Fortuna Admissions Admissions Consulting Reviews

I reached out to Heidi Hillis for HBS, Stanford, and MIT applications, which I knew was a tall ask coming for an overrepresented candidate like me. My experience with Heidi over the last 6months was nothing short of excellent. Her expertise in understanding my profile and listing out strengths to highlight and weaknesses to address set the ball rolling. Particularly, her ability to take everything from my long journey and help me build an effective narrative was astounding. Her guidance helped me focus my energy on things that matter and cut through the clutter of information available online.

On top of all things, her deep insights into all the schools especially GSB and HBS, and their values proved to be very valuable in working through the long and challenging application where every single word makes a lot of difference. On a personal level, she was very flexible and always available to help me out when I was stuck at any point by getting on a call and over email.

Finally, on the decision date, got admits from HBS and GSB, and I cannot even begin to express my gratitude towards Heidi and Fortuna for helping this dream become a reality.

Thank you, Heidi, again for your guidance and partnership this past year!

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Best in the world? Let's get the obvious out of the way, with Heidi's unparalleled knowledge of the MBA application process and her ability to draw out your full story, you'll undoubtedly get into the school(s) of your dreams (from a Wharton & CBS admit).

With Heidi as your coach, what you're really getting is a life coach who will guide you through perhaps one of the toughest years of your life. Through your journey applying, there will be unexpected things that creep up, making you doubt your candidacy and if it's worth applying to business school, especially if you're juggling 10 other priorities. However, Heidi always made sure I kept true to my goals and dreams. It was with her nudges that helped me endure taking the GMAT until I reached my goal score. As somewhat of a perfectionist, she probably saved me 100s of hours pouring over every detail in my essays by giving me the confidence that I was putting my best foot forward. I will also be carrying her wisdom forward as I'll be enacting the career vision she helped clarify. This is why I'm convinced that while automated MBA application platforms may demystify the process a bit, that's not where the true value of having a world-class coach comes from.

The best athletes in the world are usually trained by the best coaches in the world. If you're lucky enough to work with Heidi, she's your MBA equivalent.

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Speaking to Emma in our initial call I felt right away she was the perfect match.

And that turned out to be just the case! I was a fairly late Round 2 applicant, just meeting the deadline, and I can say I couldn’t have done it without her! Emma improved my application beyond measure. I cannot stress enough the positive impact she had on my overall application – the quality of my application was levels higher as a result of her help and super expertise, and I gained an offer from my number 1 and only school choice (LBS).

Giving real steer and direction to the narrative of my background/application, piecing together the essays (I was in awe of her skill in advising on essay structure), advising on those small (but stress inducing) questions that come up during the application process, and giving me the perfect candid advice on my interview skills were just some of the numerous highlights.

Emma was also incredibly generous, supportive, responsive, and reassuring. She is really personable and you absolutely feel understood working with her. Overall, she made the whole process 100x less stressful. She was also flexible and catered to my circumstances which changed unexpectedly, which I really appreciated.

I honestly cannot recommend Emma enough - I consider myself super lucky to have had her help. She was simply a dream to work with!

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Choosing Silpa was one of the best decisions I made and I cannot imagine navigating the MBA application process without her. She truly went above and beyond for me and below are just a few of the many reasons of why she's amazing...

1. She's the expert for MBA applications. She's clearly experienced and knows even the most subtle differences between top M7 programs. Her advice is thoughtful and she deeply considers your unique situation against different program circumstances.
2. She won't settle. She will push you to continue to refine and iterate on your essays until they're excellent. Even when you think you're finished and it's as good as it could be, Silpa will challenge and motivate you to do even better. She has a way of pulling out personal details and insights to make your essays that much more impactful.
3. She's able to tie together life events and help you see a path that you didn't even realize yourself. This was especially helpful for essay writing because her tips are personal. She knows where you're coming from and where you're going, so the feedback is very meaningful and productive.
4. She diligent and responsive. Since I was a Round 2 applicant, our deadlines overlapped with the holiday season. I expected a natural delay in feedback but Silpa, realizing the urgency, was ever active and present.
5. She's calming and reassuring. To be honest, I was discouraged many times throughout my the application process with self-doubts as I'm an average candidate in a competitive year. However, Silpa continued to be a positive reinforcing presence to get me through the finish line.

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Silpa is unequivocally the finest consultant you will ever collaborate with. Choosing to work with her will undoubtedly be one of the best decisions you make. Despite facing tight deadlines, she tirelessly commits herself to ensuring every task is completed impeccably. I engaged her expertise for five applications within a month's span, and she delivered flawlessly. Silpa invests 100% of her energy into every aspect of your application, guaranteeing the highest quality outcome. She provides candid feedback when necessary and attentively listens to your input. With her assistance, I secured admission to three out of five top 10 schools I applied to—results that exceeded my expectations. Silpa ensures your voice resonates distinctly in your application while refining it to a polished standard. Trust me, the experience of working with her is unparalleled, and I have already enthusiastically recommended her to my friends.

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I am an Indian male with a tech background, and I’m a dual admit to Stanford and Harvard. To start off, I am 100% confident that this feat would not have been even remotely possible had it not been for Silpa. If there’s one takeaway before you read further, let it be this: ‘Silpa is the best coach, mentor, advisor in this world, and you’ll be lucky to have her. ’ I say this as someone who’s met with multiple counselors and advisors both in India and the US in the past. Silpa is ideal.

Silpa is the most passionate, proactive, and highly-proficient mentor and advisor. She loves what she does, and is truly, truly dedicated to bringing out the best in you. And that’s what truly matters. I’ve had umpteen phone calls with Silpa, be it 5-minute ones, 10-minute ones, or 30-minute ones, or 60-minute ones. In every call, I have come back with a new perspective and fresh thinking, thanks to Silpa.

Next, Silpa is the most-rigorous counselor (read ‘person’) I have met. I say this because I’ve been embarrassed, at times, by how much better she knows my application and anecdotes than I do. Know that once you have submitted these “raw material” Fortuna documents (which are great too!), Silpa will process them, mull over them, and apply her accurate filter to them. (One piece of advice: Don’t second-guess what she says!)

Silpa was very kind to have had another set of calls with me, going into the deep end of each anecdote. She collaborated with me and together, we narrowed down the 25+ anecdotes to the top 5 or 6. This is hard! Finding the signal from the noise is akin to finding a needle in the haystack. Dare I say, you can still find the signal; you won’t be able to find the needle. Unless, of course, you have Silpa with you.

I’m so grateful that Silpa took so much interest in my story, helped me bring out the best, and then channeled it into the appropriate way possible, for this incredible outcome. I won’t talk about my GMAT scores or GPA here, but suffice to say that the LOR’s, essays, and the interview made it for me. In other words, Silpa’s presence made it for me. And coupled with Fortuna’s supportive ecosystem, Matt Symonds and Judith’s advice, Silpa’s initiative-taking nature, and her magic, one was able to accomplish this, as an Indian male.

What’s even more fascinating about Silpa is that she would understand you, as a human, and not merely as an applicant. Early on, after our initial call, Silpa understood me as someone who’s a “high-touch applicant”, and she was 100% right. Not only did I want more attention, I actually needed it. Add to that a mix of brainstorming e-meets, strategy sessions, “quick calls” (which were quite long), and more. You now have a recipe which would consume the entire bandwidth – physical, emotional, and temporal – of your counselor. But that’s not what happened for Silpa. Along with me, she had many other applicant-mentees, and yet, she managed the turnarounds (and more), so seamlessly. But here’s the thing: She needn’t have delivered the “high-touch”, and she needn’t have gone above and beyond.

But she did.

And that’s what’s the next thing about Silpa. She pays major attention to minor details, to the point that you may get exhausted; she won’t. She is always so specific, precise, and enthusiastic. And that’s an important quality throughout this journey. You need a guide, a friend, a mentor. For me, Silpa was this trifecta. I was able to build such an incredible rapport, foster this deep trust, and forge a meaningful relationship, thanks to her. ‘Silpa is a pleasure to work with’ would be an understatement.

Silpa also loves perfection. Ultimately, the draft is ready to go if her gut tells her it is. And this is great for you, because that gives you the opportunity to see Silpa’s magic unfold. Before your eyes. For instance, in my case, Silpa said that some essays were not ready and wanted to take “another look” at them (which often involved many comments and many edits). All of this helped because it brought out the best of the best.

Silpa’s interview prep, her insights from the interview about you, and her advice in general are unparalleled. They are all so wise. I’m grateful I got to prepare for one interview with Silpa (and another with Heidi from Fortuna). I learned so much about how best to answer questions, how best to manage subtle situations, and more, thanks to Silpa’s astute observations and incisive feedback.

At the ultimate stage, Fortuna is the best career and MBA coach there is. And Silpa is the best career advisor, MBA mentor, creative brainstormer, rigorous individual, and most-dedicated coach there is. If there is one person who was the Rock of Gibraltar during this process for me, it was Silpa.

Overall, it’s Silpa because of whom I was able to put forth the best application there is, despite all odds. Truly, truly grateful to Silpa.

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At first, I was deciding whether it would be worth the $12,000 investment for the Comprehensive School package, given the amount of money it would cost. I soon learned it would absolutely be worth it, and just a few times within meeting Jessica, I knew I had made the right decision.

