Harshad Mali

Choosing Harshad as my consultant during my MBA application process has been one of the best investments I have made for myself in my life. I started my applications fairly late and I don’t know what I would have done without his help. At the start of the application process, I was a little lost, overwhelmed, and intimidated. I quickly decided that I needed a consultant to deliver the best possible application that reflected who I am. From my first phone call with Harshad, I knew he was the right person to help me get into my dream schools. From the start, he helped me really hone in and focus on my story to show business schools why I was worthy of a place in their programs. With Harshad’s guidance and assistance I was able to deliver honest and polished applications that reflected who I really was to the schools and why I was such a great fit with them. Harshad’s highly structured and organized working process along with his quick turnaround speed allowed us to work at a really fast pace. He would always respond to any concern or question in no time, usually getting back to me polished versions of my essays in under a day’s time. In addition, he was not afraid about being direct and honest about what didn’t work and what did in my application, which was really helpful as it allowed me to really focus my applications on my particular qualities, experiences, and aspirations that business schools would really care about and be looking for in their next batch of students. His help during mock-up interviews was invaluable as well as it helped me be more confident, humble and relaxed on the day of the real thing. Harshad was also very kind and respectful during all our dialogues and he expressed genuine happiness for me when I got the results I hoped for. Although I would recommend to most people they start their applications several months in advance, Harshad helped me successfully deliver applications in under a month and a half to two top schools which is a testament to his expertise, knowledge and dedication. In the end, I ended up getting admits into INSEAD and HEC Paris, two schools I am fairly sure I would not have gotten into without his help. He was a true mentor and guide to me. If you’re looking for an MBA consultant look no further – Harshad is your guy.

As a member of the military, I knew that applying to top MBA programs would be a daunting task. That’s why I reached out to Harshad and I can confidently say that it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. From the outset, he took the time to understand my background and unique experiences, and helped me to craft an application that truly reflected who I am. Harshad provided expert guidance on every aspect of the application process, from selecting the right schools to crafting compelling essays and preparing for interviews. As a military applicant, I appreciated their deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities that come with serving in the armed forces, and their ability to help me communicate the value of my experiences to admissions committees. Thanks to his help, I was accepted to my target program and was able to make an informed decision about where to enroll. I cannot recommend Harshad highly enough to anyone who is considering applying to business school, especially if you have a military background.

Choosing to work with Harshad was one of my best decisions yet. I dreamt of attending an M7, specifically Sloan, but felt it was a far-fetched dream. From day one Harshad took incredible care in getting to know me as a professional and a person, and in doing so helped me understand where my true strengths and uniqueness lay. Such newfound knowledge was essential in creating noteworthy essays for the admissions committees, and eventually in presenting the best version of myself to my interviewers. I was impressed with the level of care he dedicated to my applications as he updated me on new research and ideas he thought of to improve my chances of getting interviewed. Other than being an incredible source of knowledge, he was also my motivator through the ups and downs of the process. I truly believe that Harshad was essential in getting me to my dream school as he helped me portray my personality and my experiences in the best, most thoughtful way possible.

Harshad is the best consultant you can hire. From day one, he was very attentive to what my goals were and guided me very precisely in my application process.

He really has a great eye for detail and a unique skill to understand your strengths to mold them into good responses for the application questions. It is very clear that he cares for his candidates because he takes a lot of time to understand your story before pointing out the major points to help you put your best foot forward. Harshad is very organized, highly methodical, and structured in his approach. If you work with him and follow his suggestions, you will see positive results — I’m sure of it. His direct feedback approach also challenges you to think critically before putting down any responses.

I highly recommend Harshad to anyone looking for a positive application experience. He offers a free consultative session which I recommend prospective students looking for a consultant at least take an advantage of.

I was confident Harshad would be the best consultant from the very first conversation I had with him. I started R1 applications fairly late and Harshad was BEYOND helpful through the entire process. With a no-name undergrad and an okay-ish GRE, I was very tentative about how I would do it, but Harshad was fantastic in the way he helped me craft my MBA story and bring out my merits through my work experience.
He has a fantastic knowledge of what the adcom at each school is looking for and is very structured in how he approaches essays. But even more so, his feedback is incredibly incisive and helps you highlight your strengths while giving great mitigations for weaknesses. Mock interviewing with him prepares you for any and all kinds of questions – which helps guide you to connect with the interviewer as well.
Even beyond the “work” aspect, he’s an amazing, honest, and super fun person to work with.
Working with him 100% turned my applications around – I applied to 3 M7 schools in round 1, interviewed in 3/3, and have already gotten an admit in one (Booth)!

Harshad was not only my mentor through this process, but he would also become a friend. It becomes abundantly clear while working with him that he cares about the person as well as the results. He was deeply invested in helping me achieve admission into the school of my dreams. I was accepted into my top choice program as a result and would recommend him to anyone applying to business school.

Specifically, I chose Harshad because of his knack for telling nontraditional stories, as mine was not your typical business school application. He took on the challenge with enthusiasm. He put in the time and energy to learn about me and thoughtfully helped me craft my story in a way that was polished and effective. His responses and revisions were always timely and well thought out which allowed for my applications to progress at a pace I was very happy with.

Harshad provided invaluable mock interview preparation that strengthened my application immensely. When faced with unexpected and shorter deadlines on one application he worked with me to get everything done on time and the work product exceeded my expectations. His professionalism, experience, and process achieved great results in my case. The best decision I made when applying to business school was deciding to work with Harshad.

Harshad is truly one of a kind. His abilities as an amazing MBA consultant start with the genuine care he has about your life, your career, and your pursuits in the short and long term. Through the questions and discussion Harshad and I had, I felt he truly understood my background, the academic, professional, and personal decisions I had made in my life, how important an MBA was to me, and how these all fit into the story of my life.

Because he took the time to truly understand who I am, Harshad helped me tell extremely compelling stories about my life and make them shine in my application in ways that I couldn’t have done on my own. From full-length essays to short answers, to the resume, to interviews, Harshad gave me a fantastic structure to approach the daunting task of an application. He helped me take the accomplishments, values, and stories from my life and use them to represent myself well to the admissions committee.

I was so impressed with Harshad’s ability to help make my essays concise yet powerful in delivery. Time and again through several revisions, Harshad found ways for me to hit my word count, organize ideas in ways that make sense, and convey the core of my message in response to the essay prompts. Harshad is an amazing essay writer and editor, the best I have ever met or worked with. I was similarly impressed with his communication and work style. Harshad’s reviews were not only thoughtful and thorough, but timely as well: I received prompt edits and comments on my essays, and they always contained extremely valuable guidance with no fluff.

It is because of Harshad’s mentorship through every step in the process, from school selection to requesting recommendations to writing essays to interviews, that I can proudly say I have gotten 110% out of my MBA application experience. That is exactly the feeling you want to come out of this process with.

And it is because of Harshad that I can proudly say I’ve been admitted to Kellogg!! Harshad has enabled me to achieve a long-standing career goal and dream of mine, as I know he has done for many before me and will undoubtedly do for many who come after. He has truly been a great friend through this process as well, and has been reassuring without sacrificing honesty and trustworthiness; this is an incredible skill and one that few have. If you are pursuing an MBA, you will truly make the most of your opportunity by working with Harshad. His services are worth every penny (and more)!

From my initial free consultant with Harshad, I knew I had found the consultant I wanted to work on. As a prospective dual degree student, I was looking for a consultant who would be able to help me navigate through the application process for both programs, and went through many initial consultants with various MBA consulting companies. Harshad was realistic with my strengths/weaknesses and school choices, and encouraged me to look at potential programs I had not even considered. It was very clear to me that Harshad was the consultant I was looking for – somebody with emotional intelligence, honesty, and an ability to see one’s story from just a 15-minute chat. Using the hourly plan, I was afraid that I would not be able to receive the same support that one would get with the comprehensive school package – but I was quite mistaken. Harshad was quick on feedback, direct, and constructive – always happy to hop on a call if need be. He helped me completely revamp essays, knowing exactly what the admissions committee is looking for in terms of content and structure and helping me refocus my story/goals. Harshad was also able to shed light on the differences at various schools, and what each school is looking for in their incoming class. Harshad was extremely timely and considerate of the fact I was on the hourly plan – never going over and keeping his reviews/work with me succinct yet extremely helpful. Even after my hourly plan ended, I continued to receive check-ins from Harshad where he would provide me advice on the schools I had been waitlisted at. Harshad truly cares about you as a client, and most importantly, as a person – he will do his best to make sure you succeed and obtain the results you want.

As a South Asian woman with below-average standardized test scores and years of work experience, I knew that achieving my dream of attending a top MBA program would be an uphill battle – that’s where Harshad came in. Harshad helped me navigate the extremely daunting task of applying to top MBA programs and was there to support me every single step of the way.

Harshad is extremely organized, highly knowledgeable and tremendously structured in his approach with all his clients. In addition to being a fantastic editor, Harshad has a deep understanding of what admissions committees look for and helped me craft a very compelling story that highlighted my strengths and mitigated my weaknesses. I genuinely appreciated his direct feedback on my essays and at times when the entire process felt overwhelming and emotional, Harshad was always there to support me and lift me back up again. Towards the end of the application process, I came to see Harshad not just as my MBA consultant, but also as a mentor and a friend.

Harshad truly changed my life by helping me and my twin sister get into our dream school, Wharton. I highly recommend anyone looking for a consultant especially those from South Asian backgrounds to choose Harshad – it is a decision you will not regret!

Having Harshad on my side during the application process was key – I don’t think I would’ve received an admit into my top school without his guidance.

While his perspectives on crafting my resume and identifying schools were very helpful, his expertise really shone in selecting and crafting the stories that were highlighted in the essays. His ideation process is very methodical and it was where he helped me identify which stories to best convey my story.

His tremendous knowledge of each school’s qualities and what they’re looking for was astounding. There were so many occasions when after I thought an essay was finished, Harshad would review and push me to submit the best possible version of myself. His turnaround time and review quality are excellent and even when I delayed on my end, he ensured we stayed on track through the entire process.

Overall, I would definitely recommend anyone to work with Harshad to sharpen their stories and submit the best possible application!

I highly recommend working with Harshad to help you with your business school applications. Through his help and a long few months, I got into GSB, Wharton, and Booth!

I actually started a little late (in November) for Round 2 deadlines but Harshad was more than up for the challenge. He set expectations upfront – we knew going in this is going to be an uphill battle.

From the onset, it was clear that Harshad was highly organized and methodical in his approach. Harshad is definitely not someone who will beat around the bush and/or sugarcoat. He is direct but thoughtful which is the exact duo you will need while going through this process, especially when you get to a point where every day matters. I did this application process while working full time which definitely made my availability difficult but Harshad was very flexible and available for late nights and weekends, whenever I needed him! He is unparalleled with his turnaround time which definitely surpassed my expectations.

Part of the challenge of building out your application is not just having a good story but showing the story rather than telling the story. This is where I found Harshad to be a differentiator – he takes the time to get to know you, your interests, your passions, and who you are as a person and makes sure to reflect that in his process to help build out your application. He will steer you away when you think certain information is valuable to have but is really just fluff (which was extremely useful when trying to meet those pesky word counts!) and push you to write more impact even when you think there isn’t anything left. During the mock interviews, he falls into school-specific persons that allow you to really practice through different styles of interviews.

