Michelle Shen
UPenn Alumni | Stanford MBA | College Admissions Expert
3,366 min coached
174 followers
Studied at Stanford Graduate School of Business
Works at Headway
Successful clients at
Available Thursday
Starting at 2:00 AM UTC
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
Michelle's Offerings
Custom hourly · $95/hr
Get help with Application Strategy, Editing, and .
Michelle’s College Qualifications
Michelle has helped clients get into these schools:
I've cracked the admissions code twice (once for undergrad, once for MBA) and spent 5+ years as an undergraduate admissions interviewer for UPenn, giving me rare insight from both sides of the process. I specialize in essay crafting that gets remembered, transforming activities into compelling leadership narratives, and building strategic school lists (including across both early + regular cycles) that maximize your chances.
Michelle can help with:
Application Strategy
Editing
Essays
General Exploration
Interviews
Recommendations
Resume
School Selection
Testing & Assessments
Michelle also coaches for MBA, Business Operations & Strategy, and Build with AI. View all.
About Michelle
I didn’t look like a typical MBA candidate on paper. I studied neuroscience at Penn, started my career in life sciences consulting, and bounced across mental health and life sciences before earning my MBA at Stanford. These days, I work in tech and spend a lot of my time experimenting with AI, i.e., testing new tools, building workflows, and figuring out what’s actually useful vs. hype. I know firsthand how hard it can be to turn a nonlinear career into a clear, compelling story because I had to do it myself. Now, I share what I’ve learned to help others do the same: whether you’re applying to business school, figuring out your next career move, or just trying to figure out (like the rest of us) how AI can actually be useful in your everyday life.
Why do I coach?
I coach because I know what it feels like to stare at MBA application prompts and wonder if your story is "business school material." When I was applying, I remember questioning whether my neuroscience research, my pivot through consulting, or my startup experience would translate into a compelling narrative for admissions committees. I felt like I was speaking a different language than the finance and consulting candidates who seemed to have clearer paths. Now, as someone who successfully made that transition, I'm passionate about helping other candidates discover their own compelling narratives. There's something incredibly rewarding about watching someone realize that their "different" background is actually their competitive advantage. I coach because I want to be the guide I wish I'd had - someone who understands the unique challenges of translating their story into business school gold.
Work Experience
Commercial Strategy
Headway
2025 - Present
Chief of Staff to CEO
Willow
June 2024 - August 2024
Senior Consultant
Guidehouse
2020 - 2023
Interviewer
Education
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Master of Business Administration - MBA
2023 - 2025
University of Pennsylvania
Bachelor of Arts (BA), Biological Basis of Behavior (Neuroscience), Magna Cum Laude
2015 - 2019
Michelle was also personally admitted to
Columbia Business School
Yale School of Management
Haas School of Business (Berkeley)
7 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
Knowledge
5.0
Value
5.0
Responsiveness
5.0
Supportiveness
5.0
Michelle has helped clients get into these schools: