Taniel Chan

I recently worked with Taniel who really excelled at helping me articulate the unique facets of my personal story and skillfully weaving them into my application essays. I would highly recommend Taniel for candidates seeking to emphasize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in their applications. Overall I found Taniel’s contribution instrumental in helping secure an admission at HBS.

I have a job with long working hour and occasional travelling, and was short on time to figure out what to highlight in my applications to different schools. I went to Fortuna/Taniel for they have plenty of HBS admission experience.

In our first meeting, Taniel assessed my profile and told me if HBS is realistic for me and what other safety schools he recommends for my ambition of developing an investment career in Asia. It gives me the motivation I needed to continue on, for me, the year-long application process.

The whole coaching process has been incredibly efficient. Taniel always turn around with his comments within 2 days without fail, even when it’s weekend/holiday seasons.

After years of polishing my own CV, Taniel can still give me so much feedback that it becomes much more effective at the end. I was initially very lost on what to focus on in the HBS essay. It gave me much peace of mind knowing that I have the privilege to leverage on Taniel’s vast experience. He has also been very detail-oriented to catch all sorts of errors I make in the application.

Taniel was a pleasure to work with – I was applying to five M7 schools in the first round. From the beginning of the summer, Taniel helped me not only create a sustainable workplan to get my applications in, but strategically sequenced essays to allow for earlier introspection and future opportunities to reuse (where applicable.)

Throughout the editing process, Taniel was never too prescriptive, and in fact was quite collaborative. He probed me to articulate my “why” and understand the chain of events in my life that has led me to become who I am, and that has led me to have the aspirations I have. Throughout the interview prep process, Taniel was quite encouraging yet not shy of giving actionable feedback that was tailored to specific schools.

Ultimately, I was able to interview with 5/5 schools and landed three acceptances (one full ride, and two HSW.) I really do not think this would have been possible without Taniel’s help and encouragement along the way. Highly recommend!

I had a great experience with Taniel, who helped me get admitted to my #1 target school!

Taniel provided highly valuable support throughout the entire MBA application process.

In the beginning, he invested his time upfront to make sure he understood my background and personal history. This enabled him to help me unpack my story, and craft the narrative around my MBA essay.

As part of the process, he provided strategic advice around recommender selection, and the key ‘selling points’ he thought I needed to highlight as part of my application.

He was also incredibly helpful in terms of helping me prepare for my interview. I walked away from our mock interview session with much more clarity on what and how I should try to communicate in response to potential interview questions.

Overall Taniel’s help went a long way in making me feel supported throughout the application process. I’d highly recommend his services.

I am thrilled to express my deepest gratitude for Taniel who played a pivotal role in my admission to Wharton.

From our very first interaction, it was evident that my consultant possessed a remarkable understanding of the intricacies of the MBA admissions process. He took out time to understand me, my strengths and what I bring to the table and instilled in me a newfound confidence throughout the entire process.

What truly sets Taniel apart was his unwavering commitment to my success. I reached out to him very late for the application – but he was always available and very prompt in going through numerous drafts of my application during the Christmas holidays. He had a meticulous eye for detail and he truly helped me bring out my voice in the best possible way

He also helped me through the interview process for Wharton and his feedback on the mock TBDs was extremely useful on the final day and helped me put in my best effort forward.

Thank you Taniel for all your help! Eternally grateful – really couldn’t have done it without you!

I chose to work with Taniel after speaking to several admissions consulting firms, and Taniel / Fortuna stood out as the best fit. It was important to me to present an authentic narrative while highlighting the strongest, most unique parts of my professional and personal experiences. From the get-go, Taniel was able to provide valuable insights and advice on how to manage the long and potentially overwhelming application process. In the beginning, I was having trouble putting together my short- and long-term professional goals, but Taniel quickly helped me hone my “story” and articulate them in a clear and cogent manner. In addition, from essay brainstorming to managing the recommendation process, to preparing for interviews, Taniel proved to be a valuable advisor throughout and helped me put across a more polished and compelling application. There were also many nuances to the application that I would not have been able to execute on my own, such as how to present my resume in a more ‘MBA-friendly’ format, and how to highlight my extracurriculars.

With Taniel’s help, I received interviews at three M7 schools and ended up being accepted at all three. I am attending one of them on a significant merit scholarship, and could not be happier with the results. I highly recommend Taniel if you are looking for a consultant with a holistic approach, focusing on the entire application rather than just the essay portion, and who can help you put your best foot forward during the entire process.

Taniel was an awesome consultant to work with! I loved how he was able to get to know me as a person and help me craft a unique story that really stood out. His background in assisting minority communities with the application process enabled him to help me probe deep into my experiences and uncover my motivations for pursuing business school. Other than providing meaningful feedback on my writing, Taniel was super helpful with interview preparation. I learned a great deal about how to be a more eloquent communicator during interviews and what aspects of my experiences to highlight to make my responses more memorable. As a fellow Deferred Admit, Taniel was also extremely knowledgeable about the nuances of applying to college. I highly recommend his services!

