mbaMission Admissions Consulting Reviews

I had an absolutely amazing experience working with Monica Okrah. With her expertise and guidance, I received admission to HBS and two other premier business schools. Before Monica, the pressure was debilitating. I had just quit my New York City job to work within my family business and to pursue business school. I felt completely overwhelmed with the seemingly complicated MBA application process. The round 2 deadline was 3 months away and I hadn’t looked at a single application, but was still stumbling through a GMAT prep class. I didn’t think that I could salvage the year and meet the deadlines. I was unjustifiably confident in my writing and personal story, so I was merely looking for a comprehensive strategy to efficiently tackle the process, but I received so much more!

I participated in the free consultation with mbaMission and the initial consultant directed me to Monica Okrah. I spoke with Monica and for the first time, I actually believed that my goals were achievable. Not only was she extremely encouraging and optimistic, but Monica was also professional, knowledgeable and candid. Monica knew everything there is to know about the application process including the smallest details that could determine my success or failure. I signed up for the four-schools, all-inclusive package right away. Before we dug into the essays, Monica created a step-by-step game plan that would allow me to create my best product.

As I stated before, I was unjustifiably confident in my ability to market my story. Through many (many) iterations, Monica helped me highlight my experiences and achievements to form comprehensive, unique and focused essays. Thanks to Monica, my entire application including resume, short-answer questions, essays and even recommendations, sent a united message to the admissions committee. After I received interviews to all of my schools, Monica’s rigorous interview prep gave me the confidence to express myself and own my story. Monica knew my story and application better than I did. She was able to highlight potential areas where I needed to have sound responses to relay the right message. As far as application content, interview preparation and process management, Monica provided tremendous value and surpassed every expectation that I had for a MBA consultant. However, it’s her intangible factors that compel me to write this review. Like most applicants, I experienced ups and downs throughout my journey. Because of sub-par scores, I took the GMAT multiple times including just 10 days before the final deadlines. I was burdened by immense pressure and had gaps in my story. Monica was there and she believed in me. She always knew the next strategic move and provided the motivation to take the next step. I ultimately received admission to all of my top choices and I can’t say enough about Monica’s help. She was absolutely instrumental and I would highly recommend her to applicants that want to make their MBA dreams come true.

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I started working with Katy in August of 2014 for the 2014-2015 MBA application cycle. Before reaching out to Katy, I had done very little preparation other than taking the GMAT and truly had no idea what I was getting into to be ready to submit applications in the first and second rounds. Though Katy knew that there was a lot to be done, she made the process as easy as possible, starting with setting realistic goals for my process. I had originally planned to apply to 6 or 7 schools in the first round, and she very wisely advised me that I was setting myself up for failure, leading me to apply to three schools in the first round.

During my application process, Katy simply went above and beyond. She knows all of the programs intimately and was able to put herself in my shoes after I provided her with an in depth profile of my background during my brainstorming process. This allowed me to craft each of my applications to the best extent possible, focusing more on telling my story rather than submitting a generic profile, which was the approach I intended to take before working with Katy. Furthermore, Katy has been on both sides of the table as an MBA applicant and student herself and also as an admissions reader. This allowed her to provide me with a perspective that is truly unmatched. She was much more of a life coach during the process than a “consultant on the clock.” No matter how many drafts or how long it took to get to the absolute best application draft, Katy patiently worked with me throughout the entire process. In addition, Katy made time to work with me on other aspects of my applications besides the essays. She read my entire applications and provided me feedback, worked with my recommenders as if they were a client as well, met with me in person for every interview, and even spoke with my father countless times during the process. I can assure you that most consultants would not go to the level that Katy does for her clients. We also spoke at length about strategy, school choices, and even alternative MBA programs given the challenge I had of convincing schools that I was a compelling candidate, despite my low GMAT score.

After the first round, I was admitted to USC, which was my back up school and waitlisted to my first choice, Stanford. I decided to apply to three more schools over the holiday months and Katy worked with me through all of the applications – even on New Year’s Eve. During this time, I also experienced some irregular requests from Stanford including a request for an additional letter of reference and a phone call from the admissions office. While Katy had never seen these requests before, she helped me strategize and handled them as if they were common occurrences.

