Prep MBA Admissions Consulting Reviews

I came across Alex Leventhal through a referral from two colleagues that used him in the past and successfully got into both Stanford and HBS. Initially, I was skeptical about using an admissions consultant but I couldn’t ignore the strong results and positive feedback from my colleagues. When I spoke with Alex for the first time, I felt even more comfortable that he would be a valuable resource during my application process.

Over the course of several months, Alex proved to be even more impactful than I ever expected. What stuck out for me was his genuine interest in getting to know me on a deeper, personal level. He encouraged me to get beyond the “what have I done” and really think about the “who I am”. Based on his guidance, there were several instances where I decided to take my essays in a more personal, self-reflective direction than I otherwise would have. It was Alex’s honest and direct feedback that led me to embrace this approach. Ultimately, I believe this was a key factor in helping me standout amongst other applicants.

In the end, the results continue to speak volumes. I did a complete 2-school package and got into both of the schools I applied to (Columbia and HBS). I was thrilled with the outcome, and I know Alex was a critical component. His feedback was always very insightful, and he challenged me to think about my story in unique ways. Aside from the fantastic result, I also enjoyed the time I spent interacting with Alex. It was clear from the beginning that he really cared about getting to know me and that he was invested in my process. In addition, Alex was highly accessible and no question was ever off limits. I only have positive things to say about my experience and would highly recommend Alex Leventhal to any future MBA applicant. In fact, I have already recommended him to several of my colleagues that are beginning to prepare for the next MBA process!

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I contacted Alex close to the end of R1 deadlines. Alex spent about 40 minutes during the free consultation, clearly addressing the issues I faced. He did not sugar coat anything and gave me his honest opinion about my strengths, weaknesses and chances at the top schools. With his help I applied to 3 top MBA programs and was accepted into Chicago Booth!

He was very clear with his approach, very structured with the whole process and I received prompt and quick responses to all my questions. We spent a lot of time on career planning and this helped me a lot in rethinking my essay strategy. Alex is a straight shooter and will really let you know what he thinks about your work. I rewrote essays many times and there was a world of difference between my first and final drafts. Alex's turn around time was rarely over a couple of days, in some cases it was within the hour ! We also had a mock interview session and the questions he asked and his feedback about my body language and answer choices were very helpful in putting me at ease. I had a great interview and it went exactly as Alex had explained it to me. I would strongly recommend Alex to anybody who is looking to apply to a top MBA program.

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Working with Alex Leventhal greatly enhanced my business school application, especially as it relates to the essay drafting process. The business school essays are extremely challenging and the difference between a good essay and a great essay is often what differentiates an admitted candidate from a non-admitted candidate. Alex is incredibly experienced in working with applicants from the initial brainstorming to the final editing stages, and is extremely thoughtful and candid with his feedback. I distinctly remember spending two hours on the phone with Alex discussing my life history and brainstorming what matters most to me. Ultimately, it was through his questions and feedback that I arrived at not only the best answer, but also the genuinely correct answer. I think Alex’s thoughtful approach not only helped bring out a good essay, but also inspired a really reflective and rewarding process.

I firmly believe that the two most important qualities in someone who gives advice are experience and intelligence. I leaned on friends and family throughout the business school process for each of these qualities. However, Alex is really unique in providing the highest level in both these areas. As a Harvard MBA and experienced admissions advisor, Alex is intimately familiar with the process and the keys to differentiating yourself. He is also a very intellectual, intelligent individual who is genuinely interested in getting to the right answer. This combination proved invaluable as I struggled with how to draft my application and let my true voice emerge.

I have already wholeheartedly recommended Alex to several of my friends. If you are looking for someone who will challenge you to think creatively and dare to take your application to the next level, Alex is your guy. He invests his heart and mind into your application process start to finish, and makes you feel like you are the most important client. I was ultimately accepted to my top choice, Stanford.

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I remember the first time I spoke to Alex via Skype. We talked for nearly one hour (even though officially the session should have been less than 30 minutes) and I directly had the impression that Alex was interested in my success rather than just getting a new client and their cash. He is definitely not a clock-watcher. Other consultants I spoke to were more interested in getting a new client and trying to persuade to book their respective package. What is also decisive is that if you have Alex as an MBA adviser you are only consulted by him rather than some interns or junior consultants. Prepmba is a one man show so to speak.

I am from Europe and was thus also interested in European programs. Alex lived in Europe for a long time and is therefore not only pretty knowledgeable about MBA programs from the US, but also about MBA programs from Europe. I booked the 2 school package for a European and an American school. I got admission to the MBA at Oxford University and got waitlisted for a Top MBA American program. This is a fairly high success rate considering that these programs have an admission rate of presumably less than 30%, particularly when you consider that I am from an overrepresented group.

What I found notably helpful was Alex interview preparation. Alex new my profile by heart, which again underlines that he truly cares about his clients. His questions were tough, but tough preparation was necessary for my success at the MBA admission interview later. During the interview I felt pretty well prepared. No odd question could make me nervous. I did many interviews in my life, but the interview for my MBA program was the best and I owe much of this success to the MBA admission guru Alex Leventhal.

The Skype sessions I had with Alex were not only informative, but also lots of fun. Alex has fantastic humor and even though he is probably a genius and Harvard MBA grad, Alex is down-to-earth and can put himself into your shoes. In my view, Alex is a MBA admission mastermind and I can wholeheartedly recommend anyone who wants to go to an Top MBA program to talk to Alex Leventhal.

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I spoke with several friends who went through the admissions process a year prior and all of them emphasized the importance of a strong admissions consultant. After speaking with several, I chose Alex Leventhal based on his creative approach to my story and ability to tie what were seemingly disparate thoughts and events in my life together in a cohesive manner. Coming from a rather traditional background (banking, private equity), presenting myself as a unique candidate was of utmost importance and through Alex’s brainstorming exercises and willingness to work with me 1x1 on idea generation and thinking outside of the box, I was able to not only identify a strong essay MBA purpose, but also become excited about a potential career path post business school.

Alex was extremely helpful throughout the admissions process in its entirety (application strategy, idea generation, timeline setting, essay writing and mock interviews). I did a 6 school package (although only applied to three – start early, lol) and was admitted to two out of three schools and will ultimately be attending my top choice, HBS, in the fall. I very much appreciate Alex’s working cadence and challenging approach. He is not a consultant that will simply tell you what you want to hear. He will respectfully challenge your perspectives and writing style, but in the end the process will yield a very complete application. Alex is very well educated and experienced in his field; he understands how to navigate the MBA admissions process and did a great job in helping me identify and then share less travelled ideas / application stories.

I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Alex and would recommend him strongly to anyone interested in the MBA application process

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After being admitted to Stanford Business School with Alex Leventhal's help, my friend urged me to work with Alex as well, and I'm so happy I did. I'm not one to buy into added services to help a process that is expected to be completed alone, but I can say without a doubt that Alex was an essential resource in earning my admission to INSEAD-my top school of choice.

I never once felt like the clock was ticking with Alex - he continuously made himself available for my questions (some of them silly ones) and to talk me through my experiences to help me craft essays that would stand out but would also be completely true to who I am. My favorite part about working with him is that he really kept me honest - he didn't encourage me to add things that I didn't truly believe. And if there were things I didn't want to highlight in my essays, he helped me either see the value in discussing them or helped me understand why wasn't necessary to include them. Things about that I would have never guessed would be interesting to a school turned out to be things he encouraged me to write about that really added color to my essays and helped my personality shine through. He taught me how to tie together my experiences and skills through stories to present my best possible self to the admissions committee.

Alex Leventhal (Prep MBA) was great - he's practical, clear, honest and obviously an expert in his field, which helped move the process along quickly and thoroughly. He's also friendly and approachable, and I always looked forward to talking to him. I had applied to business school years before with no luck, and after working with him and learning his techniques - techniques I would have never come up with myself - I can see that I really couldn't have done it without his help!

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Prep MBA was recommended to me by a colleague who had worked exclusively with Alex Leventhal the previous year. My colleague, who was accepted to both GSB and HBS, had described how Alex familiarizes himself with his clients so he can effectively guide each through the business school application process. What my colleague did not mention was the countless hours Alex spends with each applicant, the creativity with which he approaches every essay and the structure and knowledge he brings with his experience.

Alex exceeded my (very high) expectations on all fronts. He is hard working and really brings a personal approach to helping you. Unlike some other consultants, Alex does not pass off his clients to junior staffers. He is direct with his feedback and very responsive, making the process less painful and more efficient.

I really think that Alex is unique and his dedication uncommon. I give Alex a lot of credit for helping me get into my top choice and highly recommend using him.

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If you only read the first line of this review: Alex is exception and I am confident that there is no way I would have been accepted into the Ivy League program I was, if not for him (sorry for the vague reference to Ivy League but I'm going for a degree of anonymity).

