Best MBA Admissions Consulting Service?

I used Stratus Prep for my MBA applications in the 2015 year. Just a little bit thoughts about my experience: I absolutely LOVED my counselor Susan Cera. She is the best. Throughout the process, she helped me throughout each step of the way, including figuring out my school selections, strengths and weakness and mock interview to help me better prepare. The package they offer at SP is amazing as well. I was not able to get into my top 4 schools last year but hey look, they are going to help me with the 4 top schools again and I don't have to make the investment again. Overall, my experience with SP and Susan is really really great and I look forward to working with Susan and the SP team again this year.

Scott Edinburgh from Personal MBA Coach www.personalmbacoach.com is exactly what I was looking for in a business school application consultant!! He has years of experience and is knowledgeable about everything in the application cycle from the GMAT to interviews. He was committed to making me a top applicant and meticulous in all of his work on my resume and essays. He is extremely honest with his feedback and pushed me to make every aspect of my application the best that it could be- and now I am going to my dream school next fall! I worked directly with Scott so he was very familiar with every aspect of my application- definitely not the case at big firms where junior resources end up doing much of the work. He also made it a priority to work around my schedule, both for the application and interview prep. I plan to recommend him to all of my friends applying to business school!

Thanks a million to Stratus Prep! I got accepted in UC Berkeley MBA

I would like to highly recommend Richard Cheng from Stratus Prep. I worked with Richard for several months last year for both R1 and R2. Like many of the applicants, I had no idea where to get started for my MBA application, but with Richard’s help and his deep insights of business school, I quickly realized my strength as an MBA applicant and how I should apply my strength to stand out among other applicants. And unlike some of the counselors that only provide very general advises, Richard fully understood my future career goals and offered me very specific and honest advises combined with his own experience with one of the top b-schools he graduated from. From my first draft of the essay to interview preparation, Richard had always been patient and responsible. He took notes during our phone calls and remembered every important deadline of my application to make sure we were on the right track. Although I did not get admitted to my dream school, mainly because I did not have enough work experience due to heavy restriction on work visa, I will work with Richard again this year for my application. By end of the day, I see Richard not just my application counselor, but also my mentor in future career. I truly believe any one that interested in applying top business schools will gain a tremendous help from Richard.

I would like to put in a review of GyanOne MBA Admission Consultants. I had worked with Rishabh for my applications to top US bschools, and I am glad to get admits from all 3 bschools I applied to. I finally decided to go to Tepper Business School. GyanOne helped me right from bschool selection to application review to interview preparation and I must say, they are thorough professionals and experts for top US MBA programs. They understand the admission requirements of these bschools and help the candidate prepare their applications accordingly. Am glad I made the right decision for work with them. I started off by trying their free profile evaluation (and so can you here: https://www.gyanone.com/free-mba-profile-evaluation/).

Good Luck to all!

I worked with Richard at Stratus Prep on my Early Decision re-application to Columbia Business School, and I'm very excited to say that I was accepted to my first choice school! His enthusiasm for my candidacy, thorough attention to detail and exemplary communications skills were invaluable. Most importantly, I know I carry and present myself with greater confidence and eloquence, both in person and on paper - I'm thankful to Richard for helping me deepen these qualities as I know they'll serve me well in the long term, at business school and beyond.

As a re-applicant with a dramatic career switch (marketing and BD at a startup to social ventures and education), Richard helped me present my professional aspirations in a concise and compelling way. He asked challenging questions not to be difficult but to push me to craft a crisper and more deliberate narrative. Throughout our back and forth, he was always patient and encouraging. From the resume to the essay to the interview, Richard's feedback helped me refine my voice and message. As any b-school applicant will tell you, *especially* re-applicants, being able to clearly demonstrate your strengths, growth, and future plans is imperative.

The results speak for themselves and I can strongly recommend Richard to anyone applying to business school.

I would definitely recommend https://myessayreview.com/ by Poonam Tandon. With her strong expertise and consistent help, I have been admitted into my dream school in 1.5 months -- it is almost unbelievable consider my poor knowledge in MBA application and the highly risky situation (applied for only one school and started 3 weeks before deadline). Could not thank you more Poonam!!


