Brooke Wheelan

Background: Female, 27, majored in statistics at a small liberal arts college (3.7 GPA), worked in consulting and private equity operations for 5 years, 710 GMAT score.

From the moment I met Brooke, I felt an immediate connection. She grasped my journey from our first conversation, making me feel understood in a profound way. While another Gatehouse consultant guided me closely through the MBA application process, Brooke was always there for feedback and counsel. She instilled in me the utmost confidence that I was presenting the most genuine version of my story to the admissions committees.

My collaboration with Brooke intensified during HBS mock interviews. Her approach was professional, insightful, and rigorous. She adeptly drew out aspects of my narrative that were both distinctive and reflective of my aspirations. The mock interview preparation with Brooke proved more challenging than the actual interview, which notably eased my nerves during the real thing.

Throughout the entire application journey, Brooke offered unwavering support. Her guidance was instrumental in my acceptance to HBS, and I credit her significantly for this achievement. I enthusiastically recommend Brooke as an admissions consultant and interview coach.

I had a great experience working with Brooke and believe she made a huge difference in my application. I come from a traditional finance background (IB -> PE) and worked with Brooke on my application for HBS. I was waitlisted and accepted in Round 2. Her expertise and experience were instrumental in helping me prepare for the interview and in developing my waitlist update letter. It is clear she has decades of experience evaluating MBA candidates – she brings a differentiated perspective to the table. She was exceptional at helping me identify the aspects of my application that were unique and pushed me to build on those themes with each step of the process. I would highly recommend working with Brooke.

I was admitted into HBS, and I attribute a large part of this to the two mock HBS interviews I did with Brooke. The detailed feedback I received was incredibly helpful for course-correcting many of my bad habits. Yet at the same time, Brooke provided feedback in a confidence-building way, something that was critical for me as I approached my actual interview date. In addition, Brooke’s questions were so insanely accurate; several of them came up during my actual HBS interview! Not only the questions themselves, but the style and the flow of the interview–suffice it to say, I felt very prepared during the actual interview.

If you are interviewing at HBS, you need to do a mock interview with Brooke. I seriously cannot recommend it enough. I can personally say that I would not have gotten into HBS without Brooke’s help.

Background: Male, 4 years work experience (investment banking & private equity), 730 GMAT / 4.0 GPA, Economics major

Accepted: HBS, Wharton

I worked with Brooke in advance of my interviews, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have worked with her! She was extremely engaging, polite, thoughtful, and overall, a pleasure to work with. She clearly took the time to put thought and effort into preparing for our mock interviews – she had read over my entire application in detail and asked very nuanced questions. Based on her directly relevant experience, she was able to provide very targeted, clear, and actionable feedback on how to best articulate my experiences and interests. It also felt like she was invested in my success, as she was always available to hop on the phone / answer questions over email as they came up. I truly do not think I would have been admitted to HBS had I not worked with Brooke beforehand. We did two mock interviews, and I was able to walk into my interview with a strong sense of confidence from the feedback and advice I had received from her. The two mock interviews with Brooke were by far the best preparation I could have done and were absolutely worth it. I would wholeheartedly recommend working with Brooke!

Results: Waitlisted Round 1 and accepted Round 2 to HBS

I partnered with a different consultant and advisory firm for my HBS written application, but I worked with Brooke from Gatehouse for HBS interview and waitlist support. My background is fairly generic (strong GPA and standard GMAT, Asian female, business major at non-target school, 4 years in finance), but Brooke helped me bring my story to life as I was prepping for my interview. She was very adept at pulling out the unique factors and drawing connections to past experiences to build a full, cohesive narrative. Tactically, I also appreciated that Brooke was extremely responsive and flexible with her schedule – I was very busy with live deal work leading up to my Round I interview, and she carved out time last minute to conduct two mock interviews.

I also solicited Brooke’s help on my waitlist strategy. I had progressed a variety of projects since my Round I application, and Brooke was very helpful in “storyboarding” these initiatives into key themes to structure a cohesive, organized, and succinct update letter. Brooke pushed me to truly refine my update letter by moving beyond a resume style list of accomplishments and instead towards a more thoughtful reflection that demonstrated my passions and underlying motivations. I would highly recommend Brooke – She is creative, honest, demanding, and very much invested in your success. She is a great partner in the MBA application process and goes above and beyond to support you.

