Yaron Dahan

It was an absolute pleasure to work with Yaron. He provided an elite level of judgment and expertise for my application combined with sincere investment in my success and passion for crafting my story.

The process started with two very helpful initiatives. First of all, Menlo gives you a package of prerecorded videos that teach you the ropes for how the admissions process will work overall. You might think this would be basic info that is accessible everywhere, but quite the opposite- I am a reapplicant and so I’d done over a year of research prior, but I still learned a lot from Menlo’s informational videos. The second step was a 2 hour session with Yaron where he simply listened and got to know me. He was very inquisitive, present, and nonjudgmental, yet also very honest. Given my 3.0 GPA, he was very honest with me about my chances at various schools but was up to the challenge to work with me to get into a top school.

When it came to crafting the story for my application, Yaron highlighted a hook for me to use that I didn’t think about during my first round of applications. This hook ended up being what I based my whole narrative around, and when I got accepted to Columbia, they mentioned they were particularly impressed by the narrative that Yaron originally recommended I highlight. I truly could not have done it without him.

I had a fantastic experience working with Yaron. We started working on my essays early so I never felt stressed during the application process. Yaron was easily reachable and often reviewed my essay drafts within 24 hours. He was straightforward with his critique, telling me when things were good and more importantly when things weren’t working. More importantly, Yaron helped me craft a compelling narrative to tell business schools. My background is fairly cookie cutter in an overrepresented industry (finance), so it was essential for me to choose stories and experiences that made me stand out. I don’t think I’d have received a large scholarship at Wharton without Yaron’s help (maybe wouldn’t have been admitted either!)

TLDR: Yaron was perfect in every way.

Yaron has been incredibly helpful in my application process. Honest, direct, and very efficient, he provided feedback that was effective and pertinent. He challenged me in every single way making me advance not only in my application but also in my personal development. Menlo support is well structured and gives a full overview of the application process. I appreciated the way they connect you to other applicants so every candidate can share his experience.
I highly recommend Yaron to anyone who is considering top-business schools.

I had a great experience working with Yaron. I’m so excited to join Booth (with scholarship) this Fall. Overall, I think the end-to-end service provided by Menlo makes the whole MBA application process so much easier and much more efficient. Yaron gave me step-by-step instructions throughout the entire cycle from Nov 2019 when I first signed up for the early bird program all the way to Jan 2021 when I received a scholarship from Chicago Booth. MBA applications are a big-time commitment. Yaron really helped me streamline the application process of my original 8 target schools so that I was able to effectively work on essays, network with current students, talk to alumni, attend school events, and communicate with my recommenders while handling a demanding full time job in the finance sector. Writing essays is a big part of the MBA application and it is normally the most time-consuming part. From brainstorming and selecting stories, to editing and polishing the final version, Yaron has elevated my essays to a different level with his years of experience and expertise in the industry. I can’t imagine how much more time I would have wasted on picking the wrong topics that would have hurt my chance. The other thing that I really appreciate working with Yaron is the timely response. Even though we are in different time zones, he always replies to my questions or provides comments to my draft essay within a day, sometimes I even got my response right away!

When I first started the MBA application process, I was hesitant to hire a consultant. Looking back, it was the best choice I could have made, particularly because of Yaron. Yaron is fully honest about your essays. We went through eight different versions on some essays, but with each revision, it was clear how much better the essay was getting. I ended up being super proud of the final products, and they helped me get into my stretch schools with more money than I expected. Yaron makes you feel like you are his only client – he returns your essays quickly and seamlessly. His preparation on interviews is also exceptional. I was so relaxed by the time I got to my interviews and I was accepted to each school I interviewed at. If I could go back, there would be nothing I would change about the process – Yaron is incredible and is a massive part of why my school search was so successful. I am now off to my dream school of Stanford GSB, the first person from my undergraduate institution to attend.

Working with Menlo and with Yaron was incredible and even more than I had hoped for. There is a reason people say Menlo is the top admissions consultant. When looking at consultants to work with, I was struck by how robust and informative Menlo’s website was. I think I learned more from the free videos on their site than I had in all of the rest of my admissions research, and was impressed by how Menlo’s approach was the “white glove” service.

