Alex Leventhal

Let me begin by saying that my MBA application journey was a long one. After having worked with one of the “big” guys, I was left with 2 dings and a sour taste in my mouth.

From the start, working with Alex was different. Instead of providing general feedback, he provided direct/candid feedback with examples of ways to improve my resume, essays, and story. He was efficient and creative. He was able to connect the dots in my “story” very quickly, which was impressive. Alex is an extremely supportive consultant. The prior consultant I had worked with had a strict deadline for essay submissions and if she didn’t have the essays in her inbox by the deadline, you were on your own. Working with Alex didn’t feel like a ‘business’ relationship, but rather a mentorship. Although I would never recommend making major changes to your application the night before the deadline, Alex bailed me out when I did. He logged on late into the night to provide feedback and edits because he truly cares about his clients’ success.

With Alex’s help, I gained admission into a Top 15 US full-time MBA program. I would recommend Alex to anyone who is looking for an experienced professional who will improve your candidacy in almost every facet.

I got Alex referred by someone who recently was admitted to a top tier executive MBA. With just a few hours of help on my essays, Alex was able to explain what it was the school was really after in their essay questions. He pointed out how my drafts could be improved on content and style. What I really appreciated was the direct feedback and the efficient way we worked together which helped me get into my school of choice (INSEAD executive MBA).

When I first reached out to Alex, I was coming off of a cycle of rejections from a few top schools and just during our initial conversation, I could sense the areas in which I could have done a better job in my applications. My career story was somewhat disjointed and the motivations were not coming across strongly. Alex suggested that I had a strong chance with higher quality application materials and so I decided to re-apply when I realized immediately how Alex could help me strengthen my applications significantly.

Alex brings a wealth of experience in helping candidates from all types of backgrounds gain admissions to top schools and it shows in the way he carries himself through the preparation process. He is thorough and meticulous with his reviews at every stage.

We started off by filling out a detailed PrepMBA questionnaire which touched upon various aspects of my professional and personal life. I then mapped out 1-2 relevant but slightly different career paths as options. As I come from an over-represented pool of candidates, I heard the need to “differentiate yourself” several times, but it was not until I had done my ‘career purpose’ work with Alex that I understood what it really meant. I strongly recommend watching his video “Crafting compelling career goals” on the PrepMBA website. My career purpose document served as the basis for my essays, which I was able to complete smoothly, thanks to the foundational prep earlier.

I strongly recommend Alex for his ability to help applicants build strong career narratives and his ability to stitch them together into essays that flow very well. I would suggest starting as early as possible, to be able to take full advantage of Alex’s rigorous preparation process. I ended up getting admitted to a top choice (top 4 M7 school) and couldn’t have done it without Alex’s help.

I spoke with over 10 consultants before choosing, and I decided on Alex because of his experience and genuine care for my success. During our initial call, he was the only consultant that took the time to ask me about my background and helped me generate some great essay ideas. His HBS background and industry expertise make him the best consultant not only for HBS but also for any other business school.
Alex’s greatest strength is his creativity. He has the ability to pick out the perfect story from topics that other consultants would brush off. In my case, I came in with a few ideas I wanted to write about, but Alex encouraged me to list all possible topics. He pushed me to explore a topic that I wrote down briefly at the end of the list, and we ended up using it as my HBS 2+2 essay. Alex has the ability to take underappreciated life experiences and turn them into compelling stories.
Alex also really cares about all his clients. He willingly used my mock interview for another M7 school that I did not use his services for, which helped me get on the waitlist.
Alex was meticulous about every step in the process, from interviews to letters of recommendation to the application form itself. He definitely makes you feel like his only client. I would definitely hire Alex again!

My journey to being accepted to business school was a long one, involving reapplications, waitlists, and a lot of nervous waiting. Alex guided me every step of the way, from connecting the dots in my professional experience to define my career purpose, mining my personal experience (including my childhood) to create compelling essay material, and overcoming the introverted side of my personality to put forth an engaging admissions interview. In addition, he was equipped to handle the less typical aspects of my specific situation, which included reapplication and waitlist processes. Lastly, Alex is a good-hearted person who honestly does care about his clients, which I believe helps to create a more personal application that is truly reflective of the person underneath the applicant. I would not have been able to get into my dream school, Stanford GSB, without Alex, and I highly recommend him to anyone considering applying to business school.

