I rarely write reviews but after working together with Mary Banks from Inspira Futures for more than 6 months, it was such a pleasant experience that I can't help but feel obligated to write one.

A little background about myself: I have a hybrid (IT & Management mix) consulting background in an okay consulting firm (obviously not MBB). My undergraduate was just okay - decent GPA from a public school but also a community college transfer student. Furthermore, I had limited extracurricular and leadership activities. Thankfully, at least I had an average GMAT for M7 schools. As you can see, I'm pretty much an average Joe professional and doesn't exactly exude "pedigree".

After a few years of working, I wanted to apply for MBA to move to a top consulting firm but I wasn't sure whether I could make it to the top schools. I had a free consultation with Julie from Inspira Futures out of curiosity and told her about my background and goals. I asked her whether I could make it to M7 schools, knowing she'd probably tell me to aim lower but to my surprise, she actually said I had a fighting chance!

Julie was incredibly helpful in identifying my strengths and weaknesses during the initial call, which gave me assurance that she knows what she's doing. I decided to get the 4 school packages, which was a bit pricy, but I knew that if got into just one out of those four, I'd easily multiply my investment!

Since I was applying to four top schools, the application process itself was incredibly challenging and stressful, but my consultanty Mary was very helpful in setting up timelines and milestones to organize and help alleviate the stress and burden. Furthermore, she was really flexible in rescheduling calls or modifying milestones to accommodate for times when work was crushing me. I also greatly appreciated her encouragement and direct constructive criticisms during the busiest periods - I knew that she really cares about her clients and wants us to be successful!

To me, Mary's greatest strength was her ability to identify strengths in my background (that I wasn't even aware of!) and make sure that they are reflected well in my essays. There were several occasions when I wasn't sure what to write about and she helped me brainstorm to come up with these brilliant ideas! A note of caution though: she will decimate and revamp your essay, which was for the good of course, but sometimes it was a bit frustrating since I spent hours working on it!

Even though I somewhat expected it, when the rejections started rolling in, I started to panic. I was incredibly stressed and nervous that all this hard work and money would go down the drain. Thankfully, Mary helped me calm down and keep focus. When I finally got that elusive interview, she immediately helped me prep and gave me incredible tips to make sure that I was ready for it. I made sure to follow her advice and hoped for the best.

Long story short, I was accepted to Harvard Business School with my average Joe background and I definitely attribute my success to Mary's help!

If you want to get into a top MBA program and are willing to work hard for it, you'll want to work with Inspira Futures.

Background: I was an international applicant from Southeast Asia and worked in the public sector for >5 years. I went to a good college in the US and had a strong GPA. If extracurricular activities can be measured, mine (especially after college) were probably average - some volunteering work, but I didn't found my own non-profit or anything like that. My GMAT score was just above the Stanford/Harvard average. Candidly, I thought I'd be a fairly decent candidate for top-20 programs, but not outstanding by any means.

Throughout the first few months, my consultant worked tirelessly to coach and support me through the entire application process. Our meetings lasted for hours as we distilled my motivations, achievements, and ambitions to build a narrative that was compelling and true to me. We poured over my experiences and ambitions, and brainstormed over ways to boost areas in my application that seemed lacking. It was certainly exhausting at times, but she was supportive, understanding, and always eager to present to the admissions committees the best (and truest) version of myself.

When interviews were released, she was probably even more excited than I was! She ensured that I was thoroughly prepared by sharing past questions, discussing responses, doing a mock interview, and then running through my performance in great detail. She even offered to do an additional, school-specific mock interview. By the time the final interview was done, I felt that we (as a team) had really put our best foot forward and was therefore ready to accept any outcome.

Result: Happily, the applications were a success, and I was thankfully admitted into every school that I had applied to (all with her help) - Stanford GSB; Berkeley Haas; UCLA Anderson (~half scholarship); USC Marshall (full-ride); UW Foster (~half scholarship).

Going with Inspira Futures is one of the best decisions I made during the MBA apps process. Coming from a nontraditional background, I didn't realize how immersive and time-consuming applying would be. Inspira Futures helped me set a game plan and easily extracted what the strengths and weaknesses were in my profile. From there it was an exercise in speaking to my strengths while doing what I could to improve in other areas, notably, everything to do with quantitative materials.

