly recommended working with Devi on your interviews. The quality would be beyond what you paid for!

Personally, I have learned so much from Devi in her work ethic and effective communication. Her communication was direct, concise, and articulate to get the story right. I am incredibly fortunate to have worked with Devi. She brings Harvard caliber dedication and professionalism to her work. I cannot thank her enough. You will be lucky to work with her too!

Gavriella helped me get into my dream MBA programs and get admitted with scholarship offers! I opted for a start-to-finish package with 4 schools and am so glad I did.

I knew that I really needed to hone my essays to make sure I had the best shot at getting into my goal schools. Gavriella has a very strong writing background and she really took the time to understand my personal story, motivations, and passions to ensure that we were able to create a story that would be appealing to the admission team while staying true to me.

I also had a tighter than optimal timeline to meet school application deadlines as I chose to apply later in the year. Gavriella got us organized from the first call with a comprehensive summary and next steps. She was then extremely present and available throughout the entire process, both for application support and mental support through the uphill battle of the admission process. She kept me on track for all the schools and was always on top of essay edit turnaround times. I really appreciate that she was able to provide insight into what stands out to the admission committee at each school and what exactly an essay question is asking for.

I found the mock interviews really helpful before going into the actual interviews. They always gave me the extra bolster of confidence and preparedness I needed. Her interview prep also helped me to pace my answers and be succinct and impactful.

I highly recommend Gavriellea to anyone looking for an MBA admissions consultant!

Nisha is fantastic! I was interested in numerous top 20 schools but felt lost as to which would be the best fit. Nisha walked me through a school selection exercise where we narrowed my prospects to a couple of top 10 programs. She gave me the confidence to apply for schools I previously perceived as out of reach. She is fantastic at providing advice on essays without telling you what to write. I additionally found the mock interviews incredibly helpful. With Nisha’s coaching, I was admitted into both top-tier programs I applied to!

I don’t think I would have made it to my dream MBA program, being admitted to a number of schools with over $300k scholarship without Krista.

I am an organized and honest person and was looking for a consultant of similar traits. I was hooked right at the free 30-min consultation when I walked away from the meeting with a comprehensive page-long summary and next steps from Krista. You could easily tell from a conversation if the other person is genuine and invested in your success. I opted for a start-to-finish package with 2 schools but I could almost always turn to Krista for high-level advice wrt schools even outside of the package. Krista often checked in and made sure I was on the right track, again, even for schools outside of the package. Her support didn’t end upon my admits, it was greatly expanded afterwards ie. scholarship negotiation, broadening my network and transitioning to b-school.

Krista is an amazing consultant and companion. I am not just talking about her breadth of admissions experience, but specifically of her emotional support during the process. MBA application is a soul-searching yet stressful process. Krista always provided a helping hand and encouragement but she could be as persistent and diligent whenever I was about to give up on my GMAT. Her diligence was a key factor in my higher standardized test score and I couldn’t thank her enough for that.

When I was searching for a consultant, I was looking for someone whom I can trust. You will probably tell your consultant your deepest secrets and stories that not many people know of. And Krista somehow, I don’t know how, managed to know my stories better than I did. It was really helpful when you were prepping for the interviews and confronted with difficult questions. Needless to say how useful that was in putting your essays together so as to set up your story theme and how they should be intertwined with one another. Her amazing editorial skills really helped without getting in your way of crafting your own essays.

I would definitely recommend Krista to anyone looking for a consultant to work with. She is quick at turnaround – she was even writing from the beach when it was extremely urgent, responsive and responsible for each of her advice. Krista would turn to her team of experienced consultants for you if needed. You’re not buying a package with just a consultant but with a team who is invested in your application. Good luck with your journey!

I came into the MBA application process knowing that I would have an uphill battle – my undergraduate GPA was below the average range at Tuck and my work experience in private wealth was good but didn’t truly transcend what my peers were doing.

I knew that in order to be successfully admitted, I needed to show that I was smarter than my GPA led on (I had an upward trend and a really strong GMAT), but also I needed to convince the admissions team that I had a strong reason to get an MBA.

