Jessica Shklar

I was stuck with my stories. I felt I had so much more to unfold but couldn’t figure out how to share different parts of my life in each essay. The word count added pressure. I wanted to work with a consultant who respected the different chapters of my life and helped express my stories without changing them. That’s when I found Jessica.
From the beginning, she was very clear on expectations and helped me understand the ‘why’ behind the questions in the applications. She listened, then challenged me to think through my life.

It was truly amazing to experience the partnership and mentorship she offered. She suggested hidden themes that connected very different parts of my life and helped me reflect on my past, present, and future. From the very beginning, I knew Jessica took my application very seriously. She did not want to waste a second of my time. It was clear to follow her guidance which allowed me to take time to process my ideas and express them efficiently.
Her professionalism is top of the line. She keeps promises and went beyond what I requested. More than a couple times, Jessica would suggest that she would come back after some thought – and she really did. You know Jessica doesn’t just let things “pass”. She really values quality so you get quality. At the end of my essays, I remember reading them through and thinking, “Yeah, this is really me. This is really my story.” It’s quite amazing how talented Jessica is in storytelling! I learned so much from working with her.

The combination of her professionalism, high standards, and empathy makes Jessica truly one of the best! I will never forget this experience. Thank you, Jessica.

Choosing the right MBA admissions consultant can be a game-changer in the application process, and my experience with Jessica was nothing short of outstanding. From our initial conversation, it was evident that Jessica possessed a deep understanding of the MBA admissions landscape, paired with a genuine commitment to my success.

The personalized approach was the first aspect that stood out. Jessica took the time to understand my unique background, career aspirations, and personal values, ensuring that every piece of advice and strategy was tailored to my specific goals. This level of customization made a significant difference, especially when crafting my essays and prepping for interviews.

Jessica’s expertise in storytelling is her true “super power”. She helped me articulate my experiences and vision in a compelling and coherent manner. Her feedback was always constructive, detailed, and insightful, pushing me to refine my narrative until it resonated with clarity and impact.

Additionally, her support extended beyond just the application materials. Jessica provided moral support and guidance throughout the often stressful process, reminding me to stay true to myself and my aspirations.

The results speak for themselves. I was accepted into HBS and GSB, and I attribute a significant part of my success to Jessica’s guidance. I HIGHLY recommend Jessica to anyone seeking a partner who will invest deeply in their MBA journey and help them achieve their highest potential.

Jessica Shklar’s expertise as an MBA admissions consultant exceeded all expectations. From the outset, she demonstrated a keen ability to discern underlying themes in my life story that I hadn’t even recognized. Her insightful approach during our brainstorming session was instrumental in uncovering connections that added depth and coherence to my application.

Throughout the entire process, Jessica’s dedication was unwavering. She remained readily available and consistently pushed me to refine every aspect of my application until it met her exacting standards. Whether it was meticulously polishing my resume or meticulously refining my short answer responses, she left no stone unturned in ensuring that my application stood out.

As a non-traditional applicant, Jessica’s guidance was invaluable in shaping my narrative and presenting my experiences in a manner that resonated with business school admissions committees. Her collaborative approach, which included soliciting feedback from her colleagues, ensured that my application was both compelling and comprehensible.

Moreover, Jessica’s interview preparation sessions were nothing short of exceptional. She struck the perfect balance between thorough preparation and natural spontaneity, enabling me to confidently navigate the interview process. Thanks to her guidance and support, I received offers from multiple top-tier schools, including an acceptance to Wharton, which I will be attending this fall. Without a doubt, Jessica Shklar’s expertise was instrumental in my success, and I wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone seeking guidance in the MBA admissions process.

I want to start this review by giving a bit of context on my background and why I chose to look for MBA consulting services. I’m a Middle Eastern female first-generation graduate who had zero knowledge (except what was available to me on forums, etc) on how to start my MBA journey. I didn’t personally know anyone who had pursued an MBA. I decided to look into consulting services and at first, I was taken aback by how expensive they were. However, I did my due diligence and ensured I was putting my money where I would get the most value. Enter the wonderful Jessica Shklar. Most consultants will offer a free call for you to assess if they’d be a good match. DO THIS!!! I knew it had to be Jessica within the first 5 minutes of speaking to her. She was straight to the point, asked me direct questions, and was SO quick on her feet to solve problems. I never felt like my time was wasted or that I was falling behind. My efficiency and motivation were always on track, and she was there to support me in every single way. She was always the first person I wanted to bounce ideas off and was the first person I contacted when I felt demotivated – she’d always help me get back to where I needed to be. On a more personal note, the essays were a touchy subject for me. I wanted to talk about a personal time in my life, and I often found myself shying away from it, but Jessica helped me turn those stories into essays I’m so proud of. She brought out parts of me that I now see were crucial to mention as to why I wanted to pursue an MBA. I could not have done that without her. I’m happy to say I’ve been admitted to LBS, Cambridge and Oxford!

I worked with Jessica specifically to prepare for my HBS interview. We did a mock interview to start, where she expertly analyzed my strengths and weaknesses and gave me nuanced, actionable feedback on what I could improve on. After the interview, she analyzed my thoughts and topics of conversation from the interview and helped me concisely synthesize the major themes of my reflection. She also generously made herself available for many random questions and calmed my nerves on many occasions when pre-acceptance panic set in. I could not recommend Jessica highly enough! I put the utmost faith in her at every step and ended up with an HBS acceptance! I didn’t work with her for my main applications though I could only imagine how incredible they would have been had I done so.

I had a very positive experience with Jessica! Not only was she very helpful in helping shape my applications, but she also gave me the confidence to pursue schools I wouldn’t have otherwise considered/thought I was qualified for. From day 1 she was by my side and supporting me through her coaching/feedback. Ultimately, I was accepted to all of my top school choices including multiple M7’s. I will now be starting at Wharton this August.

When I started working with Jessica, I had completed my GMAT and thought my “MBA story,” honed over 4.5 years in the same industry, only needed a bit of polish. Jessica, however, envisioned a more reflective approach. She encouraged me to introspect deeply about my life, got to know me intimately, and reshaped my narrative into something beyond my imagination. Had I stuck to my original plan, I doubt I’d be heading to HBS today.

From day one, Jessica was methodical, initiating our process five months before application deadlines. She required a detailed account of my upbringing, family, hobbies, and work experiences—a task that seemed too excessive with its 50-60 hours of introspection. Yet, this groundwork proved essential. It enabled Jessica to identify what made me unique and weave my most compelling stories into each school’s application. I still remember my sense of relief during our first brainstorming session. Jessica had done her homework, knew my story inside-out, and proposed a clear-cut strategy for the coming months. I was onboard and it was the first time I felt that I might actually have a shot.

Applying to top MBA programs is a grueling process. Schools evaluate every aspect of your life and expect you to “bleed on paper” to convince them of your candidacy. The best MBA essays are compelling stories where you, the author, happen to be the hero. For even the best storytellers among us, that’s an awkward thing to write. Fortunately, Jessica finds it easy. She’s a professional who knows what schools are looking for and, as long as you’re willing to put in the work, her expertise will bring out the best in you.

I had a lot of apprehension starting the MBA admission process. I was targeting the top of the M7, nervous about getting the right GMAT score and uncertain about making my application stand out. I was a consultant passionate about public service and faith, and didn’t know how to tell my story. Not only this, but I was unsure about investing significant financial resources into the process. I approached coaches with a bit of skepticism, somewhat jaded after reading hundreds of P&Q reviews. But then I met Jessica and everything changed. I am now on my way to HBS after receiving multiple M7 offers. I can confidently say I wouldn’t be here without Jessica’s support. If you are reading this and have your sights set on a top school, look no further than Jessica. See below for a few examples of the exceptional value Jessica provided:

1. Jessica got to know me deeply as a human, well beyond my resume. She repeatedly pushed me to lean into stories that had shaped my life- stories of love and loss and oftentimes not associated with the corporate world. I cried after writing down some of the life experiences that I eventually used in essays- we got that real. I don’t think my application would have been remotely as powerful as it was with these lived experiences included and I believe that Jessica is in the top .1% of coaches that could draw this emotion and depth out of someone.

2. Jessica encouraged me to avoid a “brand”. I was ready to structure my package squarely around something I thought schools would want- an MBB consultant on sponsorship, ready to share stories of board meetings in class. Jessica quickly dispelled this. Instead, I found myself leaning into passions I would never have considered bringing up (cycling, painting) and my package became all the more reflective of who I actually was.

3. Jessica was extremely honest. Sometimes painfully so 🙂 She said from the beginning that she would react honestly to content because it would lead to a better product, and she held true to that. This too lead to a better outcome than otherwise.

4. Jessica (and mbaMission) was comprehensive. Jessica provided outstanding support across my package for multiple schools, and mbaMission went above and beyond with interview prep. All of this (besides one-off 1:1 interview deep-dives) was included in my package. I felt like this was excellent value and reflected the outstanding caliber of mbaMission as a whole (though Jessica stands alone in her caliber as a coach).

5. Jessica was timely, thorough and pushed me to stay “ahead of schedule”. Jessica consistently turned content in under two days and always was thorough. She encouraged me to lean in, even after long weeks or late nights, and dig deep to complete my packages early. Without this push I know I would not have been as prepared as I was.

6. Even after I submitted my applications, Jessica was there every step of the way. She provided immense reassurance in times of doubt, responded thoughtfully to anxiety-induced emails, and even counseled me on what to wear to my interviews. I am confident that I would have had many more sleepless nights if it wasn’t for her.

Working with Jessica was the one of the wisest decisions I’ve ever made – and it would be for you too.

My experience with Jessica was amazing.

I am an over-represented majority from a business school applicant perspective based on occupation, demographics, undergrad major, and location and was really worried about how I could stand out when I first started the process. To make things worse, before I started with Jessica I also was struggling to verbalize my journey and why I wanted to purse an MBA.

From our first brainstorming session, Jessica was able to extract so much about me and my journey that I had not been able to put into words myself. She also very quickly was able to guide me on where I needed to go deeper and what aspects of my journey might connect. Through all of this, Jessica not only helped me define why I wanted to purse an MBA, she also helped me verbalize my overall story despite what felt like me not giving her much to work with. Jessica helped me dig really deep (for me) to come up with stories that made me stand out and were successful for every school I applied to.

Going into the process I was concerned that with my job and personal responsibilities, I was not going to be able to put enough time and effort into essay brainstorming and writing. Luckily for me, Jessica is efficient. Even in the early brainstorming sessions, Jessica was always super prepared going into each session. Not only that, but Jessica would come with multiple options at each step so no time was ever wasted. On top of that, Jessica’s feedback was always very tangible and upfront saving any unnecessary churn.

Without Jessica there is no way I would have gotten into the schools I did. Beyond that, there’s no way I would have experienced the reflection and growth she helped me through as we put together my story and applications. Really appreciate everything Jessica did for me and would highly recommend her to anyone.

If I had to describe Jessica in one sentence – she knows how to instantly make you memorable to the Admissions Committee. Her exceptional storytelling skills, professionalism, efficiency, and amazing mentorship make her the best consultant. She is undoubtedly the highlight of my MBA application process.

– A non-traditional background
– Low GPA
– Waitlisted or previously rejected
– An older applicant
– International applicant

Guess what? These all apply to me. Before my free consultation with Jessica, I spoke with a few other consulting firms. Due to these so-called “red flags” most consultants left me dejected and told me to lower my expectations. But my call with Jessica was different – Her calm confidence, willingness to tease out my strengths, and her high EQ left me incredibly impressed. I still remember her follow-up email after this call not only summarized our conversation efficiently but also prompted me to be more confident.

Jessica is a phenomenal storyteller and has an impeccable ability to draw out relevant information from you to create a unique narrative. During our first brainstorming call, I saw Jessica’s magic come to life – she had tied up all the disparate ends of my story which believe me where all over the place into a strategically articulated beautiful piece. She really had found the thread to connect all the dots! It was awe-inspiring and I couldn’t believe how happy I was with the outcome. During the essay writing process, her intelligent questions encouraged me to think differently, which ended up reflecting creatively in the essays.

Jessica was also immensely helpful in my interview prep. She helped me hone my story, offered tangible feedback, and also boosted my confidence going into my interviews, which was perhaps the most important part!

Don’t think twice about working with Jessica – she’s the best MBA coach you can work with, without any doubt! I don’t say this lightly, as I have worked with other consultants previously.

As I am going to apply for the Stanford MSx program, I have been looking for many different materials about the MSx application process and I have met Jessica Shklar’s discussion on Gmat Club, How to Fill out Stanford GSB MBA Application on Youtube.
Her explanation and insights were truly remarkable. I particularly appreciated the essay part, as it shed light on many specific details. Afterward, I contacted her and her consultation was a real game-changer. Thanks to Jessica, I managed to orientate in the application process.

Working on taking stock of my educational and professional accomplishments up until now was a helpful and interesting experience with Jessica. It was a combination of understanding what my strengths and weaknesses were and phrasing them to outline the accomplishments and filling the gaps of possible shortfalls. Going into the process, I had a solid idea that I wanted to work with Jessica, given how splendid her recommendation was from my closest friends. I chose to go with hourly services as I have previously given thought to what my story was and had limited but solid experience of pitching myself from experiences at US university coupled with working on sell-side at a private equity. Hourly services decision was also driven by me not having GMAT score (never prepped or wrote the exam) and wanting to apply to only UK universities. Should I wanted to apply for prestigious MBA programs in USA, I would have certainly gone for 3-5 school packages.
I have enjoyed fast-paced, to the point discussions with Jessica, honored turn-around times and the outcome was to make it all worthwhile (more on that below). However, where Jessica truly made a difference was taking my application to the next level – making me not a good candidate but an outstanding one for the programs that I was applying for. She identified the questions that based on my profile would be tricky to handle – I had a gap of > 6m before the start of the programme – and we worked on those with more care. Further, she was able to translate for me what the particular questions were getting at – what do your friends and family think about your plans – and identify patterns in my story to exhaustively answer those. My younger sister is considering to apply for MBA/Master’s programs and I would not hesitate to recommend Jessica to assist her in forming a story for the next stage in her professional life.
I have applied to Master in Finance at London Business School, Master in Finance at University of Cambridge and Imperial MBA (where I had a GMAT requirement waived) along with applying to Cass, NYU and Northeastern using the prompts that we have developed together. I have gotten accepted into all six universities and even received a scholarship at two of those.
I would highly recommend splurging on Admissions Consulting Services if you are taking your graduate plans seriously and Jessica if you would like to place your story in the best hands.

Summary: Jessica’s exceptional storytelling skills, professionalism, efficiency, and phenomenal mentorship and coaching, which will impact your personal and professional life beyond the MBA application process, make her the best consultant. She is undoubtedly the highlight of my MBA application process. I highly recommend contacting Jessica if you plan to apply for business school.

Jessica is an amazingly incredible mentor, coacher, motivator, and so much more than just an MBA consultant. Before my free consultation with Jessica, I spoke with a few other consulting firms. Coming from a non-traditional background, most consultants asked me to complete pre-MBA courses or study/work abroad before applying to Business School. By the time I was going to have my call with Jessica, I was already demotivated by how all the other consultants talked about my weaknesses and how I won’t be able to get admitted to any Business School without signing on with them. I was incredibly impressed by how Jessica went more in-depth, sought to understand my strengths, and helped me promote those rather than looking for my weaknesses and trying to scare me into signing on with them. I was surprised how Jessica used the 30-minute window to encourage me and give me a game plan without waiting till I signed up with her, unlike the previous consultants who always ended the conversation mid-point, prompting me to sign up with them to hear the rest. She highlighted that there is no universally accepted “ideal candidate” for a business school, and I am indeed a unique applicant, but it shouldn’t be a bad thing but a good thing. She even emailed me after our meeting explaining why she thought I should apply and even went above and beyond to share my story with a couple of her colleagues to support her feedback.

Her work ethic makes you comfortable relying on her. She reviewed some of my urgent materials even though she was on vacation. She got back to my quick questions within minutes and always gave feedback on my application materials well before the deadlines. You notice her love and passion for what she does immediately after starting to work with her. The dedication and effort she put into my application made me feel she wanted me to get into my dream school as much as I did. Sometimes I felt like I was her only client with the attention she gave me. This proves how dedicated she is to each of her clients and how exceptional she is in managing her time among all her clients to ensure no one is left behind.

Jessica is an astonishing storyteller and has an impeccable ability to draw out relevant information from you to create a unique essay. Once you sign up with MBAMission, you will be given the “Brainstorming” document, among other things. The brainstorming file is where you will get the chance to tell your life story. All the significant events in your life from childhood to now so the consultant you are working with will learn about you and strategize how to articulate your story to the admissions committee. After completing the brainstorming file, which was a 22-page file in my case, my stories were all over the place, and I couldn’t have been more confused about what I should write in my essays. I had so many different stories which I wanted to tell in my application, but I couldn’t imagine how all these would fit in or how the flow would be. During our first brainstorming call, I realized how in-depth Jessica had studied my story and even had many follow-up questions. The story, which I once thought was all over the place, was creatively and strategically articulated into a beautiful piece by Jessica at the end of our call. She raised many questions during the essay writing process, which prompted me to think differently and creatively. Her intelligent questions encourage you to think about your life differently, which will reflect creatively in your essays.

Don’t think twice! She’s the best MBA coach you can work with, without any doubt!

I started the application process very, very late (late October/early November for Round 2) relative to what seems to me to be the standard timeline most take, so I knew I needed help (and maybe a little bit of discipline/tough love). Additionally, I come from a non-traditional, albeit international, niche family business background, so I had hesitancy around how to tell my story and describe why I wanted to pursue an MBA, even though I intrinsically knew.

After our first introductory call, Jessica had already broken my life story into 3 big themes, each of which had their own subplots–as if my life was a novel. (It is evident Jessica is a total bookworm, which I think contributes her remarkable ability to tell a great story–where you are the protagonist.) From there, Jessica helped me build my story as it should be best told in essay(s) form, giving me optionality along the way.

Jessica does not make you fit an “ideal” MBA candidate mold; there is no shoehorning you into one of X buckets. Rather, Jessica makes the essays and your profile on paper fit who you really are at heart.

Bluntly, without Jessica I am wholly skeptical that I would have the opportunity to attend HBS this fall. And even if I had been rejected from every school, I at least would have been able to sleep at night knowing I gave it my best shot. Thank you Jessica!

Before I had my initial consultation with Jessica, I met with three other admissions consulting firms. I found those sessions discouraging, as they didn’t like my chances at my target schools, but also frustrating because they based their forecasts on my outdated resume, demographic and the fact that I didn’t go to an Ivy or come from an MBA feeder company. They focused on what I didn’t have. Jessica, on the other hand, took an entirely different approach. She had researched my company ahead of time and took the time to ask me questions about my background. She wanted the consultation to be a value-add for me and took the time to answer my many questions. At the end of the session, she said that she thought I was a strong candidate for my target schools and explained her rationale.

Two days later, I signed on to work with Jessica and she was extremely helpful throughout the entire process. She had confidence in my ability to succeed, which gave me the confidence I needed. Jessica has a wealth of knowledge of all things MBA admissions. Whenever I asked her a question, I got a well-thought-out answer, informed by her experience seeing what worked or didn’t for the hundreds of applicants she’s worked with. Jessica took the time to understand my background by reading every word of my 25 page brainstorming document. She then mapped that to her wealth of experience to give me extremely valuable advice. Applying to business school is a mountain of work on top of a full-time job. Jessica kept me on course. She helped me stay organized to ensure I had time to submit my best work for each component of my applications.

I ended up getting into Stanford GSB, Booth and Kellogg and am incredibly grateful for all of Jessica’s advice throughout my MBA admissions journey.

Jessica has been very transparent, helpful and smart during our collaboration. She is one of her kind because she takes care of every single detail of your profile that could enhance your chance to be enrolled for a top MBA program.

It’s been a pleasure to work with her, she has a great knowledge of all the top MBA programs and what the schools expect from the candidates. She has the ability to make your profile to be seemed stronger by investigating your fully profile starting from your childhood till now. She’s got a great work ethic which makes you relieved that there’s a great support behind you. By the help of her strategy and vision, I’ll be pursuing my MBA degree at one of the top schools in the US.

