Susan OKeefe

Susan is the real deal. She knows exactly what HBS is looking for and how to get you there. Her response time is generally within a few hours and never more than a day. The MBA admissions process seems pretty opaque when you first start. You aren’t sure exactly what you should write in your essays, you are unsure about the story you want to tell, and you don’t know what to leave out of your application. Susan brings an expertise that clarifies the whole process making it feel much more manageable. The application process is also really drawn out and having a partner to help you consolidate your story and ease the mental burden and worry about admissions is invaluable. I will be recommending her to anyone I know who applies for an MBA in the future.

I came to Susan for a Sanity Check a few days before my first school’s round 1 deadline, having already worked with another consultant at a large firm for weeks. This other consultant told me that my essays were ready to go, but I still had lingering doubts about their quality. Susan gave me completely unfiltered feedback about them, informing me that they needed an enormous amount of work. She marked up each piece of writing extensively, offering suggestions on content, phrasing, and tone, then went through the documents individually with me on the phone, offering additional advice as we went. With her editing recommendations, I worked feverishly on the application for the next three days and just met the deadline.
Even though I had already paid another consultant for a comprehensive package, I exclusively used Susan’s From Scratch Editing service on each of my remaining round 1 schools. She had a strategy for each school that she tailored to my unique background, beginning with well-structured outlines that we developed through six iterations of probing questions and thorough editing. She was knowledgeable about every T15 to which I applied, having familiarity with the individual classes, clubs, and projects that actually distinguish each school from the others. Her edits were highly proactive. When needed, she offered example themes that her past clients had used to stimulate brainstorming.
Rather than reacting to my comments, she approached editing with a conception of the entire arc of each essay and a rationale for which sentences were substantive and which needed to be removed. When she sensed that details in a story needed more context, she posed additional questions to elicit new information that I hadn’t even recognized as important. Moreover, she calibrated her edits with an awareness of the level of treacle that the adcom has an appetite for. She paced our work with the submission deadlines in mind and always responded to my drafts within a day, though more frequently in only a few hours. In addition to the main essays, she will also edit the short responses embedded within applications.
Beyond her editing expertise itself, I felt more motivated to write knowing that she was counting on me to follow through and meet the deadline. As the HBSGuru website mentions, the From Scratch Editing package includes interview preparation. I did one mock interview with Susan. She asked me a wide variety of questions during our preparation session, including ones that I didn’t get in others that I did. My only criticism of her mock approach is that she interjected with feedback after each question rather than doing the full interview and critiquing my responses at the end, which I found less conducive to improvement. Overall, my experience with Susan’s service was excellent. I was admitted to Tuck and two other T15 schools to which I applied and believe that I would not have achieved these results without her guidance.

Susan is extremely effective at understanding what the schools are looking for and exactly how to position the different aspects of yourself into a well integrated application. After being rejected from 3 schools she looked at my profile and immediately knew where i went wrong ( even though i was following advice from forums and youtube etc) and helped me redraft everything into a wonderful package.This got me into Columbia Business School. She is extremely thorough and very direct which leads to a very efficient working relationship and prevented alot of thinking and analysis paralysis on my part.

You should definitely work with her.

Susan knows HBS like the back of her hand. She is extremely efficient with her process and helped me craft my story and highlight my resume in a way that fit together. I tried a few different coaches, and Susan was without a doubt the most knowledgeable, engaged, and responsive coach. Susan’s response time is stellar, always within the day and often within hours. Susan is direct and knows how to draw out information that you didn’t previously know you knew or needed to provide. Susan got me into HBS. All of my friends that I have recommended her to have also gotten into HBS.

Susan was incredible to work with. I decided late to apply in Round 2 and only had a month or so to pull everything together. She laid out what would be critical for admissions, and quickly assessed what aspects of my application needed the most work. She helped me hone my story so my essays really came alive, all while saving me a huge amount of time and stress. Thanks to her guidance, I was admitted to both Wharton and MIT—I couldn’t have done it without her.

Susan was a huge help for my round 2 application process to HBS. I was very busy and did not have a lot of time to put into my essays due to private equity work, so Susan’s straight-to-the-point, non-BS, direct advice was invaluable into getting my application in shape right before the deadline. She made herself available for last minute calls and gave advice that I do think moved the needle into putting my best foot forward with clarity into the app and gaining acceptance last minute to the HBS class of 2024.

I have referred Susan to friends that hired her twice already and feedback has been positive as well.

I began my MBA application journey in June 2024, and my friend’s recommendation to work with Susan was the best advice I received. In just a couple of weeks, she helped me craft a compelling narrative, solidify my post-MBA goals, and build a strong “why” for my application. As a candidate from a non-traditional background, she gave me the confidence I needed to navigate the demanding application process. I’ll never forget her dedication, including staying up with me until midnight to review last-minute essays.

Susan’s commitment went above and beyond my expectations. Even after I was accepted to GSB and MIT, she continued to work with me to help me get off the waitlist at HBS. She is truly a one-of-a-kind consultant, and I cannot recommend her enough to anyone applying to top business schools.

I never imagined getting into my top three schools, and I attribute a significant portion of my success to the time and personal attention Susan invests in each candidate. Unlike larger consulting firms, she offers a truly personal touch and is genuinely invested in your success. My experience with a school where I didn’t use her help- getting waitlisted and then rejected from Wharton- is a powerful testament to her impact.

