Melissa Jones

I can’t thank Melissa enough to make my dream of going to INSEAD come true! Working with Melissa is extremely insightful, inspiring, yet painless because she brings years of experiences, top-notch expertise, and absolutely amazing work ethic and professionalism.

First, Melissa listens. You may think that you just have a great conversation with a friend, but after the conversation, she can strategically turn your talking points into suggested key themes for the essays that fit into schools’ selection criteria seamlessly.

Second, Melissa can quickly understand your strengths and weaknesses and customize her way of working with you accordingly. With limited word counts for the application, she knows clearly what stories can show your best qualities, what stories to cut/or how to make them more concise. She makes sure that what you want to convey and what makes you stand out nicely show in your essays in a way that’s written in your own tone and that touches the readers/adcom naturally.

Moreover, Melissa gently pushes you. She’s so experienced in the application process that she knows when to do what makes the process most efficient and effective. She always gently reminded me of the timing and the key elements in the application package. Even with a very tight deadline, I was able to turn around my INSEAD application in less than 2 weeks and CBS and GSB’s application in a week. This all can happen because Melissa got back to me VERY quickly, and don’t waste time on things wouldn’t work in the final product.

Lastly, Melissa would encourage you while giving you very honest feedback when necessary. She makes sure that you stay true to yourself in your essays without having the pressure in trying to write what the adcom wants to read.

I can’t be happier that I got into INSEAD in the last round (even with not competitive scores) and also CBS/LBS with scholarship. Thanks to Melissa that I’m heading to France and Singapore to experience my MBA adventure in a few months!

Melissa is very helpful and made sure to guide on every aspect of my application to form a coherent narrative. She was also quite encouraging throughout the process, which made the application journey a very smooth experience!

My MBA journey started with a free consultation call for many international MBA consultants. Being an Indian male engineer with an avg GMAT score, none of the consultants made me feel confident that I could make it to my dream school INSEAD. To many of them, INSEAD was not within reach and I was recommended to have a package for 4-5 schools.
And then I had a call with Matt from Fortuna. We had an hour discussion and within minutes, he highlighted the skills that I have to secure a place in Fontainebleau. He was so confident in my profile and was so optimistic towards my dream, not for a second he made me feel that INSEAD was not in reach. That confidence I got from the call with Matt changed my outlook and I was so positive, it made me realize that MBA is way beyond the GMAT test and I could leverage the strong professional experience I have and turn it into an excellent application.
Then, I got lined with Melissa, and I can’t say enough about her as a coach. She is an encyclopedia for INSEAD. She knows exactly what the school is looking for. Like Matt, she has focused only on my strengths throughout the process. Though the stories and achievements were mine, the way she helped me display those in the application made a real difference. She is very honest, and at all times she provided her genuine feedback and support. I was intrigued by her knowledge of the INSEAD admission process. She took my mock interview and my actual interview was the replica of the mock. I can say for certain that if INSEAD is your dream school, then Melissa is a no-brainer.
Lastly, I would highly recommend Fortuna Admissions to the prospective applicants if you are looking for a consultant to get into your dream school. Fortuna has all the ingredients to make your dream true!

I have an extremely busy workload and was apprehensive about the process of applying to a top EMBA program. From the beginning till the end, Melissa provided the sort of steady guidance that I needed to get across the finishing line. In addition to being thoughtful, responsive and encouraging, she was extremely patient with all the (internal) deadlines that I kept missing! She understood my strengths and worked with me to bring them out in my resume and essays. More than anything, she gave me the confidence to stay focused and keep going. In the end, I was admitted to a top global EMBA program with a scholarship. I cannot recommend Melissa highly enough.

At first, I reached out to Stacy Blackman consulting for a free consult. My test scores were borderline, and I didn’t come from a traditional background or company that produces many MBAs to top b-schools. I specifically asked the consultant about one top-5 program, in particular, hoping they could help “handicap” my odds at acceptance. Sadly, I was told point-blank I’d be better off looking at tier 2 schools. That experience left me feeling dejected, questioning whether I even had a shot at my dream school…

Enter Fortuna! My initial discussion with Matt Symonds was slated to take an hour but we ended up chatting for around two! He assured me that not only did I have a shot, but that I was a strong candidate. I could tell that to Fortuna, I wasn’t just a set of numbers to be plugged into some arbitrary formula that would decide whether or not I was a good candidate, but rather a unique individual with a story to tell.