I recently had the pleasure of working with Jessica Shklar as my MBA consultant for the school application package, and I cannot recommend her highly enough. Jessica’s guidance and support throughout the entire process were invaluable, and I am truly grateful for her expertise.

From the beginning, Jessica took the time to understand my background, experiences, and aspirations. She helped me refine my career goals and identify the unique stories that would showcase my strengths and make my application stand out. Jessica’s collaborative approach not only made the process enjoyable but also allowed me to learn and grow during our time working together.

Thanks to the materials we created and the insights I gained from working with Jessica, I was able to apply to other schools with confidence. Although I did not get into HSW, I am thrilled to share that I have been accepted into an M7 school – a testament to Jessica’s exceptional guidance and support.

Jessica’s expertise, dedication, and genuine interest in my success made her an invaluable partner throughout my MBA application journey. For anyone considering an MBA consultant, I wholeheartedly recommend Jessica Shklar. With her help, you will undoubtedly put forth the best version of yourself and maximize your chances of success.

Thank you, Jessica, for your incredible support and for helping me achieve my goals.

My experience working with Jessica has been phenomenal. She is experienced, perceptive, and dedicated – qualities that make her one of the best partners in the MBA application process. And that’s exactly what working with Jessica is: a partnership. I always felt like I had nothing but her full support every step of the way. While she would provide me with feedback informed by well over a decade’s worth of experience, I very much appreciated how she made it a point to frame them as suggestions and emphasize that I was in the “driver’s seat.” I was looking for someone who would work with me, not for me, and that’s exactly what Jessica does.

Jessica cares deeply about her clients’ success, even before they are clients. From the moment I did my introductory call with Jessica, I was beyond impressed with her willingness to help me, staying in touch with me over the coming weeks as she helped me work through testing strategies and application timeline options. As the application cycle progressed, Jessica was there to provide encouragement and empathy when I’d receive disappointing news, but she was also the first to celebrate my successes.

Throughout the process, I was constantly impressed by how responsive Jessica was to any questions or concerns I had. In addition, she is incredibly organized and efficient, churning through drafts and interview prep sessions all while still providing extremely valuable and specific feedback. It’s important to note that Jessica’s feedback is sometimes brutally honest – she doesn’t mince words. But that’s exactly what makes it so valuable. Jessica has extremely high standards and she holds you to them – but in the end, it’s worth it.

Working with Jessica allowed me to put my best foot forward, and I would highly, highly recommend her to anyone else who’s looking to do the same. I’ll be attending HBS next year, an outcome that wouldn’t have been possible without Jessica’s help.

From the perspective of a graduating college student from an African university encountering deferred MBAs for the first time, the MBA application process immediately struck me as a daunting, overwhelming, and expensive experience. I was unsure if I was willing to commit to the sheer amount of hours the process demanded.

After meeting Ms. Shklar for a free consultation, however, I felt a lot more confident and had a bolstered sense of belief in myself. Here’s why:
1. Ms. Shklar offered very constructive feedback on my resume review.
– She advised me on how to better frame each bullet point on my resume, using an “accomplishments not responsibilities” framework. Combined with mbaMission resources like free insider guides and YouTube videos on how to get into respective MBA programs, this content allowed me to better contextualize my work experience.

2. She offered keen insight into how Admissions Committees work.
– I didn’t score as well as I would have liked on my GRE, hence mbaMission’s “Acknowledge/Explain/Pivot” came in very handy when explaining why this shouldn’t be an issue in my additional information section.
– Ms. Shklar’s “WISP” method was also a valuable tool I used to guide my recommenders through the dreaded “constructive feedback” essay. Of course, all these strategies were supplemented with mbaMission’s free personal statement and letters of recommendation guides.
– Not to mention, of course, the value of applying regardless of not being accepted in the deferred MBA programs.

3. She offered a personable approach.
– Even as I explained my context and background, Ms. Shklar was exceedingly understanding and gave me practical advice on how I can leverage my “Africanness” in my stories and overall application.
– Even after consultation, Ms. Shklar followed up with a catalog of resources to supplement my application process and was always open to answering any questions I had about the process.

Regardless of the outcome of my application, I am grateful for the openness and kindness Ms. Shklar showed throughout our interactions and would recommend her to any and all prospective MBA applicants.

Jessica is absolutely phenomenal — my only advice is to sign-up ASAP. Right from the introductory call to editing essays to interview prep, Jessica redefined all my expectations. She was the secret ingredient to my HBS and GSB acceptances.

Context: I signed up for the 2-school package:
1. She came highly recommended and had an extremely impressive track record: My mentor and a close college friend had both worked with Jessica, and both had received admission to their top choices
2. Introductory call: Jessica immediately put me at ease as we chatted through my background and experience — even though she had known me for all of 15 minutes, it was clear that I was speaking with someone who was not only experienced but also extremely insightful

Highlights
1. Crafts a powerful story: My favorite part about working with Jessica is that she spent a lot of time/energy in understanding me/my story. My biggest concern was that I had many varied experiences that did not necessarily flow together as a cohesive story. After our initial brainstorming session, Jessica gave me 3 strong ideas for my core essays — I was extremely, extremely impressed. She read ~30 pages on my background and within 12 hours had woven together unique, compelling narratives. The HARDEST part of the MBA process is delving deep and pushing yourself to come up with your narrative — and this is exactly where Jessica shines!
2. Encourages you to stay true to yourself: Jessica will never make you sign-up for extracurriculars etc. to fit a mold; she takes existing accomplishments to build a powerful story! This is rare — other consultants wanted me to take on additional competitions/extracurriculars that were not true to who I was
3. Attention to detail and focus on crafting consistent applications: Jessica is able to zoom out and view your application holistically (which is what AdComm will do). She does full reads of your application and encourages you to pay attention to even the short answers, ensuring that every word in your application conveys something unique and important to the school. I distinctly recall how Jessica noticed that I had highlighted contradictory points in different parts of my application — she knew my application better than I did!.
4. (Patient) accountability partner: I had procrastinated a lot (i.e., did not have the v1 draft by mid-July); Jessica was kind, but straightforward: she gave me the push that I needed to get started on my packet. Without Jessica as my core accountability partner, I might not even have gathered all the application components in time. She moved fast without compromising quality and ensured that I was able to pull together a top-notch application in <2 months.
5. Thoughtful, empathetic, and caring: Since I was running behind schedule, Jessica always made time for me (e.g., she took a call on July 4th despite it being a holiday weekend). Jessica really, really cares about her clients

Jessica has 15+ years of experience (I know 4 people who have worked with her and EACH of them has received admission to one of HBS, GSB, or both); is an excellent writer (her edits/suggestions really “punch” up the story-telling); is insightful story-teller (helps with brainstorming/ideas for every piece of the application); and is a strong communicator (she immediately recognized my weakness in interviewing would be my verbose style).

I was accepted to both schools that I applied to and can confidently say that I would never have been able to achieve this without her. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend both MBAMission & Jessica. Don’t think twice.

I had a call with Jessica once I intended to apply for an MBA and she really helped me figure out what I could do, what my points of strength are, what my areas of improvement are, and what I can do to capitalize on my profile. She also helped me a lot in figuring out which post-MBA opportunities I can leverage to strengthen my profile. I would definitely recommend Jessica to anyone who wants support in the introspection journey of finding leadership examples and developing a career game plan for their post-MBA journey. She is very helpful in brainstorming sessions!

Deciding to work with Jessica was the single best decision I made as part of the MBA application process. If you’re reading this review, I highly encourage you to reach out to Jessica to see for yourself. Having spoken with many MBAs who worked with other consultants, I can say with confidence that Jessica is in a league of her own.

Why Jessica stands out:
1. Unparalleled ability to ‘see the forest for the trees’ — Jessica’s superpower is her knack for helping her clients realize what makes their application unique. EVERY applicant has a story – Jessica is invaluable when it comes to teasing out & tailoring an applicant’s story for particular programs or application/essay prompts. I cannot stress the importance of this talent enough: every consultant will help you project manage the application process, but Jessica will help you create the best possible output. She asks idea-generating, prodding questions, looks across your applications to identify rich content and themes, and has a knack for finding the details that really help applicants stand out (details I would have NEVER identified myself). Seriously, I can’t say enough about Jessica’s capabilities on this front. She is unbelievably talented.

2. Operational excellence – Jessica keeps you on track. I applied to five schools, and Jessica ensured I never missed a beat or fell behind. Moreover, Jessica NEVER missed a deadline. She often returned substantive edits to my essays or applications well ahead of her agreed turnaround time. The regular engagement with Jessica made the application completion process fun and motivating! It was really helpful to brainstorm with Jessica asynchronously (given I was working full time) and I ultimately feel some of the best ideas came from our regular ping-ponging of essay drafts.

3. A supportive and confidence-building mentor — the MBA application process is grueling and long. You have moments of self-doubt and exhaustion. Jessica was there at all times to help me get back on the horse. This dimension of Jessica’s partnership is one I have come to deeply appreciate. More than anyone, Jessica understands what you’re going through. She helps you stay positive, focused, and productive.

Thanks to Jessica, I am headed to Stanford in the fall. Looking back, I know i couldn’t have done this without her.

I’m an applicant with many weaknesses in my application, so I reached out to someone who got admitted to one of the top MBA schools to seek advice and that person recommended that I work with Jessica. So I asked for the 30 min free consultation and in those minutes Jessica was AMAZING! She spotted my weakness, how to mitigate them, spotted my strengths, and introduced me to programs that I never heard about. After the call, I signed up with her for the four schools package, I knew after the call that it was a no brainer to work with Jessica.
In many of the reviews you will read about her skills, I agree with all of them. I believe she is an artist that takes a rusted piece of steel and turns it into a shining diamond. She really impressed me by going above and beyond, it was like a partnership rather than a consultant providing services. She gave very sound advice regarding program selections, exam selections, and application strategy.

I got an interview invitation from one of the M7 schools and I didn’t schedule it as soon as I got the invitation due to my travels, so I ended up with the first slot and only had 48 hours to prepare (and to make matters worse, the 48 hours were during the weekend). I freaked out, but Jessica calmed me down and made sure I was well-prepared. With her help, I got accepted to my first choice school that I applied to 😊. I believe that my decision to work with Jessica led me to achieve my dream to get into an M7 school.

I cannot recommend Jessica enough. Quick background about myself- Indian male, re-applicant, GMAT 730, family business, and aiming for M7s. As soon as I spoke to Jessica, I loved her energy. In the very first call, she gave me an outline of what my profile has, and lacks, and how it can be improved. From then on, it was one of the best journeys that I have undertaken. She is very informative, and understanding and is a master at articulation.

Starting from the beginning, she has standardized processes for each and every school and knows at her fingertips what exactly the school wants. She’s just so good at it that you might feel that you’ve never seen someone being so professionally good at whatever work they do. Even last-minute details are often easy to miss. The way she helps you craft the story is amazing.

There’s never a no from her end regarding how many edits you do. She even suggests changes after your write-up is finalized if she feels that there can be more value addition.

Once done with the submissions, she regularly shares updates without asking. The best part of working with her was that we had so much communication other than the work where she takes care of your much-expected anxiety and general well-being. She wants to be the first to hear your results- she’s as excited as you are for them.

Well, thanks to her I got into an M7 and though her professional obligations end there, she still is in touch with me telling me all about the best places to eat and go to in my city.

Just cannot thank her enough! If you’re dwelling on your options, stop thinking, just go ahead with her and thank me later 🙂

I genuinely could not be more satisfied with my working relationship with Jessica. She is a rockstar!

From the very beginning during our introductory call, Jessica immediately stood out against the 9 other consultants I spoke with. She read all of the materials I sent in advance of the introductory call and wow-ed me with her insight and clarity into my story and application strengths/weaknesses (even though we had only just met).

Once I signed up as a 2-school package client, Jessica met all of the table stakes expectations you’d have of an admissions consultant (responsive, professional/polite, attentive, never missing deadlines/turnaround times, strong editing skills), but then also far exceeded my expectations in the most important way — the essays and crafting your overall application narrative. I had 2-4 of the “most interesting” parts of my candidacy; however, they were VERY disparate such that I assumed I could highlight one or at most two aspects of myself in my essays. Jessica effortlessly wove everything together in one cohesive story and set us on a path to success. I was extremely impressed and knew I was in good hands!

A few final unexpected value-adds of working with Jessica… When appropriate/necessary, she would sanity-check our work with her colleagues which made me feel prioritized as a client and all the more sure of where my applications were headed. This was for some big stuff (HBS essay content) as well as some smaller, sillier stuff (what tie I wore to my interview). I valued how seriously she took my candidacy and went the extra mile to make sure I put my absolute best foot forward. Lastly, she provided emotional support during an exciting but also stressful time! I appreciated her kind words and encouragement throughout the process.

Fast forward to today, I was accepted into both of the schools I applied to, and firmly believe I would not be here without her help. I cannot recommend her and mbaMission enough.

I started the MBA consulting session with Jessica and till then she had already reviewed my resume and the story I provided. I started by asking a query and she gave me a very satisfactory response. She continued by looking at my resume which was too generalized and she helped by showing how I could present the resume in a meaningful way. She asked me a few questions and found out some great points in my life that even I hadn’t thought of and that could make a positive impact in my application. She was too direct in her approach which made the session count. The 20 min session was the best I could hope and certainly exceeded my expectations.

My consultant was Jessica Shklar. Jessica took the time to get to know me and helped me focus on my career objectives. I was terrified to apply to MBA programs because my undergraduate GPA was terrible. However, I had a graduate-level certificate and a Master’s degree, both with 4.0 GPAs. Jessica gave me actionable steps to take and provided feedback on my resume. She helped me get comfortable with talking about educational and career goals which came in great use when interviewing! I highly recommend her and mbaMission. I am from a small town so finding a support network was difficult. Jessica was able to provide the support and encouragement I needed.

I’d like to start off this review by giving a bit of context on my background and why I chose to look for MBA consulting services. I’m a Middle Eastern female first-generation graduate who had zero knowledge (except what was available to me on forums, etc.) on how to start my MBA journey. I didn’t personally know anyone that had taken the GMAT or had pursued an MBA. I decided to look into consulting services and at first, I was taken aback by how expensive they were. However, I did my due diligence and I made sure I was putting my money where I would get the most value. Enter, the wonderful Jessica Shklar. Most consultants will offer a free call for you to assess if they’d be a good match, DO THIS!!! I knew it had to be Jessica within the first 5 mins of speaking to her. She was straight to the point, asked me direct questions, and was SO quick on her feet to come up with solutions to problems. I never felt like my time was wasted or that I was falling behind in any way. My efficiency and motivation were always on track and she was there to support me in every single way. She was always the first person I wanted to bounce ideas off and was the first person I contacted when I felt demotivated – she’d always help me get back to where I needed to be. On a more personal note, the essays were a touchy subject for me. I wanted to talk about a very personal time in my life and I often found myself shying away from it, but Jessica helped me turn those stories into essays that I’m so proud of. She brought out parts of me that I now see were crucial to mention as to why I wanted to pursue an MBA. I could not have done that without her. Despite not getting into school this year, I am extremely proud of all the work Jessica and I did over the past year and a half. I recently got recruited into a new job role I’m very happy with so I plan to reapply to schools next year, and if there’s anyone I’d work with again, it would be without a doubt, Jessica. I cannot recommend her enough.

Within a few minutes of speaking to Jessica on the phone during the free consultation call, I knew I wanted to work with her. I had decided to apply R2 with only two months to write my essays and take the GRE. From our first interaction, Jessica believed it was possible for me to apply. And she never stopped believing in me and my goals throughout the entire time we worked together.

Over the next two months, Jessica helped me decide which schools to apply to, tee up my letters of recommendation, and brainstorm and craft my essays. I had initial ideas, but she helped me piece it all together in the perfect way tailored for each school. She also provided support as I studied for the GRE and transitioned jobs amid everything else. Working with Jessica made the process enjoyable, rather than stressful. I loved using the essay prompts to reflect on my values and goals, because that’s how Jessica sees the MBA application — not just as a final destination, but as a meaningful process.

The number one reason I loved working with Jessica is because she is quick — she can complete your sentences, think of solutions before you finish asking the question, and reply almost immediately to every follow up you have. It’s truly impressive. Her quick confidence gives you confidence.

I was accepted to my top schools, and I am so grateful to Jessica for everything! I can’t recommend working with her highly enough.

I came to mbaMission as a reapplicant. I had been struggling with grad school applications for months and was really in a tough spot. Deadlines were approaching, and I was overwhelmed with the process. Given my circumstances at that time, I made the mistake of working with a consultant based on their low rates. The outcome? Rejected by all schools and a year went by in a flash. I took my time to process everything and reflect. I realized that I took the process lightly. I admit it: my confidence in my 780 GMAT score and 338 GRE score made me overlook the importance of other aspects of my profile. I underestimated the MBA application process. I decided to give this another shot. This time, I took my time to vet the consultancy firms. I started attending webinars and setting up intro calls. I was looking for a consultant who believed in me at a time when my self-esteem was low. After speaking to a few major consultancy firms, I met Jessica. I first saw Jessica at a webinar. What immediately drew me to her and impressed me was how attentive and personal she is with everyone. I could tell from the start that she knew her stuff. I set up an intro call with her where we went through my professional goals, academics, and even personal traumas that led me to be where I am today. She sincerely wanted to understand the story of my life. What makes Jessica unique is that she asked questions that helped me find answers to what’s most important to me and my application. Why do I need an MBA? Why now? Why this specific school? What motivates me? What are my short and long-term goals? Jessica showed me pathways I didn’t even know existed and introduced me to programs that fit me better than my initial choices of programs. She was extremely patient with me throughout my application process, tirelessly editing and providing feedback on my essays. She is attuned to detail and a true caretaker of her students. She was always reachable when I had any questions. She was extremely knowledgeable and went into great detail about everything. I cannot say enough good things about Jessica. I’ve never met someone as passionate about consulting as she was. The best thing about working with Jessica is the personal development journey. The “personal clarity” I gained on this journey has helped me know myself better, which in turn has helped me have a clearer vision of what I want to achieve in life. With her mentorship and guidance, while navigating the whole admissions process, I got admitted into two Ivy League schools and multiple M7 schools. Not only did I get picked by those schools due to her mentorship, but I also received full-ride scholarships. Facing an already difficult decision, she helped me achieve my goal of getting into my number one choice!

It has been amazing working with Jessica from mbaMission! Working with Jessica was one of the best decisions I made throughout my MBA application process and I am confident I would not have been admitted to my top choice program if it wasn’t for Jessica’s guidance.

For context, I am an international applicant (Southeast Asia, non-English native) with a finance background (Big 4 advisory & local investment bank). Before working with Jessica, I took 3 free consultation sessions from three different companies and I found Jessica the most honest and insightful when discussing my background and goals.

There are 3 main reasons why I recommend Jessica as your admission consultant:

First, Jessica invested time to really understand my background and experience. Jessica made me talk about my story starting from early childhood until now, and she did an excellent job at pulling out what she thought was interesting from my profile and building my story from there. Through these discussions, she also guided me to shape my story into something each b-school I applied to would resonate with.

Second, Jessica really helped keep me on track with my application. The MBA application process is long, continuous, and tiring, Jessica set up detailed and achievable deadlines for each application part to ensure I can submit my application in time. She encouraged and kept me motivated to make progress on my application. Jessica’s response time was also incredible and she would provide detailed reviews and advice within a couple of days.

Lastly, Jessica truly cares about the people she works with. She took the time to reach out to me when my application did not really progress and asked if she can help with anything. She even stayed up late when I really needed quick feedback in the final days of my application (We have a 12-hour time difference).

Jessica’s guidance was a major value throughout my application process and I highly recommend her to anyone applying to an MBA program.

