Brittany Maschal

Brittany is a super responsive, insightful, and efficient MBA application consultant. All of her advice was extremely tangible and tailored to my story and goals. Brittany helped me move through the application and interview process in a quick but successful way. I would strongly recommend using her for your application process!

Brittany was an incredible guide throughout my MBA application process. I applied to five different schools including HBS and GSB for Round 1. She helped me to formulate a clear and cogent narrative for each one of my essays, asked helpful and insightful questions to probe areas I could develop further in my applications, and fulsomely answered all of my questions on admissions strategy and approach. She is immediately responsive over email and helped to provide guidance that made my application process much smoother (and less anxiety-inducing!). She provided comprehensive support for my primary school of choice, but also offered comments and feedback on all of my applications. I am grateful for all of Brittany’s help in securing a spot at my dream school. Working with her is a no brainer! I can not recommend her services enough.

Very grateful to have worked with Brittany during my application cycle! As a non-traditional applicant coming from the public sector (and applying for R2!), I was a fish-out-of-water navigating the application cycle. With Brittany’s help, I was able to secure a spot at my dream M7 school (with a scholarship). She brought concise and thoughtful feedback to my written application and provided calm coaching help during my interview prep. Most importantly, she was direct and timely in her communications – something I greatly appreciated! Many thanks to Brittany!

Brittany is a highly professional and experienced consultant. I was applying to the 2nd round to top MBA schools including HSB and GSB with quite short timeline. From the start, she was very attentive in reviewing all my background documents, resume and essays. Discussing further with her, she was really able to distill down all my relevant credentials and background into a streamlined story that made it unique and truly reflecting me. She was super helpful with all her comments and helped me through the Christmas break to finish all applications in time.

Really appreciate her positive attitude and genuine willingness to help!

Brittany’s helped me tremendously throughout the MBA process and I definitely wouldn’t have achieved the same results without her. She gave concise, directed feedback for all aspects of my applications, including resume reviews, asking for recommendations, ideating my essay topics, editing my essays, and preparing for my interviews. Her advice, based off her experience, really impacted the cohesiveness and effectiveness of my overall application. She was extremely organized, responsive, and supportive throughout the process – a true expert that will most definitely improve anyone’s odds of being admitted into a top MBA program!

Two things stuck out most when working with Brittany. One, she understands the approach you prefer to take. I was confident in the story I wanted to craft and knew what I needed to say in them so I drove the drafts. I also worked by my own timelines since I had to juggle various conflicting activities timeline-wise to meet deadlines.
Second, when she reviews your drafts, she makes meaningful contributions to improve and flesh out your essay. I’ve seen other consultants prescribe you a story for you to write instead of helping you facilitate the message that you are trying to convey. The former will not get you into school whereas the latter will distinguish you from the crowd and that’s exactly what Brittany did for me. She helped me convey my thoughts more clearly and concretely by rearticulating some of my examples in ways that better explained a story or desire while considering word count. My essays distinguished me from the rest, and I’ve heard that time and time again on the acceptance calls I had with M7 and T10 schools this year.

Brittany is the ideal MBA application consultant. I worked with her to hone my essays. She won’t give feedback just for the sake of it; instead, she makes sure all critiques address key deficiencies in your work. If an essay is ready to go, she moves on quickly to the next, thereby saving you time in the process. Plus, she is incredibly responsive. Countless times I would email her late at night and then wake up the next morning to a response in my inbox. I found my essays to be much sharper after working with her.
The results speak for themselves. I was admitted to three M7 schools including Wharton where her expertise with the TBD was invaluable. She made me feel totally prepared and at ease, giving me the confidence to perform when it counted. Don’t hesitate to work with Brittany.

I would definitely recommend using Brittany as an MBA consultant. She has been super helpful throughout my entire process of putting together my applications for various schools. Whenever I had a question regarding an application element, Brittany’s response time was incredibly fast and to the point! It was clear to me that Brittany has had a lot of experience in this area, and that definitely helped me when applying.

If you’re applying to get your MBA, you absolutely must work with Brittany. For context, I worked with her on an hourly basis on my story drafting, applications and interview prep. From the start, it was clear that Brittany would be a thoughtful, efficient, experienced and dedicated consultant who was fun and easy to work with and would help me get to the finish line. She helped me craft my MBA story, express my goals eloquently in my essays, pick key parts of my background to highlight in my applications and stay on target in terms of timelines and next steps. Logistically, Brittany replied shockingly quickly to any questions I had and helped me move my essays and applications along very effectively. Moreover, she ran a mock interview with me that prepared me extremely well for that process. With all of the information sessions I had attended on business school and specific MBA programs before meeting Brittany, I still learned vastly more directly from her and am certain I couldn’t have done it without her. Brittany helped me get accepted into 4 out of 5 of the schools I applied to (including 2 M7 schools) and get full scholarships at 3 out of 4. She is truly an expert in her field, and I can’t wait to recommend her to anyone I know looking to pursue an MBA!

