April Stewart

Background: Caucasian male, 5 years experience (2 years consulting, 3 years big tech), 3.8 GPA, 750 GMAT
Results: Admitted to Wharton, Columbia

April was an essential partner and advisor in my admission journey. I decided to apply to business school (round 1) in August, and would not have been able to navigate the tight timeline without her expert guidance. When I began the process, I worried that I would not be able to meet the application deadlines, but April helped me develop a comprehensive timeline with milestones along the way to ensure that I got all of my applications polished and submitted with time to spare. She helped me determine which 4 schools best suited my interests and personality, and ultimately helped me get into my dream school, Wharton, as well as Columbia with a substantial scholarship. I owe this success largely to April’s outstanding coaching, dedication, and structured approach to building a winning application.

At the beginning of the process, April helped me brainstorm key experiences and learnings from all aspects of my life, and worked with me to develop compelling themes and motifs to emphasize throughout my essays. I leveraged these introspective insights when crafting my essays, which April edited scrupulously, challenging me to delve deeply into the impact of my accomplishments to date. When giving feedback, she was both empathetic and instructive, applauding my ideas, phrases, and word choices that worked well, while stripping down and reconstructing everything that didn’t work in my early drafts. April settled for nothing less than stellar, and once my essays earned her coveted approval, they were sent to the Gatehouse founder, Liza Weale, who had a similarly keen eye for detail, and often identified new ways for me to improve my essays. Working with Gatehouse admissions, and with April specifically, allowed me to perfect my essays to a level of excellence and introspection that I could not have come close to on my own. While my essays consumed most of our time together, April was similarly instructive with my short answer responses, helping me ruthlessly cut words in order to meet the typically stingy character limits, and my letters of recommendation, guiding me to ideate strong topics and anecdotes for my recommenders. Finally, she coached me through interview prep, ensuring that I entered each interview feeling confident and ready. Overall, April’s approach helped me stay on track to deliver strong applications despite a timeline that initially seemed impossibly tight.

I did not take the decision to hire a consultant lightly, and worried that the payoff would not justify the high cost. Seeing the number of hours that April put into our partnership (her feedback was so thoughtful and comprehensive that I often suspected it often took longer for her to review my essays than it did for me to actually write them), the expert advice and frameworks that April provided, and ultimately the payoff of being accepted into two elite MBA programs, I feel that I got outstanding value for my money. She played an essential role in my successful application process, and I cannot recommend April’s services highly enough.

Background: Caucasian male, 5 years experience (2 years IB, 3 years PE), 3.8 GPA at T50 undergrad, 760 GMAT
Results: Admitted to HBS, Wharton, and Columbia

April was an invaluable guide and a true partner during my business school application process. April pushed me to be introspective in ways I hadn’t thought possible, extracting a level of self-reflection I hadn’t practiced since I applied to college a decade earlier. One of the most valuable exercises we completed together was early in the process when we took everything from my formative relationships developed in my early childhood to workplace achievements in my current role and distilled them into meaningful life lessons. This was instrumental in helping me organize my thoughts so I could more effectively apply my personal experiences to each school’s application.

I got started on my applications later than I would have liked for R1 submissions, but April took what could have been a highly stressful situation and turned it into an expertly strategized game plan. What set her apart from other consultants was her ability to create a structured schedule to hold me accountable on meeting deadlines. On each Sunday, April would send me an email outlining my deadlines and goals for the week ahead. Of course, there were times when work got busy and required flexibility in the schedule, but it was nothing April hadn’t seen before having worked with other IB/PE clients and was always able to push me to make up for lost time. There was ultimately never any doubt of getting all my applications in before the R1 deadlines. For people who benefit from a structured schedule and to-do list, April is the perfect consultant.

Finally, as a firm of professionals with expertise across all the top business schools, I had a strong network at Gatehouse to tap into for each of my applications and April was always happy to leverage her colleagues for a second opinion on a nuanced question. I honestly couldn’t have asked for better partners in April and the Gatehouse team.