I highly recommend Jessica Shklar and can’t imagine going through the admissions process without her! I spoke to a number of consultants at the start of my MBA journey, but I knew as soon as I spoke with Jessica that she was the right choice for me. Jessica cut through the noise and provided me with valuable insight and the confidence I needed to move forward in the daunting application process. I applied for Round 2 and started working on applications under a tight timeline in September. Jessica kept me on track by providing fast and actionable feedback and she never missed a turnaround time. During the brainstorming process, I sent her a 40 page document with insight into my background and work experience. Jessica took the time to truly understand me and she helped me focus on the most important aspects of my story. She is a masterful storyteller and helped me craft a personal narrative that was authentic and uniquely me. I also benefited from the knowledgable perspective she shared about each program and ad com, which helped me better articulate program fit. With her guidance, I gained admission to Columbia and Wharton which were two of my top choices! Thank you, Jessica!

It was extremely late (20th of October 2021) when I decided to apply for the MBA program for the 2022 August intake. I had to apply for the R2 (January deadlines) and I did not have Gmat or Toefl taken or any MBA applications even started.

I knew I needed a great consultant to make it work and I got advice from a friend to approach Jessica. I had my first free consultation call with Jessica on the 24th of November 2021 and immediately after that I knew I wanted to work with her, because I saw creativity and a solid strategy in her thinking, and during the call and with the follow-up email that she sent, she was straight to the point, very efficient.

My stats were:
– Gmat score: 680 (took the second exam on 23 December 2021)
– EA score: 160 (took it on 26 December 2021)
– Toefl score: 112
– Work experience: 6 years
– Undergrad GPA: 3.79
– Pre-MBA Industry: PE
– Country: International (Georgia the country)

I could not afford to take any more Gmat exams because the R2 deadlines were already approaching, so I had to base my chances on the superb application and EA score, taking of which was Jessica’s idea (thank god she came up with it!). I worked on 2 schools with Jessica, I applied to 7 schools in total, out of which I got accepted to 5: Wharton, Columbia Business School (with a US$30,000 need-based scholarship), MIT Sloan (with a US$25,000 Dean’s fellowship), London Business School and NYU. Overall, we managed to curve the application in a month’s time, which was an extremely short period. Throughout the process Jessica was:
– Super fast but at the same time very thorough; I was getting answers from her faster than expected, she was considering the fact that I was on tighter deadlines; during the final days, she was answering on the same day, on multiple topics (I was rushing due to my late GMAT exam)
– She strategized with me not only on essays and the resume but on the application as a whole; she identified potential loopholes and provided solutions to them; she edited the specific texts of my application (not only the essays) based on the best parts of my brainstorming materials, which she memorized really well
– She sense-checked her ideas with her colleagues, in order to find out multiple perspectives and make sure that we were not missing anything
– She gave me emotional support, which was very important because waiting for the results and making the final decision is pretty stressful

In other words, Jessica made the impossible possible. I really couldn’t have done this without her. On top of that, Jessica is a very nice and fun person to work with, I really enjoyed working with her and would 100% recommend her to anyone!

A friend of mine previously worked with Jessica and referred me to her. I am so thankful for that referral!
From the start, Jessica was warm and funny in our conversations. She laid out a very clear guide as to how I should prepare to write my stories and set expectations for the process which helped me time-manage accordingly. I appreciated that Jessica never sugar-coated her feedback to me. She was honest about the messaging in my essays and provided very clear feedback while noting that at the end of the day it was always my decision if I disagreed. Jessica was always quick to provide me with feedback on my work, which helped move the process along and allowed me to easily hit all of the application deadlines. She was also available to chat on the phone or quickly reply to questions via email whenever needed.
Thank you Jessica for all of your advice!

For context, I signed up for the School Package (absolutely the best value, IMHO) for more than one school. I ended up with admissions to 3 of the “M7” schools with $$, including my top two choices, and I can confidently say that would not have happened without Jessica.

I truly had no idea where to start with my MBA application journey, and after dragging my feet for months and doing some research on GMAT club, I took a few free consultations with some of the top-rated consultancies on here.

Jessica was the third one I spoke with, and I immediately felt like I formed a connection with her. The other consultants I spoke with seemed to have a formulaic approach, caring only about numbers. Even during that short 30-minute intro call, Jessica was able to learn a lot about who I am as a person, what some of my goals and values are, and what our path forward would be together from there. I hung up the phone and emailed her almost instantly to sign up.

Jessica’s approach really helps you dig deeper into your own story, and allows you to focus on the content rather than grammar and syntax. She is able to help you write an extremely articulate and well-researched “why MBA, why now, why school XYZ” essay response, and then turn around and pour your heart into the paper for the more open-ended prompts.

Jessica is truly invested in your success and will answer any question you have or review/edit any piece of material at all hours of the day and night. I’m not sure how she manages it, but although I know she had dozens of clients this past cycle, I felt like I was the only one who had her attention.

I could literally go on for pages about Jessica’s professionalism, how much her services have changed my life, and just how wonderful of a person she is.

If you are thinking about working with her, I promise you, do not look back, sign up with her (the sooner the better, R1 comes quickly!), and rest assured that this will be one of the smartest and most rewarding investments you will ever make in yourself and your future.

Thank you, Jessica!!!!

Working with Jessica was absolutely great. I would recommend her to anyone. I used her hourly consult services when pulling together my executive MBA applications to Wharton and CBS.

She is extremely responsive and efficient so you know you can always depend on her to give you prompt feedback on essays or hop on the phone to answer questions. She helped tremendously by pushing me to be more clear/concise in my essays and saved me a ton of time by distilling the application process down into what’s most critical. This saved me a ton of time and stress!

Jessica was able to explain which points to emphasize most for a given school in a way I never would have known without her.

Jessica was also very constructive in how she used the consulting hours that I paid for. She always focused her efforts on what was most critical and would discuss with me how best to use the time before she went to work. I never felt time was being wasted. She was very helpful in helping me determine what package would make the most sense for me from a financial and results perspective before I committed to buying anything.

I was accepted to both schools that I applied to and know others who have had similar results with Jessica.

After reading reviews online and hearing from peers, I decided to use Jessica for a multi-school package and was blown away by the overall process and results. In short, Jessica got me into 3 T10s, including one full-ride.

Beyond her strategic thinking, industry expertise, and phenomenal writing skills, I was most impressed by Jessica’s working style and work ethic. I come from a client services industry and was quite taken aback by how incredibly efficient and productive Jessica was (e.g., responding to emails, turning around revisions, hopping on the phone to provide feedback, etc.).

The other thing that I really appreciated about Jessica was her candor. She is very direct with the feedback and recommendations she provides. There were sometimes when she outright told me she disagreed with my ideas–that may sound harsh, but that was exactly the type of partnership I was hoping for. I wanted her to push and challenge me. She did not disappoint.

Jessica was an outstanding thought-partner on MBA applications. I candidly don’t think I would’ve had my success without her. My only regret is not signing up for her sooner–she fills up quickly!

Coming from the K-12 education world, I was nervous to apply to business school because of my nontraditional and nonquantitative background. After speaking to several companies and consultants, I decided to work with Jessica because of her well-established track record and sharp expertise that came across in just one 30 minute call. Since I was 18 months away from my R1 deadlines, she first gave me specific, long-term advice to enhance my candidacy.

Once in the admissions cycle, I worked with Jessica to apply to 4 reach schools in the comprehensive package. She spent time learning my history to help me craft my experiences into a cohesive story for each application. Jessica was extremely responsive to all of my questions and gave pointed strategic advice for each school.

Jessica’s strategic guidance and brainstorming assistance allowed me to feel 100% confident that I was submitting the best applications I could. Having Jessica by my side reduced an incredible amount of stress from the application process. With her support, I’ll be attending MIT Sloan with a generous merit scholarship.

Diving into the MBA Application Process can be daunting. There are so many different parts of the application (GMAT / GRE, recommendations letter, essays…) that it is easy to get lost in the middle of it. However, having Jessica there to guide me made everything much more manageable and made my efforts much more effective. I had a million questions all the time, and Jessica always had an answer ready for each one of them. Jessica is extremely knowledgeable and inspires confidence. I am very happy to have worked with her and learned from her, and strongly urge anyone thinking about applying to an MBA to do the same.

It is a lie if anyone says they have achieved what they have, alone. For my admits to Columbia and now Wharton (with the Joseph Wharton Fellowship) the credit goes to Jessica.

We started this journey a year back. I had no prior experience of writing applications but was hyper-excited about the process. I had done dozen of calls with companies, counselors (India and International) but couldn’t decide on which one to go forward with. But when I talked to her it felt like I was talking to myself. She was attentive, effective, and very professional about her work. When you are a little successful in life you start dreaming about Ivy Leagues but the reality is quite different. I was overconfident and as much as I believed I would get through, I required someone who would keep me grounded and focussed on the process. Her guidelines, deadlines, notes and homework were absolutely spot on. It kept me on my toes and made sure I met deadlines.

But what was spectacular was when I started getting rejects. I couldn’t find anyone as personally invested in my failure as she was. She wouldn’t leave any stone unturned to keep sending updates, share her learnings and in no way let me give up or belittle myself.

From Essay writing where she knows how to strategically put content, not miss on any part of the profile yet not make it look like a mess to the recommendations which she diligently reviewed and was blatant to point out if they turned unprofessional. Her clarity of thought was what ran the show and I proudly say, I couldn’t have done it alone.

I was fortunate to have found the best counselor but now also a dear friend whom I cannot wait to meet in person.

If you need someone to help you with HBS or Stanford, look no further. Jessica is extremely pleasant, witty, sharp and very effective. With her help, I got into my dream MBA program. She helped me piece together a convincing narrative in the extremely short time we had to prepare. She was also great at refining my essays, very responsive and had very quick turnaround times. Jessica also made my application experience smoother and less stressful. I recommend her 100%.

Working with Jessica was my highlight of not only this whole process but my year. Jessica takes an incredibly stressful, arduous, and long process, and simplifies it into something that is so manageable and easy to follow. Going into working with a consultant, I had no idea what to expect, but Jessica makes you feel so comfortable and right at home from the moment you pick up your first phone call for the 30-minute free consultation. Just after those 30 minutes, I knew that she was the right person to work with. We connected so easily, and she really expresses her excitement and enthusiasm from the moment you meet her. She is a gold mine of knowledge of every school, and really understands the intricacies of each application and what to highlight to make you shine. I can say without a doubt that I would not have made it to this point without her.

Jessica listens to your story, understands the smallest details, and knows how to ask the right questions to really dive deep and get to the core of what’s important. She also never tries to change your story, she only works towards getting every detail out so it sounds as strong as possible. As someone applying on the younger side, I was a bit worried but Jessica was so motivating and encouraging along the way that I really never felt that it was a weakness in my profile. She had encouraging but honest answers to every question I asked, and even was there for me to get me back on track when I was lagging behind in the early stages of essay writing.

Jessica is truly your champion, and supports you like no other. She holds your story and profile so close to her heart and you can see the time, effort, and care she puts into making it become the best it can possibly be. She is tough at times, and is very direct and candid with her feedback — but this is what I was looking for in a consultant and what I believe made my work the best it could be.

If you want someone who is truly on your team, who supports you through all the highs and lows of the process, and really cares about you, Jessica is all of this, and more. There is no end to what I could say about how great of a consultant, and even more than that, person, she is.

Dear Future Admitted Students,

First and foremost, as a reapplicant in the MBA process and an extremely curious person, I have read a lot of information about all aspects covering the application process from the most reliable sources, such as GMAT Club, Poets & Quants, mbaMission, and others. It’s valid to mention that I have joined, easily, more than 40 online events from a lot of schools and third-party webinars, including Centre Court. Second, I have worked with 3 different admissions consultants in the 2020-21 applications cycle, in which I applied for 7 schools, to only get waitlisted (Haas).

That being said, as I have an atypical profile, I engaged pretty seriously in finding the BEST person to help me, so I decided to give a shot to mbaMission. After reading the profiles and watching ALL video presentations at the site, I finally picked JESSICA SHKLAR to be my consultant. In the very first minutes of the call, being really empathetic with my goals, she laser-focused on rearing my story and on which aspects of my previous applications to improve. It was pretty impressive to see her in action since in 30 mins, she had already laid a plan and rationale to best present me to the adcom. Indeed, this is a CRITICAL part of the process, because the candidate will have to address this logic not only in the essays but also in some interview questions. For instance, “walk me through your resume”, “tell me about yourself”, “how did you get to this point of your career”, and others.

Another point that is truly vital, if not the MOST one, is the school’s selection. Certainly, this is a scary part of the process, because the candidate wants to pick her/ his dream school, but be realistic in getting accepted. Jessica, continuing exceptionally proactive and encouraging, sent me an email in less than 20 min after our call, laying out the best schools for me. To my surprise, she hand-picked schools and programs that are in the top 10 schools of US News. She remarkably maximized my chances by doing so.

In a nutshell, in my point of view, MBA applications are all about strategy and Jessica has extraordinary interpersonal and “MBA skills” to address all the candidate’s needs to land a spot in one’s dream school. She constantly impressed me with her ability to provide feedback in a direct, candid, and fast manner. Also, she responded to general questions exceedingly reliably and timely. Noticeably, I was pleasantly surprised with how effectively she dug into my personal and professional background to help me present my goals and storyline. Additionally, she was able to set an application strategy efficiently and successfully, landing me a spot in my dream school. By the way, I’m still waiting for the decision of 2 more schools, both top 10.

Ultimately, I highly recommend Jessica and mbaMission to anyone both looking to apply to a competitive MBA program and searching to have a joyful application experience. Trust me, it makes all the difference. I, definitely, would not have made it without her guidance, insights, and genuine support. As Isaac Newton said: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

I needed guidance to narrow down my options and identify the best programs for my profile before I could consider whether or not to purchase admissions consulting services to apply to those programs. Essentially, to understand if the programs I was aiming for were a stretch for my profile (important to invest in support), or if I could reasonably aim for admission with a strong, solid application (i.e. I was a desirable candidate). Jessica was simply excellent. She was direct, informative, astute and patient with my evaluation process. We had 3-4 email exchanges where we bounced around ideas and weighed pros and cons of various programs. I genuinely expected to engage the services of mbaMission by the 2nd email exchange, as I was so impressed with Jessica, versus the 2 other brief phone consults I’d had with other services. But in the end, after I dove back into my program selection with a bit more guiding light, I decided to forge into the application process solo – without paid consult – and was admitted to UCLA FEMBA and HAAS EWMBA. Haas later offered me a place in EMBA, with a scholarship to support switch, and I took the opportunity.

I wrote Jessica to thank her after because our exchange stayed with me. She was excellent. If I’d had any hesitation about the strength of my application or competitive candidacy, I would absolutely have engaged her services to boost my chances of admission.

Jessica has been an amazing guide! She was recommended to me by a former MIT Sloan grad and I did not look back. I applied to only one school and started applying c. 3 weeks before the deadline – and yet I managed to get an offer.

She worked with me intensely during the application and figured out my story much better than I could put down in words! I had used a different consultant in a previous application, which was cheaper, but the care and attention that Jessica provided was honestly amazing and I would definitely say, you get your money’s worth.

I am quite sure that without her help, I would have not gotten in – would highly recommend!

I partnered with Jessica during my reapplication process to prepare for the HBS interview and post-interview reflection. Her contributions were critical in my getting admitted to HBS.

I first spoke with Jessica when I was putting together my essay for HBS reapplication. While I came to the 30-minute free consultation with multiple, half-baked ideas, Jessica quickly grasped the essence of the story I wanted to convey and shared a couple of powerful narratives to shape my story better. She cut through the noise and helped me find the central theme for my essay. As a reapplicant, I had a bunch of questions that she answered extremely patiently and more importantly, candidly.

I reached out to Jessica again once I got invited to interview with HBS for interview preparation. During the mock interview, Jessica’s diligence and preparation were visible as her questions covered the depth and breadth of my application. She has a great pulse of the admission committees’ thought process and some of the mock interview questions came up in my final interview! Her feedback was well-rounded, focusing on the content of my answers as well as the softer aspects of communication. Thanks to her I felt confident walking into the interview.

However, the thing that stood out the most for me was Jessica’s “at-cause professionalism”. In a process that can be stressful due to tight timelines, she ensured timely discussions and delivery of deliverables. Even in the one instance where she was unavailable, she let me know months in advance and ensured that I was tagged to another consultant for support. Jessica always went out of her way to share material/suggestions, irrespective of whether I was working with her or not.

While we worked together for only a few months, I wish I had come to her in my first year of applications. She is a wonderful thought partner to have by your side as you navigate through B-school applications.

TLDR: Do yourself a favor, choose Jessica Shklar, and forget everything else.

First Impressions:
Meeting Jessica via the free consultation (4-school package for R2 apps) sold me on working with her. I had had preview sessions with two other top firms, but those felt cold and artificial compared to Jessica’s style. At the time, I was in the process of studying for my GMAT and one other firm was unwilling to start working with me until I completed the exam. I was running out of time for R2 apps, and Jessica understood that the application process more often than not is a messy and haphazard process. Coupled with experiencing her deep insight over the 30-minute call, Jessica accommodating the real-world circumstances of busy applicants was yet another mark of her competence in my opinion.

Consultation process:
She was extremely organized which was key in knocking down 4 B-school applications to M7 schools in the period of 4 months, while also providing morale support as I studied for the GMAT. There were established rules in place to maintain the organization and flow of essay reviews, brainstorming chat etc, but when it mattered, she was willing to go above and beyond, working day and night and even with at one point with a badly sprained wrist (on her dominant hand)! And she came through more than once.
Regarding essays, Jessica is not merely an editor – she is a storyteller and muse. Initially, when you do try your best to describe your own life, you realize how it pales in comparison to the final draft. This is not because it is embellished or anything like that; it’s because she helps you tease out your motivations and cogent reasons behind the key plots in your story and stitches it in a way that is amazing. I know she is a habitual reader (sometimes finishing books in a single day) and so storytelling isn’t just a job – it’s part and parcel of who she is, and this benefit is reflected in the essays she helps you with.

Conclusion:
One of the first things she helps you with is reviewing any pre-existing school choices you’ve made. She gets to know you and then accesses your compatibility with your POST-MBA goals, your dreams, and your personality. Clearly, she isn’t just trying to crank out essays or maximize admit rates for her firm. She genuinely wants to mold your application to represent the best version of yourself. She cannot guarantee outcomes (no consultant can), but you leave with a feeling of extreme satisfaction in the effort put towards application. I got into one of them, but it was not my dream school, unfortunately. But the fact that I still write this review is a testament to the positive force that is Jessica Shklar. I gained more than just an elite application package; I also gained a renewed understanding of myself.

I first reached out to Jessica in early August and was aiming to apply for round 1 for just one school. I was juggling studying for the GMATs, while also trying to wrap my head around how to tell my story (not to mention all the other things like a resume, letters of recommendations, short answers, etc.). Once you start the admissions process, you realize how many parts there are to it and how you would be severely disadvantaged by not having someone like Jessica on your team.

I spoke to several consultants before speaking to Jessica and she got right to the point and provided valuable feedback and insight. I knew I only had a few weeks to prepare an application for the top school so I needed someone who I could trust and count on. Jessica is so prepared, organized, and never misses a deadline. That’s what she promised on the call, and she delivered 10x. I ended up applying to the top 3 schools by Round 1 and was accepted to one of them. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Jessica was the main reason I received the acceptance. Every step of the process she provided value (even to little details like how many group members I should indicate in the extracurricular group I was part of). Those little things add up and she looks at everything holistically. Jessica got to know me super well and brought up stories to use as examples for short answers that I had forgotten about. She really knows the schools that you’re applying to and has the track record to know what has been successful and not. I have already recommended her and mbaMission to multiple people because I TRULY believe that you are severely disadvantaged without someone like Jessica. It’s worth the investment over and over again. Even if I had not gotten into any school, I know that I would not have had any regrets because I really know that we put together the best package and story that we possibly could have – I think having no regrets is more valuable than anything else.

Thank you so so much again, Jessica!!!

