It’s been over 20 years since Joy Pincus first started working in business school admissions, and in that time, she’s seen the MBA landscape change drastically. But one thing has remained constant: the amazing caliber of students she gets to work with on a daily basis. Joy is proud to have met so many dedicated, innovative, and goal-oriented people throughout her tenure, and every year, she feels grateful for the chance to share a pivotal moment in her clients’ lives, helping them to take a crucial step towards realizing their dreams.
Learn more about Joy and her approach to MBA application consulting!
With so much riding on business school applications, it’s important to have an experienced and invested consultant by your side. That’s why Joy sees herself as more than just a service provider: She is a true partner throughout the entire process. Understanding the challenges and pitfalls of MBA admissions, as well as the fears and anxiety it can evoke, Joy works tirelessly to help her clients successfully navigate the process.
Acceptance or rejection to an MBA program often comes down to one’s ability to differentiate oneself, and that’s where Joy’s sense of creativity and flair come into play. Joy works in a holistic manner, leveraging her experience as a professional journalist and award-winning creative writer to identify what is truly important in each client’s life story, and then coaching them to express their truth in a way that will captivate the reader. In helping clients to identify, shape, and hone their very best stories, she often reveals a thematic narrative thread that even her clients were not aware ran through their lives.
As a seasoned marketing writer, Joy has helped scores of businesses—from startups to established global corporations, across myriad industries—to hone and deliver their key messages to a targeted audience.
“There is a strong parallel between a person working on their MBA application and a company developing its profile. Each is looking to capture the reader by sharing their unique story, and to show that they are a perfect fit for the reader’s needs. My job is to help them first identify their story and then find the most engaging way to express it.”
Joy doesn’t only work with full-time MBA applicants; her clients have gained acceptance to a wide range of Executive MBA (EMBA) and other programs including MPP, MPA, JD, and MiM, as well as MAs in Journalism, Architecture, Business Analytics, Medical Residency, and more. She also specializes in dual-degree programs, such as Columbia’s MBA/JD, Harvard’s MBA/MPP, Kellogg’s MMM and MIT Sloan’s LGO.
The most important element of a successful interview is to feel comfortable, confident, and engaged in what you’re saying, and Joy helps her clients to locate themselves within their stories and communicate their message in a simple, direct, and captivating way.
With an undergraduate degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Joy has learned the mechanics of narrative delivery and non-verbal communication, and this experience has been a tremendous asset in preparing clients for the crucial interview stage of the MBA application.
Joy’s candidates have gained admission to every top MBA program in the world, including Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago Booth, MIT, LBS, INSEAD, NYU, Kellogg, and dozens of other highly ranked, prestigious programs. Her clients have hailed from from a variety of fields, including tech, bio-tech, engineering, retail, law, psychology, banking, art, the military, and healthcare.
Each year, when application season arrives, Joy is excited to discover what’s in store—new people, new stories, new moments to share, and ultimately, new winning MBA applications to celebrate.
It was a great pleasure working with Joy as a coach. She helped to bring my application to the next level and was patient and reliable throughout the entire process. Highly recommend working with her!
I’m proud to say that with Joy’s help, I was accepted at all 3 schools I applied to, and I couldn’t be more excited to begin my EMBA journey this year at Georgetown! Thank you Joy!
Joy was a huge asset in my application process- she helped me craft my story and present myself in a manner that resonated with the schools I applied to. My acceptances to Stanford, Wharton, MIT and INSEAD would not have been realized without her partnership.
I gained a lot of value from my sessions with Joy! A coach like Joy adds so much to the process of MBA application writing—much more than what I expected, to be honest. I really enjoyed working with you, Joy!
Working with Joy, was, as her name suggests, a pure Joy. She is a true professional. Devoted, engaged, resourceful and full of empathy with the highest levels of care. She helped me achieve the best possible results.
TLDR; I thoroughly enjoyed working with Joy over the course of my MBA application journey. I would strongly recommend her to anyone who’s thinking of using Menlo Coaching for their MBA application journey. I will be grateful forever.
Lainie Blum Cogan 
