Anyone use admission consultants?

Share tips as you apply, write essays, interview...
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by runpmc11 » Mon Feb 18, 2019 12:26 pm
When I first applied to business school in 2016, I was rejected by six of the M7 schools. With Scott's guidance in 2018, I was able to secure acceptances from Kellogg, Booth and Sloan and was offered a combined $170K in scholarship money from Kellogg and Booth.

I started the process with the Personal MBA Coach (Scott Edinburgh) after meeting him in late July 2018 after the MBA Tour and listening to his talk about the 10 things that one must do to prepare for applications. He seemed very knowledgeable and mentioned his connections with admissions offices, all while offering insights that I would never find online. I immediately signed up with him and am so glad that I did.

Scott took the time to thoroughly understand my background before laying out our plan of attack. Scott's guidance made me feel very assured and confident in myself throughout the process. He steered me in the right direction on how to prioritize apps and plan out my essays for each school, recommending that I focus on particular topics that would resonate with admissions based on my background and what he knew they would look for. We developed such great chemistry that we would be emailing each other practically every other day for the next two months. We scheduled phone calls to strategize our attack for each school's application. He's also been available at a moment's notice for me to call him with more pressing matters, such as how I should rationalize the factors that went into my decision of deciding the business school this fall. This encapsulates what I have truly enjoyed most about working with Scott -- he is candid in his feedback, available at at a moment's notice, and provides great perspective on the admissions process given his history working with other clients.

If you are considering the investment, I would highly encourage you to sign up with Scott. Working with the founder of a top consulting firm is a huge plus, and I think it would give you the confidence that you'd need to secure placements at top MBA programs.

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by mbaapplicant142323 » Fri Mar 22, 2019 10:21 pm
I used services of Personal MBA Coach (Scott Edinburgh).
I reached out to Scott while I was doing my research on various admission consultants, and after the first call with Scott, I knew he was the right consultant for me. Throughout the duration of our association, he has been available through a call / email etc especially when it is a time sensitive issue. We took a lot of time to decide on the target schools based on my application as I wanted to apply to a lot of them, but then he helped me streamline my thought process. His approach in helping me build my story was phenomenal as he was gave me ideas to ponder over instead of just enforcing me to use one strategy. This definitely helped me clarify the career trajectory for the application and in general as well. With his support, I got interviews almost in all the schools I applied, and have gained an admit from one of them. Still awaiting to hear from 2 top schools. I would definitely recommend him.

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Review

by varun72 » Wed Apr 10, 2019 5:22 am
Yes, I used Scott Edinburgh, the founder of PersonalMBACoach.

The short version of my experience: Researched multiple consultants. Chose Scott over all others. Got into Wharton, Columbia, and Ross despite tremendous odds.

The long one: Since I was an Indian (read: one of the largest demographics) male (the most competitive gender) engineer (the hardest degree type to distinguish yourself in, especially when you are Indian), who was also a re-applicant with 8 years of experience, I knew it was going to be very hard to get into my dream school.

I contacted 10+ consultants and spoke to them at length to understand how they operate. Given my background, I knew that I would need someone who will understand my story properly and help me craft a unique story. After talking to a few of the major consulting firms, I realized that I needed a boutique consultant where I could deal with my consultant directly. Amongst all the boutique consultants I spoke with, I had the best connection with Scott. I liked his calm demeanor, the fact that he seemed to know the colleges well, and most importantly that he had worked with many Indians before and knew how to help them.

I realized his value while working with him on my first application itself. After we figured out my story, we exchanged a lot of drafts on bringing out the 'why'. Scott adds detailed notes in each draft and he always responds within 48 hours. The final essays were really really good, even if I say so myself. They made so much sense and compared to the essays I had written myself during the previous application cycle, these were crystal clear. There was a perfect balance - the essays logically and clearly told the adcom what I wanted to do while bringing out the emotional angle to support why I wanted to do it. Moreover, the last aspect which is so important - the interview prep - is the best part about working with him. My mock interviews were super important in making sure that I do well on the day! In fact without them I am confident I would not have been nearly as good.

