TESTIMONIALS
Don't just take our word for it. Read what our clients say about Elite Admit.
Over the years, Elite Admit served hundreds of clients. We have a lot to show you. These are selected testimonials in their original form. To protect our client's privacy, we asked them to sign with their school's name. The whole range of testimonials is available at our office.
- CMU MISM-BIDA Candidate
- Cornell MBA
- HBS MBA class of 2020
- INSEAD MBA class of 2019
- INSEAD MBA class of 2017
- Kellogg MBA+MEM class of 2020
- Kellogg MBA class of 2019
- Kellogg MBA class of 2019
- Kellogg MBA class of 2018
- MIT Sloan MBA class of 2021
- Stanford GSB
- Wharton MBA
Logo of Carnegie Mellon University
To whom it May Concern:
I graduated from Chulalongkorn University with a degree of Petroleum Engineering. However, I began my first career in banking, and I wanted to apply for MS Business Analytics program at top university in US. I knew it is a very challenging task to move from one field to another that is totally different. I then decided to find a professional consultant who can bring out the best in me. Luckily, Dane’s comprehensive understanding of banking business, economics, and data analytics made him the perfect consultant.
Dane helped me carry out my entire application process smoothly starting from outlining my positioning, outlining my SOP, editing my drafts, to preparing me for many admission interviews (video and Skype). Dane helped me outline my amazing story containing various achievements that distinguish me from other applicants through dozens of hours of private meeting. Dane helped me draft my SOP that can apply to many schools by implementing a specific paragraph structure that each paragraph contains a perfect mini-story for my achievement. Finally, Dane coached me the interview strategy so that I can present the best version of myself to admission committees. By applying storytelling techniques that I learnt from Dane, I can answer any interview questions confidently and concisely. Additionally, he also offered his help that beyond the initial agreement by offering advice on an additional school application for free!
Having an opportunity to work with Dane, I also developed many important skills particularly logical thinking skills to organize my thoughts and to deliver my messages effectively through both oral and written communication. These skills can apply not only to SOP and interview but also to real-life application.
I can assure that Dane is the major contribution to my success, and I was fortunate to know, to work with, and to learn from the professional consultant like him. Eventually, due to my outstanding performance, I was accepted into Carnegie Mellon (ranked #3), Duke, UC San Diego, and Columbia.
Sincerely,
MISM-BIDA Candidate
Carnegie Mellon University
Signed: CMU'19
Logo: Johnson Cornell University
Dear aspiring MBA candidates,
I worked with Dane on my MBA applications, and his coaching service has been immensely valuable. Dane was able to uncover, from my previous experience, the optimal stories that will make my application stand out. He also guided me to compose outstanding essays for my application, which was still in my own words even with his advice and improvements. Even today, I am still using Dane’s guidelines when writing application essays, and they have been particularly effective on job applications.
Dane was superb in strategic planning when it comes to interviewing preparation. He was able to access my limitation and weakness and create a working strategy, utilizing his expertise in human’s psychology and risk/reward concept.
On the personal side, Dane is genuinely keen on helping his clients succeed and he has an exceptional work ethic. This has been repeatedly proven to me throughout my application journey and especially afterward, during my MBA, he keeps in touch with me and even helped me on recruiting and did a mock interview with me.
I recommend working with someone who truly cares about an applicant’s success, in MBA and in life. Dane has proven he is that person, along with being a top consultant in Asia.
Good luck with your journey,
Signed: Cornell MBA
Logo: Harvard Business School
Dear Future MBA's
What I learned the first day I met Dane is that MBA applications are not a writing contest. Therefore, I knew I needed a very competent consultant. I needed someone who truly understood my industry, could identify the best aspects of my achievements, and then could help outline a positioning that would make me stand out among the best candidates in the world. Dane provided all of those services and more.
I really enjoyed working extensively with Dane. Moreover, he went beyond what I could have possibly expected, helping me develop a unique and impactful social initiative that integrated business tactics, social entrepreneurship, and global awareness, which resulted in a great essay and the perfect interview story. He connected me with experts and then worked with me to ensure my project represented my personal passions and current global trends. He then spent months teaching me the intricacies of interview training, making sure I could effectively convey my professional and personal experiences in a way that made my interviews with top-10 programs not only effective, but genuinely comfortable and conversational. My HBS interview was one of the best half hours of my life, and it resulted in the admissions offer I had dreamed of for years.