She was able to take my profile, someone with a low GPA and GMAT, and transform the rest of my application into its best possible form to present myself in the best light to some of the top MBA programs in the country.

She worked with me to perfect my essays, resume, and pitch, to give my candidacy the best possible chance to be admitted into at least one the schools I applied to.

Jessica coached me and worked with me in an extremely positive and encouraging way to make sure I would leave no stone unturned when presenting myself, especially given my lower numbers.

She was always kind, transparent, and an absolute pleasure to work with, and clearly knows given her experience what it takes to get into Business School.

Through all my work with her, I was able to be admitted into both UCLA Anderson and USC Marshall's programs, with much lower numbers than both school's average. I know for a fact I would not have gotten into either of those had it not been through my work with her to make sure my application was giving it's best light.

I would highly recommend Jessica to any prospective MBA Candidate applicant, and especially if your GPA and test score numbers were lower than most top school averages, like mine were, as she will make sure your application is in its' best form and give you the best possible chance to be admitted with your individual story.

5/5 experience without a doubt!

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After chatting with ~5 admin consultants, I decided to go with Tatiana after a pleasant call with Judith - who believed in my success from the get-go. My experience with other admin consultants such as SBC and Menlo (which tend to downplay your achievements and encourage you to aim lower) was not good - Menlo wouldn't even honor their complementary consultation unless I pledged to apply to less competitive schools - but Fortuna seemed to understand and believe in my potential story, which was exactly what I was looking for.

For context: I'm at consultant at a T2 consulting firm and applied to 5 M7s.

Tatiana did a fantastic job - I was confident in my writing skills and had a good sense of which stories to use, so I signed up for the 8 hr program mostly for essay revision and support. Tatiana was straightforward from the start and helped estimated how much time we would need to meet my goal of writing essays for my top 3 schools.

Tatiana's support was instrumental in understanding what each school is looking for in an applicant and I can confidently say that the essays after multiple rounds of revision with Tatiana were indeed night and day. I also really appreciated how she did not press me for time. I heard other consultants would track closely and remind you x time was remaining - which would be an added stress as apps are due. However, Tatiana never did anything remotely of the sort. Further, I was able to utilize the lessons I learned from looking at her feedback to write essays for 2 more M7 schools.

At the end of the application stage, I was satisfied with our work together and even remarked even if I didn't get any interviews - I was happy I was able to put my best foot forward. At the time of writing, I interviewed with 3 of the M7 schools I applied to, and am waiting for results.

Huge thanks to Tatiana, who was incredibly knowledge and truly pushed me to write to the best of my ability and was with me at every step of the journey (even though I signed up for hourly)! I'm grateful for the experience and would definitely recommend her to anyone!

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I worked with Sharon for 3 school applications - all T25 business schools. Sharon was phenomenal to work with over the summer all the way through R! fall application cycle. Sharon was always available to meet weekly over zoom, call, or text if needed. Sharon always came to our meeting's with an upbeat attitude and really made the long and sometimes overwhelming application process really simple. We went school by school working on one application at a time until completion. Sharon was always so excited as I submitted each application and moved on to the next one.

I ended up receiving admission and scholarship funds to all three of my T25 school selections. Working with Sharon was a great experience and I wouldn't want to go through this process with anyone else!!!

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My first experience with admissions consultants was not a good one. When I first considered MBA plans I spoke to a number of consultants early on, one of which told me that it was very unlikely with my background that I would get into LBS or INSEAD. "It's just not going to happen", were the words used.

Then along came Melissa. After researching several admissions consultancies, Fortuna stood out as adopting a more personalised approach, taking the time to delve into a candidate’s background to properly understand their story and strengths for the different MBA programs. Working with Melissa was less about the applications initially, and more an exercise in deep and considered self-reflection. Who am I. What experiences shaped me. What do I want in life. And why.

It wasn’t until I started working with Melissa that I developed any confidence in my ability to attend a top MBA program. Melissa was instrumental in drawing that out. She was clear, concise, realistic and, facing tight-deadlines, firm. She kept me honest and focussed throughout the whole process, gave clear instructions as to what was expected, and, importantly, ensured the responsibility for delivering rested with me.

Melissa genuinely believes in the candidates she works with and wants them to succeed. Even when Melissa had to travel between the US and France for family emergencies, she remained online and connected through every step of the way – late night calls to match time-zones, email exchanges from airports ahead of deadlines – Melissa was unstoppable.

I hadn’t even planned to apply for INSEAD – I had already ruled myself out. After working with Melissa to understand my strengths as a candidate we were able to rule INSEAD back in.

I am truly grateful for my time working with Melissa. She was critical in helping me put my best foot forward and receiving offers that I never thought were possible. Thank you so much!

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