I am so glad that I decided to hire Alex and his services for my MBA application process. Because I was studying for the GMAT and completing the application at the same time, it was extremely important that I stayed on track and was well paced for the short term deadline. Alex was flexible with my schedule and very responsive to my emails. He also helped to shape a clear story for why I was seeking an MBA from my background and personal experiences – I think this was a pivotal part in my application that would not have been as strong without his coaching. Even though I had a lower than average GPA and okay GMAT score, I felt confident about the quality in my essays and resume and the content in my application. I only applied to one school, Fuqua, and was accepted with a scholarship in their most selective round.

I was introduced to Alex’s Prep MBA through a close friend who got into MBA at MIT Sloan, and she told me Alex played an essential role to guide her in the process of self reflection to connect the magical dots in her life, which deeply touched me because since the very beginning, I thought my application, especially the essay should show the genuine me, even my weak sides, my emotional side, and I believe Alex would be the advisor that could help to unleash my potential, not like many other advisors in China, kind of forced everyone into some kind of format.

My gut was proved super right. He pushed me hard to reflect on my past experience, and did not shy away from failures. I felt super safe and comfortable in showing all sides of me, that lead me to generate super genuine stories, and through the process, I have become clearer of the things I want to do in the future, not just to apply for MBAs.

There are three memorable things from this 1-year consulting with Alex.

1. The application process is very intense and stressful, but having Alex can always ease my tension, and kept me on schedule. I remembered in my round 1 application, I was super late in the timeline, but Alex’s comforting words, That’s what I am here for, to set you the pace and ease your tension, which definitely relived my stress and panic situation. He is very responsible, always solve my doubt and it’s nice to have companionship like Alex in this rigorous process.

2. While I was writing my HBS and Stanford GSB essay, I’ve seen various admits’ essays from the HBS application guide, and most of them are filled with so many successful points to demonstrate the capabilities of them. However, I did not feel those are my type, and Alex encouraged me to just be me, and write it in a simple and genuine way, that shows my struggles and obstacles, and how I got over with them, and also show my mental activities. I’ve shown my essay to several HBS & GSB admits, they all said, it might not be strong enough or it’s too emotional. I was nervous and panic. But Alex told me my essay is super genuine and touchy, I should stick to who I am not who others think you should be, which gave me confidence. And I believe it’s my genuine that allowed me receive both offers from HSB and GSB. I think Alex is truly trying to know the special characteristics of each applicant, and try to bring out the special parts of each individual.

3. As an international student, though I had my undergrad at US, I was still not that confidence with my writing skill, but Alex will never edit too much of my original drafts – essays or application forms unless the time is super urgent. At first, I was a little nervous that my language is not perfect, but Alex told me that I should not focus that much about my language, as long as it shows the true me and well articulated. It is actually cool that he took rounds and rounds to guide me to get to the proper content that allowed myself to dig deeper. At the meantime, though Alex quietly encouraged self-reflection, he is strict sometimes when he thinks you are really thinking too much.

Eventually I got into Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Business School, which are amazing results for me!!! I had dreamed for them, the Alex has helped me to make my dream came true.

How I wound up working with Alex is really interesting: I initially consulted a few of the larger MBA consulting firms and I never reached common ground with them; I had a low GPA, a 640 GMAT, and worked for my family business in the Middle East and had never worked for a multi-national company. Yet I had big aspirations to get into a top 5 MBA program despite all these obstacles. None of the consulting firms would take me on with my stats. Alex, on the other hand was very honest from the beginning that getting into an elite program with these stats would be a long-shot yet he was willing to work with me provided that I studied hard for the GMAT and I that I was realistic about my chances.

The key with Alex is to start the process very early as Alex is extremely meticulous and would not accept anything less of perfection. With the essays, Alex immediately knows what stories make the cut with the big schools. I was impressed with the amount of time that Alex devotes to knowing his client, a step of the process that he thinks is the key to a winning application. Before we began working together, I had to fill in a very comprehensive bio-sheet that took quite a long time to fill out but a form that was really pivotal to the process. Alex would later draw onto details that I forgot I had mentioned in that sheet.

I also saw major added value in GMAT support where Alex was really pushing me to try different prep companies and even at one point to take on a personal tutor. I took the GMAT 5 times, scoring 680 the 4th time, and where everyone else told me to forget about the GMAT, Alex told me he thinks I should try one more time, and I followed him on that one, scoring a 710 in my last attempt.

Though his turnaround times are very quick, Alex is very critical throughout the process, and things take time to stack up to his standard, so for me starting early with Alex no matter how weak you think your profile is would be imperative to gaining admission at the school of your choice.

I applied to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, and LBS, and gained admission into Wharton, MIT, and LBS, and will be starting at Wharton next fall.

Bottom line: If you are really serious about getting into a top program and have enough time to devote to the process, then Alex is your guy.

I had the experience of working with other admission consultants before I worked with Alex, and I can tell you that the level of personalized attention I got from Alex is not something other consultants provide. The other consultant I worked with was not the most responsive. When I emailed her, she would take various days to get back to me. I never felt she took the process as seriously as I did. With Alex it was a different story. He always tried to respond within the same day, and if he could not get back to me in 24 hours he would let me know when could I expect a new version of my essays. He also provided valuable advice in choosing between my recommenders. His interview prep helped me feel confident and ready for my interview. Additionally, he identified my areas of weakness so that I could improve on them before my interview. With my essays he provided direct and honest feedback indicating the gaps in my stories, but also suggesting a complete rewrite of the essays when necessary. Thanks to his guidance I was fortunately admitted to MIT Sloan, despite having a low GPA.

I was introduced to Alex by close friend and former colleague who had gotten into both Harvard and Stanford and spoke volumes about Alex’s expertise in the application process. I spoke to six admissions consultants as part of my initial research and found Alex to be very thoughtful about how to go about navigating the admissions process, and clear in noting both the strengths and weaknesses of my candidacy. I am part of an over represented demographic (Asian male in finance) so it was critical for me to have a strong consultant who could help my unique capabilities shine. Alex’s experience clearly showed during our introductory call and I liked that he works directly with all his clients rather than having other junior members lead parts of the process. He was also the only consultant I spoke with who clearly highlighted that over 90% of his clients have gotten into one of their target business schools (no other consultant provided any statistics – if you don’t believe me, check the websites!).

Working with Alex was fantastic, and I really enjoyed our discussions. He dives deep into your profile and tries to understand everything about you before recommending ideas you should highlight in your application. The personal touch was what made a clear difference in my case as Alex was able to augment my career ambitions and really make my essays shine through detailed examples of my background and aspirations. Alex also provided me with multiple samples of successful essays from past clients and these were incredibly helpful for structure, flow and word limits. The advice and edits he provided for my resume as well as the interview preparation were critical both for my application as well my long-term career. Two things that really stood out were his creativity (he was always able to find vivid and catchy ways to tell my story) and his editing capabilities (I was amazed by how he was able to help me hit the tight word limits!).

I did a 4-school package with Alex and applied to the very best schools: HSW & Columbia. It was an ambitious goal, and most would have suggested a “safety” school but Alex knew that I wouldn’t settle for anything less and that despite my over representation, I stood a good chance if I put in the effort. Ultimately, I received interviews with three of four schools (Stanford, Wharton and Columbia) and got into both Wharton and Columbia. I also received a 6-figure merit scholarship at Wharton!

In my day-to-day job of private investing, our ideal situation is to generate 10x returns on our capital (i.e. invest in companies that ultimately generate 10 times our initial money into the company) and many in my industry search for years to find such opportunities. In the case of Alex and my merit scholarship this statistic was clearly true!

I would recommend Alex in a heartbeat and have already done so to friends. Applying to business school is not an easy process and having a consultant like Alex working tirelessly on your side can really improve the odds!