Sherry (SBC) Reviews

I decided to use the services of SBC after having a not so good application season when I got rejected from all my top choices. I had previously worked with a different consultant and I felt cheated when a lot of current students reviewed my essays and gave me a long list of flaws in my essays.

That's why I decided to go full monty and work with the best in the business. I talked with some of the best admissions consultants, but it clicked with SBC and I went further ahead to work with SBC for a comprehensive service. I decided to apply to around 4-6 schools.

The initial call with Esther was pleasant and she, in fact, traced back our previous conversation dated back a couple of years. She listened to my professional goals and achievements and gave me excellent feedback on my last year's application. As I come from a country where the exchange rate vs USD is comparatively high, Esther gave me a generous discount and allowed me to sign up for 2 school contracts and keep on upgrading as per the need for the entire application season.

Esther paired me up with Sherry Holland and in our initial call, I liked Sherry's approach and honesty. She drew a clear picture for me and helped me understand the strategy for school selection. She did not try to convince me to go for schools which do not match my professional ambitions just for the sake of getting an admit.

I kicked off my application with Sherry and we quickly worked through my Resume. With Sherry's excellent advice, we exchanged more than 6-8 Resume drafts and I could see the difference between the quality of two version of my Resume. Sherry also prepped my referees and they, in fact, told me that Sherry guided them really well as it was a new experience for them as well.

The thing I like most about Sherry is that she is very professional and responds immediately. She always gave me a timeframe and always replied within that. Even when she was on holidays, she made sure that my essays are going on nicely. She always encouraged me to write as much as I could in initial drafts and in fact for one such school we brainstormed more than 6 stories for a 500-word essay. She would always listen patiently to my views and gave her important insights.

Because of Sherry's professionalism, I was able to complete my applications in strict timings, and in one instance I managed to prepare probably the longest application amongst all the schools (10 long essays), in a fortnight.

She gave me good interview tips and her waitlist guidance was excellent.

Sherry also helped me with my scholarship application as the school I am matriculating asks separate scholarship essays and they itself are time-consuming. Sherry helped me prepare the application for 3 different scholarships and I received a generous scholarship from my school.

She is a very kind and gentle person and talking to her always helped me get over with the pressure of all the applications. Working with her was a wonderful experience and I would recommend everyone to talk to her before embarking on their application season.

P.S. I would also like to thank and express my gratitude towards Bill Chionis, who was my Client Liasion. He took out time for me very close to the deadlines and gave some excellent tips on my final essays.

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I used SBC over the course of multiple applications, and they were a very supportive, and encouraging team. Specifically I used Sherry for my Essays to Ross and Fuqua and when my plans changed and I deiced to refocus on EMBA programs, I did not hesitate to enlist her services again, with outstanding results! I have used other services, and the level of engagement, professionalism and genuine desire to see you succeed are unrivaled by the other groups I used. I would not hesitate to use, or recommend Sherry and the SBC team to anyone who is looking to put forth the best application possible.

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I was paired with Sherry and I appreciate her transparency and honesty during our first conversation. I remembered being told that - every applicant has his / her reasons for selecting certain schools, some may choose not to pursue an MBA if not admitted to these schools as the opportunity cost of going through MBA is high. Her opinion resonated with my thoughts and she took the time to understand my priorities for school selection and proposed another school for my consideration (which I eventually applied to on my own).

I worked with Sherry on 2 schools. The list below calls out the reasons I enjoyed working with Sherry throughout the whole application process:

1.) Resume
- Thorough and iterative process (approximately 10 drafts) to highlight key achievements, roles and responsibilities
- Detailed explanation from Sherry on how to refine and summarize my achievements

2.) Essays
- We worked closely on 4 long essays and also a few shorter question prompts
- Started off with brainstorming sessions during which I explained how I plan to approach these essays followed by her comments and we finished off with a plan and structure.
- With the structure established during the brainstorming, we went through a few drafts to refine details and highlight key messages

3.) Interview
- Some practices before the mock interview with Sherry. I find the mock interview really helpful as she thoughtfully pintpointed weaknesses that I need to work on such as use of jargons, abbreviations and inconsistency in messages between questions

4.) Other
- She is very responsive and prompt. Throughout the application process, she reverted to me timely (I think she has always responded by the dates she promised)
- She is really good in guiding my thinking process, funnelling my ideas so that I can succinctly articulate them in essays and also during interviews
- Having a big picture i.e. knowing the theme of my application

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I was very anxious about my b-school application process. I had many ideas but didn't know where to start. I almost decided not to do SBC because it was more expensive than other consulting products on the market, but in the end I decided that it was worth it. I'm so glad!

Sherry was amazing, she was always quick to respond even during the holidays. What people don't realize is that applying to MBA programs is a very lonely process and while you do need editing and consulting support, you also need a friend who can assure you that everything will be okay. That's how I felt when working with Sherry. I applied to 5 schools, got 3 interviews and got admitted to 2.