Lastly, if there is one thing I can say that would convince you of how good Scott is, it is this - When I took the 5 school package with him, I followed his instructions precisely for 3 schools and went with my gut for the other 2. It just so happens that I got into all the 3 where I listened to him and got rejected from the other 2. Now, I could put that down as a remarkable co-incidence but after working with him over 9 months, I am inclined to believe that Scott knows what he is talking about.

I truly believe that he is the reason I am going to Wharton and I recommend if you are looking for a consultant, look no further than Scott.

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by ruthbeck » Wed May 08, 2019 1:04 am
I used such consultants, but they are not always effective.

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Advice

by ruthbeck » Wed May 08, 2019 1:04 am
I read the advice of the others, but I do not think that this is so embarrassing in your case.

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Admission Consultants

by [email protected] » Sat Nov 30, 2019 1:29 am
Hey, if you are looking for Admission Consultants in India, https://www.facebook.com/pg/dreamschooladmit/reviews/ , https://dreamschooladmit.com Dream School Admit is a great choice.
Arvind from Dream school Admit is an anchor in the truest sense! You can depend on his knowledge and experience while he helps you navigate the unknown path to your dream school.

I came to Arvind with a panic alert after having a bad experience with another Admissions Consultant and with a few days to the deadline. Boy! Was I blown with his extreme professionalism and crisp execution. He is extremely versatile in his capabilities and slowly takes the role of a mentor, from catering to the anxiety attacks before the interview to giving you logical connects to your goal statements. His seasoned perspective speaks for itself in his advice as well as the essay edits.

He truly lets you dream the highest dream and got me in the first school I applied to - London Business School. And with the newly gained confidence, I even dare to apply to the Harvard now. In the tortuous journey of getting to your dream school, Arvind is one gem that is rare to come by, but if you do, your journey is going to be significantly smoother and the success will be more probable.

Doesn't matter what kind of profile you are bringing to the table, Arvind will find the shining points and ensure they shine as bright for the Adcoms as well. I highly recommend Arvind for knowing his job and industry well and doing a very personalised job at that.

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reply

by jkara11 » Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:24 am
you may want to check out https://mbainsight.com/best-mba-admission-consultants/ . They have a comprehensive list of student reviews for all of the MBA admission consultants.

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by CanadaMBA123 » Tue Jan 07, 2020 4:42 pm
MBA Application, interview prep. Value for money!

https://theinterviewexperts.com/

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Re: Anyone use admission consultants?

by cali1992x » Mon Jan 27, 2020 7:28 pm
I used Personal MBA Coach to help me with the application process and I highly recommend it to others!

Yes it’s possible to work on your applications yourself and to just ask your friends and family to help edit your essays but why not set yourself up for the best chance by hiring a professional admissions consultant who will help guide you through the entire process?

Like most, I was initially hesitant about hiring a consultant. But after my first introductory call with Scott, I knew I had to work with him. Having been out of school for ~4 years, I was a little rusty with my writing but Scott continued to push me and I was able to write compelling essays for my applications. I also really appreciated the quick turnaround between all of the edits. The mock interviews that Scott helps set up with former MBA interviewers were also extremely helpful and helped me be more confident for my actual interviews.

Out of the 5 schools I applied to, I’ve been accepted into 1 with a decently sized scholarship, waitlisted at another, and I’m waiting to hear back from 2. Obviously hoping for some more good news down the road but it’s nice to have 1 admit so far and I wholeheartedly attribute this success to Scott and Personal MBA Coach!

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Review for Personal MBA Coach

by Mbaguy1988 » Sat Mar 21, 2020 2:05 am
Scott is a true professional who has been in this business for over a decade. He knows what he is doing and he will work with you one-on-one throughout the entire process. His expertise will give you an extra edge in your application that fully justifies the cost - and then some.

