Alice van Harten menlo coaching

Alice van Harten

Founding Partner

Menlo Coaching

Amsterdam

Netherlands

Net Promoter Score: 9

Consultant Bio

Alice has coached MBA applicants since 2007 and is proud of her clients’ successes. Her background as a former Bain Consultant and Stanford lecturer puts her in a unique position to coach applicants to top MBA programs.

“I want to tell my MBA story in the most compelling way possible.”

That’s great because Alice began her career in the humanities and loves a good story. She completed her Ph.D. in Classics (read: Ancient Greek philosophy) at the University of Cambridge.

During this time, she studied Plato’s philosophical writings, reading tens of thousands of texts along the way about what it means to live a good life and to pursue work that has a moral purpose.

Not only did she read extensively on this topic, she wrote original research papers (e.g. Socrates on Life and Death), and tutored Cambridge undergraduates in writing as part of the intimate “tutorial system” through which Ph.D. students instruct undergraduates.

Alice continued teaching in the Introduction to the Humanities program at Stanford University, where she again helped elite undergraduate students to write compelling personal essays.

She can help you to find your story and express it in clear terms that an admissions committee can understand.

“Alice was so committed to my reflection process and brainstorming content for application essays. It was important for me to have my genuine voice, rather than being directed by a formulaic consultant who knows ‘what works’ in an application.”

“I want to work with a consultant who understands my career.”

Alice is a former Bain consultant and has worked as part of the in-house strategy team for leading academic publisher Elsevier.

During her time as a consultant, Alice worked on cases including due diligence for private equity investors, reducing churn for consumer subscription products, and new product launches for manufacturing companies. Later, at Elsevier, Alice worked on quarterly budgeting and forecasting for a publicly-traded company and digital transformation for a company switching from traditional print journals to online access.

Since founding Menlo Coaching, Alice has worked with clients from nearly every industry and background:

  • Management consultants
  • Private equity and venture capital investors
  • Public markets investors
  • Investment bankers and commercial bankers
  • Technology professionals at large and small firms
  • Former teachers
  • Military veterans
  • Non-profit professionals
  • And more

Because of her own experiences, and those of her former clients, Alice will understand your professional background and career goals 

“The one thing I love the most about Alice is that she never compromises […] she will never settle for anything that’s less than the quality she expects”

“I want to maximize my chances in a competitive application process.”

Alice has succeeded in many tough application processes:

  • She won admission to the Ph.D. program at Cambridge University and 100% funding for her studies
  • She secured a postdoc at Stanford University through a highly competitive application process
  • She passed the case interview process and received offers from McKinsey, Bain, and BCG–no small feat for an academic with zero previous business experience

Alice can help you to put your best foot forward even if you’re targeting very competitive programs and have an unusual background that doesn’t “fit the mold.”

“I would not have been accepted to Harvard if it weren’t for Alice and Menlo Coaching!”

Company Information

If you want to do everything you can to win admission to a top MBA program, and you are ready to do the hard work involved in building your profile and creating great applications, Menlo Coaching can help. We have high standards and will push you hard to uncover every detail that will help you to find your voice and tell your story in the most compelling way possible.

You will never have a blind spot when you work with us. We visit campuses, interview admissions directors (see our blog), and employ a network of students to give us candid feedback about their MBA programs. We know the things that aren’t always discussed openly, like how schools manage their rankings, the side channels through which schools receive feedback on applicants, and more.

Our services combine unlimited 1:1 coaching with a self-paced curriculum that allows you to learn the basics in a way that fits your incredibly busy schedule. We also bring you together with other applicants to build your MBA network and keep your motivation high throughout the process.

To ensure the highest quality of service, we accept only a limited number of clients each year so that we can keep a low ratio of clients to coaches. Contact us as soon as you have committed to pursue an MBA and want to maximize your odds of acceptance.

Menu of Services and Associated Costs

We support applicants across all stages of an MBA application: planning your career goals, selecting schools that will help you achieve those goals, networking effectively with students, staff and alumni, identifying your personal story, and telling it across the many essays, application forms, resumes, and recommendations. Our structured approach means that you’ll always know the answer to the question “What should I be doing NOW to improve my odds of acceptance?”

Our interview preparation combines mock interviews, tailored to each school’s format, with communications training provided by former professional actors. You’ll overcome your interview nerves and will feel confident, authentic and relaxed on the day of the interview.

Even after the interview, we work with you to negotiate your merit-based aid. Although we cannot promise an award for any particular candidate, our clients have received millions of dollars of additional awards based directly on our negotiating strategies.

Finally, we love helping future-year applicants to build their MBA profiles through our “Early Birds” program because taking the right steps now will give you an edge in the competitive application process later.

Location: Amsterdam Netherlands

Email: alice@menlocoaching.com

Website: http://menlocoaching.com/

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