I applied to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and Kellogg. I was accepted to Harvard and Stanford in Round 1 and withdrew my applications to Wharton and Kellogg.
Given my stats, work experience, and recommendations, I was a fairly strong applicant, but probably around average for the top schools. I could have been easily dinged at any of the schools to which I applied. I can honestly say that I would not have gotten into my top choices without Sandy’s help.
Working with Sandy is like sitting down with the admissions directors and staffs at the business schools and having them tell you what they want to hear from you, and how you should best position yourself. Sandy knows more about the admissions process than anyone else I spoke with while I was applying.
SANDY WILL GET YOU INTO ONE OF YOUR TOP CHOICES!
The best things about working with Sandy were his overall knowledge about the B-school admissions process, his unbelievable insight and help with the application essays, and his willingness to work as hard as his clients to fine-tune an application.
Sandy’s unbelievable turn-around time enabled me to complete all of my HBS essays in one week, start to finish. He was extremely accommodating to help me reach the Round 1 deadline.
While I know people can be sometimes be put off by Sandy’s style, I actually found his comments very amusing in addition to their helpfulness. The key is not to take his constructive criticism personally. Sandy cuts right to the chase, and gets you to cut out the unnecessary BS and write about what is really important.
I have recommended friends and colleagues to Sandy. I think Sandy’s insight would be helpful to anyone applying to business school, regardless of the strength of their application or stats. Sandy’s area of expertise is really effective for those applying to the top schools, especially Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton.
NEVERTHELESS, HIS HELP WRITING THE ESSAYS IS ABSOLUTELY INVALUABLE FOR ANY APPLICANT.
Before I started working with Sandy, I had a number of ideas/stories I had in mind to present to the adcoms. Sandy definitely saved me from making a couple of mistakes by vetoing topics or angles that were clearly not going to be a positive for my application.
Sandy was most helpful in taking my stories and personal and professional experiences and crafting them into effective essays. He really pressed me to provide details and specific examples to give more color to my experiences and bolster my essays. He was most helpful in positioning my story the way the schools want from their applicants.
normal, but glad I used SK
I would recommend Sandy for anyone applying to HSW for the reasons I listed above, including his unbeatable insight into what these schools are looking for and how to tailor your essays to fit their needs. I think anyone with a reasonable shot at these schools should use Sandy. Even if you think you’re out of the running it is worth giving him a call. He’ll give you honest answers about your candidacy.
If you use Sandy, be sure to check your personal pride at the door and be prepared to do some serious self-evaluation. Sandy ripped apart my essay drafts from top to bottom, pushed me to really dig and write about details from my experiences, and focused my energies on what was really important. The end result were essays that would beat the pants off of anything I wrote as an undergrad at a top Ivy League school, and most importantly, got me accepted into the best business schools.