Gatehouse Admissions Consulting Reviews

I knew from the beginning of my MBA admission process that I needed an MBA admission consulting service. The reason was simple. I needed an expert who could dig out my work experience details through brainstorming. This is important as normally we do lot of things, which we think are part of our regular day to day activity but in reality may be portraying a crucial leadership skill.

With a GMAT score on the lower side, I wanted to go with a company/individual with a good reputation. “MBA Exchange” and “mbaMission” were the two top companies after my initial high level research via internet. The reasons for choosing mbaMission were their prompt response time and personalized approach. I was quickly assigned a consultant Eric Hollowaty. After our initial one hour discussion I knew where I stood and what needs to be done.

My experience working with Eric was extremely satisfying and rewarding. As I said earlier one critical part of the process was to pick your brain and bring forward your professional accomplishment. This may sound very easy, but believe me, it is difficult. I think the brainstorming document and the following brainstorming discussion session with Eric were instrumental for creating a strong application. Eric was respectful, valued my thought but more importantly gave me the right direction for my thought process. His response time was also as per contract and on multiple occasions even earlier than the contractual window. I could connect with Eric very easily and he was approachable. Eric did exactly what I was looking for.

I selected the 2 school package program and received admission offer from both the schools. Overall I am very satisfied with Eric Hollowaty and mbaMission. They did an excellent job. I should also mention some points that I think are critical for the experience and success. You should be on top of things. When you hire an admission consultant, it doesn’t mean, you will be in the back seat and the consultant will drive you. It is just the opposite. You need to take the lead and seek help that you need from the consultant. You need to know your experiences, skills, skills gaps and future aspirations in order to get into a B-school, continue the learning through the MBA program and finally implement the learning in your future endeavor.

I can vouch for Eric’s expertise and would definitely recommend him for anyone looking for MBA admission consulting service.

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I signed up for mbaMission's all-inclusive school package. At first, I was having a hard time to justify the price but when I started working with Liza Weale, I directly knew that it was worth it. Liza was genuinely invested in my success. With her dedication and enthusiasm, she knew how to push me to think outside the box and identify the best examples of my life for the essays. She also succeeded in creating a momentum that helped me work on my application and stay focused and on track, while I managed a very demanding job. Liza tirelessly looked for ways to improve my essays by giving life to the stories I told and conveying the underlying messages in a clear and persuasive way. Liza was instrumental in my acceptance in one of the top international B-school – despite a low GMAT score. I wouldn’t have made it without her help.

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I have a 3.0 GPA and got admission offers from all the business schools I applied to - All the business schools are within the top-5 globally.

I worked with Liza Weale from February 8th through July 10th, with a single additional interview prep session afterwards. I had 9 essays to write, they turned out great.

I've counted 141 email conversations between Liza and myself, with many shorter conversations and some longer (10+ emails back and forth). During these conversations Liza always replied with her edits and suggestions within two business days, per mbaMission's terms of service.
In addition to emails we had regular Skype calls to ease and accelerate our communication.

I found Liza's feedback and suggestions very helpful and valuable:
- She helped me decide to redo my GMAT and add 40 points to my score,
- She helped me add a great narrative structure and flow to my essays, and
- She helped me identify my key differentiating traits and distribute them across the various essays.

While not cheap, I can only recommend mbaMission and Liza Weale. The value they provide is most definitely greater than their price tag.

