MBA Admissions

Welcome to my profile! As a Stanford GSB MBA graduate and former View From The Top Interviewer, I bring a wealth of experience and insights into the MBA admissions process. My diverse professional background includes roles at BCG, NFX, and Goldman Sachs, Farfetch as well as founding a successful direct-to-consumer clothing brand. This unique blend of finance, consulting, venture capital, and entrepreneurial experience allows me to provide comprehensive guidance on crafting standout applications. Whether you need help with application strategy, essays, or interview preparation, I'm here to help you succeed. Let's connect and work together to achieve your MBA goals!

I've helped over 1000 applicants from around the world get into Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, INSEAD, and every other top program you can name. I’m Ellin Lolis, founder of Ellin Lolis Consulting, a global MBA admissions firm with a 98.9% success rate. I’ve spent the last 10+ years guiding applicants with a proven, step-by-step methodology that simplifies the process and maximizes results. As a certified career coach and award-winning writer, my approach helps you craft a powerful personal brand, connect your story and values to each program, and submit applications that actually get you in. Clients often say I treat their application like my own. That’s because I do. I bring the same level of strategic precision and emotional support to every engagement, pushing you to deliver your best work while helping you stay grounded and confident along the way. I've collaborated with a range of different clients from every continent, including clients with low GMAT scores, 40+, traditional IB/MBB applicants, and even non-traditional applicants like nuclear scientists and sports journalists. For each, I helped them find their unique voice that helped them stand out in the crowded admissions space. If you’re aiming high and want a coach with the track record, tools, and heart to get you there, I’d love to work with you.

I’m an HBS MBA (graduated with Distinction) who "swept" the top business schools: I earned admission to Stanford GSB, Wharton (Howard E. Mitchell Fellow), Columbia (Full Tuition), Yale SOM (Full Tuition), Berkeley Haas, and Harvard. I know exactly how to turn a "non-traditional" background into a winning offer. Before HBS, I was a CPA and consultant—not a typical feeder for private equity. Yet, through rigorous positioning and storytelling, I leveraged my MBA to pivot directly into Growth Equity at Summit Partners. I’ve since been featured in Poets & Quants and selected as an inaugural HBS RISE Fellow. My coaching is built on that same level of execution. I have coached 100+ applicants to define their edge, specifically helping career switchers and first-generation candidates punch above their weight class. I don’t just edit essays; I help you build a narrative that connects your personal story (resilience, identity, overcoming adversity) to your professional goals. What to expect: Direct, high-touch partnership. We will clarify your "why," sharpen your resume line-by-line, and build an interview strategy that is authentic and confident. If you want a coach who will push you to present the strongest, most ambitious version of your story, let’s get to work!

I’m the Founder and Managing Partner of Zeus Global, a technology-focused private equity firm, and a Stanford GSB MBA. Before launching Zeus, I built a non-traditional career across engineering, energy, infrastructure, investing, and entrepreneurship, with experience at Schlumberger, GE, ExxonMobil, Africa Finance Corporation, and LeapFrog Investments. That path gives me a strong perspective on helping ambitious candidates translate complex or unconventional backgrounds into a clear, compelling MBA story. As a coach, I focus on the parts of the application that require the most judgment: defining what truly drives you, connecting your experiences into a coherent narrative, sharpening your career vision, and ensuring your essays, résumé, recommendations, and interviews reinforce the same story. I am particularly well suited to Stanford GSB candidates and applicants from investing, engineering, energy, technology, entrepreneurial, or other non-traditional backgrounds who may have strong credentials but need help revealing the person behind the résumé.

Stanford MBA; Harvard MPA

More than any credential, what you should know about me is that I get it. This is a crazy process that's become hyper competitive, and standing out feels like an impossible task. I grew up in a small town, didn't go to the prestigious college, and didn't know any "insiders." I have a belief in myself and the skills I've developed through trying a bunch of things and failing a lot. I want to share these skills (and my belief in you). That being said, here are some credentials if that's your thing: • Stanford GSB MBA Candidate – Class of 2027 • Coaching | Case prepped and mentored 30+ undergraduate and MBA students • Bain | Worked for Bain & Co. before school, focusing on retail and consumer case work • Startup | Grew wholesale for a men’s athleisure brand from $0 to $4M • Resumes | Edited 50+ resumes in undergrad and reviewed 200+ resumes as Bain recruiting lead • Speech & Writing | Wrote and delivered commencement speech for Miami University Farmer School of Business graduation ceremony • Interview Training | Trained as Bain interviewer to score case interviews and behavioral questions • GMAT / Test-taking | Scored in highest percentile of GMAT test-takers

I applied to Stanford GSB and Oxford from Turkey, with a path that didn't fit any template: government work in Rwanda and Ethiopia and early-stage venture in Turkey. I got into both on scholarships. What worked wasn't a polished résumé. It was knowing which story to tell and how to tell it to a reader who has three minutes and a stack of three hundred. That's what I help with. For years friends have sent me their essays and asked me to run mock interviews, and I've spent hundreds of hours reading drafts, finding the thread, cutting what doesn't matter. Most of them got in. I'm now doing it properly, with a small number of applicants each cycle. I'm especially good with international candidates, because I was one: the questions about how much to explain, how to frame a non-Western path, how to sound like yourself in a second language. I'm direct and you'll hear what's working and what isn't from me. If you have a draft, or a blank page and a deadline, send me a message.

Admissions officer at Stanford GSB for five years, reviewing over 10,000 applications, conducting information sessions, and helping with strategy. I also initiated and launched the first outreach conference recruiting female applicants to the GSB. After leaving Stanford, I ran a couple of nonprofits, then returned to the admissions world as a consultant in 2014. Though I have worked with applicants to a variety of business-related programs, I focus on the MBA because I bring the most value. I love working with clients as they go through the process, seeing them gain confidence in their own voice and producing applications that reflect their motivations and values. Although most of my clients are applying to the M7, I'm happy to offer guidance to those considering other schools, including programs outside the United States such as LBS, Oxford Said, Cambridge Judge, and INSEAD.

My clients have gotten into top business schools such as Harvard (HBS), Berkeley (Haas), and MIT (Sloan). I am a Stanford GSB graduate and was accepted to every business school I applied to. I'm a former engineer turned PM; so I understand the non-traditional applicant's path.

I got into both Stanford GSB and Harvard Business School with a profile that didn't fit the standard mold: an international upbringing, a non-linear career, and no obvious "hook" on paper. What got me in was learning how to tell a coherent, honest story about who I am and where I'm going. That process, figuring out how to position yourself authentically, is exactly what I help clients work through. Since business school, I've informally coached multiple candidates through the MBA application process, several of whom have been admitted to top programs. I focus on the things that actually move the needle: sharpening your "why MBA, why now" narrative, making your essays specific enough to be memorable, and helping you figure out what's genuinely distinctive about your path (even if it doesn't feel that way to you yet). If you've been staring at a blank essay doc wondering how to make your story land, that's exactly where I do my best work.