Brittany was an excellent consultant from day one. She matched my enthusiasm and continued to nudge me in the right direction at every step of the process. Her feedback was direct and expedient, allowing me to move as fast as I wanted, especially when I would frequently get sidetracked by work responsibilities and need to play catch-up. I particularly appreciated her ability to help me create my own unique narrative, by leveraging her own story-telling skills in conjunction with the myriad of Fortuna Tools. Brittany also was instrumental in preparing for the virtual interview process, helping reduce my anxiety through practice and review sessions. I would highly recommend her.

Brittany was incredibly gifted at helping me bring my stories together into a cohesive, logical, and convincing message to the schools I applied to. As a military veteran, I wasn’t sure exactly which stories would resonate best with admissions committees. Brittany’s expertise took the stress out of this crucial part of my applications. She also made corrections that helped me reduce jargon and make my essays understandable to everyone. The feedback I received through the Wharton prep-TBD was extremely helpful as well, and I will be heading to Wharton this fall!

Would 100% recommend to anyone! I signed up for a 5-school package with Fortuna and was super lucky to have Brittany as my coach. From day 1, I would feel less stressed every time after talking with her. Our chats were productive but also casual – it felt very much like catching up with an old friend as my story gets clearer and stronger. She made herself available and would always be prepared whenever we talk, and this installed a lot of confidence as I went through essays and interview prep. With her help, I was able to get into Wharton, and I will be attending Fall 2021!

I worked with Brittany on applications for four schools, and was accepted to GSB & Kellogg!

During the beginning of my application process, she was incredibly helpful with structuring my gameplan over the course of a few months leading up to the deadline, and guiding the crafting of my overall story to kick off my essay writing.

And during the end of my process leading up to the finish line, Brittany came to the rescue with answers to my many last-minute questions about tactical, detailed questions on the applications.

I appreciated her quick response time and overall guidance throughout the entire process. Would highly recommend!

Brittany was so amazing and helpful! She supported me during my interview for Wharton and guided me through all of my many questions. She was incredibly responsive and kind and provided tips and nuggets of wisdom unprompted. Her advice was insightful and made me feel really confident going into the actual interview!

I reached out to Fortuna when I received a Wharton interview, as the primary consultant I was working with unfortunately did not offer TBD interview prep. Wharton was my top choice, and I wanted to make sure I was as prepared as possible! I found myself wishing that I had worked with Brittany from the start. She was immediately responsive, helped me work through the prep efficiently/effectively, and gave me detailed, honest one on one feedback/advice after watching my mock. I went into my interview feeling extremely prepared and confident, and I am really grateful for the help I received! I was accepted to Wharton and will be attending next fall, thanks to Brittany.

I have had an absolutely amazing experience working with Brittany and can’t recommend her highly enough! Her feedback and coaching helped me land two acceptance offers (MIT Sloan & LBS) with a generous scholarship at one. She was superb at helping me craft and communicate my story and goals, and her feedback on my essays really took them to the next level. Given her experience, she also had incredible insight into what each school was looking for. With her help and guidance, I was able to submit the absolute best MBA applications I could.

I really enjoyed working with Brittany. She took a lot of time in helping me prepare for my MIT Sloan MBA interview. Brittany gave great tips and a very thorough critique of my mock MBA interview. You could tell that she had a lot of experience here. She was spot-on and very professional. I ultimately got into the MIT Sloan MBA for Fall 2020. I would recommend working with Brittany for top MBA applications and interviews.

I had been thinking about applying to a Master’s program but was hesitant after being out of school for 10 years. After connecting with Brittany I decided to go for it! She is extremely responsive and direct. After 1-2 emails, I had a framework for drafting my essay and articulating my goals. Once drafted we went through 1-2 additional iterations where she provided feedback within hours (sometimes less). Brittany was also able to help me with a framework for obtaining strong Letters of Recommendation. Working with someone who knows the ins and outs of the admissions process is extremely valuable, I would highly recommend.

