Deferred MBA Admissions Experts

Good advice should not break your bank. And good advice should be unique. I help MBA applicants find the story that makes everything make sense. My specialty is connecting the dots — personally, professionally, and strategically — so your application reads as a coherent, compelling story rather than a collection of disconnected achievements. I am especially strong at helping applicants find their unique voice and differentiation. This is not a Mad Libs approach, and it is not a factory or template. I help you uncover the most powerful unifying storyline behind your life, career, decisions, ambitions, and future direction. Why this path? Why now? How does everything you have done so far logically lead to what you want to do next? What is the deeper pattern behind your experiences? What makes your candidacy feel not just impressive, but inevitable? Over the past 12 years, I have advised roughly 100 applicants, most targeting top 10 MBA programs. My coaching style is intense, direct, and highly detail-oriented. I am a perfectionist about narrative coherence. I push candidates to go beyond surface-level achievements, uncover the strongest themes in their background, clarify credible short- and long-term goals, and translate their experience into essays and interviews that feel specific, mature, and authentic. The final application should not sound manufactured; it should feel honest, distinctive, and unmistakably yours. I am particularly helpful for candidates with complex, international, technical, finance-heavy, startup, or non-linear backgrounds. If your story has many moving pieces, I can help you connect them into a compelling admissions narrative: where you have been, what shaped you, what you are building toward, and why an MBA is the right bridge. My background combines education from MIT Sloan MBA / undergrad at UPenn, international business experience across the U.S. and China, and years of advising students and professionals on applications, essays, interviews, and career positioning. I have worked across strategy, operations, venture capital, M&A, clean tech, and startup commercialization, which gives me a practical understanding of how ambitious candidates should frame their leadership potential, career goals, and personal differentiation.

As an IESE Business School and Imperial College London alumni (scoring in Top 10% of my classes, respectively), my MBA coaching journey began in 2020 after my experience at Harvard Business School’s Summer Venture in Management program, where I coached ambitious undergrads through their Deferred MBA Programs, securing admits from: MIT Sloan, Yale SOM, HBS 2+2, and Moelis Advance Access for Wharton. Since 2020, I have cultivated an MBA/MiM/Master coaching toolkit that encompasses: goals-first, logic-first, culture-fit first sense of executive and corporate storytelling for the M7 universities in the United States and for the top executive programs in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and greater-Asia. Now, I coach a selective clientele all over the world, with recent success stories involving international admits to UChicago Booth (with 60% scholarship), most notably. Over the past two years, I have learned the inner workings of every top program, helping a roster of 15+ (and counting) clients gain admission into their dream schools.

Student admissions reader at Kellogg and alumni interviewer. Have assisted 15+ students for admissions consulting over 4+ years with success at Kellogg, Columbia, Yale, Ross, Duke, Darden & LBS

I've been coaching candidates to help present the best possible version of themselves for deferred MBA applications. Applicants that I have coached have been admitted to Wharton, HBS, Columbia and more top programs.

I'm a Stanford MBA graduate and former management consultant, excited to help you prepare your best possible MBA application. After graduating from Ohio State University, I started my career at EY-Parthenon, first in Sydney, Australia, and then in New York full-time. During my time at EY-Parthenon, At Parthenon I specialized in the consumer products and retail sectors, and served on the firm's Americas strategy committee. As a candidate, I went from re-applicant to acceptances at Stanford GSB, HBS, Wharton, Columbia, and Darden (with a full cost of attendance Jefferson Fellowship). As a coach, I'm great for prospective applicants to the GSB and/or HBS. I can help fine-tune your story and brand, articulate your "Why" for an MBA at your desired school, explain a desired career pivot, and connect the dots between your professional and personal experiences. I have tangible exercises and frameworks for school selection, essay writing, resume building, interview prep, and waitlist strategy. As an applicant who started in a traditional "feeder" industry myself, I can help you stand out and craft a wholistic application. I recently went through the application process myself, and can help applicants of all types. Furthermore, I can provide first-hand perspective on the following: 1. Re-applicants 2. Applicants with degrees from state schools 3. Applicants coming from management consulting - helping you stand out 4. First-gen American applicants - helping bring your background and story to life 3. Fellowship applications (e.g., Jefferson Fellowship - Darden, Knight-Hennessy - Stanford GSB)

I am a 2021 Wharton graduate, with 2 years of professional MBA coaching experience. During my MBA, I coached 15+ MBA students with career guidance, resume critiques, and interview prep. I first encountered MBA coaching when I was applying to matriculate as an MBA in 2019. At that time, I realized how important an MBA coach could be, not only for the specialized toolset and knowledge base, but also for the encouragement during a high pressure application process. I am motivated to be that source of calm and focus during what can otherwise be a stressful application process. I am excited to dive into your background and help you uncover a narrative that will help you show you stand out to top MBA programs.

Stanford MBA; Harvard MPA

Welcome to my profile! I'm Joseph M. Kemp, JD, MBA, MSEd, the CEO & Founder of JMK & Co., a grad school admissions consultancy. A Little About Me: Ivy League Graduate JD & MBA Graduate from the #1 Public University in the Nation Master's in Education from the #1 Graduate School of Education in the Nation MBA & Master's Admissions at Carnegie Mellon University MBA Admissions Interviewer at the University of Michigan - Ross School of Business Awarded over $1.3 million in law school scholarships, awarded over $1.5 million in scholarships across the board BA & MBA fully covered 9+ Years as an Educator Fortune 500 Experience Big Tech Experience BigLaw Experience Worked with 100s of students 100s of interviews completed I have four degrees, including a BA, JD, MBA, and MS in Education. I graduated from CUNY, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania and have helped many students land prestigious internships and get into grad school. We have a 100% law school acceptance rate, however, we cannot guarantee acceptance.

MIT. INSEAD. Columbia. LBS. I'll be honest, a few years ago, I wasn't sure I had a shot at any of them. Not a banker. Not a consultant. I started out with internships in marketing, sales, and product during undergrad, then made a pivot into finance that most people told me wouldn't stick. I recently turned down a VC role to take a corporate finance position instead, because I'd rather make the unconventional call I believed in than take the one that looked better on paper. That patchwork: growing up in Lebanon, then studying/working in France, Singapore, the Middle East, and now Toronto isn't the background anyone would design on purpose. But it's the one I learned to own. And getting into 5+ programs taught me that a scattered story, told with intention, can be more compelling than a clean one told without it. I don't coach by handing you a formula. I work with you to figure out what's actually interesting about your path (even the parts that feel like liabilities) and build a strategy around that. If you've ever felt like your background doesn't fit the mold, that's usually exactly where I like to start.

Welcome to my profile! With a Bachelor's in History of Science & Computer Science from Harvard University and a deferred MBA offer from Harvard Business School, I bring a unique blend of analytical and strategic expertise to MBA coaching. My experience as a Strategy Consultant at Capital One and IBM has equipped me with the skills to guide clients through the complexities of MBA applications. Additionally, as a former President of the Harvard Black Students Association, I have honed my leadership and communication skills with university leadership, which I leverage to help my clients craft compelling narratives. Having coached more than 100 individuals, I am passionate about helping you achieve your MBA dreams. Let's work together to make your application stand outz!