Alice van Harten Reviews

I am an international male MBA applicant from Canada. I did not come from generational wealth, and was working a job that provides me a good, not great, income. The Menlo Coaching price tag was daunting, but I whole-heartedly recommend Menlo's service. They put in the work and become your champion. They value the money and time that their clients put in, and expect a lot from you.

I found Alice to be more than just an MBA Admissions coach, but a guide and mentor. She pushed me to be a better professional, and live up to my potential. She helped me recognize my own weaknesses, and provided steps on how to make improvements in my professional life.

I was a part of the Early Bird package with Alice, and worked wtih her for ~1.5 years. Alice helped skyrocket my profile during this time, to make me a much more compelling candidate.

Alice has also assembled a team of experts to help with different parts of the application. For example, I worked with no fewer than 5 experts on her team, like Leslie who specifically helped uncover and shape my story for the personal essays, and Maya who helped with resume reviews. I appreciated having a suite of different skillsets and viewpoints at my disposal, with Alice remaining the singular main point of contact that oversaw my candidacy in its entirety. It felt like a very smooth process, and I was always in good hands.

In the end, I was accepted into 3 schools, with scholarships at two schools:
1. Dartmouth Tuck, $40K in scholarships.
2. Northwestern Kellogg, $25K in scholarships
3. MIT Sloan

I am 100% confident that I would not have achieved this stellar outcome without the expert knowledge and support that Menlo Coaching provided. Thank you Alice!

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If you are coming across Alice’s profile, consider yourself lucky. She is the best person to have in your corner as you take on the MBA admissions journey. I worked with Alice targeting schools in Europe and Asia. Alice is not just someone with great insights into what works and what doesn’t in an application, but also someone who would never give up on you. Let me give an example here: I struggled in keeping my nerves calm during the GMAT test despite doing very well in the official mocks. I missed many internal deadlines working on my GMAT score (I seriously felt it is only fair for her to move on with others after my extended tussle with GMAT), but Alice always had my back and you want such a person in your corner during this roller-coaster ride of MBA admissions. I cut too close to the deadlines despite and if not for Alice I wouldn’t have even been able to submit them in time. I ended up with 3 admits from top schools including an admit from the most prestigious university based in UK.

Alice and her team put in genuine efforts to understand me and my background, they identified valuable experiences which I never really realized I had myself and molded them into great application essays. Menlo Coaching is a one stop for all your admission needs. Be it GMAT (which if aren’t yet done with then blindly work with her team-mate Chris) or Interview coaches, Alice is supported by the best in the industry. Alice made me feel as if I was her only client and I got all the attention I wanted.

Alice always and every time tried to get me the very best that I could achieve. She never compromised on my application. I am sure Alice puts more thought and effort than her applicants themselves. She was worth every cent I spent and more, I walked away knowing I showed the best version of myself to the adcoms.

Picking an admission consultant can be very confusing, I have been there. If you want to maximize your chances at your target schools, I suggest working with Alice. Thank you for everything Alice.

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I had an amazing experience working with Alice. Wanted to pivot out of my middle office job, I reached out to Menlo early in the process, more than a year before the Round 1 deadlines. During our initial assessment, Alice provided pivotal advice that proved critical to my admission success, including retaking my GMAT and beefing up my volunteering experience. The former ensured that I had a score that was competitive among the very competitive Asian male and finance demographic pools and the latter helped me develop my overall story and showcase my social consciousness to the AdCom. Throughout the process, Alice and I built a genuine connection. She knew the elements of my life story very well and pieced them perfectly together during the brainstorming process. The turnaround of the essay edits was incredibly efficient, with clear and actionable feedback. The interview prep also got me very comfortable in front of the interviews throughout all my interviews, and answers often came right out because of how familiar I was with elements of my story. The outcome of the application season was more than I had hoped for. Booth as my top choice offered me $50000 in scholarship. I wholeheartedly recommend Alice to anybody who is serious about getting into his or her dream program.

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As a straight Asian male, I had countless consultants tell me that my odds at either HBS and GSB were incredibly slim. Alice not only believed in me but spent countless hours to help me craft my story, prepare for interviews, and research the schools. We probably went over at least a hundred drafts total. Ultimately, she helped me get into BOTH HBS and GSB, which is a situation I would have never imagined one year ago. I couldn't have done it without her and the great team behind her. Thanks so much Alice!! Would highly recommend her and the amazing Menlo team!!

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I’m really grateful to work with Alice and the rest of Menlo Coaching team for my R1 application this year. Like a lot of people who have been through this process, I felt really overwhelmed at the beginning, facing a tight schedule to prepare the GMAT while having a quite busy job. Alice not only helped me to figure out the timeline that perfectly fit but also offered tremendous guidance of how to relax and be focus. She has been such an insightful and effective mentor along the way!

As we were drafting the essays, it was beyond my expectations of how responsive and patient Alice was to whatever questions or worries I had. Her expertise and dedication in crafting compelling essays are incredible and so effective. Rounds after rounds of editing has improved my essays to an entirely new level. And she’s always willing to even give it a final little push. As she said, she wanted it to be as perfect as possible. And most importantly, I can tell that Alice truly cares about my story and she can always help me to discover the deeper side of it. This is just invaluable as I’ve learned more about myself during the past few months and felt more confident facing the upcoming challenges.

Alice has been a professional coach, an inspiring mentor and a great friend! She’s is the top in the business and someone you can truly count on during your MBA application. I can’t recommend Alice and Menlo Coaching team more strongly and it’s going to be great journey working with Alice!

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I first reached out Alice early on in the application process through her Early Birds Program (1-2 years before applying). She was instrumental in helping me use my time effectively leading up to the application process which included guiding me towards which classes to take and which career moves made the most sense for me in order to bolster my profile but also position me best to reach my post-MBA goals. During the application process Alice was extremely responsive and professional while also making the experience extremely personalized and tailored based on my goals. She was always available to answer questions across various aspects of the application process including reviewing my resume, school trips, mock interviews, and essay reviews, and she is extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of the process. She was never too busy and always responded within 24 hours. Without her guidance I never would have been able to have been accepted to 2 top 5 programs and I would recommend her to anyone who is applying to business school.

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Coming from a non-traditional background, applying for an MBA was a daunting experience and I was looking for a very personalised college counsellor who would really support me through the process. Alice over delivered on my expectation. Over the last year, she has been a huge support and I’m not sure if I would have managed without Alice’s guidance. I was lucky to get accepted into Europe’s 3 top MBA programs. Alice is really personal, taking on her applicants as personal projects. She was never too busy for me, and always giving guidance especially when I was wavering on whether to even do an MBA! I could email her evenings and weekends and she always responded. She gave me strong prep before my interviews, worked thoroughly on my resume with me and helped me shape my personal story so that I would be a strong candidate for my schools. I couldn’t recommend anyone more highly qualified or supportive than Alice to get you through your MBA process. You will not be disappointed if you chose Alice or Menlo Coaching to guide you through the application journey.

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Alice and the team at Menlo Coaching were extremely helpful during my entire application process. As she mentions in her bio, she really does try to tell the story in the most compelling way possible rather than the typical cookie-cutter approach. I come from an over-represented applicant pool and Alice really helped me differentiate myself in my application. I received offers from two top 10 programs(Haas and Tuck) and have been waitlisted at a few others.
The aspect I liked most about working with Alice was that she was always available to answer any question I had, ranging from application-form related queries to potential interview questions. She is a perfectionist and does not settle for any less, but she is extremely supportive and will always ensure you feel motivated during the process. Working with both Alice and Leslie ensured that I would get edits within 24-48 hours(max). The Menlo coaching team really works together to optimize your outcome(she would run my goals essays by David when we wanted a second opinion). Ava always helped ensure I was on-track with respect to timelines and Obinna's mock interview was really helpful as well.
While Menlo's fees are a bit expensive, you have the flexibility to apply to as many schools as you like to increase your spread. I definitely recommend them if you're looking at the top B-Schools but ensure you contact Alice early as her slots fill up super fast!

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I am very happy to have worked with Alice and the rest of the Menlo team. I am excited to write that I was accepted to a few top MBA programs, including Booth with a six-figure scholarship, and know that it would not have been possible without their support!

I have a bit of an unconventional background and was not sure how to start thinking about the application process, but Alice worked with me and helped me put together a tailored plan to methodically craft my applications.

Alice helped me find a GRE tutor to help me boost my score, ran through multiple iterations of my resume which was a long way from being ready, provided me with advice on how to network with each program (including how to approach the conversation), she helped me select recommenders, helped me articulate my career goals, and most importantly got to know me on a personal level which was key when it came down to writing the essays and preparing for interviews.

I found Alice to be very insightful in both business and the MBA application process. Alice asked me thought-provoking questions and helped me see my story from different angles as we worked through essay drafts; while not everything I wrote was submitted I was happy to find that as a result of thinking deeply through those questions I was better prepared for my interviews months later.

Alice was amazing throughout, replying to all of my emails and questions thoughtfully and quickly. I could trust that if I needed help with anything that I was working on that I would hear back from Alice by the end of the day. This was especially helpful when I was cutting it close on a few essay drafts. Alice is a pleasure to work with and I would recommend her and the rest of the Menlo team to anyone who is applying to business school!

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I cannot say enough wonderful things about Alice and her all-star Menlo Coaching team. I could not have gotten into Stanford GSB without her.

I started working with Alice in February, and she coached me through the entire Round 1 application process. Alice's team was involved in every step of the process, incl. re-doing my resume, guiding me on school visits, preparing me for interviews, and of course crafting my essays. Most importantly, her support in my Stanford essay was invaluable. I felt paralyzed when we started the essay writing process - I had no idea where to begin and was terrified of putting pen to paper. Alice was incredibly supportive and called me every week to coach me through the process. She responded to my questions within the hour (even though she was in a different time zone). She and Leslie would turn drafts in 1 day. She was as invested in the success of this essay as I was, and she was never interested in throwing in the towel and settling for an essay that wasn't groundbreaking. She even answered my call on Labor Day to help me with the very last sentence. At the end of the process, I was happy with every single word in my essay. 
Alice believed in me more than I believed in myself. She, Leslie, Ava, and the entire team were by my side day after day, keeping me on track and reminding me of what I have to bring to the table. I truly do not know where I'd be without her. If anyone is looking for a consultant who is there for you 24/7 and is a deep subject matter expert in every step of the application process, Alice is your person! 

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