Julie-Anne helped me do exactly that. She reviewed my resume and helped me cut out unnecessary elements and highlight my strengths. She also made it so that my resume would be easy to read from an admission officer’s point of view by helping me to concisely communicate my actions, emphasize my results, and define the recognition my employers gave me.

She also helped with my essays. As a Dartmouth undergrad, Julie-Anne knows life in Hanover and helped me provide specific details to the admissions team on what makes the experience unique (she did her first two years of undergrad at Columbia and went to HBS for her MBA so I’m sure she can do the same for those schools).

Her interview prep also helped me to pace my answers the right way and not waste my words.

Julie-Anne made the entire process very easy – she was tough but supportive. She always met her deadlines, and completely changed the quality of my work. Looking at where I started and where I ended up with my application, I really have to thank JA for being one of the biggest factors in my acceptance to Tuck (which has been a very positive experience for me).

I highly recommend Julie-Anne to anyone looking for an MBA admissions consultant.

Working with Harold was nothing short of humbling. His institutional knowledge guided me through the NYU Stern MBA application with a successful result.

He had a plan of action from the start and met with me to ensure we were aligned on execution. We worked through multiple iterations of my resume and essay where Harold provided guidance on how to improve my application. The best part of working with Harold is that he understood what the result should look like but would not give away the answers. He spent time coaching me to ensure I learned as the process progressed. Harold was prompt with his responses to my emails and always made sure I was clear on the task at hand.

Harold would be my top choice if you are planning to apply to any top-tier MBA programs.

One of the best decisions I ever made was choosing to work with Nisha on my MBA applications. After unsuccessfully applying only to Kellogg’s MBA program two years in a row (I really had my heart set on staying in Chicago and going to Kellogg), I decided to take the plunge and hire an mbaMission consultant. As a non-traditional applicant, coming from a career in the nonprofit world and very little business background, I didn’t want to risk not getting into a top program and wasting yet another year. After reading each consultant’s bio, I ultimately chose to go with Nisha because of her extensive experience in the philanthropy world and feeling that she would best understand my background and translate my story strongly and favorably. And I was NOT wrong.

Nisha did an excellent job of understanding me and my professional and personal experiences, asking all the right questions, picking up on details I myself did not even notice, answering all of my questions thoughtfully, and making the most of our short time together. She was extremely thorough, efficient, and QUICK to get my essays back to me (sometimes even the same day). She actually helped me better understand myself, my worth, my goals, and improved my self-confidence. Nisha helped me refine my story, advising which details and experiences were worth focusing on, explore and clarify my short and long-term goals, and practice talking about it all in preparation for my interviews.

Due to some personal matters, I did not start my applications until late in the game, I was in a huge time crunch to get my applications done with only six weeks to go until the Round 2 deadlines. She did an excellent job in helping me determine the best program fits for me and meet the deadlines for the two schools (Duke’s Fuqua and Michigan’s Ross) with which she helped. Her help and expertise ultimately landed me admittance into Duke’s Fuqua (my number one choice) and UCLA’s Anderson, as well as waitlisted at the University of Michigan’s Ross. I cannot recommend Nisha enough for anyone looking to hire a consultant, especially if you have a background in philanthropy and are looking to pivot. Truly the best professional investment and choice I have ever made.

Applying during the most competitive admissions seasons was excruciating. However, Harshad’s constant support and honest feedback helped me to stay on track. Moreover, Harshad is very dedicated to his clients. There have been many instances when I was very close to the deadline and Harshad turned over his feedbacks even during weekends and holidays. Harshad is also very empathetic and that helps to bring out our originality when writing the essays. He also goes above and beyond in giving suggestions to schools that I applied to on my own. Finally, Harshad also showed genuine interest in my career goal and helped me to tailor my essays accordingly, and suggested I apply to schools that I hadn’t even considered before talking to him.