Matt lined me up w/ Melissa, and I can’t say enough about her as a coach. Melissa is a Rockstar! She has this amazing ability to be brutally open and honest in a way that helps you peel back the inconsequential and focus on your core strengths and abilities, highlighting who you truly are. She was extremely thorough in gathering all the data and helped me realize that specific experiences and aspects of my background that I thought were insignificant would really resonate with the adcom. In all honesty, if you don’t end up hiring her as an admissions consultant consider hiring her as a life coach, she’s that good!

Long story short, I was accepted to my dream program, and I’m positive that Melissa and the team at Fortuna played an integral part in making it happen!

Deeply knowledgeable on the business school admissions process, Melissa provided me with some very detailed and constructive feedback on how to best showcase my professional accomplishments in my essays & resume, and stand-out to the admissions committee. She also helped structure my essays to highlight my key personal achievements and put forth a well-balanced view of my personality; ultimately helping me make it to the interview shortlist. Subsequently, she also provided me with a lot of resources and guidance on how best to prepare for the interview, and present myself on the day.

Extremely professional in her work, Melissa was always quick to get back with her reviews without compromising on the quality of her inputs, yet being very friendly and extremely approachable at all times. It was an absolute pleasure working with her, and can only offer my highest levels of recommendation for her work. I will always be grateful to her for helping me get admitted into my dream b-school.

I was anxious about writing essays and interviewing for the top-tier school that I targeted. Melissa helped me tailor my essays to tell a compelling story that demonstrated why I was a great fit for the school. Despite heavily marking up my early drafts, Melissa was always positive and encouraging. Knowing that she truly believed in me gave me the confidence to continue pushing until I had the best possible application. Melissa also provided great feedback on my essays that helped me present my best self to the admissions committee. I also did a mock Skype interview with Melissa, which was extremely helpful in building my confidence and interviewing skills. Her questions were also very predictive of the questions I faced in my actual interview. Thanks to Melissa, I was accepted to my target school, with a scholarship.

Melissa is an incredible expert! I was very lucky to be coached by Melissa! Throughout the entire process, not only the essays and the resume, her expertise, her continuous support, and encouragement were crucial. She was able to stand out all the key points of my background to shine my application and to get me admitted in my dream school – top us MBA program. She is always relevant and very perfectionist. Beyond the final result, the experience with Melissa was also unique because it allowed me to know myself better. All of these thanks to Melissa.Thank you very much Melissa for your terrific job!

I was nervous about applying the top-tier school I was targeting with the experience I had, but Melissa helped me tailor my resume and essays to articulate why my experience was a fit for the school. Through speaking with her about my experience, she helped pinpoint certain things I should include in my resume and essays, and also helped me identify the best examples to use in my essays so that my responses were relevant and professional. I had paid for I think 3 hours of services and still had ~20 minutes left over after resume and essay editing, so we used it to do a mock Skype interview, which was super helpful in practicing and knowing what types of questions to expect. I was accepted to my target school, with a scholarship.

I highly recommend working with Melissa Jones. I feel fortunate to have benefited from Melissa’s expertise, guidance, and encouragement. I was recently admitted to my top choice of a top-tier business school and Melissa’s support was critical to me achieving my long-term goal.

Melissa is the ultimate professional and will provide you with invaluable support as you navigate the often daunting business school admissions process. Melissa’s objective perspective on my application and ideas about areas for improvement were helpful as it provided me with a clear idea about what I needed to work toward. Melissa was also extremely patient, as she reviewed and provided feedback on multiple iterations of my application. She was always so encouraging and I appreciated her honesty.

As well, Melissa, along with the Fortuna team, have developed valuable internal processes that will provide you with the structure you need to successfully navigate the business school applications process. Part of this included a review of my CV, and Jody, Fortuna’s resume expert, along with Melissa, provided me with feedback that enabled me to develop a compelling CV that complemented my essays. I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience working with Melissa.