
Karla M.
30,887 min coaching
150+ M7 Admits | AdCom-Trained Strategist | Leland Top Coach ('23 & '24)
With over a decade of experience, I’ve helped candidates break into the world’s most competitive MBA and master’s programs, consistently delivering results across applicant types and industries. My unique qualifications include:
◉ Leland Top Coach in both 2023 and 2024 (since rankings began), with reviews attesting to strategic, high-touch coaching
◉ 150+ M7 admits and tens of millions in scholarship funding secured across MBA, MPP, and master’s programs
◉ Proven success with traditional (consulting, banking), deferred, joint-degree, international, and non-traditional candidates
◉ At Harvard Kennedy School, collaborated directly with the head of Admissions to revamp evaluation processes and led formal knowledge-sharing with M7 MBA programs (e.g., HBS, Wharton, Booth) to align HKS selection standards with leading graduate admissions practices
With deep insight into how top programs evaluate applicants, I specialize in translating resumes into compelling narratives that highlight leadership, trajectory, and potential. Some big wins include helping an individual with a 3.2 GPA and 145 (Quant GRE) / 158 (Verbal GRE) secure admission to a top 5 MBA with 60% tuition scholarship and negotiating another candidate's M7 waitlist offer to admission with 100% tuition funding. Given my client-facing experience, I am extremely responsive and usually take no more than 24 hours to turn around materials.
I am especially helpful to:
◉ applicants from established pre-MBA careers (e.g., consulting, banking) hoping to differentiate themselves in a crowded field
◉ international applicants looking for guidance on the U.S.-specific nuances for MBAs
◉ non-traditional candidates without cookie-cutter GPAs or test scores looking to highlight strengths in other areas
◉ deferred candidates looking to show their future *potential* through storytelling
◉ candidates seeking scholarship funding
◉ underrepresented minorities, especially LGBTQ+ / BIPOC applicants, who want to work with someone with a shared lived experience
◉ joint / concurrent degree applicants
◉ candidates who want to make a great impression during interviews. I take special pride in one of my interviewers saying I was the best-prepared applicant he had seen in 10 years :)
◉ waitlisted or rejected applicants who want to make a compelling case for their candidacy through informal channels

Studied at Harvard University