Jessica is simply amazing. I first contacted her 5 years ago but for one or another reason I could not continue with the application process.
I contacted her 4 months ago to restart the application process to YALE SOM and she was just as amazing, or even better, than 5 years ago. I decided to work with her because you instantly know when someone is going to really help you achieve your lifetime goals.
Applying to YALE SOM for the Master in Advanced Management, a dual program that you are only eligible for if you are a current MBA student of the global network was a difficult target to achieve but working with Jessica side by side gives you that confidence that you do not always have by doing things on your own.
She guided me through the essays, resume, video questions, and the interview. Through all the process she was outstanding and always adapting to get the most out of you in the most efficient way possible.

Deciding whether to hire a consultant or not is of course a tough decision at some point in your planning process, but if you ask me I would definitely work with Jessica again and again and even more knowing that I have been accepted to YALE SOM!

Thanks again Jessica for guiding me through this next chapter of my life,

Jorge

Jessica is outstanding, she helped me understand that Stanford’s MSX was a great fit for me.

Applying to a top program can be overly stressful but with the support from Jessica, it didn’t seem all that hard. Mainly because she breaks it down is multiple milestones. Her process of doing exhaustive guided brainstorm, combined with 1:1 sessions to reflect before drafting anything is a key differentiator that sets her and mbaMission apart. Jessica is also a top storyteller and will help you tell the story in a way that is engaging and authentic. Also expect no delays in her turnaround, at times it’s hard to keep up, but that’s what you want when applying to a top program: a pace keeper that guarantees that the process keeps on moving.

I would strongly recommend the end-to-end school packages, it certainly worked for me.

The level of deep connection that one develops in this process with her is unique, Jessica has become a mentor, a friend, and someone I will continue to go back on advice as life goes on.

When I started looking for an MBA admissions consultant, I did the free 30 minute sessions with a few different companies. Most of them were good, but I felt like they were just saying what I wanted to hear. They were very much like cheerleaders. When I got to the free 30 minute session with Jessica (after one of my best friends from college recommend her to me), it was a completely different experience. The 30 minutes were super productive and she was very objective with my candidacy – she highlighted what I had going for me, but most importantly, she identified my areas of weakness and proposed how she would work with me to address them. It was definitely a tough session, but that’s when I realized that’s exactly what I needed for the process – Someone that would be critical of my application as that would allow me to put my best foot forward. After signing up with her for the 4-school package, I was very satisfied with the service I received. She was very responsive (48 hour turnaround system) and always answered my questions thoroughly (I had lots of questions throughout the process so I really appreciated this). When I submitted my applications, I felt satisfied that regardless of the outcome I had put my best foot forward. If you want a real coach (vs. just a cheerleader), I highly recommend Jessica. Worth every dollar.

Jessica and I hit it off instantaneously in my consultation. I could tell within five minutes of speaking with her that she is deeply invested in not only her clients’ success but getting to know them personally.

Working with Jessica on all of my applications only further solidified my expectations. She went above and beyond to get to know me and what matters to me so that we could craft a unique and personal story for my applications. As someone who had no experience or idea how much work the application process was going to be, she was the best partner ensuring everything was done in a timely and organized manner. During such a nerve-wracking time, it was so great to know I had such an experienced and thoughtful person in my corner. It also doesn’t hurt that she got me into one of my dream schools!!

I had friends that applied to business school at the same time as myself that used different consulting companies, and the amount of time and effort Jessica put into helping me was above and beyond what my friends experienced. This along with all of the amazing reasons I stated above confirmed that Jessica is the best person for the job. If I had to go through this process again I would 100% utilize Jessica’s help, and thus I would recommend her to anyone and everyone!

Jessica was an amazing coach helping me get accepted to Wharton. She had amazing insights into how to tell my story and position myself despite my weaknesses. Jessica is not only extremely caring and understanding but also effective and efficient. Her insights were golden and her turn-around was extremely fast without compromising on quality. She has her own system which I’ve never seen before that helps you really craft the best application possible through a guided and iterative process. She asks the right questions and her incisive mind always has you thinking long after a conversation. Jessica is able to swiftly extract your strengths and weaknesses and help craft your story in a way that will make you stand out. As an unusual candidate with a non-linear background, the approach I was going to take before consulting Jessica was completely different and probably the wrong approach. With her wisdom and advice, I was able to use my different background as strengths and craft a much more compelling narrative that I am sure made a big difference in me getting into the school I dreamed of.

Jessica is one of the most impressive people I’ve ever worked with. She is genuinely invested in her clients – the care she puts into her work is almost maternal. Her guidance was invaluable, and I always came away from our conversations feeling better equipped to handle the next step. She provided concrete, actionable steps at every stage and with her help, I truly believe I put my best foot forward. MBA applications can feel isolating at the best of times, and during lockdown especially so. Jessica ensured this was not the case, and was along for the journey every step of the way.

If you are fortunate enough to get to work with Jessica, you would be making a huge mistake to do anything else. She is highly sought after by the world’s top candidates and is absolutely best in class. I applied to six of the M7 and was accepted to all six schools including one with a full tuition scholarship. From the start of working together, Jessica took the time to really get to know me. She studied my intake materials and my story in detail, spending hours on the phone to learn more, ask questions, and genuinely understand who I am as a person. This is a critical and distinctive part of the process as she sees all her clients as unique and will never encourage you to put your story into a preexisting mold. She went further to help prompt my own reflective process so that I could personally explore better what it was I want to do with my life and career, something that was critical to communicating who I was effectively in my applications. (Many consultants I spoke to seemed ready to gloss over these more intangible components of the self-discovery process and leave you telling an uncompelling, half-baked story of who you are. Jessica, on the other hand, always had time for me.) She was a great encouragement in the process, but most importantly she would provide tough love when my stories didn’t communicate who I really was and left a part of me out of what I was communicating. The last thing you want is a consultant who is not encouraging you to find and communicate the truest, most compelling version of who you are.

It is an incredibly big decision to trust someone to serve as a guide in applying to business school, a process that can have life changing outcomes. You can trust 100% trust Jessica in this role, and you will find yourself with someone who is a true partner in the process and who is genuinely invested in your success – something you won’t find from many other consultants focused on churning through a higher volume of clients. I spoke to nine consultants before deciding who to work with, including some of Jessica’s highly rated peers, and Jessica stood out meaningfully relative to the others. As someone who was in your shoes very recently, I can’t recommend enough that you work with Jessica!

Jessica really helped my application shine. From my initial consultation, she gave me advice and really took the time to understand my background. I have a 2.9 GPA and never thought I could get into 1 of my target schools.

Jessica’s core skill, besides knowing the ins and outs of the admission process, is storytelling. We spent hours carefully refining the story until it was perfect. Not only is Jessica a great storyteller, but also she goes the extra mile. If it were late responses or fast turnarounds, she was extremely reliable and helpful throughout by 3-school package journey.

I would recommend Jessica to any underdog applicant – a great story with Jessica’s help will go a long way.

Jessica was instrumental in forming my application. As an applicant with ZERO background in typical business industries and no one in my social or professional circles to turn to for advice I was in need of help.

Jessica started by helping me determine my competitiveness at my target school and helped me form a strategy that would maximize my chances of getting in. I ended up determined to go to this one school and put all my eggs in one basket.

Unsure of how to craft my essays to present myself in the best way, Jessica aided me in doing important introspection, thoroughly discussing how to use my professional path and experiences to present a cohesive and compelling story about myself and future goals. Even if I had not been admitted to my target school this step would have undoubtedly helped me progress in my career. Once I was fortunate enough to be selected for an interview, Jessica helped me prepare for some of the tough questions candidates usually receive but really knowing my story, because of her help, is really what prepares you for anything.

Going through this process with her was undoubtedly helped me gain admission to the ONE school I chose to apply to and I have no doubt will help me in the future when applying for jobs or interviewing.

When I started my process of looking for MBA consultants, I was pointed in the direction of Jessica Shklar at MBA mission.
A friend of mine said that he tried to get on her list, but she was already booked up during the previous application cycle. With that in mind – I hopped on her list very early. I was skeptical at first, but from our first phone call, I realized why Jessica was in such high demand. Her ability to help me open up and reflect on my own experiences to not only create the most comprehensive application but also help me to understand my worth as a professional was something I never knew I needed until I worked with her.

Jessica is incredibly knowledgeable about the application processes at all of the top MBA programs and one of the many benefits of working with her is the consultant/admissions network she brings to the table. Because of her experience in the industry, she can use her network to get the perspective of others when she doesn’t have the perfect answer (which is rare 😊).

In addition to her support in helping me reflect and articulate my thoughts in my application, Jessica also helped me turn around an A+ application in less than a month. Due to COVID-19, I decided to apply round 3 rather than Round 1 this fall. Jessica quickly helped me adjust my game plan, and although she doesn’t usually work with R3 applicants, she adjusted, and we got to work straight away without hesitation. I knew it was a stretch and a rushed process, but with Jessica’s guidance, I was able to pull it off and got into my top school.

Not only was Jessica helpful in guiding me through the process, but she was also able to help me manage my stress and keep me motivated to accomplish the task of finishing a polished application in the shortest time possible. I honestly wouldn’t have been able to get through this time without her.

Overall, Jessica is much more than a consultant – over the short time that we worked together, she became a friend, confidant, and source of support for me. Jessica also knows how to push you out of your comfort zone and gives incredibly thoughtful feedback when reviewing your work. If I had not worked with Jessica, to put it simply, I would have been lost without her given the short amount of time I had to turn a great application around.

If you can get on her shortlist – do it. You will take much more than an acceptance to your dream school away from the experience. Thank you, Jessica.

Jessica is remarkable at her job and is the best of the best among MBA admissions consultants. I had shopped around with 5+ different consultants before committing to her and I’m so glad that I did. Jessica has a process down that really gets me to be reflective and think about who I am and what I want out of business school. She made the process so easy to engage in and streamlined a lot of the work. She’s incredibly thorough and diligent, I never had any doubt that she was adding value each time we engaged. She also followed up with me multiple times to check in and see how I was doing…she really cares! Even with the hourly services, I felt like she really provided a TON of value. She is incredibly quick and thorough at her reviews and spends time only on the things that I asked her to spend time on. I will be going to the school of my dreams in the fall (HBS). I also got into other top tier programs as well (Sloan/Wharton). THANK YOU to Jessica – I recommend that anyone who wants results should work with her.

I have tremendously valued Jessica’s support over this past admissions cycle.

In my original consultation long before I even signed on for her services, Jessica provided concrete, actionable advice, and steps I could take to improve my business school candidacy. After I signed up for a multi-school package, Jessica was extremely helpful in designing compelling narratives for my applications, building a superb overall story, and assisting with every little imaginable detail over the whole process. I think Jessica’s greatest strength is her capacity to make a candidate’s profile come off as truly special given the candidate’s existing accomplishments. In this regard, her storytelling ability is remarkable.

I am thrilled to report that I will be attending one of my primary target schools. If you are looking to inject a genuine, affecting character element within your application, I highly recommend Jessica’s services. It is an excellent investment in your own future.

Going into the application process being almost 30, from India and with an ok score only served to make me skeptical if this was the journey I needed to pursue over the coming months. All it took was one consultation call with Jessica for me to dive in and avail a multiple school package with her. From my end I did everything wrong as I kept extending my GMAT exam dates or couldn’t get past the dreadful score but in the end Jessica stood by patiently and kept encouraging me to put my best foot forward and trust in myself.

Heading into December and with only a month left before the round 2 applications were due, I was tremendously impressed with the roadmap that Jessica created to get me back on track be it getting LOR/ editing resumes/ having a detailed brainstorm session and last but not the least creating an extensive structure for each and every essay. Over the next month we worked arduously on getting each and every application fine-tuned to perfection. To this day I wish I could get a walkthrough of how she manages multiple clients and yet manages to churn out everything within the deadline proscribed and with impeccable perfection.

In using her structure and creating a thought process around what my story was, I was able to apply and get admitted into 4 programs. Even though I was waitlisted for the schools I had sought her help on, I would be wrong to not admit that they were stretch schools given my profile. The fact that I am still in contention is only a testament to how far Jessica’s expertise and help came handy during the process.

I have no qualms in recommending Jessica and her expertise about the MBA application process to any prospective student.

Jessica is hands down the best in the business! When beginning my search for the right admissions consultant to work with, my biggest concern was whether the investment would be worth it. After initial consultations with numerous admissions consultants, I still had my doubts. That was until I spoke with Jessica. I knew right away from that initial consultation with Jessica that she was who I wanted to work with. What immediately stood out for me was her genuine passion and excitement to work with me, and that enthusiasm never wavered throughout the application process, from that initial consultation to my acceptance to my dream school!

Jessica’s approach is direct and honest, so you’ll get the best advice and feedback without any sugarcoating. This is the approach you need if you’re aiming for a top school, and it’s amazing how her feedback helped transform my weak first draft essays to powerful and impactful essays that told my story in the best way. Along with this fantastic approach, Jessica has a great background and extensive experience; she’s seen pretty much everything there is to see, so she can give guidance in any scenario. This was especially helpful for me since I was a non-traditional applicant that didn’t have friends or colleagues in my industry I could go to for advice. She always had time for even the silliest of my questions. Most importantly, Jessica was dedicated and committed to my success throughout the entire application journey. It was a big confidence booster for me knowing that she was in my corner to help me navigate through all the stressful and tough challenges that the application process can pose.

I can’t say enough just how incredibly valuable it was working with Jessica. If you’re on the fence about an admissions consultant like I was when I started my application process, do what I did, and schedule an initial consultation with Jessica. You’ll quickly see that Jessica is a cut above the rest – she’s truly the best in the business and you won’t find someone better that can help you achieve your dreams!

Two years after working with Jessica, as I’m about to graduate from my MBA, I am still seeing what value she has been to me, not only in the MBA application process but in job recruiting and post-MBA as well. In my job search, the HR director for a multi-national company repeated over the phone how powerful and impactful my resume is. 85% of the resume is directly from what Jessica and I worked on, and for the other 15%, I have updated since then using the skills and messaging she taught me. Additionally, I have used a lot of points and messaging from the essays we crafted together for cover letters to companies and top consulting companies (MBB) that I got interviews for.

Jessica was an invaluable ally and friend throughout the MBA admissions process. She always provided thoughtful and candid feedback, critical insight about the application process, and friendly reminders about the myriad of deadlines when balancing multiple applications. It was evident even from my first free consultation that Jessica cared deeply about each client and really focused on getting to know each of them. If you are considering an MBA consultant, schedule a free consultation now before she books up, you won’t regret it!

The thing I want to highlight is how Jessica’s diverse set of experiences makes her the perfect sounding board as you assemble your application. First, she earned her undergrad in anthropology, which opens up a whole new dimension of perspectives as you discuss your experiences and goals. Second, she is an HBS graduate, who clearly understands what it takes to be admitted and succeed at a top tier MBA program. Finally, after HBS she volunteered to help public school students with their college applications, which shows you this is truly her passion.

Jessica took a real interest in my success and went through my materials with a fine-tooth comb. I really appreciated her feedback and perspective throughout the application process. I was able to use select materials from our sessions and MBAMission’s broader resources for other schools I applied to that I did not work directly with Jessica on which was an added benefit.

I could tell from the very first time I spoke with Jessica, during my initial mbaMission phone consultation, that she’s extremely knowledgeable and experienced. Right after that initial phone call, I knew that if I were to hire a consultant that it would have to be her, so I immediately put myself on her list of upcoming clients (she fills up fast).

Even though the school packages are pretty expensive, once I started working with Jessica I knew I had made the right decision. None of the advice she gave me was ever cookie cutter, and she has the experience of having worked with countless clients over many years. This wealth of experience proved valuable on multiple occasions, as I had to navigate a few confusing situations and bumps on the road during my MBA application journey. If I hadn’t had Jessica to lean on, I’m not sure if I would have figured everything out.

Not only is Jessica extremely knowledgeable about the schools and the admissions process, but she’s also a master storyteller. You have to put in all the work, obviously, but Jessica provides endless feedback, suggestions, and input along the way. She was always there when I needed to ask how a certain section of my essay sounded or whether there was a better way to convey a certain point. And she doesn’t beat around the bush—if she thinks an essay needs work, she’ll tell you. I really appreciated that she was direct and straightforward because I think a lot of other consultants (or friends, family members, etc) just tell you what they think you want to hear. In addition, even though I was living overseas in a totally different time zone, Jessica was always quick to respond and on time with everything, which is really important when the deadlines are so tight.

Throughout the process, I grew to see Jessica as a trusted friend. After all, the MBA application process involves deep introspection and takes place over a fairly long period of time, so I felt like we really got to know each other. I can’t recommend her highly enough, and anyone would be lucky to work with her. In the end, I got accepted to several top programs (and Jessica was once again helpful with bouncing ideas back and forth when deciding which school to attend). I’m excited to attend one of the top MBA programs this fall, and if I could go back in time I would absolutely hire Jessica again.

If you are looking for a consultant who is an excellent communicator and has deep experience bringing together successful applications, look no further than Jessica Shklar at mbaMission. She knows how to get applicants admitted into the nation’s top programs.

Her expertise resonated in every interaction with me, as she helped me focus my attention on the most important tasks and helped me polish my application. Her experience and ability to communicate her thoughts clearly are worth every penny and cannot be emphasized enough. I am a busy person and cannot afford to waste time on numerous iterations of my resume, essays, or general profile. Building on Jessica’s feedback, I was able to expeditiously polish all the above— which in some cases involved cosmetic fixes and in others, broad rewrites. Jessica’s ability to quickly hone in on the important elements of the application and succinctly communicate how “ready” any particular deliverable was made working with her a pleasure.

I was extremely busy throughout the process and had to rely heavily on Jessica’s organization. Having done this numerous times, she has a birds-eye view of the process that helped me meet my deadlines and refine my approach to items such as recommender selection and interview questions in a timely manner.

I ended up getting accepted to Wharton and did not have to spend time applying elsewhere. Thanks to Jessica, I knew what to expect, got prescient feedback on my application and expectations, and was accepted into my first-choice school. If you are on the fence, don’t be. Call her and let her help you make your wishes a reality.

Jessica was my #1 resource and advocate during the application process. Coming from a non-traditional background was intimidating, as I had no other guidance or friends who had previously applied for MBA programs. Jessica is a wealth of knowledge; from her insights into AdCom to the depth of her essay edits, she guided me every step of the way. Jessica put structure around what can feel like a very daunting process and helped me tell my story in a compelling way. I am thrilled to have gotten into my dream school! I truly could not have gone through this process without her!

To start, Jessica takes the success of her students as truly her own. I was shocked by the amount of dedication and energy she brought to presenting my application in the best light, and I can confidently say she does the same for all her students.
Besides having a profound insight into what admission committees are looking for in an applicant, she made it a point to believe in me and my story, allowing me to be proud of my application, and enabling me to put my best foot forward through the entirety of the process.
I applied to H/S/W. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I’d get into all three. Words cannot express how grateful I am for Jessica’s help – an “admission’s consultant” sure, but also a special friend and coach! If you get the opportunity to work with Jessica, you will find yourself lucky for having done so and thankful you did.

Jessica provided invaluable advice throughout the re-application process. She helped me decide which schools to focus on. Jessica was most helpful in reviewing my essays. She was quick to respond and met her deadlines. I am so glad that I got to benefit from working her. I’ll be attending at top business program this fall! I would recommend that anybody work with Jessica. She has a special skill for understanding the heart of an applicant’s story. As a nontraditional applicant, I felt uniquely supported by Jessica’s abilities. She came from the nonprofit education world, as well. Jessica knows how to frame nontraditional stories in a way that speaks to top programs. Thank you Jessica!

