Estimating how much time your consultant will need to work on your file(s) is difficult because it varies significantly, based on a variety of factors:
- The quality of the initial draft(s) submitted
- Your skill level as a writer/creative thinker
- Your ability to integrate feedback and learn/improve
- The depth of service you anticipate (e.g., a very thorough edit versus a general critique)
- Your level of perfectionism (e.g., you might want ten drafts, or perhaps just three)
Your consultant will keep track of all time used for calls (including preparation), email responses, and material review. The following list provides some general time estimates for key elements of the application process. Please be aware that these are approximations for the first few drafts of materials based on our observations over the years; some tasks (particularly those involving later-stage drafts) might require more or less time than presented here:
- Determining program compatibility/selecting schools: You complete the mbaMission school selection template, your consultant reviews your responses, and then you discuss your options over the phone. [45–60+ minutes total for both the consultant’s review and the phone call]
- Brainstorming for essays: You complete the mbaMission brainstorming document, which your consultant will then review to prepare questions and ideas. In a subsequent phone call, you will discuss possible stories and approaches for your target school’s essay topics. [2–3.5 hours total for the consultant’s review and one phone call; additional time would be needed for more than one school or for any additional brainstorming calls]
- Creating outlines for essays: You draft an outline or a full essay and send it to your consultant for feedback. After reviewing the draft, your consultant will return the file via email with their assessment and suggestions. [15–45 minutes for each outline and 30–60+ minutes for each essay draft, depending on length; note that a final review of a typical 500-word essay could require less time]
- Updating your resume: After updating your application resume, you send it to your consultant, who will review the file and return it to you with their feedback via email. [30–60+ minutes for each draft]
- Drafting short-answer responses: You respond to your target school’s short-answer questions on the application and send those responses to your consultant. They will review the file and respond with feedback and suggestions via email. [20–60 minutes for each draft, depending on the number and depth of the questions involved]
- Choosing and communicating with recommenders: You complete the mbaMission recommender selection sheet, which your consultant then reviews. Over the phone, you discuss your options and outline next steps. [45–60+ minutes for your consultant’s review and one call] You send your consultant a draft version of one of your recommender’s letters. Your consultant will review the file and respond with their feedback via email. [20–45 minutes for each draft]
Having worked with thousands of MBA applicants on an hourly basis, we have developed some tips for working with your consultant more effectively and efficiently:
- Focus on brainstorming: We believe that 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 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 him or her 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.
With our hourly services, we take instruction directly from you on how and where to focus our time, because that time belongs to you. So the key is communication! Tell us exactly what you need so we can meet those needs.
At each turn, we will give you a full account of how your purchased time has been used thus far. We offer a sample time record below. After each session, we send you an email noting how much time was used and on what tasks, both in the most recent session and in all preceding sessions.
| |
School |
Date |
Total |
Action |
| 1 |
Kellogg |
23-Dec-24 |
0:30 |
Read background materials from past |
| 2 |
Kellogg |
23-Dec-24 |
1:55 |
Brainstorming session |
| 3 |
Kellogg |
27-Dec-24 |
0:30 |
Read and critiqued outlines |
| 4 |
Kellogg |
1-Jan-25 |
0:20 |
Critiqued Essay 1 |
| 5 |
Texas |
6-Jan-25 |
0:55 |
Brainstormed Texas |
Senior Consultants charge $450/hour for our two-business-day turnaround service and require a minimum purchase of two hours (120 minutes, for $900).* Subsequently, you can purchase more individual hours for additional work. You also have the option of purchasing a five-hour bundle for the discounted rate of $2,050. If you need additional hours beyond that initial bundle, you may either purchase individual hours at $450 each or an additional five-hour bundle for $2,050.
*Rates listed are to work with a Senior Consultant. Managing Director and Executive Director rates can be found in the pricing chart.
Depending on consultant availability, we can sometimes offer expedited service of one-business-day turnaround for an additional $105 per draft of any application item (e.g., resume, a single essay, short-answer section).
Any and all time a consultant spends on client work—including phone calls, editing, reading files, and writing emails—is billable.
Yes. mbaMission charges a minimum incremental fee based on a five-minute time period for any client request. Therefore, any client-related task (e.g., responding to an email, answering a question by phone) will be billed at this minimum rate. Any time required for a specific task that exceeds five minutes will be billed to the minute.
For example, you send your consultant an email question, and they spend three minutes responding. You would be billed for five minutes. If they instead spend six minutes responding, you would be billed for six minutes. (Bundling questions is recommended to maximize your time.)
No. We do not allow candidates to switch back and forth between services. Not only is this unfair to the consultant, who needs to plan their schedule, but it can also confuse the process. However, if you purchase hourly services and would like to sign up for a package service after your purchased hours have been depleted, check with your consultant about their availability.
Your hours will expire six months after the date of purchase. Unused hours are nonrefundable.
No. You may use the time as you need it and apply it on or across tasks as you see fit. In short, the time is yours!
*mbaMission promises two-business-day response and will not miss that deadline. mbaMission will always strive to complete the requested task as soon as possible.
