The Application Process

***1/14/2016 Update: I was accepted to Wharton, MIT Sloan, and Tuck!***

For those who are thinking of hiring a consulting service to help you with your applications, I wanted to share my thoughts on my experience working with Stratus Prep.

First of all, I think hiring a consultant is definitely worth it. You can certainly put together a very strong application by browsing these forums and connecting with student clubs at the various schools, but there is nothing like having an expert in your corner providing you tailored advice and answering every question you have. It's basically like having a best friend who is completely devoted to helping you get into your dream school.

My overall experience with Stratus Prep was very positive (4.5 out of 5 stars). I will say though - the reason I had a great experience was because the consultant that was assigned to me (Claudio) was absolutely outstanding. If it wasn't for Claudio, I probably give Stratus an overall 3 out of 5 stars, but I'll get into those reasons later.

Claudio's assistance was instrumental in me having a real chance to be competitive for business schools. It wasn't until I hit submit on all my applications that I realized my application materials (resume, essays, overall narrative) would have been far inferior if I had done everything by myself. Claudio and I spent many hours via phone calls/Google Hangout/emails going over my personal story and honing it down to convey the best version of myself. He asked me the tough questions and pushed me to be specific in my story, helping me narrow down to the things that I'm passionate about and having all of that communicate clearly in my applications.

Claudio was completely dedicated to my success. He was knowledgeable, encouraging, and forthright in his feedback. I was most impressed by his commitment to excellence - if he didn't know the answer to a question, I could trust that he would conduct full and honest due diligence before getting back to me. He absolutely made my Stratus Prep experience.

With all that said, my opinions about Stratus Prep as an overall company... I occasionally got vibes that made me feel like they weren't being fully transparent. Examples: before Claudio, I was assigned to another consultant. One day, I received a surprising email from her saying that she would no longer be working at Stratus Prep effective the next week. When I reached out to Shawn O'Connor (founder of Stratus Prep), he said that her departure was unexpected to him as well and that I would be assigned another stellar consultant. It took them several months to assign me someone new (granted, I had signed up for Stratus Prep about half a year before even beginning the application process), but it would have been nice to have been matched earlier so that I could get a head start. Overall, it was a blessing in disguise because my new consultant turned out to be Claudio. One more example: midway through my application prep, Claudio informed me that Shawn would be taking a less active role in Stratus Prep due to health issues. I saw on Twitter later though that he is running for public office. Perhaps his health issues/political campaign occurred at the same time, but it just made me think that Stratus was trying to be sneaky about it. I just would have appreciated it if they told me everything. But one reason I even went with Stratus Prep was because of Shawn's expertise on HBS, and it was a little disappointing that I couldn't receive more consultation from him personally.

All in all, these were minor concerns and I had a great overall experience. Just keep in mind that your Stratus Prep experience will completely depend on the consultant personally assigned to you. A close colleague of mine also hired Stratus, and she was not satisfied with the consultant she was originally assigned. I told her to request that she be switched to Claudio, a request that Stratus happily honored. She was also incredibly impressed and satisfied with Claudio's service.

I used Stratus for my applications to HBS (rejected with no interview), Sloan (invited to interview), and Tuck (self-scheduled interview). I also applied what I learned in working with Stratus to complete the following applications on my own: Wharton (invited to interview), Haas (invited to interview), and Stanford (rejected with no interview). I find out all admissions results next week, and I think I have a great chance getting into all the schools at which I interviewed (Claudio and I did at least five mock interview calls, which definitely helped me feel confident for all my interviews).

I would not have gotten this far in the process without Claudio's help. I highly recommend Stratus if you can get Claudio!

And if anyone is curious, here is my profile:

Age: 27 years old, male
Occupation/industry: transitioning active duty U.S. military officer
Undergrad: U.S. military service academy, engineering major, 3.25 GPA
GMAT: 700 (38V/49Q) (My post about my GMAT journey: https://www.beatthegmat.com/590-to-700-e ... tml#762172)
Highlights: Extensive leadership (supervised large teams at work, taught leadership at alma mater and at international conferences), entrepreneurship (founded a web startup), and international community service (volunteered in slums of Africa, volunteer consultant to small businesses in Southeast Asia) outside of my military job.