Most importantly, what Dane consistently made clear was that my HBS offer was because of who I was and what I had done. He just helped me present it in the most effective way possible. I think a truly great consultant makes it clear that you deserved to be accepted. They just make sure the schools see that too. Because of all this and more, I can confidently say that Dane is definitely one of the best MBA consultants in the world. He truly understands both Asia and America thoroughly.
Sincerely,
Harvard Business School MBA, Class of 2020
Signed: Harvard'20
Logo: INSEAD
To aspiring MBA candidates,
My experience with Dane was awesome! At his last company, I met with his business partner a few times at the very beginning, but then every meeting for the next 8 months was only with Dane. He did strategy, essay planning, revisions, and interviews, managing literally every aspect of the process…while his old partner just took my money and disappeared, which is why I am so glad Dane decided to launch MBA Elite.
From our very first meeting, I could see that Dane was confident in my abilities, and I felt reassured that he had strategies in mind specifically for me and my challenging career background. Dane's approaches gave a boost to my confidence, which counts for a lot given the intensity of the MBA application process. Along the way, he was quick to reply and open for discussion. Since an MBA application is an evolving process, this allowed strategies to be continuously developed and refined.
While he was extremely knowledgeable and skilled in all aspects of MBA, the most impressive thing about him would be his interview strategies (group mocks that went on for months) which made sure I never had panic attacks and allowed me not only to remain calm during live interviews but work with timing to deliver my best stories. Without his support, even after getting waitlisted, I would have not pushed through this far. That’s why when I finally got my INSEAD offer, my top choice, he was the first person I messaged. Thank you so much!
Signed: INSEAD MBA 19
Logo: INSEAD – The Business School for the World
To Whom it may Concern
I still remember walking into meet Dane in 2015, with my GMAT result in hand and no idea of what to do to get into a top school for my MBA. When asked what I felt were my achievements, I drew the biggest blank because I was honestly not aware of what they were. That is when the process of self-introspection first started for me, with the help of Dane, leading me to doing my MBA with INSEAD in 2017.
Dane, showed me that what I had achieved in my previous career was quite substantial, things that should be highlighted in my admissions applications and my CV. The entire process of first creating the essays, from my perspective, with Dane’s guidance, and then filling in the applications would not have happened had I gone about the process alone. He established proper timelines for everything to be completed, guided me about some extra schools which I was applying to myself without hesitation, and then prepared me rigorously for the interviews. I still use a lot of his lessons when applying and interviewing with firms in the real world since they were so valuable. One of the most valuable is his structure to interview questions, which is both similar but slightly different/unique as compared to what is taught at some of the top B-schools in the world.
Personally, I found Dane to be extremely helpful and insightful, very dynamic and focused, accepting of individual nuances of each applicant and overall an excellent consultant. I would have no hesitation in recommending him to anyone as I do feel that he adds that extra something that everyone needs order to separate them from the pack and help them to go from a good school to a top-5 school. Anyone at MBA Elite will be in great hands.
INSEAD MBA 2017, and a big fan of Dane’s work
Signed: INSEAD MBA '17
Logo: Kellogg School of Management
Dear future MBA hopefuls
Successfully applying to a top MBA program is a uniquely challenging endeavor. From making the best of your profile to understanding the strategies for an impactful interview, I was very glad I had the guidance of Dane Phillips. His help was most definitely a vital part to my success in the process.
Having been rejected from numerous top schools when I applied the previous year (with a different consulting company) in conjunction with a career move that, on surface, did not appear to be a planned transaction built on previous experiences and towards a certain goal, I was not in a good position to join a top MBA program before I met Dane.
Dane immediately dedicated much time to understanding my experience, both my previous and current employers and their industries, which enabled him to form a coherent logic underlying my career shift that leveraged my variety of experiences into a wide range of contributions to an MBA program. Together, we picked out my best achievements to develop in the best possible way to fit any and all MBA application essays and helped me to develop a career goal that was both ambitious and realistic, a vital part of an applicant’s profile. Through his help, my profile had been developed into a highly unique and competitive MBA application. Furthermore, through his network and work with the nonprofit sector, he was able to match me with an NGO that leveraged my skillset to greatly and systematically contribute to their work, not only providing me with a valuable CSR project to my profile but also bringing genuine benefits to those in need. And of course, he meticulously read through every single word I wrote in my application to make sure it was crafted as effectively as possible. All this effort in profile development ultimately paid off when I received 6 invitations to interview out of 8 applications to top business schools throughout the world.
