Stacy Blackman Consulting - Los Angeles, California

Michael B.

Laura Nelson was my consultant and I am so grateful that Stacy Blackman paired me with her. Laura was the exact consultant I needed – honest, supportive, reliable, and an expert with the Business School application process. From our first call to my last essay draft, Laura was there throughout the entire journey. At the beginning, Laura spent significant time understanding who I was and what I wanted to accomplish. This is one of the reasons Laura was able to really help me bring out the best in my stories and applications. Additionally, she was very responsive and always made time for a phone call. Lastly, she could always find a way to reduce word count while maintaining the idea!

I am beyond pleased with the results and want to thank Laura and Stacy Blackman for helping me successfully navigate through this challenge. Applying to business school can be very overwhelming and there will be many ups and downs. Stacy Blackman has the experience and expertise to help shape you into a strong and worthy candidate.

Viji S.

This is my review for my consultant- Laura Nelson. We worked together on 4 business schools and I got admitted into 2 of the 4 with a substantial fellowship from one. Laura and I made a great team!! Laura was very clear in the aspects she could help me with and was always a pillar of support as I put together my application. She effortlessly brought out my stories and helped me highlight the experiences that were unique and interesting in my essays. Coming from an over represented pool of applicants, this aspect seemed most important. She paid lots of attention to the details in my essays. There were several points where I doubted parts of my content. At these points, she would ask me the right questions, kindling my experiences and helped me stay on track. She encouraged me to try new ideas and themes for my essays and was ready with feedback in less than two days. Her quality and quick feedbacks really helped turn in my applications well before the deadlines. We also tried some mock skype interview sessions and these really made the interview experiences a breeze. I am so glad I got to work with her and so grateful to her for making my MBA dream come true!!

Katie Y.

I had a really positive experience with SBC. My consultant, Jen, helped me pull together two applications in less than 4 weeks, and she was great. She was always responsive by email (within half a day) and willing to chat on the phone to brainstorm essay ideas or hash things out. She was spot on with my strengths to highlight (which she gathered after just one phone call!) and gave me honest feedback on my essay ideas. Overall Jen was so easy to work with and her guidance & edits made all the difference. I'm so happy to say I got into my first choice, Stanford, and I couldn't have done it without SBC!

Shreya S.

I really enjoyed working with Beth - a former member of Kellogg's admissions committee. Beth helped me organize my thoughts on my essays, craft effective stories and prepare for the admissions process. She was always very timely with her responses and incredibly caring throughout the whole process. With Beth's help, not only did I get into school, but also secured a scholarship! Beth was instrumental to my business school success. If feasible, I would highly recommend investing in a few hours with SBC during the application process.

Massie L.

SBC comes with a high price tag but it was worth every penny! I was paired with Laura Nelson for all-in-package and she guided me through the whole application process. Thanks to Laura, I was accepted to 2 out of 4 schools with large scholarships! Why working with Laura was such a pleasure?
1. Polished essays – She makes sure that the essays are nothing short from great. The essays went back and forth so many times that sometimes the final essays are completely different from the original essay. It took a lot of time and effort but that’s what it takes to get in to your reach schools.
2. Quick response - I sent her last-minute scholarship essays and she was able to review them in time. I am an international applicant but never had a problem communicating with her despite the time difference.

I recommend SBC for those who are aiming for top MBA schools! I am excited to attend INSEAD this fall.

Harisen K.

I had the most incredible experience with Stacy Blackman Consulting and would highly recommend them. Beth, my consultant was incredible. She has been unbelievably supportive but also extremely honest and realistic throughout the business school application process, which I think is key for a trusted advisor. She was not only a sounding board for any and all questions but also always remembered an important milestone and wished me good luck. I would not have survived the business school application process without Beth.

Manish A.

I decided to use the services of SBC after having a not so good application season when I got rejected from all my top choices. I had previously worked with a different consultant and I felt cheated when a lot of current students reviewed my essays and gave me a long list of flaws in my essays.