Ultimately, I was admitted to Stanford and I give Katy much of the credit. She was a master at navigating the waitlist process – making sure not to be overbearing on the school. She helped me craft the right message in my continued letter of interest and made the suggestions of retaking the GMAT and providing a peer reference. If you are willing to follow Katy’s advice, I simply do not think you can find a better partner in what is a very long and challenging process full of highs and lows. Looking back on the process, I would not have wanted to do it alone and I truly believe I would not have achieved the same outcome without her. When I called her to let her know the news, she was as excited for me as I was. I simply cannot recommend her highly enough.

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I began speaking with Katy more than a year before I applied. I sought her advice on whether it was a good time for me to apply. She helped me think through retaking the GMAT, ideal time to attend, and how my career choices might affect my application. Once it was time to apply she edited essays, helped me choose recommenders, and even reviewed my answers to the high volume of short response questions. After getting waitlisted at Stanford, my top choice, she also helped me decide how I might reach out to the school and keep them updated. In the end, I was accepted to Stanford and am very grateful to Katy for helping get there. She was there with me through the entire process and her advice was extremely useful to me at every point. In addition to giving great advice, she was always quick to respond and she really cared about my success.

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Lynn worked with me to apply to three schools, where I knew I was being really ambitious with my target schools. But thanks to Lynn I made it!! I took her help for the complete start to finish packaged and we got cracking on the day one itself. Lynn was very patient and understanding and that’s what comforted me the most. I had realized that I was bit late in the process of applying for R2 admissions, but Lynn made sure I had my cool on and that we gave the best shot to each of the schools we applied to. We spent hours brainstorming to ensure that we had the best available facts to and that my experiences would be weaved seamlessly into the essays I wrote. She ensured I stayed on track and not lose focus with the exhaustive application process. Lynn was not an easy reviewer that each essay I wrote was perfect with just a few changes. There were times where she was not comfortable with the work I had done and asked me to rewrite the entire essays. She knew my strengths and knew that I could do better than what I had been doing. Its due to efforts like these why I really value her advise even now. And when the time came for the interview she again spent hours prepping me up so that I could go to my dream school. I don’t know how I would have made it without the help and guidance provided by her. I have been accepted to Yale SOM and I cannot thank her enough for supporting me to reach to this goal. I will owe her great gratitude the day I walk through the portals of Yale SOM!!

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I have to say, I feel that I really got lucky finding a consultant like Dan. Doing a little research online I was able to find a ranking of all the MBA admissions companies out there and I came to the conclusion that mbaMission was arguably the firm with the best mix of experience (sheer volume of reviews) and acceptance rate/satisfaction. I reached out to both mbaMission and a couple of the other firms with similar stats.

Initially my goal was to be admitted into Columbia’s MBA program so I decided to reach out to Dan Richards, a CBS Alum and professional editor. I quickly found Dan’s style to be exactly what I was looking for. Unlike some of the other consultants I contacted, Dan’s feedback was very candid. He wasn't afraid to explore my application’s weaknesses and he was very straightforward.

Most of my work with Dan centered on my essays, although he also provided advice on how to work with my recommenders, how to better structure my resume, and a couple of mock interviews. In terms of the essay work, he helped me understand how I could best position myself and then helped me revise each essay into a well-polished final draft. One thing I truly appreciated was Dan’s willingness to go above and beyond and his drive for perfection.

I ended up getting into the school of my dreams, HBS. It turned out that all my research on admissions consulting firms had paid off and I’m very glad I had Dan’s help along the way. I would recommend both him and mbaMission to anyone interested in getting into a top program.

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After a less than stellar GMAT, I was nervous about applying to business school. I was trying to decide if my time and money would be best spent retaking the GMAT (and waiting until next year to apply) or focusing on putting together the best application I could this year. I signed up for a free consultation with Dan Richards to discuss how my profile looked for my target school and decide if it would be valuable to use consulting services. After speaking with Dan, I felt much more confident about applying this year, and I ultimately signed up for 4 hours to focus on one school. I was very budget conscious and Dan was great at providing constructing feedback without using too much time for each edit. He helped me with my resume and essay. We even ended up with one hour left for a mock interview.

