2 SBC Consultants Make P&Q’s Top Ten List

When you choose Stacy Blackman Consulting to guide you during your MBA application journey, you can feel confident that you’re working with the best in the admissions consulting business. But don’t just take our word for it.

The website Poets & Quants recently published a list of the Top 10 MBA Admissions Consultants, culled from its directory of nearly 500 consultants, and we’re thrilled to report that two members from the SBC team have made it onto this exclusive list.

P&Q  independently vets the consultant reviews in the directory, which it began soliciting more than two years ago. “All told, some 140 consultants have gained reviews from more than 780 clients, a rich database of customer satisfaction,” editor-in-chief John A. Byrne notes in the Top Ten article. “These days, in fact, as many as 10 reviews a day are vetted by our editorial staff.”

So, who are these stellar SBC consultants highlighted by Poets & Quants? Let’s take a closer look.

Caryn Altman: A Kellogg MBA, Altman worked as an admissions officer for her alma mater where she read and evaluated written applicant essays and recommended admission to Kellogg. She also conducted numerous applicant interviews assessing candidate fit and future potential at Kellogg and beyond. Preceding her time at Kellogg, Altman was a senior marketing manager for Gatorade, leading Gatorade’s efforts to a variety of consumer targets. Concurrently, she co-led all of the Kellogg recruiting efforts for the PepsiCo Chicago office. Before earning her MBA, Caryn worked in corporate finance and public accounting with CPA certification.

Five-Star Review Excerpt: “Caryn takes her job very seriously. She treats your application as it is her own. Caryn would e-mail me daily, sometimes multiple times a day, with essay rewrites, tips, friendly hellos, etc. I should note that this is because I was very involved in the process and would constantly be e-mailing her first! I am thrilled by my results. After applying to 6 business schools, I got into three of them (one being a top 5 school where I plan to attend next year).”

Sherry Holland: A former assistant director of admissions for Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Holland has been an MBA admissions consultant with Stacy Blackman Consultng for just over ten years. She has a bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University after which she worked in human resources for I. Magnin for three years. At Fuqua, from 2001 to 2005, Holland traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad to recruit, interview and evaluate applicants to Duke’s MBA program.

Five-Star Review Excerpt: “I could not recommend Sherry highly enough. She made the entire process so much more manageable. From the start Sherry was responsive, understanding, and friendly. I had an interview at Duke the next weekend, and she immediately offered to walk me through a mock interview to help me prepare, even before we did the initial call. She read all of my essays and responded promptly – even essays that were for other, non-MBA programs that I was applying to. She completely reworked my resume and made me feel like I had a handle on the process more than I ever thought I would. After being in the working world for 4 years before deciding to go back to school, Sherry was exactly what I needed to get me through. She was honest but also comforting, and I would have never gotten into the schools I did without here.”

The Value of MBA Admissions Counseling

To help explain the role we play, I draw a comparison to the business schools themselves. An important issue that should be considered when you apply to business school is the career center. The career center is a great asset for a top school and the career centers play an important role in most MBA experiences. What does a career center do? Mock interviews, interview coaching, resume review, help with career selection and target companies, assistance with company research, strategy and messaging.

The career centers help an MBA applying for a job to package him or herself. This is very similar to what we do for our clients. We do not draft essays or resumes from scratch, we do not sit in on interviews for them, we do not cross that ethical line. We act as a coach, helping our clients in the same way that college counselors, career counselors, athletic coaches, executive coaches, writing coaches and many more…do for their clients.

Our goal is not in any way to “trick” an admissions committee. The stories are all true, the numbers are legitimate. However, we do have some clients whose numbers or background may make them appear to be a “stretch” on the surface. Of course we do. If all of our clients were obvious admits, we would not be adding much value. SBC serves the schools by helping them to find the applicants that are truly a good fit for their programs.

We work with these clients, who are fantastic, interesting, hard working and ambitious people, to achieve their dreams. This may be in spite of less than perfect credentials. Nonetheless, I feel that our clients, who have earned seats at top programs, deserve these seats and are valued contributors to their respective programs.

There’s no better time to start exploring your options for getting into the b-school of your dreams. Learn more about working with SBC, and request a complimentary assessment of your MBA candidacy. We look forward to meeting you!