I'm an international student (from Australia) and the conversion of our grades to a 4.0 system is seriously rubbish - whilst Adcoms know this, I still had something like a 2.0 undergrad GPA when converted. When I found this out I freaked. I had a GMAT of 690, which is also below the average for anywhere good.

I approached Alex (and a bunch of other consultants) to get a gauge of my chances at being accepted anywhere respectable. Alex was the only one that didn't bullshit me, which is the simple reason for going with him at the time (I wasn't referred to anyone).

The biggest thing that Alex did was help me craft a narrative of my life, from what I've done, to where I want to go. It sounds simple but I can't stress the importance of this enough. It's very hard to draw out the stories that make you special by yourself. I found that it's because you are living your life and the things that might be gold to admissions are everyday to you. Alex identified what stories I should be telling (that I hadn't even considered as important) and helped craft a whole narrative of my life through the essays and resume, so admissions got the best possible understanding of who I am and why they should accept me. It was astounding how poor my first attempt at the essays was compared to the end product.

After getting interviews at every place I applied (again only Ivy League schools), Alex helped me conveying the right stories from my life in an interview. Breaking down stories into key components that needed to be hit and practicing with me how to deliver them, and to which questions they should answer.

I would consider myself a 'high needs' client for him, and he gave me all the time I needed, without ever making me feel like I was taking up too much time, in order to produce a polished product to deliver admissions.

The experience is very personal and probing into your background and what you really want in the future. You really can't put forward a lie, or admissions will see through it. You work with him and him only, not getting palmed off to a junior consultant or anyone. You get to understand that he genuinely wants you to succeed, in what is the really onerous task of getting into a business school.

I honestly can't recommend Alex enough for anyone, whether you're worried about not getting in (like me) or just wanting to nail getting into the best school possible.

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After a disaster of applying b-schools myself in 2011, I decided to work with a consultant in 2012. Someone who had a very successful application season recommended Alex on the Chinese site forum.chasedream.com. So I contacted Alex and he responded right away and scheduled a free 30-min consultation. His straightforwardness, genuineness and easy-to-approach manner made me choose him. During the initial consultation, Alex took the time to get to know me and made sure he had answered all my questions, and our conversation went beyond the scheduled 30-min length.

Working with Alex has been a great experience. He responded all my questions within hours, and the turn-around time for each essay was 24-48 hours. When he was super busy with other schools’ deadlines approaching, he will notify you that he would take a bit longer to get back to you, which is quite understandable. He will not forget you! Since I come from a scientific background and I had no idea how to explain my work, Alex supplied me essays from other scientists whom he had worked with. This was very helpful. When I still couldn’t write my story clearly, Alex would talk to me over the phone and walked through my thoughts and turned it into a plain language. He took great effort in understanding my story.

I strongly recommend using Alex, and use his multiple school-packages to get started, so you don’t need to worry about going over your budget. Alex will not satisfy with mediocre essays and he will make you change essays as many times as necessary. And during the whole process, there were ups and downs. But every time after I talked to Alex, I felt motivated and ready to work on my essays again.

Alex also helped me craft out a clear career path (short/long-term goals), which is very critical in the application, and made my stories readable . I got into Darden and with a scholarship that I have never imagined!


Darden '2015

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When I initially decided to apply to business school, I was determined to navigate the process without a consultant, having little understanding of what a third party could add to my personal application and story. After discussing with a number of friends who had recently been accepted to my target schools, however, I was convinced otherwise. My most trusted friends said they had done their research, talked to a number of firms, and ultimately decided to work with Alex Leventhal. Each had been accepted to their top choice, and highly recommended his services.

From my research on prepmba.com and initial consultation, Alex created a very personalized process, making sure he got to know me well before ever suggesting how to craft my story. He takes the time to understand your background, passions and goals. Coming from a finance background and having made no decision on what I ultimately want to do, Alex pushed me to reach into my background and experiences to come up with a more unique story and focused career path. Without his guidance, I would have been much more generic in my answers, and probably blended right into the massive pile of applications.

I did the two school package, and was accepted at my top choice, Stanford. Alex’s knowledge and understanding of what the top schools are looking for and advice on tailoring your application were essential. His help in preparing for the interview process was also an extremely useful tool – helping me bring more excitement and confidence into my answers.

With Alex, you know what you’re getting. He’s a Harvard MBA so he understands the process from first-hand experience. He is also a one man “firm” who is focused on achieving the best outcome for his clients, so you know you won’t get passed off to a junior staff member. He’s always available, and most importantly, will give you his honest opinion. I would and have recommended Alex’s services highly to many of my friends.

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