Overall, Harshad genuinely wants you to succeed and will do his best to get you to the best place you can be. I recommended Harshad without reservation and to the fullest extent!

Harshad was instrumental to my success. I worked with him through mbaMission’s 3 school package. Not fitting the typical mold, I was very apprehensive about how to portray myself appropriately to the admissions committees. Harshad was recommended to me because he had the “heart of a storyteller”. When we first spoke, his emotional intelligence stood out amongst other qualified professionals I had interviewed for advisory. I was convinced he was the right person to guide me.

In October, I was overwhelmed with what to do. I was full of questions, but Harshad was prepared for all of my inquiries, even scheduling time with me during nights and weekends to accommodate my full-time work schedule. He always responded to my questions promptly. His responses were crisp and insightful.

We began with a brainstorming document that formed the foundation of our work going forward. Afterward, I started drafting my first essays. Harshad was direct in his feedback: several of my drafts were subpar. It was tough for me to accept this reality, but Harshad’s tact and empathy helped me move forward with the necessary changes. I re-wrote the drafts multiple times. I encountered a similar process during my mock interviews and my resume writing as well. The final products were worth it.

Applying to B-school was a critical time in my life, but having an adept, caring professional advising made a world of difference. This week, I received an acceptance from my top pick going into the process. I had hoped for my dream school, but getting in feels completely surreal. I am deeply grateful for all of Harshad’s guidance.

Harshad was very helpful through my MBA application process. As a chemist with 8 years of work experience, Harshad used his own engineering background to position my story for success in the business world. I hired Harshad on an hourly basis and he was able to help me with essays from 5 schools as well as my resume without going over the allotted time. Ultimately, I was accepted at HBS, Tuck, and Haas. I believe Harshad helped me sharpen my story and he wasn’t afraid to redirect my focus when needed.

Harshad was instrumental in helping me get into the MBA program of my dreams! His constant support, guidance, and positive attitude played a pivotal role in achieving my goals. The MBA application process is an extremely strenuous one – Harshad’s positivity and humor really helped alleviate my stress.

Harshad was always very organized, timely, and meticulous in his editing and helped bring my story to life in my essays. I was applying alongside my twin sister and we both clicked with Harshad and decided to work with him. He counseled us both but always made sure our individuality showed through our stories and essays. He helped us both get into our dream school.

Overall, I just want to thank Harshad for all his help and support. He was a true mentor and guide during the application process. I highly recommend him to anyone about to take on this MBA admissions journey.

Harshad had been a constant support throughout the application process. I could really connect with him, as it helped that I and Harshad have one big common area of interest. Harshad never sugar-coated words and was forthright in truly reflecting what schools and programs I held the potential of hitting. This was a major help, as it narrowed the focus of schools/programs, and accordingly, the work was cut out. Harshad’s biggest contribution came in the form of decoding what the essays were asking and then suggesting structures in which to put together essay responses. That was able to help me put together my stories in the most fitting ways.

On occasions of deadlines approaching, Harshad would without fail remain available to guide me at every step and get me over the line. His continuous backing was a huge mental support. He kept motivating me whenever I would feel any less confident or low in general, including discussing other matters too, that I was struggling with in general. He was very diligent and always respond on time, even though I was often tardy. Mock interviews with Harshad were another eye-opener, as I could figure out where all I was making mistakes (many of which were self-destructing), and how to time my responses. Without the mocks, I wouldn’t have ever been able to identify those gaps. Especially noteworthy were Harshad’s seasoned reflections of programs and schools. Such highly useful insights threw quite a light on things and guarded me from mixed opinions about schools/programs that I was otherwise gathering from miscellaneous resources. Especially as an international applicant, all of the above were hugely helpful and a must-have for me, as they would be for anyone applying to leading global MBA programs. In fact, Harshad is now a friend for life.

As an Indian male with a below-average GPA, I was doubtful about getting into a top MBA program. However, working with Harshad completely changed my opinion. From the get-go, he was extremely transparent and honest. He candidly explained to me I come from an overrepresented demographic and will have to score an above-average GRE score to compensate. After receiving my scores we brainstormed the best fit programs for me. He helped me in selecting safety schools, par schools, and reach schools. He was an incredible value add here because he was very knowledgeable about each program and could speak to their different cultures and expertise. After choosing the programs we proceeded to brainstorm. He helped me shine a light on things that would differentiate me and helped me tone down weaknesses in my story. Once I got to the essay writing stage, he would always return things in a day or under with quality edits and comments for me to work on. Overall he was immensely helpful in me getting accepted into Tepper, which is my number one option. He instilled confidence in me and helped me articulate a story that reflects the best version of myself. He is very candid and genuine and doesn’t try to sell services – he genuinely wants to see clients succeed and get into their top programs. He is extremely flexible and accessible. If I ever wanted to chat about anything out he would carve out time in his day to make it happen. His turnaround times are short too so there is no wastage of time. I found the mock interviews to be extremely helpful too since he asks tailored questions for each program. Again this just further reflects his expertise in top programs. All in all, I can confidently say that Harshad was worth every penny. He is extremely knowledgeable and helps curate the best version of yourself. His feedback during mock interviews and essays is relevant and reflects his high attention to detail. Harshad is very easy to talk to and uplifting too. Overall I would recommend Harshad to anyone. Without him, I would not have been able to get into my top program of Tepper.

Having Harshad by my side during the MBA application process has been very critical: I do not think that I would have received an admission offer from my target school without his involvement.
Harshad helped me craft my resume and my essays and got me prepared for my interview in a very efficient way.
His tremendous knowledge about top-tier schools allowed me to craft essays that showcased my strengths and tied them with the school’s culture.
One of the key challenges for me was to craft three essays and a resume in a two-week timeframe to apply in the early rounds of my target school. Harshad has been very reliable, well organized, and very reactive which allowed me to meet that goal. Also, Harshad does not hesitate to go the extra mile to deliver the best output possible. He remained available at any time and helped me to answer follow-up questions from the school’s admission committee.
Without any doubt, Harshad is a great asset for any applicant targeting top MBA programs.

Working with Harshad has been the best decision I took during this admissions cycle. I worked with Harshad through mbaMission’s four school package and his work was worth every penny. Right from the first brainstorming session, Harshad has been extremely interested and passionate about my background and goals. As we went through my applications, he has become my most trusted advisor and even a close mentor. I can always trust Harshad to never sugarcoat any advice. This has consistently ensured that my applications were of the best quality. Working with him has also made me a better writer in general – even when I write reports at work, I find myself asking “What would Harshad say.”

Harshad has always exceeded his turnaround time and I am actually in awe of how hard he works. Additionally, the meticulous detail of his work came through all the edits and suggestions he made for my resume and essays. He will continue editing and asking for revisions right until the draft is perfect. I also appreciated the fact that every time Harshad recommended changes, he always took the time to explain why such changes were needed.

Most importantly, it is abundantly clear that Harshad truly cares about getting the best outcome for me. With his help, I got into a truly amazing MBA program and I would highly recommend him to anyone starting out on their MBA journey.

I had decided to submit my applications early in the cycle and hence started researching and talking to consultants. I spoke with a few of the highest-rated consultants but the level of comfort I felt after my conversation with Harshad stood out. Considering the genuineness of the conversation with Harshad, I decided to work with him.

Coming from a highly overrepresented demographic, I was worried about standing out as an applicant. Harshad understood my story very well and helped me bring out my uniqueness and my strengths. There were many occasions when I was satisfied with my content but Harshad felt we could do better and pushed me to submit the best possible application. Harshad’s style of reviewing documents and giving feedback is highly organized and this ensured that we stayed highly productive at all times. Harshad’s turnaround time was excellent throughout the process and he made sure we stayed on track throughout the process and submitted all the applications before the deadlines. Later, Harshad also took my mock interviews for all the schools from where I was invited for the interview and this helped me build further confidence before my interview day.

As a result, I got into one of my dream schools. I am sure that I couldn’t submit such high-quality applications without Harshad’s help. I am really grateful to him for being a partner in my MBA applications journey.

I had started my journey of applying to business schools with a different consultant from another company but didn’t achieve any tangible outcomes. After working with Harshad, I could tell the difference in the quality of work. From the first call, Harshad provided me with great advice on how to choose the programs that would best fit my career goals. I had a broad idea of what I wanted to achieve from a macro perspective, however, Harshad helped me figure out how to narrow down my goals and bring out my life stories. He helped me organize my thinking process and structure my applications holistically. He was always very honest with his opinion and never sugarcoated my work just to make me feel better until I presented the work with the highest quality. His feedback and editing style motivated me to present the best quality of work; my essays produced terrific content and flow. Whenever I was stuck with an essay question by not tackling the point, he would schedule a meeting to make sure I would tackle that point correctly. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to complete the process with such quality and get into my school of choice without Harshad. I highly recommend Harshad as your consultant to ensure a smooth process to complete your application!

If you’re anything like me, hiring a consultant seems a bit extra. I figured I could write decently well on my own, my resume was okay, and the interviews won’t be that bad. So why should I pay so much money for what I anticipated would be only marginal improvements to my overall application? Well, after working with Harshad, I can tell you exactly why.

Essays: Harshad takes a deep look at your life story (personal and professional) to pull out the anecdotes that will resonate best with the AdComs. My instincts were totally off at first, but Harshad’s knowledge of each school’s specific essays saved me from writing about something that wouldn’t hit home. After that, every round of editing was thorough. Harshad does an excellent job of trimming extra words to make the word count without trimming important content. His email responses were very fast (<1 working day normally, 2 days max).

Resume: Harshad provides an excellent resume template and knows how to rephrase bullets to make them more punchy.

Other application parts: Harshad reviewed all the short answer questions in my application too. Same treatment as the resume. Very worth it.

Recommenders: Harshad provided a thorough guide for working with recommenders. This advice is 100% worth following. He also helped me manage one recommender who had limited English writing proficiency.

Interview prep: I practiced interviewing with friends and family, but nothing was more valuable than Harshad’s mock interviews. He asked realistic questions, provided candid feedback, and tested me similarly to the real interviews. This was perhaps the most important part of the whole package.

Professionalism: Harshad responded incredibly quickly. Even when I was behind on my work with deadlines approaching quickly, Harshad always responded immediately (whether on holiday, weekends, or in the middle of the night in his time zone)! His responses were always thorough. Also, I live and work 5-8 time zones away from Harshad, but he was always flexible about scheduling meetings to accommodate my needs. Most importantly, Harshad is candid without being rude. He tells you what you need to hear.

Overall, I’m quite sure I would not have gotten into any M7s without Harshad’s help. Even if he charged double, I would still pick Harshad again.

Harshad was there for me in every step of the process, from explicitly choosing the schools with the best academic and social fit to getting interview invites from 3 M7 schools, and eventually, an admit from one.

Given the reflective nature of the MBA application, I wanted to work with someone who genuinely understood my history and vision, i.e. I wasn’t just another client for them. After talking to several consultants (who constantly suggested that I shouldn’t aim for M7 schools), Harshad was the only consultant who highlighted the positive aspects of my applications during our first consultation. After that, it was an easy choice. He and I worked on five schools, and I eventually got into the school of my choice.

