Stephanie Horn

Thanks to Stephanie, I was able to realize a high return on investment with the MBA Exchange! With her help, I earned an over 50% tuition scholarship at Booth despite a sub-3.0 undergrad GPA at a low-ranked state school and an overrepresented consulting background.
After an unsuccessful R1, I met with 4 consulting firms about a month before R2 apps were due. MBA Exchange stood out because they provided the most flexibility – Stephanie customized the firm’s services to meet my needs, offered hourly pricing to break down those services, and worked with my time constraints. Stephanie was differentiated in her ability to help me restructure and improve my holistic application (essays, resume, video, interviews) with a very short runway time. She provided quick turnaround times (<24 hrs.) and worked with me up until due dates.
The results speak for themselves:
Round 1 (without Stephanie’s help): Wharton – Rejected w/o interview, Kellogg – Rejected, Tuck – WL w/ interview, NYU – WL w/o interview
Round 2 (with Stephanie’s help): Booth – Admitted w/ $80K scholarship, CBS (applied in merit scholarship cycle) – WL w/ interview, Tuck (sent an improved essay) – Admitted w/ $20K scholarship

Stephanie did a ton to help me organize my thoughts and make sure my core story resonated/made the desired points. She pushed my thinking and challenged me even when I iterated on her comments but still missed the mark. She was very organized and on top of things, and made a big difference in helping me build out my entire app and stay on track. I also found her advice on interview prep/recommendations to be very helpful as well.

I came into the MBA application process in July 2020 after being laid off from my public relations job due to COVID. I had a nontraditional background, very limited business and qualitative classes in undergrad and absolutely no idea where to even begin with my application process. Stephanie was nothing short of a complete gamechanger for me and I can’t express how grateful I am that I worked with her.

From the beginning, she created an entire roadmap for me far beyond just helping me apply to five schools. She was an invaluable sounding board for all matters including standardized testing, setting relevant goals and aspirations, and of course school applications. With her help, I received full-ride offers from two Top 25 schools and admission with scholarship into my top choice (Duke) in the most competitive MBA application cycle in a long time.

I really appreciated Stephanie’s professionalism and candor. While she was always encouraging and positive, she was not afraid to give hard truths and direct constructive criticism when it was necessary. She was not a “yes woman”; she was looking out for my best interests and always delivered the honesty that creating the best applications for me required. Reach out to Stephanie if you want a consultant who will push you to achieve your goals!

Stephanie is a great person and easy to work with. She consulted me to build my story from the ground which highlights my strengths and specialty, helping me to outstand among all the competitive applicants. Benefiting from her industry expertise, I feel my application was involved from good to great. Luckily, I received my offers from my top choices.

What I liked about Stephanie was that she was always completely honest about my prospects and what I need to do to get to my top choice. Taking a holistic approach to my application, Stephanie greatly assisted in me showcasing why I am a good fit for an MBA. With her advice on drafts, mock interview prep, and guidance on how to get recommendation letters, she greatly assisted in my application process. With her help, I was accepted into my top MBA choice!

I decided to apply to Kellogg last minute when I heard they were offering a GMAT waiver for the 2020 Evening and Weekend program. I was on a short timeline and in under two weeks, Stephanie helped me craft my application and essays to expertly tell the story of why Kellogg was the right school for me, and how I would leverage my experience to bring value to the class. She was extremely efficient with my time and worked through the different sections of my application methodically, always providing clear and concise feedback and edits with a quick turnaround. I am so glad that I chose Stephanie and would absolutely recommend that anyone applying to a top school reach out to the MBA Exchange.

Background: Digital Transformation consultant at big 4

Engagement Experience: After carefully reading through consultant bios, I decided to partner with Stephanie for her expertise in the consulting industry. As I was applying to business schools from a highly competitive consulting industry, I found Stephanie’s experiences working with clients from consulting background as well as her professional experience at McKinsey post MBA extremely valuable in preparing my application. As part of the comprehensive package, I had a couple of mock interviews with Stephanie. Mock interview feedbacks were spot on and were extremely helpful in performing during actual interviews.
Also, I was waitlisted at a target school during Round 1. Stephanie provided guidance throughout the following rounds to help me get off the waitlist. I was admitted from the waitlist in April to a top choice school.