Background: ORM Male, 7 years of experience

GMAT: 710

Results: Accepted to Fuqua, Ross, UNC, and Stern

April is someone who I thoroughly enjoyed working with throughout the application cycle. I started working with April in July and wanted to submit my applications to most schools for Round 1 in September. Originally, I was anxious about the amount of time, but April reassured me that I would be able to submit a polished application. She kept me accountable throughout the process but made sure to reprioritize items when I had other important commitments. In addition to being organized, she was always timely with her deliverables and responsive to all my questions.

I come from an accounting background and thought my work experience / accomplishments to be mundane. April was instrumental in helping me see the true impacts of my accomplishments and what skills and traits I would bring to business school. I felt like April did two things that were the most helpful in me standing out from the pool of applicants. First, she challenged me to be very specific and thorough in my essays. In my beginning drafts, my responses to the essay prompts were broad and made it appear that I had not put much thought into my ideas. April helped me craft full-fleshed ideas on what I would bring to an MBA cohort and how I would make a difference during my time on campus. Second, she pushed me to write succinctly about my accomplishments and the impact that each one had by thinking about the “so what?” of each bullet point. The original drafts of my resume were sorely missing the impact of my accomplishments and were filled with industry jargon that made them hard to understand. By the end of the process, it unrecognizable from previous drafts.

In the end, I was accepted to almost all the schools that I applied to and received full scholarships from two. April’s knowledge of the application process and how to bring an applicant’s story to the forefront was extraordinary. Originally, I had hesitations about working with a consultant, but working with April made it very clear to me and others around me the value that an amazing consultant, such as April, can add to an application.

Background: Caucasian Male, 7 years general finance experience, liberal arts undergrad, GRE: 324. Results: Accepted to 2/2 schools (Columbia and Stern). April was an excellent partner throughout the business school application process and she was truly invested in my success. I felt like April put the same effort into advising me through my application process as she would for her own MBA applications, making me genuinely trust her as a partner. I came to April with a narrow list of schools I wanted to attend. She was completely supportive, and based on my list helped identify other schools I might want to consider. At times when I was exhausted from work, studying for the GRE, and writing essays, April helped me prioritize which tasks to focus on and was there to continue to push me forward.

I’m confident that April’s knowledge and high standards helped get my application materials to the next level. From our very first meeting, April helped me recognize the strengths in my experiences and develop a cohesive and interesting story. April provided unparalleled guidance and the tools for success, ranging from essay idea formation to interview preparation. We had multiple brainstorming sessions, and we went through multiple versions of certain essays before agreeing on the strongest topic for that essay. Admittedly, I can be stubborn about criticism of my writing; but April was not afraid to provide direct feedback (in the best way). April knew when to challenge my ideas and ask me to dig deeper or take something to the next level. She was not willing to settle for anything less than what she knew to be my full potential. She was honest with me when she felt something wasn’t right and made helpful suggestions to guide me in the right direction. Ultimately, her counsel was crucial in my successful outcome.

I was comfortable knowing that April and the Gatehouse team were always giving me sound advice. April is an absolute professional and an expert in this field, and I wholeheartedly trusted her guidance. She had all the answers to my questions as I worked through the application process, and occasionally she would bring in another Gatehouse expert for a second opinion, making me feel like she truly had my best interests at heart. Gatehouse is a great company, and I cannot recommend April enough as the right consultant there. She will absolutely ensure your full potential is reached.

Background: Caucasian female, 5 years of experience (2 years investment banking, 3 years private equity), GMAT: 690
Results: Accepted to Booth, Kellogg, and Tuck

April was the guiding force for me throughout my MBA application process and was a true advisor and friend along the way. From the onset, April provided the perfect balance of “tough love” that I needed to be held accountable yet feel supported in the process. When there were weeks I needed to study for the GMAT or prioritize work, she gave me the space to do so and updated our calendar accordingly. When time was getting tight, she was honest and held me to our deadlines. This balance and her approach gave me the structure to make progress on my applications without feeling overwhelmed or behind during busy weeks.

