Are you applying to a top MBA program? If so, to ensure your success, you may be seeking support from an MBA admissions consultant or an MBA coach. In this article, I’m going to help you choose the right support team for you on your MBA journey.
By sharing your contact information, you give MBA Protocol permission to contact you.
Some studies suggest that over 50% of applicants hire support for their applications, but choosing the right support for you can be a major challenge and source of anxiety. That’s because it’s a crowded market. There are a lot of options for your application journey, not all of them good, and some of them are actually bad.
I know because I built the directory of MBA Admissions Consultants for Poets&Quants a few years ago. I designed the review system for client testimonials, and for many years acted as the gatekeeper for providers who wanted to be included. I know the majority of the firms and their coaches on a first-name basis, and many of those I call friends.
Over the years I’ve learned some things about what makes candidates successful, so I’m writing this article as a service to the MBA applicant about to embark on a life-changing journey. So, let me say this up front: the degree to which an MBA can change your life depends on how well you know yourself and how effectively you can communicate that to admissions committees and potential employers. That means you need to choose your MBA application support system very carefully.
Most people go right to MBA application consultants without considering that the nature of the job of a consultant is to “know the answers” rather than helping you find them within yourself. Just think about what the great consulting firms (Bain, BCG, and McKinsey) do for their clients: they tell you what to do based on their professional experience and knowledge. A coach with a record of success, on the other hand, helps you deep dive to find the right answers yourself through guidance, tools, structure, and collaboration.
They sound similar, but are very different in terms of their impact on your life. The former helps you gain admission into B-school, the latter helps you expand your executive soft skills so that you not only get into the program of your choice in your dream school, but you are also better equipped to get what you want during and after business school.
I recently joined the MBA Protocol team, where we favor the coach model. I’ll share more about that in another post where I’ll also talk about project management tools, video courses, group coaching, and how to make sense of it all. But, in this article, I want to help you make the right choice for yourself, about whether to hire support and which kind of support is best for you.
I’ve got a practical checklist and a downloadable PDF that you can use to interview MBA application service providers during your free consultations, which are offered by almost every firm.
Grab the PDF right here and read on for more guidance!
By sharing your contact information, you give MBA Protocol permission to contact you.
Eight Evaluation Points For MBA Admissions Support (AKA: What to look for in an MBA admissions consultant, coach, or application support program)
Proven Results:
Choose coaches with a clear track record, transparent success stats, and integrity in how they present them
What this means: This means that your coach must have a method for accurately tracking their outcomes and be able to share detailed success metrics with you
Why it’s important: Good service providers with extensive experience track their results, plain and simple. And they do so in finite detail, success and failure alike. You’re not buying a sandwich here; this is your life, your career, the overall trajectory for earning potential, and the impact and meaning you derive from it all. You deserve to work with a coach who takes every win and loss on that journey as seriously as you do. Their experience matters. Integrity is everything.
So look for service providers that can give great detail in their statistics. If you see a success rate that doesn’t have a decimal, be suspicious. Client numbers don’t divide evenly. Your MBA will teach you to question numbers with rigor; why not start now?!
For example, here are a few schools with varying degrees of selectivity based on reported accepted rates for their Class of 2025:
- Harvard Business School: 14.0%
- Duke’s Fuqua School of Business: 22.0%
- Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business: 39.0%
Let’s take Harvard Business School as an example. Poets&Quants reported a 14.0% acceptance rate for the HBS Class of 2025. Basic math tells us that out of every 100 applicants, only fourteen were accepted. Since we track our rates by school, I can tell you that of all the MBA Protocol students who applied to the Harvard class of 2025, 45.8% got in. That’s a success rate ~3.5x the general population. These numbers of course don’t guarantee that you’ll be successful in gaining admission to Harvard. It just proves that the person assisting you takes your results seriously.
So, look for two things:
- A verifiable track record and a high degree of rigor in results tracking, and
- A process to help you choose schools that doesn’t limit you only to high-acceptance rate programs.
Pro-tip: Many people want to find out if their potential support team is experienced in working with someone like themself by asking these three common questions:
- Have you ever worked with a candidate like me?