My consultant was just amazing! Great listener, great mentor, and I knew he had my back throughout the whole process. He & the Inspira team wanted me to succeed, so they certainly didn't sugarcoat it when they needed to give me tough love. But that was the best thing they could have done in order to manage my expectations and to show where exactly I needed to push harder.

Inspira Futures goes the extra mile for you. Your success is their success so you know they are giving you premium advice and attention.

Though I am still waiting to hear back from one more school, I have been accepted to a dream school - Whartom, and I have Inspira Futures to thank for that.

Inspira Futures has a very strong comprehensive school package to help craft your story and think through an individual's strategic positioning (and how that should vary from school to school). Being a bit late in the GMAT and application process and wanting to submit applications in R1, my consultant was very supportive in proactively identifying areas that I could knock off early while preparing to take the GMAT (ordering transcripts, brainstorming for essays, etc.).

She was incredibly helpful throughout the entire application process and, coming from a similar work background, was able to help identify my truly differentiating experiences. She applied the perfect balance of pressure as well to make sure I was appropriately prepared to meet deadlines, and had thought through anything and everything for the application and interview processes. Her guidance in that regard was very beneficial in maintaining clarity on the application process since I often get tied down in projects at work, so setting milestones and having reminder emails and catch-up calls along the way was definitely useful. In addition, she only takes on a handful of MBA applicants each round, which you can absolutely feel in the level of engagement shown and support provided throughout the entire process.

I accepted the offer from CBS with a scholarship of $30,000!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Inspira Futures. I'll admit that I did not know that using an admissions counseling service was so popular when I first decided to pursue my MBA. After attending fairs and doing some online research, it became clear to me that I only had one shot at this and I should be sure I'm putting the strongest application forward. I currently work in media/advertising, and not many of my colleagues have their MBA or were considering pursuing one. It was clear to me that I needed the advice and expertise of a seasoned counselor to help me make my application shine.

Beyond being professional, responsive, and pleasant to work with, the most valuable part about working with Inspira Futures was that they encouraged me to broaden my target school list, and made me think critically about what was most important to me in an MBA program. I was initially set on staying in my home state of California, and did not want to move. My counselor told me that I should seriously consider a program on the east coast, and recommended why I would be such a great fit given my strong interest in the culture and community of a school. She ended up being right in the end, and I am so glad I followed her advice as I will be attending Columbia next fall.

I am admitted to HBS!

Thank you for your support, counsel, and commitment, Inspira Futures!

What I liked most about Inspira's approach to MBA consulting was that it was structured from beginning to end. My counselor started by gaining an understanding of all aspects of my profile and helped me to identify the strongest messages to create my very personal, one-of-a-kind application. Additionally, his lessons were great, allowing us to make the best use of our live sessions.

His commitment was remarkable: he would not give up until every point in my application was perfect - a truly hard working perfectionist!

Finally, he was incredibly patient, supportive, and positive. He would recognize when I struggled in-between applications and offer a constructive break. I never felt that he was rushing through our materials, thinking about deadlines or how much time we were spending on the project.

Working with Inspira Futures was an invaluable decision I made during my application process.

When I signed up to work with Inspira Futures, I was mostly concerned about how I would pay for my MBA. Through their team's guidance and expert scholarship application building support, I was able to secure $120K in scholarships to fund my MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business!

School selection was the main thing I struggled with when I came to Inspira - all the American business school options sounded like they would fit me. My consultant helped me determine which factors mattered to me most to finally decide on the four schools I wanted to apply to. I'm excited to continue my journey at Wharton!

Inspira Futures made the MBA Admissions process, which can be incredibly daunting, much more manageable through their day to day assistance with everything from creating a personal strategy, to determining appropriate individuals for recommendations, to reviewing multiple essay drafts. I would highly recommend their services.

My admissions counselor was patient enough to work with me across six time zones and two continents for six months, assisting me with a total of six applications. She was incredibly insightful about the entire process and provided consistently valuable feedback, enthusiasm, and advice, even when I was starting to inevitably get tired. I can not recommend their services enough. Her call to me when I got into Stanford GSB was so inspiring and motivating that I will never forger it!