This balance of serving as a sound advisor and supportive friend extended throughout the process, from essay writing to interview preparation. As I worked through brainstorming my essay topics, April helped pull out pieces of my “story” she thought would be interesting to focus on. As I iterated drafts with her, she was never afraid to be honest when things weren’t clicking and to ask thoughtful questions to help move me along and solidify my points. She helped me effectively communicate my values, what in my life shaped these values, how I have leveraged them in my career, and how I plan to in the future by asking tough questions and talking through my responses. The process not only helped me write an essay I was very proud of, but also allowed me to better understand myself and my motivators. This guidance extended throughout my application – from ensuring my resume was data-dense and focused on quantifying my accomplishments, to running through several mock interviews and pushing me regardless of how prepared I felt, her guidance was instrumental to my success.

April was also extremely professional throughout our time working together. She was responsive and organized and always made the deadlines she set. She was always open to schedule a call to chat through things and always provided comprehensive feedback, regardless of the number of iterations she had already reviewed of an essay, resume, or short answer. Her patience and commitment to working with me until my applications were great was steadfast and deeply appreciated. In summary, I cannot recommend April enough. If you are looking for someone to push and support you to drive the best MBA outcome, April is your girl!

I worked with the MBA consultant April Stewart from Gatehouse Admissions. Though it was a large investment of time and money, I truly believe April was a key factor in being admitted to business school. A bit about my background, I graduated from the University of Virginia with a 3.5 GPA and a degree in Political Science. I’ve worked in management consulting at a large firm (but not Big 4) for about 3.5 years when I applied to business school in Round 2 of 2022. I also had worked in a sales role for 1.5 years as my first job, totaling 5-years’ work experience upon application. I had some volunteering/additional leadership outside of work that I discussed. I did not have a strong quantitative background through undergraduate courses, (just micro/macroeconomics/stats with B’s). I did not apply with a GMAT/GRE score as I applied to receive a COVID Test Waiver. I applied to 7 schools to get a COVID Test Waiver and ultimately received 6, which were the 6 schools I ended up applying to in Round 2. I applied to Cornell, UNC, UT, USC, Boston College, and Michigan in Round 2. I went through a process of self-reflection and several in-depth calls with April to select which schools were right for me over about a month period. Going into working with April in early October of 2021, I had not selected any schools that I was planning to apply to ahead of time so that was part of our process of working together.

April and I had weekly calls to discuss choices for schools, strategies for applications, my career goals, talking with current students/alumni, and then further into the process reviewing specific edits on each essay, and then practicing for interviews. April was very thorough and knowledgeable about what each school was looking for regarding my essays. We easily did 15 rounds of each essay (2 per school) for the 3 schools I selected to work with her on through Gatehouse Admissions. April also helped me draft my COVID Test Waivers, additional information the school requested on extracurriculars, as well as another 15 rounds of my Resume. The process was very detailed and tedious, which is what you want in order to get your material to be the greatest it can possibly be. I then used the extensive work I did for those 3 schools and utilized that insight (and often the same wording of my story) for my other 3 school’s applications. April helped me frame my story for all of my application materials, but also for my interviews. Once I was into the interview round, April sent me 20+ interview questions for each school that past applicants had been asked, which ended up being very accurate to what I was asked in my interviews. We also did several mock interviews for each school.

Ultimately, I got into all 6 schools that I applied to, and I also received scholarship money (anywhere from 10k-70k) from all 6 of the schools. I chose to go to UNC Kenan-Flagler based on the great environment for women, consulting track, Forté scholarship money, and school atmosphere! At the beginning of the process, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to work with an MBA consultant, I had friends who had gotten into business school with and without one. I decided I would rather pay for assistance for the best possible chance to get in. I was so happy I chose to work with Gatehouse Admissions and ended up having 6 options for school selection, which I never thought would happen.

Background: 4 YoE in Big Tech; Undergrad from T10 engineering school; 332 GRE
Outcome: Interviewed at 4/4 schools (HBS, GSB, Wharton and 1 M7). Admitted to 3/4 schools (HBS, Wharton, and 1 M7 (with $)).

April was a tremendous partner and huge support system throughout this very intense process. For context, I had very limited insight into MBA admissions and initially set up intro meetings with 5-6 consulting firms. My biggest fear going in was that the relationship with my consultant would feel transactional but right from my first call with April, she proved that would not be the case. She stood out in how she listened to my stories with empathy, patiently provided tailored feedback to my long list of questions, and showed genuine interest in my candidacy.