Once I took the plunge and started working with Yaron, I was happy to find that the hype was real. Not only was the whole Menlo process wonderfully well-oiled and time efficient for someone working full-time and studying to re-take the GMAT (thanks to the focus on videos rather than reading as pre-conversation materials), but Yaron and the Menlo team pushed me to go beyond my initial story and turn it into so much more. The way Menlo structures their modules, with each one forcing me to take a hard look at a different part of my application and goals, went beyond helping me craft a good story – it helped me understand what I actually wanted to achieve in life. This made the application process far beyond a simple check the box exercise – it was a journey of self discovery.

On a more tactical level, Yaron being in Europe was very helpful for my schedule, since he would have me edits first thing in the morning US time. He was very prompt to respond, and we were able to rip through multiple drafts over the course of a few days. His edits were very thoughtful and were very clearly tailored to me, not to some stereotype of what an applicant like me should say.

After I got interview invites, Menlo had personalized interview prep sessions and a forum for other members to share their experience. I felt almost laughably prepared – by the time I got to the actual interview, I’d been through it several times in my head and knew exactly what the questions were likely to be.

Working with Yaron was a life-time experience. He changed the way I was perceiving communications, from McKinsey’s situation-complication-resolution to a narrative and storytelling. He made me rewrite the core Stanford’s essay (what matters for you most and why) 8 times, always from scratch (we had only 6 weeks till the deadline). Each time I felt like an onion losing its next layer. At some point, we went so deep into my personal life that I had to take a few steps back into the business-related dimension. He helped me to think of my story in a sincere, unique, and powerful way. What’s to expect from Yaron? Genuine curiosity in your personality, professional attitude, quick response, readiness to involve his colleagues when needed, patience. What’s not to expect? He never offers his ideas on what to write, it’s only you and your story. His touch is powerful yet invisible. If you want to maximize your chances, learn on the way, and enjoy the process – ask Yaron. PS: I think he should consider writing a book on storytelling, and this book has to be used in schools.

Working with Yaron has been a fantastic experience. As a business owner, I faced many challenges while applying to business schools including a tight work schedule and a less than ideal GMAT score. Despite these setbacks, Yaron provided intelligent and honest feedback in a very timely manner. I knew I wanted to get an MBA, but working with Menlo, I was able to articulate my story while connecting the dots in a very effective way. With a powerful story, I had more confidence approaching other parts of the application process such as the networking, which initially seemed daunting. With this new sense of confidence, many new opportunities opened up and Yaron, with his honesty, definitely kept me on track. With his response time being so quick, I was pushed to work faster, leading to seven well executed applications. He guided me through every phase of the process from helping me decide which schools to apply to, to negotiating scholarships with the four schools I received offers from. I was impressed with how well structured the process was and the amount of insight Menlo Coaching offered during every step. If I had to do it all over again, I would certainly use Menlo. None of the other firms seemed as good or as personal. I was so pleased with my work with Yaron that even after I got accepted, I continued to work with Menlo for recruiting.

I knew Menlo Coaching’s approach was holistic when I decided to work with Yaron, but only after I started the process did I appreciate how well the program is designed, with a combination of the dedicated thought-partner (the “coach”), a self-paced video course laying my “MBA knowledge infrastructure”, and interview training based on school-specific formats.

The first two-hour session with Yaron was already gold. Yaron was able to tease out all the facets of my life, and help me refine a string of common themes, ultimately arriving at the core of “what mattered to me most”. Getting that first step right was crucial to the momentum gained during execution phase. There Yaron was never shy to rely on his years of coaching experience, shaping narrative that was both true to myself and aligned with my MBA goals.

The fact that Yaron is located in EU also helped with my schedule, since I could only crunch on essays early morning or after work. Yaron then worked “overnight” for me to pick up early morning again.

In supplement to Yaron are the many short 2-mins video bits that David & Alice, Menlo’s founders, created to help me think through critical questions, from target schools, ways of networking, to how to prepare for interviews. The content was extremely well made and easy to digest. These “on the go” bits really got me using fragmented times in between work / traveling to actively refine my application.

The pleasure surprise was working a team of vocal / actor trainers, that were part of the interview prep team, as part of the Menlo process. They walk you through a series of “performance” techniques, which ridiculous at first, really helped me master the non-verbal excellence of interviews. Having a few interview buddies to work on interviews, e.g., Wharton team based interview, were spot on as well.

