mbaMission | MBA Admissions Consultants

Harold was an absolute pleasure to work with. He was organized, straight forward and insightful. He gave candid pointed feedback which was helpful in getting my essays to the finish line. I felt that Harold genuinely cared about the process and was a great support system through a very stressful time.

I got a late start to the MBA application process after spending more time than I had planned preparing for the GMAT. Harold helped me stay on track for round 1 by helping me prioritize my top schools and created a plan that enabled me to get all applications done on time. The most difficult part of the process for me was finding the time to write essays with a busy work schedule. Harold was instrumental in helping me organize my essay topics so I could make the best use of my time. He encouraged me to keep sending him drafts even when far from perfect form. Harold’s insightful feedback and knowledge of the application process led to a final product I felt confident submitting. I ended up getting into my first choice school and couldn’t have done it without Harold. I would highly recommend his services to anyone starting this process.

Harold was a fantastic mentor and consultant throughout the MBA applications process. Coming from Private Equity, I knew I needed to have a unique story to stand-out amongst the other, plentiful finance applicants. Harold helped me hone my life story to something concise and digestible for the AdCom. He often provided insights and suggestions that were the exact catalysts I needed to round out my application. I applied to a handful of schools and Harold was able to give me unique feedback on each that helped put my applications “over-the-top”. I would definitely recommend and use Harold again.

After some dismal results in the previous application cycle, I wanted some guidance and sought out professional help. During my 30 minute consultation with Harshad, we went over my choice of schools and some of my previous essays. Harshad gave me a clear analysis of where I had gone wrong and what I could do to improve my chances. His no-bullshit and can-do approach were just the things I needed and I decided to work with him.
Harshad brought structure to my application process. He provided me with a lot of material about what to expect during the application process and also during and after my MBA. He helped me organize my thoughts and together we reasoned out which schools would be best given my background and my goals.
Harshad also provided context about what schools look for in applicants, demystified the essay prompts and helped me create a strategy to approach the applications.
More importantly, Harshad made an effort to get to know me on a personal level which helped me craft more effective narratives in my essays which ultimately led to high-quality applications.
Seeking Harshad’s help was the best thing I did!

I always wanted to do an MBA, but I had a lot of weak points in my application: low quant score on my GRE, several gaps in my work experience, a non-traditional background that wasn’t very analytical/quantitative, etc. Despite these challenges, Harold worked with me to pull out the best and most impressive parts of my story, and I ended up getting into every school I applied for + some with scholarships. I can’t recommend Harold enough!

Coming into the MBA application process, I was confused and lost on how to proceed. Furthermore, with my subpar GPA, I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. Thankfully Harshad was there to guide me.

1. He is a great storyteller and will help you filter your essays into clear, concise, and interesting stories that highlight the values and achievements each individual school looks for.
2. He is transparent when providing his feedback to make sure that you are following the right path in your career goals, essays, resume, interviews, etc.
3. His in-depth knowledge of the end-to-end MBA application process is amazing, from brainstorming career goals, writing stories, and all the way to practicing for interviews. The application process is quite stressful with all the numerous requirements and working with Harshad made the whole process easier.
4. Above all, he is incredibly hardworking and supportive. Harshad will go above and beyond to help you and make sure your application is the best that it can be.

The result of working with Harshad is that not only was I admitted to a Top 10 US school – despite my low GPA – but I also received a very sizable scholarship! Choose Harshad.

I have been out of college for 10 years and trying to get into one of the top business schools in the world seemed like a VERY daunting challenge. I was overwhelmed when I looked through the application process and knew I needed help. I found mbaMission which led me to find Melissa. It is a lot of money and I was not sure what to expect but immediately I could tell Melissa was going to get me there! She did tell me that I would get out of it what I put into it so I spent over a month getting her all the information she needed to get the process going and WOW. She gave EXCELLENT advice, gave me beyond helpful edits on the first few drafts of my essays, and pushed me to do some online classes and other programs/ projects to make up for some of the weaknesses I had in my application. Everything she edited/ suggested is nothing that I would have done on my own. She was ALWAYS on time with giving back edits or answering emails- most of the time she even got back t o me right away! I truly felt like she was in my corner, made sure I felt heard from my point of view regarding the essays and was really fighting for me in any and every way. It was a team effort and never once did she make me feel like I was demanding too much of her time or that I was another client she had to deal with. She encouraged me when my score for the GRE didn’t raise at first and she celebrated all my small wins along the way before getting accepted. I am so happy that I was paired with her as she was my rock the ENTIRE time. I WOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN MY ACCEPTANCE INTO ROSS BUSINESS SCHOOL WITHOUT MELISSA. I think the best decision you will make is signing up for this service and then asking for Melissa. You can tell she cares and genuinely is fighting with you. Melissa, if you read this, THANK YOU! You have been an integral part of my success in getting in and anywhere that Ross takes me!

Profile: 770 GMAT, 3.7 GPA, Finance background, HBS admit

Jeremy supported me with my HBS and GSB applications. We were on a relatively tight timeline (~2.5 months to complete both applications and GMAT) and had a lot of work to do to shape my application.

Jeremy’s wisdom and expertise were critical in helping me shape a cohesive, differentiated candidacy. Having seen dozens of applications over the years, he was a great person to partner with as I was crafting my story. He provides direct and constructive feedback – a necessity during the essay writing process – and was meticulous in making sure that every part of my application played an impactful role in promoting my candidacy. He was easy to work with, responsive, and provided me with much-needed accountability during the process.

In short, I’m confident that my candidacy would not have ended with a positive outcome had it not been for Jeremy’s guidance.

I worked with Jeremy on five business school applications. Throughout the process, he was an incredibly valuable mentor and friend to have on my side. He truly exemplifies what it means to really care about someone’s success.

Even though I had a non-traditional international background, Jeremy was quick to help me identify my key profile strengths, which allowed me to tell my story in the best way possible. After submitting my applications, Jeremy and I held several mock interview sessions, which undoubtedly helped me overcome my nerves and allowed me to communicate my goals and objectives in a clear and confident way. After being accepted to four of the five schools I applied to, Jeremy was the first to congratulate me and offer his help on the next steps.

