Rachel Nelson

I had an amazing experience working with Rachel throughout the MBA application process, and I could not recommend her, or Gatehouse Admissions, enough.

For context on my background, I am a white female with a 3.8 GPA from a top liberal arts undergraduate college, 750 GMAT, and 4 years work experience in Private Equity. I was accepted to HBS and waitlisted at GSB.

I was introduced to Gatehouse by a friend and colleague who had amazing things to say about the team. I was matched with Rachel Nelson and was immediately sold after our introductory call – even in our first call Rachel understood my background, provided thoughtful advice on ways to boost my resume ahead of applications (e.g., additional extra-curriculars), and shared perspectives on the application processes across the schools I was considering (even ones I was officially hiring her for).

Our first step of the process was to fill out an “Experience Inventory” which was a very thorough (10+ pg) word document detailing my background from childhood, through academics, extra curriculars, work experience, and personal/professional goals. This was an amazing exercise both for Rachel to get caught up to speed on my background, and for me to clearly outline all of my experiences and identify common threads which could help craft a powerful story in my essays. During our next session Rachel came with a list of themes she’d noticed and potential areas for me to focus on in my essays – her brainstorming style was perfect in providing helpful suggestions, while always keeping me in the driver’s seat of creation and the direction my essays would take. In the essay drafting stages her reviews are incredibly thorough and she was always transparent with timing commitments which made it easy to work together. She was a perfectionist in the best way possible, making sure we were using the word count to its fullest and never losing sight of how my essays, resume, and short answers all wove together into a comprehensive application.

Her interview prep thoughtfully started with “general interview” preparation and then offered advice and materials targeted to specific schools – this structure demonstrating her expertise and experience working with the different school’s admissions styles. Her feedback was pointed and specific, which gave me very focused areas to work on.

Rachel was an amazing thought partner throughout the entire process, and overall, just a great person – I could not recommend her enough!

Background: White female who worked at a PE fund for two years and Investment Banking prior to that. “Ivy plus” undergraduate with above average GPA and 740 GMAT. Cannot thank Rachel enough for her help and encouragement! She guided me through reflection, helping me to articulate my experiences and goals in a cohesive and compelling manner while avoiding sounding trite. Rachel was direct and targeted with feedback, providing me with clear, actionable steps to enhance my application. Her honesty about deadlines and efforts to keep me accountable ensured that I stayed on track while balancing applications with an intense work schedule. Thanks to Rachel’s support, I was able to submit a strong application that truly represented my best self and was admitted to Wharton and Sloan!

Background: In-state undergrad, 2 years of banking, 3 years of private equity. 750 GMAT. MBA being sponsored through my current fund

Result: Admitted to HBS; GBS; Wharton (with $55k per year scholarship). Chose HBS

Rachel is the best there is. I come from a very overrepresented background of MBA applicants and did my undergrad at my generic middle-of-the-pack state school. On paper, my resume looks very similar to many folks with my background, but Rachel was critical in helping me tell a compelling story that gave schools a deep understanding of who I am and allowed me to stand out in the ways I hoped. She guided me through all parts of each application and every single line (down to the 100 character entries on the online apps after you’ve uploaded all your essays) was thoughtfully crafted. Rachel got an incredible sense of me as a person over this process and then helped me think about the mosaic I wanted to build out with each aspect of my application (i.e. let Recommender A cover X, so you can use real estate in your essay to elaborate on Y). Most critically, she was able to see throughlines in my experiences that allowed me to have connected themes and narratives guide my essays. She had my back every step of the way and wasn’t afraid to tell me when to pick it up (either in my quality of drafting documents or in the pace of turning them to meet my target deadlines). She is a wonderful thought partner and an especially kind and caring person. I tremendously enjoyed working with her and couldn’t recommend her enough.

