Fortuna Admissions Admissions Consulting Reviews

Hello friends !

My name is Ashish . I am a Mechanical Engineer , currently working in oil sector company Indian Oil Corporation Limited.

I was invited for interview by IE Business School and Indian School of Business . The day i received the invite , I joined Fortuna Admissions for the traditional interview preparation . The reason was the encouraging and cooperative attitude of Matt Symonds Sir during the Fortuna free consultation.

I was fortunate to be mentored by Lisa Ma'am (Former Admissions Director, IE Business School) . She conducted mock interviews , guided me on all aspects of my application , and provided detailed feedbacks for improvement .

Being from an over-represented pool of Indian Engineers and from a non-native English speaking country , initially I was nervous of the intense competition , but Lisa ma'am was very supportive throughout the process .Her greatest strength is that she treats her students as friends and follows a constructive approach when correcting their mistakes. Moreover , the words of wisdom from Lisa ma'am also helped me a lot in my interview of Indian Business School .

I have been admitted to both IE Business School and Indian School of Business. Joining Fortuna admissions was the best decision I made in my MBA journey .I recommend the same to all MBA aspirants !

Thank you Fortuna !

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I thoroughly enjoyed working with Fortuna team. Right from the first call with Matt to, the kick-off with Caroline to preparing my application with Melissa. The team was extremely professional and informative; they know their field.

They spent a lot of time with me understanding about my journey in life and guided me to pick up the right stories. Melissa has a great attention to detail and was able to pick up the insights which even I didn't know about me. I found the whole process to be very reflective.

I got accepted for MIT Sloan and I don't think I could have made it without Fortuna.

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I did a lot of diligence going into the process, researching and speaking to probably about 10 different consultants. Being sold by so many different consultants, I really wanted true honesty from a consultant. It seemed like every initial phone conversation I had I was being told I could get into H/S/W. Fortuna separated themselves right off the bat in that regard offering me what I felt was an objective and realistic assessment of my chances at various schools.

I signed up for the comprehensive school package for 3 schools. Fortuna touts themselves as the "premium" option amongst their peers. Their ability to do this stems from the unique set up and group of talent at the firm. The core group of founders at Fortuna all have the highest qualifications (all ex admissions directors) and at minimum review the application for submission. The consultant you work with has daily dialogue with that core group regarding your application.

Catherine specifically went to extra lengths to help me. As we both live in the same city, she met every Saturday for about a two month stretch at a local Panera as I felt it was easier to work in person.

I am not sure if its because they are a newer firm with few clients but I received far more attention I expected. Another firm touts "48 hour email response time"... Catherine never took longer than 4 hours. I had an equally accommodating experience scheduling spur of the moment phone calls to review a question.

Overall very happy. If you are reading this, you are likely questioning why almost every consultant has 5 stars and probably questioning the legitimacy of said reviews. For what its worth, take it from me and give Fortuna a shot- it paid off for me.

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From the initial consultation through to writing essays and preparing for interviews, the Fortuna coaches are extremely knowledgeable given their experience at admissions departments across a wide range of top US and European business schools.

Their bespoke approach (multi-step timeline for comprehensive school package) resulted in them gaining a deep understanding of my background and experiences to date and the coach that I was paired with was efficient and responsive, regularly following up and responding to emails. Indeed, one of the coaches also went above and beyond by putting me in touch with someone with a similar background to mine for additional insights and advice.

Overall the process went smoothly and the coaches exceeded my expectations.

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I got accepted in INSEAD and LBS, and I am beyond excited.

With an average GPA, and over 30 years of age, most admission consultants considered me an “unfavorable” MBA candidate. However, working with Caroline (Ex INSEAD admission director) and Cassandra (Ex LBS & INSEAD admission officer) helped me to capitalize on the unique aspects of my story. Both Caroline and Cassandra are proactive, details-oriented, supportive, and genuinely resourceful. I always found their feedback sessions to be exceptionally useful and practical.

My only tip for those who are considering working with an admission consultant is to look for a consultant who actually worked in the "admission" of your target school. Seriously, don't waste your time with anyone else. I have met over 10 admission consultants who are either MBA graduates from top schools, or self-claimed admission experts. Both groups told me useless stuff. You need someone who knows the admission process and can confidently show you the real tips and secrets of your target school.

