As a younger Chinese applicant with a low undergraduate GPA, few extracurricular activities and a post MBA goal to switch my career, I know I never would have gotten this far without the help of Inspira Futures. After I finished my GMAT, I did some research online and connected with Inspira Futures. On my first free consultation, I spoke with Julie. She spent longer than expected time listening to my story and assured me that, despite my challenging metrics, admission to a top business school was still feasible. She said she felt that way because of my story. No other firm I talked to took the time to learn my story. She actually did two calls with me to ensure she understood me and my needs.
Inspira Futures helped me with my application strategy and differentiate myself from other candidates whose educational and occupational backgrounds are similar to mine. My counselor was very responsible and insightful. When we worked together, we sometimes edited my essay to a single question back and forth for as many as six times until he believed the essay had no more room for improvement. Throughout the application process, with the help of Inspira Futures, I not only got admitted to two top schools - HBS and LBS - but also discovered the true goals I'd like to pursue in life.

I will recommend Inspira Futures to my friends when any of them decide to pursue a top MBA program.

One of Inspira's adcom members provided feedback on my application on short notice since we were only a week away from the application deadline when I got done. I got in Sloan, Booth, Johnson, and Yale SOM, which was a dream come true. Super appreciative and grateful for the Inspira team's help!

At first, I was reluctant to work with a consultant to help me with my applications as I wasn't sure of their effectiveness, so I did a lot of research before deciding to work with Inspira. The key factor in my decision was a call I had with Arush Chandna, where we went through my resume, profile, and goals with complete honesty. After this call, I was able to see strengths and weaknesses in my profile I hadn't seen before. This gave me a lot of material to boost my self-confidence and to work within my applications. The whole process of preparing the material for each application is very smooth and well designed in order to optimize your time and show the admission officers who you really are. Working with consultants who until recently made the final decision on whether admit someone into the program is definitely an advantage, as they know exactly what the school is looking for and how to tackle each essay. I worked with Amy and I truly believe she's the best consultant I could've worked with; she was extremely dedicated and she gave me awesome insight on ideas to highlight and also complete support and guidance through the whole process, even after having submitted the applications. I applied to both INSEAD and LBS and was admitted to both. I'll be starting at INSEAD with a EUR 30,000 scholarship!!

I could not recommend Inspira Futures enough, as I can confidently say their guidance significantly improved my odds of getting into a top 5 school.

When I began to consider an MBA, I had no idea what to expect in regards to the application process. On the surface, it seemed straightforward. However, I realized that creating a compelling story requires a well thought out strategy that is woven into the entire application.

Inspira Futures team have a proven method for helping applicants create this strategy, as they are intimately familiar with what the admissions team is looking for at each school. They are experts at taking your work and life experiences and helping you mold your application into a unique and cohesive story that ultimately helps you stand out from the rest.

As part of this story building, they provide an excellent critique on your essays and resume, as well as, host an in-depth interview prep. I finally got accepted to Wharton's Lauder program.

My counsellor was with me every step of the way and was an excellent partner throughout the entire process. If you're looking to get an MBA, Inspira Futures is a must.

Just finished my interview with my top choice and want to use this milestone to re-thank Inspira for all their help. My advisor Susan has been so generous with her time and dedication, including Friday nights and last minute calls. She always finds a way to add her magic in my preparation and materials that give me the confidence that I am putting the best of me in the process.

Inspira Futures is a wonderful admissions consulting form and I am very fortunate to have worked with them.

Firstly, if you are on the fence about hiring a consultant in general, I was in the same boat last year and I highly recommend pulling the trigger and going for it. When I first decided to apply to business school, I had never even heard of an admission consultant. The concept was foreign to me and as such I was reluctant to pay up for one. However, once I started my essays, I realized that they were nowhere near the standard required for the schools I was targeting. I was really struggling to express my "story" in a cohesive and compelling manner. Given that the MBA is such a large investment overall, I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be leaving anything on the table, and I ultimately decided to bring in a professional.

I researched most of the firms and interviewed consultants from each of them, but I was immediately drawn to Inspira Futures due to its smaller size, which I felt would be most conducive to a genuine, personalized experience. When I spoke with them on the phone, I just knew that they were the one.

Not only my consultant was brilliant, but she was friendly and down-to-earth. I felt like she really understood where I was coming from and where I wanted to go. Having her in my corner curbed my anxiety tremendously and increased my confidence - that alone was worth every penny.

I had a 700 GMAT and not-so-great GPA and I was applying to some of the very best schools. On our kick-off call, she kept it real with me and was upfront about where my weaknesses were (later, she helped me develop a game-plan to directly address each of these challenges), but she NEVER attempted to discourage me from applying to the programs I'd set my sights on. I believe that it is crucial to work with a balanced consultant like her, who makes a point to manage your expectations but then puts in an insane amount of effort to elevate your application to the highest possible level as if your weaknesses didn't exist.