Jessica is an absolute dream to work with. I was extremely impressed by her diligence, organization and thought that she gave my application. Her input was extremely helpful and extremely timely (something that should not be overlooked, given tight timelines for schools). I think her greatest skill is her input. Not only is it extremely well thought through, but it also is extremely simple to understand and actionable. Yes, MBA applications are stressful particularly when applying to multiple schools, each with tight deadlines, but from the moment we had our introductory call, I felt at ease with Jessica and knew she would help me achieve my goal of getting into my dream school (and she did!). If in doubt, just have the introductory call and you’ll see what I mean.

mbaMission has a collection of resources, templates, and guidelines for its consultants. Its a great company because their standardization and databasing makes it so that a consultant that simply follows instructions and pulls on archived resources would likely be quite helpful. Jessica routinely exceeds the expectations set forth in the agreement by responding faster than prescribed, tailoring the already high-quality templates to your story, and straight-up creating content when it makes sense. Her veteranship in this space is valuable – anecdotes about past clients and wisdom from discussions with other consultants and adcom personnel help significantly. She’s talented at synthesizing what she learns about you to help you answer the questions that these applications pose

Before deciding to work with Jessica, I had free consultations with other admissions consulting firms. I left all these consultations disappointed – they didn’t provide any valuable advice and most of the time discouraged me from applying to my dream schools. And then I came across mbaMission, and immediately felt a connection to Jessica after reading her bio on their website (and the reviews on gmatclub) After my initial, 30-min free consultation with her, I was beyond excited to work with her! The packages were way above my budget, but I took the risk of buying a 3-school package and drowning a big chunk of my savings as an international student from an emerging country. However, I’m glad I did it. Today I can happily say that working with Jessica was the best decision that I’ve made in a while. She not only helped me gain admission to Wharton, but she also helped me see the worth in myself. I’ve now also become more skilled at articulating my thoughts as a non-native English speaker, and this has helped me greatly at work too. I’ve come to know myself much better, am so much more confident. It’s all thanks to Jessica – she had confidence in me and showed me that I had strengths that I wasn’t even aware of before. A few more things – Jessica doesn’t sugarcoat anything, but she’ll be your biggest supporter. Whatever you dream of – she’ll be there to support you and make sure that you put forward the best application possible. I can’t recall the times I’ve sent her emails at awkward times of the day, about random things that I was freaking out, and she was always there to respond! She almost most of the time responds before the 2-day deadline – I haven’t met anyone as committed to her job as she is. I can’t recommend her enough to anyone considering working with an admissions consultant. Jessica will always make you feel as if you’re her only client, and will be your best friend throughout this tough process. Thank you once again, Jessica!

I worked with Jessica to prepare an R1 application via a 2 school package. The free consultation in the beginning before I even signed up for the package was what sold me. Right from the beginning, she was very straightforward in terms of evaluating my application, and I felt that she was earnest in trying to really give me a free consultation as opposed to making a sale. She went straight to some crucial questions and provided insightful initial feedback. Throughout the process, Jessica made the application process much less stressful in the following ways:
1) Very professional and organized, made the 2-business day turnaround with every single e-mail or piece of writing I sent her, no matter how small
2) Multiple edits of an essay until I felt like it was the best expression of my story and message that I could make
3) Insight into applying to b-school from a unique background. Preparing my application with Jessica made me feel confident in my chances despite my background.
4) Review of nearly every single word that I submitted in my application, I truly felt I had another pair of eyes working with me throughout the entire process
5) An extremely helpful mock interview that was very close to the real interview. Provided insightful but realistic advice prior to my interview
6) Extremely supportive throughout the entire process, from creating a story, preparing the rest of the application, the interview process, and the waitlist process. It was always comforting to receive check-in emails throughout the process, including anxiety-ridden days like the day before application submission, day before interview invites, day of interview, waitlist period.

I was waitlisted at my top choice in R1. While discouraged, I received support from Jessica throughout the next grueling few months. She helped me craft an update letter that ultimately led to acceptance off the waitlist at HBS!

Overall, Jessica was instrumental to my success in this application cycle, and I cannot imagine going through this process without her. I highly recommend applicants to at least schedule a consultation with her to see for yourself the ways that she may be able to help augment your application process. In the grand scheme, the school package was definitely worth it, as it made me feel that she was always on my side working with me to get the best application possible.

I cannot understate how important Jessica was to the success I had applying to top programs. Even beginning from our first brainstorming call, I knew she was deeply invested in my success and took the time to get to know me and really understand my story.

Her knowledge of the nuances of individual programs was immensely helpful, and I felt that together we really tailored all of my apps to individual school values. Jessica is an excellent storyteller/writer/editor and really helped me sharpen my narrative. Her edits, which were often returned ahead of schedule, were always crisp and insightful. I have no doubt that the applications I eventually submitted were far more professional as a result of working with her.

I feel Jessica really stands out in the level of mentorship/support she provides to her clients. Whenever I had a random question about a program or was feeling uncertain about a portion of my app, she would provide thorough guidance via email or pick up the phone at a moment’s notice to guide me.

Overall, I was admitted to 5 M7 programs, including numerous scholarship offers. I firmly believe I would not have had that success if it were not for Jessica and her expert guidance.

I highly recommend working with her. You will not be getting some general, unspecific advice—you will be getting highly tailored, individualized guidance from someone who has an unparalleled amount of industry knowledge and cares deeply about the success of her clients.

I worked with Jessica for 2020 intake and I can confidently say that was the best decision I could’ve made in my MBA journey. She saw promise in someone who didn’t necessarily see it in themselves. Now, I’ll be attending my dream MBA program this fall and I am incredibly thrilled!

A little background on my profile – 3.0 GPA from an average international university with 3 years experience in the world of finance (middle-office for a trading desk). My target school was a very competitive M7 program. In my mind a longshot. In Jessica’s mind, quite doable if I put forth the necessary effort.

From the initial call, we began to strategize as to how I could position myself best for upcoming applications. She provided support and guidance through the initial steps of GMAT and building out a more robust profile. Once it came time to start on applications, Jessica’s insight and guidance were key. There are two key insights that she brings via experience – what experiences/things AdComs look for in an application, and, most importantly, how to tell your story in a gripping and unique manner while also showing them your authentic self.

Additionally, her directness forced me to be honest with myself and her energy consistently motivated me to be and do better. She was quick with valuable feedback and if she needed a second opinion, she would not hesitate to ask a colleague to aid in the process.
When I was accepted to my target program, I walked away from the experience thinking of how lucky I was to have had the chance to work with Jessica. I guarantee, if you choose to work with Jessica and put in the level of effort she requires, you’ll walk away with an unparalleled experience and the knowledge that you could not have put forth a better application.

No question, if I had to redo the process, I wouldn’t change a thing – Thanks, Jessica!

I really don t know where to start from, I have so many wonderful things to write about Jessica.
I’m an Indian engineer, working in my family business in the manufacturing sector. My sister had worked with Jessica a few years ago and recommended that I speak with her when I decided that I wanted to go to Business School. I had a lot of concerns before my 30-minute call with Jessica – applying from an extremely competitive pool, a low undergrad GPA, an average GRE score. But Jessica in those 30 minutes made me look at the positives in my profile and immediately made me feel like my dream of getting an MBA from one of the M7 schools was possible. After the call, I signed up for a 4 school complete package.
Jessica is an amazing storyteller, she helped me craft interesting stories by highlighting aspects from my profile in a way that I had never thought of before. Jessica really helped me prioritize and get things done. She was with me throughout the process, from looking at each and every word in my essay to helping me prepare for the interviews. She’s extremely patient, she worked with me on essays till I was happy with the outcome, I remember going over 10-12 drafts for almost every essay for the 4 schools that I applied to. Because of all of Jessica’s inputs and honest feedback, I was extremely happy with the way my applications looked when I hit submit. Jessica was always available, because of the time difference I remember sending her emails with doubts at weird hours but almost always received instant replies.
I can say confidently that I was admitted to Columbia Business School only because of Jessica’s help. She made my otherwise far-fetched dream possible.
If you’re thinking of applying to Business School, I highly recommend working with Jessica!

Jessica must be one of the best admissions consultants out there. I came to her after an unsuccessful application process, and over the course of the ensuing year, she helped me to drastically improve my admissions story and my application materials to tell it.

Jessica works as a consultant full-time, which I strongly recommend over part-time consultants. Jessica will be your most valuable counsel and sounding board throughout, and she will ensure every word of your application helps to present the most compelling version of yourself. Along the way, she’ll also help you clarify and focus your own goals and plans. Additionally, the mbaMission team has a wealth of resources and knowledge that are available to you. Jessica is a valuable investment and I encourage you to consider working with her on your admissions journey.

Jessica knows the business school scene like the back of her hand and can also help you with joint degree programs too (e.g., MBA/MPP). Her depth and range of expertise will be especially valuable to you. Even if you think you have your plan figured out, you may surprise yourself. When I made a pivot mid-cycle on the type of joint degree program I was pursuing, Jessica was able to pivot with me and continue to guide me. I cannot over-emphasize the value of having an all-around elite consultant to manage through the many twists and turns you could encounter.

From start to finish, Jessica brought me into her world of professional admissions coaching and support. She has an extensive, organized process that sets clear expectations for her and for you and ensures everything gets done on schedule. Your engagement with Jessica begins with a rigorous brainstorming period involving detailed questions to help you gather the stories and experiences that will inform your application, which also helps Jessica really get to know you as a person. Then, you should expect to spend much of your time going back and forth with Jessica on essays. As application deadlines and interviews come up, you’ll have specific instructions to follow in order to ensure you submit a strong overall package and that you are prepared for the next steps. Throughout, Jessica is honest and direct, while still maintaining a comfortable and trusting space for you and her to work together on your grad school undertaking.

Jessica is very knowledgable and passionate about her work — a critical combination that you should demand from an admissions consultant. She is a talented strategist who can walk you through important decisions during your application process, such as recommender choices and more. Jessica even helped me evaluate whether to accept a new job I was offered during my application process. Jessica and her colleagues at mbaMission are a great resource for the latest thinking from admissions committees and accurate news/chatter on relevant developments in the world of admissions. Having access to good counsel and intelligence will only help your applications.

Importantly, Jessica and the mbaMission team do this job full-time…unlike many consultants who do admissions consulting part-time. I strongly encourage you to select a full-time consultant, like Jessica.

For anyone on the fence about whether or not to hire an admissions consultant, I encourage you to consider all the costs that go into graduate school, and that you think about paying for admissions consulting as a (relatively small) part of that overall cost. Hopefully, it will help you get into your top school; if not, at least you won’t have lingering doubts about whether you could’ve done more. Even before receiving my admissions decisions from schools, I was very pleased with Jessica’s efforts because I knew she helped me prepare the best possible version of my application.

If you are considering hiring a consultant to help you apply to grad school, I strongly recommend Jessica — commit to her early, before her spots fill up! She is someone you want on your side. Jessica has been a true partner on my application journey. I will be forever thankful to Jessica for helping me achieve one of my dreams.

Bottom Line Up Front: Jessica turned my long-shot application into an acceptance letter from my dream school.

As a 30+ year-old military applicant w/ & 55% GRE and an average undergrad GPA, I had a steep hill to climb when it came to gaining admission to top MBA programs. Even though I knew my applications were a reach she always kept me focused on what mattered: bolstering strengths, mitigating weaknesses, and continuing to push through the marathon that is the grad school application process. Her people/communication skills are excellent. Whether I needed a shoulder to lean on or a swift kick in the rear, her tone and approach flexed to accommodate whatever I needed most on any given day. Critiques were always returned to me either early or on time. One night while “burning the midnight oil” on an application, I wrote her a fairly detailed question around 10pm her time. Even though it was outside her normal work window, within the hour she selflessly provided actionable feedback and never made a fuss about it.

Jessica is more than just a competent professional that gets results. She genuinely cares about the people she works with…and it shows. If you’re looking to maximize results on MBA applications, you’ll definitely want her on your team!

//SIGNED//
A grateful client and Duke MBA Candidate

I was referred to mbaMission by my GRE counselor a few months prior to submitting my application to Stern’s part-time program. I was a bit reluctant to spend more money on my application, but I decided to sign on for a starter package, and I’m so happy I did (I ended up extending my time). My initial hope was that I would receive guidance on my essays and other components of my application. I ended up receiving indispensable counseling on most/all components of my application, but my counselor, Jessica, also helped me to prioritize tasks for my application. She was also very responsive and helped answer all of my questions regarding the application process, etc. (truly all of my questions). Highly, highly recommend this service…well worth the investment.

A year ago, I was really not sure if I could get any offers from S16 MBA programs, especially considering my low undergrad GPA and work experiences in non-traditional industries. Jessica trusted in me and helped me discover, articulate and fully utilize my unique strengths. As a result, I got a full scholarship from NYU Stern, partial scholarship from Michigan Ross and an offer from Berkeley Haas.

Jessica fully captured who I really am right at our first call. This builds a very strong foundation for our collaboration afterward. She helped me put my best steps forward by letting my most authentic self shine through while keeping in mind what the Admissions are looking for, a balance not so easy to find. The brainstorming sessions with her before I drafted my essays were very helpful—it gave me that initial momentum to get started and a clear direction which saved lots of time and efforts. What’s more, her timely feedback and response was such a great gift, especially when I was under very tight schedules.

I also learned a lot from Jessica throughout this process—her amazing writing skills, her efficiency and effectiveness, her direct communication with empathy. I am so grateful to have her as my consultant.

As far as I know, Jessica got fully scheduled by applicants quite early. So, if you are lucky and still have a chance to invite her to be your consultant, do it now!

Although this review is based on my personal interaction with Jessica, my goal is to keep it as objective as possible to better serve its purpose.
Before going with Jessica as my admissions advisor, I had conducted several 30-minute consultations with other consultants/companies. What made Jessica standout was twofold: (1) her ability to establish a connection with me straight away and make me feel comfortable sharing my life stories and (2) her determination to add significant value to my application process within the initial consultation even though she wasn’t sure if I was going to commit. This showed me that she genuinely loves her job and excels at it and that she cared about the applicants she takes on.
We all know how stressful the application process can be with deadlines looming right and left, recommenders to follow-up with, essays to write, resumes to fix, etc. Jessica’s organization, guidance, and help in prioritizing tasks tremendously reduced stress and anxiety levels. I felt more and more comfortable the closer deadlines approached.
In my opinion, the best way to qualify Jessica’s work is effective and efficient, in hindsight, those are the best qualities for a consultant to have in an MBA application process. By effective, I’m referring to Jessica’s keen ability to link all the right dots out of ALL your life stories to sculpt the best possible story to get you into business school. By efficient, I’m referring to Jessica’s ability to come up with the best story for you in record time, saving invaluable hours to focus more on the development and refinement of the essay and on the multitude of tedious tasks involved in the process. I developed my best story with Jessica, that got me 50% acceptance into the business schools I applied to, within the first 30-min consultation!
You can’t go wrong with Jessica, thanks again for your invaluable help in achieving my goal!

Applying to top MBA programs is, for most people, a stressful and worry-some process. When an applicant comes from a competitive background, the process can be even more difficult. It was for this reason that, after months of my own investigation, I decided to work with an admissions consultant. I booked a preliminary call with Jessica because her own pre-consultant professional background was similar to mine; I chose to work with her because I felt supported in a way not felt before. Jessica simplified the process for me and gave me crucial advice. She exceeded my expectations with the dedication and swiftness of her responses. I believe her greatest strength is in both listening to her client and frankness. I do recommend Jessica for clients who come from unusual, but also competitive backgrounds.

I’m almost 35 years old. I went to a small state school. I was out of a job for 15+ months. Before my current career, I worked blue-collar jobs. My GRE quant was 65%. I had a family tragedy in the middle of the application cycle.

Despite ALL that, with Jessica’s extraordinary guidance, these are my results:

Applied – Stanford, Harvard (MBA & MPP), Wharton, MIT, Haas, Yale, Virginia, UCLA, UNC, Georgetown
Interview invites – EVERY. SINGLE. SCHOOL.
Accepted – 9 admits, 1 waitlist, 1 ding. Candidly, both non-admits were cuz I screwed up the interviews. C’est la vie 🙂
Funding offered – $257K+ (from various schools)
Attending – Joint Stanford MBA and Harvard MPP (with an awesome named fellowship)

At heart, Jessica is a storyteller. She took the block of stone I gave her (over 30 pages of stories/vignettes and hours of phone calls), and helped me sculpt a masterpiece.

One story highlights many of her strengths: for the GSB essay, I was struggling for an opener. Jessica mentioned a short phrase I’d written in my 30+ brainstorming pages. And voila, I had an intro which tied the whole essay together.

This small story shows her eye for detail, her work ethic, and most importantly, her tradecraft of shaping narratives that both tug at the heartstrings and engage the intellect.

To me, the goal of an application — something more subtle than the explicit goal of getting accepted — is getting the Adcom members to be YOUR advocate. Jessica understands that. And that is exactly what we did. The amazing and humbling outcomes I’ve had were only possible with Jessica on my team.

I enjoyed working with Jessica so much that, crazy as it sounds, I actually miss the hellish application process! That speaks volumes in itself.

Jessica was the only consultant I felt truly understood me through the innumerable free consultations I did, and she was the one I decided to go for when the time came to apply. She proved to be quite a good resource through my application process. My biggest concern was my essays, and she gave frank feedback, and really pushed me to dig deeper and introspect when necessary. She always met her deadlines and through her diligence, I developed a really good schedule for myself as well. She is a really good consultant for mbaMission and I recommend her to anyone looking to get help through the application process.

For my MBA Application process, I simply wanted the best. From the get-go when I had my first consultation with Jessica in 2017, I sensed a connection with the person which would become my mentor. At the time Jessica was already fully booked and so combined with her recommendations to improve on my test score as well as wanting to work with her I delayed my application to 2018.

Even before I started working with her she would keep communication with me to follow-up on our first conversation and on how have I had improved since. This behavior, combined with many other exceeded my expectations, I felt she truly cared and was committed to helping me at building the best application I could ever present. And so, I took the Complete Start-to-Finish Package for three (TOP 10) MBA Schools.

I knew that my case was challenging as an international coming from an unusual background with a mix of professional experience, and in addition, my GMAT score (just below 700) was not my stronger aspect. Nevertheless, I trusted Jessica, she knew exactly what to do and was with me throughout the whole process. Jessica‘s personality is straight to the point, there is no waste of time, and she will tell you when things are not right, she definitely puts the time (going over nine drafts for one of the essays), and is pretty much always available (I remember sending her a quick question e-mail at midnight and a couple of minutes later received an answer – WOW!). She is knowledgeable and knows how to help you build the best story of yourself.

I realize that having a consultant for MBA applications is expensive and so before making such commitment make sure that you do your research, for me it was simple, I wanted to be with the greatest, that is why I chose Jessica and the results speak for themselves! I have been accepted to my second and third choice (both Top 10) with a +50% scholarship at both, and I am waitlisted R1 at my number 1 choice (which was a huge reach considering my scores).

To say that Jessica Shklar made miracles to get me into Wharton, Colombia and Yael is an understatement, I am an out of the box non-traditional applicant, to say the least. I have severe dyslexia with middle of the pack scores. Jessica found the diamond in the rough fleshed out what turned out to be an incredible story and an undeniably amazing application. It was clear throughout the process how much time she was devoting to my application as she knew my story better than me! She was so helpful, professional and kind that I am genuinely sad that the process is over. I look forward to keeping in touch with my new friend.

From the first time I spoke with Jessica, I could tell that she genuinely cared about not only helping me get into a great business school but also letting my true character and personality come through in my applications. I realized immediately that I was working with a professional and I found it particularly reassuring to be receiving guidance from someone who really understands the admissions process and the expectations of each admissions team. I knew generally what I was going to write about in my applications but the advice Jessica offered on how to structure my ideas and concisely articulate my story was extremely valuable. I also have a pretty unconventional professional background and Jessica helped me to navigate this in my applications and highlight my unique work experience and qualities. By the end of this long and crazy process, I was admitted to one of my top choice schools, thanks in large part to working with Jessica!

I attended a mbaMission webinar about Harvard Business School’s 2+2 program. It was a fairly small group (less than 10 people) and it was at 9 PM but Jessica Shklar was able to keep the presentation engaging and relevant. She provided specific examples to show the differences between a strong and weak essay. She was extremely attentive to the specific group’s needs by answering all of our questions.
I felt like she was able to provide immense help to my application despite the fact that I had done an extreme amount of research on the MBA admissions process at Harvard Business School, especially the 2+2 program. I decided to follow up with a 30-minute consultation with Jessica to discuss my profile. Within that half hour, she was able to help me craft a narrative for my holistic application and even provided me with structural tips on my essay – without even reading my essay. She wasn’t afraid to point out the weakness of my application, which I’m glad she did because I have heard of some admissions consultants who do their best to only make their clients happy. I wanted someone who was honest and catered to my profile, which she was able to do!