Harshad believed in me, pushed me to give my best, from essays to interviews and was a constant support during the emotional rollercoaster of the application process. He went above and beyond and took calls even on the weekends as we pushed closer to the deadlines. Not once did I have any issues with turnaround time.

His stellar advocacy has exceeded my high expectations. I highly recommend him!

Amazingly helpful and always willing to go the extra mile. Provided candid and useful feedback helped me get into a top school and waitlisted at the top school! Really beleive the pointers he made had a signficant impact on my applciaitons.

From our very first phone call, Harshad was genuine, motivating, direct, and candid. With our common background in manufacturing, we immediately hit it off and I felt like I’d known him for much longer! Given my path to enter my family’s business, he suggested a program that I ultimately am now attending. It would not only allow me to return to my family business on a faster timeline but I am now attending a program in the top 10 schools. He showed me how to highlight areas of strength that I didn’t even recognize but also how to strengthen the weaknesses of my application as well. His direct advice on the path I needed to take in the next year pushed my application to the next level.

When the time came for applications, he suggested edits to my resume that really transformed the way my accomplishments were showcased. Similarly, he gave me excellent guidance on the interview process and how to approach communication after being waitlisted.

At first glance, Harshad really knows how to approach the entire MBA application process. When the panic sets in, he is more than timely in his responses when any question comes up. As you dive deeper into conversations with him, he is empathetic and is one of the people you really want on your team during this process. We worked together for over a year and I’m so grateful.

I know I wouldn’t be attending the program I am in today without him!

I worked with Harshad on my MBA application this year for my first choice school, and I am glad to say that I got in and will be commencing my studies!

Harshad has been direct, straightforward with his views and he never tells you something he doesn’t believe in. This is an extremely useful quality to have in a consultant because you have limited time to apply and you need someone to tell you like it is, without any fairy dust sprinkled on top.

Despite being straightforward, however, Harshad will still motivate you to do your very best. He has been a constant source of support, constantly motivating me to apply to even better schools. After my admit, we are currently also working on another application for an M7 school!

Last but not the least, Harshad makes the effort to not only be your consultant and advisor but also your friend. He asks about your life and follows up on previous conversations about work and things unrelated to MBA applications which make you feel cared for and like you are in the company of a good friend. Cannot recommend him enough.

Applying during the most competitive admissions seasons was excruciating. However, Harshad’s constant support and honest feedback helped me to stay on track. Moreover, Harshad is very dedicated to his clients. There have been many instances when I was very close to the deadline and Harshad turned over his feedbacks even during weekends and holidays. Harshad is also very empathetic and that helps to bring out our originality when writing the essays. He also goes above and beyond in giving suggestions to schools that I applied to on my own. Finally, Harshad also showed genuine interest in my career goal and helped me to tailor my essays accordingly, and suggested I apply to schools that I hadn’t even considered before talking to him.

Harshad is one of those no-nonsense and to-the-point coaches that will help you level up your MBA apps. From the time we first spoke during the free consultation, Harshad was genuine and empathetic with me about my ambitions and how to turn them into reality. His feedback and editing work on the essays was by far the most value-added aspect of the consultation, which turned my VERY rough drafts into essays with substance, relevance, and flow. He is extremely adept at breaking down the essay questions and what the ad coms are looking for in response so that your essay responses are clear and concise. He will work with you to revise your draft as many times as you need (believe me as I needed SEVERAL edits before I felt good about mine). He is extremely professional and responds sooner than the SLA time, and working for long stretches of time to help you meet your deadlines. Overall, his communication style and rigor are ideal and I would recommend him to anyone who is in the market for an MBA admissions consultant!

For me, obtaining an MBA degree from the nation’s top credited school was my dream, and when you desire something so much, you have great motivation but the anxiety and fear of failing also reside throughout your journey. One thing Harshad told me during our initial interview that brought me a sense of assurance was that: “there is no guarantee for the admission, but if you could follow along with my guidance, we will submit the best application we can. ” From that moment, I knew he is the right consultant for me. However, during our partnership, Harshad went above and beyond my expectation. His approach was very systematic, and he spends a lot of time learning about your personality, your highlights, and your distinctions and incorporate those elements into your essays so that you can be the best form of yourself. Harshad is also very friendly, sharing his personal experience and life stories. That was special to have. To me, besides our partnership, I will also describe him as one of my dear friends. 🙂 He always provides candid feedback, and that’s how it should be. Because sometimes the blunt comments are the last catalyst to push yourself to the next level. Let’s be honest, if you can’t even impress your consultant, the chances of making the admission committee like you after just a mundane essay, which they read thousands of them each year are slim to none.

With his help, I was able to make my dream a reality, and I just want to sincerely thank him for all his help along the way. He is the best consultant I have seen, and you will not regret picking him as your admission consultant.

Working with Harshad was a pleasure from the beginning. I met with Harshad on an initial call to review my profile, goals, and target schools. I immediately decided to work with Harshad based on the thoughtfulness, experience, and candor he demonstrated on our call.

I worked with Harshad to improve my resume and to review essays for a number of applications to top-20 FTMBA programs. Throughout our partnership together, I was very impressed with Harshad’s candid feedback, strategic guidance, and timeliness.

First and foremost, Harshad is immensely helpful as a consultant because he is direct with his feedback. This saved me a lot of precious time as an applicant during the arduous application process because it allowed me to easily digest the review commentary and to make necessary changes where needed. In some cases, this even meant scrapping an essay topic and starting from scratch — but ultimately, through our partnership, I learned this was much better than wasting precious time trying to resuscitate an essay that was not addressing the prompt.

Additionally, Harshad provided guidance throughout the application process that allowed me to make the most of the consultation hours I purchased. MBA Mission/Harshad are incredibly organized. Harshad shared a number of MBA Mission resources right off the bat that laid out effective expectations. In addition, Harshad provided guidance on our initial call based on where to start, how to schedule around deadlines, and how to get the most from our partnership.

Lastly, Harshad is incredibly timely and generous with his time as a consultant. The application process is incredibly arduous. As an experienced consultant, Harshad was able to consistently turn around comprehensive essay feedback in a timely manner. I am incredibly grateful for Harshad’s help and inherent sense of urgency while reviewing essays. Working with Harshad took (some) stress out of the overall process.

With Harshad’s guidance, I was accepted to two Top 20 US schools and was awarded a significant scholarship despite my sub-3 GPA. Thank you again, Harshad!

I have been admitted to Chicago Booth!
Harshad was instrumental in coaching me to think through the entire application process. He helped me think through my approach to the essays that I submitted at the M7 programs I applied to. He also helped me prepare my CV and guided me in getting ready for interviews and work with my recommenders.
Harshad helped me write my essays until I got to high quality while meeting word limits and time deadlines.
Words, quite literally fail me, in sharing my gratitude for finding Harshad as a partner and mentor in my application process. He was always encouraging, always positive but at the same time very focused. He never failed to tell me when my writing was off the course. He was always candid and straight about me not responding to the essay question-stem.
And yet, he was generous, when it came to him playing his part.
I just couldn’t have made it without Harshad. His professionalism and support meant a lot and I will whole-heartedly recommend Harshad at mbaMission to anyone who is looking for help in B-school essays and CV crafting to work with him.
Best of luck!

After speaking with many consultants, I decided to work with Harshad due to his direct and candid approach when tackling the Admission process. His guidance proved priceless right from the start with his thorough brainstorming sessions, which were strengthened by the constant back and forth exchanges to deliver my core and concise story.

Harshad’s turnaround times were impressive, pushing me to work hard and efficiently in an attempt to keep up. Even when I thought I was almost done, Harshad found a way to effortlessly improve my essay’s structure to deliver a stronger message.

With his guidance, I got admitted at my top choice – a top 10 US Business school! Look no further and hire Harshad for your MBA quest!

I can honestly say I wouldn’t have made it through the MBA application process without Harshad’s help; he helped me to believe in myself when things were difficult, to craft the best stories for my essays and interviews, to come up with the best strategies to deliver results, and so much more. In the end, I ended up getting accepted to two of my top schools, and I was offered a full ride to one of them.

I contacted mbaMission sometime in the spring (R2 applicant) as I knew I had to put my best forward during the application cycle as an older applicant (31-year-old); my initial call with a different consultant was eye-opening, I could not believe all the feedback I received in such short amount of time. She suggested having a second “fit” call with Harshad as we both had engineering backgrounds. After our conversation, I knew Harshad was the one I wanted to work with as he knew exactly where I was at professionally and knew where I wanted to go.

During the next few months, I worked on improving my GMAT/GRE and though my test results were not ideal, Harshad helped me to stay positive and diligent to work on the other aspects of my application and networking with my target schools, which ultimately made a huge difference.

Harshad’s feedback is very direct and honest, which I enormously appreciated as we worked on my applications; he replied to my messages as promised or even earlier, even late at night, during the weekends, and during the holiday breaks. The first reviews can be tough, but that is the nature of his work as this will help you submit the best version of yourself. I remember looking forward to my calls with Harshad as they filled me up with energy and encouragement to keep moving, to a point where writing essays, even during stressful times, became fun.

In short, Harshad is a kind, fun, smart, and hard-working consultant who has the best interest in your success and the results speak for themselves. I will ALWAYS be thankful to him.

I hired Harshad because he had a background in Engineering and Product Management which matched my academic and professional background. I loved hearing Harshad’s honest feedback on everything I said in the discovery call. He understood my background, my goals and gave me a reality check which helped me make a decision between applying for a Full-time vs Part-time MBA program.

Once I decided which programs to apply, he helped me craft my Resume and Essays which were a big piece in my application. I always looked forward to his thoughtful, straightforward feedback which helped me craft compelling essays. Whenever I was stuck in the process, he took time from his busy schedule to call me and helped me move forward. With his guidance, I was admitted to a school of my top choice. At certain times he even gave me more time than I had paid for just to help me get to the finish line. I thought that was such a sweet gesture from him.

Harshad can balance constructive criticism with encouragement and also did not sugarcoat anything during the process which was exactly what I was looking for in a consultant. He always responded on time with feedback, sometimes even sooner than expected. Hiring Harshad was the best decision in the MBA application process. I highly recommended hiring him if you want someone who can give you an honest assessment of your current situation and also help you bring out the best of you in the essays. I plan to buy more time with Harshad to get his take on how to choose between multiple admits which was something I hadn’t even planned for.

I started my journey with another consultant and somehow missed the connection. When I started the process with Harshad, I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. Harshad understood my background and very patiently guided me through the self discovery process. My GMAT score was my bottleneck but he still helped me submit a strong application without discouraging me from applying but being true about my application weaknesses. He gave me candid feedback which not only helped me give my best shot but also made me learn through my mistakes throughout the process.I loved sessions with him and he was extremely flexible with my schedule. He was able to help me structure my thought process and approach which not only helped me during the application process but will also help me in my future endeavors. There were times where I had lost hope, Harshad gave me the confidence to keep going while keeping me grounded with his constructive feedback. I had applied to a number of schools, but he had never taken a single review/brainstorming session lightly. I am lucky to have worked with Harshad. Though the application process has ended and I have gotten accepted into my dream school, he will continue to be my mentor.

