Comparison of Different MBA Admissions Services
There are quite a few of you guys out there. For those of you who have had personal experience, can you talk about your evaluations of your advisors?
Here are a few that I've run across:
- Accepted.com (Linda Abraham)
- Alchemy Admissions Advisors
- Blue Horizon Admissions
- Clear Admit
- HBSGuru / Cambridge Essay Service (Sandy Kreisberg)
- MBA Apply (Alex Chu)
- MBAMission
- MBAPrepAdvantage
- Stacy Blackman Consulting
I think the greatest value of these public boards is that people can speak candidly without fear of repercussion, and those who are out of line will simultaneously be put in their place by others who are reputable members / moderators. As a result, let's discuss openly and cut to the chase. Who's good, who's alright, and who's a joke?
Let's avoid citing information that only comes from WSO. Instead, let's focus on experiences that either you or close friends have actually had. That way, we can cut past the BS.
And for those MBA application advisors who are on this board, feel free to chime in as well.
Just to add a quick follow-up:
This post is inspired by the fact that I feel half of the advice given on the public boards to those "evaluate my candidacy" posts is more or less common sense. Who actually has value-add in determines of ascertaining your chances and then helping you overcome your weakness / improve your strengths?
In short, who cuts through the bull and tells it like it is, and can legitimately help you out afterwards?
I am using SBC and they are extremely professional, have a ton of resources, and they don't stop until you are satisfied. At first they told me that the comprehensive service meant 4 edits per essay, and when I told them that I didn't like that I was limited on my edits, they promised me after I had already signed the contract that we would not stop editing or turning the crank until we were both satisfied.
I haven't heard back from schools yet, but I think that without them I would not have reached my full potential on the all-important essay. They also looked over my online application, which is no small task.
You have to put a ton of work in yourself--they don't write it for you--but they reciprocate with a ton of feedback and helpful edits. They even have 2nd and 3rd parties review essays for additional opinions.
I paid 6500 for a 4 school package. If I get into one of those schools, it was worth it to me.
Thanks, GordonGecko.
Here's the most recent thread I was able to pull on this subject: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/opinions-on-stacy-blackman
Any other thoughts from people?
Is there a reason this thread was removed?
I think it was removed because people were saying unflattering things about stacy blackman, and if i'm not mistaken WSO has a business relationship with them.
I used stacy blackman when i applied. The woman who was assigned as my consultant was in marketing and hence did not really "get" my profile or where i came from. She was an ok essay editor but no better than what my friends would have done for free. It cost me roughly $5500 for 2 schools, and everything was paid upfront of course before the process started. It took her a while to get back to me with her essay edits since i was obviously not her only client. What really pissed me off though was after i got dinged, I sent her an e-mail to let her know what happened and asked her for her thoughts on what might've went wrong. No response whatsoever. Since I already paid and got dinged, I guess she felt that it wasn't even worth responding to my e-mail. The whole experience was quite unpleasant and a waste of my money.
How much does it cost? How does the pricing work? I imagine they have a range of services (such as choosing schools). Can you simply pay only for essay help?
Tks
It looks like there are different levels.
It can be one school or multiple schools. Or, it can be per hour vs. a flat fee. Or it can be distinguished by level of service (i.e. complete evaluation vs. just essay help vs. just a last-minute application review).
That's what I've seen, at least, and it does depend from company to company.
I've talked to consultants from virtually all the major services and even newer ones like aringo and amerasia.
In my opinion, the only ones worth using are sandy "HBSguru" Kreisberg and Alex Chu. They're the only guys who will be totally honest with you about your chances rather than blowing smoke up your ass. I think in general the admissions consulting industry is a glorified scam with a terrible incentive system and mediocre services. I can go on about this, but I'm going to stop here.
5500 hundred bucks seems astronomically high for essay revisions and some mild tweeking. Is there any consensus on how much value these firms actually add?
No consensus at all. Of course, the consulting services will take full credit if a client gets in and say that their essay revisions and "insights" were critical. But if a client gets dinged, they will say that admissions is '"random" and that it was a very competitive year.
I am not at all convinced that these consultants add any type of value unless you're a candidate who's a terrible writer and/or is totally clueless about the whole process.
Brady4MVP,
I am truly sorry to hear about your experience with our company. There are a couple of points that do not sound right so I wanted to clarify:
1) We never ask for full payment up front before services begin, and we do offer a window for refund if you are not happy with how the service is going. We also offer the opportunity to purchase as little as two hours up front, and then upgrade to a bigger package.
2) We have a strong marketing focus and many of our consultants have backgrounds in marketing, writing, recruiting, etc... We have found that this type of expertise is highly beneficial. In contrast, having someone who shares your identical background can often backfire as you can get too steeped in the details of the actual work, as opposed to more important themes, and WHY you have made certain decisions.
3) We encourage clients to actively participate in the process of being matched with a consultant. We would never just stick you with someone who you did not agree was a good fit. AND, once the process begins, if you are not happy with your consultant, you can switch. We do this several times every season when clients feel they need a different match.
4) Every client has a client liaison and flight tester in addition to the primary consultant. These are additional layers of support that you can and should utilize throughout the process if you need a second opinion or want a fresh perspective.
5) Absolutely, it is true that you would not be the only client of one of our consultants, but we do keep the client load to a very manageable amount. We really limit the numbers of clients the firm takes and the numbers for each consultant.
6) I am surprised to hear that your consultant did not respond to your final email. If this ever happens I would hope that a client would feel comfortable emailing their sales contact, me (I make myself very available from day one) or their client liaison (who checks in regularly). In fact, that offer still stands. We regularly give post mortem feedback and advice and would be happy to do so.
Stacy
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