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I decided late in life to pursue an MBA... I am 35 now, almost 36. However, I have strong reasons and my determination finally paid off.
My first choice was INSEAD and I knew I had only one bullet for this. So I tried my best, I had a 740 GMAT score after preparing for four intensive months, I had a not so well 111 TOEFL, and I decided to invest some money and hire a professional consultant for my application. I just wanted everything to be perfect, or the best application I could have.
After reading some reviews (thanks everyone who took the time to share experiences) I decided to go ahead with Liza. After all this work ended, I know that I had my best shot.
To get to the point, Liza helped me in a number of ways. Just to mention the most important:
1 - After I wrote my brainstorming document, we had a long Skype call in which she pointed out her opinion about what story I should use and we chose the stories for outline. Here I was impressed about her really read the document, although it was a little bit long. She really knew what my stories were and things went smooth. We chose the stories that best describe me, both professional and personal. This proved to me she is really engaged in this project of ours, I would say.
2 – By asking a lot of questions, she made me really get to the point. Every time she wanted me to explain why and how I did everything, what were my motivations, inner thoughts, etc. Really helpful.
3 – She really gave me confidence that my application shows the best of me, and it is done in a professional way.
4 – Always getting to the point, in her reviews she always squeezed my 200 words stories in 40 or 50, without sacrificing anything essential. This I appreciated very much because, as you can see, I kind of like to write a lot and not always the most essential part.
5 – After every essay was ready, she put everything together just to make sure we didn’t miss something important.
6 – The two-day response is for the “normal” times. In the last two days before my application deadline, I got my reviews even in a couple of hours. Really important and I appreciated that.
Now…after everything has been done… I got my answer from INSEAD. Unfortunately, dinged w/o an interview. I took this hit in full. I knew from the start that I wasn’t the “standard” candidate for INSEAD, my two main “problems” being my age and not a really international career (at least this I think). But, no matter the result, I am confident that I had my best shot. It just wasn’t meant to be. Liza was very sympathetic and I she did care for this result, as she proved me after that.
After that, I applied for IE and ask for help from Liza once again. I went with hourly rates, using her advice. Once again, she helped me to best summarize my application. She made a lot of extra effort, proving once again how much she cared about this “project”. IE accepted me and right now I have to decide between them and Warwick (which gave me a full scholarship). Even if Liza didn’t help me directly with Warwick essays, I found it much easier to put together my Warwick application based on the stories just drilled down with Liza. I am sure that those stories also contribute to my success with Warwick.
I found mbaMission site very useful, with a lot of very insight information – a must read. My interactions with them were very “light” as I was working directly with Liza and she helped me with every logistical issue.
Having experience only with mbaMission and Liza, I cannot compare with other company/consultant. I hope this review help for understanding what to expect when working with Liza. I am sure that, if I were to choose again, I would work again with Liza without the smallest second thought as she really exceeded my expectations in every aspect. I am very grateful to her, and to the reviewers that made me decide to work with Liza. If you have any other question I did not answer here, feel free to contact me directly and I would provide you further details. It is my pleasure to speak about Liza.

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Liza was tremendously helpful in my admission to my top school choice. I procrastinated greatly in writing my essays for Round 2 applications, and in the final 12 days before applications were due (also the week of Christmas/New Years), I sent an S.O.S. to mbaMission requesting tutor help, not expecting that any tutor would have capacity to help me.

When I was matched with Liza, I could not have asked for a better experience. Because I was paying extra for expedited turnaround, Liza got right down to business and helped me devise an action plan leading up to the final deadlines. I spent the next 10 days emailing back and forth with her, bouncing ideas and drafts around. Liza was 100% responsive, helpful, creative, committed, and genuine, and she was monumental in helping me refine my essays to perfection. She also made the process fun. Most notably, Liza kept in touch with me after I submitted my applications; she helped me prep for the interview, sent me a “thinking of you” note on interview day and on decision day, and when I was waitlisted, she stuck with me. Liza helped me strategize my efforts to tackle the waitlist process, which after three months, proved successful.

At the end of this process, not only have I gained admission to my top choice program, but I also feel like I have gained a true friend who is interested in my success. I highly recommend Liza to anyone looking for help, especially in a pinch, because you will not get better treatment or a better experience, or find a better friend, anywhere. Thank you Liza!

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The entire MBA application process was scary and overwhelming to me; I came from a non-traditional background and I didn't see myself as a strong MBA candidate. I was struggling with my GMAT score and knew I had to compensate with the rest of my application. However, this was difficult to do when I lacked the confidence to emphasize my skills in my resume and essays. In my head I would downplay my accomplishments and couldn't really find what was “special” about me in reviewing my resume and professional experience.

With this in mind, I decided to sign up for mbaMission's services to help me with the process. It seemed like a good investment from reading other's reviews and knowing that there was one specific school that I was interested in. I knew that it would also help keep me on track with editing/writing my essays and help me avoid submitting my applications last minute.