Hiring Harshad for the process would be your best decision! 🙂

Harshad has this incredible ability to help me find my core message and articulate it concisely. He worked with me to peel back the layers of my story, patiently waiting for me to connect my dots and paint my perspectives. Not once did he shortcut the discovery process, which at the end of the day enabled me to bring my best and most authentic self to the table.

At the same time, Harshad is not afraid to give thoughtful, clear, and direct feedback. Knowing that I had time constraints on my application, this approach was exactly what I needed. Every feedback I received, I immediately understood what I needed to improve and, most importantly, the reasons behind those improvements. Also, he was always on-time with responses and often provided feedback ahead of committed dates.

Lastly, I personally came in unsure about hiring any consultant. However, not only has Harshad helped me improved my application, but he has also become someone whom I trust for advice and to have my best interest at hand. If you are in this same situation, I highly recommend Harshad Mali. He will bring out the best version of you.

Harshad helped me get through what ended up being a two-year process of applying for an MBA and I would not have got into an M7 school without him. I got the start to finish package, and deferred the first year due to having to retake the GMAT, and honestly, due to not feeling professionally or personally prepared. When I reconnected with Harshad last year to apply in R2, he was so encouraging by mentioning that he could tell that I had matured. During our first session, which ended up lasting three hours, I was able to unload everything that had happened in the past couple years and we were able to get a handle on the best areas of my application (short of essays and recommendations) and the areas that would require the most attention. I felt that I was in good hands.

Harshad is sincere without sugarcoating, helpful without being harsh. It’s the reason I sought him out. Once we completed brainstorming, he not only went into depth in reviewing essays for my top choice school but also reviewed my ideas/outlines for the other schools. His concise, honest advice was much appreciated, down to simple formulas for each type of essay question. Harshad is incredibly kind, but will not mince words in telling you what will work and what will not work. Applicants can greatly benefit from trusting his broad experience with MBA applicants and course corrections. He clearly explained how certain ideas would come off to the adcoms, and what needed to be corrected in my essays, and even what to leave in and what to leave out in my optional essay. He also gave me a quick breakdown

Harshad is also incredibly encouraging. I can recall at least two occasions that I was simply feeling overwhelmed and not confident, and he set up a quick call with me to provide me with perspective. He reiterated that he was impressed with the work I had put in and the strengths of my application and that he is confident in me.

In short, if you appreciate someone who can deftly balance encouragement with constructive criticism, and someone who can help you stay focused on the prize, I highly recommend Harshad as your MBA consultant.

After some dismal results in the previous application cycle, I wanted some guidance and sought out professional help. During my 30 minute consultation with Harshad, we went over my choice of schools and some of my previous essays. Harshad gave me a clear analysis of where I had gone wrong and what I could do to improve my chances. His no-bullshit and can-do approach were just the things I needed and I decided to work with him.
Harshad brought structure to my application process. He provided me with a lot of material about what to expect during the application process and also during and after my MBA. He helped me organize my thoughts and together we reasoned out which schools would be best given my background and my goals.
Harshad also provided context about what schools look for in applicants, demystified the essay prompts and helped me create a strategy to approach the applications.
More importantly, Harshad made an effort to get to know me on a personal level which helped me craft more effective narratives in my essays which ultimately led to high-quality applications.
Seeking Harshad’s help was the best thing I did!

Coming into the MBA application process, I was confused and lost on how to proceed. Furthermore, with my subpar GPA, I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. Thankfully Harshad was there to guide me.

1. He is a great storyteller and will help you filter your essays into clear, concise, and interesting stories that highlight the values and achievements each individual school looks for.
2. He is transparent when providing his feedback to make sure that you are following the right path in your career goals, essays, resume, interviews, etc.
3. His in-depth knowledge of the end-to-end MBA application process is amazing, from brainstorming career goals, writing stories, and all the way to practicing for interviews. The application process is quite stressful with all the numerous requirements and working with Harshad made the whole process easier.
4. Above all, he is incredibly hardworking and supportive. Harshad will go above and beyond to help you and make sure your application is the best that it can be.

The result of working with Harshad is that not only was I admitted to a Top 10 US school – despite my low GPA – but I also received a very sizable scholarship! Choose Harshad.

Harshad is simply amazing at what he does. He gave me the confidence to put forth a high-quality application and was incredibly friendly yet constructive when he reviewed my resume and essays. With his guidance, I was admitted to my school of choice with a full scholarship, and I know that wouldn’t have been the case without Harshad! I could go on and on but just trust me, if he happens to be available, hire this guy! There are none better!

It is with great pride that I give Harshad Mali my highest recommendation.

There are 3 things you must know about Harshad:

1. Harshad knows the MBA process in totality. Harshad was able to answer all of my questions about getting an MBA. What GMAT score I would need, what my strengths and weaknesses were, what business school would fit me the best, and many more. He has expert-level knowledge.

2. Harshad will get the best out of you. Like all great consultants, Harshad does not change who you are, rather he tailors your unique application to put you in the best possible light. He knows what business schools are looking for and helps craft answers that “check all the boxes” while differentiating you from other applicants. He is an outstanding writer and editor.

3. Harshad is a person of the highest character. Harshad cares and it comes across in his communication. He is direct and honest telling you precisely what you need to do in order to make your application the best possible. Your success is his success.

It is my sincere hope you read this, and at minimum, sign up for a free consultation. You will see for yourself, Harshad is exceptional!

To start off, Harshad was very patient and honest when he conducted the 30 min free consultation with me, which made me decide to work with him. Harshad was very responsive to all my questions and did a great help to my applications, especially on resume and essays writings. I will not be able to get in a top business school EMBA program without his help! I highly recommend Harshad to everyone who needs help in their MBA/EMBA application.

Harshad’s help throughout the whole process was incredible and it was with his help that my application was as strong as it could be. Even though my age is younger than the average age of most MBA students, I was still interviewed by all the schools I applied to and got accepted into a top 10 school. I know I would not have been as successful without his help! His support is very strong and he is extremely good at breaking down and polishing your experiences to create a compelling message for admissions. As I have a technical job, it was through this that we clearly broke down my achievements so they could easily highlight my fortitudes for an MBA. Furthermore, as others have stated his feedback is concise, straight to the point, thorough and insightful. He will make sure your application components are the best they can be and succinctly express your achievements – extremely useful when you want to capture your story in word limited essays! Finally, he always provided feedback in a very timely manner allowing me to submit my applications without any rush. The whole process, from brainstorming for the essays to submitting the applications was definitely made easier by his help! I am extremely grateful for all his support and apart from being great at his job he is also a friendly fun person to work with, making the whole process a lot easier and enjoyable. I have absolutely no doubts about recommending Harshad and am extremely thankful for all his support!

I was dinged from the 3 schools I applied to the previous year without interviews. This left me feeling unmotivated and unworthy of getting into a top program. Then Harshad entered into the picture. Not only did he help me get into the school of my dreams (one I was previously dinged from before), he helped to instill in me the confidence that I truly deserved it and was capable of getting there. Simply put, he believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. So, thank you Harshad. Thank you for the time and energy you put into helping me craft my best stories. Thank you for your patience in my emotional struggles. And thank you for helping me push my limits and get into the school I always knew I belonged at.

Harshad’s help was incredible and put me in a position to choose between offers from Top 10 schools. The application process can be long and grueling, but Harshad always gives it his all and his support turned all of the ups and downs into a truly rewarding journey. I don’t believe I would have been as successful without his help, and here are his strengths to support why – 1) He is exceptional at distilling your experiences and actions into clear and compelling messages that can be understood by admissions committees. For someone who has a tendency to dive right into the complexities of situations, this was incredibly helpful. 2) As other reviews have stated, his feedback is concise, direct, insightful, and constructive. He regularly suggested course corrections that ended up producing excellent application materials. 3) He is an incredibly hard worker who has your best interests in mind. He always provided feedback in a very timely manner and rest assured that when crunch time comes, he will not be the bottleneck in the process. 4) While he frequently does have strong views on materials, he was always more than happy to get on the phone for additional brainstorming and to thoroughly go over any questions or doubts I had. This combination of conviction with the willingness to discuss how to improve upon his suggestions further by taking them in new directions is a powerful combination that ensured materials were completed efficiently and effectively. In addition to all of the skills and traits mentioned above, perhaps what I have valued most is his persistent realism and optimism. While he does not sugar coat anything, he always sees a path to success and is clear about what it will require. I have absolutely no doubts about recommending that you hire Harshad. I am thankful I did.

Wow! What a hardworking consultant.

Harshad will spend as much time as you need to make sure you feel 100% confident in your application/ interview/ whatever really! He does an amazing job at helping you dig deep to find your strengths and ultimately, your story. Harshad never once was late with an email or deadline and honestly exceeded my expectations in every area. Going into the process I was highly skeptical that a consultant would be necessary/ worth the money.

After going through the process I keep recommending my friends to use a consultant/ Harshad specifically. I used a five school package for R2 and felt like the extra push from a consultant in terms of helping you spend more time on each app was well worth the effort as well. In short, when you work with a consultant you will spend MUCH more time on apps but it will be all worth it in the end. I promise.

Harshad was absolutely fantastic to work with! We started working together in the fall of 2018 when I was preparing for the GMAT. After failing to hit my target GMAT score three times (..or anywhere close to it for that matter), I was honestly ready to give up on my MBA dreams. But Harshad wasn’t going to let that happen. His constant support and encouragement kept me pushing through the late-night brainstorming sessions and essay writing when I worried it was all going to be a waste of time due to my low GMAT score. His very detailed and thorough questions allowed me to dig deep and discover my true story, which he then helped me tell in the most compelling way possible. After landing an interview, I was thrilled I had made it that far but extremely nervous as it was the final hurdle to clear in the application process. The mock interview Harshad held with me a few days before my real interview was a life saver. He helped me relax by reminding me of all the great qualities I possessed and told me that I truly did have what it takes to succeed in a great MBA program. A few days later, I confidently walk into the Admissions Office and nailed my interview, earning an acceptance letter the following week! There is absolutely no way I could have done it without Harshad’s expertise and encouragement every step of the way. He’s a humble man and will deny this, but all the credit goes to him. He’s the reason my MBA dreams are now a reality. I’m now off to start the most exciting chapter of my life and it’s all thanks to Harshad! If you’re considering hiring a consultant, I couldn’t recommend him enough.

I worked with Harshad given his top billing as a consultant and found him worth the acclaim. He was thorough with his essay- shaping skills: he helped me summarise my verbose write-ups into concise and sharp essays. He was also very perceptive in his interviewing skills. Though he is a tough task-master and very candid with his feedback, he rounds it up with his inherent goodness: he is a great friend to have as he is a very patient listener. His empathy towards my background and his moral support to me was a key factor in my success, especially when I hit a roadblock.

I had a dream of getting into my dream school, and it looked like quite a quantum leap; Harshad helped me make that dream come true. Thanks a lot!

I worked with Harshad for the 2018-2019 application cycle, targeting the M7 schools. I had worked with other consultants before, so can speak to what makes Harshad different.

