<p>So I was wondering if anyone on here has used an MBA Entrance Consultant? </p>
<p>In particular I am wondering if you found the person made a bigger difference than had you just applied it on your own???</p>
<p>Several people have highly recommended me to this guy that works out of Los Angeles (where I am not and would have to do it through email/phone/skpe). </p>
<p>(BTW the consultant's email is <a href="mailto:miwy91@yahoo.com">miwy91@yahoo.com</a> - he is suppose to be well know if anyone has used him in particular please PM me and tell me how it went/results and if I should go with him etc).</p>
<p>If someone has used any consultant please please let me know ways to make the most of it.</p>
<p>I spoke to this guy and he basically seems to be saying that he walks me through the app A-Z for each school and then spends 80%+ of the time working on the essays. Also included is Letter or Rec prep. / possible interview couching and if needed waitlist/appeal consulting. </p>
<p>Do I really need an expert to help me with this??? In particular how important are the essays?</p>
<p>Anyway this guy has come recommended, including by someone who now works at a B-School. BUT he charges $90-$120 an hour! is this average? </p>
<p>if you used one can you give me some more pricing info please? can i bargain if i need to use him for many hours?</p>
<p>I am looking at the cost/benefit of not getting in this year and the money I could make by getting into the right school seems to justify but I want some feedback before I do it. So please respond with any info you know. thanks</p>
<p>Why do you need a consultant? Most of the stuff he is going to tell you is already on the internet. If you need someone to review your essays, try close friends or your local college.</p>
<p>VSG thanks for the reply. ya basically this is what I have been debating. Which is why I was hoping to speak with peeps that have used a consultant.</p>
<p>In short I dont want to leave it to chance. Its like taking a tour guide at a museum or just walking around on your own with friends. Ya there is info out there but an expert can change the experience times 10. and I know differnt schools look for different things and this is where an expert can help tweak your app to each school and dramatically improve chances (there is no 2nd place, you either get the thick envelope or you dont). I know people that were denied and then after using this guy got into those same schools, with the same weak GPA and weak test scores. </p>
<p>Im not sure where you are applying but my "close friends" have no clue how to write a good (top 25) B-school essay. Its not like an undergrad essay that you wrote when you were 16 or 17 and then you went nuts about your ECs. They are looking to accept professionals and they actually read the essays this time. if you can come across smart instead of fake like most people do and are in their application then you can do well. </p>
<p>A good B school and a medium one "can" mean hundreds of thousands of dollars over a career but especially in the strength of the recruiting and pay for your first job out. Thats why I am thinking giving a guy an hour and seeing what he can do.</p>
<p>I really don't see how a consultant can help you unless that person has been on every admissions board for the top MBA schools or knows the people who are. How would he know what they are looking for? It changes every year anyway.</p>
<p>I applied to graduate school (MS in Information Technology) and didn't use any help. The process is simple...write essays, send in test scores, fill out a simple application, and get letters of recommendation. Really no different than college depending on which school you're applying to. And what I meant by reading over your essays, is to make sure it flows well, has meaning, no errors, etc.</p>
<p>Maybe a consultant does know something that I can't find on the internet, but I seriously doubt it. I've never used one and don't think it's worth the money. I could be wrong though. If you do use a consultant and really thought it made a difference, then be sure to post here again.</p>
<p>To the op, I took a consultant for my MBA. But it was not hourly but rather $1500 flat fee. My advice is that it is a must and very worth the money. </p>
<p>There are pros and cons. My situation is that I was already working full time for two years before I applied to MBA programs. </p>
<p>The biggest advantage by far was time. Time is money, you know. If I applied on my own I would have spent days or weeks, researching, writing, rewriting, praying etc. I basically had the whole application process finished over one weekend. This was a big deal because working in finance I had very little free time. </p>
<p>Anyway, it helped in that we just busted out the whole thing properly and it was done with. </p>
<p>My only advice is do it early. </p>
<p>Another big plus is this woman contacted alumni of schools I applied to and set up phone and in person interviews so I could get their personal recommendation and possible job offers for summer analyst positions. In finance this is a must.</p>
<p>Unless you are some hotshot's son or have a building on campus with your last name on it, you cannot get into these schools without perfect grades or someone's help. That is the reality, don't hate.</p>
<p>"Unless you are some hotshot's son or have a building on campus with your last name on it, you cannot get into these schools without perfect grades or someone's help. That is the reality, don't hate."</p>