I’m one of those people who like to do a lot of research before committing to a company/service/etc. I spoke to quite a few consulting companies and I’m so glad I was able to find Jessica and MBA mission in the end. As an “older” applicant, the other companies that I spoke to seemed to be using this “fear-based” model to sell their services – making me feel terrible about my odds and my candidacy at the top schools first, then offering their services to help me out. I didn’t realize that’s what they were doing until I had my first phone call with Jessica, who was so enthusiastic, encouraging, and genuine about her thoughts on my candidacy. I knew right away that I’d want to work with her. She didn’t have any spots available for R1 so I signed up to work with her on R2 on two of my dream schools, which was the best decision I made during this application process.

From day 1 of working together, I could just tell that Jessica is an absolute genius. For several months I had been trying to come up with a thread for my essay, but I just couldn’t figure out how to connect the dots and I felt lost. But Jessica was able to do that in ONE DAY – I sent in my brainstorming document and the very next day during our phone call she was able to come up with a genius thread that connects all the dots and showcases my strengths in a very compelling way. She goes so deep during the brainstorming part and asks the right questions to uncover all the aspects, then on the spot she could come up with a theme for the essay. I was blown away by how good she was. I remember getting off that phone call feeling super excited about writing the essay (which is very rare because I always hated writing) and I had to call my best friend to share how thrilled I was to have found Jessica and how great her ideas for my essay were.

I always thought I had to write 8-10 drafts of essays before I could get it to a “top school quality”, but I was wrong on that because Jessica is so good at helping me frame up the essay (paragraph by paragraph) that I got to a final version quality within only 3 drafts. She’s just that good!

Jessica is very professional and caring. She always turns around things and answers questions very quickly. When you are working with her, you can just feel that she’s not just another consultant for you, but she’s truly on this journey with you – she cheers you on during the tough and stressful times, goes above and beyond to make your application shine, she was like this awesome big sister that I never had and I’ve never even met her! Just a few days before the applications deadline, I had a family emergency, everything was like my worst nightmare. Jessica was an angel and helped me out so much during those days. Her comforting words really helped me grieve during the most stressful time. She turned around my items just a couple hours after I sent them to her to allow me to focus on my family and grieving. I was in such terrible shape and I honestly don’t think I would’ve gotten my applications through without her help.

Perhaps the best part of working with Jessica was that I have learned so much about myself throughout this process. She really helped me see myself from a new perspective and get more clarity on who I am and what I want to do with life and not just with an MBA. In the end, I realized crafting the essays, the stories, the post-MBA goals wasn’t just about getting into the dream schools anymore, it was more about asking the deep, tough questions to myself and figuring out who I truly want to be. And I’m forever grateful for Jessica for that. I got an interview invite to my dream school and now working on the interview prep.

Jessica is all around top-notch. I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have worked with her.

Words cannot express how amazing Jessica was during my business school process! I had applied the year earlier to schools and did not get into a program that I wanted to attend. Having worked with a consultant in the past I was extremely skeptical of what mbaMission could bring to the table. Jessica was introduced by a friend who was ecstatic about getting into Booth when he originally had been targeting schools in the 10-20 ranking range.

The 30 minutes complimentary phone call was a game changer. Jessica was on point, had a clear strategy, and it was immediately apparent that this was going to be a different experience. I wish I had known her one year earlier. I quickly recognized that if I wanted to get into a business program it would only be with Jessica’s help improving my mediocre application. I had a solid 10 years of work experience but a low GPA and a low GMAT! Jessica was amazing during the brainstorming and essay writing sessions that identified a clear message and story we wanted to share. Jessica was extremely responsive, thoughtful, and supportive as we tracked multiple applications. She pushed me and held me accountable throughout the entire process.

In the end, it was Jessica’s recommendation to add another program to the list that landed me at the Stanford GSB. I would not be at the GSB if it had not been for Jessica’s help and guidance, for which I am forever grateful.

My daughter recommended Jessica to me. At first, I thought that I did not need consulting service because I had more than 20 years business leadership experience in top global IT companies in SAP, Oracle, Dell, Fujitsu, Compaq, and DEC. After the first 30 minute call with her, Jessica changed my opinion completely. She reviewed my profile with very much deeper insights. She supported me to know more about who I am, what I want and how I should do for my goal. And she recommended several programs fitted to me shortly after our talk. I am very impressive in her rich experience and expertise in admission consulting and her quick and strategic thinking and professional consulting methodology. Then I purchased Jessica’s hourly services and experienced more about Jessica’s great value to my application and career development. I believe I could not have gotten the offer from London Business School “Sloan Master in Leadership and Strategy” without Jessica’s strong and prompt supports. After I joined the Sloan program, I found that more than 60% of our classmates are master holders and there are several Ph.D. holders. Most of my classmates have more than 20 years of management experience. Jessica supported me to analyze my strength and weakness, how to present myself, how to write good essays in a short time. My recommendation to other EMBA, Sloan program and executive program applicants is that Jessica’s excellent consulting service is valuable to your time and money although you are senior and experienced in business management.

Jessica has been a great admission consultant. I have worked with Jessica for more than a year for my MBA application and re-application. She is very interested in learning about my stories and provides valuable insights on how my stories can fit into essays. Also, with extensive experience in admission consulting, she shares specific knowledge about the business programs I’m interested in and gives specific suggestions about the schools. I appreciate her help, and recommend her without any hesitation!

I feel very fortunate to have worked with Jessica Shklar from MBA Mission this year. She was kind, direct and helpful from the start and I don’t think I would have survived the grueling admissions process without her. Beginning with our 30-minute consultation, she helped me to understand what made me unique and how to bring my previous experiences together into a cohesive and powerful story. She helped me substantially with the essays and short answers and helped me feel confident with the package I put together. She was also prompt in answering any question I had, no matter how small. I would not hesitate to work with Jessica again and have already recommended her to close friends who are considering applying to MBA programs.

Before Jessica, I was like a lost duck. I had no idea what I should be doing to prepare my application for business school and I had no idea how to navigate the entire process. Luckily, I contacted her far enough in advance so that we could discuss a plan. After our initial discussion I was definitely overwhelmed by how much I needed to do but at the same time, Jessica made it all seem much more manageable and took much of the stress out of the process. I came in with a low GPA so I really didn’t have that high of expectations. Jessica helped me to formulate my story in a way that brought out the best aspects of myself that I hadn’t even considered. Yes, she was fantastic at helping me bring out my voice in my essays and preparing me for my interviews but it was the discussions with her about my life experiences that really stood out to me. She forced me to be introspective in a way that I had never been and helped me to take a hard look at my life and relate my past experiences to what I wanted to do moving forward. Without her, I would have never even known where to start. People say “you don’t know what you don’t know” and with the application process, this was very true for me. I went from having low expectations of getting a scholarship to a top 5 school. Jessica, THANK YOU!

Jessica was critical in my admission to HBS—I truly feel I couldn’t have done it without her. I first spoke to Jessica during a 30-minute free consultation (I did these with all of the major companies). Right off the bat I felt Jessica truly believed in me, was my main cheerleader, and was invested in making me successful.

I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better experience working with Jessica. I was very daunted by the business school application process and how to tell my story (I had a series of jobs that seemed unrelated on paper and wasn’t sure about my career goals). I was blown away by our first brainstorming session—Jessica has the unique ability to ask the right questions and is a gifted storyteller–I left our first brainstorming session with a clear story and direction for my HBS essay (none of which I had planned to write about!)

Jessica reviewed every word on my application including my resume, essays, and short answer with incredible detail and care. Her promptness and thoughtfulness while editing were simply incredible—she pushed me to think, clarify my goals, and suggested major improvements, all while preserving my voice. She kept me on track and stopped me from second guessing myself, all while making sure I was truly proud of and happy with every single thing I turned into the schools.

Once the applications were all submitted and I heard back regarding interviews, Jessica was critical in helping me prep for those as well.
I give Jessica my highest possible recommendation—she’s sincere, cares about her clients, and extremely good at what she does.

Thank you so much, Jessica! I really appreciate it!

Even if her rate was twice as much, I wouldn’t hesitate to hire her again.

Aside from being incredibly motivating and brilliant, Jessica truly cares about her clients’ success. Like most, I was hesitant about using a consultant but once we had our phone consultation, I knew she would be invaluable! Speaking to Jessica for that 30 minutes changed my outlook on the MBA application process and I immediately signed up for a 5 hour package. Right form the start, she encouraged me to capitalize on my non-traditional background, pushing me (in a good way) to market myself as an asset to better schools than what I had initially come to her with. Thanks to her, my resume was so well refined that I received a GMAT waiver from a top school; considering my strictly arts background, this was a miracle. She helped me focus my creative mind to write more factual and direct essays, while still allowing room for personality in my writing. Her mock interview literally had me sweating bullets but was so effective that the real ones felt like a breeze. Through it all, she responded quickly, honestly, and intelligently.

I can’t recommend her highly enough!

I came to Jessica as a re-applicant and having been through the process before, I was somewhat skeptical that I needed too much more guidance other than cleaning up my story and re-purposing my prior materials. However, it became very clear from our first interaction that she could help me do so much more. During our brainstorming session, she helped bring out both professional and personal experiences that I hadn’t even considered talking about before. What I appreciated most about working with her was her uncommon ability to force me to form a story myself even as she helped me talk through several anecdotes, acting as a guide while allowing me to make my essays and overall application truly personal – this also speaks to her incredible patience. While she is a very nice person, she didn’t let this keep her from being a tough critic of my writing, and she pushed me to go through several drafts of all of my essays, without going overboard and being too picky over minute details. While she certainly helped edit my essays, she generally stayed hands-off when it came to the content, again allowing me to make the story truly mine. Her help was especially important given my background as a relatively traditional applicant coming from finance applying to the top 3 MBA programs, of which I got into one. I truly believe she helped make a difference in presenting myself in the most effective, yet honest way and would recommend her to anyone.

I cannot express how deeply grateful I am to Jessica for supporting me through the entire MBA process – from the brainstorming sessions, to the essays, and interviews and perhaps more importantly, the life changing conversations. If there is one thing that I can say for certain it is that applying to an MBA program is a journey and not a destination. What Jessica excels at is really allowing you to find your story and craft your journey. There were multiple points in this process where I had to deeply reflect on what my deepest priorities were and Jessica was masterful in helping me through this thinking. In addition, she is an exceptional writer who really simplifies complexity, whilst preserving the integrity of your thinking. As I reflect on my time working with Jessica, I am confident that she has made me a better story teller, but I am as grateful for her endless curiosity, desire and commitment to stretch my thinking, find my deepest values and express them with clarity.

Going into the application process, I honestly felt like my profile was fairly mediocre for the schools I was targeting. As a white male from the finance industry and working at a largely unknown company, the competition was abundant/tough and my numbers weren’t anything special. Like many, I was initially reluctant to use a consultant because of the cost; there’s no doubt it’s a big decision. But a good friend referred me to Jessica and told me she was the best in the business and that I had to work with her. The opportunity to go to a top b-school is once in a lifetime and I’d seen it open incredible opportunities for others, so I figured I’d give it my best shot and try to get any edge I could in the application process. After all, I’d already committed to the idea of leaving the workforce for two years and spending my life savings (plus some) on school itself – so might as well do it right.

Now at Columbia Business School, I’m still pinching myself because just a few years ago this didn’t seem like a possibility. And I can say with great certainty that it wouldn’t have been without Jessica’s help. Jessica helped me tell my story in a way that took my borderline profile and made it a standout one. She’s passionate about getting the best out of her clients, and she understands the application process and the perspective of admissions committees better than anyone. Always a straight shooter, she’ll constantly push you and tell you exactly what you need to hear. It wasn’t always fun or comfortable, but I wouldn’t have wanted to do it any other way because it resulted in the best possible application. She’s truly as invested in your success as you are at each and every step of the process – she was just as excited as I was when I got accepted to Columbia. In retrospect, I can’t believe I ever considered going through the application process by myself. If your dream is to attend a top business school but you think it might be a bit of a stretch, then I can not recommend Jessica enough.

My only regret about working with Jessica through the MBA admissions process is that I didn’t commit to starting with her earlier. I come from a non-traditional background (retail/e-commerce) and had few resources to consult about the process, so I was nervous about where to start. I spoke with Jessica in late September, after 5 other consultations and 2 sub-700 GMAT attempts. Jessica helped me feel confident about my non-traditional background and unique experiences, and I felt encouraged by her realistic yet positive outlook. We spent an hour speaking instead of the scheduled 30 minutes. By the end, I felt like I was talking to an old friend. I was blown away by how sharp she is, by her EQ, and by how much she imparted about the admissions process in such a short timeframe.

For the first stage of the Round 2 admissions process, Jessica helped me choose 6 target programs based on my interests and goals, and encouraged me to keep trying on the GMAT since I’d done significantly better on practice tests. I retook the GMAT 2 more times, scoring 730 each time but with a completely unbalanced score. Quant was way too low. Jessica didn’t let me get discouraged and reminded me what I’d shared with her that showed I could handle quant, and helped me create a strategy to showcase this through my application.

Next, we brainstormed for essays. I cannot overstate how helpful it was to use the MBA Mission brainstorming template with Jessica. I spent 20+ hours on the brainstorm, and Jessica read every word. She helped me take a birds eye view of my achievements and experiences to weave cohesive stories that incorporated my all of most pivotal memories, experiences, and achievements. While Jessica cannot “get you in” to your dream school, she knows how to make sure you’ve pulled every lever to give this process your absolute best attempt, leaving nothing off the table to regret later. Jessica helped me with everything from the obvious long-answer essays, to “hidden” essays (eg how to tell the AdComm in 200 characters what your greatest achievement was at your last job), to the meticulous details such as selecting which industry my company really falls under. When you’re investing this much time and money (and soul!) into a process, it’s incredible to have a sounding board like Jessica.

Simultaneously, Jessica helped me create succinct bullet-pointed guides for my recommenders. Since I was coming from a non-traditional background, no one on my team or within my organization had an MBA or had written a recc for someone applying before. My recommenders greatly appreciated this piece!
After the application stage, Jessica helped me prepare for interviews at 2 of the 3 schools that she had helped me with. (I applied to 6 schools in total, and got interviews at 4). My first interview invite was from a school she hadn’t helped me with; she still sent over a webinar link and resources, and I was admitted to that school with a generous fellowship before even interviewing at the others. The fellowship covered all my GMAT expenses + Jessica’s fee… + travel costs for interviews and admit days… and so much more.
Jessica also helped me through some extremely tough moments: handling an inappropriate interviewer situation at a top-choice program (I still got in!), navigating a waitlist, and moving on from rejection. Beyond this, she has been helping me as I decide which program to attend – shockingly, perhaps the most challenging part thus far for me.

All said and done, Jessica’s help allowed me score admission to a top-choice M7 program, an interview at GSB, and a killer fellowship at a top-15 program. I’m also waitlisted at a program with one of the lowest admit rates in the world (fingers crossed!). Thank you to Jessica for your help getting me one step closer to achieving my dreams!

Jessica was beyond helpful and words cannot describe my appreciation for her. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. She was incredibly responsive, thoughtful, and held me accountable throughout the entire process. She knows exactly when to push and when to encourage. Her talent, experience, and genuine care for my success were all worth every penny. There is so much more that goes into the entire admissions process than I realized, and Jessica does a fantastic job of breaking down each portion into a manageable, organized timeline. Looking back, there is absolutely no way I would have made it into the schools that I did without her.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for all of your hard work Jessica!

I would not have gotten into Haas Business School without Jessica – period, dead stop. Her level of expertise and wisdom is unmatched. My first encounter with Jessica was during a webinar, and up until that point, I hadn’t given a personal consultant much thought. I figured I had been reasonably successful in my career and would be able to maneuver the application process myself. Having a few doubts, though, as I wasn’t the traditional candidate for a top business school, I scheduled a free 30 minute consultation. Jessica’s “presence” blew me away. She was all the things you’d want a consultant to be – intelligent, honest, succinct, great listener – but it was her passion and compassion that drew me to her. She’s the real deal, a truly authentic person. After completing my brainstorming homework, I came to our call feeling a bit defeated. I didn’t think there was anything in my story that was unique or compelling enough to get me into a top school. She disagreed and told me what she saw in my story. What she said not only touched my heart, but changed my worldview.

I could go on and on about her work. She’s efficient and quick to respond and brilliant at making sure every single word in your essay provides value. She’s stellar at listening to inarticulate ramblings and finding themes and important points. But most importantly, she’s your most valued thought partner.

To be honest, I hesitated before writing the check to mbaMission. It was a lot of money and I didn’t want to spend it if I’d be able to produce similar work on my own. What I know now is to run, don’t walk, to find yourself a consultant, and secure Jessica if at all possible. I’m in my mid-forties and she is hands down the best money I’ve ever spent. I will be forever grateful for her services.

No matter where you are in the application process, Jessica Shklar will help you present the best and truest YOU to your dream business school.

Before using mbaMission, I applied to business schools on my own, thinking that I knew best how to present myself to admissions. After receiving only a single interview, I became worried. While I waited for a lone R1 decision, I reached out to several consulting services to see if they could help me on such short notice (R2 deadlines were fast approaching and I had not even started!). In a free one hour consultation, Jessica gave me so much great advice and really captured the essence of what I was trying to say in my application essays but in a more directed approach. Knowing that I was still waiting for a R1 decision, Jessica was never pushy about the services and told me she would help me on short notice as soon as I was ready.

After receiving a rejection, I called Jessica and she immediately developed a plan of action. She helped me hone in on schools to target. We had only 2 weeks to submit applications to six programs! In a whirlwind but incredibly efficient and effective afternoon conversation, Jessica helped me drill into the essays and my stories that would resonate with admissions at each school. In no way did she ever write my essays, but she helped me see the great stories that I didn’t realize I had. This was especially important as a non-traditional applicant (age 33 at matriculation, worked at various blue collar jobs, military reservist). She truly will help you present the best YOU to your dream programs.

Over a busy 2 weeks, Jessica supported me and was always responsive. While I can write so many positive words about Jessica, how immensely helpful, insightful, and just plain great to talk to that she is, the results speak for themselves. My 6 applications led to 6 interviews and then 3 admits and 3 waitlists. Even with such a limited amount of time, she helped me put together my best possible applications. She is an amazing resource and a MUST for any aspiring MBA candidate!

Jessica is a phenomenal admissions counselor. My working relationship with Jessica began over 5 years ago when I applied to the HBS 2+2 program as a college senior. During the initial consultation, Jessica and I immediately clicked and I knew that her knowledge and experience would be invaluable. I chose to go through my 2+2 application without any support and was not admitted. Five years later, I decided to re-apply to MBA programs. I submitted a request for another consultation from mbaMission and, to my surprise, Jessica emailed me back. During our chat, she was very optimistic about my profile and chances for admission. I interviewed seven other admission consultants just to make sure but with Jessica I felt the most comfortable. Over the course of 5 months, Jessica spent many hours helping to refine my application and make sure every aspect was perfect. I couldn’t be happier with the result – I was admitted to my top choice – HBS! Thank you so much Jessica – words cannot express how grateful I am to you. I recommend you highly!

If you are applying to business school you need to work with Jessica. Jessica has intimate knowledge about the process of preparing and applying to b-schools. She is also an amazing story teller. As a non-traditional student, with a very unconventional academic and work background, I was concerned not only about the process but also finding and communicating my unique story in the best way possible to compete with other candidates and to highlight my strengths to the ADComs. After doing my research on several other firms, I decided to work with Jessica and I hired her for the complete start to finish package for each school. I knew that she was a perfect fit for me after the first phone call. She was able to help me navigate the various nuances of writing essays for multiple applications, preparing for interviews and most importantly, keeping me grounded and focused throughout a very intense process. With Jessica’s help and guidance I was admitted into a top 10 business school. I highly recommend her and mbaMission.