One of the biggest challenges for me was telling a compelling story about my life, which I always assumed was “typical”. Harshad encouraged and helped me dig through my history, starting from early childhood, to help me understand myself better and understand the forces that shaped who I am. Harshad left no stones unturned and went far beyond “checking the boxes”. With his help, I was able to better understand my own story and present my unique person to the admissions committee.

Harshad is responsive and direct and will tell you his honest opinion – he will not shy away from reworking an essay close to the deadline if he thought it would help even one bit. Harshad was genuinely invested in my success and cared about my outcomes. When the option arose, Harshad preferred the challenge of helping me prepare a more difficult application where I could benefit more from his input, even though it required more work.

Thanks to Harshad’s help, I will be attending an M7 school this fall.

I was referred to Harshad by another mbaMission consultant, who spoke highly of him. I used hourly services with Harshad since I needed help with certain aspects of my application, and without a doubt, it was the best decision. After my first two consultations with Harshad, I was impressed by his authenticity, honesty, and willingness to help me. He and I explored all areas of my background to come up with a clear, cohesive story. Harshad recommended a four-pronged strategy that became the foundation for my essays, considerably strengthening my application for the four schools that I applied. I applied in the January round, and I started my application in November of the prior year, leaving me about three months to complete my applications (I already took my standardized tests when I first contacted Harshad). The time to complete my application seemed short and daunting, but Harshad made the experience so much better. We both had a great work rhythm, and Harshad was always responsive to my emails, answering my questions clearly and in detail. In each step of the way, I felt very comfortable and confident working with him.

In the end, I got into all four top schools, with significant scholarship money. I’m thrilled about the results, and I truly recommend working with Harshad. Thank you for all of your help!

Right from the moment I started working with Harshad on my MBA application journey, he has always been there by my side and motivated me to bring out the best in myself and this helped me build a strong and authentic application – one which wouldn’t have been possible without his support. Harshad treats your success as his own and this trait of his is evident through all his efforts throughout the application process. Harshad always provides constructive criticism and doesn’t hold back from giving you his honest and straightforward opinion and this quality has helped me correct course numerous times be it while editing an essay or preparing for interviews. What makes him the best is that he is relatable! Whenever I have had my self-doubts about the whole MBA process, he has always highlighted my strengths and reassured me that this is indeed possible, often times quoting from his vast experience. His pep talks and positivity has helped me transform into a confident and self-sufficient MBA candidate. I strongly recommend Harshad for anyone looking for an MBA consultant!

Harshad and I were engaged in the Pre-Application Strategy package for a year. I still remember what I was when I had the first free call with him. And, I have seen tremendous improvement in me as a person since then and all because of Harshad’s guidance.

We started by discussing my professional background, and he was very patient and interested in what I had to say. Then, he told me exactly what was good in my background, and what not so much. He told me I need to focus on my communication, extra-curricular, and present job responsibilities if I want to be a successful applicant next year. I always thought I had good communication skills, but Harshad won’t let you rest till you are “actually good.” He inspired me to join Toastmasters, Junior Achievement, Big Brother Big Sister and kept on pushing me whenever I got lazy. He pushed me to go to the class visits of all B-Schools I want to apply. I used to talk to him biweekly with my progress, and sometimes I pushed myself so that I have something to tell to Harshad in the next call because I didn’t want to disappoint him. This is the influence Harshad can have as a mentor. One time, he called me despite being sick, and I could tell from his voice that he is not well. This is the level of professionalism Harshad has. He doesn’t worry about the clock; his sole intention is to help you; I never thought he was doing it for the money. It was my success that drove him.

He didn’t only help me in my application; he is like a big brother in my circumstances as well. I took advice from him about whether I should get married now or after MBA, on the girl I was talking. He advised me on my family problems, on what books to read, how to handle office politics. He used to share the books he is reading and what he learned from them. He shared with me his learnings from the people he admires in life and expected me to grow as a person from his mistakes. Once, I was in Chicago, and he took me to drinks, and we discussed life in general. In that talk, he told me how I should improve in the ways I am living my life. I still have all those bullet points in records, and I agree with each of them.

In short, Harshad is the best you can get. I have talked to multiple consultants, and they were nowhere near to what Harshad brings to the table. I have continued my package with Harshad for the All-in package this year because of the fantastic experience I had before.

Working with Harshad throughout the application process was extremely rewarding. I had a very unique and difficult timeline/situation, but Harshad worked with me through it all and supported me during each phase of the process. Harshad is an amazing storyteller; he was able to bring out my best qualities and help me put them into words to show the AdCom what I could bring to a program. He is able to do this because he takes the necessary time to get to know his clients and he is a diligent listener. Harshad was not just interested in my professional background; he cared about what motivated me, he asked questions about my family, my childhood, everything. Personally, my favorite aspect of Harshad was his honesty. As someone who did not have much time to waste, I really appreciated his direct approach–it showed me how much he cared about the quality of my applications and that he knew the quality of work I was capable of.

With the help of Harshad, I was able to land 4 admits to top 10 schools and I know for a fact that I would not be where I am today without him. I signed up with Harshad thinking of him as a consultant, and I am leaving the process thinking of him as a friend. Thank you, Harshad!

When I first started the MBA application process, I was very confused and had no idea what admissions committees were “looking for.” During my initial calls with Harshad, it became abundantly clear that he was the person I needed to guide me through the process. He was extremely attentive to my concerns about weak points in my profile, and he could provide direct answers to all my questions about various schools, essays, etc.

I could go on and on about my time working with him, but I think it’s best to highlight what I feel are a few of his greatest strengths.

1) He was a friend, not just a consultant. Harshad truly wanted to get to know me as a person. During our initial brainstorming call, he continued to ask follow up questions as we dove deeper into my stories; it was clear he wanted to understand the underlying meaning each one had to me. And this is one of the many ways he was able to push me to write essays that truly reflect who I am as a person. It never felt like he was “working” or “doing his job,” just a friend who genuinely wanted to help me achieve my goals.

2) He didn’t let me settle for “good enough.” There were a number of times throughout the process where I would send Harshad a draft I thought was solid. On paper, the essay was logical and “made sense.” However, Harshad recognized there was significant room for improvement; he knew these essays didn’t cut deep enough. So he pushed me to continue to dive deeper into my stories until I found something that truly reflected who I was and who I am today. On my own, I would never have pushed myself through this process of deep self-reflection. Looking back, my final essays were night and day compared to my earliest drafts.

3) He was a rockstar consultant all around. Harshad went above and beyond his duties as a consultant: as others have mentioned, he consistently provided feedback on my drafts far in advance of his firm’s required timeframes. Furthermore, he is extremely knowledgeable about the application process as well as the similarities and differences between various top MBA programs. He was also instrumental in helping me drastically cut down the word count on my preliminary drafts without losing the true meaning/message behind my stories.

Since I’m sure some people reading this will be interested to hear how things worked out… I am super excited to say that I’ll be attending an M7 school later this year with a 50% scholarship! I absolutely would not have accomplished this without Harshad. I can’t recommend him strongly enough.

To kick this review off, I will say that my MBA application season was an uphill battle. My undergrad GPA is sub-par (2.5) and I have no alternative transcript to mitigate it in any way. Additionally, I had only 3 years of work experience at a no-name tech firm.

Every single consultant I spoke to before Harshad told me to trash my target list and look at part-time programs or lower ranked schools. However, I was determined to get into a full-time top 20 program and needed a coach to believe in me and help me achieve this goal.

Harshad was exactly that and much more! Right off the bat, Harshad was blatantly honest with me and made sure I understood that I was punching above my weight when it came to my targets. Harshad coached me and was available at a moments notice to help me strengthen my essays and personal story. He always went above and beyond to give me critical feedback that was crucial to my success in the application season, always being brutally honest and guiding me through the process.

In the end – I did what no other consultant believed I could do. I got into a top 20 program with a bloody full scholarship! I still can’t believe it to this day. Looking back at my lousy attempts to write my essays before I was introduced to Harshad makes me sure that I wouldn’t even be close to where I am today without his help. I am so happy I bit the bullet and hired Harshad and am at ease knowing I will not have to worry about tuition for the next two years.

Thank you again Harshad! I would recommend your services to anyone and everyone thinking about applying to any MBA program.

Harshad and I started working together in August and he helped me through two rounds and applications to seven schools. I can honestly say this feat would have been impossible without him. Fundamentally, he is a warm and kind person who has just the right touch of honesty and pragmatism to keep you focused on what really matters. He is extremely efficient and is more than willing to help you under tight deadlines, which for me was crucial in round 2 where a number of deadlines were back to back. His approach helped me discover a lot about myself and he really pushed me to dig deep and develop unique and interesting ways of defining who I am within each school’s vastly different essays.
Harshad made me a better writer and helped me write great essays. He never injected his voice into my content, but simply helped flush out my own ideas in compelling narratives. I felt confident that my essays were the best I could have done and I am not entirely sure what that peace of mind is worth.
Best of all, Harshad’s hard work helped me get interviews at every single school I applied to, which was a difficult feat given my competitive but not stellar GMAT.
Four admits, two waitlists (hopefully admits), and one rejection (after an interview) later, you could say Harshad was worth every penny. I am still deciding between two of my dream schools (both in the top 10) and I know I wouldn’t be in this position without Harshad. I would highly recommend his consulting services to anyone.

The application process is awful, but you have to commit to it. It’s nearly impossible if you don’t have a support system that’s pushing you, encouraging you and supporting you. Harshad is incredible. In the midst of all the self-doubting, he’s there to remind you why you are embarking on this journey. He gets you excited about the prospects, and with it, motivates you to put your best application forward. He’s incredibly wise and his advice has been unparalleled to anyone else I’ve spoken during this application process. He is able to shape your story in a way that makes so much sense that you wonder how you didn’t come up with it yourself — that’s how natural it flows and that’s a huge + in applications. His tips on crafting the story and guidance on the daunting essays are truly what helped me get to where I am now. I would not be where I am now without Harshad. He is so excellent at identifying which schools would be a good fit for you. If you have decided to embark on this MBA journey with all the potential loans in the future, this initial investment is essential. You will not regret it. There are so many consultants out there, but I can honestly say that this is was the best experience and I could not have imagined having to work with anyone better.

Harshad’s strengths are in listening to your story, pulling out the strongest elements, and then capturing that story within the school’s word limit. Take your time with the brainstorming document – the more you can give Harshad about your story and your goals, the more he can help. Above all, he makes you feel like family and that he is rooting for you all the way.

After a 30-minute free consultation call, I knew right away that Harshad is the person to partner with on my MBA journey. Harshad took the time to understand my background, both personal and professional, to assist me in identifying an impactful theme for my essays.

Harshad’s honest, yet constructive feedback helped me perform deep introspections that led to crafting essays I never thought I could. His focus, analysis, and continuous comments challenged me to develop stronger versions of my story. His structured approach allowed me to finalize my essays way ahead of the schools’ deadlines. Although Harshad promises a two day turnaround period, he would usually get back to his clients in less than 48 hours. His dedication to his clients is unparalleled.