The first draft of my essay was all over the place. I was having trouble putting all my thoughts into a cohesive story. However, Dan was able to really help me focus my thoughts, and I was very happy with the end result.

I would highly recommend Dan and the hourly services, especially if you just need someone impartial to look over your essay and you don't have the budget for full school packages. The process was very efficient and extremely helpful.

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This past fall, I worked with Kate from mbaMission, and she helped me get into my # 1 school!

I used hourly services and asked Kate to edit/polish my resume and personal statement. Her revisions/comments to my personal statement made all the difference and really helped my story shine through. I also did a mock interview with Kate which 100% prepared me for my alumni MBA interview. Kate gave me lots of tips and helped me prepare compelling answers to difficult questions.

Kate's honest feedback, support, and interview prep were invaluable. I would definitely recommend Kate and mbaMission to anyone beginning the stressful MBA application process.

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When I decided to pursue an MBA I knew I would need assistance putting together a competitive package. I was coming from a non-traditional background (higher education administration) with little to no quant experiences in the positions I've held, and a weak GMAT score (sub-600).

I applied to a program to help persons of color gain entry to top business schools and after being dinged by them, I decided to seek out admissions consultants. My method for choosing was quite simple; I called the five most popular companies and scheduled their free 30 minute calls. Given that the costs were fairly similar among companies, I decided to let my "gut" make the choice.

I spoke to Monica during my free call and knew she was who could get me into my target school. I felt at ease during our call, we laughed, and she gave me some sound advice, all before I even committed to mbaMission. This provided me with a level of trust that would be very important over the next several months.

Over several months Monica and I exchanged emails and phone calls. I would be lying if I said that her way of getting you admission ready was easy. There were many assignments that took hours to complete, however at the end of those hours was a solid product. I learned more about myself completing her assignments than I expected. These assignments were the foundation for crafting my story.

The writing process is tough for anyone applying to school. Having Monica, who is a writer by trade, there to guide me (and often times re-direct me) what invaluable. I knew that certain areas in my app were weak (GMAT, gpa, quant skills), but Monica was determined to make sure that my story was clear and left a mark to whoever read it. In addition, Monica prepped me for my admission interview which I believe was a determining factor in my gaining admission. Monica sent out notices regarding her turn-around time so there was no confusion and even returned edits to me over the holiday.

I can say with confidence that my application would not have been given a second look at even my safety schools had I not enlisted the help of Monica and mbaMission. She challenged me to be better, pushed me to think harder, and prepared me to be successful during the application cycle.

Not only did she help me get into my reach school, but I was also given a partial scholarship. I owe her more than she knows.

Best,
Kendall

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I sought out help from MBA Mission starting in Round 1 and continued through the very end of Round 2. I was particularly seeking hourly consulting services to fine-tune my essay ideas and some ad-hoc advice on resume, recs, etc with the biggest focus being on essays.

My initial 30 minute free consultation was with Jessica Shklar and I felt that in this brief session alone, I could get a sense of the depths to which I knew she could truly help me pinpoint what to focus on in my essays and how to really convey the thread of my experiences in the most powerful way possible.

She got on the call prepared and ready, having analyzed my profile and what information I provided to the website. I could tell she really reviewed my background and the materials I provided, so that I didn't have to waste anytime reviewing things again in summary. Since I was worried about how much money to invest in expensive consulting services, I admit I was hesitant about buying these services because I was worried I would dish out tons of money for what might be mediocre guidance. I got off the call truly feeling the she was personally invested in my success and I knew I wanted to continue with her as a consultant. In just thirty minutes, I felt I had a MUCH clearer picture of what angle I could focus on in my essay stories.

The thought of tackling all the business-school essays gave me incredible anxiety : I was self conscious about my writing, I was concerned about being an industry-switcher and how to really prove to the admissions committee why and how I was planning to carve out my future career based on the past experiences that shaped me. I had an immediate sense of relief and clarity with Jessica because she so easily and naturally found ways that I could tell my story- in a very captivating and genuine way that never occurred to me before. And that is what you need in a consultant.

