HSW Admit. Very glad I worked with Alice!

My recommendation is that you follow the link to their website, fill out the application form, and then do a consultation call with Alice or one of her colleagues at Menlo Coaching. If you’re considering working with an MBA admissions coach, you should do multiple consultation calls with different coaches/consultants and compare how you feel about each call/coach. I called a couple of MBA admissions coaches including some of the ones frequently mentioned on P&Q, and decided to work with Menlo Coaching for two reasons. The first and more material reason was that they made a convincing argument that their lower client-to-coach ratio meant that someone would be “holding my hand” throughout the entire admissions process to a greater degree than would be possible with other admissions coaching/consulting firms. The second reason had more to do with my ‘gut’ feeling: I felt that their candor, and the thoughtfulness and realism of their analysis of my near-term career options on this (free) call differentiated them from the other initial consultation calls I’d done. I worked with Alice and the Menlo Coaching team throughout my admissions process, from getting my GMAT score up and then brainstorming target schools, all the way through to scholarship ‘negotiations’ post-offer. Menlo’s team includes many specialists in different areas, but Alice was my primary coach and point-of-contact throughout the whole admissions process. I did participate in Menlo’s “Early Birds” program, so I was working with Alice from almost a year before my target R1 window. This was very helpful, because my pre-MBA background was US military and very few of my colleagues/mentors had in-depth knowledge of MBA admissions. As such, I benefited immensely from using Menlo to build detailed knowledge of MBA programs & admissions long in advance of getting into the weeds of applying. I did this largely through studying Menlo’s extensive database of research on each school, watching their videos which walk clients through each step of the process (explaining the “purpose/intent” behind each step), through talking with Alice and her colleague David White, and through connecting with multiple former Menlo clients whose backgrounds made them knowledgeable about areas where I needed more context. Ultimately, I applied to five T10 MBA programs, got offers from three programs, one “HSW”, one M7 and one T10. I’m extremely happy with this result, and I feel like working with Alice significantly increased the “return” I got on my efforts throughout my admissions process. Over the course of about a year, I met and spoke with many other applicants during campus visits, info sessions, and interview days. Talking to these other applicants, I came to appreciate some of the ways that Alice/Menlo’s method was giving me a persistent advantage throughout the process. Firstly, my entire application process was very structured. Alice and her team have developed a very logical sequence for all of the things you’ll need to do well in order to maximize your admissions odds, which they will then tailor to your unique situation. This means you’ll waste little time stressing about *what* you should be focusing on *when*, and will be instead work your way through a thoughtfully sequenced plan. It’s nice to not have to worry about the “big picture” as you work though the weeds of writing and editing. Also, their web platform is great and will keep everything organized, which especially pays off in managing document control as you and Alice (or another Menlo editor) get deep into editing. Second, Alice and her team at Menlo are amazing at guiding you through the writing and editing process. As you write your essays, work with recommenders, and prep for interviews, you’ll need to identify the elements of your personal and professional life that will tell a compelling story which addresses two questions- “who are you”, and “how will you add value to the program’s portfolio of current students and alumni”. Alice and the Menlo team take a very systematic approach to identifying these elements and guiding you through weaving them into a compelling story. I think one reason they excel here is that Alice and the editing team at Menlo have experience in English-language literature writing at an extremely high academic level, meaning that they are super-knowledgeable about the iterative process of creating effective writing. It was very effort-intensive on my part, but I was never left feeling confused/frustrated or unsure of what I should be writing/editing/re-writing throughout this (long) process. In the end, I submitted essays that told my unusual story very effectively, and convincingly made the case for my admission. Lastly, Alice and her team will connect you with the right third-party resources at the right time. There are an abundance of resources for GMAT score improvement, interview prep, etc. But the effort of discerning *whom* to work with, and figuring out how to effectively sequence those engagements into the timeline of my personal admissions process (without adversely affecting other key steps), would have been a headache. Again, Alice and Menlo excelled here. In summary, throughout my work with Alice and Menlo coaching, I consistently felt like I had the correct tool in my hands at the correct time, and clear instructions for what I should be doing in each phase, that fit into a broader timeline of steps that made sense to me. I was quickly connected with easy-to understand knowledge resources that gave me sufficiently detailed contextual information to perform each step of the admissions process as effectively as possible. It was still a stressful and suspenseful experience; I don’t think anything could make MBA the admissions process stress-free or suspense-free. However, after the first month of working with Alice, I was never in doubt that I’d achieve a satisfactory admissions outcome- it was always more a question of whether I’d achieve a good outcome or a great outcome.