Despite my lower than average GMAT score, I secured interviews in four of the top five business schools in the US, all thanks to Harshad’s guidance and support. Harshad made the impossible possible.

This review is long overdue, which is somewhat fitting as my application probably would have been too if it wasn’t for Harshad. There is not a doubt in my mind that I would not have gotten into Chicago Booth if it wasn’t for him. In fact, I may not have even applied if it wasn’t for him encouraging me and giving me the confidence through all of my self-doubt.

On a number of occasions after I made the decision to apply, I second guessed myself. Wondering if instead I should take some classes at the Graham school to show that my undergrad GPA wasn’t something the adcom needed to worry about, or if my lower end of the range GMAT and low quant score would ruin my chances of admission. Harshad helped me keep focus, reminding me that although I didn’t have the best stats, I had a unique story which he helped me shape and reiterate.

Harshad’s true strength lies in being not only an honest critic, but in being a damn good story teller. He was able to analyze my life stories and help me come up with not only an application I was proud of, but one that was good enough to get me into my dream school. If you want someone authentic who will give you structure and no BS, Harshad is the consultant for you. He’s a great judge of character and from what I’ve read about him and experienced for myself, he knows how to get people into schools that they may not feel they have a chance at.

Long story short, work with Harshad if you’re the type that tends to procrastinate and second guess yourself. Harshad doesn’t make time for any of that nonsense. If he believes in you, you better believe in you, because the man has a track record of getting people in.

Harshad is a wonderful consultant for any kind of person. He is dedicated to drive out the greatest story from you and align your story with your strength in application. We talked for two hours during the kickoff session and framed up all essays, super efficiently. His excellent skills in essay editing will help you a lot in language especially if you are not a native speaker. He also helped me on my interview. He arranged a face to face mock interview since I am a local candidate. He pointed out my strengths and weaknesses in the mock and it greatly mitigated my risk to screw up real interview. I would highly recommend Harshad to anyone who is interested in any MBA programs.

Applying to business schools can be a testing experience that requires a lot of self-reflection. I started using Harshad as a pay by the hour consultant to help tighten my stories. After working with him for a few sessions, I realized that I was going to need more help in coming up with my unique stories that would stand out in my applications. I upgraded to the full time package, and it was the best decision and money I spent in the application process.

Harshad has a unique ability to connect with the people he works with. We have only communicated over the phone and email, but I found myself quickly trusting him. I opened up about events in my life that I have told few people. He brought out powerful stories and emotions, some of which I had buried deep down inside myself.

Harshad will also very honest with you and is a great communicator. He will let you know if you produced a strong piece or a piece that needs more work. If he does provide constructive feedback, he does so in a way that never feels personal. I always felt that Harshad was rooting for me every step of the way.

All in all, I cannot recommend Harshad enough. He will bring out the best version of yourself and help you distill that version onto paper.

I was accepted into two great schools, and I have no doubts that Harshad was a big part of me getting into those schools.

Working with Harshad was hands down the best decision I’ve ever made. Since he would encourage me to “highlight the message early”, here’s the key takeaway from this novel of a review:

Harshad will see you more clearly than you see yourself, and will hold up the mirror until you see what he sees. He’s genuine, invested, empathetic, ruthless, supportive, brilliant, honest, and kind. He is more than worth the investment, and you are making an absolutely massive mistake if you don’t hire him immediately.

Okay now I’ll break it down for you:

Statistically speaking, I was shooting far beyond my reach when it came to the schools I wanted to apply to. I spoke with a couple consultants before Harshad who encouraged me to either retake the GMAT (for the fourth time… yeah, no thank you) or lower my expectations. I was pretty discouraged by the time I met Harshad, who had a completely different attitude from everyone else. I knew after only five minutes that if I had any chance of getting into one of these programs, it would be with him. He was nothing but crazy enthusiastic, while still managing to be honest about how it could be an uphill battle.

Harshad and I were in such constant contact during the application process that there were days I talked to him more than my roommate. I’m honestly surprised at the number of ‘Class of 2020’ recommendations on P&Q, because he made me feel like I was his biggest priority and only client. How he managed to have time for my high-maintenance self and his other clients, I’ll never know!

During our initial 1.5 hour ‘brainstorming call’ (i.e. therapy session), he knew just the right questions to ask to break down the walls I had up, and was extremely patient yet persistent with his follow up questions, pushing me to ‘dive deeper’. He then identified a few pieces of my life story that I would have never thought twice about, and helped me realize just how meaningful they were, giving me the tools necessary to craft them into something truly beautiful. I honestly feel like I know myself so much better after this experience – Harshad could easily moonlight as a therapist! He’s not going to let you off easy, and it was like another full-time job getting the essays to the point where they needed to be, but I took solace in the fact that he believed in me so much that he wasn’t going to let me settle for a ‘passable’ essay. He was really ‘in it to win’ with me the whole way, which I always appreciated.

If you’re looking for a consultant that could bridge the gap between giving it to you straight while still being a cheerleader, look no further. Harshad could teach a class on delivering constructive criticism; he ruthlessly tore apart my essays while still managing to make me feel good about it. I’m fairly certain that if/when he reads this, he’d lovingly tell me that this review is all over the place, that he could have relayed the same message in half the words, and that I’m trying to accomplish too much in too little space, but that “I’m an excellent writer and this review has so much potential, so let’s get to work” (how can you not feel good about yourself after that? Seriously, genius).

I ended up getting admitted to my dream school that other consultants previously discouraged me from applying to, and when I got the admissions phone call, the first person I wanted to tell was Harshad. I one hundred percent know that I wouldn’t be where I am now without him. I could not recommend him enough, and feel like this rave review doesn’t even do him justice. Please do yourself a favor and consider this: how amazing would a person have to be to secure this many novel-long rave reviews on P&Q? Schedule your intro call with Harshad and don’t look back – you won’t regret it!

I was a very confused MBA aspirant until I spoke to Harshad over the phone for the first time. Harshad spent a lot of time in understanding everything about me via a long brainstorming session. It wasn’t just about career and achievements but also about who I am as a person. He then very intelligently guided me to tell my unique story in a finest way possible. He would review and let me update my essays a thousand times if it needs be till the time it looked like a true winner. I also wanted someone who can be direct with me and provide the correct feedback without any sugar coating, Harshad does it in his own style. More than a consultant, I always felt like Harshad was my mentor. I had a magnificent experience working with him and would truly recommend to anyone who wants to put up a strong MBA application.

Things you shouldn’t do during the MBA application process:
– Wait until 3 weeks before the deadline to start your essay
– Not have schools picked out that fit your profile

I took longer than expected to get my GMAT score to where I wanted it to be and as a result Round 1 passed me by and Round 2 was quickly approaching and I freaked out. It’s been ages since I’ve applied to schools and I wanted someone to help me through this process. With only 3 weeks until Round 2 deadlines, many other admissions consultants said that it was impossible to do in such a short timeframe, which was totally understandable given the short notice. I was luckily paired with Harshad and he was certainly the life raft that I needed to complete my application. We started with a brainstorming document where I listed my background and all my experiences. After reading the document and meeting with Harshad, He had a very good idea about who I was and how to present myself to each school. Since we were on a very tight deadline, he gave me a strict timeline and assured me that if I stuck with the timeline we would be on target. He worked tirelessly to provide feedback and edits; some of his turnaround times were less than 1 day! I submitted all 3 of my applications on time and received interviews from all 3. I can honestly say I could not have done this without Harshad keeping me on track and helping me tell my story in a succinct, coherent fashion.

School update: Accepted to all three schools – including a 50% scholarship at a top 25 school!

Harshad was the first person from mbaMission I had reached out to for my free profile evaluation. I had not yet decided on taking anyone’s help. But by the time I finished my 30 minute discussion with Harshad I had already made up my mind. At no point during the call did he appear to cajole me into working with mbaMission. Far from it, his frank and unbiased evaluation of my profile and my chances at my target schools sounded more like a concerned mentor advising his student. He also evaluated my post MBA career interests and suggested me a list of consultants at mbaMission who represented those backgrounds and I ended up working with one of them. But as luck would have it, when my consultant went on a maternity leave after helping me submit my applications for round 1, I was assigned to Harshad for the next phase-the interview phase. Barely a day after I was assigned to him, I got an interview invite from my top target school, Chicago Booth. I had exactly a week’s time to complete another essay as part of the school’s admissions process. That was when I actually experienced what it means to work with Harshad. He’s a no-nonsense person who gets down to business in no time. He quickly reviewed my entire application material including all the essays I had written and became thorough of my complete life history. He set up a call the very next day and helped me brainstorm on how to approach the essay. I was extremely impressed about how thorough he was with all my life stories in barely a day’s time. He immediately asked me to send my first draft and even volunteered to review it over the weekend. The next five days turned out to be the most intense period of my life. I had practically lost track of the number of iterations I had over building up my essay. But Harshad was always available. With turn-around times running in hours instead of days, he quite literally saved the day for me. I was extremely happy and proud with my final submission and I owe a lot to him. He immediately scheduled mock interview sessions with me for all my interview invites. During these sessions, Harshad was a completely different person altogether. His sole intention during those sessions was to boost my confidence and ensure that I didn’t become nervous or anxious. That said he carefully reviewed all my answers and corrected them wherever necessary. My application ended on a happy note with an admissions offer from Chicago Booth, which was my dream school when I started the process in June. I definitely owe a lot to Harshad for his dedication and patience. I strongly recommend him for anyone even remotely considering taking help for their application process.

I highly recommend Harshad to anyone looking for an admissions consultant. His support and guidance was critical to my success, and ultimately contributed to me getting accepted at both Wharton and Kellogg.

Before I was connected to Harshad, I’d spent several months narrowing my list of schools, visiting, thinking about why I wanted to go to school, what matters to me, and what I wanted to do when I grew up. In December, I found myself planning to apply R2 having done a lot of thinking, but with no essays or concrete application progress made. After a 30 min “real talk” consultation with Harshad, I was off. With his support, I turned the many thoughts into compelling coherent applications.

Highlights of the experience:
– Harshad doesn’t mince words, but he explains himself clearly and logically. His first set of comments on my first essay attempt were tough to swallow (but accurate) – this approach let me quickly kick it into gear and start making progress!
– He maintains the integrity and truth of everything his clients write. He helped me edit words out and make suggestions about which approach to take of multiple things I’d try, but he never inserted his own voice into my essays (and would explain when he couldn’t edit something until I worked on it further because it would require him to make decisions about the message)
– When I was holding back and my responses were suffering as a result, Harshad would always kindly but directly call me out. This is how I work best.
– He works like a madman in application crunch time to be there when his clients need him (all hours of the day/night, all days).
– Always provided actionable feedback (both on essays and when we did a mock Kellogg interview). I will carry his interview advice forward for all future job interviews

Because we started working together 4 weeks before my app deadlines, we agreed that it would make the most sense for me to purchase hourly consulting services. Harshad worked very efficiently, leading to cost savings over what I expected. As a consultant myself who bills by the hour, I really appreciated Harshad’s diligence in managing and communicating time he’d spent with me or reviewing my essays.

Harshad cares deeply about his clients and manages to work efficiently while also getting to know people and forming supportive personal connections. He is funny and optimistic and a pleasure to work with.

