Julie-Anne Heafey Reviews

I am honestly terrible at essay writing, so deeply needed someone patient enough to work with me through a seemingly endless string of rewrites. I also work in finance so was looking for someone that 1) could walk in with a good understanding of my experience and 2) would help push me when I was falling behind on essay timelines given how busy work can get.

Julie-Anne was a great match for me because I found that she was able to help me repackage my experiences in ways that popped on the page, which given how bad I am at essay writing, required a lot of time and iteration. Julie-Anne was patient throughout letting me drive the process (ex. if I wanted to do a 4th re-write) while still providing her thoughts and recommendations, pushing back on my ideas when warranted. More broadly, I found Julie-Anne warm and someone I enjoyed working with.

Dual admit to HBS/GSB

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Julie-Anne played a huge role in my being accepted to my top three choice schools, Harvard Business School, Wharton/Lauder and UVA Darden in Round 1 of the 2020-2021 Admissions Cycle. While I had all the right pieces (720 GMAT, high GPA and strong recommendations), I struggled to develop my MBA story through my essays and short-answer responses. More specifically, coming from international development, I was completely lost about how to contextualize my background and skills through a business lens and articulate how I could contribute uniquely to the classroom.

Julie-Anne exceeded my expectations on every front. She was accessible, diligent, kind and strategic. She listened closely early on to understand who I was, why I wanted an MBA and what I hoped to do, and then used that knowledge to help me strengthen my voice in my essays. She read countless drafts, jumped on dozens of brainstorm calls when I hit a roadblock (even on Sunday mornings!), and calmed my anxieties the night before my interviews. She was highly professional and knowledgeable; I always felt that she knew exactly what she was doing, whether helping to tweak my resume or determine how to conclude my essays (and the results showed!). Her expertise on what the Admissions Committee values at each particular school heightened my applications and helped me to really shine. Also, the fact that Julie-Anne attended HBS, one of my top choices, and worked in consulting, my intended post MBA career, made her a real role model for me throughout the process. I highly recommend Julie-Anne!

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I was a military applicant with a low standardized test score and an unconventional story to share. Initially, I reached out to mbaMission only for strategic advice—I thought that I had a good understanding of what information I needed to present, but I wanted a second opinion to ensure I was hitting the mark. After speaking with Julie-Anne, I immediately realized how helpful it would be to have someone guide me throughout the process. Julie-Anne was a coach, supporter, and teacher throughout the most challenging points of the application cycle. She took time to get to know my ambitions, reasoning, and most importantly, “me” as a person. Her perspective helped me improve my essays by navigating blind spots, presenting my weaknesses in a positive light, and helping me better explain my path. In advising me on how to realize my “potential,” Julie-Anne helped me get into an M7 business school (Stanford/Harvard). Julie-Anne went far beyond my original expectations and I’m so thankful for all of her help!

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From the start, Julie-Anne asked hard questions that challenged they way I thought as I wrote my application essays. As a person from big tech with a mid-tier university background (and very little extra-curricular involvement), I needed her help in ensuring I stood out. The best part about working with Julie-Anne was her ability to help me turn my background into meaningful stories. Julie-Anne spent hours brainstorming with me, and when it came to providing feedback on my essays, she was incredibly honest. She encouraged me to scrap essays and start over when needed, and also dig into the details more that I otherwise would have. Without her help, my stories would've been too broad to earn interviews at top schools.

Besides her stellar editing, Julie-Anne is personable and communicative. She met deadlines and kept me on track as well. Her frankness during interview prep was greatly appreciated and helped me get into three M7 schools that I interviewed at. It seemed like every question I had asked, we had discussed in my mock interviews.

Julie-Anne even helped where she didn't need to. She checked in frequently and offered advice for negotiations. She's super knowledgeable and definitely worth the investment (especially if you are struggling with essay brainstorming/editing).

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My GMAT score was 650 only, and I was already much older than the MBA students average age.