If you have the opportunity to work with Jessica, I would highly recommend it – it’s truly worth every penny. I was on the fence about working with a consultant – it’s an expensive investment and up to that point I had done everything on my own.

I knew I wanted to work with Jessica immediately following our consultation. Jessica managed to articulate my story better than I could after just a 30 minute phone call and was also able to point out strengths and weaknesses in my application that I hadn’t thought about before. I felt confident that having Jessica’s years of experience and insight would help me craft a more effective and authentic narrative – and that turned out to be absolutely true.

The three things that I enjoyed most about working with Jessica are:

1.) Her ability to provide quick, candid and pointed feedback – there is no tip-toeing around feedback, she gets to the point quickly and that makes every minute you spend with her very effective and valuable.

2.) Her ability to see trends in your experience/background and help you craft an authentic, powerful story.

3.) Her ability to be your biggest cheerleader when you need it most! Jessica always made herself available when I needed to talk to her and she believed in me every step of the way. As corny as it sounds, this is so important in the application process because there are so many ups and downs and sometimes you just need some encouragement and positivity.

Ultimately, I was accepted to my two top choices. Jessica was a critical in that result!

When I took the decision to apply to a Harvard Kennedy School, a year before the application deadline, I contacted a friend of mine, alumni from this school, to get insights from him on the application process. Among the precious advice he gave me, was the fact that I should work with a consultant. American people use consultants despite the fact that they know the system and that they can get lot of information from people around them. So, to him, as a foreign student, working with a consultant was really helpful in his application process but above all, because this consultant was Jessica Shklar. He specifically explained to me that choosing to work with Jessica was also a main factor of success. I immediately requested a 30 minute call with her.
It took me 10 minutes to understand that she was the person I wanted to work with. I am very difficult client (and I told her since the beginning!) because I like to challenge people and make sure that they add value to my work when collaborating with them. I am also very motivated when I have an objective in mind and I can spend entire days and nights thinking about it… hence, bothering people about it and asking endless questions.
I started to work with Jessica around <6 months before the deadline. At that time I had not taken my GMAT test yet and was starting to study it. Working with her in advance was helpful because she provided me with an assessment of my profile and gave me advice on how to improve my weaknesses and strengthen my profile. I remember that she raised two concerns that we would work on to improve my application: quantitative abilities (because of some low grades in finance classes), unprecise professional project (I knew I wanted to have a social impact but I was unable to define a path). For each of them, she gave me guidelines and advice on how to improve the gaps for the coming months. Because I had this assessment well in advance, I was able to prepare an action plan. She looked at my resume and gave me ideas of organizations and positions I might be interested in in the future, given my previous experience and my areas of interest. She even managed to introduce me to people working in some of these organizations to get their feedback.
Thanks to a very loooooonnnng brainstorming document that she asked me to fill in, she got to know me very well. It took me many hours per day during more than a month to complete it. But It helped her a lot to understand my whole story and to provide meaningful and relevant advice during the brainstorming sessions we had.
She also gave me advice to prepare for the TOEFL and GMAT/GRE. I had taken the TOEFL once, a month before contacting Jessica and was 12 points below the required grade, 22 below the preferred one. I had also difficulties to obtain a decent GMAT score. I was scoring in the 500s! She encouraged me to keep going and told me about success stories she witnessed. That positive mind is also key to succeed. She always encourage me when I needed it. This helped me reach my target TOEFL score at the second trial. And she also helped me change my strategy from GMAT to GRE. I obtained a medium score at the latest but my performance was far above that mediocre GMAT score.
Then, we started to work on the essays. At the beginning, I applied to one school, my dream school but after discussions with Jessica, I realized that studying in a school which is not my dream school would be better than staying on my current job. I would not take risks. I decided to add two other schools to my package and we worked on the three of them together. What I like is that she provided me advice without never telling me “you should do this or this”. She will always advise me based on her experience but I will always have the last word. And whatever the solution I chose, she would always support me.
To strengthen my chances of admission, I decided to visit HKS. That time again, she provided me with advice so that I would take more benefit from this visit. She pointed out a few things she knew were important for me and ensured that I would not forget to seek information about them.
For each of the three schools, we designed different essays, with the same basis but she always ensured that we would tailor them to the schools’ specificities. She insisted every time during the reviews to make sure that we’d answer the right questions instead of telling what I wanted them to know (which is something we all tend to do).
She also reviewed my recommenders’ letters, ensuring that they’d be specifically tailored to my specific profile and that my recommenders do not write “one-fit-all” letters.
I appreciated many different things during our collaboration:
– What I like the most is the passion she has for people. Doing her job requires a lot of empathy and she always showed enthusiasm with my story. At some point, I felt like I was not working anymore with a service provider but someone who is really committed to help me succeed;
– How responsive she is: she would always react quickly to quick questions and even, in many instances, send back the essays before the contractual deadline or during her days off;
– She knows the schools: thanks to her long-time experience, she is aware of what the schools are waiting for. Hence you don’t lose time explaining to her the different specificities and requirements- the only thing I did not want was to pay a consultant and have to explain him/her things that are available online; with Jessica, you rather spend your time demonstrating how you are a good fit for the school because she has done her own research;
– She really cares about every part of the application: we worked on about 12 versions of my resume to make it fit the application requirement and strengthen the best parts of my profile and as many versions of the +15 essays I wrote;
– She knows how to set limits: she’ll always tell you when you are going too far and which things are important or not; in my case, I had a tendency to look at every little nitpicky detail of my application and she made me realize that some imperfections are also a sign of authenticity; in the same way, she will never write for you, ensuring that your essays are written in your own voice. But she would write a ton of comments for you to address;
– She wants you to show the best part of yourself but always with honesty. I had some many interesting things to include in the different parts of my application and discovered that some elements I thought to be “normal” where things that could be valued if I take the time to analyze them from different angles; she has the capacity to present your accomplishments in a way that highlights different skills;
– Additionally, she would always put herself in the perspective of an admission committee member and take a fresh look and distance on the application, which is something I appreciated; It sometimes revealed things both of us knew but that were not clear in the application.

Finally, I got admitted to the three schools I applied to, with a scholarship for one of them… and this, despite a medium GRE score and some low grades in Quant classes.
I chose to attend Harvard Kennedy School as it is my first choice.
I am sure this would never had happened without her input and I am very grateful for it. I would not hesitate to recommend her to my friends in the future. And I definitely recommend her to anyone who is interested in working with someone qualified, dynamic and able to provide meaningful and actionable advice.

I highly recommend working with Jessica if you’re looking to apply to business school. She got me into my dream school, and I genuinely wouldn’t have gotten in without her guidance. Here’s how it played out:

I decided to apply to R2 on a whim, and reached out to Jessica for an initial consult. During our first call, Jessica sought to genuinely understand why I was applying to business school, and what factors differentiated me from the rest of the applicants.

Over the next few months, Jessica acted as a thought-partner in every step of the application process. She would help distill and curate my essays, refine my resume, and even helped me prep for interviews. I was constantly emailing Jessica with questions, and she was exceptionally responsive.

The result was me getting into my #1 school (which I wasn’t even going to apply to as I didn’t see myself as competitive)! There is no question that Jessica helped make my application much more compelling. If you’re thinking about that dream school, go with Jessica.

I am a non-traditional candidate by most measures (mid-30, minority, advance degree, untraditional career goal and non-straight-line experience prior to application). I disclose this much information to underscore this point: your essay and interview prep will be greatly enhanced beyond your expectation once Jessica put her touch on them. She is straightforward, passionate, empathetic, experienced and effective. She guides you through all processes; you should follow her advice because she knows the difference between overpreparation and underpreparation and will definitely draw the line between the two to tailor your need/ability to deliver the results My experience working with her came after an extensive search for consultants. To illustrate my detour before I got to Jessica, I had this one consultant not respond to my email and my (desperate I supposed) willingness to work with her/him after s/he reviewed my resume I initially sent to her/him. I remember I said to myself: I must be a hot potato with a complicated life history that even the professionals are dropping me like one. Do yourself a favor and work with Jessica. -Stanford GSB admit

I could go on and on about why I would recommend Jessica to a close friend or anyone seeking a great admissions consultant.

I could tell them about Jessica’s rapid and methodical brainstorming techniques to help you get great stories out in essays, her speed at getting work returned back to you, her expert editing to get your essay down from a long winded and unpolished essay into a sleek and powerful piece, her passion and dedicated commitment to make you succeed, and her ability to actually make the process FUN.

But really the true reason I would recommend her boils down to one reason and one reason only. She gets the job done. I had a less than stellar GPA and a less than stellar GMAT/GRE and Jessica helped me get into two schools and waitlisted at a third. One being my #1 pick where I will be going this Fall. Enough said!

I worked with Jessica on an hourly basis on my three applications for Round 1. Jessica is sharp, honest, and really passionate about her clients. The perfect combination for a bschool admissions consultant.

She was incredibly considerate of my time and always made sure we worked on things efficiently. For example, she was honest with me about which essays she thought needed another pass, and which she thought were fine as is. She was upbeat, and was sincerely committed to getting me into my schools.

What I personally appreciated most about Jessica was her ability to talk openly and honestly with me about the parts of my application that gave me a lot of anxiety – the GMAT and my interviews. She logically weighed the pros and cons of retaking the test, and walked me though the admission committee’s mindset during interviews.

I got interviews at all of my schools, and ultimately got to choose from two of them. I cannot thank Jessica enough for her help with my applications, and for helping me remain calm (or, as much as possible) during the process.

With PhD in engineering and working as a researcher, it was tough for me to apply to B schools but even harder was to prepare an application that can justify my career path. When I attended one of Jessica Shklar’s session on admission process, I felt that I should definitely discuss my unique case with her. The best thing about Jessica was she never timed the 30 minute free consultation. She made me feel comfortable and at the same time posed questions that were very critical for the application process. She never pressurized me to sign up with her. Instead she asked me to work on ways to improve my application before even deciding to go with her.
I wanted to apply to only top 5 B-schools. My biggest challenge was that I had no clue how to connect dots from my professional and personal life. Everything looked very discrete and was not sure how to put them as a story in my essays. I think signing up for start to finish package was very useful. Once I reviewed my brainstorming document with Jessica, she knew exactly what examples we should focus on. The advantage of Start to finish package is if you are working on more than one application with a different essay prompt, your consultant already knows the key professional and personal parts of your life from the brainstorming document. Thus, it was easy for Jessica to suggest stories we should be including in essay 1 vs essay 2.
Jessica is very well organized. She not only keeps a track of her time but also ensures that her clients meet their deadlines. I got all my essays with edits from Jessica on or before the expected 2 day deadline. If it is a quick question, Jessica will definitely reply asap. I remember discussing some behavioral questions with her over email before one of the top school’s interview. Even though those were not quick questions, she understood my need and was very willing to respond quickly over emails. Even though it was a professional relation with Jessica, I felt a personal touch.
The other advantage of Start to Finish package is that we also get a chance to do mock interviews. Jessica’s expertise in interview preparation was very helpful. She advised that never practice your answers because you don’t want to memorize your answers. This is very true. The best advice she gave me was to read several behavioral questions and think about multiple scenarios so that I have enough examples from my past to tell during interview. It really worked for me because for one interview question I was asked to tell more than one scenario in which I showed a certain behavior. At that time I did’nt have to take that awkward pause because I already had thought about so many different situations from my professional and personal life. All thanks to Jessica for asking me do this rather than rehearsing my answers.
When I started thinking about signing up with a consultant, things were hazy. I wanted to do MBA from a top B-school but was not sure if I have done enough in my past to get admitted to the schools I want. Jessica helped me at every step of the application process and with her support I got admitted to three top B- schools. Thanks Jessica for making this happen.

I was unfamiliar with the MBA application process and decided to choose mbaMission (Jessica) to guide me from start to finish. I evaluated several consultants at the time and, after talking with Jessica, I felt that she was the right person! In the 30-minute free session, Jessica tried to help me as much as she could within the time limit. If you have a chance to evaluate many consultants, you will certainly know that the free session is actually the marketing session. However, this is not the case for Jessica. I bought 5 school start-to-finish package and eventually got interview at HBS (post-interview waitlisted and dinged), Wharton (admitted), and Booth (admitted). So in this review, I would like to tell you 3 key points about Jessica that eventually led to my successful applications.

1. Identification of Meaningful Personal Stories

In my case, I was able to list out personal stories that really shaped my life but, at first, connection among them was relatively weak. Hence, I was so tempted to write about my job, initially. Jessica was an expert in identifying meaningful personal stories and she would keep asking you to explain those stores in details. During the process, you would start to realize by yourself how much impact those events were. In the end, a few personal stories represented the core part of my essays and were used for 4 schools (out of 5) and accounted for at least 70% of word counts. I wrote only 1 paragraph about my job for each essay and its role was to support my personal stories.

2. On-Time Delivery and Perfection

Jessica always commented my drafts, on time, and she would not stop doing it until the essays are perfect. She would ask you to write as much as possible up 50% more than maximum word counts and gave you tons of comments that, sometimes, took me a week or so to address. This is a very efficient process. You overwrite it first and then remove certain parts, one by one, so, in the process, you will see the big picture and force yourself to consider each point in depth. You would likely run out of energy before she does. On each school, I worked with her at least 8-12 drafts. And even my final draft sometimes still had her pending comments that I needed to remove because of limited space.

3) Genuine and Authentic

My essay got me an interview at HBS so it was great, although I couldn’t convert the interview to the offer. The essay question was “Introduce yourself to classmates” and was the great opportunity to show your personality so I wrote it in a very personalized and funny way, while mentioning some of my achievements but not too many (imagine you brag for 10 minutes. How could that be interesting to your classmates?). Before I submitted my essay, I sent the essay to my boss (and my recommender) for review. And he said “this essay is so authentic. It feels like you are speaking to me….. It’s alive”. Jessica helped me set the tone for my essay and, in my opinion, I like HBS essay the most.

So in my opinion, I strongly recommend Jessica. You need experts who can look into your stories and express independent opinions. During MBA application, you will burn out. So better invest now and get the best shot.

I was a non-traditional applicant with a liberal arts major from an Ivy and work experience in startups. I’m a female Asian-American. The weaknesses I knew I had to overcome were a sub-3.5 GPA, lack of quantitative background, and scattered work history due to the nature of the startup world.

As I searched for a consultant, the first mistake I made in the application process was seeking a consultant with a high “success rate.” After all, my ultimate goal wasn’t to write a bunch of essays; it was to be admitted to my dream school! When I spoke to Jessica, she made me realize that the firms that boast about their numbers push applicants towards safety schools in the interest of keeping their numbers high. She politely explained that her own success rate included having countless clients who felt as though they were her only client, glowing testimonials, and half of her business from referrals. The fact that her own incentives were in line with mine, not against them, was a refreshing break from other consultants – many of which told me straight up that I had no chance at my dream schools, so I shouldn’t even try.

When I asked Jessica about my weaknesses, she was nothing but positive. Unlike other consultants, who continued to harp on the fact that it would be difficult to overcome the GPA and work history, Jessica instead focused on my upward trend in grades and how fascinating the work I did in each of my jobs was. She encouraged me to apply to my dream schools. I could feel her genuine excitement upon hearing my story. This is what sold me.

Our first brainstorming session was unforgettable. I’d prepared a 22-page document full of answers to questions about my upbringing, work history, and personal values – not just my numbers and resume points. Jessica read every single page in order to touch upon the most poignant details about my life in our conversation. She eventually drew so much “content” out of me (that I didn’t even know I had!) that we were able to come up with an outline for a very personal story.

This story ended up forming the foundation of our relationship. For three months, I’d lock myself in my room to finish a draft, send them to Jessica, anxiously wait for her response, open her document full of thoughtful and honest edits that matched my own effort, and repeat. I was shocked by how far every draft progressed. In just 6 drafts, my essay went from scattered to polished. I’m confident I couldn’t find another person that puts as much care into her review as Jessica does, especially considering how personal the story was to me.

In the end, I used the final essay as my main introduction for 5 out of 6 applications to Top 10 schools. I secured 3 interviews, was accepted to all 3 with Jessica’s help (2 with scholarship), and I’m now at Wharton – a dream!

Before I had secured any interviews, I told Jessica that no matter the outcome, she had helped me be more introspective about myself than ever before. The story she helped me write helped me come to terms with something I hadn’t had the courage to face. If you work with Jessica, you’ll be getting so much more than an acceptance letter to business school.

When I first started the MBA application process, I really had no idea where to begin. I was one of the first of my peers to apply to business school and was coming from a somewhat non-traditional background (family business).

After doing some preliminary research, I decided to reach out to MBAMission and set up an initial consultation with Jessica Shklar. In our first meeting, I was immediately blown away by how much interest Jessica showed in my story and how much it genuinely seemed that she cared about my future (and admission to the business school of my choosing). Even in our first consultation, she was already coming up with the best possible ways to tell my “story” and present my accomplishments.

Throughout the admissions process, Jessica was there every step of the way. From reviewing my resume until it was absolutely perfect to going through iteration after iteration of my essays, Jessica was always willing to help and guide me through the process. Jessica was especially helpful during the “waiting” process, always willing to calm my nerves and answer any calls/emails/questions I had (no matter how often and I’m sure annoying!).

In summary, I really could not be happier with the consulting experience Jessica provided for me. I would not be where I am today without her help and truly believe that she is the reason I was accepted to Columbia Business School.

I chose mbaMission and specifically Jessica on the recommendation of a friend who applied to business school the year before me and thought that mbaMission was the reason that he was able to get into a great school and complete his applications on time, and I could not agree more.

I was extremely impressed with Jessica from the start of my consultation and have recommended her to friends already. The consultation is a free 30 min session and I assumed that she would mainly sell me on mbaMission. However, she did so much more than that. I did my consultation 6 months prior to starting the application process and I asked her what I could do to strengthen my application. Because she had spent time looking into my resume and activities, she gave me actionable items which I did over the next 6 months that really strengthened my application with tangible examples – and that was even before I hired her!

I decided to apply to 6 schools and I do not believe that I could have done it without Jessica. The ability to send an essay off to Jessica and have her look at it with fresh eyes and a different and honest perspective was so valuable. Not only did it help me stay on track with timing throughout the process, but she also had a different perspective and would point out when I said something that didn’t make sense due to company/industry terminology, didn’t answer the school’s question or was not my best work.

Her ability to answer quick questions that would have taken me valuable time to research (and who knows if I would’ve gotten the correct answer) and help me with interview prep kept me sane through the process and helped me feel confident and prepared during the interviews.

I think that the brainstorming sessions however, were where Jessica really went above and beyond my expectations. My brainstorming doc was a total of 26 pages full of disjointed random things and stories. I was so impressed how Jessica was able to connect my work, health situation, volunteer, and family experiences all into one strong story full of rich, measurable, tangible examples. She even pulled some great quotes from my doc that I used as my intros to many of my essays! The story she helped me create really painted the best picture of me as a candidate and enabled me to get into one of my top schools which I am so excited to attend!

I considered taking a go-it-alone approach to writing applications. With a solid GMAT score and 6.0 on my AWA, I felt perfectly qualified to write good essays. However, I had a low GPA from a non-prestigious school and felt those red flags might overshadow my strong work experience and extra curricular activities. I wanted to make sure I communicated my accomplishments and goals as effectively as possible so I made the decision to work with a consultant.

Initially, I felt a little apprehensive about hiring outside help. I worried that this person would encourage me to say what Adcoms wanted to hear and submit essays that didn’t truly reflect my voice and personality. I worried that the other applicants working with the same consultant would present similar stories in similar voices. I worried that I might be wasting my money on a service that gets paid regardless of the outcome. I interviewed consultants from multiple companies, asking them specific questions about their experiences with past clients. Besides being incredibly intelligent and articulate, Jessica Shklar stood out as someone who remembers her clients better than anyone and even seemed emotionally invested in their success. As we worked together over the course of several months, at five key times I remember thinking to myself, “wow, working with Jessica was a really good decision.”

