Do You Really Need A Consultant?

Josh Eddy opted not to use an admissions consultant

Josh Eddy, 33, and his mom rarely disagreed–about anything. Then, he decided to apply to business school. “There were raised voices, which had never happened between us before,” he recalls in a Reddit forum. They spent the winter holidays of 2008 and 2009 arguing – not about whether he should get his MBA, but whether he should use the services of an admissions consultant.

His mom pointed out that applying to a highly selective business school required a huge investment of time and money. Why not get an expert on board? she reasoned.

But Eddy remained convinced that applying to B-school should be a personal process. His mom relented and stepped in as an informal application adviser, questioning his motivations, pushing him on his core beliefs, and calling out any bullshit. It was a painful process, but Eddy completed his applications. He was ready to click submit. Instead, he held off. “I didn’t think my story was compelling enough – I didn’t need an MBA,” he says.

He postponed a year, gained more work experience, and redid his essays. In 2010, he applied to the business schools at Berkeley, Northwestern, U Penn, and Santa Clara University. He received an acceptance letter from Northwestern, withdrew his application from Haas, and packed his bags for Evanston, Illinois. He graduated from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management in 2012.

While it was an “excruciating” process, Eddy stands by his decisions not to hire a consultant.

“I’ve seen so many people go to business school, even Kellogg, who didn’t know what they wanted in life, and rather than go through the hard process of reflecting and some very difficult choices, they wanted to escape the situation and go to business school,” he says. “No admissions consultant would ever steer you away from that path…you need a life coach and career coach before you need an admissions consultant.”

Eddy may be staunch in his beliefs, but he’s also in the minority. A 2013 survey by the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants found that 57% of prospective MBAs used an admissions consultant–a likely inflated number because many consultants would encourage their clients to fill out the association’s survey and those applicants are more likely to apply to the most selective MBA programs. That figure dips to 23% in a 2014 survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). It’s worth noting that the GMAC report includes students applying to master’s programs, who presumably are less likely to hire a consultant. Even if you accept the lower estimate, nearly one in four prospective business students now seek the services of a consultant.

These B-school hopefuls are paying a premium for them, too. Applicants subscribing to Aringo’s three-school package shelled out some $8,000 for the help. Even the “bargain” consulting firms run around $5,000 for three schools.

So is a consultant really worth it? Or is there a case to be made for doing it completely on your own?

It’s easy to understand the allure of an expert. The revolving-door relationship between university adcoms and MBA consulting firms gives consultants insider knowledge. They bring key insights to an opaque industry that anxious MBA applicants can only guess at otherwise.

But what about students like Eddy, who value self exploration in the application process? Or those MBA hopefuls who simply can’t afford the thousands of dollars for a shot at getting in with no guarantees?

Rob Veling served in the Peace Corps in Ghana, where consultants were in short supply

Rob Veling, 30, never considered a consultant for other reasons. The 30-year-old Peace Corps volunteer applied to B-school from a remote village in Ghana. “Consultants are thin on the ground in Bolgatanga,” he quips. Even remote advising sessions would have required frequent trips to the regional capital so he could access the Internet. The overcrowded computer cafes nixed this option. “You cannot get productive work done in those environments. Even before I had a computer, I would draft my emails before I got there,” he says. He relied on screenshots of websites, guidebooks, and close friends and family for admissions advice.

Like Eddy, Veling views the application process as  an existential exercise. Add a consultant to the mix, and it becomes less personal. “The application process, and especially the essays force you to really reflect on yourself as a person,” Veling points out. “I didn’t want to play the game too much. I wanted to get in on my own merit … I wanted to be sure I was getting into the right places – so it was right for me and for the program.” In his case, the fit turned out to be the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he’ll start classes in the fall.

Beyond the personal, Eddy says that not using a consultant likely helped his application. “They probably have a check-box list of things that need to be conveyed and certain turns of phrase and a certain editing system and a certain tone, but lacking all of that, I just threw myself onto the page as best I could and represented myself as truthfully as I could,” he says. For him, the authentic approach paid off.

Consultants, on the other hand, point out that they don’t write essays for students; rather, they coax out personal stories that candidates might otherwise overlook. “The truth is these essays are coming from the client themselves with our guidance,” says admissions consultant Stacy Blackman. “It’s not going to be a Stacy Blackman Consulting-produced essay. A lot of our clients want to write a Joe Business School essay that is actually impersonal, and we help them to insert themselves into the essay and make it more unique.” She concedes there are consultants who take it too far and highjack the story. But a good consultant should help candidates express themselves more compellingly, she says.

While consultants no doubt make the admissions process easier, Eddy contends that they can’t call you out when you’re off target. Whereas, someone like your mom will let you know when what you believe about yourself simply isn’t true. “I thought that I’m unique and different, but it turns out that’s not at my core,” he says. “One of things that is core to me is being honest and dependable, and that defines me a lot more than seeking out usual activities like Japanese Taiko drumming. There’s no way an admissions consultant would have directed me away from those things and toward what are actually the most important aspects of myself.”

But consultants claim they make a concerted effort to know their students and to develop a rapport with them. Blackman says her firm limits the number of clients per consultant to ensure students receive plenty of one-on-one attention. Betsy Masser of Master Admissions arranges consultations with clients before taking them on to ensure it’s a good fit on both sides. “I spend a virtual bottle of wine with my students, getting to know them and helping them find their authentic selves,” she says.

Whether or not your consultant becomes your best friend, they can help candidates navigate a daunting set of deadlines and check boxes. Blackman compares consultants to coaches. From leadership skills to sports to public speaking, coaches can save you time, stress, and mental angst by offering a third-party perspective. For many applicants, this is well worth a $5,000 investment. For others, not so much. “I wasn’t one of those people who was making a bunch of money and has little time,” Veling says. “I had the time available, but not the money. Whereas, I think a lot of people applying to business school have plenty of money on hand but no time to invest in writing their application.” For them, a consultant may very well make sense.

Then again, if you’re a contender for a top B-school, you’ll probably have a great experience wherever you go. So shelling out several thousand dollars to get into that “one” school may not be worth it. This was certainly the case for Matt Jacobs, 28, who took a “more haphazard” approach to MBA applications.

He applied to the business schools at New York University, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, U Penn, and Tepper. He ultimately went to the school he got in  – Tepper. “Honestly, this is the part where maybe a consultant would have made sense because I only got interviewed for one of them,” he says. “I ended up going to the school that I wanted to go to least, but honestly it worked out for the best. It was a fabulous experience.”

Securing a consultant to prune his essays and shape his application might have led to a bad fit. “Not hiring a consultant … gave me the best result, so luck all around,” he adds.

Of course, it’s also possible that Jacobs could have gotten in to a greater variety of schools had he paid for the guidance of a good admissions consultant. As anyone will tell you, getting into a highly selective MBA program is a difficult road, whether you use a consultant or not.

DON’T MISS: What MBA Admission Consultants Charge or MBA Admission Consulting Claims: How Credible?