Brittany was very friendly and informative from day one. She knew exactly what I needed and was able to help me at every step of the way. I applied to one school and was accepted. She is a very good communicator and was able to help me work through things as required. I could not recommend her more!

I’ve had an amazing experience with Brittany and would 100% recommend anyone to work with her. I applied to HBS and Wharton, got interviews with both, and ultimately got accepted to one. This is how I think she helped me succeed:

– Admissions experience: Brittany helped me find the best way to tell my unique story to make a strong case for my application. Knowing the ins and outs of admissions at the various schools, she also helped me tailor my essays and broader applications to each program

– Work method: given the tight deadline and very limited time due to my working hours, Brittany suggested an efficient plan that ultimately helped me meet all deadlines

– Availability: Brittany has always been very responsive and even understanding with the sometimes-difficult timelines imposed by my work schedule (I work in IB)

– Helpfulness: even after my applications were submitted, she helped me prepare for my interviews, provided advice, and even helped me negotiate a scholarship!

Last but not least, Brittany is a very nice and sociable person—this very demanding application process wouldn’t have been as fun without her

I’d gone into the master’s application process doing a considerable amount of research about specific programs, the kind of profiles they look for, the kind of essays they require, and so on and so forth. But after I initially signed up with Fortuna, I realized that there was so much I didn’t know. I first got in touch with Brittany after having been rejected from a school I really wanted to attend in the UK and naturally being a bit doubtful about my abilities. However, during our very first call, Brittany completely simplified the application process, detailing the action plan thoroughly. for instance, her essay writing strategy, where she clearly divided the material to be written in key concise points, helped me compartmentalize the entire process and approach it in a more structured manner. She also shared a bunch of resources with me when it came to writing the actual application, and would always respond within 20 minutes to any queries I had- no matter how small. I believe I’d submitted a strong application to MIT, however, my primary concern was preparing for the interview. Brittany shared with me detailed Fortuna guides which had things like odd-ball questions, guidance from admits, and probable questions that could be asked. The mock interview we had helped me gain tremendous confidence in answering unusual questions. In all, she helped me approach the application process in a very simplified manner and helped me feel that graduate admissions are not quite as hard as people make them out to be. I would recommend Brittany as a consultant to anyone out there looking for a simple, yet highly effective approach to postgraduate admissions.

I really enjoyed working with Brittany throughout the application process. She did a great job breaking it down into manageable steps so it didn’t feel overwhelming. When it came to writing my essays, I found she gave really great feedback that helped me better frame my stories and articulate my goals. I was really impressed by how quickly she responded to emails and reviewed my work. She is super efficient yet also very thoughtful. In addition, I found the practice interview I did with Brittany to be really helpful. She had great advice about what questions to prepare for and how to focus my answers. After practicing with her, I went into my interviews feeling very prepared. I was very pleased with the outcome of my application process and am thrilled to be attending my top choice school in the Fall.

Brittany was always very supportive and helped me figure out how my application should look like. She gave me great ideas that helped me improve my essays, and also valuable insights whenever issues happened through my MBA application journey. I don’t think I would have been able to get admitted on 5 out of the 8 programs I applied, with scholarships in almost all of them, if it wasn’t for her help.

I decided to work with Fortuna based on a friend’s recommendation. The first challenge there was choosing a coach. Fortuna has a long list of seasoned and experienced coaches. After talking to a couple of them, I knew that Brittany was the one. You can see from her bio that she has tons of experience, but it’s the way she talks about the application process and her work style that made me confident I will be in good hands. She breaks down what is usually an intimidating process for candidates into small exercises. You start doing a few tasks here and there, and before you know it, you have 80% of your essays done. Brittany is very responsive, between me and her, we were so efficient to the extent that we had 95% of the applications done a month before the deadlines. This allowed me to prep further and take the GRE again, where I got my best score.

I applied to two of the top three MBA programs, and was accepted into both! Brittany had a big role to play in that success. Before applying I knew I had a good profile, but she had a great way of connecting the different experiences I had and helping me craft the perfect story, which was key for a successful application.

I chose to work with Fortuna as I felt they would provide the individual attention I needed and offered me the flexibility to choose a consultant of my choice, and I am very happy that I chose to work with Brittany. Fortuna and Brittany were helpful in many different aspects of the process, including school selection for their comprehensive package, MBA fair prep, validating my follow-up emails to admissions officers, resume revamp, interview prep, etc. But for me the biggest value add Brittany and the Fortuna team provided was with crafting my essays, and in the process helping me gain a better understanding of what my post-MBA goals were, why those were my goals, and why I wanted to do an MBA.