Receiving feedback on my first resume draft. I thought my resume looked great, like, if there was one area where she would have little to no feedback, it was this. When she returned my resume covered with red ink, I realized I had a lot to learn about describing my work to readers who are completely unfamiliar my career field. My problem: I was too modest in some areas, not specific enough in others, and a little too qualitative in my descriptions. After five drafts the final resume looked incredible. Nothing about it was embellished or untrue, Jessica’s outside perspective simply helped me describe my own experience – basically giving me full credit for everything I had accomplished.
The initial brainstorming session. Over the course of 2 hours we pored over my nearly 20-page questionnaire and pulled out some of my most interesting and impactful stories. After dreading the application process for so long, I finished that conversation with an overall plan for my apps and couldn’t wait to write my first essay.
Finishing my first essay (one down, a dozen to go). From start to final draft, the first essay ended up taking seven days. I thought my initial draft was terrific and almost good enough to submit. Jessica returned my document with insightful and constructive comments that literally covered the pages. For example, she would suggest that I change one word to make a specific sentence sound more positive. Or she’d tell me to explain things in more detail while suggesting ways to make other sentences more concise. Besides helping me keep the essay within the word limit, this was important because instead of just using one example to showcase my leadership experience, I now had room for two really concrete examples. Looking back at its evolution, that first essay went from good to amazing. Jessica’s feedback made me look forward to revising each draft. Her mentorship has even helped me professionally by making me a more effective and efficient writer at work (though not for this review because I have so much to say).
Finishing all my applications one month before the deadlines. I’m usually the type of person who procrastinates and needs every last minute. With Jessica’s help, I started in July and finished four outstanding applications by September. Rather than feeling stressed out, I actually enjoyed writing my essays to include the “why an MBA and why our school” ones. By telling me when I seemed too cookie-cutter or vague, Jessica prodded me to think more carefully about my short and long-term goals. I took my time, researched more thoroughly, and developed a better sense for the classes I wanted to take, the industry I want to enter, and most importantly, why I wanted to go that direction.
December 20, 2012: getting accepted to Wharton, my target school!
I can’t say for sure that I would have gained acceptance to Wharton had I taken a go-it-alone approach, but in my opinion, Jessica’s guidance was the most impactful factor that turned my otherwise good application into an exceptional one. Not only did I get into my target school, I transformed my resume, learned to write more effectively, and formed a plan for B-school and beyond. Looking back, my decision to work with Jessica wasn’t just a good idea; it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself.

During the first free consultation call, Jessica gave me real advice and the real deal while other companies whom I called gave me terrible mum answers, and told me that they wouldn’t really help me until I signed up for their program. This is when I decided to go with mbaMission instead of other companies – I just felt that if the other companies cared so much about making sure that you pay first prior to helping you, then every help will be well-calculated going forward and they would not help you if they don’t see an end-goal in sight.

Throughout the entire process, Jessica was very helpful in helping me craft my story. I had a few paths that I wanted go delve into (including quitting my job to start a startup), but she was direct about what she thought was a good idea and what wasn’t. As I am now actually starting a startup, I’ve come to realize that the things which she shot down indeed were correct (she told me before that I would never have enough time to launch something given I was only 8 months away from application deadlines).

Additionally, although mbaMission has a 2-day turnaround guarantee on all products, she constantly met if not completely shattered those deadlines. Not having enough time on my plate to really focus on these applications, I would often email her questions and thoughts at 10-11pm (when I had a break at work), and she would respond within 15-20 minutes. Of note – she is very direct in what she believes, and would not give you a wishy-washy answer – even if it is something that you might not want to hear at the moment. To me, that was the most efficient method of changing/challenging my thoughts (if they were wrong). As someone who is relatively opinionated, the last thing I wanted was to have someone give me light suggestions which I could easily dismiss.

Finally, I would like to point out that the connection does not end after you get into whichever school you ultimately end up in. It has been almost 1.5 years since I last worked with her on an essay, and she still checks in on me. If you want someone who really cares and is not there just for the carrot, I highly recommend Jessica.

Jessica Shklar is an amazing advisor.

– She helped me elevate my story and application. I thought I knew it going in – but she helped me really interrogate my goals, arguments, and narrative. She never directed me on what to write – rather, her wealth of experience about the application process helped me identify what to emphasize and what was missing based on what each school is looking for. She sharpened and refined, helping me present to each school the best version of myself.

– Hugely effective use of time. She’s incredibly efficient both in the hourly services, but also in writing editing. She didn’t just elevate my work – she taught me how to be a crisper, more effective writer in general. Hard to overstate how important that is for business school applications.

– Most importantly, Jessica is a kind, thoughtful person and made me feel good about my candidacy. B-school apps are tough and there are lots of people ready to tell you why you won’t get in or play down your goals and expectations for yourself. Though I wasn’t confident about myself going in, Jessica helped me embrace my strengths and be confident in my overall candidacy. I actually think this is a necessary factor in being successful. Your consultant should be your cheerleader!

I will now be attending a top 5 b-school in the fall. So, so grateful for her support. Working with Jessica was the best investment I made this year and 100% confident it wouldn’t have happened without her.

When I started applying in 2016 for class of 2019, I wasn’t sure if I wanted a consultant and wasn’t ready to invest ~$4k-5k. I ended up not taking the full package, instead just an hourly service with Jessica as she was the most encouraging and impactful out of everyone I spoke with. She helped with the following: 1. School selection – she recommended schools that she thought I’d make a good fit for 2. Reviewing my resume – she helped conform it to the STAR format 3. Reviewing draft 1 of my essay – this was the most helpful as she gave me a strong foundation to build on I did not get through any of the (albeit highly selective schools) that I applied to that year. I applied to more schools next year, including one from her recommendation that I hadn’t previously considered and got through. I ended up using my current-MBA friends as my reviewers instead of going the consultant route, but her initial recommendations on how to shape my story to make it more impactful were crucial in helping me put the best foot forward. The best aspect about working with Jessica was her encouragement. She was great at following up even though I wasn’t her regular client and seemed genuinely interested in making sure I got a school that I wanted. The only reason I knocked off a star is that I did not get one crucial piece of advice from her, that for a trained consultant should’ve been easy to spot (please note, that this is NOT on her, just something I feel) – to improve my GMAT score to be more competitive. I was supposedly a poster story for a “non-traditional” applicant with high chances to get into HBS (my dream school, where I got interviewed and waitlisted, but ultimately rejected), and with the benefit of hindsight, my GMAT score was the only thing that held me back (I know that because when I called HBS for a review, they encouraged me to re-apply as my application was very strong.) In conclusion, I have the most respect and gratitude for Jessica for being a supportive mentor during a very daunting (and long) process!

I chose Jessica because, after phone calls with several other consultants from other companies, she—easily—made the best use of the time on the call and had the strongest impact. I was really impressed and inspired and felt confident that she was someone who would provide the most value added. She did not disappoint and was consistently helpful throughout the contract. Even though I was rejected from all seven schools (the most selective, was waitlisted with one of them) that I worked on with her, I would still highly recommend her services, as I was able to take the application materials that I worked on with her feedback, and leverage them successfully for multiple other selective schools. Jessica is professional, gives you honest, experienced, and objective feedback and I believe that her services helped me get accepted to a top choice of mine and with excellent scholarship opportunities at multiple schools. If you have the money, Jessica can help keep the application stress to a minimum which will help keep your work performance and relationships (because of less stress) healthy. Working with her and mbaMission provides a structure that will help you balance work, applications, volunteer work, and your social life. Jessica was always quick to respond to questions and was reliably committed to the two business day turnaround in mbaMission’s contract. Jessica is an intelligent and experienced professional and was a strong asset to have on my team when it came to putting forth the best version of my self during the application process. In hindsight, partnering with Jessica made my application process more deeply introspective, objective, fun, memorable, and meaningful.

I was on the fence about these consultancies generally. I studied and took the GMAT on my own and, confident in my own story, felt I could do the same with essays/applications. Ultimately I decided to go for it as I connected well with Jessica on our initial consultation and didn’t want to miss out on a leg up other applicants may have. I’m glad I did. Without Jessica’s guidance, I would have produced a much weaker application. If you really nail a question – she’s there to help smooth out the details. If you miss on one, she won’t hold back; she’ll let you know you have to throw it away and start over. And she’s right. Working with Jessica gave me confidence in taking risks with my essays that I otherwise wouldn’t have taken. She was there every step of the way, using all the resources available to her (including other consultants at the firm whose expertise was helpful in specific scenarios) to make sure your application is the best it possibly can be. Don’t skip out on this crucial tool during the application process. Relative to the amount of money you’ll spend on your MBA in it’s entirety, a consultant fee is a drop in the bucket.

I worked with Jessica for the R1 Class of 2020 application cycle. She helped me immensely, particularly with my career essay – how to make it not feel contrived, how to showcase my background as a “nontraditional” applicant. There were lots of things I wouldn’t know to do that I ended up doing because of Jessica’s guidance. More than this, Jessica always made me feel that my unique voice could be heard while also fitting into the “box” of what these essays could and should look like. Her editing was extremely helpful, particularly around shortening essays as necessary. Having her as a reliable and trustworthy partner in the essay writing process made me cognizant of time management leading up to deadlines. Jessica came to me through a referral from a previous client and I would absolutely recommend her to any of my friends applying. She is fantastic!

As a non-traditional student with very few personal MBA connections, the application process seemed incredibly daunting. After being recommended to Jessica by another non-traditional applicant who received admission at Wharton, I was undoubtedly impressed by what she brought to the application process. Not only was I accepted to the school of my (and my wife’s) dreams, Jessica brought a layer to the application process I would have never discovered on my own. The sheer magnitude of self-discovery, through her method of consulting, not only helped me evaluate what I wanted from a school and how to write my applications accordingly, but what I want to accomplish both during and post-MBA. Her insights not only helped me receive admission, but helped me draw a better picture of who I am for my job hunting efforts and beyond. I would strongly recommend Jessica to anyone looking to apply to a top MBA program, especially a non-traditional candidate.

I did a tremendous amount of research and spoke with over a dozen consultants before I was very luckily referred to Jessica. After our first conversation, I felt uplifted, and I knew she was the consultant I wanted to partner with. Jessica genuinely supported my goals to apply to the top MBA programs and was dedicated during the entire process. Jessica is efficient and effective – she provided an agenda at the beginning of our talks, and we discussed and tackled those items during each session, spending additional time at the end for my specific questions. The resume support was tremendous. We went through six or seven iterations, and the final product was a complete transformation from the first draft in format, language, and theme. As a military veteran, I really struggled talking and writing about myself. Thankfully, I had Jessica to discuss my stories with and bounce ideas off of. After each of our brainstorming sessions, she helped me to identify the most defining, powerful, and compelling stories from my background, and we strategized how to approach questions for each school. As I worked through essays, Jessica provided honest, specific feedback and very fast turnarounds. Not only was she the mentor and coach that I needed, she is also an excellent teacher, and I learned to become a much better communicator through this entire process. I applied to GSB, HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, Haas, and CBS. I received interview offers at five of the schools, was accepted to four, and wait-listed at one. There is no way I would have accomplished my dreams without Jessica. On a closing note, going into the application process as an older candidate with a low GPA, I felt my goals were lofty and my chances, realistically, were slim. However, I didn’t want to leave anything on the table. Regardless of the outcome, I knew that this investment was going to be worth every penny. It has proved to be so much more than I would have ever thought. Not only did the start-to-finish packages and mock interviews prepare me for the business school application and interview process, it has also prepared me for pre-MBA summer program and internship applications. All the tools that I learned to use when writing my essays and preparing for interviews have been invaluable even after acceptance to business school. Make the investment to work with Jessica. It is hands down the most helpful thing you can do to prepare for business school applications AND beyond.

One of the best decisions I made in the application process was getting a consultant, and Jessica is by far the best and most knowledgeable consultant I spoke to. Starting off the MBA process and being a non-traditional candidate, I was unsure on how to sell myself to top MBA programs; however, Jessica guided me through the application process and gave me the confidence to excel. Ultimately, I was accepted into my dream school, which I highly contribute to Jessica’s thoughtfulness and patience throughout the process. A few reasons I think Jessica is the best in the industry: –She gives honest feedback, and pushes you to stay on-track. I really appreciated this quality, especially when writing each of my business school essays. –She has a gift for story-telling. During each call and essay edit, Jessica helped me extract and build upon the most important ideas of each story, which was very helpful. When writing about ourselves, we often think every aspect of our story is vital to write down; however, Jessica is a master at helping you condense but still answer the essay questions thoughtfully. –She is very timely, and turns around work quickly. I was so impressed with Jessica’s ability to turn very high-quality work around fast. Jessica is amazing, and I highly recommend her to anyone applying to business school.

Jess was wonderful to work with! I had the pleasure of working with her for two years, and throughout the entire process, Jess was incredibly supportive, knowledgeable and thorough. Jess really worked with me to identify key differentiating points of my skills and experience and then clearly communicate my story in the admissions essays and interview. She is a fantastic writer and helped me articulate ideas in a very succinct way. I ended up getting into my dream school and I thank Jess over and over for all of her insight and hard work to help me achieve my goals! I would definitely recommend Jess for your MBA application experience! Simply the best!

Jessica had rave reviews from my former manager (“the best”), and I used her for Round 1 of the 2016-2017 cycle with 2/2 admissions at HBS and Wharton. Both a business executive and perceptive storyteller, Jessica outperformed at every step, packing our time with prompt, actionable feedback delivered with off-the-charts energy and humor. In our first conversation, she quickly synthesized my profile (strengths and specifics to improve – e.g. trying the GRE) and cited information on schools I hadn’t unearthed in hours of research and calls. During our sessions, Jessica took time to understand the influences that have shaped me, and my future goals. She then drew out my most compelling accomplishments and experiences, weaving them into a memorable yet strategic narrative that stood out to my target schools. In particular, she is an exceptional writer. She is skilled at understanding the point you are trying to communicate and crafting a succinct, accessible way to get it across. She helped me tell a very context-specific story in a way that was clear and persuasive to any reader, which I believe got me into my top school. I worked with Jessica on my brainstorming, essay (editing again and again until every word had weight), and career goals. She also demystified the process by providing honest answers on what schools expected and how I matched up (How to use the short answers, or present a low GPA?). My engagement with Jessica gave me the edge I needed to get into my dream school, and clarity and focus going forward. Work with Jessica – you will not regret it!!

If you are considering a top school I highly recommend that you sign up for Jessica Shklar’s free 30-minute consultation and you’ll quickly understand why I decided to hire her on the spot for the complete start to finish package. She is exactly what you need her to be when you need it – a strong critic when your work/writing isn’t your best (trust me she’ll know), a strategist providing advice on how to create rapport with admissions officers (a key differentiator for candidates when you’re applying to M7 or T10 schools), and a mock interviewer prepping you for yours at the top school you apply to. She won’t do the job for you, but will give you the guidance, suggestions, hand-on work, and be a sounding board so that you may succeed throughout every step of the MBA application process. I was not a perfect applicant but Jessica helped me maximize my strengths and address my weaknesses and the results exceeded my wildest expectations landing a spot at a top school! Simply put, she’s a true partner in your corner helping you out! After a year and a half of working with Jessica, I am more focused in how I approach everything and a much better writer than before, both of which have me better prepared for B-school this fall at my dream school. Thank you Jessica!!!

I have no doubt that I am attending a Top 15 school because of my work with Jessica. I did a ton of research on both consultants and companies: mbaMission in general and Jessica in particular was undoubtedly the best decision I made in the application process. Seriously: her slots will fill up quickly; lock her in as soon as you can! I did a few 30 minute consultations, and just minutes into my talk with Jessica, I was sold. As a non-traditional candidate, other consultants did not fill me with confidence; Jessica made me feel like my story and candidacy had value – and that it was precisely what made me non-traditional that would get me into a target school. And then she helped make it happen. She has a tremendous gift for drilling down the parts of your story that are both most compelling and that will help you the most with adcoms. The first brainstorming session – and the 20 page document she had me submit beforehand – helped me shine a spotlight on what points I want to focus on and develop a cohesive narrative of my work and personal history. To say that she’s gifted at this is not hyperbole – she truly possesses an unbelievable talent at teasing out the most impressive parts of yourself while crafting an engaging narrative. She has so much insight into the adcoms for top schools and the best and varied ways to approach each individual app – this is info that no amount of googling will help you get and gives you the edge you need to make your app stand out. Every step of the way, she goes above and beyond. She makes you feel like she’s genuinely interested in your success and that the relationship is so much more than transactional. When I didn’t think it possible to shorten my essays any more while preserving meaning, she did so again and again; she was a miracle worker. When I got an interview invite for a school I didn’t even work on with her, she sent me a list of common questions and was available for help. When I had an unfortunate debacle with my transcript, she polled her fellow mbaMission consultants and went out of her way to help me come up with a plan that ultimately landed me where I am today. She’s brilliant, fierce, feisty, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and compassionate – all characteristics that make her a joy to work with. I could go on and on about her virtues and value, but trust me when I tell you this: she is the best of the best.

When I set out to write my applications, my mind was a giant cloud. I had lots of ideas about why I wanted to pursue an MBA, but, as a career switcher, I didn’t know much about the ins and outs of business school admissions process and what adcoms looked for. I wanted to be authentic but whenever I sat down to write, my ideas were all mixed together in a giant spaghetti ball of thought. Jessica has a deep understanding of the application process and helped me to organize my ideas. With her direction, I was even able to understand more about myself and why I desired an MBA on the route to what I desire to accomplish. Not only was she extremely knowledgeable and affable, I felt that she genuinely appreciated my story and cared about my progress. Throughout her webinar and even the free consultation, I never felt I was being sold and received great insight from those offerings alone. That said, purchasing a couple hours to talk through my application was one of the best investments I made. Hands down, you need someone with experience with the application process and admissions to proof your entire app; I didn’t know any such person, so Jessica’s very professional assistance was invaluable.

Jessica was very patient and very knowledgeable about the application process and the programs. Throughout the process, she always made herself available and strictly adhered to the 24-hour response rule. She even provided an expedited feedback right before round I deadlines that helped me get the application in on time. I purchased a complete three-school consultation package with Jessica and added on two more – all in round one. Overall, I’m very happy with the result – I got into four top 15 schools with partial scholarships from two. I suggest putting down your deposit with Jessica as soon as you can because her time tends to get booked up really early in the process. The biggest value add I got from Jessica was on the essay and the resume. We did 7 rounds of resume editing and the final version was nothing like the first draft. I knew that I needed to make my resume more “results oriented” but honestly I didn’t know how. Jessica helped me in a way that she played the role of an admission officer, asking the right questions and kept pushing me if my answer wasn’t “results oriented” enough. She also helped me discovered a lot of bullet points that I didn’t think were important but from the eyes of an admission officer, they were. We worked on a ton of essays – at least two for each school, 5-7 drafts for each essay. We started with a brainstorming call that collected all the stories that we were going to use for the essay then we put them together to make the initial draft – she made it fun, kind of putting together a puzzle. Jessica was really good at cutting down on words to without losing the original meaning of the sentence. This is super important because anyone who’s been through the process would tell you that word counts and space are you biggest enemies Pretty much every essay I gave her was 1.5 times of the word limit, and she cut them down to below limit in a concise way with ease. Moreover, Jessica knows how to tell a story in a very interesting and eye-catching way that attracts the readers, kind of like how a good journal reporter writes interesting stories. Again, not every admission consultant can do these things. Mock interviews and the question lists that Jessica gave me were extremely helpful. I interviewed with 6 schools, and I’d say more than half of the questions were on the question lists. I also had a video essay which was nerve-wrecking but Jessica took extra time to help me prepare that so I was pretty ready by the time I got to it. Last but not the least, through brainstorming sessions and interactions, Jessica really challenged me as an individual and got me to think about what I really want to do post-MBA and for the rest of my life, not simply for the purpose of the application. Through working with Jessica and from her candid feedback, I learned my strengths and weaknesses, my preferred working style and figured out where my passion lies. Luckily, I don’t have to go through the application process again but I’d do it again with Jessica because she made it fun and easy.