Sharing that story is vital to sharing qualities and actions to admissions committees. I knew I was a solid writer, but not much of a storyteller. Nor did I think I had any story worth telling. Afterall, I’m an overrepresented applicant who had a steady upbringing and no apparent struggles through life. What compelling story could I have had to offer?

I knew this was my challenge, and I knew an admissions consultant could help. But I was reluctant to work with one. I would read (and sometimes dismiss) the idea that a consultant could help you unearth stories that you would never think to showcase. Who knows you better than you? But it turns out that some of our most extraordinary life experiences don’t make it on the paper. They seem perfunctory to us (our own lives are always somewhat dull to us). Or time dilutes the struggle we felt. Or perhaps we don’t connect the dots across our major life events and see the broader picture of how our qualities and actions have brought us to where we are today.

Harshad helped me discover my story through intensive brainstorming and essay review. He helped me see incredible personal journeys I had undertaken; obstacles surmounted; and personal qualities, values, and (most importantly) actions that had emerged over my life–qualities that I knew I had to share with admission committees to communicate who I am.

I can include all the obvious about Harshad: he’s extremely quick in responses (earlier than his company guarantees), he’s fun to work with, and he takes a professional yet refreshingly personal interest in being a part of your MBA journey. Most importantly–he’s honest in his feedback. Working with Harshad, he will let you know when you haven’t quite cinched your essay. You’ll know when you’ve been redundant, left a claim unsupported, etc. But you’ll also know when you’ve written a great essay–and Harshad will go down that journey with you right down to the wire.

Harshad helped me showcase my best self in my essays, which resulted in admissions to Booth and two other top MBA programs. I’ll be attending my dream school this Fall, and I can’t thank Harshad enough for journeying with me. I highly endorse Harshad to any applicant who knows they have the right stuff but can’t quite materialize their voice and story onto paper.

After being rejected from all the schools I applied to last year, I felt I needed some professional help to be successful and I’m happy I picked Harshad to guide me through this challenge. With his help I was able to secure 3 offers of admission from some of the top-10 schools with substantial scholarship $$$.
He was incredibly helpful since the first 30 minutes consultation when I immediately appreciated his “we’ll make it happen” attitude. He was capable to identify the weaknesses from my previous applications and provided great insights to help me reflect on my achievements, redefine my career goals and strengthen my personal brand. The opportunity to work with a person who could deeply understand me on a personal level was fundamental to my success: he was truly there to fight this battle with me.
Harshad’s encouraging consultation style helped me to grow confidence in my work, kept me motivated throughout the application and boosted my morale when I was feeling discouraged (and trust me, there will be moments of discouragement!) At the same time I appreciated his frankness in pointing out my errors and his guidance in resolving my weaknesses. He always provided clear and compelling explanations in support of his recommendations so that I could understand the thought process and develop my own critical judgement.
Overall his ability to reshape my profile and develop a customized strategy joined with a great competence as storyteller made him the ideal consultant to work with. I wish I had him on my side on the first application round to avoid the unnecessary pain of failure.

I originally chose to work with Harshad because he has a reputation for being detail oriented and unapologetically direct. I knew that if I wanted to put my best application effort forward, I would need to work with someone who was constructively critical, and consistently honest and straightforward with feedback. I was not disappointed – and while Harshad does exhibit all of those qualities, he is somehow able to concurrently be supportive and encouraging, as well. From the very beginning I was appreciative of Harshad’s thorough nature, as he continually referenced details from my extremely lengthy intake materials. Similarly, I was struck by his ability to recall and suggest anecdotes that I had written about in previous drafts – even weeks or months later! Throughout the process he helped me to connect the dots of my story and align my past personal and work experiences to my future short and long term goals – guiding me in crafting my interests and experiences into a coherent narrative even I did not visualize at first. As we worked together Harshad always met his promised turnaround timelines and even sent reminders and updates about deadlines. Harshad also has a wealth of information to share about school culture from previous clients, in addition to insight to prepare for interviews. Overall, I felt that Harshad’s working style not only pushed me to submit the best applications possible, but also allowed me to more acutely conceptualize my own story and goals. Ultimately I was accepted to my first choice program, and could not be happier with my results. I would highly recommend Harshad to anyone who is serious about putting in the time and work to achieve the best possible results.

Working with Harshad was very beneficial for me. He challenged me to get introspective on my own experiences to craft a great story for my applications. Like anything else in life- to do great work is going to be hard work. Despite having average scores at best, we worked extremely hard and I was able to accomplish my goal of getting into a top MBA program. As a reapplicant, I wanted to do everything I can to put out the best product and I am lucky to have Harshad guide me. He was a sounding board when I had any thoughts or questions from school selection on through the interview process. He was always available for quick calls and random questions that come up. I highly recommend Harshad to any MBA applicant.

When I started doing my research on admission consultants, I was confused about many things – whether I should go with a consultant or not, which consulting firm to choose, which type of consultant to choose, which schools to target etc. After doing some more research and speaking to different consulting companies, I chose mbamission. I had my initial consultation with Dan and after hearing my story, he suggested that Harshad would be a great fit for me. Initially I was not sure about Harshad but did some research and agreed to have a second free consultation with him and that was the best decision I made to start my b school journey. After speaking with Harshad for the first time, I knew that he was the best fit for me. I had no doubts anymore and went ahead with him. During our initial discussions, he made me realize that the story which mattered the most and which would make my application unique was the one I was not even considering. Then I started remembering more details about that particular situation and was blown away with how fitting it was. That was the moment I realized how lucky I was to have Harshad as my consultant. Believe me, he is unbelievably good. The result, I got into my dream school and that too with a scholarship.

He is not just a consultant who only cares about the business and getting thing done with you. He is more like a friend, a guide, who will always be there for you during the whole b school application cycle. He will support you in every possible way and will always be true and honest without sugarcoating things. I never had troubles reaching out to him and there were times when he reviewed my work and gave comments on a weekend. Even though we were in different countries and time zones, he always gave preference to my schedule.

I got to learn so many things from him which would go a long way in my career and life. I could not have chosen a better consultant and no matter how many times I thank mbamission and Harshad, it would not be enough.

I am very satisfied with my experience with Harshad and recommend him to anyone wanting to apply and be accepted to a top b school.

When I began evaluating consultants, I was looking for someone with a similar background to mine. On paper, Harshad and I could not be more different. Angela assured me that he is extremely talented, but I still had my doubts about whether or not he would be the right fit for me. Boy was I wrong.

Based on my credentials, I was an underdog in the b-school admissions process. I had a number of prospective consultants break the news that I was a long shot for top-tier schools and they encouraged me to lower my expectations. Not Harshad. From the get-go, it was clear he was in my corner. Instead of trying to convince me to settle for lesser schools, he immediately focused on what I could do to best position myself to be accepted into my top choice programs. This attitude was the primary reason I chose Harshad and it was quite possibly the smartest move I made in the entire process.

Harshad’s approach really worked for me during the essay-writing process. He dug deep into my background, my motivations, and my career aspirations and made sure my essays were a reflection of who I truly am. He was masterful in pointing out my strengths for me and also in encouraging me to think about how my weaknesses could be addressed through an MBA–this self-reflection made for great essays. I was also impressed by how economical he could be with word count–all of the content was my own but he was able to really help me eliminate fluff and say what I really meant to say. Another thing I really appreciated about Harshad was his follow-through. If he said he would get you revisions on a draft by Wednesday AM, I could count on it being in my inbox when I woke up Wednesday morning. He was reliable and always made himself available for me throughout the process.

Harshad pushed me really hard, but I appreciated all of his feedback. I knew that he was challenging me to be better because he genuinely cared about my success as an applicant. Harshad was the first person I emailed when I got my GMAT score, the first person I notified when I received invitations to interview, and the first person I pinged when I got off the phone with Admissions Officers letting me know I was in. He was more invested in my success than some of my closest friends. Applying to B-school is an arduous and humbling process; there were many times I questioned my worth along the way. Harshad was always there to pick me back up when I was knocked to the mat.

I have serious doubts about whether or not I would have succeeded in this process without Harshad. In fact, I’m almost positive I wouldn’t have gotten into my top schools. With Harshad’s help, I got into my dream schools, Wharton and Columbia, but had other excellent options like UVA Darden and NYU Stern as well. I was waitlisted at Kellogg but I’m pretty sure that’s because I opted not to have Harshad help me with that one in an effort to save money 🙂

I can’t recommend Harshad highly enough. I direct anyone I know who is about to embark on this process to him.

Harshad Mali is incredible. With so many moving parts, I started my MBA journey scattered minded and overwhelmed. Honestly, I did not know where to start so I decided to get a consultant. After checking out the tops 3 firms, I settled on mbaMission because they showed a genuine interest even though I had a low GMAT score, which I significantly increased before applying to any school. During the consultation call Harshad and I hit it off and started immediately. Within one call we had a clear path to my goals. Harshad’s work on my essays, resume, and all the typical material needed to complete an application was top notch, as expected, but what really stands out is the support Harshad provides that one can’t merely read about; building my confidence, being available 24/7 during crunch time, digging deep into my stories, and outstanding insight into each program. In fact, that insight played a huge role when I decided on which program to attend. Those are only a few of the many examples, but I think you get the gist. Financially, at this point in my MBA journey, my decision to work with Harshad has been the most critical, however, it has already paid itself back in exceptional dividends. I received scholarship for a few reasons I’m sure, but the offer letter stated one being leadership abilities. In my opinion, I would not have been able to display this ability without Harshad’s dedication to showing my intrinsic strengths via essays. Strengths: Punctual, brilliant message conveyor, organized, high level of empathic intelligence, transparent, honest, easy going, hardworking, has a holistic application approach, and is an all-around nice guy. Just an overall astute consultant. I highly recommend any driven applicant, who wants to win, to schedule a consultation with Harshad. Post script: I can’t help to think while writing this post that Harshad is going to read it and think to himself “Man, I could have said the same thing in half the words.”

It has been amazing working with Harshad Mali from mbaMission! The quality of the service I received went above and beyond my expectations. I was very tentative about working with a consultant initially for two main reasons – Cost of the service, and I was concerned that the application would get heavily influenced by the consultant’s writing style and personality. But these concerns were put to rest from the time I started working with mbaMission and Harshad Mali. The first big breakthrough happened in the Brainstorming session. Harshad made me talk about my story starting from early childhood, patiently listening for the most part, but every now and then asking me questions to make me think about why I reacted the way I did, and highlighting important values that I had clearly failed to see. Through my conversations, Harshad was able to point out my leadership style and also guide me to pick my best experiences to share in my applications. Following the brainstorming session, my resume and essay writing became much more simple. I was also happy that my essays were my own, and Harshad’s contribution was to pick out the meat from my essays by cutting out extraneous information, so as to help me hit my word limit. Harsahd also brought his school expertise, and shared with me valuable information on labs, clubs, and activities. Because of his help and guidance, I was able to put forward a strong application, and in the end, received an acceptance from both Booth and Kellogg! I’m extremely pleased with my work with Harshad, and would recommend him to anybody wanting to put forward a strong MBA application.