She was an MBA expert and if I hadn't worked with her, I'm certain my application strategy would have been all wrong. Admissions folks only spend ~15 minutes reviewing your entire application and I was surprised to learn that most of them do not have business backgrounds. Therefore, you must present yourself and your materials in a way that is drastically different from a job interview, for example. MBA essay-writing requires a significant amount of introspection and she possesses the rare skill of helping you spin life experiences (that to you may seem mundane) into captivating stories. She worked tirelessly to help me put together seriously killer essays (I'm talking 10+ drafts each). She will not do any of the work for you, but she asks very pointed questions that force you to dig deeper and she will not let you off the hook until every single sentence is perfect. There were many occasions when, after 5-8 drafts, I thought my essay had finally reached perfection and I had mentally checked out of it, only to receive yet another completely red version from her. I cannot stress this enough -- if you work with Inspira Futures, they will not simply check the box by providing a few iterations of useful feedback. Rather, they will be totally personally invested in you and your success.

Finally, pretty late in the process, I realized that one of my 4 target schools actually wasn't the best fit for me and I decided to switch it out for Stanford GSB (which I will be attending in the fall!!) just a few weeks before the deadline. I NEVER would have had the courage to take such a big turn so close to the end without Inspira Futures' encouragement. When it came time for interviews, my consultant held several mock interviews with me. I went from being terribly awkward during the first mock interview to absolutely rocking it at the real thing! Also worth mentioning that throughout the process, I experienced several SNAFUs (the kind you never expect to happen), and if I didn't have her to guide me and calm me down, I would have had a meltdown and handled the situation incorrectly.

TLDR: Do something special for yourself this year and hire Inspira Futures!

When I first started thinking about business school applications, I remember scoffing at the idea of hiring a consultant - shouldn't these schools see the real me and accept me based on that? Now that I've worked with Inspira and received admission to my top choice schools, HBS and GSB, I am immensely grateful and relieved that I hired them as a consultant. The problem with these applications is that there is limited space to convey who you are and Allie, with her special ability to discover the depth of your personality and years of experience with what these schools are looking for, is an expert at helping you craft together an application that conveys who you are and why you are interesting. I come from a "traditional finance" background and studied business as an undergrad, so I naturally felt that my deficiency was not being unique enough. However, in my first session with Allie, she spent over 4 hours simply getting to know me beyond just the resume and it became clear to her that there was more than just meets the eye. She has a great memory and takes detailed notes, and I felt comfortable getting advice from someone who I felt had truly gotten to know me as a person. She thinks about how every piece of the application, from the resume to the essay to the letters of rec, reveals a different side of you yet fits together. I had written a draft of an essay before I decided to hire a consultant and the difference between the before and after versions were startling: my before version was bland and impersonal and repeated professional accomplishments that were already mentioned in my resume. Thank goodness I found Allie and Inspira Futures who put me on the right track! She was also always available and would respond quickly, something I really appreciated during this stressful process when miscellaneous questions would frequently pop up. I am deeply grateful for Allie's help and would highly recommend her as a consultant.

Background: Caucasian Male, Non-Ivy Undergrad, Sub 3.0 GPA, Chemical Engineer

Results: Attending Stanford GSB, Accepted to Stanford, Haas, and Booth

To anyone looking to maximize the strength of their candidacy, I would highly recommend using Margarita as a consultant! After having interviewed multiple consultants, I was referred to Margarita by a friend attending HBS. From our initial phone call until now, Margarita has taken complete ownership of my story and my application process. As a candidate from an unremarkable undergrad program and sub-3.0 GPA, I went from an applicant hoping to breach the top 20, to a future student at a top 5 business school; working with Margarita allowed me to achieve these results. Margarita's book of clients fills up very early in the process, so I would recommend signing on with her as soon as you establish that you would like to attend a top business school.

Margarita's tenacity, reliability, and support throughout my process was astounding and unwavering. She took immediate ownership of my story, and ensured that I did the same by having me fill out an exhaustive brainstorming doc; while the document was arduous, the content was directly applicable to every facet of the application process. Margarita then helped me to develop and articulate my story in the most convincing manner, working as a teammate to generate ideas, put them into action, and refine them into their most effective form, all while keeping me on track to meet the schools' deadlines.

Throughout an uncertain process, Margarita was honest, supportive, and incredibly empathetic. It was clear that my success was her success, and throughout every step of the process, we worked tirelessly to evolve my candidacy into one worthy of acceptance at multiple top 10 programs. Margarita enabled me to change my own life, and I could not be happier with my decision to take her on as a consultant/partner.