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Sherry was thoughtful, kind, and incredibly helpful in putting my application together. Her positivity and different perspective helped me realize the strengths of my application and prioritize what areas to focus on. I was able to utilize her advice in my other applications and was ultimately accepted to several business schools with strong scholarship offers. I'm so appreciative of all her help (and patience) particularly around the interview prep and resume creation. Even with the extensive research I had done on my own, I learned so much working with her and was able to keep on track with all my applications.

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When I decided to use hourly services of SBC, I was offered to work with Sherry Holland. I had used services of other consulting firms in my last year's application, but I felt real difference while working with Sherry. I really enjoyed this experience. Sherry is a real professional who knows her work very well. She can easily motivate you to feel confident. Every time I sent my essays to Sherry, I got quick response and all her work deserves respect.

Being an international applicant with low gpa (2.2) and not so strong GMAT score (94%), I had fear that I may fail this year too. Actually, I had prepared full application last year, but it needed to be well polished. Although I used limited hours of SBC service, Sherry helped me to build a winning application. I got four admits with very generous scholarships out of my six applications: Ross ($), Owen ($$$), Kenan with ($), Rice with ($$$).

I am really grateful that I found her

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In short, I believe the process was well worth the value added to my application process. It was a tough landscape to navigate through, especially coming from the military, and I needed a guide to walk me through.

To begin with, I was already behind schedule after not doing so well on my GMAT so I had to reschedule and push for round 2 application deadlines instead of round 1. By the time I got the score that I needed, I was running 2 weeks out from the application deadline for my first school in round 2.

Sherry was a gem. She absolutely laid the groundwork for me to strategize and prioritize the tasks I needed to knock out one-by-one. For me, her process was very regimented and it most definitely was curtailed to my type of learning/thought process and it allowed me to gain every bit of value through multiple drafts, reviews, and submissions. I applied to 5 schools, had interviews for every one of them, and accepted to 4 and waitlisted at 1. In foresight, I probably should have applied to slightly harder programs but I'm absolutely excited to matriculate to the school I will be enrolling in this fall.

If I could suggest who would most benefit from these services:
- Military
- Persons who come from a non traditional background
- Applicants to highly selective schools where every bit of scrutiny is needed

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I signed up for the comprehensive service from SBC and was almost immediately matched with Sherry. We had a great working relationship and she was great about working with me off the bat to identify how we could best work together. I really hadn't done my homework on where I wanted to go and why, but Sherry helped me figure it out.

Her biggest help was with ideating my essay topics and making sure they both answered the questions and were able to convey what I wanted to convey. Between essay help and navigating the whole process (deadlines for finding recommenders, writing essays, etc.), I wouldn't have ended up as successful as I was without Sherry.

The only reason I am giving four stars and not five is that Sherry went on vacation for two weeks at the end of August, right before Round 1 applications were due. Granted, she let me know about the vacation well in advance, but it's still unfortunate timing. She responded to emails occasionally, but it still seemed a little unreasonable. Despite this, I'd still HIGHLY recommend Sherry to anyone considering SBC.

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I am an International engineer male applicant with less than 3 years of experience in manufacturing sector. With not much to differentiate myself from other applicants of similar background, I was quite anxious about my chances of landing an admit in a top 20 school. I applied to two top 10 schools and one top 20 schools with Sherry's support.
From her experience, Sherry understands international applicants and the adcom requirements quite well. From school selection to interview prep, Sherry was present to answer any question, however ridiculous it may have been. This was quite essential for me as an international applicant with different cultural and professional experience. With her invaluable insights with respect to personal essays and resume, I was able to project the best picture of me to the adcoms. She kept on emphasizing that I remove technical jargon from my resume and essays, and we went over 15 iterations for the resume.
Apart from all the tangible efforts of Sherry, her confidence in my candidature was certainly one of the plus points. I am going to a top 20 school and Sherry's contribution played a significant part in it. I would certainly recommend Sherry and SBC team for any international applicant who has decided to go for an admissions consultant.

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Hello:
MBA admissions is not an easy process and it requires a lot of hard work. But hard work alone isn't enough. I realized it when I started writing essays and learned that I was not even close to writing a decent essay. Coming from a highly competitive pool made things worse. So I shopped around and after having mock sessions with different consultants, I finally landed up with Sherry Holland from Stacy Blackman Consulting. She impressed me from our first conversation. She was meticulous and prompt. Her turnaround time was really quick. Regardless of our time difference, she was always super timely with returning my essays or queries. Stacy Blackman has an incredible system where they guide you on a introspective path. I discovered things about myself that I had never thought of earlier. Thanks to Sherry Holland and Stacy Blackman Consulting, I will be attending Ross next year.

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