Anyone use admission consultants?

I would highly recommend Scott at Personal MBA Coach. Apart from his vast knowledge of MBA programs he has a wealth of knowledge about various industries which really helps to craft compelling stories. I had a non-traditional background and Scott spent a lot of time helping me to develop a story that both made logical sense and aligned with my target career path.

Scott really pushes you to make your essays the best that they can be; he’s tough in his critiques but at the same time encouraging. Sometimes I would get his essay reviews back and think to myself “I can’t do that” but he would keep pushing until I got there – even if it was 5 or 6 revisions.

Scott was always accessible; Personal MBA Coach promises a reply within 48 hours, but I never waited more than 24 hours for a response to any question or essay analysis. One morning I emailed Scott that I hit a roadblock in my essays and he immediately setup a phone call for a few hours later.

Unlike other consulting firms where you could be assigned to a junior consultant, working with Scott you know exactly what you are getting – the best!

Scott gets to know you well early on in the process and it’s clear that he shares in your success. I was accepted to my first choice school, Columbia, and he was (almost) as thrilled as I was!

I used Scott Edinburgh (Personal MBA Coach) to help me navigate the admissions process and could not be happier. From our initial discussion, Scott listened to my story (quite non-traditional) and guided me to focus on the unique aspects of my profile. From that point forward, he fine-tuned my essays, even recommending that I entirely redo one of them. I found him to be quite blunt and honest throughout the process, motivating me to work harder and to make every word count- be it be for my resume, essays, or bullet points for recommenders. After sending Scott a document for review, I usually received his feedback within 24-48 hours (sometimes even faster). I was ultimately accepted to my school of choice (and invited for an interview at my second option)! I would highly recommend Scott to anyone looking for personalized MBA admissions assistance.

Applying to MBA programs can be a daunting task. Between writing the essays, preparing for interviews, and finally deciding on a school that fits, the entire experience is rigorous. Scott prepared me for every single step of the process. He guided me on targeting the programs I was interested in, helped me brainstorm and compose the essays, and trained me for the interviews. I am happy to say I was accepted to every single school I applied to; UCLA Anderson, NYU Stern, Georgetown McDonough, and USC Marshall. I would not have been able to accomplish this without Scott's guidance. His experience helped me complete entire applications in a matter of days with minimal stress. I highly recommend Scott if you are serious about being accepted to the best MBA programs available to you.

This year I have gotten people in to HBS, Wharton, MIT Sloan, Booth, Stanford, Columbia, Duke and Berkeley. My firm is MBA Ivy League and I'm a former Harvard admissions interviewer and a Harvard graduate myself. You can check out my services and MBA blog here, and I also specialize in the EMBA: www.MBAIvyLeague.com

I used Stratus Prep to help me throughout the application process.

I initially learned from them thanks to a friend that got admitted to CBS, and decided to hire their services.

I would like to say that their help exceeded my expectations: not only is the staff friendly, but the individuals that will help you through the process are very knowledgeable, and will help you craft your own story in a very efficient way.

Often times, individuals will be pushed, and several reviews of your materials will take place to make sure that you are on track with your 'personal story,' and that you reflect the qualities that are important to the programs you are applying to.

However, their help is not limited to essay crafting. They will also offer to review your online application and will take the time to do mock interviews, once you reach that part of the admissions process.

Overall, it was a very pleasant but demanding experience, and I strongly recommend it to anyone that might consider consultants in their application process.

Yes, it will be a significant investment. However, your potential returns are phenomenal (admission to business school, which might lead to your dream career/role).

Thanks to Stratus Prep, I will be going to Cornell for 2 years in the Fall of 2017 - for all of you Cornellians out there, see you in Sage Hall, and do not hesitate to reach out before/during/after DJ).

Santi

PS - Go Big Red!

I used Stratus Prep's 4 school package, and my very helpful consultants were Santosh and Mariya. In spite of marginal GRE scores I was able to secure a spot in my preferred school, due in large part to the diligent work from the Stratus team in reviewing and refining my essays and short answer responses.

As a former Navy submarine officer, the Stratus team provided tremendous help translating my operational leadership experiences into relevant stories that are applicable to the business world. Santosh worked closely with me to create a solid narrative arc using stories from my early education all the way to recent military achievements to demonstrate how and why I would be an excellent fit for the most prestigious MBA programs.

I am incredibly satisfied with my results and grateful to the Stratus team!!

zueswoods wrote:Hi,

I'm thinking about using some sort of admission consultants and so far its among Stratus Prep, mbamission and Stacy Blackman.

Shawn from SP gave me a free 30 (45 actually) minute consultation about 2 weeks ago and I was wondering if anyone else is or has used them in the past? He seemed very helpful and confident, I just wanted other people (and hopefully real people) to comment about their experiences.

I have not had any free consultation from th othes but will probably do so this coming week.

Any insight would be helpful, as the consulting fees are extremely high, I want to make sure I don't regret the decision.