All in all, if you are looking for a team of experienced, dedicated, and full-time team of coaches to help you achieve MBA goals, look no further.

Working with Yaron at Menlo Coaching was a great experience. I was looking for someone to help me navigate the entire admissions process, as I needed help crafting a compelling narrative, refining my resume to showcase accomplishments, and perhaps most importantly, approaching application essays.

Yaron and the team at Menlo had a library of robust resources – I was able to learn about the entire application journey from start to finish and really understand every aspect of what I needed to do, and just as importantly, what not to do. They were available to answer any questions and had terrific turnaround times for essay edits. Through our conversations, Yaron was able to ask questions to elicit the right information to be able to craft a narrative unique to me, and when I was feeling stuck or unmotivated, he encouraged me to keep pushing through, all of which ultimately helped get me into my dream school.

Overall, I would highly recommend working with Yaron at Menlo Coaching – I cannot emphasize enough the importance of his and Menlo’s role in my gaining admission at NYU Stern! I would also recommend reaching out sooner much rather than later to secure working with Yaron as his services are not only high in demand, but also devoted to a limited number of applicants as he needs a certain amount of bandwidth to devote to each prospective student.

Working with Yaron, and Menlo coaching, was one of the best decisions I have made throughout the MBA application process. As someone coming from a lower-ranked undergraduate school without a prestigious resume, I knew that I was fighting an uphill battle from the start. However, with Yaron’s constant guidance, shockingly fast turnaround times, and his deep understanding of the story, I was able to get fantastic admits at multiple programs.

Yaron’s biggest strength is that he understands how to tell a story. Yaron was able to ask me the right questions and to help me understand what my MBA goals were and how to tell my story to the admissions committee. As I started working on my essays, I realized the time zone difference was an advantage, with Yaron turning things around as I slept or while I was at work.

In times where Yaron was a little uncertain on how to advise me, he quickly brought in other consultants with subject-matter expertise. I’d recommend Yaron and Menlo to anyone who is willing to do the hard work needed to get into a top MBA program and who needs help navigating the incredibly demanding and time-consuming MBA application process.

Another great advantage of the Menlo program I wish to highlight is the group sessions with the community of peers who are applying at the same time and the Menlo network. Through Menlo’s network, I was able to connect with students and alumni, who were extraordinarily helpful, and this was an unexpected benefit of working with Menlo.

As a result of my work with Yaron, I was able to punch above my weight and was accepted into five of the eight top-10 programs I applied to. I couldn’t be more excited by the results, which I could not have gotten without Menlo. When I see my peers who have been accepted to the same top-tier MBA programs as I, I am often the only one in the room who didn’t work for MBB consulting, a bulge bracket bank, and didn’t have an Ivy League education. It is thanks to the guidance and insights of Yaron and Menlo that I got the results I did.

Yaron is a wonderful admissions coach, I really cannot ask for better support from any coach throughout this MBA journey. I applied to nine (!!!) schools, and Yaron went through every single application as thoroughly as if it was the first application. I certainly wouldn’t have gotten the six admits and two waitlists including INSEAD and Yale without him. What’s most incredible is that I got into my first choice of dream school LBS, which was a long-shot and I can’t wait to move to London later this year.

I have talked with many admission consultants before deciding to go with Yaron because I can see he will genuinely help me to maximize my chance of admission and won’t see me as just another client to churn through in an assembly line process. Yaron definitely lived up to the expectation by tailoring every step of the process to my needs, from having a detailed discussion about the school selection, to tailoring the dozens of essays for my nine applications, and he never stopped challenging me to make sure I do everything I could to maximize my odds of admission.

Yaron is also very patient and didn’t mind me asking everything to the nth degree, such as selecting what folder I should bring on interview day. Lastly, he is very quick in turnarounds and it is not uncommon for us to have two to three iterations of an essay on the same day, allowing me to apply to nine schools within the tight deadlines. Most importantly, Yaron really is deeply invested in my application and the results, and he goes above and beyond for his clients. For example, my first application is due on a Monday so he logged in during the weekend just to proofread my final application so I can submit it with time to spare; there are many instances where he surprises me and sometimes I wonder if he ever sleeps!