I decided to apply to business schools in the middle of the pandemic, and knowing that the application season was going to be an unprecedented one, I wanted to enlist the help of an admission consultant. I spoke with a number of places (i.e. SBC, Admissionado, etc.) and went with mbaMission/Debbie not just because of Debbie’s track record, but also because I felt she understood my background and motivations. Debbie was to be my “strategic project manager” – someone who could keep me on track and help me present the best version of myself.

While Debbie did her absolute best for the 4 applications that we worked on together, I was ultimately dinged by all 4 M7 schools. That said, I am still giving a 5-star rating to my experience because of the following reasons:

– I understood from the start that a consultant was not some sort of “magic bullet” who could get me into any school, especially during a crazy year like 2020/2021. I wanted a strategic project manager, and Debbie delivered perfectly.
– Debbie and mbaMission as a whole had a very streamlined, well thought out and structured process when it comes to helping applicants navigate the application cycle. I also appreciate the plethora of written resources (detailed documentation about the schools, FAQs on how to work with my recommenders, etc.) that they had created.
– Debbie was able to look at my blind spots and constantly provided valuable feedback that I believe strengthened my applications – Debbie has always maintained a good spirit throughout the process, even as the rejections started to roll in.
– Finally, because Debbie was able to help me finish my applications almost ahead of schedule, I had time to work on one additional application to a top UK program by incorporating much of the material from my 4 applications, and that is where I am headed!

All in all, I was happy with mbaMission and Debbie. This is my advice to anyone reading this: Understand what you are signing up for, and everything will work out.

I worked with Nisha from July 2020-May 2021 and she was extremely patient and supportive throughout the entire process. From our initial brainstorm, she always asked questions to help me dive deeper into my past experiences to tell a compelling story. She was clear and direct in her constructive criticism and consistently (and quickly) provided feedback to my essays and short answers to strengthen my application. Additionally, the interview prep was one of the best parts of my experience with mbaMission. It helped me feel more confident going into my interviews and ultimately helped me land at my dream school. Thank you, Nisha, for all of your help! I couldn’t have done it without you!

Nisha is an amazing consultant- she truly helped raise the bar on all of my applications. She helped me get into every business school that I applied to. (With scholarships!) She was a thorough reviewer and helped me ensure my story was consistent/concise while still being unique to me. I recommend her to future applicants without any reservation and I am confident that Nisha works in this way no matter what. Thank you again Nisha for being such an advocate for candidates.

I worked with Devi to apply for three deferred MBA programs. With her help, I received interview invites from all the programs and was admitted to two: Harvard and Stanford. I would not have been able to achieve this without Devi’s help.

Devi pays a great deal of attention to all the details of your story. She has a great talent for understanding what makes you, your story, and your journey unique. Her advice was right on point, perfectly tailored to my background, and enhanced by her wealth of knowledge.

As someone coming from a technical background, I tended to dismiss (unintentionally) important business and leadership lessons and focus on technicalities while writing my applications. Devi helped me highlight the key parts of my experiences, organize my whole application most effectively, and fine-tune my stories to put my best foot forward.

Throughout the process, she would push me to excellence.
When I finally submitted my applications, I was proud and happy with what I submitted. I was impressed by and thankful for her knowledge and experience, straight and sincere feedback, and impeccable commitment and work ethic.

When it was time for the interviews, Devi provided crucial feedback, tips, and prep materials that made a huge difference.

I sincerely recommend her. I am sure that if you listen to her feedback, your application will be way stronger than you can even begin to imagine. For such an important life event as an MBA, her services are a great investment.

Nisha was really an excellent consultant. She had the unique task of working with both me and my girlfriend trying to get into the same school and she went the extra mile to ensure that we did.

Nisha was extremely attentive and knowledgeable. She was also very honest and transparent about her reasoning which made the process a lot more understandable and less intimidating. She did a great job with general advice as well as the essays and helped us get into USC!! Nisha’s help was really more than we could’ve hoped for! I would recommend Nisha to anybody beginning this difficult but worthwhile process!