I have to say Raquel is a gifted admission consultant. I was a re-applicant and she was referred by a friend. I had talked to other admission consultants too but Raquel was totally beyond my expectation since the very first call. She is very professional and intelligent but at the same time very caring and encouraging too, a combination hard to find, especially in an admission consultant. During the whole process, rather than being just an advisor, she became a stakeholder in my success and with her guidance I was able to secure a fellowship of $40K. In my opinion, her most outstanding professional attribute is her ability to consistently refine and super-efficient turnaround time. Moreover, her detailed and thorough mock interviews prepared me to walk into any admissions interview with complete confidence. I must say that investing in a partnership with Inspira Futures was without any doubt one of the best decisions I ever made. Without any doubt, I would recommend Raquel to all my friends.

For context, I worked with Maria on a comprehensive package across multiple schools. From start to finish, Maria went out of her way to provide extraordinarily thoughtful coaching and guidance. The advising process began even before I had opened any applications, or decided on which schools I wanted to apply for. We spent weeks exploring my career goals, MBA goals, personality traits and past experiences, to refine down a wide list of potential angles to apply from, tailored to which school might receive each angle best. Once we started going back and forth on refined topics, Maria provided the most detailed, insightful, creative and well-articulated feedback I have ever received. It helped me brainstorm and craft well thought out essays that highlighted the most important facets of my applications and create applications well beyond what I would have otherwise crafted. To be clear, we worked well past version 25 on at least one of my applications, and I truly felt each turn was significantly better than the last. Furthermore, Maria is super nice, friendly and incredible to work with. She maintained a positive attitude throughout, which helped get through such a daunting process. She certainly earns the highest marks possible and I would recommend her to anybody taking a hard run at applying to business schools.

I applied to business school in Round 2 this year and am very glad that I had the opportunity to work with Inspira Futures -- I was admitted to both Wharton and London Business School. I would highly recommend her to anyone considering applying.

When I first started working with Inspira Futures, I had initial drafts of my essays but quickly realized I was nowhere close to being submission-ready. They know exactly what each school is looking for and gave me a very clear understanding of how to shape my essays for each. They also helped me completely rework and rewrite my essays so that they addressed 1) my past experiences, 2) my personality / interests, 3) my professional goals, 4) and how the schools would help get me there. They helped me really dig deeper and write essays that truly capture where I am now & where I want to go next. The transformation of my initial drafts before working with them to the final drafts after was truly night & day. I truly could not have done it without Inspira Futures' help!

I worked with Inspira Futures as a reapplicant, and it was the best decision I made in the entire pre-MBA process. In brief, they are a true professional firm who delivered on what they promised and exceeded my expectations at every step.

What impressed me right from the start is how quickly my counselor peeled back the onion layers to really understand me - my motivations, my experiences and ambitions. After our second conversation and a thoughtful questionnaire, I felt that he already knew me, at least in certain respects, on a deep level that's typically reserved for close friends and family. We literally covered some topics that I had never spoken about before, let alone thought would be relevant to an MBA application. And that is the secret sauce. A week into working with him, we had already established the core material that I would use to write a deeply personal application and stand out in a sea of other traditional applicants.

Because I was reapplying, we also spent time at the outset determining what areas I would need to strengthen and how I would strategically show growth and reflection in the short turnaround time from my application the year prior. This was extremely valuable, and he quickly homed in on a number of areas for improvement. He pushed me to add credibility to my career switching ambitions, ensuring I had a cohesive through line from my early experiences to my post-MBA plans while demonstrating that Booth was the perfect school to help me reach my goals. Through the many rounds of essay drafting and editing, he was truly masterful at pushing me to sharpen my responses and draw from the well of core material that we established early on. He helped me turn a good application (waitlisted the prior year) into an undeniable application, accepted round one.

Inspira Futures came highly recommended from a friend of mine - and I am SO happy I found them! From our very first chat, the team at Inspira Futures was honest, warm and encouraging. My consultant took the time to understand my desires for wanting to pursue an MBA, and challenged me to craft authentic and engaging essays. Coming from a somewhat non-traditional background, her help was also invaluable in helping me hone each bullet point on my resume to cut through on my experience and accomplishments.

I genuinely believe Inspira Futures' guidance is what made the difference in helping me receive acceptances at Yale, Tuck, and Stern and getting a scholarship for $75,000! Could not recommend them more highly - thank you Inspira Futures!