Getting Yaron as my MBA admission coach was the best decision I made for the MBA process, and I have no hesitation recommending him to others; as a case in point, I am looking to see whether I can get his help regarding my career during the MBA program as well.

For those who are in doubt and in particular for those who want to sign up, make sure you get in touch with Yaron as early as possible. As a testament to how popular he is, there’s a long waitlist for the 30-minute initial consultation and Yaron only takes a limited number of clients each year, so you can miss out if you leave it too late, and I promise you won’t regret having a chat with Yaron.

My time working with Yaron could not have been more enjoyable! I took my GMAT on July 1st with the goal of applying R1 to Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton, and knew I needed to quickly turn my attention to my applications.

I have a relatively overrepresented professional background and was concerned about how I could stand out from the many with identical work experience. I knew I wanted to engage a consultant and knew I needed someone who (1) could dedicate the time to truly understand what makes me ME, (2) keep up with my rapid pace of iterations, and (3) had a diverse client base such that he or she wasn’t giving the exact same, cookie-cutter advice to dozens of other applicants struggling with the same issue. Further, I knew that my working style would require a lot of consultation, discussions, and experimenting with ideas, thus I knew I needed an “all-you-can-eat” model (vs an hourly model).

I did an intro call with Yaron and quickly gained comfort around my couple of key criteria. I was attracted to the fact that he only takes on ~10-15 clients (vs 50+ elsewhere) and that he repeatedly told me we could chat on the phone as much or as little as I wanted. He also emphasized that he not only had worked with a number of people with my same profile, but also many people with very diverse profiles, which gave me confidence he had good context for what I bring to the table as well as a good barometer for how that would look when compared to other candidates.

Once we started working together, I was extremely impressed by Yaron’s commitment to my application push. He spent hours on the phone with my drawing out every detail of my childhood up through my current job, taking detailed notes and spit balling some potential essay topics. Yaron was also willing to speak with my parents for a few hours and used that conversation to fill in some of the detail around my younger years. What I was most impressed by, however, was the pace at which Yaron turned things around – I would send him multiple full essay drafts almost every night before I went to sleep (~between 12am and 3am) and would get back thoughtful comments on each draft the very next morning (even on weekends!). Yaron’s geographic location (Europe) allowed for this dynamic, and it was clear to me that he was reviewing my essays for hours starting from the moment he woke up.

I was incredibly proud of how my applications turned out and I attribute a great deal of my success to Yaron’s hands-on, white-glove approach to the process. I got the sense that he really cared about getting to know me and helping me reach my goals, which made the whole process that much more enjoyable and productive.

I have enthusiastically recommended Yaron and Menlo to all my coworkers and friends and hope my excitement has come through here. With Yaron’s help, I ultimately earned acceptances at Stanford GSB and Wharton (along with a deferral at Harvard that is still pending at time of writing). Thank you again, Yaron!

Yaron is exactly the kind of trusted advisor I hope to be in my own future investment banking career, and that is no exaggeration. He begins by developing a deep understanding of you, the individual applicant, borne out of genuine curiosity, an enthusiastic desire to see the best in people, and the insight and tact to help identify and refine your flaws. From there, his approach is utterly original, completely customized, and has no hint of a template, box-checking, or trying to fit you into a standard “package.” Yaron’s input into my application was far, far more than technical finessing; he acted more as psychologist/coach/confidante, looking insightfully behind everything I said to identify my real motivations, drivers, values, and what matters to me most deeply on a personal level—before then harnessing and honing that into an application, and finally clarifying its expression to fit within word limits and show as best as possible. Yaron’s ultra-high-touch approach also manifested in another important way. I did a lot of things in an unusual, mercurial fashion: applied without a recommendation from my current employer, wrote the shortest essays first, had a tendency to tear up drafts and start over completely, and—based on the aforementioned self-discovery I experienced working with Yaron and refining my story—decided on Christmas Eve to apply to 3 more schools, including one with a January 3 deadline. Throughout it all, Yaron was thoroughly strategic and perceptive, hyper-responsive and accommodating, and a true thought partner in a process that was as educational and rewarding as it was stressful. He not only clarified my story, both in style and content—he also guided me on school selection, the GMAT, and a whole range of other subjects. What a guy, what a process, and what amazing results. I ended up with offers at four schools, each one offering something compelling and each one “better” than any other school on at least one metric that mattered to me (location-personal, location-professional, culture, placement). Deciding among them was extremely tough, and here again Yaron came through with sage counsel and a highly sincere, unwavering commitment to my best interests. My ultimate destination? The incredible Chicago Booth—that January 3 deadline school I decided to apply to on Christmas Eve, the one Yaron refined my essay for on New Years Day. Oh, and fully funded. Thank you, Yaron.