I would not have had the success that I did with my MBA applications, had I not worked with Gatehouse Admissions and namely, Rachel Nelson. As an Indian-American male who graduated from Vanderbilt University with a 3.55 GPA as an undergraduate Chemical Engineer with a 770 GMAT score, I believed that I had a chance to get into an M7 Full-Time MBA Program, but I had some concerns. I’m not a strong writer, I knew I needed help managing the concurrent admissions deadlines, and I came from a non-traditional industry (I work in pharmaceuticals manufacturing). When I did introductory calls with many consultant firms, they all spent the time “selling” me on how much they would help me, while Gatehouse Admissions (where I spoke with Hollis Kline) went ahead and showed me. The intro call itself felt like a working session, and after hiring Gatehouse I was paired with Rachel Nelson. She is timely, honest, encouraging, and darn good at what she does! She turned my “pharma jargon” into translatable achievements while helping me identify and develop the themes of my essays. Her reviews are incredibly thorough, and she sent me back her reviews early multiple times, allowing me to have extra time to ensure my applications were strong. Her interview prep is targeted and effective, but also not too repetitive. When my work wasn’t good enough, she told me so in a manner that helped me improve. I found that the stronger writing skills I developed through her showed in my job too! If she felt that I could do even better, she pushed me for another draft, and I know that this “final push” led to me receiving admission at Tuck, Kellogg, and Booth, while also currently being waitlisted at HBS and Sloan despite applying to both of those programs in the highly competitive Round 2. Even as I am currently waitlisted at both programs, Rachel is actively helping me to get off these waitlists by reviewing additional recommender letters and application updates. I truly believe that pairing with Gatehouse Admissions and Rachel Nelson was the “edge” that allowed me to experience such a successful application process in the incoming MBA Class of 2026’s competitive landscape!

Background: White female, 3.8 GPA at top liberal arts college (Williams/Amherst), strong extracurricular activities, 4 years of work experience at start-up, 660 GMAT.

Results: Accepted to Kellogg (+ received an interview invite at Wharton and was admitted to several other T15 schools with scholarship!).

I began seriously considering business school last spring but procrastinated on starting the application process until October because I wasn’t sure how to approach it. I was very set on attending school in the fall of 2024; however, being not the greatest standardized test taker, I was unable to improve my score in time for round two applications.

Knowing that my score was well below average for the caliber of schools I hoped to attend, I knew I’d need a consultant who could elevate other aspects of my application and provide much-needed guidance. Rachel did just that and more! She helped me convey my personality and experiences authentically in my essays and successfully navigate the challenges posed by a low test score. Plus, working with Rachel, I gained more from the application process than offers of admission — I developed a new skill set that I know will be invaluable in business school and beyond, including honing my career goals, improving my writing skills, and effectively preparing for behavioral interviews.

Above all else, Rachel is a genuinely great person to work with! She gave me the confidence to push forward with my applications, even in the moments when I felt discouraged. After I submitted my applications, she continued to support me, regularly checking in and wishing me luck ahead of decision dates. I can’t recommend Rachel enough to anyone navigating the business school process, whether you’re seeking direction from square one, or aiming to refine an already strong application. Her expertise, honesty, and support can enhance any application. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner through the process and wouldn’t change a thing!

Background: Ivy undergrad, Consulting > Buyside, 760 GMAT, re-applicant (previously applied for 2+2)

Result: Admitted to HBS and Wharton

As a quant-oriented person, I was nervous about essay writing. Rachel guided me through the entire writing process and rounds of revisions. She helped tell my story in a way that highlighted my accomplishments, created a coherent narrative across my personal / professional life, and didn’t feel forced. For both schools, she coached me on what the adcoms are looking for – I didn’t realize how different my essays needed to be!

When I was given a “Further Consideration” status at HBS, Rachel helped steer me through the process. She gave me the direct feedback that I needed to put together the best overall package possible. This ultimately resulted in being accepted to both schools that Rachel helped me with (my top 2 choices)!

I cannot recommend Rachel enough – I would tell anyone applying to business school to look no further!

Background: 2 years of Banking, 2 years of PE, 710 GMAT, Claremont McKenna undergrad with 3.6 GPA.

When signing up for a consultant, I did not know what to expect exactly. Rachel made the process incredibly easy and smooth for me. First thing Rachel did was truly get to know me. She took the time and effort to figure out my story to understand how we can make the best application possible. Rachel did not tell me to just do xyz, she really worked with me so I understood why we were doing what we were doing. This allowed me to tell the story that worked for me and my application. When working with Rachel, you realize how much work your application really needs if you want to make it the best application possible. The MBA process is incredibly competitive, so it is important to put yourself in the best position possible to succeed. I truly think that Rachel did that, and she truly got me to a place where I felt like I had the best application possible and also felt prepared for my interviews.