I appreciated how Jeremy continued to support me throughout the application process. Even after being accepted, Jeremy was quick to answer all my questions and even helped me complete the verification process and financial aid applications.

I highly recommend any prospective MBA student to work with Jeremy, as you will no doubt be in the best hands!

I purchased hourly services to help me with my MBA applications. While I knew the general background of the process, I realized a consultant would help me (1) focus and edit my story and (2) keep me on time. In the initial brainstorming session and through countless reviews and edits, Nisha’s breadth of experience helped me to clarify and strengthen my case for why an MBA was compelling for me. Nisha was also extremely efficient at editing and her feedback helped me to focus my story. Having her insight and feedback into what would make my story stand out was invaluable to my application process. Overall, I believe her guidance was an important part of my admission to Booth (with significant scholarship money) and Sloan.

When I realized this year my only real shot at business school, I knew I couldn’t risk overlooking anything in this very delicate process. With a below 3.0 GPA and a good but not great GMAT score, I knew I needed someone to guide me through the MBA process.

From the initial brainstorming session with Harold, I knew I had made the right choice. Harold helped me identify the key strengths that made me unique and valuable to the schools I was applying to. The faster I worked, the faster he responded. He was always attentive to my concerns and hesitations, and I appreciated his quick responses to my emails. If I had a quick question, I would often receive a response in minutes!

Harold is very knowledgeable, and thanks to his guidance, I have been accepted to INSEAD and will be going there this Fall!

Jen was recommended to me by another mbaMission consultant who was booked up for school packages, and I could not be happier with my experience working with her. Having access to Jen’s experience, guidance, and support was an invaluable resource while going through the extremely stressful business school admissions process. She helped me find my footing in crafting my narrative and presenting myself to schools in the best possible light. She is positive and encouraging, but you can trust she will be honest with you if she believes something won’t work. Jen, if you’re reading this, thank you so much for your help. I am extremely grateful that I got the chance to work with you and know I would not have had the same level of success without you.

Nisha is amazing and far exceeded my expectations. I was a rare case in the MBA admissions world, applying straight out of college, but she helped to guide me along the path. She gives insight feedback in a very timely manner and helps to pull out the best aspects of an application. She has helped to change my resume and my essay to make sure I was telling the best version of my story to the schools. She is extremely knowledgeable and works to build a cohesive application. Highly recommend working with her.

As somewhat without a unique background, when I first started planning for my business school applications, I knew that I wanted to use the absolute best admissions consultant in the industry. I conducted extensive research, vetting senior consultants at many of the well-known admissions consulting firms, and then I found Katy. What drew me to Katy was her personal expertise with my top choice schools (Stanford, Harvard), an approach focused on deep personal reflection and thematic synthesis, and her track record of success. After our first phone call, I was sure that I had the very best thought partner available in the industry at my side.

Katy and I began working together by brainstorming a detailed framework that examined a wide range of my life experiences. From there, Katy was instrumental in helping me make connections across disparate parts of my experiences, allowing me to tease out compelling nuances that highlighted my unique decision-making processes and internal motivations. As the outline of my essays took shape, Katy worked closely with me to think through trade-offs around what messages to focus on, how to succinctly and powerfully express these messages within constrained word counts, and ensure that every aspect of the application summed to a whole that was more than the sum of its parts. And what was especially helpful about Katy is that she applied a rigorous intensity of feedback to not just my essays, but to all parts of my application, including my resume, preparation for my recommenders, and my interview preparation. By the end of all of our iteration and preparation together, I had confidence that I was expressing my best possible self to the admissions committees.

With Katy’s counsel, I applied to both Stanford and Harvard and was accepted to both schools in round 1.
Looking back on these 12 months, I can say with confidence that working with Katy was one of the best professional decisions that I have ever made. I believe that Katy’s storytelling acumen, tactical experience borne from her decades of advising, and her willingness to go the extra mile for her clients quite simply make Katy the leading admissions consultant in the industry – period.

If you are seeking to be accepted into a top business school, I cannot recommend Katy enough.

I’m not someone who likes to spend money, so choosing to hire an admissions consultant seemed outrageous to me. However, I told myself I would only go through the application cycle once and would give it my very best shot. By hiring Krista, I knew I was giving it my all. In hindsight, it’s hard to tell what actually got me into various schools (Berkeley Haas, Yale SOM, and Michigan Ross), but I knew by using an admissions consultant I was putting my very best foot forward. If I were to do the process all over again, I would not change a thing.

I decided to go with Krista because we shared a common interest in international travel and I felt that she would take the time to get to know me. I realized this after our initial free 30-minute consultation. I wasn’t wrong and am so happy with my decision to work with Krista for my MBA applications. I felt like Krista took the time to get to know me and cares about the people she works with. A great tool mbaMission provides is a brainstorming document to populate prior to beginning any applications. The document takes over 10 hours to complete and seems like a bit of a waste when you’re spending so much time on something that isn’t directly writing essays. However, this document helped Krista get to know me and really understand me from a personal and professional perspective.

I worked with Krista on three schools (two of which I was admitted). The feedback Krista provided was always extremely helpful. Even when I received conflicting feedback from other reviewers, Krista was able and willing to reason through everything with me. Krista served as my source of truth with a helpful yes or no answer to all my questions. She placed more emphasis and care on me as a person, wanting me to submit applications I felt were my very best. Not once did I feel like her “client”. Krista made time for various discussions about my essays and future applications. One of the things I liked most about using an admissions consultant was the timeline they’re able to keep you on. I was able to start my applications at the beginning of July and take a two-week break in September before submitting it. This helped to spread out the work and ensure I was not doing everything last minute. Krista always kept to the two-day turn around promise.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Krista and feel like I’ve gained a fantastic mentor in the process. I can’t recommend working with her enough!