Yaron helped me work through applications for six schools and I got admitted to Wharton, Columbia (with scholarship), and Chicago (with scholarship). Very excited to be joining the Wharton class this fall!
The application season and process were definitely stressfully, but I was really glad that Yaron was helping me along the way – from essays to interview preparation. He is genuinely interested in what your thoughts are and help you better express them. I find the process not only helpful for application itself but also in actually thinking about my goal during MBA and career post-MBA. Yaron is incredibly patient during different iterations of essays and remained detail-oriented throughout the process.
I would enthusiastically recommend Yaron to people who are considering getting some guidance in the MBA application process. Had a great experience myself!

Yaron has been an amazing consultant throughout the process of my MBA applications, from which I got accepted with scholarships at Wharton, Booth, and Columbia. I talked to more than a handful of consultants before finding the right fit — and that was definitely Yaron.
Yaron’s feedback has been always extremely fast — always within two days and usually within 12 hours — enabling me to turn over iterations of application materials very fast. He would also be very patient to help develop essays through five to ten iterations, especially at the beginning of the process, until I could find my voice and finesse my story.
Yaron’s approach is particularly effective due to the fact that he would always ask me questions to try to get to my motivation for and meaning of my past and future plans. My story — through essays and interviews — did shine in no small part due to Yaron’s help.
Special shout-out to David and his team at Menlo Coaching, who were also particularly helpful in matching me with Yaron and helping with interview/financial offers.
Can’t recommend Yaron highly enough!

I had the pleasure of working with Yaron on Round 2 applications to Harvard, Wharton, and Stanford. The process couldn’t have been a better experience. Yaron supported me in every aspect of the application and was instrumental in helping me think through my strengths and weaknesses and how to highlight these in the application. If you are unsure about which admissions consultant to go with, I highly recommend you have an initial 30-minute consultation with Yaron. You will quickly learn that he is as experienced as it gets, fun to work with, supportive, and 150% committed to helping you achieve the best results.
Yaron helped me work through my applications within a stressful two-month timeframe. We started off with an initial chat about school choices. He was very helpful in this regard: he has a wealth of knowledge about the different programs and offered constructive arguments to help me decide where to apply.
This was followed by a conversation during which we discussed every aspect of my personal and career history, as well as my future objectives. With this information in hand, Yaron suggested a strategic outline for my applications: essentially a detailed document with his recommendation on how to pitch my best “story” in my essays. He helped me to dig deep and to introspect, identifying parts of my story that I had undervalued, and sharing observations about my profile and my character that I hadn’t thought of before, but made perfect sense nonetheless. He truly helped me learn about myself through the process; I sometimes even forgot that we were actually working on business school applications.
With Yaron’s outline of my “business school story” in hand, we began work on my essays and applications. This is where the real heavy-lifting began during which Yaron brought immense value to the table. I submitted around 5 or 6 drafts for each essay to Yaron until we reached the point when we both agreed that they were ready. When I sent him drafts, he was extremely responsive and usually turned it around within a day. The feedback I got from Yaron was consistently constructive, and, importantly, he kept me focused on my story and on telling it the right way (it can be tempting to get creative or go on tangent stories). Fitting the essay-writing around my work schedule turned out to be exhausting, and on many occasions, I would have been happy to put down the pen, satisfied that my essay was good enough. However, Yaron was relentless and pushed me very, very hard to improve the weaker aspects of my essays. His comments frequently challenged me to the point that I felt like I hit a wall and had total writer’s block. However, in these difficult moments, whenever I invested the time to really absorb his comments, it became obvious that the feedback was spot-on and that Yaron really is an expert at keeping a “macro-view” of my essays, whereas I frequently fell into the trap of getting too bogged down. Overall, Yaron’s relentlessness helped me achieve numerous breakthroughs in my essays which I would not have achieved without his excellent feedback.
Yaron was also instrumental in all the other parts of the application, including in deciding my recommenders, in reviewing and marking up my resume, and in drafting the various short-answer questions (which can end up taking a significant amount of time), and in preparing myself for the interview. In all of these areas, he did add immense value.
With Yaron’s help, I was able to secure admission from Wharton, as well as an interview with HBS, both of which were reach schools, to begin with. For both schools, Yaron was also available to discuss interview strategies and to do mock interviews.
All in all, I write this review with great pleasure as I owe Yaron huge thanks for his advice and support. Working with him will be the best investment for your MBA voyage.

