First some personal background: I am a 28 year old, former strategy consultant, and have never considered an MBA to be a make or break part of my life or my career. I always viewed the degree as a means to an end. The trouble was, I was beyond the standard application age of my fellow consultants, and I had already been promoted beyond the post-MBA level. In short, I had a lingering feeling that the standard, youthful, spray and pray application strategy wasn't going to suit me.
When I finally decided that I wanted to make a run at an MBA, I wanted to do it the right way. To fulfill that need I turned to the McKinsey of the field: Inspira Futures. As the saying goes, no one gets fired for hiring McKinsey. I knew my application strategy was a little outside the norm, and didn't want to have any regrets about quality.
I heard about Gabriel and Inspira Futures from a friend who had been admitted to HBS. I reached out to Gabriel and let him know my situation. He challenged some of my hypotheses (in a good way), verified others, and helped me set a strategy that fit my goals.
In the end, that strategy was to go for broke on just four schools. Gabriel and I agreed that either of those schools would invariably change my life, and that a backup option, while attractive, probably wouldn't add as much value as I thought I needed. In my mind, getting the strategy verified was worth the full fee.
After we set the high level strategy, Gabriel helped me craft an essay that fit the bill perfectly. My whole application was a hail mary, and I needed an essay topic to match. Without revealing too much, Gabriel helped me write an "edgy" essay that maximized my chance of winning admission, given my less than perfect odds going in. It would have been impossible to write it without him.
In the end, the strategy fell perfectly, and I got accepted to all of my schools. I am heading to Wharton for my MBA with a $40,000 scholarship!