I spoke with many admissions consultants prior to meeting Katy from mbaMission. We clicked instantly. Two things about her stood out to me:

First and foremost, her honesty. Right from the start, she was crystal clear about everything I needed to do in order to maximize my chances of getting into the top programs. Although some of the things she asked me to do required a lot of work (like re-taking the GMAT), I am glad I listened to her. All throughout the application process, Katy was instrumental in helping me highlight the strong aspects of my profile, as well as address any potential weaknesses.

Second, her genuine care. Katy’s unconditional support helped me get through the mentally and emotionally demanding MBA application process. In every step of the process – from GMAT preparation to final school selection – Katy was there to make sure I was OK and giving my very best. As a non-native English speaker, I found her essay reviews very helpful. She helped me articulate everything I wanted to tell admissions officers into concise messages. Interview preparation was also outstanding – many of the things she asked me during our prep sessions came up in the actual interviews!

The results speak for themselves: I applied to 5 different schools (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth, and Kellogg) and received acceptances from all 5. I also received substantial fellowships from several schools. Katy was instrumental in helping me achieve this, I’m incredibly grateful for her support. If you are looking for an admissions consultant that will have your back through the ups and downs of the application process, Katy is your person.

Background: econ undergrad to investment banking to private equity. Applied to HBS and GSB. Received interviews at both schools (GSB R1, HBS deferred R1, interview R2), and was admitted to GSB (did not take HBS interview).

I was looking for a consultant who would a) walk me through the process of the application to limit effort on my end, b) provide constructive criticism on the essays, and c) keep me on track to submit so I don’t pull an all-nighter the night before. Julie-Anne certainly filled all of those roles for me. I would say that she stood out the most in regards to essay writing, where she was extremely helpful with brainstorming constructs, as well as giving me the hard feedback of when I totally needed to scrap an essay (which with hindsight, was the right call!).

Harold has been an indispensable resource for my application journey to HBS. The time and care that Harold spent to understand my candidacy was above and beyond my expectations and was instrumental in providing tailored advice that took my application to the next level. His holistic understanding of the MBA application process, his unparalleled knowledge of each program and the time spent knowing my strengths and weaknesses were crucial for my success. I would have not been accepted to HBS without his counseling, guidance and overall direction. A must if you are serious about applying to business school.

I was apprehensive about using a consultant to apply for MBA programs, and at first, I felt it was a lot of money when I was unlikely to get into the schools I was applying for. I spoke to a few consultants and most had a clear idea of who they thought I was and what my ‘story’ should be, however, Katy was the first person to articulate a vision of my application that actually sounded like someone who my friends and family would recognize.

I was planning to visit schools in spring and mentioned during my free consultation call the list I was looking at (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago). Katy gave me advice that she felt given my background and interests that I would love Harvard and wouldn’t enjoy Stanford. She was 100% correct – I visited Stanford and felt it wasn’t for me and fell in love with Harvard. From that moment on I had complete faith in Katy’s ability to guide me where I was meant to go for business school. I went for a 3-school complete start to finish package focusing on Harvard, Wharton, and Chicago.

Katy is excellent at seeing what links together with your experiences and how you can communicate that narrative, especially in the HBS essay. Don’t expect her to write the essays for you – she is there as a guide as to which stories are most important to highlight and will push you to provide a lot of detail around them. She will also make sure your answers are succinct and your grammar is correct, however, at the end of the day, your essays will still be authentically yours, not some cookie-cutter essay written by a consultant who is churning out a ton every cycle.

Once I received interview invites, Katy went into full swing organizing my interview prep. I had a mock interview with her for HBS and a group mock TBD for Wharton with others working with mbaMission on their applications. Both experiences really highlighted my strengths and what I needed to work on, and how to approach this before the interview.

I was admitted to all 3 schools, with a large scholarship at Wharton, and have decided to matriculate at HBS next autumn. Katy was there every step of the way, giving me the confidence that I was good enough to attend any of these top schools, and pushing me to tell the stories that sometimes were difficult for me to articulate to an outside audience. I am not a perfect candidate, I have a below-average GPA, an okay but not amazing GMAT score, worked for a second-tier consulting firm and now work in a less well known corporate, yet Katy helped focus on my strengths and what I could bring to every MBA program if admitted.

Harshad is simply amazing at what he does. He gave me the confidence to put forth a high-quality application and was incredibly friendly yet constructive when he reviewed my resume and essays. With his guidance, I was admitted to my school of choice with a full scholarship, and I know that wouldn’t have been the case without Harshad! I could go on and on but just trust me, if he happens to be available, hire this guy! There are none better!

I worked with Katy to prepare for my R1 HBS interview and I can’t say enough about the experience. She’s extremely knowledgeable about the application/interview/admissions process and knew exactly where to push me in my prep. We did two mock interviews where she drilled me on my professional experience, extracurricular activities and post-MBA goals. The mock interviews closely resembled what my actual HBS interview experience was like, with several questions/themes resurfacing during the real thing. She gave detailed advice as to how I should position myself given my background and professional experience (white male, private equity, etc.). I especially appreciated the fact that I never felt like I was “on the clock” with her – she genuinely wanted me to succeed and was willing to do whatever it took to help me prepare. Overall, Katy was extremely helpful in my MBA application process and I would highly recommend working with her.

Devi is amazing. In our 3 sessions, Devi homed in on exactly what the HBS admission committee wanted to investigate in my interview and helped me create a tone and brand that rung through my HBS interview. Devi correctly assessed that Harvard would want to dive deep into my knowledge, viewpoints, and expertise on the function I have been in for the past 5 years. When the HBS interviewer grilled me for 10-15 minutes on this exact topic, I felt completely ready to answer their questions.

Additionally, Devi helped me hone the persona that I brought into the interview. My demeanor in the interview room was heavily colored by my coaching with Devi, and I felt that it resonated incredibly well with my interviewer since it fit in so well with my story.

