Prep MBA Admissions Consulting Reviews

At first I wasn’t sure about whether working with a consultant made sense for me, but Alex came highly recommended from a number of colleagues at my firm who had attended top business schools, so I set up a consultation and immediately recognized how valuable his input would be.

Before offering any advice, he made a concerted effort to understand my background, interests, and goals. As we moved into the more tactical parts of the process (brainstorming essay topics, thinking through potential recommenders, etc.), he would suggest incorporating parts of this context in a way that made my personal narrative more coherent and compelling.

Alex never farms work out to junior consultants. He committed his full focus to every session. And with Alex there is no sugarcoating – he offered honest and dispassionate opinions about how various aspects of my application would come across to AdCom members.

I was fortunate to get into my top two school choices, and Alex’s help was invaluable – he brought the best out of me at every stage of the process. I recommend him highly to anyone who is serious about applying to a top MBA program.

Read More

When I first decided that I wanted to get my MBA, I knew I wanted to go to NYU. Initially, I wasn’t sure about using an admissions consultant. However, a former boss suggested that I reach out to Alex, so I decided to give it a shot. We set up an intro call and in only 20 minutes it was clear to me that he would make a huge difference. Rather than push a sales pitch, we spent most of the call going over my credentials (GMAT score, GPA, work experience, etc.) and discussing my chances at gaining acceptance to NYU. He was quite honest about everything, which is exactly what I needed. My undergraduate GPA was below average, and I wasn’t exactly sure what direction I wanted to take my career; however, he explained that with the right approach - I had a chance.

Over the next few weeks we discussed my career and he helped me craft a cohesive story within my application. He was able to help connect all of my previous experiences and clearly explain the importance of an MBA to achieving my goals. I’m convinced that this story is what got me in to NYU, and I never would have been able to do it without Alex’s help.

Throughout the whole process he worked with me directly and was always easy to contact, whether it was to answer a quick question or review an entire essay. He’s funny, easy to talk to, and clearly very smart. He knows exactly what he’s doing when it comes to understanding the business school application process. I would strongly recommend Alex to anyone.

Read More

As an older applicant with a diverse background, and someone who knew little about business school admissions, I felt I needed to get a serious and experienced consultant to ensure my application is competitive.

I called several consulting firms for initial consultations and Alex stood out– he listened carefully and gave me very personalized and encouraging feedback. I could tell that he genuinely interested in me as a person and that proved extremely valuable for my application. He was also quite clear in his assessment of my chances and told me his view on the different business schools I had considered applying to.

Prep MBA is Alex’s firm – and you get to work with him, he does not have an army of junior consultants. Alex is very experienced, thoughtful and humorous – all of the calls I had with him were truly enjoyable (even the mock interview!). At the same time, working with him was very productive. He responded to my questions timely, even in the days before submission. I did a 2 school package and I got admitted to both schools – I could not have asked for a better outcome.
Alex will encourage you to think through your career plans. Do not underestimate the time and effort needed for this – but it is worth it. Alex helped me to make connections in my vita that I had not seen earlier. His input enabled me to craft a passionate and compelling application. Alex has an exceptional skill: He is able to carve out your story and write it down in your own words. I highly recommend Alex!

Read More

Upon researching several top ranked MBA admissions consulting services through Poets & Quants, Alex stood out among the rest as he is a graduate of the prestigious Harvard Business School, possesses nearly 15 years of experience, and resides in the same city as me. During a preliminary phone call, I grew to appreciate the independence, personability, and accessibility Alex had to offer through his Prep MBA service. I was comforted in knowing that throughout such an arduous process, I would be working directly with Alex and that I wouldn’t be passed down the hierarchy to a junior consultant.

Working with Alex proved to be a truly fantastic experience. I especially appreciated his quick response to my correspondence. His turnaround time on edits was also extremely fast, but never to the sacrifice of quality. He consistently maintained an objective point of view throughout and never hesitated to indicate my strengths and weaknesses. Given my strong GPA, but weak GMAT score, Alex helped me in developing a strong professional narrative that highlighted my individuality in my essays. Additionally, Alex was stellar in preparing me for my interviews. My actual MBA interviews were verbatim to what was covered in Alex’s in-person mock interview. Without his preparation, I would have otherwise found myself stumbling.