Coming from an industry in which an MBA is not an absolute necessity, I was very selective in where I applied and only ended up submitting a few applications. In order to stand out from an overrepresented pool, I knew my story and essays needed to stand out and that’s where Taniel was instrumental in my process. Not only did he understand my upbringing and background, but he was extremely helpful in bringing everything together to deliver a comprehensive and compelling story as to how and why a top MBA made sense for me. Rather than using a standard playbook, he carefully helped curate how I could stand out from others with similar backgrounds. Additionally, he was dependable and responsive at every step of the process, from figuring out what schools to apply to recommendation letters to the final step of interviewing. I was constantly messaging him at all hours of the day and with all types of questions, but he remained collected and constructive. He broke the entire process to make it more manageable and less stressful and I wouldn’t have received multiple acceptances, including my top choice, without his help!

My experience with Fortuna can be summarized in four words – They understand the assignment!

Taniel was the catalyst who helped me get into my dream school. As a first-generation Black male with an untraditional professional background and an underprivileged upbringing, I was apprehensive about seeking help from a prestigious MBA admissions team, as I did not fit the typical candidate profile. However, Judith and Taniel went above and beyond to ensure that my story was clear and that my application was competitive.

After explaining to Judith my background, shortcomings, and goals – she promised that I would be in the best hands with Taniel. Taniel did not disappoint. He was candid with his feedback, on time with his delivery, and stopped at nothing to give me the best of his skills. He brought out the key pieces in my story while making sure I can speak the language of my target school. Not even holiday travel could stop Taniel from giving me his best. He was invested in my success on a personal level, as evident in the passion he used while coaching me to succeed.

With a sub-700 GMAT score and less than three weeks of work, I was admitted to Wharton, Columbia, Kellogg, and Booth – with scholarship money. I am now on a path to change the trajectory of my lineage, and I have Taniel and the team at Fortuna to thank. To anyone in my shoes (or from my background) who may be apprehensive to work with a consulting team – you can bet on Fortuna. Judith and Taniel are empathetic admissions experts, and they get us.

The decision to work with Taniel was a wonderful one. From the get-go, Taniel took the time to understand my unique experiences and how they would impact my business school application. He was able to identify my strengths and weaknesses, including many smaller details that I had not considered, and provided actionable advice based on his analysis. We worked together to develop a game plan that allowed me to put my best foot forward. In addition, Taniel provided details on each of the schools I was considering applying to that would not be found in a typical Google search and which were extremely valuable when it came time to decide which schools to apply to. I have had an excellent experience with Taniel and regardless of the outcome of my application, I am very satisfied with the service he has provided.

I highly recommend Taniel. He was very responsive and efficient throughout the process. He was always able to give me very helpful and insightful feedback for working on each draft of my essay. Since he attended HBS recently, he was able to give me school-specific advice that other consultants could not. When I initially contacted him, I was very stressed and had a lot of work to do on my essays. However, with every draft, my essay got much better, with Taniel’s detailed comments for editing and continued support. My essay came a long way with his help, and couldn’t have imagined applying without him.

I had a fantastic time working with Taniel, seeking his advice on both my MBA/MPP applications. While Taniel is an amazing consultant overall, there are three things that really stood out for me:

1) His comments and advice are very spot-on, where he is able to point out areas for improvement immediately to make the story a lot more tied together

2) He graduated not too long ago so he is close to a lot of ongoing developments in the school and knows exactly what one should add to his/her application to make it as relevant as possible

3) He truly values your development, even if that means putting in more time than was initially discussed. E.g. sometimes when our chat went over time he’d still continue if something we were discussing wasn’t completed. He even just chatted with me as a friend more about his experience recently after I was admitted.

I’d highly recommend everyone to reach out to Taniel! He was crucial in my applications’ success.

Taniel was very thorough and thoughtful about all parts of the application and he played a pivotal role in my acceptance to HBS. He meticulously considers how ALL parts of your application (not just the essay) will land with an admissions committee. He was very helpful guiding me across the entire application from the perspective of an admissions committee member to deliver a consistent, powerful story across the entire application package (essays, resume, supplemental responses, etc.). Taniel is a very gifted communicator, and that trait shows with his essay guidance. His interview prep guidance made a real difference, as I felt exceptionally prepared for my interview.

Taniel is really excellent. He’s a young guy, but very sharp and has a keen eye for detail. He is responsive, excellent at essay iteration, and I thought my mock interview with him was the best preparation for the HBS interview I could have asked for. I highly recommend working with Taniel.