I decided to sign up for myEssayReview services because of many reasons. First, Poonam is highly experienced and by choosing myEssayReview I could work directly with her. Secondly, a lot of positive and detailed comments from previous candidates made me feel confident in choosing her. And lastly, the price is reasonable and far less expensive than other consultant companies.

Although my spoken English is not so good, the one-hour session I had with her went along smoothly. We exchanged information about my background/ motivation; Poonam soon drew an outline for the service procedure and timeline of my application, and provided a lot of useful suggestions I have never thought of. She was not only concerned about details but also watchful on big picture. All the guidelines she suggested related closely with my motivations and career goals. Besides, she kept a great balance between the stories. I made a big mistake when drawing outline for the video essay. Poonam soon addressed all the invalidities and helped me improve a lot in the 2nd version. Besides, she gave me very useful tips on improving my first video essay.

I would say, Poonam’s editing is super effective. Poonam can always find ways to trim the essays without affecting the contents. In the final version, we were able to meet all the word-limits with no problem. Poonam corrected my sentence structure punctuation and grammar errors and helped me choose the right words. At first I felt she is a bit strict but soon realized that it is highly necessary. With her expertise and dedicated revisions my essays improved significantly, and I was more than satisfied when we had the final version of my essays.

Poonam’s response time is faster than what is mentioned on her website. I could always get the reply very soon, sometime even within a few hours. Yes, from the beginning to the end she always got back to me on time. That is why we could effectively meet the tight deadline.

I am accepted by my dream school. Tons of thanks Poonam for your consistent help during my application process! As I say it has been my best of luck choosing to work with you, and I would definitely recommend myEssayReview to other candidates.

I worked with Richard Cheng and Stratus Prep in preparing for business school applications, targeting a range of different schools, with Yale SOM as my number one. I applied in R1 and was accepted, thanks in great part to Richard’s guidance.

Richard’s own non-traditional background was extremely helpful in working with me. My background was a combination of strict academic research and social impact/nonprofit, but I was looking to transition to the private sector. My unique background made it so that communicating my story, and articulating why an MBA, was crucial. Richard created a supportive, constructive environment that allowed my true voice and narrative to shine through in the application. My desire was to go into consulting, a popular field, and Richard helped me connect the dots from my previous work into my future career aspirations. Although the consulting path is common, I believe my well-articulated background and narrative helped me get accepted. Throughout the application process, Richard constantly pushed me on the why, always making me refine my thinking and the details in the essays. Overall, he helped me cut the chaff and keep the quality.

Richard’s edits and feedback were extremely constructive, and his direct style saved us a ton of time in the long run. We pushed as fast as we could but never spared quality. His most sage piece of advice was for me to do a complete rewrite of one of my essays only a few days before the deadline. This new essay was much more personal, and more reflective of me, than the one I had previously written.

Additionally, Richard’s interview preparation was amazing. In multiple mock interviews, I went from a mumbling monologue to being able to clearly express my background and passion for the schools. His feedback was extremely insightful, and led to rapid improvement in just a few days.

I spent a lot of time going back and forth trying to decide if the investment in a consultant was worth it. And from my perspective now, it 100% was. With little knowledge of MBA applications, I was able to increase both the speed and quality of my application with Richard’s help. I spoke with about five different consultants, and ultimately chose Stratus Prep based on Richard’s nuanced understanding of my background, and insightfulness on our first 30-minute consult. His ability to help me craft my narrative, provide extensive feedback and suggestions, and conduct multiple mock interviews, helped me land an acceptance from my number one school.

Paul Bodine was absolutely instrumental in helping me get accepted to the school(s) of my dreams. I used Paul’s hourly services and teamed with him for 3+ months. He was most helpful in essay editing (he can be as detailed or as high-level as you would like, and is very adept at both). This is where we spent most of our time. After receiving interviews, I used Paul for interview prep as well. He is very familiar with all of the top schools’ admissions standards/trends – knowledge that can’t be understated in this grueling process. Paul also guided me through my overall application strategy and execution (and a ‘final application review’ right before hitting submit), which was invaluable.

