HBS Guru

Anyone named Sandy Kreisberg has to know something about getting into HBS, or maybe the UJA of NY.

and whats wrong with that?

Just being facetious...

I haven't heard about him - can anyone else speak to his merit?

The overwhelming majority of people who get into HSW do not use admissions consultants. Based on his blog, Sandy seems to be a bit of a crackpot.

Funny guy.

I've been looking into this guy too... anyone know what his services are like?

seems on the pricy side, but if it get's you into HBS who gives a shit.

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Go read his stuff. His position is that HBS takes the same old kids every year (with some recently introduced variance due to the new politically correct leadership) and it is very clear on what its "mould" is. If you're not the HBS type, he can't get you in; he says that if you ARE the HBS type, he can make sure you don't shoot yourself in the foot because he knows what HBS wants from candidates who, on paper, meet their criteria. Hence there being an interview service that he offers to people who don't use him for essays. Disclaimer: not an HBS type - they don't want me and I don't want HBS - and not a client, just someone who has scoured around the public domain for free advice.

Yeah... My thought is this guy might be able to help smart foreign kids who don't understand the system properly, but that for a high level u.s. Candidate he's probably not got that much to offer. I find it hard to believe he could add that much value for someone like myself.

I have seen a lot of his stuff online. He is the worst salesman of all time – he basically tells everyone that he adds little value. He seems to know his stiff, though.

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Just to keep things in perspective. For a person who does get into Harvard MBA, the expected lifetime earnings increases by $3 million. The cost of an MBA admission consultant is usually between $1,500 to $2,600 (Sandy). If you are targetting schools below Top 5, you probably do not need an admissions consultant. But for the Top 5 schools, the adcom has to select your application over 8 identical applications. Then you have to take into consideration the fact that the adcoms are particularly fond of ex-military people, medical doctor MDs, and female applicants. Then another 35% - 40% of the seats are reserved for international applicants. Then Harvard has reserved another 120 seats for the 2+2 people. So the competition for the remaining seats is pretty intense and you generally need top undergrad school, 3.8 GPA, 730+ GMAT, and 3 years in a top tier firm which the adcom recognizes. Then the leadership issue and the social conciousness issue and the whole damn thing just gets pretty crazy.