I would highly recommend Alex Leventhal to anyone applying for their MBA. He is sharp, thorough, and most importantly, he has his finger on the pulse of the graduate admissions landscape. Thanks to Alex, I found a greater sense of direction throughout the MBA application process. As a result, I got accepted into one program and waitlisted at another.

Read More

As a finance undergraduate student pursuing a career in commercial real estate, I was connected with Alex Leventhal in hopes of being admitted into my dream graduate school, New York University. Alex and I spoke numerous times on the phone to dissect my academic and career goals. He helped me consolidate my thoughts into a well-structured essay that was personalized to my past experiences and future expectations. Alex always made the time and effort to connect with me and provide constructive feedback for my essay. He has an extensive knowledge of the business world and improved my overall application by meticulously reviewing every aspect of the application to ensure my success.

Alex is very passionate and diligent. He took the time to get to know me personally in order to better evaluate my career trajectory. His honesty and commitment to his business, Prep MBA, challenged me to work hard in pursuit of the outcome that I wanted. With Alex’s guidance, I confidently applied to NYU. My long-term goal was to live and work in commercial real estate in New York City so attending a graduate school in the city was integral. With the support from Alex, I was admitted to NYU’s Master of Science in Real Estate program with a concentration in Finance and Investments.

I enjoyed working with Alex and would recommend him to anyone who is seriously interested in pursuing a graduate career in business. I strongly believe he is best in the business, and his drive to provide his utmost support for me was unparalleled.

Read More

As an older, non-traditional applicant and someone who knew very little about MBA program admissions process, I wanted to get help to ensure I put together the best application. I have done several free consultations and Alex stood out – he listened, didn't rush the call, and gave me more personalized feedback than other consultants. Alex recognized an opportunity to take seemingly random facts in my background and create a passionate and compelling application. I believe this is truly Alex's gift – helping bring out your story and express it in the best possible way.

Alex is definitely a strategist and will help identify and recommend how to best position your strengths and address your weaknesses. He will help clarify your career goals and express it in inspiring yet realistic way. With that said, you have to be ready for a lot of self-reflection and a lot of thought into who you are. Alex will not be a substitute for detail-oriented and tactical tasks and you will own your application, but you will get answers every step of the way. Alex is responsive to emails and has also provided plenty of phone call time.

I would recommend Alex to anyone, and especially to prospective students who may not have a traditional pre-MBA background. Alex offered his help to me when numerous other consultants did not want to put the extra effort in seeing beyond cookie-cutter check boxes. Many of those consultants advised me to target schools in the top 10-15 range.

Not only did I end up getting admitted to a few M7 programs, I received fellowships and significant tuition assistance. I could have not done this without Alex's guidance, help, and simply encouragement to push harder.

Read More

Knowing that I had limited network resources to tap on regarding the MBA application process, it was essential that I selected the best admissions consultant who could personally guide me through the journey. I spent a considerable amount of time speaking to numerous consulting firms, and Alex stood out as he was specific in outlining his approach to my profile. I also wanted to work with a “single consultant” firm and amongst all, Alex brought in the most experience, which became clear during my application process.

Alex communicated openly and candidly as he brought me through a structured approach that he had developed for each of my applications. I appreciated how he challenged me to dig deep to craft my personal narrative and objectives, rather than providing ready-made answers that did not reflect my individuality. I am certain that it was through this process of rigorous discussion and feedback that many of his clients, including myself, were able to produce uniquely compelling and successful applications.

It is also worth mentioning that Alex made great effort to accommodate scheduling challenges, to the point of his own inconvenience. He was also an expert in pacing my rate of work while making sure that timelines were comfortably met. I worked with Alex on 4 schools in total, which was sufficient as I got into my furthest reach school: Stanford GSB.

I unreservedly and wholeheartedly recommend Alex as the top choice for anyone looking for an admissions consultant, and serious about giving themselves the best chance of getting accepted at their schools of choice.

Read More

When I first spoke with Alex in what feels like eons ago, my first impression was that he was a thoughtful and incredibly sharp guy. He gave me great feedback and made astute observations of my candidacy right from the very beginning. Most importantly, he was honest – and I was looking for someone who wasn’t afraid to give me some “tough love” but also willing to commend me in the areas where I did good.