You will only get what you put into it, and Rachel really made me feel that I got all that i put into the process. Truly would not have done it any other way.

Background: White male of Latin American descent. Worked for PE/HF/VC for two years and Investment Banking prior to that. Non-target undergraduate with above average GPA. Recently admitted to HBS!

It initially took me a while to appreciate the value of an MBA. I was skeptical and spent a long-time soliciting feedback and different points of view to ensure this was the right next step in my career. After coming to the realization, I was slightly behind in my application process and timeline for round 1.

Rachel was incredibly helpful from day-1 distilling each of the key components of a well-rounded application. As someone with a type-A personality, Rachel did a great job creating structure to each component of the application process and pushing timelines to hold me accountable throughout. While busy with work, this demystified the application process and allowed me to dual-track applications with GMAT test preparation in a short timeline.

Rachel was also a great thought partner as I evaluated the course of my applications. Rachel helped me prioritize applications and shared valuable perspective on how to structure my submissions (round 1 vs. 2) based on the strengths and weaknesses of my application relative to each school’s focal areas.

Most importantly – Rachel clearly wanted what was best for me and always gave honest feedback. I am happy to have had the opportunity to work with her, and don’t believe I would have achieved the same outcome without her support. Highly recommend you put your faith in her as well!

Rachel was excellent! My situation was quite unique, I had a very limited timeframe to apply and it was for Round 3. Nevertheless Rachel was action focused and didn’t take her foot off of the accelerator. The entire way she was there to support me, I was impressed by her ability to help me tell my story so concisely. I was also quite impressed with Rachel after applications were done, she continued to check in to see how I was doing and offered her help.

Some background on me, I am in the Automotive industry, had a 3.95 GPA from my undergrad in engineering but am not the strongest standardized test taker. Even so, with Rachel’s help I was able to gain admittance into Ross and Sloan. I am beyond thrilled with the results!

Rachel was instrumental in getting me through a tough Round 3 Application Process. Due to late notice of receiving sponsorship (mid-January), I only had a few months to complete school research, GRE/GMAT prep and tests, essays, resume update, and recommender prep. Her method of understanding your unique background in order to help you shape your application and story is unbeatable. The MBA application process is hard, and it 100% helps to have an unbiased and unfiltered reader give you their feedback and help you iterate on your applications. I was ultimately admitted to Ross and Kellogg, and Rachel without a doubt helped me refine my first draft applications.

I’ve planned to get an MBA since I graduated from undergrad in 2015. With good grades/extracurriculars at an Ivy, 740 GMAT score, and 5 years of total WE across banking & VC (some spent internationally), I felt confident in my candidacy and the applications I prepared for the 2020 admissions cycle. PS – additional background: straight white male, 29 years old.

What I didn’t realize until I was outright rejected from H/S/W in 2020 [no consultation help] and then again by Wharton/CBS in 2022 [used a 3rd party essay revision service], was that a “good” application is not enough. The application has to be exceptional, meaning all aspects of who you are and what you have done shine through in the clearest, most compelling light.

In 2023, I decided to go all out, in what I decided would be my last attempt at applying to FT MBA programs. With Rachel [end-to-end application consultant], not only did I get interviews at every school I applied (Wharton included), I was accepted with scholarship to CBS, Yale, NYU, Tuck, and Darden!!

I echo all comments in other reviews that touch on Rachel’s work style, particularly her earnestness, patience, and reliability. And of course, her expert knowledge of what makes for a good app. Rachel draws the most out of you at both a high-level (key stories and concepts to draw from) and low-level (editing for concision and clarity).

If you want to give yourself the best shot of getting into your dream school, do not wait for your 3rd try to work with Rachel like I did, do it on your 1st. And start working with her soon, because MBA applications are a hefty burden that requires brain, time, and emotional expenditure that’s best spread out over a 3+ month time horizon. The peace of mind, results, and stakes make working with Rachel one of the best investments you’ll ever make.

Background: Asian/white male, worked for new HF/PE/VC fund for four years (straight out of college), 3.9 GPA at Harvard/Yale/Princeton undergrad, 770 GMAT. Result: Admitted to HBS.

