Rachel Nelson

Consultant

Gatehouse Admissions

United States

Net Promoter Score: 10.00

Consultant Bio

Rachel has a bachelor of arts in government from Harvard College and an MBA from UPenn Wharton. While building her financial services career in product management, product marketing, and strategy at several Fortune 50 companies, she discovered that she particularly enjoyed mentoring her colleagues. During this time, she became ā€” and still is ā€” a Harvard College alumni interviewer. She also served as an alumni interviewer for Wharton, which gave her firsthand exposure to how increasingly large and competitive the MBA applicant pools were becoming. As a former rower for Harvardā€™s Radcliffe Crew, Rachel knows that teamwork can be a crucial factor in oneā€™s success. With that in mind, she pivoted away from interviewing MBA aspirants in favor of partnering with them on developing their applications. She loves building relationships with her clients, learning about their goals and motivations, and helping them increase their odds.

Rachel splits her time between Boston and the Cotswolds in England, while coaching applicants all over the world.

Company Information

Gatehouse Admissions was founded on a simple truth: getting accepted to Harvard, Stanford, and other top-tier business schools becomes more challenging each year. Candidates need a new level of expertise and commitment from their admissions consultant. Through our unmatched 360Ā° perspective based on thousands of acceptances and deep investment at every stage of the application process, Gatehouse Admissions is the new standard in admissions consulting.

We limit our client roster to a small number of high-caliber candidates who are targeting the most prestigious business schools. We specialize in those applying from ultra-competitive fields and companies (Private Equity, Venture Capital, Finance, Management Consulting, and Big Tech), though our tools are equally effective for our clients in Marketing, Manufacturing, Product Management, Family Businesses, and Entrepreneurship. Even within these motivated applicant pools, Gatehouse Admissions is not for everyone. The strongest partnerships are those in which each participant contributes equally. We seek clients who are committed to working hard, open to feedback, and willing to learn.

The best way to see if Gatehouse Admissions is a good fit for you is to visit our website and fill out an inquiry form. If we feel that your profile would be a good match with our services, we will contact you to schedule a free 30-minute initial consultation.

Menu of Services and Associated Costs

Our selection of services is all-encompassing:
ā€“ In-depth exploration of your experiences, values, and ambitions via our Experience Inventory so that you choose the best stories and themes to showcase in your application

ā€“ Unlimited line editing, coaching and an expertā€™s perspective on your essays, resume, short answers, and other application components. Your work is only done when both you and your consultant feel it is

ā€“ Partnership on your letters of recommendation, working with both you and your recommenders on strategy and execution to ensure help you shine

ā€“ Interview training and coaching, with multiple mock interviews. Based on our experience, one mock interview is never enough

ā€“ A project manager, sounding board, advocate, mentor, and most of all, an expert to guide you at every step of the way

Prices depend on what services you select, which schools you target, and how many you target in total.

Location: United States

Email: info@gatehouseadmissions.com

Website: https://www.gatehouseadmissions.com/

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P&Q Consultant Reviews

  • Amazing Experience Working With Rachel
    5 months ago
    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 ā€“ 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 ...
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    Class of 2026 Admit
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  • Rachel Is Awesome - Cannot Recommend More!
    6 months ago
    Background: White female who worked at a PE fund for two years and Investment Banking prior to that. ā€œIvy plusā€ 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 Rachelā€™s support, I was able to submit a strong application that truly represented my best self and was admitted to Wharton and ...
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    Class of 2026 Admit
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  • She Is The Best There Is!
    6 months ago
    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 ...
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    Class of 2026 Admit
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  • Rachel Was The "Edge" That Led To My Success!
    6 months ago
    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. Iā€™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 ā€œsellingā€ me on how much they would help me, while Gatehouse Admissions (where I spoke with ...
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    Class of 2026 Admit
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  • Highly Recommend! Rachel Is A Miracle Worker!
    7 months ago
    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 wasnā€™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 Iā€™d need a consultant who ...
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    Class of 2026 Admit
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  • Rachel Is The Best! Highly recommend!
    8 months ago
    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 didnā€™t feel forced. For both schools, she coached me on what the adcoms are looking for ā€“ I didnā€™t realize how different my essays needed to be! When I was given a ā€œFurther Considerationā€ 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 ...
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    Class of 2026 Admit
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  • Highly Recommend Working With Rachel
    8 months ago
    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 ...
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    Charles Mangum
    MBA Class of 2026 Admit
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  • Highly Recommend! Incredibly Supportive Throughout The Entire Process!
    11 months ago
    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 ...
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    Class of 2026 Admit
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  • Even In Round 3, Rachel Delivered!
    1 year ago
    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 didnā€™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 Rachelā€™s help I was able to gain admittance into ...
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    Class of 2025 Admit
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  • Rachel Helped Me Through Rd 3!
    1 year ago
    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.
    Class of 2025 Admit
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  • RACHEL SAVED MY APP
    2 years ago
    Iā€™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 ā€“ additional background: straight white male, 29 years old. What I didnā€™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 ā€œgoodā€ 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, ...
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    Class of 2025 Admit
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  • 10/10 Would Recommend Working With Rachel!!
    2 years ago
    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 ...
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    Class of 2025 Admit
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  • Rachel Is The Best!!
    2 years ago
    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 ...
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  • Best Decision For MBA!!
    2 years ago
    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 ā€œBSā€ that needed to go away. Rachel was super responsive and always ...
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    Class of 2025 Admit
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  • Rachel, Miracle Consultant
    2 years ago
    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 ...
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    Class of 2024 Admit
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  • Rachel Is Phenomenal! Highly Highly Recommend!!
    3 years ago
    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 ā€œcatch-up,ā€ I found Rachelā€™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 meā€”all to stunning results, acceptance at all three of my schools! By way of background, I graduated from a ...
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    Class of 2024 Admit
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  • Rachel Was Amazing and Turned My Applications Around
    3 years ago
    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 ...
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    Class of 2024 Admit
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  • Absolute Life Changing Experience
    3 years ago
    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 ...
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    Class of 2024 Admit
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  • Fantastic Consultant!
    4 years ago
    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, ...
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    Class of 2022 Admit
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  • Life Changing Investment & Forever Grateful to Rachel!
    4 years ago
    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 ...
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    Class of 2021 Admit
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