I wanted to share my experience working with Laura Freedman at Access Education MBA admissions consultants in Singapore (www.AccessEducation.com.sg) on my application to INSEAD.

I came across Laura's profile through testimonials and references. Without a doubt, the testimonials about Laura's help and willingness to go the extra mile to promote and uplift a candidate's spirit through the challenging admissions process are absolutely true.

Laura was a great advisor through my application and interview process. She took the time to get to know both my personal and professional backgrounds, then offered useful insights on how to play up strengths that I was not bringing to the fore. She has a discerning eye for detail, and was able to identify and help me focus on the most appropriate traits, accomplishments and examples to improve my competitiveness in the admissions process. Furthermore, she is very straightforward in her feedback, and never hesitated to remind me to "cut the fluff" out of my essays - a testament to her editing skills and forthrightness.

Most importantly, her career counseling background was a tremendous asset, since I'm looking to transition from government service to the private sector. Laura's experience as an external counselor on the Career Counseling team at INSEAD was instrumental in helping me narrow down realistic career options and ensuring that I researched deeply into these areas. Now that I'm at INSEAD, her deep knowledge of my background and understanding of consulting career options has been helpful to me in my job search after my MBA (she's one of the most popular Career Services counselors).

Laura was instrumental in helping me gain admissions to one of the most competitive recruitment cycles for a world leading business school. I recommend her highly.

Hello,
I struggled a long time between Fortuna Admissions and Laura Freedman from Access Education. I am writing this post, hopefully to provide reflexion points to anyone who is having the same struggle.

First of all, let me say that if you have a good profile, I don't think working with one or the other will increase or decrease your chances, it's just going to be 2 different experiences. I worked with both Access Education and Fortuna and I liked Access Education better and here is why:

Laura's personality and the way she shapes what you say is incredible. She was always prepared, organized, never forgot anything, our sessions were efficient and passionate. On the other hand, Caroline was very professional too but I think Laura has a passion that will inspire you. Laura is well spoken and is incredible at structuring what you want to say and making it sound pretty. Laura makes you look like a rock-star, Fortuna just improves what you write. Laura will do more, she will go that extra mile.

Also, the ability to see Laura was great. I liked interacting with her through Skype, I think it made a difference during the process. Fortuna does not use the same process.

Just a note, I also worked with Laura on reshaping my CV, while Kristi from Fortuna sent me a couple of bullet points to improve, Laura sat down with me for 4 hours until I was completely happy with the result and oh boy you should see my CV now!

I saw that Fortuna was compared to Rolls Royce, which, in my opinion is very true, I will then compare Laura to Austin Martin, young, fun and extra professional.

Finally, Laura knows the process inside out, she is not just here to improve what you say, she provides a whole career development package and valuable MBA information.

Seriously, if you're gonna spend a couple of grands, drive an Aston Martin!


PS. I am a real human being, when I was reading all the comments I honestly thought they were very similar but now that I am here, I can promise I genuinely think what I wrote, please free to PM me if you have any question.

This thread was really helpful for me when finding a consultant for my INSEAD and LBS applications, so I thought I'd add some feedback.

I ended up working with both consultants, Fortuna for the essay and Access for the interviews. Thanks in very large part to their help, I got into both programs despite a 2.99 undergrad GPA. Fortuna helped me turn some potential red flags in my background into strengths on my essay and Laura's career insight made a huge difference in my LBS interview. They're both GREAT consultants that really know INSEAD, and provide REAL value.

Though I don't think anyone can go wrong in hiring either, they do have differing styles. I'd recommend anyone applying to INSEAD give both a call and get a feel for who's a better fit for them. I think the only real mistake anyone in that position can make is not picking their brain even a little bit for a free consultation.

Hi all

Just would like to add my 2 cents to this topic.

I am a current INSEAD MBA 2014 Dec Class student. I worked with Laura (Access Education) for my INSEAD application and I just can't recommend her enough for all applicants who are seeking a top admissions consulting service.

The main reasons I selected Laura over all other admission consultants I met with are: her extensive experience as an MBA admissions consultant, her background as a senior INSEAD alum, and her highly personalized and customized approach to each and every applicant - because after all, it's YOUR story that you want to tell!

