About Us —
Menlo Coaching

This is a high-stakes, one-shot opportunity to drastically change the course of a person’s career. Applicants shouldn’t have to settle for anything less than individualized, full-time, professional support.

David White, Founding Partner

What is Menlo Coaching? (and why “Menlo”?)

Menlo Coaching is an admissions consulting and test prep company. It was officially founded in 2012 by Alice Van Harten and David White in Menlo Park, California, before moving headquarters to Baarn, a small town in the Netherlands.

How did Menlo Coaching start?

Menlo Coaching has existed in some form since 2007 when Alice decided against pursuing a career in academia at the end of her postdoctoral contract with Stanford University. 

Instead, she transitioned into management consulting at Bain and Company, where some ambitious colleagues began asking her for advice on their business school applications. As more and more MBA hopefuls began to turn to Alice, she called in David to assist. 

Soon, they discovered a shared talent for coaching MBA applicants, and Menlo Coaching was born.

Today, Menlo Coaching stands around 30 employees strong, with a host of talented and dedicated admissions consultants, test prep instructors, and other team members collaborating to help you make the most of your application. 

Wondering if you’re behind for Round 1 2023?

Based on the data from our Applications Platform

Recommender icon

95% of our slots
are filled for R1 2023

GMAT icon

90% of our clients
have finished the GMAT

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53% of our clients
have finalized school selection

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38% of our clients
have started essay writing

What makes Menlo Coaching different?

Menlo Coaching differs from other admissions consulting companies both in the service it provides and the values it upholds.

Alice and David realized that applying for an MBA is a high-stakes, one-shot opportunity to drastically change the course of a person’s career. 

Understanding this, they found the admissions consulting landscape… bizarre.

They saw that many other companies hired admissions consultants on a part-time basis, took on more clients than they could feasibly help in any meaningful way, and were dishonest to clients about their prospects of acceptance to business school.

David often refers to an “Iron Triangle” in admissions consulting, where a client must suffer one of three burdens:

  1. High client to coach ratio
  2. Part-time admissions consultants
  3. High prices

Of the above, only charging a higher price doesn’t impact the coach’s ability to substantively help a client’s application process, so Menlo Coaching charges a higher price for an honest, thorough, and effective service we can stand behind.

What services do you offer?

Today, Menlo Coaching serves high school and college students, as well as young professionals pursuing their MBA and established executives targeting EMBA programs.

You can read an in-depth description of the comprehensive MBA admissions consulting service that made Menlo Coaching famous here.

We also offer:

For further information on any of the above, feel free to contact [email protected]

What kinds of clients do you take on?

At Menlo Coaching, we only take on clients with a reasonable chance of success in their applications and a willingness to work hard and collaboratively to put their best foot forward.

Let’s Start a Conversation.

Now that you know a little more about us, we’d love to hear from you.

Book a Call Today