I was accepted at HBS this afternoon. My experience with Sandy echoes all those posted below, he is demanding, responsive, and direct but if you can handle it, the ends certainly justify the means.
For the benefit of future prospective students/clients, I found Sandys tutelage most beneficial in the following ways:
- Sounding board. Before you spend countless hours writing an essay, run the topic by him. He will help you shape your story into a concise and relevant narrative. Most importantly, he will save you from writing about a confusing or irrelevant topic that can severely damage your application. Especially if you are applying to multiple schools, the importance of writing effective essays without dozens of iterations cannot be understated.
- Details. He knows where to push. He will tell you what to focus on and what to ignore. Remember, in most essays, you have significantly less words than you will feel you need to present a comprehensive and impressive story. Having someone identify which details should be further developed (and which to leave out completely) will drastically improve your essays.
- Interview prep. From professional experience, I am sure most candidates feel like they have previously mastered the skills necessary to be successful in an MBA interview. I include myself in this camp. Sandy helped me refine my story and answer questions directly to eliminate the likelihood I would talk too much and get lost. MBA interviews are often very different from job interviews. Sandy gets this and will help you prepare effectively.