Besides the application essays, she also helped me with the Scholarship Essays - I won the INSEAD Alumni Diversity Scholarship. Now that I am at INSEAD, she also kindly offered to review my CV before it went into the Recruiter's CV Book. I also get to meet with her to help with my job search, since she's one of the most popular coaches on INSEAD's Career Development team in Singapore.

So, to all of you who are looking for an Admissions Consultant, I can tell you that you will never go wrong with Laura!

And if you have any question for me, please do not hesitate to PM me.

Good luck to everyone!

I worked with Laura Freedman from Access Education (www.AccessEducation.com.sg) on 3 business schools and made it to two - INSEAD (my first choice!) and Cornell. I don't think I would have made it to either without her help and I am happy to write this recommendation for her.
  
Before Laura, I spoke with at least 10-12 typical large US-based MBA admissions consulting firms and had almost given up on the idea of working with an admissions consultant. I faced some typical issues-
  
1)      Most seemed to be very focused on selling their services. In a typical 30 min free consultation call, they answered my questions for 10-15 mins and by the 15th minute, were looking for opportunities to give their pitch. Laura spent almost an hour with me talking only about my profile, goals and how an MBA could be helpful.
  
2)       Almost all the other consultants wanted to assign me to some other consultant or team of people different from the person who spoke with me. I was absolutely not comfortable paying up-front to work with someone I didn't know I could relate to.
  
3)      Most other consultants seemed to come with MBA+consulting/banking experience and then went into admission consulting. Their backgrounds, even their understanding of Asia or India for that matter, didn't give me confidence to believe they would be able to appreciate my experiences as an Indian architect and real estate professional.
  
Laura stood out from the very first call. She didn't hard-sell and more importantly, I felt her unusually diverse experience let her understand and appreciate my personal and professional backgrounds. After signing-up with Laura, she was happy to work at my pace. We spent almost 2 sessions per week (1.5 hrs each!) for 2 clear months even before we started working on essays. In the process, she understood the minutest details of my personal and professional background. Consequently, when it was time to write essays, her advice on what stories to select was something I'd pay double the amount of money for! Her editorial and story-telling skills are undoubtedly supreme and her insider's knowledge of INSEAD (and in this case Cornell, since she is also a Cornell University graduate and grew up in Ithaca) was a huge advantage.
  
I am usually quite a perfectionist and don't mind working on things till I feel I have got it right. But the application process can be extremely stressful. Whenever I crumbled, Laura kept pushing me to rework and fine-tune the essays till I could nail them. Even before I got the admission decisions, I knew I had gained tremendously from the whole process (even apart from the admits!). Since then, she has advised me on how best to use my pre-matriculation period to be able to derive maximum benefit from INSEAD's one-year format.
  
I highly recommend Laura. Not only was she instrumental in helping me get in, she helped me better appreciate my strengths and career trajectory - and ever since we finished, keeps connecting me with interesting people in my industry. She's also a career counselor for INSEAD's Career Development team in Singapore and is on INSEAD's Singapore Alumni board, so I'm looking forward to continuing to work with her once I start my MBA!

Feel free to PM me for any specific questions...

Hi everyone,

I started working with Laura Freedman, an MBA admissions consultant at Access Education (www.accesseducation.com) just two weeks before my MBA application deadline. I was far behind in the process, so Laura made time in her packed schedule to meet with me almost every day and for several hours on the night of the deadline. I was accepted to Wharton with a fellowship!

I spoke to several consultants (including Wharton alumni), but I immediately connected with Laura. Laura has amazing life experiences and is impressively knowledgeable on every subject, which enabled her to truly understand my background. She was genuinely excited to work with me despite the tight deadline and my low GMAT.

Laura is a genius at storytelling and essay editing. She helped me weave together my thoughts into a cohesive story and pushed me to come up with ideas that I would have never thought of. She is passionate about her clients and cares about their success.

I recommend Laura for any MBA program that you are applying to. She is definitely the go-to person for INSEAD, but she knows other schools' cultures and processes extremely well.

Looking back, I wish I had started months earlier with Laura. In my short time working with her, Laura went above and beyond what was expected. Not only do I believe that she is the best MBA admissions consultant out there, but she is a great life mentor and role model. I will definitely keep in touch with her throughout my MBA journey and thereafter.

If you have any questions about my experiences working with Laura, please do not hesitate to PM me.