I had an initial phone consult with Liza Weale and found her to be extremely friendly and encouraging; I already felt more confident about myself after speaking to her for 30 minutes. Her friendliness did not mean she was not direct with me; she told me where I needed to improve and how I needed to adjust my thinking. After filling out a basic questionnaire of my accomplishments and descriptions of my work and personal experiences, Liza helped me find a common thread/theme that would set me apart from other applicants. If it had not been for Liza I would have been blind to these positive experiences and traits.

I went through several drafts of each of my essays. As many other reviewers have said- mbaMission's consultants do not write your essay for you; you have to put in the work yourself. What they will do is help you think differently about what you are trying to say and make sure you think about what you're writing from the perspective of AdComm. Throughout the essay writing process Liza was always prompt and thorough in her advice. I often had follow up or random questions, and I never hesitated to reach out to her for advice; I never once felt that she was annoyed or impatient with me.

Once I received an interview invitation, Liza conducted a mock interview with me. She was extremely honest with her feedback and I felt well prepared before my interview.

Overall, I can say that working with Liza was the best decision I made in the MBA application process. It was one of the most worthwhile investments I have made- not only for the edge I gained with my application, but for the encouragement, support and confidence she gave me (and the confidence is really a long term benefit). I felt like she was my biggest cheerleader throughout the process; whenever I felt down or discouraged, she was there to support me and keep me positive. It was also her encouragement that made me attempt the GMAT one more time- resulting in a significantly higher score than my previous attempts (and more in line with my practice scores) and likely my acceptance into my first choice MBA program.

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I was admitted into the Berkeley Haas full-time MBA program (class of 2015) with the help of Liza from mbaMission. I sought out a consultant because I was worried about a less-than-stellar history of extracurricular activities, although I felt that the rest of my profile was competitive.

From the moment I signed up for my free profile consultation, I found mbaMission to be far more responsive than the other admissions consultant firms I contacted, both big and small. Daniel (who conducted my initial profile review) and Liza (who became my consultant) always got back to me within 24 hours with responses to any questions I had.

Upon deciding to hire mbaMission for a one-school package, Liza initially helped me construct my detailed profile, including a set of unifying themes that would come to define my personal brand throughout the application. She had a knack for quickly recognizing which of my stories and anecdotes offered the most compelling framework for each essay response. When I had difficulty getting started on the ‘greatest accomplishment’ essay, she understood my profile intimately enough to suggest that I incorporate a particular, recent anecdote from my work experience – and it did not take me long to see that she was right. Throughout the entire application process, she continually provided professional, straightforward, and honest feedback and advice. Liza never let me get away with finalizing an essay before it was perfect. On the other hand, she simultaneously managed to be encouraging, personable, and warm. Although I got a slightly late start on my application (I didn’t start working with Liza until less than three months prior to the application due date), she kept me focused and made sure I knew exactly what I needed to do in order to reach the finish line on time.

Overall, my experience was positive and I would recommend Liza for anyone applying to b-school. While it is conceivable that I could have been accepted to Haas without the guidance of a consultant, Liza and mbaMission made the application process much more transparent and navigable than if I had gone it alone, saving me considerable time (due to fewer re-starts and less re-work on my essays) while giving me the confidence that I had submitted the strongest application possible given my profile. At worst it was an insurance policy and at best it was the difference between a ding and being accepted. Well worth the investment.

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After considered applying to business school for several years, I finally made the decision to apply last summer. Wanting to give myself every advantage possible, I looked to enlist the help of an MBA consultant.

I met Liza during my 30-minute free consultation with MBA Mission and immediately knew that she would be a great fit for my application process. From the get go, Liza had an array of thoughtful comments tailored to my specific background and target schools. She immediately spotted “themes” in my work experience, such as an ability to create systems/infrastructure, which I had not identified on my own. On top of that, her supportive and enthusiastic attitude made it clear that she was 100% invested in my success. I immediately signed up for two start-to-finish packages (GSB and Sloan) and later added two more (HBS and Haas).

As soon as we began the application process, I knew that working with Liza had been a wise choice. My first brainstorming session started as a general get-to-know-you session, but it was immediately clear that Liza genuinely wanted to understand my personality and behavior. With each experience we discussed she would ask probing questions such as, “How did you respond? Why did you do that?” Through this session, I felt that Liza gained valuable insight into my personality, motivations, and behaviors. With this insight, Liza helped me identify trends in my work history and hone in on my most compelling stories based on each schools profile. In later sessions, Liza acted as a sounding board for my ideas, ensuring that I did not waste time writing essays about less-than-stellar subjects.

