MBA Admissions

I know how stressful and overwhelming the MBA application process can be. I'm here to help you set your application strategy, craft your story, perfect your essays, and prepare for interviews! I was accepted into four of the top 5 MBA programs: Harvard Business School, Wharton, Booth, and Kellogg. I received a full ride merit scholarship and partial ride merit scholarships from other schools. I want you to have the same optionality on acceptances and financing for your MBA process. As the Co-President of the HBS Women's Student Organization, I bring a wealth of experience and insights from working closely with the admissions team. Let's make your dream a reality!

Welcome to my profile! As an expert admissions coach, I specialize in helping individuals with non-traditional backgrounds craft compelling narratives for top MBA programs. With an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School, I bring a unique perspective to the application process. My clients have successfully gained admission to prestigious institutions such as HBS, MIT Sloan, Tuck, Stanford, and Wharton. I focus on a holistic approach, ensuring that every part of your application tells your authentic story, particularly addressing the critical "Why MBA" and "Why Now" questions. Having coached over 30 clients, I am passionate about helping you unpack your personal story and achieve your dream of attending a top business school. Reach out to start your journey today!

Hi! I'm a Harvard MBA graduate and received admission through the deferred admit / 2+2 program (with a GMAT of 760). I've had a diverse set of work experiences both before HBS (venture capital, social activism, government) and since (Goldman Sachs, The Economist, and now transitioning into creative work / poetry). I love coaching people and particularly enjoy helping international students, and students from unconventional or underrepresented backgrounds. Funnily I've also had a lot of experience getting rejected from places (across sectors and regions!) - which has taught me a lot about what works, and what doesn't -- and how to stay sane through it all :)

Tatiana Bouri is a first-year MBA student at Stanford GSB, where she was admitted as a Consortium Fellow and Forté Fellow. She was also granted admission to Kellogg, Booth, Columbia, and Haas. Before business school, Tatiana spent three years at BCG working across healthcare, public sector, and social impact, before pivoting to Maven Clinic where she led go-to-market and payer growth strategy. Her experience spanning strategy consulting, high-growth startups, and now Stanford GSB gives her a well-rounded perspective on what top programs are looking for and how to help candidates get there. Whether you're building your school list, shaping your narrative, or tackling essays, Tatiana will help you cut through the noise and present the most powerful version of yourself.

I'm a London Business School alumnus and interviewer who started A1 MBA Consultants (A1mba.com). I have helped 120+ students, including ex-Formula 1 Race Driver Nicholas Latifi, get into their dream MBA program at schools such as HBS, Stanford GSB, Columbia, Wharton, Kellogg, London Business School, INSEAD, Oxford, Cambridge, and many more. I adopt a comprehensive and much more hands-on approach than your typical consultant, leveraging my insights into what adcoms want that I gained from being an interviewer. Partner with me and I will work to make your business school application journey a successful one.

I have advised 100+ applicants pursuing MBA and/or MPP applications to top institutions, helping applications secure admissions and a combined $500,000+ in scholarship money. Yes, that's over 10 candidates a year, with most of them receiving some form of financial aid! I will help you ethically secure scholarship funding where possible post-admissions (I.e., only after you've decided which school you'd like to attend!).

Welcome to my profile! I'm John, a seasoned MBA admissions coach with over 17 years of experience helping clients gain admission to top 7 business schools. With a rich background in global brand management at companies like Procter & Gamble, Brinker International and Yum! Brands, I bring strategic marketing insights to craft compelling and unique narratives for each applicant. My multicultural upbringing and fluency in English, Spanish, and Arabic allow me to connect deeply with clients from diverse backgrounds, ensuring a personalized coaching approach. Let's work together to differentiate your application and make your story stand out to admissions committees including, but not limited to the following MBA Programs: Kellogg Harvard Stanford Booth MIT Sloan Wharton INSEAD Fuqua Haas McCombs UNC Kenan-Flager UCLA Anderson I look forward to working together and crafting your story to get you in your dream MBA program!

Since joining Leland, I've coached military applicants into Harvard (2x), Stanford (2x), Columbia, LBS, Duke, and UVA (the last two with scholarships). That includes one Army applicant with a 3.2 GPA and below-average GRE who earned dual admission to Harvard and Stanford. Prior to Leland, I mentored dozens of transitioning veterans into every M7 school. I know the challenges of applying while still in the military because I did it. I was admitted to Stanford, MIT, and Berkeley while on deployment, doing networking calls on a NIPR phone and submitting applications over satellite comms. If you work with me, you won't need to explain to your coach the difference between enlisted and officer, what a TS/SCI is, or what it means to ETS. I support applicants through every stage of the process: school selection, test prep, essays, and interviews. Most importantly, I'll help you translate your military experience into language that resonates with admissions committees and build a clear, compelling post-MBA narrative.

Applied to M7 business schools and graduated from MIT Sloan in 2022. As a person who came from a non-business background and was looking to come to b-school as a career pivot, I can help with anything related to career transition, picking the best school, telling your story, and the end-to-end application process. As someone who has gone through the application process and has worked with admissions, I can help you identify the most compelling aspects of your story to land the b-school you want!

[Currently, we are offering special discounted pricing in celebration of my company’s 25th year and my 30+ years of work as a coach. Enjoy the discounted pricing!] For over 30 years, I have served as a coach and consultant, helping over 1100 MBA and Executive MBA applicants develop their skills, accelerate their careers, and gain admission to top business schools to bring their admirable career visions to fruition. People often ask why I price much lower than other coaches. The answer: access. I strive to ensure that a broad range of applicants can benefit from outstanding consulting, and my company's motto is "Excellence at an Affordable Price." This approach has brought amazing fruit. It has been my honor over the years to help leaders equip themselves to impact the world--from a penniless doctor who attended Harvard Business School, became a billionaire, and is now disrupting the pharma industry, to the entrepreneurs who have scaled their microfinance companies and expanded their private equity firms to support high-impact projects globally. My clients have been admitted to top business schools, which include all the best schools in the United States and Europe/Britain--Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, Columbia, Kellogg, Booth, Yale, Cornell, Tuck, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Duke, Darden, NYU, Oxford, Cambridge, INSEAD, LBS, HEC, IESE, and the list goes on! Very importantly, I strive to help make applications "scholarship-worthy," and many of my clients have earned substantial scholarships, including full-ride scholarships to Stanford Business School, Fulbright Scholarships, Rhodes Scholarships, top EMBA scholarships, the MIT President's Scholarship, Forte Scholarships, and full-ride Consortium scholarships. My clients have come from over 83 countries on six continents—from the USA to India, China, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Spain, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa, among many others. My clients have also hailed from varied entities—from multi-billion-dollar market-leading companies to unicorns, scaling entrepreneurial ventures, and pre-revenue organizations. I worked in a Harvard admissions office, in Stanford's Office of the President, as a Harvard alumni recruiter, and as Co-Leader of the Harvard Undergraduate Admissions Council. I graduated from Harvard College and Oxford University (master's and doctoral degrees). Throughout my academic journey, I earned awards for academic excellence, including the John Harvard Scholarship, and over $400,000 in other scholarships, including the Fulbright Scholarship. I leverage all this expertise to empower people to achieve their dreams. I am excellent at helping candidates with flaws in their profiles overcome their weaknesses and gain admission to schools where they otherwise may not have been accepted. If you want personalized guidance and proven strategies for submitting an outstanding application, I'm here to aid you. Please reach out to discuss how I can support you in achieving your goals.