Devi is also a great coach. She pumped me up and helped give me the confidence that I could walk into the interview, tell my story, and know that I gave the admissions committee a great picture of who I am and what I can contribute to the HBS classroom.

Her services are pricey but well worth it if you have the funding. I think her coaching played a big role in me landing a “Yes” from HBS and would recommend her to any of my peers.

I found Harold via referral. I was mostly looking for help with my essay, as well as polishing off a few other areas of my application. Harold delivered on everything I hoped for and more.

After giving him what I wanted to get out of an MBA, he told me what my realistic chances were for getting into some of the programs I was looking at. He even recommended a new program that I hadn’t thought of and ultimately became the program I decided to go with.

Harold was extremely helpful in the essay component of my application. He helped me workshop a few different themes until we found the one that was right. During my interview, the admissions officer referenced specific elements of my essay which Harold had recommended I add.

Harold also had me well prepared for my interview. In fact, when I did my actual interview, there was only one question asked that Harold and I hadn’t prepped for.

Lastly, Harold was always available. His responses were mostly within 24 hours, and never more than 48. There were sometimes he was replying within a few hours during the holidays too! Overall, I would definitely recommend Harold.

I want to start off by saying not only is Kate the best consultant available, but also a great person. She coached me on every detail of the application, including all of my one-off questions. I valued all of the help that she provided on my target schools. Her knowledge of this space put me in a position to succeed and I knew that she knew what she was doing.

The coaching that she provided for my targeted career path helped me make tough decisions and also guided me for what I’d like to move my career into. It will help focus the first few months of my MBA experience so that I can interview right away.

At the end of the day, having someone that gets to know you, the real you, is invaluable. I was able to trust her to review essays, interviews, letters of recommendation, etc. which is so critical to gaining entrance to your desired location.

Without Kate, I would have been a mess and I doubt I would have shown what a strong candidate I really was for my target schools. She helped me stand out and additionally, I earned a merit scholarship for half of my tuition at Columbia. If that isn’t enough, I was even accepted for interviews at another top 5 target school.

End of the day, we felt comfortable working together, and without hesitation, I would recommend an adviser if you are seeking a top 10 school, or even top 15 depending on the strength of your candidacy. All in all, as someone without family connections, or an IB or consulting background, I had an uphill battle that Kate helped me overcome.

I did the Start-to-Finish Package for two schools with Susan, Tuck, and Yale. I also applied to HBS, Ross, and Foster on my own. Coming from a non-traditional background I was daunted by the MBA world and wanted to be sure I was able to tell my story authentically, but in a manner that would resonate with MBA admissions committees. Ultimately, I was admitted to Tuck and waitlisted at Yale. I also receive admission to Ross with a full-tuition scholarship and Foster with a moderate scholarship. While Susan and I only worked together on Tuck and Yale I know without a doubt that my other applications also benefited from our work together. I would 100% recommend working with Susan.

Susan is often characterized as “tough”. I don’t believe this to be a completely accurate characterization. Susan was relentless at making sure I put my best foot forward, while also being a deeply empathetic and supportive colleague. The MBA admissions process is tough and requires you put in the work, Susan makes sure you do it. She helps you to find your story and paint a clear picture of who you are and what you bring to the school. There were times when I got frustrated because I thought I was addressing a comment, but she would say I hadn’t gotten it yet. This can feel tough, but it was absolutely essential in pushing me to be as effective as possible in my essays. She knows what it takes to succeed and was invested in my success.

I deeply appreciated all the time Susan put into to get to know me during the brainstorming process and beyond. During the brainstorming, Susan identified themes that I hadn’t thought of based on the information I sent her about my experiences. She was spot on and I was surprised how someone I barely knew could so quickly get at the heart of who I am. Additionally, after writing a few drafts of my first essay I didn’t feel fully comfortable with the direction. We spoke about it at length and finally, it clicked for both of us what the thesis of the essay really should be. This extra time she spent to make sure I got my message just right was incredibly helpful and it was also the moment I knew Susan would keep working on a problem as long as it took to get it right.

My applications also required video components, which I was originally terrified of doing. Susan showed me how to master them with ease and after our practice sessions, I felt completely calm and prepared.

Finally, Susan was always on time with her responses and provided thoughtful, detailed comments on my numerous draft essays and other materials draft.

I highly recommend Susan! It was so reassuring knowing she was on my team and I could go to her with any question at any time. I’m thrilled about schools I got into and couldn’t have done it without her!

It is with great pride that I give Harshad Mali my highest recommendation.

There are 3 things you must know about Harshad:

1. Harshad knows the MBA process in totality. Harshad was able to answer all of my questions about getting an MBA. What GMAT score I would need, what my strengths and weaknesses were, what business school would fit me the best, and many more. He has expert-level knowledge.

2. Harshad will get the best out of you. Like all great consultants, Harshad does not change who you are, rather he tailors your unique application to put you in the best possible light. He knows what business schools are looking for and helps craft answers that “check all the boxes” while differentiating you from other applicants. He is an outstanding writer and editor.

3. Harshad is a person of the highest character. Harshad cares and it comes across in his communication. He is direct and honest telling you precisely what you need to do in order to make your application the best possible. Your success is his success.

It is my sincere hope you read this, and at minimum, sign up for a free consultation. You will see for yourself, Harshad is exceptional!

Devi is one of the most incredible people I have encountered. She, not only fully prepared me for the HBS interview, she transformed the way in which I convey my story. There was not a single question the HBS interviewer asked, that Devi and I had not prepped for. I saw the tremendous lasting impact of Devi while on my Pre-MBA internship interviews. The feedback I received was how succinct my story was and how I was poised and polished. I, without a doubt, will refer anyone I personally know and encourage anyone reading this to use Devi as I know she will generate value far beyond your expectations.

Quick background: I am a 35 years old candidate with a traditional work experience (finance/investment). I first applied to B-schools about 5 years ago using a “consultant” who only worked with me on the essays. I applied to HBS, Stanford, Wharton and UC Berkeley. Dinged from ALL of them without an interview! I had a low GMAT (620) and my essays (in hindsight) were weak. I attempted the GMAT multiple times without success, so I decided to sleep on it for few years.