While I was initially skeptical of the value of working with a consultant, I am so glad I ended up working with Gatehouse and Rachel specifically. Rachel got to know my story, work experience, and extracurricular involvement in detail and we worked together to create a cohesive application that resulted in receiving interviews at both HBS and GSB (and an acceptance to HBS). Throughout the process, there were numerous times when I sent essay drafts I thought were pretty decent but once I got Rachel’s feedback, I realized that they actually needed a bunch of work. Rachel’s suggestions were immensely helpful and pointed out things that I never would have even thought to consider. While some of these changes were tactical (e.g., fitting into word counts), many of them were also in the spirit of conveying a better overall story/narrative, which she was able to do because she put in a lot of work in getting to know me upfront. While the bulk of our work together was on the core essays, Rachel was helpful every step of the way of the application process, including incremental written materials (e.g., HBS Further Consideration Update) and the interview process.

If you’re considering working with a consultant, I would wholeheartedly recommend Rachel and the Gatehouse team!

When I began the MBA application process, I was a bit overwhelmed and unsure of my target schools. Since I had not taken the GMAT and had untraditional work experience, I also did not know what was realistic. After connecting with Gatehouse through a friend, I had fit chats with different consultants and began working with Rachel in early spring for R1 applications the coming fall.

From Day 1, Rachel was highly attentive, inquisitive, and authentic. I quickly knew I liked her forthright and thoughtful approach. She had an answer for all my questions and provided a plan of attack right away with clear guidance on how best to allocate my hours throughout the process.

I graduated from a top state school where I majored in finance (3.53 GPA), and I worked in roles at tech start-ups thereafter. Rachel had a transparent perspective on school selection and patiently pushed me to find the best school fit for me while keeping the process grounded in reality. After scoring a 730, I clearly knew what school I wanted to attend, a decision that was made easily by Rachel’s research suggestions and insightful questions early in the process.

When we began essay work, it became evident to me that Rachel had been making a strong, genuine effort to understand me as a person across all facets throughout the prior months. Rather than simply providing instructions, she (patiently) used an arsenal of thought-provoking questions that extracted information and guided me to craft my best essays. Similarly, Rachel was a wonderful interview prep partner. She had a firm understanding of what schools were looking for and a special ability to convey the finer details of the process. To hit on a few other things: Rachel always kept me on track and on schedule, she’s a fantastic communicator, and possesses a great sense of humor which is much needed at times.

Most importantly, I just enjoyed working with Rachel because she’s a great person. In the end, I was accepted at every school I applied to, including my dream school, Tuck. I cannot say enough good things!

It has been a great pleasure to work with Rachel Nelson from Gatehouse Admissions. She played a massive part in my acceptance to Columbia Business School, my dream school.

I was first introduced to the Gatehouse team through a mutual friend where Liza, the founder, set up a call to align my goals with what her team could offer. After a chat and the fact that I really wanted to go to CBS and continue my career in finance but in a different department, she recommended that I work with Rachel, who had extensive experience in the finance sector.

Looking back at my initial essays, it is, to say the least, embarrassing with so much “BS” that needed to go away. Rachel was super responsive and always forwarded my essays at every interaction. I can firmly say that her help was ESSENTIAL in getting into CBS with my stats. I had a 700 GMAT working for the Middle Office at a bulge bracket firm. Not the best in terms of resume, but Rachel made everything seamless and logical. Also for the interview prep, every question was from the batch we practiced just a few days prior, which I thought was something to highlight.

To all of you applying to MBA now, I strongly suggest you work with Rachel or at least have a consultation call with Liza. It is a 100% game-changer.

I highly recommend Rachel Nelson at Gatehouse Admission to anyone looking for expert guidance on their MBA application process. I had the pleasure of working with Rachel and was impressed by her professionalism, expertise, and support throughout the process.

When I first reached out to Rachel, I was feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where to start with my MBA application. I was looking at top-tier schools, and felt a bit discouraged by my chances of getting in. I studied entrepreneurship at a small business school, and my GPA of 3.1 was below the median for most of my target schools. In addition to my stats, I had a tight deadline of just 2 months to get everything in order, and I wasn’t sure if it was even possible. In our first discussion, Rachel immediately put me at ease and assured me that we could make it happen.