I worked with Brooke on my resume, essays, and mock interviews ahead of applying to GSB and HBS — and got into both! I truly think Brooke was critical to helping my application shine through. I have a background in PE and IB, 780 GMAT, and Ivy League college. We focused on getting deeper into the “why” of my choices and bringing admissions into my decision-making/leadership style. Brooke is incredibly attuned to how to bring the “best” out of you – and really make you dig deeper into your story, motivation, and presentation. I especially loved how invested she was in my success during the entire process. She is a great coach (extremely sharp and professional) – and goes above and beyond to support you (offering extra tips, checking in, etc.). It really makes a difference! 11/10 would recommend her services!

I worked with Brooke for ~2 months prior to my HBS application, focusing primarily on my essay and interview prep. With Brooke’s help and thoughtful feedback, I was admitted to Round 1.

Coming into the application process, I had a relatively strong background (3.8 GPA, Ivy League undergrad, 750 GMAT, 2 years in investment banking and 2 years in private equity), but I was worried about piecing together a compelling application story.

Thankfully, I found Brooke to be an incredibly helpful thought partner as I navigated the process. Brooke is honest but constructive and supportive at the same time. I felt confident that with each draft of my essay, Brooke was pushing me to dig deeper into my motivations for pursuing an MBA and be more precise in demonstrating the qualities I wanted HBS to see in me as an applicant. As a result, I devoted more time to reflect on my own story and was able to not only refine my essays but also feel confident that I will start business school with a better sense of my goals and priorities. The mock interview with Brooke also helped me feel more prepared and relaxed during my real HBS interview.

I would highly recommend Brooke to anyone who is looking for genuine feedback on their application and willing to push themselves to reflect more on their experiences and motivations. Brooke is fantastic to work with and a huge asset during the application process!

Brooke was extremely helpful through the MBA application process. I am a fairly generic candidate (750 GMAT, 4.0 GPA, 3 years in MBB consulting) and Brooke helped me identify the parts of my story that were most appealing to an admissions committee. Brooke has a skill for helping you identify the parts of your journey that make you unique and then ensuring they come through in your application. I would absolutely recommend her to a friend or colleague hoping to apply to business school. I ended up being admitted to the Kellogg 1Y program with a bit of a scholarship!

Brooke helped me with my round 1 HBS application for the class of 2024. With her help, I was admitted!

Coming into the application process, I had a strong GPA (3.8) and GMAT (760), but I was worried that my relatively generic background and work experience wouldn’t stand out (white male, 2 years MBB consulting + 2 years PE at a middle-market firm in a small market). I was also concerned because while I wanted to work in healthcare after my MBA, I didn’t have the background to prove my passion for the space.

I worked with Brooke for a total of ~12 hours and focused almost exclusively on my HBS essay. Initially, my drafts read like persuasive essays on why I was passionate about healthcare despite only a few professional experiences in the field. As Brooke guided me through the introspective application process (e.g., experience inventory, iterating on drafts, brainstorming phone calls, etc.), she helped me uncover my true motive for wanting to work in healthcare–a deep desire to care for and provide refuge for others. As I began writing about this underlying motive, I found that stories from my upbringing, college years, and professional / leadership experience could showcase the origin, development, and manifestation of this desire while also pointing to healthcare as a logical next step for me in my career. Focusing on this theme felt more personal, authentic, and powerful!

In addition to helping me discover my story, Brooke also pushed me to refine the essay. Draft after draft, as I kept thinking the essay was nearly finished, Brooke helped me identify better ways to “show” my desire to care for others through real experiences instead of just “telling” the admissions committee of this passion. Her “honest, supportive, and demanding” style pushed me to craft a significantly better application than I could have ever produced on my own.

Additionally, after receiving an invitation to interview, I conducted a mock interview with Brooke. The interview resembled the actual interview perfectly, and helped me identify potential areas for questions that I hadn’t considered but may come up. Not surprisingly, the actual interview focused on many of the same areas that Brooke’s mock interview focused on and because of her help I was much better prepared to answer those questions.

On a personal note, I also felt that Brooke and I became close friends throughout the process. I felt like she was truly invested in my success because of an underlying personal friendship in addition to our coach-to-applicant business relationship.

Without a single hesitation, I’d recommend Brooke to any applicant who wants to maximize their odds of success in the application process! She will help you find your unique story and voice so that your application is authentic and powerful. She is extremely skilled and an absolute joy to work with.

I worked with Brooke for ~3 months ahead of my HBS application and was extremely happy with the assistance she offered. HBS was the only program I applied to and I was admitted in Round 1. As a candidate from an SEC school with strong test scores (760 GMAT/36 ACT/4.0 Engr. GPA) and NY investment banking to private equity, my work with Brooke focused on my essay and the softer aspects of my application. She clearly has extensive experience with each of these areas and was instrumental in the entire process from initial ideation to the many drafts in between. Brooke was honest and direct, which made for a much more efficient process. I also conducted several mock interviews with Brooke, and found these to be incredibly valuable to understanding the best way to articulate experiences specifically in the context of the HBS interviews. If I had to go through the process another time, I wouldn’t hesitate to use Brooke once again.