That's why I decided to go full monty and work with the best in the business. I talked with some of the best admissions consultants, but it clicked with SBC and I went further ahead to work with SBC for a comprehensive service. I decided to apply to around 4-6 schools.

The initial call with Esther was pleasant and she, in fact, traced back our previous conversation dated back a couple of years. She listened to my professional goals and achievements and gave me excellent feedback on my last year's application. As I come from a country where the exchange rate vs USD is comparatively high, Esther gave me a generous discount and allowed me to sign up for 2 s chool contracts and keep on upgrading as per the need for the entire application season.

Esther paired me up with Sherry Holland and in our initial call, I liked Sherry's approach and honesty. She drew a clear picture for me and helped me understand the strategy for school selection. She did not try to convince me to go for schools which do not match my professional ambitions just for the sake of getting an admit.

I kicked off my application with Sherry and we quickly worked through my Resume. With Sherry's excellent advice, we exchanged more than 6-8 Resume drafts and I could see the difference between the quality of two version of my Resume. Sherry also prepped my referees and they, in fact, told me that Sherry guided them really well as it was a new experience for them as well.

The thing I like most about Sherry is that she is very professional and responds immediately. She always gave me a timeframe and always replied within that. Even when she w as on holidays, she made sure that my essays are going on nicely. She always encouraged me to write as much as I could in initial drafts and in fact for one such school we brainstormed more than 6 stories for a 500-word essay. She would always listen patiently to my views and gave her important insights.

Because of Sherry's professionalism, I was able to complete my applications in strict timings, and in one instance I managed to prepare probably the longest application amongst all the schools (10 long essays), in a fortnight.

She gave me good interview tips and her waitlist guidance was excellent.

Sherry also helped me with my scholarship application as the school I am matriculating asks separate scholarship essays and they itself are time-consuming. Sherry helped me prepare the application for 3 different scholarships and I received a generous scholarship from my school.

She is a very kind and gentle person and talking to her always h elped me get over with the pressure of all the applications. Working with her was a wonderful experience and I would recommend everyone to talk to her before embarking on their application season.

P.S. I would also like to thank and express my gratitude towards Bill Chionis, who was my Client Liasion. He took out time for me very close to the deadlines and gave some excellent tips on my final essays.

Erin K.

I worked with Christine Hawkins on 3 applications. Acceptance with a substantial fellowship to my top choice Columbia Business School and interview invite to Wharton would not have been possible without Christine’s and the SBC team’s amazing dedication (both 2Y full-time; withdrew from Wharton and Stern due to Columbia ED).
Even before the process started, I could tell by Esther's (principal manager) enthusiasm and commitment to me to make sure that I was matched with just the right consultant for me, that I had chosen the right company.

I was a female applicant from an increasingly competitive pool, was educated from a US college with mediocre grades, with no off-the-page leadership or community experiences (oh yes, and no GMAT score yet). During what could have been anxious and unsettling times, Christine was a counselor, confidence booster when I was down with unexpected CFA and GMAT test results, and was an honest critique of all my deliverables in the best sense of the term. Christine would lead me to pull out certain ideas, but would never go ahead and write essays FOR me (for many good reasons); when something seemed off to both of us but neither of us could quite put a finger on it, she steered me toward looking in other arsenals of my anecdotes and experiences (which until that point I didn’t know I had or could turn to!) and pulling essay ideas from there.

Christine's comments on my deliverables always came under 48 hours turnaround (though she is not obligated to work so by all means), and I was amazed by her willingness to go above and beyond her call of duty--for example, encouraging me to network with alumni in my area to see if they could submit sideletters for me, and offering to put in extra mock interview sessions. Also, Lisa Anderson's Flight Test put me at east and gave me that much-needed extra boost of confidence as I prepared to hit ‘submit’ for my first choice & anchor school, Columbia. Bill Chionis, my client liaison, was also extremely supportive in keeping me updated of all the different options for application review and his birds-eye-view of the entire process. All of this careful attention to each of my applications as if they were their own will definitely lead me to recommend Christine & the SBC's comprehensive package to friends who are current MBA-hopefuls.