Paul is one of the nicest people I’ve met in the admissions consulting business, but he’s also brutally honest. I think most of all, he always made me feel comfortable and offered reassurance whenever I would doubt myself in the process. I couldn’t imagine going through the admissions gauntlet without Paul by my side at every turn.

As for results… I got into every school I applied to (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and Booth – the latter two with significant scholarships)! I am pretty certain that this would not have been the case had I not enlisted Paul for admissions guidance. Simply put – if you are currently searching for help to get into the top schools, you can stop looking. Paul Bodine is your answer.

I was first introduced to Stratus Prep through the MBA Tour in 2012. It wasn't until nearly three years later that I decided I wanted to apply to business school. Although I was applying in Fall 2016, I began working with Stratus Prep in early 2015 which I highly recommend. As a female living in NYC with 4+ years of work experience and a decent GRE score (I did not use GMAT scores) I felt as though I was a good business school applicant but definitely wanted help in shaping my story and putting together the best possible application - this is where Stratus Prep came in!
From the very beginning, even before I came up with a list of schools or even looked at the application, I was given work to help me fully understand why I wanted to go to business school and what my goals were. At Stratus Prep you work most closely with one advisor but every piece of work you put together - introspection, outlines, application - goes through multiple views and proofreads. From a comprehensive timeline of when each piece was due to my advisor to interview prep and every little question in between, having a team there to answer my questions and give me peace of mind was invaluable.
Although I do not yet know where exactly I will be attending school next fall, I have already been accepted to a top ranked program and I know I could not have done it without the entire Stratus Prep team, particularly my advisor Susan Cera.
The business school application process is draining and a lot of work but working with Susan and all of Stratus prep made the experience much more enjoyable and ultimately successful!

taviboo wrote:Hi,
I wanted to find out if people have used or are planning to use MBA admissions consulting services? If so, which ones do you recommend and why? Some names I know are: Clear Admit, Stacy Blackman, Veritas Prep. I want to get comprehensive consulting from the beginning of the application process till the very end.

Thanks
Tavi

Hi Tavi,

We have expert and experienced top B-School alummi 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.

PM if any further assistance required.

I had very little time, so I worked with Poonam Tandon (myEssayReview) on a tight schedule (just 72 hrs!) without any extra charges, and with pretty convenient prices.

I thought being advised by a PhD in English Literature, who loves writing, and with proven track record reviewing successful essays for top-ranked business schools was my best possible choice. We communicated by skype and email, and I always received timely and clear answers that guided me to write more efficiently and effectively. Poonam and I discussed my personal and professional background and then she made sharp suggestions of the strongest topics to address the essay questions. As a result, I confidently chose my topics and focused on developing them. Also, Poonam gave me clear directions about format and structure, along with guidelines to ‘unleash’ my stories in a more compelling and thorough way. Finally, she edited my essays to trim them to the word limits and corrected grammatical mistakes.

Poonam also helped me build a strong resume, which I plan to use for the recruiting process also. First, she provided me with a format that made me gain more space to focus on professional accomplishments. Then, she helped me strengthen every bullet point by choosing appropriate action verbs and focus on the outcomes. Finally, with the structure she suggested, I was able to better highlight other areas such as academic accomplishments and personal interests, making a well-rounded resume.

We worked fast, with turn-arounds in less than 24 hours, so despite time constraints, I built strong essays and resume well before each deadline. I couldn’t be more grateful to Poonam as she agreed to provide such dedication and support without any extra charge for rush service.

Overall, it was a pleasure to work with Poonam, She not only provided me with the best possible technical advice, but she also helped me boost my confidence at a point of weakness and tiredness. I had high expectations and the results were far better than expected. I am accepted into Ross with full scholarship.. This accomplishment wouldn't have been possible without her strong advice I would recommend her services to everyone.

I absolutely loved my experience at StratusPrep. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get accepted by top MBA programs in the US. Personally, Stratus has helped to me to get into my dream school, a top top MBA program.

My primary counselor was Donna, and my senior strategist was Susan. I initially signed up for the four school package. Then I added three more schools in R2.