I have been through the wringer with my MBA applications. I applied to 6 schools for the class of 2020 and ended up with five rejections and only one waitlist offer which ended with a rejection. I knew that I needed help and reached out to Menlo Coaching where I was matched with Yaron as my coach. A year later, with the support and guidance of Yaron out of the seven schools, I applied to, I have been accepted to 5 top MBA programs, waitlisted at the 2 other top 15 programs that I applied to, and will be pursuing an MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management in the fall.
I spent several weeks interviewing different MBA Consulting firms trying to find the right match. When I met Yaron and Menlo Consulting, I knew they were right for me. During the first onboarding session, we spent an hour going through my full story and Yaron took detailed notes highlighting areas where I could show how my story is different from the average Management Consultant. Over the next three months, we spent hours refining my story and tailoring my approach to each school. He helped me create a powerful resume that demonstrated my impact. His input helped me take my essays from informative to powerful. He helped me make the “boring” application fields a differentiator in my application. Although I only signed on for assistance with three schools, Yaron offered his assistance with my four other applications and made sure that I had everything I needed to be successful. After I submitted my applications Yaron stayed in contact and helped me prepare for my 7 interviews as well as the follow-up questions that some programs required. When I was waitlisted at Booth, Yaron offered his support to help me prepare a follow-up video and manage the waitlist process.
I have spent the better part of 2 years working towards an MBA and the best choice I made was hiring Menlo Coaching. Yaron provided me with the outside perspective and deep program knowledge that I needed to successfully manage the application process. The difference from my first year of applications to my second year has been unbelievable. With very little change in my GMAT and work experience, I went from 0 accepts, 1 waitlist, and 5 rejections to 5 acceptances, 2 waitlists, and 0 rejections. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for Yaron and his team and how excited I am about moving to Chicago in a few months.

After working with Yaron Dahan from Menlo Coaching I was admitted to Stanford, Wharton, Columbia, and Sloan. I was initially waitlisted at Columbia, but got off the waitlist in just a few weeks, with a scholarship, with coaching from Yaron. Yaron provided outstanding advice on my career goals that I believe set my application apart, and would often provide feedback in less than 12 hrs with both detailed and insightful comments. Yaron was fantastic with interview prep as well. The whole process of working with Yaron and Menlo Coaching was truly a pleasure start to finish. Rather than match you with an amateur coach who knows your industry, Menlo will give you a professional. If you’re investing in a coach, work with Yaron Dahan and the team at Menlo.

Yaron was the perfect consultant to support my applications and acceptances to all three of the M7 schools to which I applied. Coming from a legal background, I completely lacked the knowledge and support system that comes from knowing peers and coworkers who have attained MBAs. With Yaron’s personalized attention during the entire application journey, I was able to overcome the weaknesses in my candidacy and achieve amazing results.
Although my GRE test score (325) was evaluated at 50-60 points below the class average for the GMAT at most of the schools I applied to, thanks to Yaron’s guidance and continuous support throughout the whole process, I was able to gain admits at every school I applied to, include getting an admit at Wharton and an offer for full tuition scholarship at another Top 15 program.
This result was only possible because Yaron knew exactly what the top programs seek in applicants and was an expert in helping me craft my story that showcased all of my best attributes. As I drafted my essays, he was an insightful and articulate critic, always available to hop on the phone and incredibly quick to return comments and answers to my questions. His honest and timely feedback was critical as I applied to many programs under tight deadlines. On top of this, Yaron’s optimism helped me through many stressful moments during the application process.
If you’re applying to the top business schools, I strongly recommend working with Yaron. Working with his expert guidance will give you the confidence you need to secure admission to the top MBA programs.