Over the next few weeks, Rachel worked closely with me to get my application in the best shape possible. Furthermore, she helped me craft a great narrative for my personal statement, provided valuable feedback on my resume and essays, and even prepared me for my interviews with mock questions and a full mock interview. Rachel always made herself available to answer all questions and offer support, no matter how small they may have seemed.

In the end, thanks to Rachel’s help, I was accepted into CBS, my top choice MBA program and couldn’t be happier. I can’t thank Rachel enough for all that she did for me, and I highly recommend her services to anyone looking for the best guidance throughout their MBA journey.

Taking the plunge and deciding to finally apply to MBA programs, I was aware of the compressed timeline I had put myself under when I started working with Rachel in late May 2021 for R1 applications. I had not yet taken the GRE, had a rough, but not solid, the idea of my career goals and lacked insight into the process coming from a non-traditional background. Trying to play “catch-up,” I found Rachel’s balance of pragmatism and encouragement provided indispensable support when anxiety or doubt crept in. Knowing the process very well, she was able to help me set priorities and remain focused on the tasks before me—all to stunning results, acceptance at all three of my schools!

By way of background, I graduated from a top state school in 2015 with a 3.86 GPA majoring in Art History. Following undergrad, I obtained a Masters’s degree in Art History, and for the past five years, I have been working in the art industry at a major auction house. I opted to take the GRE and scored 168 in Verbal and 165 in Quant.

Rachel helped me take my application to the next level by pushing me to dig deeper and strive for more specificity in my essays. I always felt that I had ownership of my essays, but it was her astute questions and comments on drafts that drew out new ideas and connections (which I never would have thought to make on my own) and helped bring my story to life. She asked tough questions that gave me pause to think why something matters and if it does matter, how to show (and not tell!) that it does. If I got stuck, she was always willing to hop on Zoom and brainstorm or chat through my ideas. Rachel was the ultimate sounding board! This was especially helpful in crystalizing my career goals. In our conversations, Rachel would always say something that I could latch onto and research more in order to decide whether it made sense for me or not.

Beyond essays and career goals, Rachel answered every one of my minute questions about the applications, calmed my nerves when I convinced myself that I bombed a video essay and reminded me to embrace the uniqueness of my non-traditional background and be myself in interviews.

With her guidance, I applied to and was accepted at Kellogg, Columbia and Tuck (with scholarships at each). Even after acceptance, Rachel helped me weigh pros and cons of each school and provided guidance on negotiating competing scholarship offers.

From beginning to end, Rachel was honest, straightforward, patient and supportive. I honestly believe that my applications would not have been as successful as they were without Rachel’s unique ability to ask the questions that made me dig deeper, reflect further and piece my story together.

I started relatively late on my MBA class of 2024 applications. In fact, Rachel took me in/started to work with me at the beginning of August and I submitted my first round 1 application at the beginning of September, and my second round 1 application mid October. Prior to working with Rachel, I had thought that I had a clear sense and rationale of why business school and potential careers that I could pursue after, but it was clear from initial drafts I shared with Rachel that those reasons were not strong, were not clear enough, and did not make me stand out. From there, I spent some time on Zoom with Rachel and we found a solid thread in my background helping out with my family business which ties nicely to why business school and which industry I would like to explore after, and to think that I wasn’t even going to mention any part of this experience initially (which would have been a huge mistake)!

Rachel turned my applications around and helped me get into the two schools I applied to: Wharton and CBS. To give a sense of my background, I am 3 years out of undergrad (will be 4 years out when I attend business school), I attended Stanford for undergrad and took the GRE one time testing: 162 verbal, 160 quant, 4.0 writing. I work at a quant hedge fund in Business Development and I studied Economics in college.

Rachel is very timely and provides insightful comments. I didn’t even think I needed a consultant initially, but each time after really taking in Rachel’s feedback on my draft and ruminating on where I am going with my essays, I find that my drafts significantly improved from week to week. I admit that it was daunting to receive feedback and markups throughout my essay each time I thought I shared a perfect draft, but working with Rachel got me from a very different place from where I started to when I finally hit submit.

For those of you who are debating on whether you need a consultant, or those of you who are choosing consultants to work with, my experience with Rachel was worth every penny.

I worked with Rachel for about a year starting in the winter of 2020 all the way until my admission in December 2021. I applied to Stanford GSB, HBS and Wharton and have just gotten 2/3 acceptances into HBS and Wharton. I will be pursuing my MBA in the Fall of 2022 at HBS in the class of 2024.