This was mentioned in other posts but bears repeating: Alex is the one that you will work with. This is invaluable, especially in an already opaque industry where some admissions consultants build up their workforce in the pursuit of scale and not quality. Alex approaches the MBA application process with the same rigor I would expect the schools to use in their classes. He put a lot of time into getting to know me personally and through our conversations, I was better able to understand myself. Alex’s pre-application process was extremely useful when I started writing my essays and preparing for my interviews as we had a framework to use for each and every part of the application.

For me, Alex’s greatest contribution as my consultant was his ability to help me drill down on my career purpose. I had some issues in the beginning articulating exactly what I wanted to do but my conversations with Alex and the feedback I got helped crystallize my story. He was able to take seemingly disparate parts of my work experience and extracurriculars and tailor them to each MBA program, using examples from past applications and his knowledge of the school. He meticulously went through my essays with a fine-tooth comb; we must have gone through multiple revisions and drafts for each essay. The turnaround for the edits and feedback was always within 24-48 hours. The mock interview was also a great help to me – I am not a great interviewee and Alex helped put my unease to rest by giving me useful tips and walking me through each one of my responses to provide advice on how best to approach the question. I think he is the reason I felt so confident coming out of my interviews with some of the m7 schools. Thanks to his help across all areas of my application, I will now be attending one of the top MBA programs in the country.

Lastly, Alex is fantastic to work with. He has a good heart and obviously wants his clients to succeed. He is generous with his time (he offered to help me do a mock interview for a school that wasn’t part of my package) and he genuinely wants to get to know you. Part of the value of a consultant is to have someone who can truly understand your underlying motivations almost as well (if not better) as you do. That can only happen with a large investment in the person and Alex is willing to make that sacrifice for you.

Read More

As a young applicant coming directly out of undergraduate studies at UVA, I knew how difficult it would be to achieve my goal of securing admission into a top MBA program. Working with Alex proved to be an invaluable experience. He took the time to understand my full history – academically, athletically, and personally – and was able to help me find new ways to approach my application and tell my story in the most compelling way possible. What truly set him apart was his ability to help me tailor my resume and essays to the cultures of the programs I applied for. Alex truly makes a personal investment in each of his clients, which made working with him all the more productive and enjoyable. Thanks to Alex’s help, I’m proud to be a part of UVA Darden’s Future Year Scholars Program and will begin business school in 2020.

Read More

Alex came highly recommended to me by several of my more senior colleagues who had found success in applying to business school. Having recently completed the MBA application process with Alex, I find it easy to see why! I really believe that working with Alex allowed me to put together the best MBA application possible. I ended up getting into HBS, which was my top choice.

One of the best parts about working with Alex is that he runs all of Prep MBA (i.e. no junior consultants). As such, he gave personal attention to each of my applications and he built a deep understanding of my unique profile and the major selling points of my application; I never felt bucketed by my industry / undergraduate education. This in-depth knowledge proved especially valuable as Alex helped me brainstorm ideas for essays and prepare for interviews. I’m sure Alex has plenty of other clients, but I never felt neglected.

Alex’s experience (HBS MBA and consultant since 2005) also proved to be very useful. Across the MBA forums, there is a lot of conflicting information on the application process and it was helpful to have someone with multiple years of real experience to cut through the BS and help you focus on what really matters. Alex has an informed view on the top business schools and he gives straightforward information on what they are looking for. Additionally, when you work with Alex, you also get the benefit of guidance based on his long history as a consultant. Alex provides extremely helpful examples from past clients that cover a wide range of scenarios to help you frame your thinking.

With that said, my favorite part about working with Alex was that he really pushed me to go the extra mile. When drafting my resume and essays there were many times when I thought, “this looks great, this has to be the final draft,” but Alex would continue to push me to improve every bullet point and every sentence. No detail was too small to avoid attention. Alex pushed me to maximize every aspect of my application - which is critical in today’s hyper-competitive MBA application process.

Alex was excellent resource throughout the entire process and I would highly recommend him to anyone I know planning to apply to an MBA program.

Read More