I go to the Chicago GSB (part-time), so I’m a little passionate about this topic. I must agree with the five things listed above, but also say if a person has these five areas covered, they don’t need consulting services to get into a Top 10. On the flip side, if you don’t have these covered you probably have slim chances of getting in no matter who writes your application. So if you’re a great candidate but completely clueless on how to complete an application, hire Stacy. Otherwise, just fill out the application(s) yourself and save $3500. (No offense Stacy - I’m sure your business will prosper regardless of my comment.)

I know someone who did an MBA at a very highly regarded business school (but outside of the United States). The people in his class were of excellent calibre and have turned out to be leaders of business and industry. All well and good, except that they mostly working in the world of banking, finance, telecommunications and so on. He works in the music and entertainment industry where relatively few people do MBAs. So, whilst he made some good connections with people at university, they are not particularly useful for him as professional connections. He learnt a lot doing his MBA and feels it has been useful for his career. However, he says that the return on investment on his time and tuition fees has not been as great for him in his chosen profession as it would have been had he been working in a more traditional industry.

The other thing is that in many places, universities make a great deal of money out of foreign students. For example, I know of another man who did an MBA at what is probably Australia’s top business school the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM). Australia is a very popular place for students from Asia to study as it offers a high quality of education at competitive prices and a chance to be independent from their families and practise English. My friend is in no way racist and on a personal level he was more than happy to engage with the foreign students. However, it was not without misgivings on a professional level.

The issue is that the foreign students were usually young, straight out of their undergraduate course and without industry experience. More importantly, they almost always leave Australia after graduation and the expiry of their student visas and build a career in their home countries. My friend was torn because he was often put into group work or paired with young foreign students, which was fine occasionally, but he felt that when he was paying $50,000+ he should be making an effort to make useful professional connections for his future career in Australia.

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Thanks :)

-P

http://blog.stacyblackman.com/2007/04/30/admissions-tip-crafting-your-story/

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David, I’m glad you brought this up. Because I’m always talking about how blogging is a great way to make meaningful connections with people. And I didn’t know of Stacy until I saw that she linked to my blog. But I check out all the blogs that link to Brazen Careerist, and I was really excited with Stacy’s. I knew right away she’d be full of interesting information.

–Penelope