To maximize my lean chances to be accepted at a top business school, I knew that my essays, my resume, and all the rest of my application should be impeccable. I decided to get specialized help, but was advised by two different admissions consultants to drop my dream and seek another way to pivot my career. I hopelessly insisted a third time, and that’s when I met Julie-Anne Heafey from mbaMission.

For the first time in a free 30-minute consultation, someone went beyond basic parameters such as my GMAT score, GPA, or my age. Julie-Anne patiently took the time to listen to my story and holistically understand my goals. On that same day, I signed a 6-school-package with her and we started right away to craft my applications.

On my resume, Julie-Anne was strategic, helping me to not only evince the quant skills the admissions officers expect from good candidates, but also translate my achievements to a more clear business language. On my essays, Julie-Anne’s sharp and direct questions helped me to significantly tell my story and consistently explain how an MBA would allow me to achieve my next goals. For each of the six schools, she kept dedicated, reviewing countless versions of my applications.

It was a long process, but Julie-Anne was always motivating and supportive, pushing me to overcome myself, find my voice, and deliver the candidacy that allowed me to be admitted to Stanford.

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The full school package was extremely helpful at mbaMission. I was able to receive edit help with essays, interview prep for several schools, and resume review. There were a few brainstorming calls that were helpful for me to figure out my point of view for my essays. We also went through the different characteristics that each school was looking for in the essays. Julie-Anne was the highlight of working with mbaMission as she was particularly helpful editing the essays. I currently work in private equity and do not have the strongest writing skills and Julie-Anne was able to give me specific comments to pull out the necessary details needed in my essays. She also works extremely fast under tight deadlines even when she is busy juggling multiple students. Additionally, in our mock interviews, she knew exactly what my weaknesses were and gave me tips to bring the best version of myself to the interview process. I would highly recommend her to any student applying for business school.

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Coming from a technical background in the oil industry, far removed from the business realm, I knew that an outsider’s perspective, especially one grounded in the MBA process would be beneficial to help my stories come across. (This meant ensuring that my technical resume and stories about technical projects were approached in a way that could be understood by a variety of audiences.)

Initially, upon speaking with friends who navigated the MBA process, I reached out to a competitor consulting firm and after an initial conversation with a consultant, she provided lofty claims that they felt that I would absolutely get into the top 7 schools and that given my lack of a job title change that was what needed to be focused on. The more I dug into the competitor company, I felt that it was too formulaic and I was just another applicant in their system. I wasn’t given options of who I’d work with (it felt like a very “behind closed doors” situation) or any more personal interaction aside from this short intro call, but instead was pushed a plethora of emails about their packages and links of their former success stories. While I recognize that certain MBA programs look for specific things, I wanted to ensure that my story was heard and my consultant cared about my success.

I’d read about mbaMission online, through P&Q, and it had been recommended to me by a family friend. When I reached out to have an initial conversation with the recommended consultant, she went above and beyond connecting me with 3-4 profiles of consultants who she thought I would best work with (as she was no longer working as a consultant for the time being). I ended up having another intro call with Julie-Anne ,who I felt matched my energy and was very open and honest that she aimed to highlight her clients stories in the best way possible—that the individual aspect was more important than explaining a lack of job position change. Her demeanor was very appealing as I could tell she was invested in her clients rather than just trying to snare new clients with claims of an M7 guarantee. (Note all of these conversations happened before I event sent mbaMission a single dime. I truly felt they were invested in the human side of things rather than just the commission. I think that is apparent on when you realize just how many free materials/guides that mbaMission offers, among many other aspects of their approach.)

