Maria Spaulding

First of all, chances are I would not have applied for HBS and other top schools had it not been for her encouragement. After an initial thorough conversation with me, she was convinced I had a shot at top schools provided I present the best in me while working on the weaknesses.

She is highly organized in that she makes the entire application process streamlined and easy to follow, which was extremely helpful for me with various personal duties on the side. Furthermore, not only her rich experience as a professional consultant as well as her prior work experience in relevant industries earned her sufficient credibility, but also her personalized advice and the fact that she was always reachable made me extremely comfortable to work with her.

Lastly, there were many instances where she pushed me for another iteration when I thought the current version was sufficient. It does take considerable time and effort to earn her sign-off, but at the end of the day, now I know the quality of the work we produced is what the top schools look for.

She was more than a mentor to me. She was a dear friend in all aspects of the application process, and acted as key emotional support. I give my absolute highest recommendation for her.

I have worked with Maria twice in a row. The first year I applied, I was waitlisted by Harvard and then dinged after 6 months. Even though I did not make it then, Maria (my lead consultant) was extremely helpful throughout the process right from writing the essay till the end of managing the waitlist communications and the decision to apply again. Honestly I don’t think I would have even gotten an interview call from Harvard after only 2 years of work experience had it not been for Maria’s excellent feedback on my application. So when I decided to apply again the following year, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to choose Maria. And this year, I got into all top 3 MBAs (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton) – all thanks to Maria. The best thing about Maria is that she is truly invested in her clients and that reflects in her work. She is extremely flexible in providing feedback during urgent timelines, getting on a phone call when you’re feeling overwhelmed, etc. Also she goes out of her way to think through your application in great detail and proactively provide feedback. There have been instances when Maria has provided a first feedback and then followed up with a modification as she thought of a better approach. I received emails from her every now and then when she had a better idea for a certain element of my application. This kind of proactive involvement is what you need from a consultant to help you polish parts of your application where you may not even think you need polishing. Lastly Maria’s own background from Harvard and her experience of working with several top client-admits over the years, definitely helps her provide invaluable personalized feedback on how your individual application can stand out from the crowd. I highly recommend Maria as a consultant and mentor.

It is rare that you come across standout talent like Maria. I was a very unique case where I had a very short deadline to submit my applications. Most consultants wouldn’t want to take on such a challenge but Maria said an unwavering yes. Maria is absolutely brilliant, she knows how to bring out the best in candidates, and is very honest with her feedback and your application so you can put your best foot forward. Maria not only knows what each top school is looking for but she also deeply cares about her clients and is greatly invested in their success. There were late nights, deadlines that most people would be say would be impossible to make but together we made it work. She always responded back to me within 24 hours which was amazing. She even took impromptu phone calls when we had some emergency situations. Maria provided excellent essay feedback, recommender guidelines, incredible interview preparation, and my resume has never looked better after her help. It has been a dream of mine to go to business school for 10 years and I know I got into Harvard because of the support and guidance of Maria. I even got a full ride to Ross. She is extremely encouraging while being honest. I know Maria is not only the best consultant out there but she is a wonderful human being and someone I will be close to for the rest of my life. She has provided me an opportunity that will affect my entire life and career. I do not give feedback like this – I am very picky and anyone is lucky to work with Maria. If you want to get into your dream MBA school look no further than Maria – she earns my highest recommendation.

Maria was an essential part of my acceptance to my first choice school, London Business School. While her experience speaks for itself, she was ALWAYS available (she would reply incredibly fast), her feedback was candid but incredibly constructive and it was great to work with someone who had been in that position before. My background was in finance (6 years) and I applied to 5 schools. No matter how much support you get from friends and family, I can’t emphasize enough how helpful it is to have an “outsider” provide feedback on your work because only they can look at your application from the same perspective as the admissions committee. In this respect, Maria was incredible at providing a structure to help me articulate my story through the essays and interviews. Even two years after working with Maria, I still drew on her advice and the talking points we drew from my experience when interviewing for full-time jobs, and recently landed a strategy role at Google. I cannot recommend her enough.

I applied to HBS 2nd round in January 2016 and received admission in April. Maria was no small part of this and helped me every step of the way. My background: I worked at a hedge fund and then a startup, each for 3 years. I had applied in Round 1 of the previous year. Maria helped craft a great story around the reapplication and how I would be a unique candidate given my startup experience. She assisted in reading the entire application many times over and giving really thoughtful feedback on emphasizing my growth since my first application. In particular, on the essay portion, she she helped me think through potential essay topics and came up with the idea of weaving my reapplication story into an earnest introduction of myself (this year’s essay prompt). After receiving an interview, MBA exchange facilitated a video conference with Maria. The practice interview was taped, so I could go back and re-watch to improve weak answers. Maria had clearly done a practice interview a few times; she was well prepared with questions and had a great format of giving immediate feedback on responses. Lastly, applying can be stressful. Maria was incredibly supportive throughout the entire process. We had candid conversations about how business school could fit into my career and how it helped accelerate hers. Overall, a fantastic experience – couldn’t recommend Maria more highly.