- Do you have an MBA?
- Did you ever work in [enter whatever industry you are in or moving toward]?
However, these do not actually directly tie to any meaningful success metric. None!
So, yes, your support team should have experience dealing with many unique demographics and understand the benefits and challenges of them all. They should have knowledge of industries far and wide and they should know the schools, but they don’t need to have worked there. The three questions, while they make you feel like it’s a good fit, don’t actually tell you what their results are, if they have your back until you’re successful, and if you’ll make it through the application process feeling already like a success or, sadly, beaten down. And that’s what you really must find out before you engage with a firm, consultant, or coach.
Some questions you can ask:
- How do you track your student success statistics?
- What is included and what is excluded from the data?
- What’s the timeframe for the reported results?
- How is data tracked and gathered? How is completeness and accuracy assured?
- How do you influence school selection to maintain this level of success?
- What should I challenge in these numbers as it relates to my own candidacy and how I can calibrate my potential for success if I work with you?
A Guarantee:
Look for a legitimate guarantee–or offer–if the process is unsuccessful
What this means: When a firm offers a guarantee, that means they stand behind their process and can reliably produce results. Good firms and individuals will have taken the time to define what success looks like for their clients, promise the outcomes they can promise, and offer compensation if those results are not met.
Why it’s important: In terms of MBA application and admission, a guarantee is less about mitigating financial risk and more about demonstrating commitment to results. It's crucial for you to review and understand the terms of your engagement, what is promised and under what circumstances, before you sign on the proverbial dotted line. This is also why it’s very important to understand how schools are selected. Some firms force you to apply to weaker schools to the exclusion of the ones you’re passionate about to inflate their success statistics.
Pro tip: MBA admissions experts, even though some of them really are experts, ultimately have no control over the final outcome, so don’t expect anyone to offer a full refund. But you do want to see some skin in the game—something that ties them to your success in a meaningful way.
Beware of: Firms and individuals who have no mechanism to predict your odds of success. Be cautious of those only interested in turning you into a paying client, rather than genuinely investing in your journey.
Key questions to ask:
- Do you offer a money back guarantee? If so, what are the terms?
- Are there any other guarantees on services or outcomes?
- What conditions must I meet to qualify for a refund?
- How easy is it for me to claim this guarantee? What is the process?
A Clear Process:
The best coaches offer a defined and transparent process for you to follow with well-developed tools to guide you.
What this means: Whether hiring an MBA coach or joining a program, part of what you are purchasing is the structured MBA application process and the calm that comes with years of experience. For the MBA applicant, your program needs to follow a structured, transparent, and predicated process that guides you through the steps and stages of the process.
Why it’s important: The path to an MBA is not the same for everyone. People apply in different rounds, with different (sometimes rolling) deadlines, and juggle a variety of responsibilities outside their new undertaking. Having a protocol, as we call it, clearly defined allows the applicant to plan ahead or even jump ahead on the board. It syncs the real life calendar with the application timeline. Imagine not having a plan and trying to get letters of recommendation over the winter holidays. More than that, it adds a sense of preparedness to you, the applicant–a map in your hands that, if all else fails, you can locate where you are.
And, by process, we don’t just mean the milestones, we mean the tools and coaching that will be used to help you maximize those milestones in order to submit your very best apps and energize your interview preparation.
Pro tip: Any potential consultants or service charging you more than $1,000 need to have intellectual property and materials that simplify the steps, guide the process, and enable you to do your best work efficiently. Choose firms and individuals who have invested in a cohesive product for you.
Beware of: Be cautious of (no, run from) service providers who don't have these basic tools of the trade. Firms exist out there that capitalize on fear and insecurity. They drop phrases like work with a Harvard alum or top ranked consultant. Some will sell you on prestige but leave you stranded.They can and do charge a premium–anywhere from $4k – $20k, for sub-standard service, and some will not offer a roadmap, much less a guarantee. Your success will be your own, but you’ll have parted with thousands of dollars.
Some questions you can ask about managing the timeline and milestones:
- Can you show me your platform or walk me through your process?