This time around, I did an extensive research on consultants, including various interview calls. Some of them are highly ranked with extensive experience. Many of those highly-ranked consultants tried to persuade me to only apply to top 30 schools, international schools (outside of US) or executive MBA. It was obvious they cared about their “success rate”. Harold was completely different! From the first call, he was very honest about my profile, but also very supportive. I still remember his words: “if it is a dream school, then we are applying to it, but we also need to explore other schools”. My initial list was Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT and Yale. We also added Duke, but pushed Yale for later given the timeline. And guess what? I Got interviews from 3 of 4 schools and got accepted to two schools. I slightly improved my GMAT to 650, but decided to try the GRE. I got around 315 in the GRE (with 165 in quant), so Harold recommended I only submit my GRE score, which I did.

During the process, Harold was impressive in his quick responses and great feedback. Thanks to the time difference, we were working 24/7. I would wake up super early morning (which is late evening his time) to work on his comments that he sent few hours ago, and he would work on my changes while I was at work. I never had to worry about weekends with Harold! He was always online. What I realized is that the harder I worked, he would match my efforts! Few times he would prioritize other students for a day or two but that’s just because they have deadlines coming in. At the end of the day, it is YOUR application, so the more effort you put in, the more you will get from Harold, and he delivers!

In addition to his impressive efforts, Harold has a great experience and insight when it comes to schools. He would help you focus on the aspects of your story that would make you stand out.

I am forever grateful to Harold for all his hard work and making a dream come true, especially to someone who is considered “old” and a has a mediocre test score! If I had to do it again, I will go with Harold without hesitation!

It was July 2019 when I started thinking about getting an MBA. I didn’t even know what GMAT was back then. I changed career to a completely unrelated field 2 years ago, so I had no idea how to get my story straight. 5 months later, I was successfully admitted to my top choice M7 school by round 1. It was all because of Harold’s encouragement and guidance.

Harold has his own method and system to bring out the best story to tell. I came from technical and non traditional background and over-represented demographics. From our brainstorm call, he asked questions that helped me identify unique stories throughout my life to write about which I probably would have overlooked if I were to do this myself. He gave extremely helpful guidance on how to naturally connect these stories together.

He was also very encouraging when I was taking the GMAT. When I didn’t do well on the first attempt, he encouraged me to try again. After my second attempt, he told me to put GMAT aside and focus on the application, which was the best advice. He knew what was important for my application. He helped me steering towards the right direction.

Harold is very efficient. He almost always responds within 24 hours. He gives advanced notice when he will be out of office. Timing was never an issue between us. He reviewed every single detail of my application. It made me feel less anxious throughout the process.

For interview prep, Harold will adjust his questions depending on the school you are applying to. He gives tips on not only answering standard questions but also what is likely to happen right before and after the interview. He shares anecdotes from his extensive MBA consulting experience. I felt prepared going into my interview.

As a detail oriented person, he even gave me a lot of tips before I went to school visits, including what to look out for during class visits, things to keep in mind in general, and how to get the most out of such visits.

You will not regret hiring Harold as your MBA consultant. He will try his best to craft your story, prepare for your interview and do anything he can to support your application. I’m very satisfied for his service. By writing this review, I hope more people can benefit from his experience, skills and dedication.

This is my 2nd time applying. I’ve work with a consultant when I first applied two years ago, so I am able to compare my experience. Harold really stood out in two ways 1) Clarity – Harold has helped tremendously restructuring my stories in more concise ways for readers. He doesn’t just tell you it is not working; he suggests here is how it may work. 2)Encouraging – Harold made the application process less stressful and more positive. He delivered his comments in a positive but constructive way.

In addition to expertise in highlighting and presenting an applicant’s strengths and crafting his or her story from a high level, Nisha has very close knowledge about the specifics that are unique to each top school and that each looks for in an application. Nisha has a proven ability to read an application from the admission committee’s point of view and provide objective feedback. This was incredibly helpful first in conveying a story that the admission’s committee can understand and believe in, and second in making sure that the application shows school specific research and passion. Nisha is extremely experienced, a strong communicator, super responsive, and always objective. Highly recommend.

Nisha is a fantastic MBA consultant who clearly cares deeply about her clients’ success. It is very apparent that she brings together years of experience with a keen desire to help prospective students succeed. She has a great grasp of the business school process and is highly engaged – the preparation is far from cookie-cutter and responds directly to a candidate’s individual strengths and areas for improvement.

Through the stressful process, it is extremely helpful to lean on someone who is thoroughly competent and highly engaged. Nisha empowers success in her clients and I would highly recommend her!

To start off, Harshad was very patient and honest when he conducted the 30 min free consultation with me, which made me decide to work with him. Harshad was very responsive to all my questions and did a great help to my applications, especially on resume and essays writings. I will not be able to get in a top business school EMBA program without his help! I highly recommend Harshad to everyone who needs help in their MBA/EMBA application.

Kate was an incredible consultant and guide for my MBA apps. I worked with her throughout the summer and she tailored her services to my needs. As a bit of a procrastinator, Kate found the perfect balance, she knew when I needed a fire lit under me. All applications were submit on time and in the first round, as we had agreed was the plan in June. She is an top notch editor that pressure tests your thinking and phrasing. She does not change what you are saying to be sure it is best for the MBA programs you are interested, rather, she helps you say what you want to in the best way for these programs. I really appreciate all the work Kate did to help me out and recommend her to anyone who is considering her services!

