Difference between MBA Mission and MBA Exchange

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Difference between MBA Mission and MBA Exchange

by zank » Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:16 am
Anybody that's done research on consultants, any advice on difference between these two? The prices seem to be the same, so the real differentiation is the service, the success rate and the effort they put in plus attention they give you as a client.

I'm applying to European schools mainly from North America, and i'm sure my profile needs a bit of work as my two main issues are low GPA (2.8/2.9) and lack of community involvement.

Who has better track record at INSEAD (1st choice), LBS, IESE, IE, HEC, ESADE. i NEED to get into atleast 1 MBA school from my pick, so for me its of critical importance to get the best chance I can.

Does either have any x-INSEAD admissions people for example?

Who gives more attention to clients and patient service?

MBA Exchange has the 97% verified success rate, which is something I haven't seen anybody else provide (the verified part). Does this verified success rate mean anything really?

On admissions411 MBA Ex seems to be at 58%, and MBA M at 60%, with approx same number of apps and admits, so its a close tie. Of course this doesn't represent the full spectrum of applicants.

Do they provide you on consultant that works on all your apps, or do different schools have different specialists at each company that you deal with?

Is there an hour limit for each company, or is it a "as long as it takes" situation if one gets the 2-4 app package?

If anybody has some thoughts on this who might have done some research or used the service do let me know.
Source: — Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant |

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by MBAExchange » Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:51 am
Hi Zank,

Thanks for your interest in The MBA Exchange. I'd like to get to know you, answer your specific questions with the facts, and present our value proposition so you can make an informed and confident decision.

Please visit our website (www.mbaexchange.com) to request a free, personalized, expert evaluation of your MBA candidacy. If you're interested, we can then schedule a 1-on-1 chat, and I can introduce former applicants who researched various firms before choosing The MBA Exchange.

Zank, I look forward to hearning from you soon!

Dan Bauer, MBA Harvard
Managing Director and Founder
The MBA Exchange
[email protected]

GMAT/MBA Expert

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by mbaMissionJeremy » Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:45 pm
Zank,

Thanks for your inquiry.

There are significant differentiators between firms. I can't speak to any firm's attributes other than our own, so here are a few things that I feel make us distinct:

1) Statistics: Admissions statistics are very easy to manipulate, so you will see that we don't rely on them on our website or our marketing material - even though we have very favorable statistics on sites like admissions411. We are quite proud of a simple number - two. What does "two" represent? It represents the number of leading GMAT companies who refer to us and only us. Manhattan GMAT used to refer its students to nine different admissions consulting firms and for several years, they have only referred only to us. Kaplan used to have its own admissions consulting firm, but they shut their firm down and then chose - after interviewing others -- to refer exclusively to us. We are very proud of the fact that these firms feel that we are the best firm for their students.

2) A full time firm with full time staff: Our consultants are not working full time at investment banks or strategy consulting firms and then taking a few hours during their lunch breaks or evenings to work with MBA applicants. We have a full time staff. Admissions consulting is what our consultants do. We are able to offer superior service, because our staff is committed to this field wholeheartedly.

3) Ongoing training and development: Because we have a full time staff, we can dedicate time to ongoing training and development. We have our own internal conference each year in May, wherein we fly consultants in from all over to train together. We have staff meetings on Tuesdays, where we keep each other apprised of admissions trends and complete and critique each other's training exercises. We interview admissions officers and then share the information and share best practices among our consultants. Development is a competitive advantage that we embrace.

4) Published authors and professional communicators: You are going to communicate with the admissions committee through the written word -- an admissions officer will read about you. So, you need someone who can help you communicate. On staff, we have a former managing editor of Inc. and Fast Company who went to HBS. We have a former award winning journalist, who went to CBS. We have an individual who co-wrote "65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays" and also went to HBS. We have... The list goes on and on. As an Ambassadorial Speechwriter myself, I could not imagine a situation where I would work on a project with someone who had no writing experience. You don't need to be a Pulitzer Prize winner to get into business school, but your ability to write your story will be crucial to your success. We insist on the highest standards with respect to written communication from our consultants and we get it from them.

I would be delighted to connect with you personally to discuss your file. In the meantime, ask other firms if they have full time staff, if they have an ongoing training program that includes in person training for their whole staff, if they have published authors who are MBAs, if they have a major GMAT company referring to them (or two), etc.

Kevin Shen, a Wharton grad who was on the admissions committee when he attended the school, also spent time at INSEAD while he was at Wharton. He clearly knows the school well.

I would be happy to chat with you personally and then put you in touch with Kevin too. My email is [email protected]. Please feel free to email me directly to set up a time for a free consultation.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
mbaMission
646-485-8844
Founder
mbaMission