A good friend of mine who was helping me through the process asked me if I wanted to chat with Inspira Futures. Since the 30 min call was free, I spoke with Julie and shared with her my story. To my surprise, she did not sugarcoat her points of reservation, and was very forward about what aspects was not working. Her honesty is refreshing. At no point in the conversation did I feel that she was courting me for her services. She was already serving me.

I only had budget for two schools. She recommended that I work with Gabriel together on the 2 schools that has the highest admit rate, because I was aiming to get into any top program in this application season. I chose to work with him on my 2 reach schools instead (with one of the lowest acceptance rates in the world). When I told him my school selection, he was nothing but supportive. I was worried that because I chose the hardest school to get into, he would not work as hard with me as he would otherwise, since I'm risking his success rate, but he was so professional, and gave me great guidance along the way.

Here are 3 things I really liked about Gabriel

- Readily Available. His turnaround times are crazy awesome. We burned through 5 or 6 drafts for three separate essays within a span of 2 weeks (15 drafts in total within 14 days). And I'm talking about serious edits with a lot of thought put in. This was during the short lull between R1 and R2. But when crunch time hits, he was still replying at an impressive rate of t+36 hours at the latest. You literally cannot find this anywhere else in the market.

-Honesty: Mentioned this before, but he gives you good reason as to why an idea would not work. So whenever he green-lighted my story or essays, I knew I got something solid.

-Industry specific insights: This is probably the greatest value add of Gabriel. Throughout the process, you, as an applicant, will need guidance on more than just the essays. I remember just hitting Gabriel up for random questions like “which picture should I use for my application?” or “do you think I should write to alums to put in good word for me?” Gabriel can give school specific insights, and that helped a lot.

End result: I got interview invitations from 2 of HSW, and got an offer from Stanford GSB and a merit based fellowship.

Gabriel is worth every penny. And he's not even the most expensive consultant out there!

Gabriel- if you are reading this, thanks again.

The final application review was instrumental to my application's success. It was great to build a rapport with my primary consultant, but I feel like the fresh perspective right before I finalized my documents added the final touch to my essays. I'd give Inspira Futures a solid 10 out of 10!

I can't say enough how great it was to work with Inspira Futures. My MBA journey started off disorganized, unsure and confusing. I've had an interesting (and very unconventional) career to this point and wasn't quite sure how to staple it all together. I have about as many red flags that one could imagine: two job gaps, eh GMAT and GPA, and switched jobs a few months before the Round 1 deadline.

Despite a stressful new job and all these headwinds, my admissions counselor at Inspira was super *accommodating* (can't emphasize this enough) with me throughout this entire process. She guided me on how to craft my story, clean up my resume, and write compelling essays. We must have gone through at least 10+ drafts on my first essay before I finally hit submit. The word limits forces you to be careful with how you craft your essays, but her feedback is blunt (with the best intentions) and really make you to get to the point. The service is expensive, but it's an investment. It's a stressful process and you only get out of it what you put into it. Thank you for everything, Inspira Futures!! I got into HBS and will be attending the coming fall

I picked Inspira Futures among all once I decided to pursue MBA because it was highly spoken of among my friends. My consultant led me thinking about who I am, what I really want and what I would like to achieve clearly. She made great application plans for me beforehand when I targeted to apply for different schools in order to have at least one offer. We had successful cooperation thanks to her experience and her precious time. I got offer from Stanford GSB and Booth and I doubt any of it would be successfully achieved without her comments. Thank you! :)

As a non traditional applicant, developing a compelling narrative was a task that I knew would be challenging and after reviewing ~10 admission consulting companies, I moved forward with Inspira Futures to be my partner during the application process. Inspira Futures helped work with me on my storyline, discover what makes me unique, and used these details to work with me to develop a concise and compelling narrative. I succeeded in getting into 4 of my target schools all with scholarship amounts - CBS, Kellogg, Darden and UCLA. I highly recommend partnering with Inspira Futures.

I highly recommend Inspira Futures as a consulting service for business school applications. The consultant that I was paired with was excellent, and I worked with her on a 5 school package to help me with my applications. She was a very effective editor of my resume and application essays. She taught me the importance of listing my accomplishments in my resume (as opposed to a list of responsibility). We worked together so that my essays conveyed my strengths. She was instrumental in helping me get an admit to Yale!!

She was very flexible and always did a great job a) getting back to me on time and b)!being efficient with her time spent on my projects. I highly recommend her.

After an initial tough round applying to an MBA, I am grateful to have had Inspira Futures as my advisors the second time around. My counselor has been invaluable in helping me find my voice within my applications and be a better storyteller within my interviews. All the while he consistently encouraged and supported me throughout process as he meticulously polished every aspect of my application. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and have gained invaluable skills that I will continue to use throughout my career. I am happy to say I will be attending MIT Sloan this fall!