I couldn’t have gotten into HBS without Susan. Her insight, honesty, and strategic guidance were game-changing at every stage of the process. She challenged me to dig deeper, helped me find my authentic voice, and was with me every step of the way. I strongly recommend working with her — she’s the real deal. She knows what the admissions committee wants to hear!

Before contacting Susan, I had already prepared my application and walked in thinking that I had everything figured out. Susan, however, made me rethink what makes an effective application: unlike other consultants I had free consultations with, she poked so many holes and pointed out serious flaws in an application that people who I had review (friends and family) thought was so perfect. With Susan’s help, and despite an unusual background and many weaknesses that she helped me present in a palatable way, I got into Booth, INSEAD, Oxford, and Cambridge and was even waitlisted at Stanford (also interviewed with Wharton and MIT).

Susan will bluntly tell you when your output is lazy/plain BS and will push you to refine and polish. When working on the essays, she pushed me to reflect on my experience and add details to craft thoughtful and vivid essays, often revisiting portions that were already done and enhancing them to add value to the application. She knew what would be boring/cliche to adcomms and what would be interesting and stand out (unrelated, but her feedback actually taught me to be a more concise and thoughtful writer). When I signed up for more than one school, Susan, instead of just repurposing the application we had initially worked on, set new plans and strategies to build applications that would best resonate with other schools and work with my unusual background.

For interview prep, I did one session with her and that was all I needed. That single session prepped me for every interview I had, including the Wharton TBD. Susan was open to doing more sessions, but the depth of the one session we did covered so much that I felt fully prepared. Across seven interviews, only one or two questions caught me slightly off guard, and even then, the frameworks I discussed with Susan helped me answer them very smoothly.

Simply put, Susan knows the application process inside and out. She knows what would work with adcomms and what would not. She saved me so many times from making mistakes that would have gotten me rejected and would even discuss with me her reasoning behind removing/editing portions of the application, giving me insight into how adcomms look at applicants. She also has some interesting insider knowledge that you will learn when working with her.

In addition to her knowledge of the application process, Susan is very attentive and responsive (even during peak application periods). She has a very quick turnaround: it is not unusual to wake up and find 4 emails from her with comments on different documents and receive comments over the weekend (she even once sent three edits of the same document in one day in addition to answering one-off questions I sent that same day!). She answered any question that popped into my head throughout the process and even had no problems accommodating me when I needed to defer my application. She was also very patient when I over obsessed with details and wouldn’t let some things go (be prepared to let things go because it will be hard!).

Susan is a constant source of guidance throughout the process and knows exactly how to set up an applicant in a way that would best reflect his/her experience. To put it bluntly, I had ZERO chance before Susan. If I had submitted my application as it was initially, I would have been rejected and that would have been the end of it.

Do yourself a favor and contact Susan now!

Susan is by far the best consultant I have worked with. I have applied twice to MBA programs (HSW first, admitted to Wharton for deferred, then H/S the second time), and hired three consultants (one deferred, two consultants for my regular round 1 processes).

I was admitted into Stanford GSB as an Asian international male with a standard background (2Y IB + 2Y PE) and I absolutely would not have gotten in without her help.

While I ultimately did not end up attending business school (pursued startup instead), I am extremely glad to have had Susan’s support / expertise throughout the emotionally draining process.

She is extremely direct / no-nonsense, but the quality of her work is MUCH higher than any other firm.

The other firms I worked with had 24-48 hour standard turnaround with expedite fees. Susan regularly returned edits on Saturdays and Sundays without me asking or paying extra. She also charged less than both other consultants I used, which was unbelievable given she did more work and delivered better results.

Susan also rewrote large portions of my essays. The other consultants mostly just commented on my drafts. Her writing was noticeably better than what the other consultants suggested.
Working with Susan was the best choice I could have made, and I wish I had hired her earlier or when I applied deferred (who knows, maybe I would have gotten in then!).

I worked with Susan for my Round 2 HBS application, and I’m beyond thrilled to say that I got in! 🎉 I purchased her From Scratch Editing package ($2,800), which covered my entire application plus mock interviews, and it was definitely worth every penny.

I cannot recommend Susan more strongly or enthusiastically—if you’re serious about getting into a top MBA program, do yourself a favor and reach out to her.

Why I loved working with Susan:
✅ Brutally Honest – She doesn’t sugarcoat things. If something in my essays was weak, generic, or made me sound like a jerk, she called it out immediately and helped me refine my messaging.

✅ Strategic & Vision-Oriented – One of the biggest ways Susan helped was by shaping the overall strategy of my application. There were so many times when I had half-baked ideas, and she helped me transform them into compelling, polished narratives. She made sure that between my essays, resume, and my recommendations, that all the pieces fit together to tell a clear story.

✅ Next-Level Interview Prep – Susan went deep into researching my background and came up with a ton of questions, some of which actually showed up in my HBS interview. By the time I walked into the real thing, I felt fully prepared and confident.

✅ Super Responsive – I never waited more than a day for feedback. She was always available, always thorough, and always kept things moving.

✅ Personalized – Susan has worked with a ton of people so odds are she has had success with someone in your field/background. She had plenty of experience working with military applicants and was able to leverage that experience to help me.

My Background (for Context)
📌 27M, 6 years in the U.S. Navy
📌 GPA 3.76 B.S. 4.00 M.S.
📌 655 GMAT Focus