From my initial consultation to preparing for interviews, Melissa was easy to work with, genuine, and always gave me the impression she really cared about my outcome.
As a foreigner entering the business school application process without any experience in the US college system, I found the whole thing intimidating to say the least – and the decision of which consultant to use even more stressful. After completing a free session with Melissa I was immediately confident in my choice; her extensive experience in the field, both in the university system itself as well as in a consulting capacity, was very evident. She was honest in pointing out the weaker aspects of my background, but also overwhelmingly positive about where we should focus to provide me the best chance.
Over time as we worked together, she was instrumental in helping me construct and communicate my narrative effectively. I found the brainstorming session particularly helpful for this. During the essay writing (hardest part for me), she provided quick, actionable feedback, which was always constructive and positive in nature, and made me feel like I was on the right path.
I was ultimately accepted into my first preference, a school I had initially thought was a big reach. I can confidently say this would not have been possible without Melissa’s amazing help, and so cannot recommend her enough to prospective business school applicants!

Devi has been instrumental in ensuring my success in the application process. Devi will help you elevate your candidacy from great to outstanding. It is a must if you are serious about HBS regardless of your applicant profile. You do not want to have regrets by missing this great experience. Specifically, her tailored advice on how to interview and present my candidacy was unparalleled given her experience on the board and her holistic understanding of the HBS process. 70% of the questions during the interview resembled in either essence or in entirety what was practiced. Beyond the sheer coverage of key questions, Devi was able to help me understand my candidacy from a different and more strategic perspective. The new view helped me frame the answers in a more concise, compelling and powerful narrative which came through during the interview. The practice built up my confidence and helped me have a strong interview. In addition, the perspective gained in the process is something that will serve you not just for the MBA, but for the rest of your professional life.

Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to hear that you ultimately felt unsatisfied with our services at the conclusion of your application efforts. We have designed our consultant–client relationship to be a collaborative partnership, based on frequent and honest communication, and a review of your file shows that your experience included roughly 16 phone conversations, 95 emails, and 60 document reviews. We certainly understand how not reaching a desired goal at the end of a challenging journey can retroactively affect one’s impression of an experience, but our understanding along the way was that you felt you were being adequately counseled and supported–for example,

– You purchased an additional school while working with our consultant, proactively extending and expanding your engagement with our firm.
– You remarked to a recommender that “Usually she [your mbaMission consultant] responds faster than that because she’s awesome….”
– You regularly thanked your consultant and expressed satisfaction with her work:
– “As always, thanks for all the feedback and help!”
– “Just wanted to let you know that I thought the interview went well and the practice really paid off.”
– “With the Wharton essays coming together nicely …”
– “As for the other schools, thanks for the suggestions! Those really do help.”
– “See attached for my updated essays based on your feedback. Thanks again for your efforts in reading through it and giving me detailed feedback!”
– “See attached for my updated essays, thanks for helping me cut them down!”

We certainly would have adjusted our efforts if we had gleaned during the process that you felt you needed more. We are sure that we can learn from this experience and hope you take us up on our offer to discuss the situation further.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
mbaMission

As a reapplicant, I was lacking confidence in my chances of success and I was nervous about my future. Kate was able to put some of that nervousness at ease by helping me highlight my strengthens and minimize my weaknesses. She was instrumental in helping me more clearly define my “why”. I improved significantly in almost every part of my application. My resume was more impactful, my essays were more powerful and clear, and my interviews went better because I was more prepared. This was all thanks to Kate. I was initially hesitant to hire a consultant because I didn’t want to manufacture my resume or essays, I wanted them to be an honest representation of myself. With Kate, though, she brought out my best and helped me approach the process in a much more logical and coherent way, while challenging me to dig deeper and improve at every iteration. I have no doubt that without Kate in my corner I would not have been accepted to my top schools. She was an absolute pleasure to work with and I highly recommend her to anyone seeking admission to a top program.

There is zero chance I would have made it through the application process without Melissa.

The primary internal debate I was having with myself leading up to the application process was whether or not to seek professional assistance. Due to financial reasons, I thought…..maybe I could do it myself and save some money. I could NOT have been more wrong…

During my initial 30 minute free consultation very early on in the process, Melissa came prepared and ready to help. She gave me tangible next steps so that I could maximize my time between that first call and when we would begin writing essays months later. Her advice ranged from ‘getting more involved in a volunteer organization I was already apart of to retaking the GRE to taking HBX CORe to improve my quantitative abilities’.

Hiring Melissa was the investment of a lifetime. It was my first large purchase, biggest financial sacrifice, and I am absolutely THRILLED with the outcome of our work together. And thrilled is a drastic understatement.

She gave me the confidence I needed to own and tell my story. Melissa provided truly the most candid / honest feedback I needed on every single word I put in my essays.

She mandated that I dig deeper, push myself harder, and brought out the absolute best in me – all while being an incredible mentor, friend, and support system.

In the end, I got into my #1 dream school: Darden. It was a stretch. We knew it was a stretch going in, but her unwavering confidence in me got me over the finish line. I learned that applying to business school takes a village, and I’m eternally grateful Melissa was part of my village.

Kate was incredibly instrumental in easing the application process. From the our first conversation when we discussed target schools and brainstorming, she was the ultimate professional. She helped me bring out the best aspects of my profile in order to put my best foot forward when it came time to apply. She was the ultimate professional, keeping me on task as the application season progressed and always available for an email or chat whenever I felt bogged down. I felt Kate went above and beyond to make sure I was satisfied with my application prior to submission. I would highly recommend Kate to all future applicants!

Krista Nannery helped me gain admission to a T10 MBA program by helping me truly understand my career goals; helping me write strong, impactful, and memorable essays; and helping me prepare effectively for behavioral interviews and group interview activities. Moreover, I feel like Krista really cares about helping me reach my career goals, and over the past 6 months, I feel like she has grown into a friend rather than a consultant.

If you read nothing further than this, please read this:
She will absolutely strengthen your candidacy for your MBA program of choice. I went from settling for a T35-T50 school with a median salary outcome of $100k to a school with a median salary outcome of $145k. Just considering this, my ROI IS OVER 300%. If you consider scholarships and intangibles like experiences and network, my ROI is significantly higher.

