28,585Leland Reviews

I had a looming McKinsey interview date but absolutely no structure in my prep routine. Adam not only brought order to my chaos—he made me realize I'd been approaching the entire process backwards. Initially, he recommended a baseline practice case to pinpoint my strengths and weaknesses (I’d been hesitant because I was worried about flubbing it). Then Adam showed me how to set weekly targets, focusing first on building a robust case framework. He introduced me to a variety of real McKinsey scenarios and forced me to detail out my logical steps, ensuring I never lost track of the bigger picture. For personal fit questions, Adam helped me connect my past experiences to McKinsey’s core values. Whenever I felt overwhelmed, he reassured me with anecdotes from his own time in consulting, turning anxiety into excitement. We ran timed simulations that felt tougher than the actual interviews, but they paid off in spades. By the time I walked into the real thing, I felt confident, well-prepared, and surprisingly calm. After receiving my offer, I can honestly say Adam’s coaching gave me the structure, insight, and moral support I needed to succeed.

I’m a pretty good self-studier, but the GMAT quant section kept tripping me up. Adam’s in-depth approach changed that. He dissected my practice test performance, then devised a plan to target weaknesses in algebra and data analysis. Our sessions were surprisingly fun—he’d crack jokes yet keep me on track. I never felt judged for not knowing something. After a few weeks, my accuracy in those areas skyrocketed. Before long, I hit a score that put me in range for my dream MBA program. Couldn’t have done it without Adam’s spot-on guidance.

I’d taken the GMAT twice before, always hovering around a decent but not stellar score. I knew if I wanted an MBA acceptance at a top school, I had to up my game. Enter Adam: from the get-go, he sent me an outline of how we’d approach each topic, and then he asked me for a “reflection log” after each study session. It felt like I had a personal trainer, but for test prep! This process revealed that my real weakness wasn’t the content—it was test-day stamina. Adam introduced strategies for breaking down the test sections mentally, encouraging small breaks and quick mental resets in between. His approach also included analyzing my practice tests in a deeper way, pinpointing the exact question types where I guessed more often. We did targeted drills for those areas until I felt fully comfortable. His continuous positivity and can-do attitude created a huge morale boost. Test day came, and I maintained focus throughout, finally achieving the score I’d been chasing for months. No question, Adam’s coaching took me to the finish line.

I was receiving consulting interviews and was great at cases but always performed poorly at the behavioral questions. Alen showed me the best ways to structure my responses and provide insights into qualities and traits consulting firms are looking for in employees. I was able to greatly improve how I answered situational questions as well as "tell me about a time when..." questions, which came up a lot more than I expected.

Balancing the GMAT with my family commitments was turning me into a stressed mess. Adam was a lifesaver. From day one, he helped me break my workload into bite-sized pieces that fit around my schedule. He also introduced some creative tricks: for example, short “15-minute intervals” to tackle practice problems, which made studying feel less burdensome. He constantly reminded me that quality beats quantity, making sure I really understood solution methods instead of just cramming. When we did practice tests, he’d do a deep dive into my pacing, highlighting times I overthought questions. Adam’s friendly demeanor and genuine empathy reassured me that I wasn’t failing. Ultimately, I reached my target GMAT score and finally felt confident applying to top business schools.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever break the GMAT’s 700 barrier. Then I found Adam, who seemed to instantly understand both my strengths and my blind spots. He provided a targeted study plan that prioritized certain question types—like geometry in Quant and inference-based questions in Verbal—that were costing me the most points. His practice tests came with detailed debriefs, which helped me realize what I was doing right. Whenever I felt discouraged, Adam was quick with an uplifting story or a new strategy to try. Hitting 730 felt surreal, but it happened thanks to his personalized coaching and unwavering encouragement.

Despite having a solid quantitative background, I kept hitting a plateau on the GMAT’s tricky problem-solving questions. Adam’s approach was refreshingly analytical: he asked me to send a set of my missed questions, which he pored over to identify exact patterns in my errors. Then he walked me through alternative solution paths—sometimes faster, sometimes more intuitive—so I wouldn’t be stuck in a single method. We also tackled the Integrated Reasoning section, which I’d neglected. Adam convinced me it could be a differentiator for top business schools, and he was right. Beyond the raw numbers, Adam brought in his own business school insights, showing me how a strong GMAT score fits into the larger application strategy. His humor and genuine interest in my progress made me look forward to each coaching session. I’m now entering a top MBA program armed with a better score and more confidence.

My GMAT struggles were all about pacing. I’d run out of time on problem after problem, second-guessing every answer. Adam zeroed in on these issues and created drills that forced me to make decisions more swiftly and confidently. He had me practice with shorter time allowances than the actual exam—an intense method, but it worked wonders for my speed. He also taught me a structured approach for each question type, so I could quickly eliminate wrong choices. Along the way, Adam was incredibly supportive, checking in after each practice test to see how I felt emotionally and mentally, not just academically. That caring attitude kept me from burning out. I boosted my score by over 80 points and have already started my MBA applications with newfound optimism.

Test anxiety had always been my downfall, so when it came to the GMAT, I knew I needed help. Adam’s coaching went well beyond content review; he taught me psychological tricks to stay calm, like quick breathing exercises and goal visualization techniques before each timed section. We tackled Quant problem sets in a way that highlighted patterns I’d missed, and he insisted on daily mini-practices for Data Interpretation. As for Verbal, Adam introduced a color-coding method for reading comprehension passages that made them so much easier to digest. Each session left me feeling more in control. Even better, he encouraged me to celebrate small wins, which kept my confidence high. In the end, I smashed my target score and felt proud of every step along the way.

I had tried out a few coaches before meeting Alen, and none of them were as well articulated or driven as him. He understands key qualities that are sought after in applications and strives to ensure I can demonstrate them in my own where applicable. After every session, I felt myself gaining a better understanding of the process and being able to do more independently.