Reasons why I really enjoyed working with Donna

1)She was extremely responsible and fully committed to my success. Her average turnover time was about 24 hours. She was incredibly responsive even throughout the holiday seasons.

2)She took the time to get to know me as a person. I felt that I was being treated as a friend or a family member. One example to demonstrate that, she actually suggested that I should not waste my money to apply to the seventh school on my list (which was another safety school) when I was accepted by my dream school, even though she would make less money as a result. I also met her in person when I was visiting UNC. She showed me around town and bought me lunch before my interview.

3)She is remarkably knowledgeable about UNC and Kellogg. I mean she is a great counselor for any schools, but you are specifically interested in these two great schools, she is definitely the person to go to. She had worked on the admissions team at UNC for many years. Nobody knows UNC better than she does! As a Kellogg alum who had interviewed applicants in the past, she knows how to prepare you for anything.

4)Donna did not pressure me into anything. From selecting schools to writing the essays and to deciding which school to matriculate (Yes, I am very lucky to have two great options so far), she was there to help me evaluate the pros and cons, and it was essentially up to me to make the decision.

Reasons why I am glad I chose Stratus

1)Their 4+ school guarantee made me feel secure about spending this amount of money, even though I was lucky not to end up using it. Like I mentioned before, you can choose any schools for this guarantee to work. Counselors at Stratus will not force you to apply to safety schools if you don't want to.

2)The secondary viewer was particularly helpful at helping me identify possible weaknesses that I had missed. It was like having two counselors to help me at the same time for the price of one.

3)My senior strategist Susan knew every school inside and out. Even though I did not work with her directly, she helped me to build the framework in my every essay.

I would recommend StratusPrep to anyone who is serious about MBA applications and personal growth.

I think Stratus has its own standardized way of coaching people, but my strategists in particular are very responsible and experienced. I chose to work with Donna because she is a veteran in business school admissions, so is my senior strategist Susan.

Donna has been always available when I had new ideas and wanted to run it by her. Her timely feedback and suggestions were extremely constructive and realistic. I felt like she is invested in helping me not only to getting into my chosen MBA but also my long-term success.

The result is that I got accepted to all the schools that I applied to, with financial help. I am very grateful for Donna and Susan. I am glad that I placed trust in them.

I have already recommended Donna to my friends who are currently applying to MBA. Good luck to everyone! Well, maybe you don't need it if you have Donna and Susan helping you.

Hello, from Ithaca! I am Mani. I worked at a top Analytics firm in India before b-school and my goal was to get into consulting after my MBA from a top US university.

The first step was to decide whether to take the help of a consultant and after talking to friends and students I decided to take help. Taking a consultant is personal choice. I took one as I thought it would add value and the competition from India is very high. Choose your consultant carefully and trust her or him once you start the process. (I worked with Rajdeep Chimni at www.admissionsgateway).

I found it helpful to start 6 months before and outline an exhaustive plan leading up to the deadlines so that I could map everything out and there was no rush. This helped me submit applications in R1 rather than scrambling later on. One advantage is that you can see the round 1 result and act accordingly in R2. It also allows you to take more risk as you have more time to do applications.

The second part was building the resume. I suggest you customize your resume as per the goals. Everyone knows the STAR format but there are different levels of implementation depending on whether you understand the ‘situation’ of the work you are doing. My resume took 22 iterations but from there my stories were set and I learnt how to portray myself both on paper and in an interview.

Next, was the outlining of the goals. Usually you have an overall goal but please look into the specifics like which industry, how to align this with your overall profile or if you are a career changer what skills do you currently have. I would say talk with the maturity of someone who is 3 months into those goals rather than someone who wants to do something but has not totally researched it.

Keep your personal style in the essays and customize each essay to the school. Do not use the same essays if you think the prompt is similar. Whet your essays once even after you have whetted them. Even my optional essays were tailored to the school I was applying to.

Thanks to the Admissions Gateway team for helping me meet my goals. These are some tips I learned and hope they help you. The last thing is that you should continuously improve from each application and interview, absorb the feedback and become better. This build up will lead you to good results in the end. Admissions Gateway has a great track record for top-15 MBA admissions and I highly recommend them.

Best of luck,
Mani