This up-front work truly paid off as we entered the essay writing stage. With general themes already identified for each application, I was able to jump into essay outlining without any problem. Throughout the MANY iterations of my essays, Liza’s feedback was impeccably on-point complete with thoughtful questions, insightful suggestions, and a laser focus on the big picture. She asked pointed questions that helped me focus on salient information and she also has an amazing ability to identify and eliminate non-essential details. Once my essays were boiled down to the core story, Liza demonstrated her very impressive ability to cut words through creative editing. Throughout the process I felt that Liza, really went above and beyond as I often received comments back well before the 48-hour response time had lapsed and, on top of that, I would get random emails saying things like, “While I was out for a run, I had an epiphany regarding your essay….” This extra effort really made me feel as if she had my best interest in mind and was truly invested in my success. At the end of the process, I felt that my essays retained my individuality and read as my voice, but were more focused and polished than they would have been otherwise…thanks to Liza.

Liza was also hugely helpful with the remainder of my applications helping me concentrate on achievements in my resume, choose words thoughtfully in my short answers, and present myself succinctly in my interview. Finally, after six long months of the grueling application process, I was accepted to three programs (HBS, Sloan, and Haas) and could not be happier about choosing to work with Liza during the process. In fact, Liza has continued to go above and beyond since I have received my acceptance letters helping me through the school selection process, even going as far as to write an email with some questions/self-exploration questions to ask myself while I make my decision.

If you are considering using an MBA admission consultant, I would highly recommend Liza. She helped me demonstrate the best version of me through my applications and not a pre-packaged idea of what business schools want. I am super pleased with my experience with Liza and, I think, the results speak for themselves.

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When I had my free consultation with mbaMission, I was on the fence about working with the company in the future. To be candid, my initial (free trial) consultant and I didn’t click. She was tough and to the point, and I knew I needed a cheerleader. A quick chat with the founder informed me that I was able to be matched with the consultant best suited to my style for powering through seven (yes, seven) MBA applications to top 20 programs. When I told him I wanted a cheerleader; someone who would constantly encourage me with the power of positive energy, he immediately said “You need Liza!”

He could not have been more right. Liza is upbeat, peppy, realistic, and encouraging. Her tone is always cheerful and bright, powering through long calls discussing every accomplishment and story I have from my undergrad, career and personal life. I work long hours, and she was always able to accommodate my schedule by meeting at 7:30 or 8:00 am, in the evenings, or on weekends. She helped me pick my stories and truly unearth the key points from each, all the while providing both positive and constructive feedback. When Liza sends comments back on essays, she’ll also include little notes like “love this part” or “great point!” That’s just the kind of person she is. Her 48-hour-or-less turnaround time was impeccable, powering me through three round one applications and almost four round two applications.

When I received interview invites, her mock interviews truly prepared me for the real thing. She wasn’t afraid to tell me where I needed to improve and study up, highlighting how to ace a “why xyz school” question after I completely bombed the question in our mock interview.

When I was dinged from my first school, I emailed Liza in a panic: “Do I need to apply to some lower ranked schools for safety? Am I going to get in anywhere?” Liza talked me down, reassuring me that I would get in somewhere, while still researching some additional safety school options, should I choose to go that route. Her overall knowledge of the MBA programs helped solidify my school list, despite my constantly changing thoughts, and made me feel confident in my ability to be admitted to a top school .

With Liza’s help, I was able to gain admittance to a top five program and a top fifteen program (with a full ride!) during round one, halting the additional applications I was working on.

Liza even helped me when I was on the fence between the two options, gathering information from her coworkers about how to approach gently negotiating for scholarship money and having calls with me to weigh my options. She advised me to look at recruiting data at both schools, and to think of the bigger financial picture post-MBA than just the cost of the MBA itself.

Almost a year after I started studying for the GMAT, I submitted my deposit for a top 5 MBA program. I could not have done it without Liza’s help; hiring her is so much more than hiring a consultant. It’s a true investment in your future.

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