- What resources – physical, digital, or otherwise – do you provide?
- Is there a timeline, roadmap, or project management tool for guidance?
- How will you balance instruction with teaching me to think strategically?
- Can you show me your platform?
Some questions you can ask that help you discover the depth of their process around the essays & understand you so that your best application is put forward:
- Will we have calls about essays?
- How do you get to know me before we start?
- How do you help me choose essay topics and brainstorm? Is this done live or on a call?
- How does your story-shaping process work? Should I expect a lot of line edits?
- What effort do you invest to make sure my essays reflect me as an individual?
- How would we handle it if we feel an essay isn’t working or I disagree with your feedback?
Unwavering Commitment:
Your success, individuality, and growth should be your coach’s top priority
What this means: When we talk about a deep dedication to your success, your personal and professional development, we mean a client-centric, growth-focused, locus of care.
Why it’s important: This level of care, compassion, understanding, and commitment to seeing your unique value is where the transformative journey really begins. Personal growth with a dedicated coach actually increases your chances of getting accepted. Not because they hand you a formula to follow, but because they help you unlock the best, most compelling version of yourself. You’ll be cultivating critical personal and leadership skills as you go through the process of applying to B-school. Or, at least, you should be. And when your coach is committed to you as a person, just because you’re you, the impact will live far beyond B-school.
Pro tip: An MBA will make you more of who you are, with some excellent skill building along the way, but don’t you want the best version of yourself to step foot on campus? Don’t you want to grow THAT version of you? Heck, I do. We do. And your support team should too.
Beware of: Avoid anyone who wants to “help you get in” by telling you “what to say to the adcoms” or, in other words, write this & say that. This doesn’t serve you. While it may be dedication to a positive result and land you at the MBA program at your dream school, it’s a shortcut that robs you of the real growth this process can offer. You will lose big if you don’t take time to self-reflect. So, from the heart, beware of this approach.
Some questions you can ask:
- How do you work with your clients?
- What goals do you have for your work with clients?
- Do you advise on career plans, fit, or post-MBA goals?
- Do you have any testimonials from clients you have worked with?
Note: Look for testimonials of length on third-party platforms like Poets&Quants, which are personally verified by a human that works there. For some examples, you can view our team’s reviews on P&Q right here by clicking on any of our coach profiles. They are long and moving, juicy with detailed stories of transformation and major victories. They are honest. And this is what you want to see: variety, length, meaning, a sense of sharing in the success of that applicant.
If you look through others, some may even be top rated, you might see short, brief, blurbs of verification of success–and, trust me, they are legit acceptances–but they lack depth because it was a transaction, not a relationship or transformation. No lightbulb went off. I won’t link to examples of that–we just don’t do things like that around here–but we will point it out so you can make your own decision as you explore options for support.
Also, you might find some reviews that look like Mad Libs, you know, a fill-in-the-blank style where it almost looks cut and pasted. Maybe it seems like someone told the reviewer how to write it or exactly what to say. That probably says something about their approach to interviews, essays, and short-answer questions.
Please, want more for yourself than just to get in.
Empowerment:
Good coaches elevate your dignity and personal power. They never take over your decisions or make you feel “less than”
What this means: This seems pretty straightforward! You want to feel empowered, uplifted, and respected by your coach, not berated, suppressed, or manipulated. You’re embarking on an exceptional journey where you may well uncover a deep sense of purpose, direction, and possibility. A great coach will amplify your voice, not overwrite it. There’s no reason to be badgered or made to feel less-than in the process.
Why it’s important: In short, you want to be guided, not told. One sets you off on your next task or milestone with curiosity and excitement, the other undermines autonomy and diminishes your self-worth. We wish we didn’t have to warn you about this. Tough love can be great for some, but toughness without the love doesn’t serve you. You can be honest and kind at the same time: constructive feedback should contain tough questions, yes, but also be supportive and not brutal.
Plus, it’s hard to feel courageous if you’re made to feel incapable. Feeling empowered will help you take the risks you need to take in order to put your most authentic self in front of the gatekeepers that stand between you and your future.
