Application Strategy and Review with Former Admissions Director
Wherever you are in the admissions process, we will review your current situation and build a clearer roadmap to crafting the best possible application you can submit. As a former admissions director (Stanford), I have seen that a great application is more than the sum of its parts, and assembling such an application is unique to everyone. Starting with the components that you can't change (e.g. past academic performance, work history, possibly test scores, etc.), we will outline a strategy to build a compelling narrative across your overall application, leveraging your Essays, LORs, Application Responses, your Resume, Supplemental Activities and Awards, and more. 1. First, we will review your profile in systematic detail. Don't hold anything back, because it's crucial to know all of the material that you have to work with, both in terms of positives and potential negatives. As a starting point, I will give you my read on these, as an educator and (especially) admissions professional, before we turn to planning ways to lay out your experiences and tell your story so it is credible, compelling and effective. 2. To do this, we discuss your overall narrative--why you are pursuing this path, what you have to offer, why this particular school or program. This has to come through consistently across your entire application (not just your essays), and how that is accomplished will vary from applicant to applicant. We look at how the preliminary components of your application may or may not already support the narrative, brainstorm what needs to be added, and determine which application components can be best developed to enhance the narrative, close gaps, and tie everything together. 3. We discuss how to leverage each of the following application components to best showcase your strengths and unique qualities: * Personal Essays: We will brainstorm on topics, themes, and approaches that can reinforce your overall narrative while adding depth and dimension to your application. * Letters of Recommendation: We will strategize about potential recommenders, and cover how to prepare them to get the best LORs, making sure that they are aligned with the overall narrative you are presenting. * Short Answer Questions: We will discuss how you can use the work history portion of the application, as well as other open ended fields to further highlight your intellectual and leadership strengths, rather than duplicating what is on your resume. * Activities and Awards: We will cover what to include and how to describe it. You will come away with clear and actionable recommendations for creating or refining each significant element of your application, in a way that coheres with your unique profile and personal narrative. For many clients, this may be enough guidance for them to complete their application process with greater confidence. For others, we may arrange additional reviews or coaching sessions, as needed, to ensure that you are fully prepared and supported through the application process. If I'm not best suited to what you need, I will help you identify additional support options that work best. 4. Last, once you have your draft application ready, I will conduct a review and provide feedback on opportunities to strengthen it.
What's included
On my end, I limit client engagements to assure each client receives my full attention and personalized guidance. When I get to know a client, I often become invested in their ongoing success, even if we only spend a few hours working together. I aim to respond to any client requests within 48 hours, or more quickly if deemed time sensitive. I try to agree upon any deliverables or expected outcomes for you (the client) and me (the coach) before, during, and following each live session. And while this is not a comprehensive application package, we can tailor additional coaching as an add-on if we determine it can further improve your materials for submission. My commitment is to only take clients when I believe I can legitimately help. Because I have extensive experience with admissions at Stanford, I expect most prospective applicants can benefit from some review and discussion regarding their candidacy. That said, to go deeper, I seek to work with individuals that are serious, disciplined and motivated to put in necessary effort. Our work will be more impactful if you are responsive to requests for information, organized, and open to feedback, and I commit to the same.
- Assessment/Review of your profile from an experienced Director of Admissions (Stanford GSB)
- One-on-one brainstorming to refine your personal narrative, aligned with your desired program/school
- Strategizing and individualized guidance on crafting compelling essays, LORs, and application open questions
- Review and detailed feedback on your current application materials
Meet your expert
Mike H.
Former Director of Programs and Admissions at Stanford GSB
Because I've been an educator (lecturer, coach, consultant, facilitator, program and admissions director) on the topic of leadership', I primarily think of myself as a student. I recognize great leadership takes many forms, and I believe leadership development starts with who you are, what you have to offer, and where you want to go, rather than an abstract idea of what a leader should look or sound like. As we said at the Stanford GSB, it begins not by asking, "what makes a great leader?," but by asking, "why would anybody follow me?" Keep this in mind when applying to school. Maybe there's an archetype of what the perfect applicant looks like, and there are obvious elements that strengthen any application, but the best schools want to recruit people of diverse backgrounds, talents, and perspectives. Rather than trying to fit a particular mold, show how much you would add to the overall mix--intellectually, socially, personally and professionally. In your application, you need to demonstrate why the faculty would value your unique input, why your classmates would learn from your unique experiences, and why the school would be uniquely proud to call you an alum. Having read many applications, I know that what most often stands out are the unexpected things, making an applicant memorable and authentic. Cookie cutter approaches rarely work. Half my career was spent at the Stanford GSB--first as an MBA student, later as Executive Director of the GSB's Center for Leadership Development and Research, and then Director of the Stanford MSx Program and Director of Admissions. I was brought in to the GSB to help oversee the launch of its MBA core leadership curriculum (Leadership Labs, Arbuckle Leadership Fellows, GSB Executive Challenge). Later, I helped revamp the Stanford MSx Program and oversaw admissions. Outside my academic and admissions work, I've had diverse roles: coached and facilitated leadership programs with community leaders and CEOs, worked as a strategy consultant, co-founded a microbrewery, served as a Peace Corps volunteer, been angel investor and advisor to startups. But while I've worn different hats, my approach to making an impact has generally been to help people with great potential to become better leaders. (...OK, maybe the microbrewery had different goals). My recent personal work is focused on the impact that AI is having on leaders, teams, and ...applicants. After writing a book, "Leading Teams in the Era of AI," I became fascinated with the learning and personal development processes that LLMs could support, and turned some of that learning on the admissions process. These experiments led to the launch of MBAI (mbai.app), a platform that uses agentic AI workflows to help MBA applicants develop richer narratives, focused goals, and stronger applications. Sign up and try out some of our tools for free.