While certain individuals reflect that they perhaps could have navigated the process without a consultant, by having family/ friends read their essays, I disagree. Julie-Anne knows how to navigate the process in a seamless manner and acts more than just an accountability coach, challenging you to make your essays better every single time. She also brings unbiased feedback to the table, unlike your family and friends. I think Julie-Anne Heafey was particularly helpful in helping me preserve my story while ensuring my tone was always upbeat and positive (which can be challenging during trying work stories). She also listened to my concerns that my essays weren’t coming across the way that I wanted to. She worked as tirelessly as I did to help fix that until the 11th hour—this was honestly due to my ability to preemptively work on apps due to an intensive work schedule. The difference was not only was it evident that she cared about me as an applicant, and abated my last minute concerns, she also gave honest feedback throughout the process. She was incredibly diligent and really helped me hone in not only on my stories and quantifying why specifically I wanted to go to a certain school/ dual program, but she did so in a manner that felt like I was her only client.

With Julie-Anne’s help, I ended up getting interviews at 5 of the M7 schools, including HBS. She’s an incredible asset to mbaMission and it would a mistake on anyone’s part to consider someone else or beyond those on the mbaMission team. I truly stand by this opinion and could not think of a better individual with whom I would trust my stories, concerns, and experience the MBA process with.

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Background: Econ undergrad at Ivy, Product Manager, male, over-represented demographic. Applied to MIT, CBS and Wharton. Received interviews at all schools, was admitted to MIT and CBS.

When I first began thinking about applying for an MBA, I worried about my chances because I was an over-represented demographic and felt I didn't have a unique story (I had spent 4.5 at the same company in one role). I was looking for a consultant who was honest, could help craft my story, tell me my strengths and weaknesses, and keep me on track with the deadlines. Julie-Anne was fantastic and helped in every aspect of the application, even in areas that I didn't know I would need help.

She was honest in her feedback (my qualifications, strengths, weaknesses), spent hours brainstorming with me to find a way to uniquely tell my story, and made sure I met my deadlines. She was especially helpful on the essay portion of the applications, which I found the most challenging and open-ended.

Julie-Anne was extremely responsive through every iteration of my application no matter the question or amount of times I asked. Even as I moved on to the interview process of the application, she was there to guide me along and give me advice on how to prep, knowing each school as well as the next. Julie-Anne truly cares - even after I was admitted, she was there as a sounding board to help me decide on which school I should attend. She got to know me well enough over the application process that she was able to give me actionable advice on which school would be a better culture and professional fit.

Initially, I was concerned with the cost of a consultant, but I can definitely say that Julie-Anne was worth it, and got me into my top choice!

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I’ve been accepted to two M7 schools, and I'm almost certain I would have come up empty without Julie-Anne's guidance and support.

Compared to other MBA hopefuls, I was very late to the game when I realized I wanted to pursue an MBA. As an MBA was not on my to-do list, my profile/experience wasn’t geared towards MBA admissions. My stats were average to below average for M7 standards, and my work experience doesn’t jump off the page as remarkable.

I applied to five M7 schools, and only had a short amount of time to put together my applications. Julie-Anne helped me through the entire process – from validating why an MBA is right for me, to helping understand what each school values in their candidates, to putting together tailored applications that highlight my strengths and unique selling points. We went through my work/life experiences to find unique stories and achievements, many of which I would have never even thought to include in my applications.

Julie-Anne provided very honest and detailed feedback along the way and pushed me to put my best foot forward in every aspect of my application. The admissions process can be opaque and tricky to navigate. Julie-Anne’s guidance added a lot of clarity, and I was able to submit applications with a strong sense of purpose and confidence in my candidacy for a top MBA program.

I highly recommend Julie-Anne’s services to ensure that by the time you press submit, your application is as good as it can be.

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When considering B school and the application process, I was skeptical of the cost of admissions consulting services. After several free consultations with different firms, I immediately could picture the value that Julie-Anne would provide. She stood out among others for her sincerity and advice even before I became a client.

If you are on the fence about using a consultant, Julie-Anne was worth the cost and incredibly beneficial throughout the process, candidly evaluating my application. She was particularly helpful in refining my essays and Julie-Anne's experience made her an awesome sounding board. She helped take my application from good to great! The best part of working with Julie-Anne was that she genuinely cares and followed up with me to talk through my options even after my hours were up. It was all worth it as I was able to get into my dream school!

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