Samantha was an incredible consultant and I would highly recommend her! I had a tight timeline between the initial application review and submission, but was able to meet the deadlines with ease through Samantha's services. She provided thorough feedback on my essays and was not afraid to provide her honest opinion. She helped transform my essays into concise yet interesting stories specific to each school. She also responded to my emails quickly and was extremely flexible, even offering to schedule a mock interview with me late in the evening. Ultimately, I was accepted to both MBA programs that I applied to - MIT and Columbia. Thanks Samantha!

I am a new member at Wharton. This past fall I worked with Alec on a 5 school comprehensive package. From the start, I felt that Alec was personally invested in my MBA application journey. I only ever interacted with Alec, and I felt that Alec knew my story and my essays inside and out. He was very accessible anytime I wanted to chat via phone or email. He provided great insights into what each school was looking for in its application--the kind of detail and nuance I would have never known without his help! I am incredibly excited to be attending Wharton and would 100% recommend Alec to anyone seeking the best possible outcomes from their MBA application process.

Working with Inspira Futures was the best decision I made during my MBA application process. I worked with them on a five-school package, and thanks to their fantastic team and approach, I'm going to my top choice this fall.

My primary counselor, was wonderful to work with. She was patient, kept me on track with the timelines for each school, and gave insightful feedback that helped me draw out my best stories for my essays and interviews. She was always positive and thoughtful in our interactions, which alleviated a lot of the stress that goes along with the application process. She was also incredibly responsive and usually got back to me within 24 hours, even over the holidays.

She was extremely knowledgeable about every school that I applied to, and gave great feedback on how to optimize the content in my essays for each one. Having a secondary reviewer and proofreader look over my essays in addition to my primary strategist was a great value-add. They identified areas for improvement and gave me peace of mind that weren't any grammatical mistakes.

I also really appreciated Inspira Futures' commitment to great customer service. I always felt like I was their only client and that my applications were their priority. I ended up getting into four schools, I got congratulatory emails from a number of team members.

Inspira Futures is well worth the investment and I highly recommend to anyone considering an MBA.

Getting into Harvard is a dream come true! Collaborating with my consultant at every turn helped me stay on task and motivated - he even shared tips to help me expand my professional network. Although my documents were nearly perfect by the end of our time together, the final review was the cherry on top to pull my documents together. I can't wait to embark on this new journey, and besides my own hard work, I have Inspira's guidance to thank - I'll definitely be recommending them to my friends thinking about going to b-school!

I went with the three-school package without realizing they really meant unlimited everything! I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to reach my consultant and how many edits we went through before I was happy with everything looked before submission. Inspira Futures doesn't rush through anything!

A good consultant is highly adept at helping with editing essays. A great one is so much more - he is a mentor, a coach, and a friend.

I can say, without reservation, that Gabriel is a fantastic admissions consultant. I would recommend him without reservation. With his help, I was overjoyed to get admitted to a top 5 school. But even if my application process had been unsuccessful, I would still recommend him.

Firstly - Gabriel genuinely interested in *you*. I interviewed 7 other admissions consultants before selecting Gabriel. Unlike others that simply delivered a templatized pitch, Gabriel had done his homework into my background, and seemed genuinely interested in learning more about who I was on our call. This is critical because the more interested a consultant is in digging deep into your specific story, the better his ability and desire help you craft a unique message.

Secondly - Gabriel is approachable and balanced. Through the process, Gabriel helped draw out not only my strengths, but also my weaknesses. Because he's just such a good guy it's really easy to open up to him. This is absolutely crucial in developing an authentic, self-aware application.

Thirdly - Gabriel pushes you - hard. Applying to business school can be a physically exhausting and emotionally draining process. While Gabriel sympathizes with this, he doesn't let you off easy. He pushes you to go through every aspect the Inspira Futures process (which in itself is great, by the way) and constantly drives you to conduct deeper research to better understand yourself and develop more specific messages.