However, submitting applications is only the first part of the process. Just as challenging is making a positive impact upon representatives of the school through the interview process. This was another area in which Dane’s help is crucial to my success. The interview training that he gave was both rigorous and intense, with both group sessions that let us understand the sort of mistakes to avoid and individual sessions to hone ourselves. As a sign of the faith Dane had in us and our application, these sessions started 3 months before interviews began and well before invitations were released. The results of such intense training ultimately paid of as I received acceptances to join the MBA program of 5 of the 6 schools that I interviewed with (including Kellogg, Chicago Booth, and INSEAD).
Throughout this process, Dane was a pleasure to work with. In a process as rigorous as preparing MBA applications, he understood that such stresses catch up with human beings and endeavored to make the process as interesting and invigorating as possible. It is to him that I owe much of my success in my MBA applications this year.
Sincerely,
Kellogg MBA+MEM 2020
Logo: Kellogg School of Management
Dear Future MBA's,
Working with Dane for over one year, I benefited from his expertise in planning, personal development, and application execution. From the beginning, he helped me see the most interesting and important aspects of my profile, and then he worked with me to developed new personal and family business initiatives that would improve my chances of success. And it worked! Even with my GMAT and GPA below Kellogg’s average, I still gained acceptance, and I am now leaving to study at my MBA dream school in Evanston.
Specifically, Dane helped me plan essays, gave me writing advice, and edited my writing so that it was strong but still totally my own. I appreciate that he was very ethical and supportive, never trying to take the fast or easy way to a great application. And I love my essays!
But he also taught me that an application is about a lot more than essays. He was extremely holistic in his process, with a huge emphasis on interview strategies and training. He spent months getting my ready for interviews, and his strategic communications classes are what I know probably most helped me get into Kellogg, but they will also help me during my MBA and throughout my career.
After more than a year working together closely, I can definitely see what Dane means when he says other people are admissions counselors or essay editors, but he is a human capital consultant. It’s a totally different experience, and I am so happy with the process and the result.
Signed: Kellogg MBA 2019
Logo: Kellogg School of Management
Dear Aspiring MBA candidates,
At first, the MBA application process seemed difficult and very challenging to me. In my view, it required lots of energy and time, a resource that I had limited in my case. Since the beginning of the process, my concern was workload at my job. In fact, I had postponed my MBA application for years due to this reason. Once I decided to apply last year, referred by many friends who had worked with Dane, I reached out to request for his support. Since then, he never let me down.
Since I started my application process later than many other applicants, I can see Dane put a lot of his time and effort focusing on my application. Along the way, he had always insisted that I can make it. Working hard with him within just short period of time, I was able to submit my application and get successfully admitted by my dream school, achieving a goal that I had postponed for years.
His understanding of businesses and industries had also played important role in my application. Having been focusing my career in real estate and finance sector for over six years, I believed I had gained expertise in my area. With Dane's support, accompanied with his good understanding of my industry, I was able to communicate my past challenges, my key actions, and my achievements effectively in my application.
Interview process was another major concern to me. Having been studying and working in Thailand for my entire life, I felt that interview could be a weak spot in my application. Understanding my concern, Dane put a lot of effort providing me tricks, techniques, as well as a lot of interview practices that not only helped me get better at answering questions, but also allowed me to gain much more confidence, which I think is the most important success factor when it comes to MBA interview.
Moreover, Dane's knowledge and connection allowed me to strengthen impact of my social works. Previously, I engaged in social activities focusing on creating impact on a small group of people. Dane advised me how I could improve my activities leveraging on my family business platform and connected me with several NGOs who were looking for help. Following his advice, I was able to utilize my resources to enhance impact of my social program.
Lastly, I must mention that another point that meant a lot to me is that Dane stayed with me during my entire application process, from day one until the acceptance. Along the process, I knew he was always there to help me no matter what problem or question I had. For these reasons, I knew I had chosen the right guy, and I totally thank him for his great support.
Appreciatively,
Kellogg MBA 2019
Logo: Kellogg School of Management
To Whom it May Concern,
Applying for an MBA is more difficult than what I originally thought, especially when you were working full-time for a top consulting firm.
Before I met Dane, I got rejected from my dream school on the previous year. I was depressed and almost gave up. My self-esteem hit bottom.