When I reached out to mbaMission, I thought of applying to Columbia, Yale, Booth, and HBS (did not really believe I could get into HBS). After a few calls with Krista, although still not sure about her arguments that GSB and HBS would love me, I decided to apply to HBS, Stanford GSB, Booth, Yale, and Wharton. We have worked hard for 5 months straight to prepare those applications. When it comes to Krista’s way of working:

– She was very precise and diligent when it comes to clearing up confusion or misunderstandings in my essays. For example, for one sentence in one of my essays, she kept asking me within 3 or 4 drafts ‘But explain to me what it really means. Imagine you are explaining it to someone from outside of your industry.’ She would not give up until she was sure the admission committee would understand it! It was so helpful!
– Her turnaround time was shorter than promised almost every single time
– She would meet up with me whenever I had doubts about any piece of my application
– Krista really wanted to get to know me to help me ‘sell’ my story and she helped me believe that my story is powerful enough to get to top schools
– Her suggestions to change something in my applications were always based on solid arguments and Krista’s previous experience
– Krista will connect you with her previous clients studying at schools of your choice – it was helpful when it comes to my decision making

I was admitted to 3 out of 5 schools (including HBS and GSB) I applied to and I am sure it was thanks to Krista’s help. If you really want to get the most out of this service, open up to Krista and share your story in the most transparent way it is possible. Krista will help you structure and polish your story in a way you would never do by yourself!
Bonus: Her sense of humor will always make you laugh 🙂

Gavriella Semaya has helped me with my admission application for Fuqua school of business and the result is that I have been admitted to my goal school. I remember one time I needed urgent help on a piece of work from her. While it was during a 2-day national holiday, she agreed to work and submitted the work in slightly less than an hour with high quality edits. Gavriella was amazingly helpful in rephrasing my story so it became genuine and compelling, removing unnecessary words and sentences to answer the question directly, and redirecting me in the areas of focus during the mock interview. She was proactively engaging with me on every step and super-responsive.

Working with Krista Nannery was the single best decision I made in my MBA application journey. I am thrilled to have gotten into my dream school and I am convinced that if it wasn’t for her constant guidance, support, and expertise I would not be in this position.

Essays: Her biggest strength is the environment of trust she creates. This helped me open up to her on my life experiences during the essay brainstorming discussions – the foundation for the essay content. She always offered targeted advice and has the ability to story-tell in an engaging but efficient way. This was especially important for someone like me who had lots to share but struggled to be within the word counts. She constantly went above and beyond on the number of essay drafts and never once missed her 2-day response rule – often responded within a day.

Strategy: Krista’s knowledge of the overall admissions process and the specific schools was helpful throughout the process. She helped put together a target school list based on my profile and interests. When it came to strengthening my improvement areas, she had invaluable suggestions.

Mock interviews: Her questions and feedback during the mock interviews were extremely valuable. Krista recreated an interview environment in those mock interview sessions and her choice of questions depending on the school were spot on. I walked into every interview confident.

Krista was more than a consultant to me – she was a patient guide and caring friend. The application process is exhausting with lots of ups and downs. It’s impossible to put a price on having someone by your side who truly cares about you and your dreams. I strongly recommend working with Krista – it’s the best investment you will make!

Devi is truly outstanding. If you are serious about HBS, and in particular the interview, look no further. Her instinct is spot on, and her insight and candor pushed me to be more confident, more articulate, and more comfortable. She is patient, understanding, and extremely dedicated – she takes her client’s success very seriously. Our two mock interview sessions were extremely productive, and pushed me to get out of my head, to improve, and to sharpen my story and goals. Devi’s extensive knowledge across industries was incredibly valuable. Working with her is not only an opportunity to improve your interview experience, but also to get advice and feedback from an extremely smart, successful HBS alum. She is pragmatic and direct, and pushed me to develop communication skills that I will carry with me for life. Because of Devi’s support with the interview, I was admitted! Thank you Devi!! Regardless of outcome, working with her was money well spent – the clarity and confidence she will bring to your story and goals is invaluable. I cannot recommend Devi enough – she is wonderful, and an absolute pro.