Pro tip: There’s no way around it, MBA admissions is a competitive process and a stressful time for the applicant. Make sure you’re working with someone who’s dedicated to uplifting and amplifying your greatness, not fostering a sense of smallness.
Beware of: Avoid anyone, in this industry and elsewhere, who makes you feel small. Full stop.
Some questions you can ask:
- How do you help me make key decisions without imposing your views?
- How do you help clients that are struggling with an aspect of their application?
- Have you ever had to tell someone they had no chance of getting in? If so, how did you tell them?
- If I have an idea or an approach I want to try, how will we explore its potential?
Pay attention to what they say and how empathetic they seem as they communicate. But also, note how you’ve felt in the conversation overall. Do they seem like they know it all but make you feel like you don’t know anything? Or, do they seem like they know it all (or a lot) and they can’t wait to share it with you so that you can go on being the badass you were meant to be.
Inspiration:
They push you to do your best work while remaining kind, respectful, and empowering.
What this means: This is similar to what we covered above but slightly different in that the core feeling you want to feel after your interactions is inspiration. It’s about striking the right balance—high expectations matched with unwavering support.
Why it’s important: You want to inspire the admissions committees, and that inspiration should start with you. Your best work will flow from this feeling. Looking to see if you feel inspired is a good measure for fit with your coach or consultant. If you’re action-oriented, a high-energy coach may feel like the perfect match. If you’re more reflective and methodical, you might thrive with someone who brings a calm, thoughtful presence. So, do they energize or drain you? This is a gut check.
Some questions to reflect on after or during your call:
- How do you feel when you talk to them? Motivated? Excited to start? Clear-headed?
- How did you feel about yourself after the call? (Did this person help you see yourself in an inspiring light, or did you feel smaller after you spoke?)
- Did you feel heard and understood?
- Do you believe they can help you rise to the challenge and find the courage to pursue your goal?
Long-Term Yield:
Their work benefits you beyond your immediate goal and helps you expand your capacities in the work process.
What this means: Aside from getting accepted into an MBA program, a truly valuable admissions experience leaves you with the skills, insights, and connections that will last long after your work with the consultant or coach ends. Your coach should be invested in your long-term success—not just your application essays and acceptance letter.
Why it’s important: Whether it’s advice on scholarships, making your whole ROI brighter, career advice, or having a profound and clear sense of purpose, your consultant or coach should have something beyond “acceptance” to offer. Let’s say we aim for them all, eh?
An experienced coach worth your investment will be able to support you in the process in terms of scholarships in several areas. They should position you as a must-have candidate, cultivate scholarship resources, and guide and mentor you through meaningful personal development and soft skills that can be applied to your life for every year to come, that enlarge you as a person and enrich your relationships.
Pro tip: Don’t settle for less or be pointed to third party resources UNLESS you are only buying a project management tool.
Beware of: Steer clear of those who cannot answer these crucial questions below to your satisfaction.
The questions:
- Does our work together end when I hit submit? ? After the interview? Or simply, when does our work end?
- How does your coaching benefit me beyond admission success?
- Do you help me prepare for post-MBA recruiting?
Good Vibes:
It’s a long journey. You should genuinely like spending time with your coach
Ahhhh, enough said! …Almost. Stay with me on this.
When you feel good, you are more engaged. When you’re more engaged, you do better work. When you do better work, you feel better about yourself. When you feel better about yourself, you’re a nicer, more joyful person to be around. When you’re a nicer, more joyful person to be around, you’re inspiring. When you’re inspiring, you have the power to influence the lives of others, to do good, meaningful work. Which, in turn, makes you feel good.
It’s the ultimate virtuous cycle! 🙂 And if you have come to the conclusion that all of those good vibes will impact the outcome of your admissions process, you’re right. Happy, self-secure, inspiring candidates are bankable MBA admits.
I hope this leads you to your best-fit consultant, coach, or program. We’d love you to try it out with us! But, in the long run, if you’re better served elsewhere, then we’ll be happy for you!
Wishing you the best in your boldest endeavors!
By sharing your contact information, you give MBA Protocol permission to contact you.
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