Services: Hourly Services

With mbaMission’s hourly services, you can choose to work on any task relating to any stage of the MBA application process, including program compatibility/school selection, brainstorming, outline/essay review, resume review, short-answer review, recommender strategy, and interview preparation. As an hourly client, you dictate the process and decide how and where you want to dedicate your purchased time with your consultant.

To make the most of this partnership, we strongly recommend you start by informing your consultant about which parts of the application process you want to work on, which business schools you plan to apply to (with and without the aid of a consultant), and how many hours you have purchased or expect to purchase. This information will help your consultant anticipate and prepare for their exact role in the work you will do together and advise you as to what/how much can realistically be accomplished within the amount of time you purchase(d). Of course, we recognize that priorities can shift along the way, and our consultants are always flexible.

Consultants will review and return all materials within two business days and keep track of all time used for calls (including preparation), responding to emails, and material review. The time required to review materials can vary significantly depending on the initial quality of the draft received, the candidate’s ability to integrate feedback and learn/improve, the candidate’s expectation of the service (e.g., some candidates want a thorough edit, whereas others prefer a general critique), among other factors.

How can you get the most from your mbaMission hourly service?

After working with hourly clients for years, we have some tips to help you work with your consultant more effectively and efficiently:

• Focus on brainstorming: We believe clients get the most value from brainstorming with a consultant and receiving strategic advice before spending any time writing essays or completing other application work. The up-front investment of time and money spent to identify and clarify key stories and qualities to showcase in the application can save a considerable amount of time, effort, and stress later in the process.

• Leverage your learnings: You will gain the most from your consultant’s expertise if you work together on more than one draft of your essay(s) so you can best refine and present your story. Also, if you expect to write similar essays for multiple schools, work with your consultant on just one school’s essay to start, rather than sending several versions as separate files for your consultant to review individually. Once you have a single version in good shape, you will be positioned to create stronger versions of the essay for any other schools, thereby saving you time and money on that part of the application process.

• Maintain a steady pace: Work consistently on your application materials throughout the process, and make a practice of sending your consultant one item at a time rather than holding and submitting all your materials at once. This allows you to continue working on your application while your consultant reviews what you have provided, ensuring that things progress at a constant, productive rate. If some time has passed since you last sent your consultant anything to review, check in and let them know when you expect to provide new materials. And of course, we strongly recommend not waiting until close to your target school’s deadline to submit.

*mbaMission promises two-business-day response and will not miss that deadline. mbaMission will always strive to schedule a call, return a draft, etc. as soon as possible.