I had the great pleasure of having Brooke Wheelan as my MBA Admissions consultant as I prepared for my MBA interviews. Coming from the consumer goods/retail industry, I knew that I was facing an uphill battle. Brooke’s experience working as a HBS interviewer for many years gave me a peace of mind that I was getting the best insights into how to prepare and put my best foot forward for my interviews. Brooke was invested in my success and would consistently check-in to ensure that I was on-track with my interview preparation. In addition, she offered clear and actionable feedback on how to best tell my story and worked with me to tie in different parts of my professional and personal-life. With Brooke’s guidance, I was admitted to both HBS and GSB.

Background: Male, Engineering Undergrad, 4 years work experience (Consulting & Private Equity), ~Median GMAT for top MBA programs.

Admitted: HBS & GSB

TLDR: I absolutely recommend Brooke — she will push you to create the best application you can and be a partner throughout the process!

I cannot recommend Brooke more strongly! She was absolutely instrumental to my success. Brooke helped guide me through the application process, ensuring that my application stood out and accurately captured my personality and aspirations. I will try to capture just a couple of the ways in which Brooke helped me succeed and made the application process less brutal:

(1) My first session with Brooke was worth 20 hours of my own time. I had spent weeks trying to think through my application before finally reaching out to Brooke. In the first 30 minutes, Brooke was able to help me shape my story in a way that I never would have been able to on my own. Her experienced perspective helped me see how others would view my essays and what I needed to spend more time thinking about.

(2) Thought Partner — Brooke is a thought partner who helps craft your story! I was very worried that working with a consultant would make my essay inauthentic but Brooke did the exact opposite. She pushed me to construct my story by asking targeted questions which forced me to think and helped hone my writing so it captured my voice. I found brainstorming with Brooke to be fun and incredibly helpful.

(3) On Task– I started late and was crunched for time but Brooke made sure to keep me on task and focused on the most important components of my application, sequencing them in order so that they built on each other. This is very tactical but important. Brooke understands that you may be working 80 hours a week and helps you make thoughtful trade-offs/prioritize ruthlessly

(4) Thoughtful feedback — Brooke’s feedback on everything is incredibly thorough. Whether it is your 100 character responses, resume, or essays — she always spends the time to read, re-read and contemplate what you have sent. The feedback she provides is actionable and she is always willing to provide additional context to help you get to the right place.

(5) Efficient and Responsive– Brooke is incredibly efficient and is always upfront about her capacity and when she needs to receive something to get feedback to you. She helps set deadlines but also understands that it can’t always happen and is accommodating whenever she can be.

Without Brooke, there is little question in my mind that I would not have gotten into the top tier programs which I was targeting and would have been miserable trying to. She made the process easier, more enjoyable (though it is still an application), and has demonstrated results. Cannot sing her praises enough and am incredibly appreciative of her help throughout the process.

My only regret is that I had not started with Brooke earlier in the process. Start now before she books up!

Background: caucasian male, strong GPA/average GRE, econ/bus major at a liberal arts school, background in strategy/marketing for a medium-sized manufacturer.

Results: Accepted: HBS (I worked with Gatehouse Admissions on 4 applications – accepted to 3 of 4).

I worked with Brooke for my HBS interview – and had great success with her. Brooke’s mock gave me a sense of the reality of 30 minutes of an HBS interview – she was professional, had carefully read through my resume and HBS application, and made it feel like the “real thing”. Afterward, Brooke called me after collecting her thoughts and gave me a lot of helpful pointers – everything from certain mannerisms/word use changes to the overall storyline and narrative preparation. What I appreciated about Brooke was that she was very honest and frank in an encouraging way. She helped me remove some of the “glossiness” of my answers that was me over-performing and pulled out more authenticity from my story. She also helped me to gauge which examples would most effectively answer various questions. I knew what was strong and what was weak from Brooke’s perspective. She also provided several documents and articles to prepare with beforehand, as well as some HBS-specific insights post-interview that were immensely helpful.
I will note: the questions I faced in the HBS interview were not in the same vein as what Brooke asked (different interviewers, different questions!). But I actually think that may have been to my benefit because when the interviewer gave me any slightly more open-ended questions, I was able to reference other themes that I thought were important. In addition, I think my answers were sharper, cleaner, but with more authenticity given my practice interview. Brooke got me into the mindset of answering questions quickly, thoughtfully, and with perspective.