Featured Testimonial #3 (CMU Tepper Admit, Cornell Johnson/Michigan Ross interview invites)
“Congratulations on being admitted to the Tepper School of Business, and we are also delighted to inform you that you have been selected as a recipient of an MBA Merit Scholarship” After seeing this message in my Gmail inbox, I literally jumped out of my chair, and danced like a football player who just scored a touchdown. Finally I got it! I am a re-applicant, and trust me, it is painful to go through the whole admissions process the second time. Double the work, double the pressure, and double the doubt. Earlier this year, I thought I had put together 3 fairly solid applications, but was waitlisted by two top programs, one in California and one in France. Being on the waitlist felt like losing at the Super Bowl. I was dejected and disappointed, and didn’t know how to channel the frustration. On top of that, I received the news in February, which in my city means weeks of cloudy weather and rain!
Enter Bryan for the rescue. In the corporate world, there are Turnaround CEOs; in the MBA admissions consulting world, there are Turnaround Consultants, like Bryan.
I found Bryan through his website, which I had used previously for formulating my essays. When I spoke with Bryan, I immediately jived with him – unpretentious, funny, and yet incredibly insightful. He recognized the critical gaps in my applications, and made actionable suggestions on what I can do while being waitlisted.
After only one meeting, I knew I wanted to work with Bryan, and went for the full service package. I told myself: “This time, I am going all in like the Allies landing on Normandy, and Bryan is who I want to have on board with me.” Looking back, this was one of the best decisions I made in the past year.
When he said being flexible, Bryan really meant it. We took a two pronged approach by working on my waitlist letters, as well as new applications for this Fall. He even hosted me to a nice brunch when I went down to California to visit one of the waitlisted schools. Ultimately, it didn’t work out with those two schools, and Bryan then consoled me “No worries. Let’s focus on the next steps.”
Like how Ira Glass (One of the most renowned US public radio personalities) would interview someone for an episode of “This American Life”, Bryan patiently drew out the unique points in my profile that I had never realized through our weekly meetings. Then, he guided me through his time tested application preparation approach, which is to clearly articulate the career goal first, then find the schools that fit my goal, rather than the other way around. In addition, his personal style just made the process so much more enjoyable, that in the end I actually truly loved writing my essays. Finally, we submitted 5 apps in record time, thanks to his razor sharp editing skills. So far I am 1 for 1, with scholarship too. (Note: my client has now been invited for two more interviews.)
Looking back, the key differentiator this time is that Bryan helped me to find, refine, and focus on the things that truly mattered in this application process: my personal qualities, well thought out career goal, and fit with the schools, rather than on the superficial and blinding attributes such as rankings or statistics.
If you are applying or thinking of applying to business schools, do yourself a favour and work with Bryan. You will not only get the results you want, but I can guarantee that you will also develop as a person too.