28,920Leland Reviews

Working without professional guidance, I went 0/5 on my round 1 applications last year. I was clearly doing something wrong and needed help. I have an unconventional background and I simply wasn't telling my own story effectively. I contacted six consulting companies and cannot believe how lucky I was to be paired with Andy. He helped me to understand why certain anecdotes or stories would be ineffective--or worse, potentially detrimental --to my application. The most valuable aspect of our partnership was Andy's ability--based on his vast experience critiquing countless essays--to tell me when the angle I was pursuing simply wasn't working. When that happened, I'd come back the next day with another idea, and he'd explain why that didn't work either and we would work through it together. Eventually, I was able to produce something that really clicked. We both knew when It hit it. Whenever I sent Andy a draft, his turnaround was crazy fast. He has a gift for intuitively understanding what I was striving to accomplish, and clearly providing ideas around better ways to do it. And yet, Andy is somehow capable of delivering his critiques in a good-natured, positive way. In the end, I gained admission to Chicago, Tepper, Columbia, and NYU. After my shutout from round 1, I'm not just relieved, I'm thrilled!

The MBA application process - with the help of my excellent consultant Andy Pelletier - was incredibly revealing and rewarding in terms of self-discovery - regardless of the school I ended up choosing. With Andy's probing, pushing, and constructive criticizing, I learned so much about myself and the person I want to become - which not only helps me personally define my goals and a pathway to get there, but also helped immensely with crafting my applications. Andy was attentive and timely. He responded to my drafts very quickly. His advice was effective & efficient - he always started high level with what messages/themes are most valuable to get across to AdCom, then dove deeper to help me organize my thoughts around that central message. I am on the young end of the MBA spectrum, so I wasn't really sure if an acceptance anywhere this year was feasible (I was half expecting to have to reapply next year). Clearly Andy's help worked, as I got into Berkeley Haas (one of my top choices!!) and received a $100k Forte Fellowship to Cornell Johnson! I am also on the waitlist at MIT Sloan, and Andy quickly and thoroughly helped me craft a campaign to improve my chances of getting in off the waitlist. Andy legitimately wants you to succeed. I would definitely recommend working with Andy Pelletier on your MBA admissions applications!

Before meeting with Nirmal, I had self studied for about 3- 4months. I went through all the usual guides (Manhattan, Kaplan, Official Guides) and had taken upwards of 8 practice tests. While my practice scores improved over time, I didn't have a great understanding of why I was doing the things I was doing. As a result, when faced with the stress of the actual exam, I underperformed badly and scored a 580. Nirmal helped me clearly think through what I was really looking for, and how to best approach getting there. He never forced the application of a specific method or formula, but rather, guided my thought process around what I was trying to accomplish on each question. This was a breakthrough for me that allowed me to relax and stop rushing through questions blindly hoping to find an answer that made sense. Prior to working together, I hated exponents and always hoped to avoid them on the test. After working on that area with Nirmal, and going through his worksheets that he created, exponents became my favorite problem type and his material and teaching really helped me master that area. Nirmal was very invested in my score and was extremely flexible working around my sometimes hectic schedule. He makes himself readily accessible and is a tremendous resource for anyone who is serious above improving their GMAT score. He is also developing his own GMAT material which was extremely helpful for me to use.

I saw Nirmal for about 2 months, and thanks to him, will be attending the Simmons School of Management in September. While I am not sure of what my starting score was for the GREs, I am sure that I wouldn't have done as well as I did without Nirmal. He was very good at meeting me where I was at in terms of what I knew and didn't know and was willing to start from the beginning with me. Not only did he help to reorient me with terms and ideas that I learned in high school, he also helped teach me time saving tricks and techniques that were extremely useful. I have already recommended him to my co-worker and will continue to do so for anyone else planning on taking the GREs or GMAT. Nirmal is a really great, energizing, enthusiastic and extremely helpful tutor and teacher!

If it wasn’t for Pamela, I would never have gotten into my dream school – Said Business School, Oxford! Based on my experience, I want to highlight the following aspects. First is the efficiency and structured approach. When I started the application, I had already missed the first two rounds and the time was very tight. I really needed to work with someone closely and efficiently. At the very beginning, I was worried about whether this was going to work as we lived in different time zones and wouldn’t be practical to meet frequently. However, after a few round interactions, I was convinced that I was in good hands: in the first couple sessions, we spoke over Skype and laid down the foundation rules of how we would work together, and then followed by the structured emails which I found was actually a very effective tool for the communication and coaching. In the whole process, I couldn’t feel any lack of responsiveness and any other kind of latency. This was very impressive! Second is the rich content and helping you get to know yourself. Unlike other consultants, Pamela really focuses on who you are and how you should be yourself and tell your stories. One exercise in her rules was to dig and collect all my attributes and experience no matter how big or small. The benefits are twofold: 1) I got to review my career and my life in the past and get a better understanding of myself. This part also contributed to my interview preparation at a later stage. 2) Depending on the essay topics, I had plenty of options to put down for the response, as people say “a beard well lathered is half shaved”. Last but not least is the mock interview and tips. I really appreciated that Pamela went through the whole process with me, not only in preparing the applications, but also in the interview process. After knowing I had been selected for the interview, I was ecstatic but on the other hand nervous. Thankfully Pamela helped me go through the preparation and gave me a mock interview, which I found was very useful, and finally got accepted! In hindsight, I felt all the steps we went through were well planned and coherent, and there was no redundant or wasted work. For anyone who is looking for a high quality and reliable service, I highly recommend Pamela’s consultation!

Ella coached me as I prepared to apply to BYU’s Marriott School of Business. We worked a lot on updating my resume and she helped me take my resume to the next level. She gave constructive feedback on what I already had but also gave great insights into how I could improve my resume. Ellas’s help benefited me not only from getting into the school I applied to, but in recruiting for future jobs and helping me understand how to create and use a powerful resume. She was a pleasure to work with and created an environment where we could collaborate and I felt comfortable sharing my concerns.

l can’t say enough good things about my experience working with Ella Hess on my BYU application essays. She read them thoroughly then gave me thoughtful, clear feedback, offering suggestions I hadn’t previously considered. Her coaching helped me improve my writing while keeping my voice authentic. I was much more confident when submitting my applications thanks to her coaching. Highly recommend!