Brittany spent a considerable amount of time with me initially in helping me think more about my answers to these questions as they lay the foundation for the majority of the essays. As we worked through the essays, she was not afraid to ask why I wrote something I did, which forced me to dig deeper and in a couple of cases revamp my essays. She was able to give ideas for making the essays more marketable, e.g. with phrasing my introductory story in a more catchy manner or using a different story which she felt was more unique to me, while still keeping the essay true to myself. When needed, she also reached out to other members of the Fortuna team for advice. After we worked on the essays for the first couple of schools, I had much greater clarity on what to write for the other schools I was applying to and this made the rest of the process a lot easier. In the end, I was admitted to 3 top-10 schools and now have the problem of deciding which one to join!

I wrapped up my first MBA application season with overwhelming disappointment. I was rejected from 2 top MBA programs and it was a huge hit to my confidence. I did my research and started to reach out to admission consultants i.e. 4 different firms, and yet without high expectations started to consider reapplying to business schools. After my first call with Brittany it was obvious she would provide the support I needed at that point to figure out the rationale of a compelling story. After a thorough exercise of self-reflection and questionnaire that stimulated my thinking, I started to approach the essays with more passion tapping into my accomplishments, values and drives leading to my post MBA goals.

Brittany helped me find out how my attributes and aspirations converge with certain schools’ cultures to decide which school would prove invaluable to my career progression. She was willing to keep reviewing my drafts multiple times and ask thought-provoking questions even when I was already satisfied with the level we reached. Working what seemed to be around the clock, she will reply very fast allowing maximum number of drafts within short time. Brittany is very honest, and her advice was candid; that helped me develop strong essays strategies and stand out in the interviews. She made every effort to know me at a personal level and was reachable at a short notice. I always felt her top priority was to maximize my chances of getting into my top choices and never felt a desire from her to maximize the billable hours as she would tell me when I did not need them.

After months of hard work and continuous support, I was admitted to my dream school, Wharton, and I attribute this success to the positive mindset Brittany instilled in me throughout this daunting process. I highly recommend having her by your side; she will help you put your best foot forward, and most of all, she will make sure you will stand out from the crowd.

The MBA application process is pretty intimidating and somewhat overwhelming on top of a full time job and unlimited online resources claiming to have the secrets to MBA admissions. When I decided to apply, I talked to many different consulting firms for fit, and was struck immediately by the demonstrated knowledge and candid approach of Fortuna and Brittany.
From the start, I was extremely impressed with Brittany. She got to know me as a candidate immediately, asking questions and digging into various aspects of my past I considered unimportant. She also demonstrated a clear understanding of my goals and the different programs that were out there. She was committed to providing candid and honest assessments of my chances and fit at many different programs. She also helped lead me to discover a few programs I had not additionally considered.
Throughout the process, she provided clear and useful advice to help me best articulate the goals and past experiences in my applications. The idea making and editing process was extremely iterative and challenged me to concisely and clearly articulate myself. Her process helped me produce the strongest essays possible. Not to mention, my elevator pitches and interview answers befitted as a result.
When interviews came around, Brittany ran a mock with me for every school, providing feedback and insight on what to expect for each school’s interview process. As a result, I was never blindsided or surprised by an interview.
At the end of the process, I walked away with 3 acceptances from schools that had originally felt like reaches. I do not think I would be choosing between three great programs without her guidance.
On top of her expertise, Brittany is a pleasure to work with. She responds quickly and thoughtfully and is readily available. I remember at one point in the process, I had an interview and was nervous 10 minutes before. Brittany called me immediately to remind me of clear points and what to expect- she calmed me down and it truly helped me succeed. Brittany provided an objective lens, but also was supportive and caring through one of the more personally challenging phases of my life. The entire process was more manageable and more enjoyable because of her, and I don’t think that I would have achieved the outcome I did without her.

I made the mistake of not using Fortuna the first time I applied to business school (and believe me, it was a mistake – I did not get any acceptances). If you’re applying to business school, don’t make this mistake as I did. When I decided to reapply, I was weary of using another firm given the experience I had. However, Judith proved right away how her and her firm would be extremely valuable. Even before I signed on, Judith spent significant time and effort discussing with me the ins and outs of the application process and my background. When I signed on with Fortuna my day-to-day work was with Brittany. At first I was concerned because Judith had known my whole background and we worked well together. That fear quickly faded. Not only did Judith continue to work with me, but Brittany seamlessly joined in, providing great insight. Having now worked with Brittany and another consultant from a competing firm I can say without hesitation that Brittany is the best in the business. She is very easy to work with, extremely responsive, and even more insightful. She’s the safe harbor when you feel like you are caught in the middle of the storm with the application deadline approaching. Brittany will help you find your voice and put your best self forward on applications. Another thing that separates Brittany from the rest: she genuinely cares about her clients. Some firms say they do, but Fortuna and Brittany walk that walk. Case in point: she put me in touch with her own personal connections to discuss the programs I was interested in and the career path I was interested in pursuing. As a re-applicant, Brittany took a lot of time to review all of my applications and go through where she thought I could improve my second time around. Her analysis was excellent, evidenced by the fact that I am beginning at my dream program this fall (Northwestern JD-MBA). All I can say is do not hesitate to use Fortuna and, when you call them, tell them you want to work with Judith and Brittany.

The business school application process is daunting. You’re tasked with distilling who you are as a person, what your interests and career aspirations are, and how an MBA at your target schools lines up with all of it. Deciphering these key aspects are vital to your application strategy, and, in Brittany, I found an advocate for me who made sure to go the extra mile not only to understand who I was and why I wanted an MBA, but also, more importantly, use that understanding to ensure my application communicated all these things I needed the admission committee to know about my candidacy. Throughout all of it, Brittany made sure to ask the tough questions and left no stone unturned; this ranged anywhere from pushing me to be as concise and sharp on a simple short response application question, to keeping an eye on the big picture so that not just a single essay told a great story, but that all the various pieces of the application fit perfectly together, painting a picture of why I was an ideal candidate for my target schools. Working through the application proved to be a highly iterative process, and Brittany was great at quickly sending back drafts of documents with her notes and feedback. Likewise, those insights and feedback helped address weaknesses in my application and essays that I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.. Brittany is a huge reason why I’m lucky enough to be heading to business school in the fall. The wealth of experience she brings to the table having gone through this process and read through numerous applications was huge asset. If you’re thinking about applying to business school, I highly recommend reaching out to and working with Brittany.

Business school applications can be daunting, competitive, and it’s not uncommon to hear about well-qualified applicants get rejected. I chose to work with Brittany (Fortuna) to make sure I didn’t make any “silly mistakes” and let that be the cause of rejection. I worked with Brittany one-on-one throughout the course of the application process. She took the time to know my professional background,and my relevant personal stories to help me think through how to best express myself in my application. Interestingly, I probably spent more time on my application because I worked with Brittany, than I would’ve otherwise if I’d done it myself. She made me reflect hard on my past experiences and gave me candid feedback on how I was coming across in my application. She pushed me to make sure that I was putting my best self on my application, while making sure that I was always still in control of where I wanted to go with my responses. In the end, I got admitted to HBS. Working with her was well worth it, and I’d definitely recommend her to others seeking to apply.

Working with Britanny during my admissions process was without a doubt the major KEY to success in being admitted at my school of choice – INSEAD. Her knowledge and experience were truly invaluable when it came to squeezing all the important “juice” of my personal and professional story in a way that significantly enhanced my essays and made me stand out from the crowd. She was 100% committed to me and my goals every step of the way, and that gives you the confidence boost and support that are crucial to succeed in this stage of your career. Without her, I would definitely not be where I am right now, studying at INSEAD!!

I worked with Brittany on my applications to three schools and found her to be a real asset throughout the entire process. I applied as a R1 candidate but began working with Brittany in January 2015. With this length of time, Brittany was able to help me with my school selection, by analyzing my profile and checking these against my target schools, as well as with the articulation of my goals and post-MBA career aspirations. I found this to be incredibly helpful, framing my entire application and allowing me to develop focused applications that were relevant to each of the schools I was applying to. Throughout the essay-writing process I found Brittany to be incredibly accessible and supportive. Her feedback was prompt, generous and insightful; pointing out areas in my essay that were not clear or should be further developed and ensuring that the essay maintained the right content and tone to convey my story. Again, Brittany’s feedback was key in allowing me to develop applications that were relevant to each of the schools I was applying to. Overall, I found Brittany to be highly informed, she has invested the time to learn a lot about each of the schools; highly engaged, she devotes an incredible amount of time and effort to ensure her client has put together the strongest possible application (and feels that way about his/her application too); honest, providing candid feedback in the interests of her client; and pleasant to work with – with a great demeanor and sense of humor that meant writing and re-writing business schools essays was not such a drag. With all of this, I was able to get into HBS, my target school. I have since recommended Brittany to my friends and colleagues.