Thanks!

Hi,

We have expert and experienced top B-School alumni who will be happy to take care of our applicants with their complete application process and we work very closely by evaluating the strengths and weakness of their profiles.

Contact us for free profile evaluation from our expert top B-School alumni.

PM if any further assistance required.

Regards.

I heard good things about Stratus Prep from a friend and decided to work with Stratus. Santosh (Sam) Prasad was my admissions consultant and he was fabulous. He is very knowledgeable about the application process, having attended Booth himself. He suggested many new angles to approach my application, angles I had never considered before. And he was always available. Literally. I'd send him emails late at night or early in the morning and without fail, Sam would respond within a few hours (usually within minutes). His dedication to me and knowledge of the process helped me get into a few of my reach schools! I'm very glad I got to work with Sam and Stratus Prep and would recommend them to anyone.

Traci Thibodeaux and the Stratus team are amazing, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made and it is well worth it. They are well engaged and strive to help you succeed, at many times more engaged than you are yourself, they are seasoned professionals who have gone through the process. I learnt so much about myself and although it may sound cliche, self-reflection is truly needed during the application process. The coaching is so valuable that it reassured me and gave me the confidence I needed in proceeding further. Choosing to apply to bschool is a huge decision and a big investment and I would take countless hours consuming all the free webinars available (which was still great help) but it did not get me to where I needed and I am glad I took the dive and worked with Stratus. I'm writing this review because I feel so blessed to be accepted that this is the only way I know how to say thank you and pass on the greatness I experienced.

As I began my MBA application journey almost 12 months ago, I was referred to Stratus Admissions Counselling by two of my very close friends who got into Top 10 schools with Stratus's help.

Going into the process, I had only one constraint - I wanted to go into a Top 15 school this year (2017) and was not willing to wait an extra year or two. However, I had a lot of things going against me - belonging to an over-represented demographic, sub 680 GMAT score, 3 - 3.3 GPA and 10 months of full-time experience (2yrs at matriculation). Therefore, I signed up for the 4 school package and based on my friends seamless experience with Salma, I requested to be paired with her.

Overall, I had an incredible experience working with Salma. She was very responsive (sometimes even working through weekends and holidays), acted more like a mentor than a consultant throughout the process, and really helped me dig deep to put together my life story. Apart from helping me with my story, essays, resume etc., she also kept pushing me to improve my GMAT (and eventually I did by over 70 points), suggested ways to overcome my low GPA and less than average number of years of work experience. Another thing I loved about Salma was the interview prep that I received from her - countless number of insightful mock sessions before each of my interviews.

I ended up applying to 4 top 10 schools in R1 but unfortunately was not accepted to any. Again, Salma and Josh proved to be saviors, helped me pick myself up, and as promised (the 4 school guarantee), they offered to help me with another set of 4 schools in R2 without any charge. This time around, I applied to a mix of 4 Top 10-20 schools, and have been very fortunate to be accepted into a Top 15 program - one of my top choices.

Given the things that were going against me, I am very grateful to have been accepted into a top program this year, and without a doubt, it would not have been possible without Salma and the whole stratus team - they are simply awesome. I truly believe in their process and skills to help a candidate put forward one's best foot, and hence I referred two of my other close friends to utilize their help. So, no matter which stage of the process you are in, if you are thinking about hiring a consultant, Stratus is the only way to go.

I worked with Scott at Personal MBA Coach and cannot recommend him highly enough.

I tried applying to schools on my own first. Despite an extremely high GMAT score and good work experience I only got two interviews, and I struck out at all 6 places I applied. I didn't even get waitlisted anywhere.

For my second year of applications, I decided to get help. After talking to multiple consultants and feeling less than thrilled about their pitches (most were obviously just after my money) I talked to Scott. He was more engaged than anyone else, and most importantly he seemed to genuinely want to help me.

Long story short, I ended up getting interviews at 4 of 5 places Scott helped me apply to. I was accepted at two schools (one with a decent scholarship), and waitlisted at one. I also tried applying to one additional school on my own and did not even get an interview. This means that out of 12 schools, I was only admitted to those Scott helped me apply to, and Scott was involved in getting 4 of 6 interviews. Note that since he only helped me apply to 5 places I got interviews 80% of the time with him and 28% of the time on my own.

My last comment is about what you should and should not expect from Scott. He is not a magic genie who will instantly grant acceptance to your top school. He will not write anything for you. He will not tell you what you want to do in the future. What Scott will do is relentlessly critique your essays. He will push you HARD to fully distill what you are trying to say, and he will pull no punches while doing it. If you are six drafts into your essay and it just isn't there, he will tell you that you need to start over. At times it will suck, but as long as you continue to push yourself Scott will help unearth the best version of yourself in your final applications. I am extremely glad that I worked with Scott, and I cannot recommend him highly enough.

Overall, i am highly satisfied with the counselling services of stratus prep. Although the prices are on higher range but you need to compromise on few things to achieve others. They provided great support at each step to review, improve and validate your MBA story. I personally recommend working with Santosh since he is highly committed towards his work and was available almost anytime you would ask. His turn around time was so quick that it was difficult for me to match but in a way it helped me wrapping up all the applications on time. Initially, when i signed up with stratus prep i was very nervous on taking up the applications and completing them on time but Santosh kept me motivated and suggested me to take one step at a time. We worked very closely in writing and reviewing each essay which kept me motivated to finish applications in piece-meal fashion.
I am full time working mom of a 3.55 year old and it became really challenging for me to proceed with MBA applications along with managing work, family, kid and social life. I have also attempted GMAT and MBA applications in the past 2 years but was never able to succeed because of other responsibilities. But this time, i decided to take counselling services from Stratus prep which kept me disciplined throughout to complete my applications. Before working with Santosh, it became so difficult for me to write an essay and send it for review to one of my friend and re-work on his reviews because every body is busy in their own life and no one really cares to respond on time. If you have time, energy and people around you to review your essays then, that's great you should avail those services. But otherwise, be bold to spend and avail counselling services if you are really serious about MBA.

I worked with Scott Edinburgh from Personal MBA Coach. After reading reviews on their website, I decided to reach out to Scott for more information. Hearing the realities from Scott about my reach schools following our conversation was daunting but he assured me that we would work together for the best outcome. I knew right then that working with Scott was my best shot at getting into my dream school.

I never worked in person with Scott, I was living in New York City during our time together but he was available to me 24/7. He helped me build my story and was patient with me through the essay editing process. Even when I thought my essay was finished, Scott pushed me to make it better. All of my emails were answered almost immediately and he even offered to travel to New York to work with me in person. Scott put me in touch with an incredible GRE tutor who improved my test score by almost 20 points!

I was accepted into all three of my 3 stretch schools, including yes, the dream school. I was even offered a substantial scholarship to Boston University. Not only was Scott available to me through every step of the application process but he helped me confidently choose the right program, which can be just as stressful. Working with Scott was the best decision I have ever made. I can truly say that without him and his diligent work I would not be where I am today, studying Public Relations and Corporate Communication at New York University.

At the start of my MBA journey, I had never written an essay, did not know what leadership experience was and could not think of anything that distinguished me from the thousands of other well-qualified candidates. Thanks to Scott Edinburgh as my Personal MBA Coach, I was not only admitted to all 5 top 15 programs I applied to, but was also awarded scholarships totalling over $200k.

Navigating the MBA admissions process is a major project in itself. Luckily there are rockstars like Scott Edinburgh who make the entire process so much easier. Being an international applicant with an unconventional background, I had no idea how to craft a powerful narrative to tell admission officers my story (when starting out, I did not even fully know what my story actually was).

Scott broke the entire process down in easy-to-understand components and tackled them with me one by one. As you will discover when working with him, his thorougness and attention-to-detail is second to none. As a result, he unconvered several great topics I had too readily discarded and helped me turn them into outstanding essays.

When I then showed him my first essay drafts, Scott did his job - and ripped them apart! Imagine Scott as a tough coach: he will be relentless in pushing yourself to your limits and beyond. You may wish that he'd be easier on you, but once you are smiling from the top of the podium, you know how valuable his input was.

To be perfectly clear: the above is in no way to say that Scott is a mean guy - the complete opposite is true. Scott is with you every step of the way offering plenty of encouragement. He genuinely cares about your success. Despite a substantial time difference, Scott was always available to answer my questions, even on very short notice if necessary.

However, Scott's work did not stop once I received the good news that I was admitted. He acted as a sounding board, helped me weigh my options and also assisted me in drafting a letter to the admissions office that ultimately got me additional scholarship money!

If your goal is to get in a top MBA program and you want customized and personalized support at a very fair price, look no further - Personal MBA Coach Scott Edinburgh is the guy for you.

Scott Edinburgh, the founder of Personal MBA Coach, was an amazing coach throughout every step of the application process. We began working together far in advance of the round 1 application deadlines, with gradual ramp up in exercises, reviews, and conversations throughout 2016. Scott provided the perfect balance of cautious optimism and realness, keeping me grounded after big events (like the GMAT) but confident in times of need (interviews, school visits, etc.). His feedback was incredibly helpful and always specific and detailed. I felt very comfortable relying on Scott not only for application specific questions, but also for school, career, and general life questions! One of us his greatest skills is the ability to pull details from applications and help mold them into inspiring stories. Most importantly, Scott allows each applicant to lead the process, for at the end of the day it is the applicants voice that must be heard above all else. I had lofty goals when I began my journey, needing a significant increase in GMAT score and a bit of luck on my side to be admitted to a top 10 school. Well, with Scott’s guidance, I was admitted to three, all of which offered me very strong merit based awards. I would absolutely recommend Scott to anyone who is open to feedback and change, and willing to work hard to earn a ticket to a top school.