MBA Applications | Comprehensive Package

MBA Applications | Comprehensive Package

Offered by Ben L.

5.0

()

Stanford GSB '21 | Essay Expert | ex-McKinsey, Policy, Speechwriting

Stanford Graduate School of Business Logo

Studied at Stanford Graduate School of Business

McKinsey & Company Logo

Worked at McKinsey & Company


Since packages can be a little vague, I like to break down exactly what I offer: Tangible Work Products / Sessions • A 90-minute personalized 1:1 essay workshop: this is a 50-slide class I prepped for Leland which received a good deal of positive feedback in my 10-12-group sessions, so I decided to turn this into a 1:1 offering. This will help get you started, and you'll see example essays that bring out best practices for tackling MBA essays (with an added focus on GSB as well) • Unlimited essay drafts & revisions: I don't like limiting people on this — we're going to work on them until they're great. They've evolved into the most significant part of the application, and short-changing those isn't an option in my book. As a former speechwriter, I also don't know how to leave a piece of writing unfinished. • 1-2 mock interviews per school: I'll challenge you in the exact way your HBS and GSB interviewers will. I managed to get through both, and these mocks will quickly build your confidence. • Recommendation letter help: no one can write recs for you, but I'll give you a process for putting together a slate of information / draft so that your recommenders have what they need to write compelling letters. As with the essays, I'll help you craft these until they're finished. • Resume review: this includes a full resume revamp if needed, entailing design upgrades and individual line edits. Same approach as above — it's not "done" until it's perfect. • Additional application questions: I will do two reviews of your full application answer questions per school (if needed). This includes your short-answer questions and every other piece of written work (e.g., optional impact essays) within the application. I always recommend peaking into the entire app before getting started to get the full picture. * GMAT Note: I do GMAT prep completely separately, though I was able to get a very strong score (99th percentile). If you want targeted help there, I offer some hourly block packages that are a bit discounted from my hourly rate. I like to think that I'm able to help distill clear rationales for each of the hardest questions / topic areas you may be struggling with, and come up with concrete strategies for tackling those to maximize your score on test day. System-level / project management • Timeline trackiing & deadlines: we'll set deadlines to meet for each item on this list and I'll put together a project tracker to see how we're mapping against our goals / check off items as we progress • Bi-weekly calls: I typically suggest we meet for 30 minutes every other week to chat through where things are. Sometimes we don't need these at all because we've already touched base, or we'd been messaging in the interim. Sometimes we need to hop on the phone a few weeks in a row (especially if we're moving quickly). This is merely a suggested cadence, though I would say that more than one 30-minute call on top of our normal work together may simply be tough from a scheduling perspective. Some weeks may call for it, but putting this out there as a general standard. • MBA folder / organization: to keep things in one place, I suggest all the documents be stored in an MBA folder (where you'll share access with me via Google Drive) by school, with a sub-folder for each application piece (e.g., recs, essays, additional questions). I prefer using Word docs that we save for each of your essays (to keep tabs on old drafts in case we want to recycle materials), but the remainder of the content can be Google Docs since we want to avoid any version control issues. Turnaround time: 48-hour turnaround time is my general M.O. for a given document that you send through, though many of them I can get back to you more quickly. If I need more time because of a particularly busy work week or travel (e.g., weddings, family, etc.), I'll be sure to let you know — but 48-hour turnaround I can guarantee 90-95% of the time. This stuff has always been easy to work around — keeping lines of communication open is the key Feedback / iterating as we go: if at any point, you have thoughts on how to make the process of working together faster, easier, simpler — just let me know. If something isn't working for you in how things are going, I'm just a call away. There are a million individual pieces to this process, and it can sometimes be a bit frustating or overwhelming as you discover there's potentially more work than meets the eye. Every single person I've worked with has found it psychologically taxing at some point or another — this is probably the most important part of being your coach. I'll be sure to check in proactively, but please don't sit on something if you're feeling it. We'll work together and figure it out — I promise there's a very good chance I've dealt with it before, and if I haven't, I'll get advice from fellow coaches who have. If there's anything you have questions on or want to incorporate here, we can adjust this process to make it work for you. I'm always open to suggestions. Drop me a line whenever you're ready for an initial conversation.


What will you take away from this package?

An essay writing workshop to get you off the ground, help you brainstorm, and formulate your initial ideas to set the foundation for your essay

Unlimited essay reviews (e.g., Stanford's 'What matters most & why essay) and thought partnership to shape a compelling, reflective narrative

Recommender prep packets to give you a clear path for building strong recommendations for each school to which you're applying

Two full reviews per school of your entire application (e.g., short-answer questions, optional essays)

School selection help to determine which MBA programs are the best fit for you

Best-in-class resume help to tighten up your materials, ranging from aesthetic formatting suggestions to specific line-by-line edits

1-2 mock interviews per school, along with general interview tips & strategy

Scholarship negotiation help after admission (I've helped folks get $50k plus through simple letters!), and overall decision-making on MBA program selection

Time allocation strategy and general Q&A as you move through the application process


How will this coaching take place?