Thanks Fortuna for the dedication and professionalism. You made my dream come true!

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Julie assisted me in preparing my applications to the Booth and Wharton - Lauder MBA programs. This is my first time applying and I only apply to a selected few M7 schools, hence I was quite stressed out during the process. Julie provided me with candid feedback on my strengths and weaknesses as an applicant and clear strategies to tailor my applications to the schools, gave me specific suggestions on how to draft cohesive storylines, and always pushed me to sharpen my messages. Thanks to Julie's assistance, and some luck of course, I have been admitted into both programs. I am excited to start a new chapter of my life!

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I had free consultation with 3 companies in Jun. I felt most comfortable and engaged when talking to Matt (Fortuna), Though he also quote the most expensive package price :). Another free consultation I had was with a GSB graduate. He advised me not to consider M7, and probably not even S16. He suggested a few other schools, and i felt a bit discouraged.

I decided to follow my heart as Matt really made me feel he knows inside out the application process and sees my unique profile from the AO's prospective.

I am so lucky to be admitted to all the three schools I applied in R1 and I am going to HBS this fall!

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I signed up for a Comprehensive School Package covering two schools - INSEAD and Tuck. I was admitted into both.

The team at Fortuna Admissions played a significant role in helping me achieve this. My lead consultant was Caroline Diarte Edwards and Jessica Chung was my expert coach.

The first step of the program was a comprehensive strategy questionnaire, containing questions that kick started my process of self reflection. The questions guided me to think carefully about my values and key experiences, and this formed the core of all essays that I wrote.

Both Jessica and Caroline were always very quick to respond to my questions. Jessica consistently ensured that I was on course to complete my applications on time. I found the frequent conversations and brainstorming sessions with Jessica to be extremely useful in helping me pick the right experiences and personal qualities to focus on in my applications. I really liked that there was no spoon-feeding during the process, and instead the focus was always on helping me think in the right direction, therefore ensuring that my essays were completely authentic and reflected my own story.

The team was always supportive and encouraging, giving me the confidence to express myself in my application. As a result of their guidance, apart from having admits from my dream schools, I also have a better understanding of my own strengths and weaknesses, and what areas of growth I should focus on in the months leading up to my MBA.

I strongly recommend working with Fortuna Admissions for your MBA applications.

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I really cannot thank Catherine and Judith enough for helping me get into a top school. I was a prospective student with a low GMAT score initially. After starting to work with Catherine and Judith, I ended up delaying my application. This was because we decided I needed to get my GMAT score up in order to apply and get accepted into a top school. They could've pushed me to just apply the first time around because it was easier, but they guided me toward the longer, harder road. Because I delayed and restarted my application the next year, they essentially worked with me twice. They were so supportive the entire time and really pushed me to get my story straight. Each of our session were like a therapy session to dig deeper and bring out my true story. We looked to showcase my authentic self in my application and I cannot thank Catherine and Judith for pushing me on this.

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I decided to work with an MBA admissions coach 12 weeks before the HBS Round 1 application deadline.
From the first minute of my 1,5h application kick-off call with HBS expert Malvina, I felt that she shared my desire to win. I felt so lucky to work with someone who is passionate about coaching, and even though we would only spend 8 hours together, Malvina clearly considered my application her Full-Time job. Malvina developed a highly customized essay framework based on the “key selling points” that she had identified from my responses to the “Fortuna questionnaire”. Already during my second call, I felt like if Malvina had known me for over 20 years. Between our calls, Malvina reflected in depth on my application and thanks to her excellent essay editing skills and her continuous availability, we managed to come up with a picture-perfect essay in less than four weeks.
Malvina also played a crucial role in helping me to complete the application questionnaire (employment history, additional information, etc) and to select the right recommenders.
The interview-prep call with Malvina was very similar to the actual interview, and she shared extremely valuable HBS insider tips that no-one else (eg. HBS alumni,…) would provide me. Working with Malvina - who knows HBS inside out - really made the difference.
Five months after I started working with Fortuna, I can call myself a proud HBS admit, and I don’t know how I would have done without Malvina’s help.

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