Just to give you a sense of my background, I’m a male with about 5 years of experience including national service in Singapore (2 years). I seemed untraditional coming into the MBA application process and it was pretty scary. I had been working as an Associate in a consumer venture capital fund in Singapore (the fund was quite small – US$400M) after national service, my GRE scores were on par with the HBS / Wharton averages but well below the GSB average – I got a 163V, 163Q. I applied with a 3.67 GPA from an undergraduate business school – I graduated from NYU’s Stern School of Business in 2017 with a BS in Business with concentrations in Finance and Global Business. I also did 2 years of military service in Singapore as part of the Singapore Police Force from 2017-2019 and then joined venture capital from 2019-2021.

So with this rather untraditional background, I wanted to tell a strong story so connected with Rachel to start the process. She is honest, straightforward and hyper-effective in extracting your story. She started me off by answering a number of questions from growing up, to high school, university, and work in what she called an “Experience Inventory” to get an understanding of certain stories and threads in my life and how they have impacted my choices.

From there we pulled from a number of these stories to craft our first draft. Because she is so focused on a hand full of applicants every year, she is a master at understanding your story and how to best position yourself. Through each draft, she will communicate to you if the story you’ve pulled from your experience inventory works or doesn’t and which story you should include instead to create a stronger essay. She gives super-specific advice on everything from resumes to essays to smaller questions on the application because she has done her homework on you and what you have accomplished.

I did feel a bit insecure about the process because of my background – I felt I was climbing an uphill battle vs. consultants or bankers from larger firms but I think what Rachel was best at is helping me gain confidence in my story. She was my biggest champion and was always there whenever I had questions on certain parts of my essay and story.

She had a clear plan for me that we followed through our google sheet and through emails so deadlines were very clear. She was organized and helped me organize myself while balancing work, tests and essays. Interview mocking with her was very helpful as well. She helped provide guides throughout the entire process that included potential questions and how to answer them.

My wife and I are now moving to Boston. It is the absolute best-case scenario given we had wanted to make the transition to the US for a while. I attribute a lot of my application success to Rachel’s help. I could not have done anything without her and am so happy with the money spent. It is a daunting process and sometimes you may feel like the money you spent is not worth it because there are no guarantees. But, Rachel does her best for you 100% of the time – so regardless of the outcome, you will feel like your time spent with her is worth it.

Background: Male, 6 years work experience in banking ops role, average GMAT score.

Result: Accepted to INSEAD

As a first-time applicant, I found the MBA application process daunting, and to have someone like Rachel as a knowledge resource was extremely helpful. Rachel helped me organize my thoughts and provided amazing feedback that I would not have without her as my consultant.

While brainstorming content for the essay topics, she had a great sense of the qualities that my dream school looked for in its candidates and provided excellent guidance on the aspects of my background that would put my best foot forward. She was instrumental in helping me shape a tight story for my MBA candidacy. When my essays missed the mark, Rachel gave me candid, specific feedback ranging from what topics required further elaboration to which achievements best reflected my motivations. She was also an excellent aid through the interview process, helping tidy up my responses to the challenge questions and providing feedback before my actual interviews.

Finally, she was responsive even on weekends when I, unfortunately, had to push back deadlines due to my hectic work schedule. She also advised me on correspondences with my backup schools, even though she was not obligated to. These seemingly small acts made me feel that she was truly committed to my success.

I would recommend Rachel to anyone looking for a top-notch consultant. I could not imagine going through it without her, and I am thankful that I had the chance to work with her.

Background: Male, financial services background, top 20 undergrad b-school, average test results, and GPA.

Results: Accepted to CBS.

I had been unsatisfied with a previous admissions consultant when I was introduced to Rachel near my application deadline. Initially, I was nervous to switch and reinvest time and money at this late stage, but it was the best decision I could have ever made.

I could not recommend Rachel more highly. She was extremely proactive, efficient, and effective throughout the application process. She helped identify the key elements of my personal narrative and was exceedingly honest in providing feedback on my essays and resume. She pushed me to perform at my best and I ended up with a finished product I could not have been happier with. I felt she truly cared about my outcome and went above and beyond for me.