<p>About 20-25% of applicants do use admissions consultants. It's a growing "fad." But to say that you need perfect grades or someone's help to get into "these schools" is simply not true. First of all, what does "these schools" mean? Second, my daughter got into one of the top 10 (top 5 on some lists) with imperfect grades (low 3 point) and without using an admissions consultant. What she had was a convincing story about herself, and excellent career experience (4-5 years) that demonstrated her readiness and her commitment. She also had a strong GMAT score. She had no "connections" and was not a "hotshot's son."</p>
<p>Whether or not you use a consultant, what you need is a very good set of essays (it's not just one essay) that tells a persuasive story about your background (esp. work related background), your career goals, and why earning an MBA (in particular at this school) will help you to achieve those goals. And if you're talking about one of the more selective schools, then sure you should have good grades, but they don't need to be perfect; and sure you should have a high GMAT score, but it doesn't need to be perfect or near perfect.</p>
<p>I think having a consultant may make the most sense for someone who does not understand how American colleges operate, whose English may be deficient, or who don't know how to target a set of schools that fit their background and career goals.</p>
<p>(You can get more insight about this by consulting the forums on the Business Week website. But don't take everything you see there as the gospel truth.)</p>
<p>"What she had was a convincing story about herself, and excellent career experience (4-5 years) that demonstrated her readiness and her commitment. She also had a strong GMAT score. She had no "connections" and was not a "hotshot's son.""</p>
<p>Maybe she was also minority and an exception? Top 10? -ha, enjoy your career in middle management for Walmart/Target.</p>
<p>Back to the real world...for an MBA planning to go into finance its M7 (read M4), strong SA position and connections. </p>
<p>"About 20-25% of applicants do use admissions consultants. It's a growing "fad.""</p>
<p>Almost everyone I know trying to do Harvard/Wharton and then Wall st. take on consultants. And if you are a poor candidate you should do it for the bad schools too. period.</p>
<p>You have a bundle of misconceptions. It's just not true that: (a) everyone's aiming to study finance or work on Wall Street, (b) there are only 3 or 4 schools (or 7) from which an MBA gives you keys to an excellent (and lucrative) business career, (c) everyone uses a consultant, even for M4/M7.</p>
<p>What kool-aid have you been drinking? If you're such a true believer that you end up blindly following the herd to (un)employment at the next Lehman Bros., then may God help you.</p>
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Unless you are some hotshot's son or have a building on campus with your last name on it, you cannot get into these schools without perfect grades or someone's help. That is the reality, don't hate.
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<p>*** are you talking about? This only makes sense if the OP is coming straight from undergrad. Otherwise, you don't know what the hell you are talking about.</p>
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Top 10? -ha, enjoy your career in middle management for Walmart/Target.
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Unless you are some hotshot's son or have a building on campus with your last name on it, you cannot get into these schools without perfect grades or someone's help. That is the reality, don't hate.
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<p>I would agree with the other respondents to this in that it isn't remotely accurate.</p>
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Maybe she was also minority and an exception? Top 10? -ha, enjoy your career in middle management for Walmart/Target.</p>
<p>Back to the real world...for an MBA planning to go into finance its M7 (read M4), strong SA position and connections. </p>
<p>"About 20-25% of applicants do use admissions consultants. It's a growing "fad.""</p>
<p>Almost everyone I know trying to do Harvard/Wharton and then Wall st. take on consultants. And if you are a poor candidate you should do it for the bad schools too. period.
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<p>Unless my colleagues, friends and I were all extremely lucky, this is completely untrue and probably the most misleading and inaccurate statements I've ever seen on CC (and that's saying a lot). While I don't doubt that consultants can be helpful to some, NONE of the people I know who attended my MBA school or the other nine Top 10 schools used a consultant. Almost all of them are now working in IB, MC, IM, HF, PE (including the ones that didn't attend Harvard or Wharton). Have you ever looked at the class profiles of Kellogg, Tuck, UChicago, MIT, Columbia, UMichigan, Cal/Berkeley? None of these schools are noticeably better than any other one to me really, so I'm curious which one you actually deem to be head shoulders above the other six. </p>
<p>These schools are looking for discernably real people, not glossy applications. I do agree with the general sentiment on here that the essays probably matter more than anything else and a lot of luck is involved in the process and that a consultant could potentially optimize those components of the application.</p>