April and I officially started the MBA application journey in mid-June, with an ambitious goal of applying to very selective schools (including HBS and GSB) on a short timeline. During our initial discussions, April was incredibly perceptive and helped me distill all my various personal and professional stories down into a single narrative. As we began the essay writing process, April went above and beyond to address any questions I had. I felt very comfortable shooting April a quick message with even my most minor concerns – to which she provided constant reassurance and a thoughtful action plan. She would often even get additional feedback from other experts on the Gatehouse team.

I also really appreciated that April was not afraid to go back to the drawing board when we felt the need to change direction. About 4-5 drafts through one of my HSW essays, we discussed pivoting and April diligently worked with me to peel back the layers of my experiences and develop the new narrative. She asked thoughtful questions and really helped me uncover the true “so-what” in my experiences. In hindsight, this was the most critical juncture during the application process which I believe ultimately led to my admits. I am so grateful that during this time April prioritized developing the best essay possible, provided honest feedback, and guided me to go in a bold direction – rather than simply saying there was not enough time or that we had exhausted too many drafts already.

April was also absolutely vital for the success of my b-school interviews. She is very knowledgeable about each school’s unique interviewing style and helped me navigate each of these situations. She was also incredibly generous with her time, setting up additional mock interviews well beyond the contractual amount so that I could feel most prepared. She was an exceptional advocate during this time and helped me project confidence in ways that felt authentic to me. She also provided valuable feedback on subtleties that we worked together to fine-tune. This coaching has actually made me a better interviewee in general, and I will take these learnings forward with me.

April was a partner in the truest sense from brainstorming to interview coaching to negotiating offers. She always ensured I was prepared to put my best foot forward and that there was no stone left unturned. This journey would not have been possible without April’s support and guidance!

Background: Caucasian female, 26, 5 years of experience in finance & big tech, GMAT: 750, Economics degree from Duke University (3.93 GPA)
Results: Accepted to Wharton, Kellogg (with a scholarship)

April was a phenomenal partner to work with throughout what was a particularly grueling process. After making the decision to apply for R1, I surveyed four different consulting companies, all esteemed in their own right. What struck me about April, in particular, was her ability to be candid about my prospects without being discouraging; she perfectly balanced honesty with empathy in a way that was reassuring about what we could achieve together.

Over a three-month period, April and I embarked on a joint venture to apply to 4 of the top business schools in the country. While business school had been something top of mind for me since graduating from a liberal arts university, I hadn’t quite ironed out a cohesive narrative as to why I wanted to go and what I planned to do afterward. To gain clarity, April had me complete a comprehensive Experience Inventory, which she used to identify commonalities in my experiences and goals; she was able to synthesize a disjointed life story into a succinct explanation as to why business school was right for me and how I stood out as a candidate.

April also helped me identify potential gaps in my resume and creatively leverage experiences that could augment my candidacy; she encouraged me to dig deep to uncover what I might think were small contributions but were actually demonstrations of leadership. Throughout iterations of my essays and resume, April asked me to constantly think of the “so what” of each bullet or paragraph, making sure each was meaningful. She was extremely thoughtful (& timely!) with her feedback, focusing on both the big picture as well as the small nits. Together, we crafted applications that I felt excited to submit and confident in my prospects.

April’s commitment didn’t stop after I clicked submit; she set me up for success in my interviews by performing multiple mocks and giving me a sense of what to expect, particularly with Wharton’s Team-Based Discussion. When I was admitted to two schools, she helped me navigate the difficult decision and also gave me advice for pursuing scholarship money. April coached me end-to-end, playing a critical role in my application process and acting as a sounding board. She exhibited everything I could have asked for in a consultant and more: I wouldn’t be in the position to attend Wharton in the fall without her!

Background: Caucasian Male, 30, 8 years work experience in Media / Entertainment, GMAT: 760, Communications degree from a top 20 Undergrad (3.63 GPA)

Result: Admitted to Kellogg MMM ($), Yale SOM, NYU ($$$$)

I had the pleasure to work with April during the 20-21 admissions cycle and can say without hesitation that she is the reason I am attending business school in six weeks. From start to finish, she and the entire Gatehouse team were supportive, insightful, and (most importantly for me) extremely organized allies that elevated my application beyond what I could have ever done on my own.