Before Krista: planning to apply to T35-T50 schools

After Krista: Applied to 7 schools
Admitted to 2 T10 (one with a small scholarship)
Admitted to 2 T15-T20 (both with half scholarships)
Dinged WITH interview from 1 M7 school
Waitlisted with interview from 2 T15

Here are some highlights on what Krista helped me with:

1. Brainstorm. She helped me brainstorm potential essay topics by thinking about my personal, undergraduate, and work experiences. This was SO important because ALL of us have valuable experiences to share with admissions committees, but we sometimes discount those memories. As an experienced admissions insider, Krista helped me understand my unique experiences and how I could showcase them on my applications.

2. School selection. After considering my career goals and family needs), she helped me select schools that would be a good fit for me. Again, there is SO MUCH MISINFORMATION and stereotypes on the internet about MBA programs, so I’m glad that I had someone as knowledgeable as Krista on which schools could help me achieve my goals. She helped me pick 7 schools to apply in Round 1 since I wanted to be finished by early 2020. Krista was REALISTIC with me about my chances at certain schools, something I really appreciate after this humbling process.

3. Essays. Krista’s help in this area likely helped me get a scholarship from a T10 school. Krista helped me plan and put together top-notch essays. I tend to ramble (can you tell?) and Krista helped me refine my essays to the most important topics. In some cases, she helped me restructure my essays to make a stronger, more impactful statement. To be clear, she did not write my essays, but she did make my essays 100% better. If you’re a regular person like me, I promise you, your essays will be so much better after working with Krista.

4. Recommenders. Krista helped me manage my letters of recommendation very effectively. First of all, she gave strict timelines that I used in order to get my applications in on time. This was very important since one of my recommenders took FOREVER to get back to me. When one of my recommenders gave me bland feedback, Krista helped me put together conversation points that helped me speak with that recommender. He ended up writing a fantastic letter of recommendation that included specific examples. Krista really saved the day here.

5. Interview prep. This was HUGE. MBAmission provides free interview guides for top programs. These guides include actual questions and what to expect. Krista took this a step further and conducted mock interviews with me. This gave me a significant advantage over other applicants since I had an idea of the pressure that I would feel answering real interview questions. Krista asked actual behavioral questions that sometimes caught me off guard, but this helped me during the real interview. In one scenario, 100% of the questions during my T10 interview were asked either in our mock interview or in the Interview guide. HUGE ADVANTAGE!!!

6. Advice and Friendship. I feel like Krista really cared about me, my family, and my helping me reach my goals. At no point did I ever feel like we had a transactional relationship. During this entire process, I feel like Krista has grown into a family friend, someone that I can trust for real, honest career advice. I think we all need someone like that in our corner.

Nisha made every step of the application process a breeze. From the very beginning, she was so thorough and insightful. She enabled me to craft my application so precisely and present the very best version of myself to my target schools. Before getting started with her, the process was a bit foreign to me and I didn’t have a great idea of what each school looks for. She was the expert I needed to make sure I was hitting all the notes I should be. Her turnaround time was perfect, and her advice was very directed and thoughtful. Her critical process was exceptional and really helped me dive deep to develop ideas and explore the impacts I’ve made in my professional, academic, and personal activities. In the end, I knew I had maximized my potential when submitting my applications and it paid off. I was accepted to a top program and I can’t thank Nisha enough for her help in getting me there!

Susan was extremely helpful throughout the entire process (finalizing GMAT scores, narrowing down my school list, reviewing my application materials, prepping for interviews…). I appreciated her no-nonsense approach; I felt like her lack of sugar-coating really helped me create the best possible application. It is clear she is very invested her clients, and she always made the time to hop on the phone to review an essay or email answer even my smallest questions (like what to wear to interviews!). Susan was a wonderful help throughout each step of the application process, and I felt much more confident having her in my corner.

Devi was incredible to work with and I could not recommend her more! Finding out I had been invited to interview at HBS was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. But despite reading all of the interview primers, networking with students, and mock-interviewing with my partner multiple times a week, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that there was more I could do to prepare. Luckily, working with Devi completely allayed all those fears. She took me on with extremely short notice and, from our very first session, she proved her worth. Despite being lucky enough to go through many mocks with a very willing partner (who manages 70+ people and is in charge of interviewing new candidates at her firm), the HBS interview is just simply different. Devi’s intimate knowledge of how the HBS interviewer thinks, what types of questions would be asked and (more importantly) the pace of their questioning, immediately helped me reframe my mindset to achieve success in the HBS interview environment. While I initially thought the value from working with Devi would come from the peace of mind knowing I’d done everything I could to prepare, my mock interviews went so far beyond that. I genuinely don’t know if I would have been able to succeed without her counsel. Knowing the outline of what to expect, and how to best prepare for it, gave me immense confidence leading into the interview and I am so thankful to Devi for taking me on as a client!

Susan is a fantastic admissions consultant. I can’t say enough about her contribution to my applications.
She spends a lot of time upfront clearly laying out her process so that working with her is efficient and methodical. We spent a lot of time brainstorming my story and how it will fit with my target programs. I did not have a safe school and she respected that decision – her goal is to make your application the best it can be for each school you choose. Within the framework of my story, she pushed me to adapt each application to the specific schools to increase the likelihood of success. The application has to be genuine and has to align if/when invited to interview, so she is careful not to draft actual text. She NEVER missed a 48hr turnaround deadline and frequently sent through comments earlier. During crunch periods when I needed things turned around more quickly she took the time to explain what my options were and her availability to accommodate. Her guidance is always clear, helpful, and specific when it needs to be. She must have turned my HBS essay 30+ times and the 4 others 15+.
Applied to 5 schools; Accepted to 4 (HBS, Wharton ($$), Tuck, Kellogg ($$$)), wait-listed at 1. White male in finance.
She is not stressful to work with. She can seem ‘tough’ at times, but in the best way possible: only because she knows if your application does not yet fully reflect your potential in the context of each school’s values. She will insist that the essays can get better and will give you the guidance to help you get there.
Finally, she’s on your side. She cares about your success and will be anxious with you when decision are released!
I highly recommend choosing Susan as your admission consultant.