I never planned to pay for an admissions consultant – I just wanted to use the free calls to perfect my resume. But after many calls Harshad stood out to me. He didn’t hit me with a sales pitch, he quickly responded to an email with follow-up questions, and most importantly he demonstrated an interest in and understanding of my profile that the other consultants didn’t. A couple weeks before the R1 deadline I realized I needed help telling my story. I reached out to Harshad and, despite being fully booked, he agreed to take me on as a client. Working with him was as advertised: his emails were always on time (usually early) and the one time we ran into technical difficulties he responded to a 10 PM text message. The two most valuable things he did for me were 1) teach me how to tell a story and 2) give me directional edits. I kept an open mind and found his feedback to be invaluable. By working hard and doing the leg work I felt that we were able to maximize the time I paid for. With his help, I submitted all my applications in time for R1. Although my H/S lottery ticket wasn’t drawn, I was admitted to Wharton and 100% of the M7 and T15 schools I applied to, including some significant scholarships! He even helped me draft a professional scholarship negotiation letter. I do recommend Harshad if you’re willing to put in the leg work. My advice is to be very clear on what you want from him!

Harshad was wonderful to work with. He was prompt, direct and helpful. While I only purchased a few hours of his time, he spent time getting to know me and my strengths. I had a terrible first draft of one essay. Harshad was direct with his feedback and have extremely useful comments about how to improve and where I should focus my efforts. We had 4 rounds of comments, and each time, I feel that my essay significantly improved. He really encouraged me to dig deep into why I was applying to school, and politely told me which paragraphs were not value adds and recommended their removal.

From the very beginning of the experience, mbaMission treated me with exceptional courtesy and respect. After the free 30 minute consultation, I did a “fit call” with Harshad Mali- that call confirmed to me that Harshad was the exact right consultant for me. Things to know about Harshad: 1) Harshad has detailed knowledge of school statistics, and an understanding of broad admissions trends. Harshad helped me get my game plan together to apply to four schools in short order and provided me feedback on historical trends of acceptance rates by round, by school. He even gathered other consultant opinions on my resume; 2) Harshad will push you until you have a cohesive product that is the best representation of you and your story. Just a week before the deadline, together Harshad and I started my Ross essay over from scratch because my previous version was not developing strongly enough. This was the best possible thing he could have guided me to do, rather than moving forward with a weak concept; 3) Harshad seamlessly understands scheduling, priorities, and the “admissions tempo”. Harshad ALWAYS provided great feedback on my deliverables and questions within 48 hours or less. On New Year’s Eve, we exchanged essay versions by the hour. He knew when we had to push to hit key productivity gateways, and let me have time to breathe between each of my applications, with consideration to the ones on which we were not partnered. When a hurricane destroyed my car and residence, Harshad was completely empathetic to my situation, urging me to focus on my life adjustments, and was encouraging throughout. He genuinely cared; 4) Harshad was a true partner in the process. Throughout the essay-writing journey, he gave me his edits to ensure that my voice was not lost before further editing/trimming was done. I had ultimate stylistic control, though Harshad proved to be the master of grammar! Also, when at the last minute I decided to partner on Harvard instead of Stanford, Harshad was in complete support and immediately started focusing our efforts on that best possible essay and short answers; 5) Harshad’s candid feedback, support, and knowledge will give you confidence in the entire process, from choosing schools to after the interview, and receiving offers. Harshad was with me every step of the way. The price tag on the school packages is a hefty one, but my experience with Harshad and mbaMission exceeded my expectations and helped me bridge the gap and translate my military career into something of value to the admission committees. As a result, I was admitted to my top two choices, the Ross School of Business and the Stanford Graduate School of Business (decisions, decisions)! Applying to an MBA program and making the transition can be grueling and daunting, so don’t do it alone. I’d recommend Harshad to anyone.

Harshad took over helping me with my applications when his colleague went on paternity leave. He hit the ground running, was incredibly responsive, and helped me shape the final version of my Wharton essay in the 36 hours before it was due. I nearly started from scratch at that point, and Harshad was supportive and cool under pressure. He absolutely delivered. We went back and forth on many drafts, even in a short amount of time, and my Wharton application was ultimately successful. I thank Harshad for all his valuable inputs and editing.

I worked with Harshad to apply for b-school in late 2016, and really appreciated all of his help and work! Due to taking the GMAT later than expected I had a short timeframe to get my applications done (about a month), and Harshad worked tirelessly in order to ensure that he provided advice quickly and efficiently. After undergoing the initial brainstorming for my applications, Harshad was able to analyze and boil down my various experiences in order to suggest an essay path forward that properly highlighted my best qualities to admissions. Even during a short timeframe (and over the holidays) Harshad responded almost immediately to every request or e-mail I sent. He was always available for a call in order to go through potential ideas or changes, and he was available 7 days a week. His edits of my writing were a lifesaver and he really helped me focus my message in all of essays and applications. He was 100% committed to helping me achieve my goals, and I ended up gaining admission to the school that I applied to! I would recommend Harshad to anyone who is applying to b-school. He was a great help, both in the admissions process and in providing great advice on all aspects of the b-school decision.

Having never applied to a program outside my country (Pakistan), let alone a top global leadership program, I had little idea about where to begin with when I started thinking about applying to a business school. My initial thoughts were that a good GMAT score was all that was needed. It was not until I took 30-minutes free consultation session with Helen Summers from mbaMission that I realized that GMAT is just part of the whole story. She broke it to me that business school application consists of many parts that tell a coherent story together. She was also very honest in telling me that my age and my experience were not going to be attractive features of my application to a full-time program. However, she didn’t discourage me and recommended that I should either apply to a full-time program that targets mid-careers (there are only three in the world by the way) or an executive program. After contemplating for some time, I decided to apply for MIT Sloan Fellows Program. I knew that a novice to admissions process like me needed guidance to produce a good quality application. So, I contacted Helen again who referred me to Harshad Mali. Me and Harshad had an introduction over email and he gave me a bunch of documents to go through. This initial phase primarily consisted of me going through a lot of material and thinking about my own personal story. Scant guidance at this stage was by design so that originality is forced out of me. However, after the first brainstorming session, Harshad grabbed the reins of the process and started guiding it in minute details. At one crunch moment when I had lost all hope of submitting a quality application before the deadline, it was Harshad who kept encouraging me and kept giving me the right feedback till I submitted my application right on time. Harshad is no make-you-feel-good consultant when it comes to essay reviews. He is very direct in his feedback and he makes sure that he informs of this reviewing style in the initial introduction call. And frankly speaking, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. The first review of my essay came back with a scathing critique and red marks all over, making me instantly realize what was wrong with my approach. I promptly corrected myself and from then on, it was smooth sailing. Another feature that made me feel warm was that Harshad was able to connect to my life story at a personal level. This enabled him to bring the best out of me and help me write essays that truly represented me. I felt like I completely owned everything I wrote as my personal authorship and Harshad was only guiding my efforts while he had a very good idea about what the final product would look like. Whether requested or not, Harshad was always there whenever needed. It didn’t matter whether it was day or night, weekday or weekend. We were working in completely opposite time zones. But Harshad made sure that this wasn’t a hindrance in our communication. The efforts paid off and I got invited for the interview. For a starter like me, this was a huge achievement and this wouldn’t have been possible without Harshad’s help. But of course, our finish line was the final acceptance. So Harshad prepared me for the interview as well. We had a mock interview one week before the actual one. Again, he was very honest in his feedback. It included coaching on things as important as how to tackle behavioral questions and things as trivial as how to keep a smiling face all the time. I finally got admitted to MIT Sloan Fellows. This was something that I couldn’t think was within my reach when I started thinking about applying to B-Schools. I can safely say that this was only made possible with Harshad’s help. I strongly recommend him to any B-School aspirant. And if you are from South Asia, Harshad should be your top choice.

I was connected to Harshad by Angela Guido, another mbaMission consultant and generally amazing human being whom I’d met through the Forté Foundation MBALaunch program. I’d had my sights set on attending Chicago Booth from the time I opened my first Manhattan prep book, and I knew it would be a challenging process. I come from a social impact background, and I knew I could really only afford a couple of hours of admissions support. Although I was applying to a number of schools, I decided to devote my time with Harshad to structuring and editing my Booth essay. A Booth alum himself, Harshad was incredibly thoughtful and easy to talk to, and before I knew it I was sharing my life story with him. He helped me to choose an essay topic that felt authentic and meaningful. Notably, Harshad has a depth of expertise about the school and its philosophy, and he helped me to connect the dots between my own values and those of UofC’s “Chicago Approach.” Harshad is an expert storyteller and with his guidance I was able to shape my thoughts into a cohesive and compelling piece of writing. He is strategic and logical, and asks thought-provoking questions. Working with Harshad felt like participating in a writing workshop, and at the end of the process I was proud to submit my application. After I was accepted to Booth in Round 2(!) with some scholarship funding, Harshad helped me to draft a respectful inquiry about possible additional funding, and the school was able to increase my scholarship package. This fall, I’ll be attending Chicago Booth with a very generous scholarship award, and I owe a great debt of gratitude to Harshad for this outcome. I would absolutely recommend working with Harshad for your MBA admissions process.

I did a “fit call” with Harshad Mali- that call confirmed to me that Harshad was the exact right consultant for me. Some points from my own experience: 1) Harshad will push you until you have a cohesive product that is the best representation of you and your story. Just a week before the deadline, Harshad and I started my Emory essay over from scratch because my previous version was not developing strongly enough. This was the best possible thing he could have guided me to do, rather than moving forward with a weak concept; 2) Harshad always provided great feedback on my deliverable and questions within a day or two. Never late. He reminded me about the coming deadlines. He pushed me to complete essays few days before the deadline. He knew when we had to push to hit key productivity gateways; 3) Harshad was a true partner in the process. Throughout the essay-writing journey, he gave me his edits to ensure that my voice was not lost before further editing/trimming was done. Harshad was with me every step of the way.

Signing up with MBAMission was very straightforward and I’m lucky I got paired with Harshad Mali. From our first 30 minute intro call, Harshad gave valuable insights to my overall profile. As an Indian Applicant, it is quite challenging to differentiate yourself from the applicant pool. I have a diverse background and in many different industries but Harshad understood my story right off the bat and really helped me come up with a coherent narrative that highlighted my strengths and uniqueness. Harshad is no BS consultant and gives honest, straightforward feedback. I worked with him on polishing my resume and essays for five schools and preparing for interview at a top school. Harshad was always prompt and on-time with his reviews and there was never any delay. In fact, he often returned my essays on the same day even though MBAMission has a two day essay review policy. He often poked holes in my drafts but doing so helped me re-think what I wanted to say with more clarity and effect. I also worked with him for interview preparation. Here too, he was direct and effective with his feedback and even took additional time out of his schedule to help me with my preparation. He was also available for Skype calls whenever I had additional questions for essays and interviews. Working with Harshad has been very rewarding. Although we worked together quite professionally, I found him to be more like a close friend who kept my best interest his top priority. Like a close friend, Harshad often said what I needed to hear and not what I would have liked. I’m glad I trusted him with his feedback on my application. I would recommend Harshad Mali to anyone who is serious about gaining admissions to top business schools.