For some background on my experience, I am a nontraditional applicant. I needed help giving my profile credibility. I wanted the adcoms to know that I could succeed in business school and that I would be able to get a good job afterwards. I believe that Scott helped me successfully get that message across. I was accepted to all schools to which I applied, one with a full tuition fellowship.

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Re: Anyone use admission consultants?

by jackm9030 » Tue Mar 31, 2020 7:34 am
Personal MBA Coach:

After having preliminary calls with multiple different consultants I chose to work with Scott through his Early MBA Planning package and am very happy that I did. I did not realize how little I knew about how to present myself to the admissions offices and can say with confidence that without his help I would not have gotten in to all three of my round one schools, including Wharton, my top choice (Booth and CBS were the others). The price tag was initially a bitter pill to swallow but was worth it many times over in the end. He not only helped me craft a very strong application from an atypical background but also helped me clarify to myself why I was really going back to school and enabled me the confidence to pursue the programs that really suited my specific goals. All in all I would recommend Scott wholeheartedly - I have already recommended him to all of my friends who are beginning the application process.

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Re: Anyone use admission consultants?

by christinepham » Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:41 am
I used Scott Edinburgh from Personal MBA Coach. After speaking to a few consultants, I landed on Scott because I felt that he wasn't trying to sell me like other places were. Scott was honest and really tried to understand what I wanted from an MBA. The initial prep beforehand was helpful and it led me to make sure I was always addressing my goals in all my essays. His response time for all the draft edits was fast considering how much he probably had to go through. All his reviews made me critically think about what I wanted and why versus giving vague details. He also makes sure that your essays are reviewed by others so that it isn't just a bias review which I find reassuring as well. I was able to get great interview prep and those helping out made sure that all my questions were answered. I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a service. I felt less stressed during the process then if I were to have done this on my own.

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Re: Anyone use admission consultants?

by xxxx321 » Thu Apr 02, 2020 11:22 am
Looking back on my MBA application journey, I can say with certainty that the best decision I made was to hire Personal MBA Coach. I was by no means an easy client. My testing saga ended up taking much longer than expected, and because of this, I ended up working with Scott and team through R1 and R2. They never complained. While other firms I initially reached out to would not provide the flexibility for me to start working with them while still working through the testing, Scott had no problem with it. He also promised that I would have direct access to him, instead of someone who worked for him, like many of the other firms had arranged. After finally getting a strong test score under my belt, I was left with about a month to complete all of my applications. While Scott and team typically recommend and request that the essays be near completion at this stage, they worked through each draft with me up until the final deadlines. There were countless drafts and emails exchanged between us. They answered every nitpicky question that I had in a timely fashion, even during the holidays. When it came time to interview, Scott set me up with his interviewing experts, who thoroughly prepared me for each interview. I ended up getting into every single school that I applied to with many full rides, and am now in the position to choose between Stanford, Harvard, and Wharton. Scott’s expertise, dedication, transparency, and most importantly, patience, allowed for my lofty goals to become a reality. As I was searching for a consultant, I was given an important piece of advice, while consultants can be expensive, so is business school. This decision can make all the difference in the long run. I would recommend Scott and his amazing team to anyone in search of a consultant. I speak with conviction when I say that you won’t regret hiring Personal MBA Coach. Best of luck!

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Re: Anyone use admission consultants?

by kcwemba » Fri Apr 03, 2020 1:26 pm
Wharton. EMBA. Admitted.

My dream comes true. Scott is the best MBA consultant. I could only prepare my EMBA application 4 weeks before the R2 application deadline. Some other consultants said it was not possible, but Scott said, "IT IS DOABLE. Let's do it." Scott was resourceful, diligent, and honest throughout the application process. He has an amazing EA teacher, Marissa, that help me acquire the skills necessary to tackle the EA exam with a decent score. Without working with him and his team, I would have never admitted to the Wharton EMBA program - the only EMBA program that I apply in 2020.

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Re: Anyone use admission consultants?

by elaina » Mon Apr 13, 2020 12:04 am
Really interesting topic :P