Fourthly - Gabriel is aware and nuanced in his approach. A small but telling example - every time Gabriel came across a blog / article that he thought could help me - he'd email me its link. Another example - some admissions consultants conveniently told me that all of the schools were “pretty much the same. Gabriel believed the exact opposite and drove me to understand the unique flavor of each school. Additionally, I'm an Indian applicant - and Gabriel, well, isn't Indian. But his general awareness and ability to learn quickly was so high that this didn't matter - indeed he served as an excellent bridge between my Indian mind-set and the culture of each of my US target schools. In an environment where you're constantly trying to differentiate yourself from peers with similar backgrounds, while simultaneously trying to demonstrate fit with your target schools, these little things go a long way.

The only regret I have about working with Inspira Futures is that I didn't engage them sooner in the application process. It's worth noting that I reached out to Inspira Futures in December, several weeks before R2 applications were due. Despite this challenging timeline, my counselor coached me through six top-ten MBA applications, resulting in a full-ride scholarship at NYU Stern and admittance to Northwestern Kellogg's MMM program. She provided expert advice that went far beyond mere grammatical essay critique. In fact, while her comments on my essays were always insightful and prompt, she was most helpful in refining my broader applicant narrative before I even set pen to paper.

She helped me navigate the shifting sands of various career goals, even suggesting certain paths based on my background that I'd never considered. Nudges like this expanded my perspective and enabled me to present a very compelling "why" behind my application, which helped my essays and interviews stand out. Her style is tactful but direct. She encouraged me to lean into my strengths, but also candidly pointed out when she knew something wouldn't resonate well with admissions committees. Inspira Futures played an indispensable role in honing my applicant story, preparing for interviews and negotiating competing scholarship offers. If you're serious about getting into a top MBA program, do yourself a favor and hire Inspira Futures.

I started the MBA application process late in the admissions season, having taken the GMAT in the second week of December, hoping to complete second round applications. I spoke with Dan at Inspira Futures the week after the GMAT and told him I intended to try to complete four applications to top 10 business schools in three weeks and asked for his help.

As an individual with a finance background, I needed to really differentiate myself in order to be accepted. Through conversations and drafts of my essays, Dan was able to extract a truly unique story from my background that seemed rather mundane to me at the onset of the process. His ability to detect true differentiators in my background helped craft a perfect admissions story. Dan really pushes you to expand on all of your points to get the most out of your essays. Furthermore, Dan has deep knowledge of all of the top business schools and knows the types of people that they are interested in which helped tailor my story to each school that I applied.

He helped me craft some really compelling scholarship essays. I got into Stanford and also got $53K scholarship!! This is huge for me

I cannot say enough positive things about Helen. She was instrumental in helping me put my best foot forward and tell my story in a way that stood out despite no obvious "hook" (HBS / GSB admit as a white / Asian male from large cap PE). Helen is intelligent, knowledgeable, organized, empathetic, and refreshingly direct. I was a huge fan of both her substance and style, and would recommend her and Inspira Futures if you're looking for someone who will be upfront and candid with you while working tirelessly to help you put your best foot forward in an increasingly competitive applicant field.

Inspira helped me get into HBS. The first thing that stood out to me is that they are really fun, but also no-nonsense! They knows her stuff... you can tell they all comes from the admissions world and have the expertise to steer you toward the key fundamentals that really make a difference.

I spoke with several consultants before going with Inspira... they all seemed to try to sell me on their magnificent writing or deep expertise on a school... but what was compelling to me is that Inspira gives you what most consultants can't: the experience of understanding adcom. My counselor knew how adcom ticks and could help me craft a compelling story that adcom will understand.

I used a comprehensive package and found it to be a great value... she was transparent and efficient, very responsive, and impressively available. She'll be your #1 fan throughout the process, and will give you the confidence that you're turning in the strongest possible application.

Inspira Futures was a huge assistance in helping me prepare for applying to business school and executing all of the necessary steps to submit an application on time. Their process helped challenge my application and poke holes in my story as my application and essays went through review with different individuals throughout the application lifecycle. Most notably, I had an awesome consultant who demonstrated MBA process knowledge, school specific knowledge, and expertise throughout the whole process. I would work with her again in a heartbeat and encourage any interested applicant to consult her! I have no doubt that my application wouldn't be successful unless I had her help.