When first contemplating an admissions consultant, I was very hesitant as many others probably are due to the cost. I took the jump after my initial consultation with Krista and think it was the best decision in gaining admission to a program that will change my life and well worth the investment.

Krista worked with me in essentially every step of the process except GMAT prep. The three things that benefitted me the most were school selection, crafting my story, and her personal interest in my success.

School Selection: Krista and I talked in depth about school selection. She introduced me to a wide selection of schools that she thought would be a good fit for me that I had not considered. Through our conversations, she opened my eyes to how school fit could effect my future career and experience at a school and ultimately helped shape the list of schools I applied to.

Crafting My Story: Coming from a non traditional background, I was at a point in my life to transition to a new career but wasn’t exactly sure how I would make the transition. It’s important to have your own broad vision but not knowing what you don’t know makes it hard to paint a complete picture. Krista’s experience really helped fill the gaps in my story and allowed me to better communicate the “where I’ve been, where I’m at, and where I want to go” story. She also helped to translate the essays we worked on together to fit prompts for other schools that I worked on myself.

Personal Interest: I think the most important part of my relationship with Krista was her personal interest in my success, her professionalism, and dedication to what she does. Krista is deeply passionate about what she does and it shows. She has always returned my documents with corrections early, sometimes same day depending on her workload. She is extremely responsive to email for quick questions and easy to schedule skype calls with to talk about progress throughout the application process.

Having Krista and the resources of mbaMission by your side through your application process is probably the best decision you can make. With Krista’s help, I have acceptance letters from two top 10 programs with scholarships. It was truly a pleasure working with Krista this past year and cannot recommend her enough.

At the moment I’m writing this, I’ve just finished and sent my applications for HBS and Wharton R2, it’s still some weeks before interview invitations and a couple of months before final decisions.

Even with that said, I cannot recommend Katy enough. Ever since the free consultation she went further and beyond than what I expected and even experienced with other consultants at their respective free consultations. She was very open with me about my initial GMAT score which was not good enough for the schools I wanted to apply, furthermore given the date where I achieved a “decent” GMAT she was also very clear to me that I wouldn’t be able to land a 1R application and that we should better work towards R2. This very honest and mindful advice was key for me and I’m sure that many other consultants could have tried to seize the opportunity to rush an application and free one more client spot for R2, but not Katy.

So we started working for R2. The very first day of work she sent me all of the material I would need for the whole application process, which proved to be much more challenging and burdensome than what I had anticipated, but Katy helped me to go, firmly, one step at a time, putting attention to all details. During the first sessions she helped me define which schools I had a better chance given my profile (so I changed from Stanford and Berkley to HBS and Wharton…). As I am a Latin-American applicant coming from a family business, the differences in these programs were not very clear to me, so her insights for this initial and crucial part of the process were invaluable. Furthermore, and specially for someone coming from my background she helped me identify how should I present myself to the AdComs, what stories should I bring into my essays, and very very importantly how to choose and coach my recommenders.

Before continuing, I have to address Katy’s amazing skill to help me trim my essays, reducing a lot of clutter and to make them very clear, concise and directed specifically for the programs I had chosen.

Regarding the recommenders, given my background, it was the part of the application that I had the least idea on how to approach. Katy helped me identify my best fits given the stories I shared with them and how the fitted the rest of my application. Furthermore, she was in contact with them and guided them through the daunting recommendation writing process. If you are a Latin-American applicant, coming from a family company or even a regional company, I cannot stress on how important is that someone guides your recommenders during this process, as the very concept of Letter of Recommendation expected by the AdComs is very very different to what is/was in my recommenders heads.

Finally I have to recognize and thank Katy enormously because she went trough the whole process with me being available practically all the time, even despite all the holidays that come just before R2: Labor day, Columbus, Veteran’s, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s… And I didn’t even had to use express services nor anything like that.

Even if I don’t get admitted to any program (I applied with Katy only to HBS and Wharton, because that’s as far as my budget could go, but I applied to 3 other programs on my own) she helped me to give my best shot possible at ALL my application processes, because I learned so much about me and how to go through the application processes in general.

I am sure that working with Katy was the best decision I could make, she really pours herself completely to help you; your application matters to her as much as you, as simple as that.

tl;dr: Katy is an amazing consultant who cares for your application as much as you do. Amazing support through all the process. For me, as LatAm applicant from family business, the key was the LoR support. Tip: book early!

Katy was phenomenal! I come from an over-represented background (white male, financial services, etc.) and Katy helped me craft an application that was able to get me in to HBS! Beyond help with the application itself, Katy was a great sounding board for all things business school-related and I’d highly recommended her services to anyone considering going through the heavy undertaking that is applying to business school.

Nisha far exceeded my already high expectations of an mbaMission admissions consultant. Her assistance drastically improved every phase of my applications. She transformed my resume and gave stellar feedback on my essays, focusing equally on the content I included and the way I presented it. She has a remarkable way of pulling insights out of you and making you think critically about the impact you’ve made on the job and within your extracurricular pursuits.

I held a mock interview with her, which was exceedingly helpful, and when given multiple (yes, MULTIPLE!) scholarship offers to top schools she even helped me to navigate between my acceptances. Her turnaround time is fantastic and she gives incredible advice whenever asked.

Nisha didn’t only put me in the best position to succeed with my applications. She taught me how to truly sell myself, a skill that will benefit me even beyond business school. If there’s one thing you should do to improve your chances of getting into the school of your dreams, hire Nisha Trivedi.

She’s the best!

I worked with Heidi during the 2018 Round 1 and 2 admissions cycles and came away with very little to show for both the large time and money investment. While Heidi can seem nice and encouraging, she poorly managed my expectations as a client and at times seemed to put little effort into reviewing my materials. After applying this past year, I was actually able to gain an acceptance but it was not with any of the materials I created with Heidi. I now believe that the consulting services from her and MBAMission added no value and I was scammed.