This package will be delivered via live sessions and .


My goal is to be super-flexible, and my hope is that the process I lay out here can serve as a helpful starting point. It's important to remember that you'll still need to put in real time and effort throughout this process, but I'll serve as both a guiding hand as questions come up, and someone who will get really tactical with you as we create a compelling set of materials to get into your top-choice programs. Ultimately, I'll help you go from sounding like an applicant to sounding like an alumni. Here's how I typically run things to make it as easy on you as possible, and give you the highest-quality end product (I've included some of this information in the description above too!) : System-level / project management • Timeline trackiing & deadlines: we'll set deadlines to meet for each item on this list and I'll put together a project tracker to see how we're mapping against our goals / check off items as we progress • Regular check-in calls: I typically suggest we meet for 30 minutes every other week to chat through where things are. Sometimes we don't need these at all because we've already touched base, or we'd been messaging in the interim. Sometimes we need to hop on the phone a few weeks in a row (especially if we're moving quickly). This is merely a suggested cadence, though I would say that more than one 30-minute call on top of our normal work together may simply be tough from a scheduling perspective. Some weeks may call for it, but putting this out there as a general standard. • MBA folder / organization: to keep things in one place, I suggest all the documents be stored in an MBA folder (where you'll share access with me via Google Drive) by school, with a sub-folder for each application piece (e.g., recs, essays, additional questions). I prefer using Word docs that we save for each of your essays (to keep tabs on old drafts in case we want to recycle materials), but the remainder of the content can be Google Docs since we want to avoid any version control issues. Turnaround time: 48-hour turnaround time is my general M.O. for a given document that you send through, though many of them I can get back to you more quickly. If I need more time because of a particularly busy work week or travel (e.g., weddings, family, etc.), I'll be sure to let you know — but 48-hour turnaround I can guarantee 90-95% of the time. This stuff has always been easy to work around — keeping lines of communication open is the key. Feedback / iterating as we go: if at any point, you have thoughts on how to make the process of working together faster, easier, simpler — just let me know. If something isn't working for you at any point in the process, I'm just a call away. There are a million individual pieces to this process, and it can sometimes be a bit frustating or overwhelming as you discover there's potentially more work than meets the eye. Every single person I've worked with has found it psychologically taxing at some point or another — this is probably the most important part of being your coach. I'll be sure to check in proactively, but please don't sit on something if you're feeling it. We'll work together and figure it out — I promise there's a very good chance I've dealt with it before, and if I haven't, I'll get advice from fellow coaches who have. Excited to work together — don't hesitate to reach out.


Services included with this package:

Financial Aid & Scholarships

Editing

Recommendations

Interviews

Ding Analysis

Waitlist Strategy

School Selection

Secondary Review

Application Strategy

Essays

Resume


Additional details

Standard Refund Policy
6 months to use after purchase

Turnaround time: 48-hour turnaround time is my general M.O. for a given document that you send through, though many of them I can get back to you more quickly. If I need more time because of a particularly busy work week or travel (e.g., weddings, family, etc.), I'll be sure to let you know — but 48-hour turnaround I can guarantee 90-95% of the time. This stuff has always been easy to work around — keeping lines of communication open is the key.


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Ben L.

Offered by Ben L.

Joined February 2022

5.0

Stanford GSB '21 | Essay Expert | ex-McKinsey, Policy, Speechwriting

MBA COACHING, WRITING EXPERTISE & GMAT WORK • Stanford GSB Alum, Class of 2021 -- see relevant experience sets below: • Coaching | Advised multiple admits into Stanford GSB, HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, INSEAD, Haas, and more (see >20 Leland reviews), while teaching multiple courses through Leland • Professional Writing | Speechwriting in public policy & political environments, Lead Editor for Nondisclosure (Stanford GSB's magazine) and Managing Editor for the Stanford International Policy Review • GMAT / Test-Taking | Scored in the highest percentile of GMAT test-takers, but more importantly I've honed my ability to help others extrapolate top test-testing strategies in the areas they're weakest • Interview Training | I'm interview-trained for McKinsey, allowing me to give high-quality mock interviews for MBBs and any MBA program • Additional Writing | Crafting op-eds, ghostwriting for major publications, developing a fictional short story collection, policy deep dives, a book on chess applications to life, and application essays of all sorts CAREER • What I'm Doing Now | Based in NYC working on a stealth, marketplace startup while continuing various forms of advisory work • Public Policy | Prior to Stanford, worked on the Policy Team for the Chicago Mayor's Office under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, focusing on 5G infrastructure policy, criminal justice policy, and citywide corporate/economic development deals • McKinsey | Before policy, worked at McKinsey & Co , with casework focused on job training for the formerly incarcerated and workforce development for at-risk youth • PE / VC / Startup Advising | After Stanford, worked in Bain's Private Equity Group on various due diliegences, managed deals with several venture capital firms, and advised multiple startups on growth and go-to-market strategy

150+ people coached for MBA

Open to working with clients outside the U.S.

Starting at $6,800

20h+ of coaching