For context, I came into this year’s application process relatively late – leaving only two months to prepare six applications (including HBS) after focusing my summer on attaining my target GMAT score. Knowing that I needed someone I could hit the ground running with, I spoke with five different admissions consultants hoping to find the right fit. April immediately stood out. On just our first call, it became evident that April is at once deeply empathetic and practical. In 15 minutes, she was pulling stories out of me that I hadn’t thought about or told in years – specifically probing on areas in both my professional and personal lives that became invaluable building blocks to the narrative I crafted for my applications.

This blend of empathy and practicality would become a running theme throughout our engagement. With a tight timeline and a demanding day job, every day counted. In response, April expertly walked the thin line between being emotionally supportive while keeping me accountable to the almost constant work required to brainstorm, draft, redraft, and polish the 15+ essays I set out to submit. At every step along the way, April was a reliable and thoughtful partner and, even when we were working on multiple different essays, she never once returned a draft late or without constructive feedback that took into account the “whole picture” of my application. To track and grasp the widely disparate elements of my applications and still be able to build cohesive narratives that surfaced the best parts of my story (all while I’m sure doing the same for other clients) was truly remarkable.

All that said, April’s greatest contribution to my admissions process came late in the game. After being admitted to Kellogg MMM (my #1 choice that April had actually brought to my attention during school selection), I was torn between that program and a full ride at NYU. With April’s guidance, I was able to leverage my scholarship at NYU, make a compelling case to Kellogg’s adcoms, and ultimately received a meaningful amount of money at Kellogg – sealing my decision and enabling me to go to a school I had absolutely fallen in love with.

This process can be many things – demanding, frustrating, challenging, and enlightening all at once. Having a consultant like April makes a world of difference. I couldn’t imagine being in the position I am today without her and I wholeheartedly recommend April to anyone looking for a trusted ally in their journey towards business school.

Background: Male, six years of finance experience, 332 GRE, 3.5X GPA from a T20 undergrad, pursuing media/entertainment.
Result: Accepted to four T20s with $$

April is fantastic – she helped me whip up eight applications (three paid, the rest leveraging the material we worked on together) in less than 45 days before R2 application deadlines. It was a herculean task, but April rose to the challenge – at once career coach, admissions dean, crisis manager, and spiritual leader in addition to her normal roles of editor, narrative crafter, mock interviewer, scholarship negotiator, and so much more.

At the most fundamental level, she helped me crystallize what I wanted to get from my MBA, explained some of the key distinctions between the schools I was targeting, and devised a strategy that maximized my ability to reuse the materials we worked on together to cover as much ground as possible on the applications I worked on privately. From there, we began identifying the stories and accomplishments I needed to highlight – I was feeling particularly daunted by the application process and uninspired by my achievements at that point, so we worked tirelessly on framing them properly in my resume and essays, focusing always on the specific actions I took and explaining in detail how the results were meaningful. This was difficult and uncomfortable for me, but April always provided concrete examples of how it should be done and was never shy about letting me know the quality of my work, good or bad.

At the same time, she helped me construct a credible story, reframing what I had initially considered a hodgepodge of unrelated jobs, a year-long unemployment gap, and limited extracurriculars into a carefully curated career plan in which an MBA was the obvious next step, and then helped me sell it confidently in a three-minute package to the seven schools I interviewed with. During our interview prep, we discussed the questions I would most likely receive (which were 90% spot-on), and how I should answer them. She has a keen eye; for example, she noticed I was often unconsciously downplaying my accomplishments to build rapport and avoid seeming arrogant, so we worked together to frame them in a more positive light.

Beyond that, April was incredibly professional, patiently answering my questions, never missing a deadline, and checking in constantly to make sure I was staying on track. She was eminently knowledgeable about the MBA process, and I found that many of the skills and frameworks she taught, like self-reflection via the STARR method, or how to sell yourself in a negotiation, have helped put my upcoming journey into perspective. I came into the MBA application season with a lot of unanswered questions about my career, and under April’s guidance and partnership, I came away with four great opportunities and answers to those questions, and I can’t recommend her enough!