Results: Admitted to three MBA programs and enrolled in a top ten MBA program. I highly recommend working with Stephanie!

After working with a different admissions firm on my R1 packages, I got dinged by three top MBA schools.
Then, I looked for a different consultant and decided to work with Stephanie, on an hourly capacity. She helped me refine my R2 applications, gave me advise for my interviews, and worked with me all the way until I gained admission at Kellogg, school that was one of my top 3 programs.
Stephanie took time to hear my story, and uncover some of my strengths and weaknesses; as a result, she pointed out experiences and skills that I leveraged for my R2 applications. Furthermore, she is very likeable, highly proactive, and nice to work with—traits that I value in any individual I collaborate with.
Thanks, Stephanie!

Stephanie helped me analyze my whole profile and reveal vulnerabilities. She was always responsive and responsible with respect to my application. Based on her valuable guidance I was able to cherry-pick the best personal and professional stories and stipulate them in the application. Given the peculiarity of my background, her guidance enabled me to prepare the best possible application. Two top US business schools invited me to interviews. I got accepted to my target business school. When I received an offer of admission from one school I withdrew my second application. I strongly recommend working with Stephanie!

Stephanie was great, she helped me put together a good story to my application and helped me portray a unique story in my essays. This helped me with my MBA interviews and has helped with job interviews as well. I’m confident that with her I was able to send out the best possible application I could have.

Stephanie is methodological in her process and punctual in getting back to questions/edits. She elicited fine details in my life and helped me place them in the correct order to strike the right note.
She gave me the confidence in putting together the best application and helped me get into top #1 EMBA program in US. I would recommend Stephanie to anyone looking to apply for business school.Look no further from her!

Working with Stephanie was easy and very helpful. She was always fast to respond and created a great timeline to get all my applications in even on a shortened time frame. She also helped me identify what experiences matter most to admissions staff and craft my story. With Stephanie’s help I was admitted to 4 top schools with money from three of them! I highly recommend working with Stephanie.

Stephanie acted as a drill sergeant for me throughout the entire application process. She was extremely responsive and on top of all details and timelines for my applications. Her advice was extremely helpful and professional, and I could not have been admitted to my first choice MBA program without her help. She helped leverage my unique position and portray a story to the admissions team that was unlike any other. She helped me get off the waitlist in less than two months by providing admissions with constant updates on my career and goals, as well as reaffirming my desire to attend the program. HIGHLY recommend her service to anyone looking for help no matter where you are in the application process.

I reapplied to two M7s this year with the help of Stephanie and the MBA exchange. Stephanie immediately had some great thoughts on a few key areas I could improve on and how I could improve the overall impact of my application. I didn’t employ the help of MBA exchange until the end of July, but Stephanie designed a schedule both us could adhere to and always responds within 24hrs or less. She was fantastic to work with throughout the process and I’ve already been accepted to my top choice.

I began working with MBA Exchange in May of 2016. I decided to go with their firm as the founder/CEO responded within 30 minutes when I submitted my initial email. Within an hour, we were on the phone discussing my candidacy. Given the high stakes of the MBA process, I knew this was the type of partnership I was looking for. I was paired with Stephanie and couldn’t have been happier with the experience. From the beginning, Stephanie proved to be a thoughtful, experienced and responsive partner. Using the robust MBA Exchange process/templates etc., she helped me to transform my experience into a cohesive and powerful story via application essays (revisions turned around within 24 hours at the very latest) and the interview process. After my initial appplications (Round 1), I was dinged from HBS and Wharton, waitlisted at Kellogg (#1 choice) and admitted to Darden. Given that I was waitlisted at my top choice, I worked with Stephanie to put together a plan of attack to move from waitlisted to admitted and worked with her on this process for the next six months. As a result of these efforts, I just heard that I am off the WL and am admitted to Kellogg. What impressed me most about this is that while Stephanie could have left me to my own devices after submitting my initial apps, she stuck with me for the long haul and provided the same quality of service throughout. To me, this speaks to the type of professional that Stephanie is and she is certainly someone who you want on your side during this arduous process. Thank you Stephanie!