Unfortunately, Jessica had been pretty booked up with R1 clients and when I decided I wanted to buy some consulting hours, I had to pick someone else to work with at first. But ultimately, I felt that my expectations were not met by that person, and after one session, I felt unhappy with who I was left with. They just did not compare to the rapport I felt with her. I contacted Jessica and told her how I felt, what my concerns were, and if she could find a way of taking me on as a client because I was convinced I needed to work individually with her to really accomplish my goals. She was prompt in immediately addressing my concerns, not only did she find a way for the company to refund me for the consulting services I wasn't happy with, but she ultimately told me she would find a way of fitting me in as one of her R1 clients so that I could work with her instead.

Jessica worked with me from this point forward, as I applied to one R1 top tier school, and then 7 other top R2 schools. She is excellent at giving really raw feedback, directly pinpointing what you need to fix, where you're not being clear, what you do well, what you are still not doing right etc. - What I value most about her support was that she isn't afraid to be tough with you. At first, the writing critique process can feel really personal and the feedback can be painful but I cannot emphasize how important it was for me to have someone like Jessica who was not afraid to tell me her opinions on each point of my essay in the most blunt and direct way possible. At times, it hurts, but its what you really need to get your essay into the best shape possible. And this is ultimately a valuable aspect of Jessica's style because she doesn't waste your time or money - basically, she tells it like it is, and doesn't sugarcoat it for you. In this gut-wrenching process, that is exactly what you need, especially when you're going through draft after draft, competing with thousands of people, juggling with deadlines, and want to get those acceptance letters. It was critical, and it helped enormously. Because I could really see how my essays had evolved, and how I even improved the drafts I was giving her after only my R1 essays. Because I took her feedback and applied it to my thought process.

Throughout the months, Jessica was always clear and reliable about what she needed from her client group - she also reminded us about what deadlines we should be aware of and how to facilitate that with her two-day turnaround so that she could ensure we were not freaking out at the last minute and begging for a 24 hour turnaround of a final draft or needing to pay the expensive rush fee to get it back from her - she was always very clear with what she needed to be able to give the best support most efficiently. Even down to the specifics of how to write your emails to her, with what in the subject line, so that she could most efficiently get back to our requests.

In hindsight, I felt like writing essays and crafting your story for business school applications really feels like you go through therapy. And Jessica was like my therapist in this aspect! You go through a LOT of self-reflection about who you are. I was truly floored when my decision letters started rolling in. I did not get into the top 2 most competitive schools - I got into all other 5 schools (highly competitive programs), with incredible merit scholarships, and was waitlisted at 1 other. I really was overjoyed with my results. No matter what, you have to put in the best effort possible to get the best out of consulting services. Jessica was the person who got me to the level I needed to be at - I felt confident that I was submitting my best work. And my results reflected this.

I highly recommend Jessica Shklar - she was a consultant that was truly invested in my success and I have no doubt that she maintains this standard with each and every one of her clients.

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I worked with Jessica from October 2014 up until recently, thanks to a friend’s recommendation. Though at the time I wasn’t sure if I would hire a consultant given the price tag, I scheduled a free 30 min call with Jessica to learn more. During that call, it immediately became obvious to me why my friend had recommended Jessica. Having spoken with a few other consultants from other companies, I knew Jessica was the right fit for me. There is no consultant out there who is more professional, dedicated or hardworking than Jessica. I highly recommend working with Jessica if you are considering hiring a consultant.

Jessica is the utmost professional. mbaMission has a 2 day return policy and Jessica often provided feedback well before that deadline. Even during crunch times, Jessica always provided comments in time, helping to keep me in check. Because I worked with Jessica, I felt that I was continuously making progress throughout this process. She kept me moving forward, and more importantly, pushed me to go deeper with my essays and applications. Jessica is also a great editor and writer. Her feedback will help you make sure that no word is wasted and that your essays are as crisp as possible.

Jessica is also direct – which is a great thing considering that this process is often very vague. Jessica won’t beat around the bush. Instead, she will give you her honest opinion and then help find you ways to get you to where you want to be. Moreover, Jessica is always happy to help and answer any question you may have (from something very minor to something more significant).

In the fall, I will be attending a top program with an amazing scholarship, and Jessica definitely played a big part in that. She helped me put my best forward and keep sane throughout this challenging and long process. I cannot recommend Jessica enough. Schedule a call with her today, you will be happy you did so!

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