I worked with Stephanie to make sure I was thinking through my school selection and application \”stories\” in the right way. She was immensely helpful in making sure I brought through the best examples in my essays and applications, and her help to kick-start my interview prep was invaluable. I ended up admitted to Kellogg, Booth, and Darden, and waitlisted at Ross and Sloan. Kellogg and Booth were my two choices, so we focused on those mostly, and I am very glad I solicited her help.

Stephanie has been highly effective as my lead consultant. I am accepted to Kellogg School of Management and wait-listed at Booth.
I have an undergrad degree in engineering from India. I work as a Management Consultant in a Big 4. Long term goal: Consulting.

Some specific points I would like to highlight:
1. Stephanie has been very effective in answering all my initial questions regarding school selection, GMAT score. Her thorough and comprehensive answers enabled me take tough calls throughout the process

2. Stephanie always kept the big-picture in mind while reviewing my essays. This ensured I bring out the right leadership stories in all the essays.

3. The turnaround of essay review was pretty quick. Sometimes less than 12 hours.

4. The interview prep was the most helpful part. After all my answers, Stephanie worked with me to improve the answers and communicate the stories in a specific way. I must tell that she was spot-on the type questions that will be asked in the interviews and what are some of the most effective ways to communicate them. She also focused on the softer aspects one needs to know while being interviewed.

5. Lastly, the wait-list support provided was very useful. She ensured that my update emails were detailed enough and that I communicate the finer details that would set me apart from other applications and improve my candidacy. At each and every step of the waitlist, Stephanie has been a great help.

I was a round three applicant in 2016. By way of background, I have four years of professional experience in private equity, management consulting (MBB), and venture capital. My undergraduate degree was in economics with a GPA in the high 3’s. In February I began thinking through timing for when to apply for business school. My target school was Kellogg and specifically the 1Y program. By beginning the process in March however I had one month to craft my story for the admissions team. The frameworks of the MBA Exchange provide a great starting point to think through the relevant stories dating back from childhood through your professional experiences. Once the frameworks were built out I was then paired with Stephanie and I could not have been more impressed or grateful for the pairing. Stephanie built out a schedule on day one for us to work within the deadlines of the month. From there her ability to drive me to reflect on where my experiences to date have brought me and how those experiences paired with a Kellogg MBA will best prepare me to achieve my personal and professional goals, was exceptional. Yesterday I started the 1Y program at Kellogg and it is my dream school. This would not have been possible without the MBA Exchange and Stephanie. I recommend each without reservation!

Stephanie is everything I could have wanted out of an admissions consultant. She was nice, knowledgeable and responsive on all aspects related to the admissions process. In particular, her ability to dissect essays and provide quality feedback was absolutely invaluable. Also, and most importantly to me, Stephanie made the effort to get to know me as a person and not just as a client on paper. I strongly recommend Stephanie to anyone who is considering reaching for their top schools!

I had an amazing experience working with MBA Exchange and my consultant Stephanie Horn. I am a working professional with 5 years of experience as product manager in one of the top tech firms in silicon valley. Last year when I decided to apply for B-school , one of my friends recommended me “MBA Exchange”. The support and guidance I got from “MBA Exchange” and Stephanie in particular has truly helped me achieve an important milestone in my life. She helped me organize my “raw material” into something eloquent and grand. I am confident that my essays were greatly improved after each discussion with Stephanie. I would often come to her with loose ideas and she would help me explore and tease out those ideas. At the end I got admitted into a top B-school of my choice. If I had to go through the admissions process again, I would definitely do it with Stephanie.

My test score was about to expire in 5 months when I met Stephanie. She is extremely helpful, patient and responsive. She helps me select the right school to apply, and also lay down my strengths and weakness for best positioning. English is my second language, she is extremely helpful in terms of editing my application. Without her, I would not have a chance with the time limit I have. I highly recommend Stephenie!