However, this changed when I met Dane. Throughout the process with Dane, I realized that I shouldn't write the essay that is perfect for anyone, but it should be the essay that best reflects who you are. It should be unique to you, not others. And that is even tougher. Even with my competitive industry background and lower GMAT, with Dane's help, I got into three schools and waitlisted for one ( even with significant scholarship from some, and they are all top 10 MBAs). I wouldn't come this far without him.
He helped me brainstorm my position and bring out the best in my background -the aspect that I haven't looked before. I took a step back and realized that I should apply to the school that really matched my values and my personality. Dane was very helpful from helping me narrowing down the schools to even support me with my transition to the school after I got accepted. We even had lunch together to celebrate my offers. He also advised me on how to best optimize my time at Kellogg.
His help goes beyond that, the group interview was one of the best experience I could ever ask for. Learning to tell the story that sticks and to convince others. It's even applied to my recruiting. I didn't have to prepare for my job interview that much as all the skills Dane taught me stuck with me and it comes naturally now, resulting in top tech and consulting offers.
In all, Dane is the best mentor I could ever ask for -not only for MBA applications but also for helping me grow as a candidate for any interviews.
Sincerely,
Kellogg MBA'18
Logo: MIT Management, Sloan School
Dear Aspiring MBA's candidates
It had been months working with Dane before I received the greatest news of admission. Dane is not a consultant who makes candidates get into their dream schools, but he is one of the best human investor. By this I mean, he sees precious elements hidden inside them and transforms those into their strengths, which eventually let his clients stand out among other gorgeous MBA’s candidates around the world.
With the fact that he has been accumulating experiences for more than ten years, he can definitely pull out the interesting parts from his clients’ daily jobs and routines and consecutively convert them into written formats. The most vital key, which makes Dane distinct from many consultants, is that his clients’ essays are built by each of their own words only. Additionally, for me, he also identified the gap of one of my project that I can fulfill in order to have perfect complete story. In other word, he emphasizes the candidates to embrace weaknesses and fix them before any admission committees could found.
More importantly, as a great human investor, he does not stop after the perfect stories are created. He then guides his students — I personally prefer to use this term in this application phase — to convey their own stories in the easiest way but still being able to grab listeners’ attention. His well-prepared strategies are amazingly applicable to not only MBA interviews, but also to real life immediate questions.
Needless to say with all mentioned, Dane is among the top-ranked consultants in the world. I can ensure that he does not consider what he is doing as a job. He truly cares about his clients and does everything he could to fulfill their dreams.
Sincerely,
Best of Luck,
MIT Sloan class of 2021
Logo: Stanford Graduate School of Business
Dear upcoming MBA applicants
A great business school education helps open the door for life-changing experiences. However, the application process is a massive burden, especially for someone who had 12-15 hours commitment at work each day like me. It was very difficult to find time for the long and involved application process.
I initially hired some advisers, but I did not want to spend valuable time learning about grammar and generic essay writing. I knew I needed a true professional to help me get to my dream school, Stanford GSB. Then, at the last minute, less than a month before application deadlines, I met Dane.
Dane immediately made me feel less stress, even with the tight time constraint, because he helped me to understand the big picture and expertly guided me through the process. He knew the schools so well and strategically selected several programs that best fit my profile and goals, which saved me so much time and effort researching.
When I began working with Dane, we spent time discussing what I had done in my years of work experience. To my surprise, I found out that some achievements that I wouldn't have expected can be interesting information to the admissions officers. Dane's insight about cultural perspectives and what's important to each school helped me to know what details to highlight so my application would stand out. Dane's deep understanding of business and many different industries also helped make the process fast and smooth.
Throughout the entire process, he worked closely with me and gave me the highest level of commitment despite my time constraint. As a result, I got offers by top schools and even a scholarship.
Dane is not only an adviser but a wonderful person who genuinely wants to help others. For example, after I was accepted, Dane visited my business site and, with his management consultant expertise, gave great suggestions on how we could improve our operations. He is not just an admissions adviser but a visionary and a truly great person you really want to work with.
Best,
Stanford GSB
Logo: Wharton University of Pennsylvania
Dear Future MBA Candidates,
Gaining admission to a top MBA program is a tough and challenging process. When I began my process, I talked to many consultants at various admission consulting companies. I decided to work with Elite Admit because they were the ones with greatest passion, dedication and expertise to help me succeed. And it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
From the start, Elite Admit staff worked closely with me in every pieces of the application process including application and essay strategy planning, profile development, recommendation letters, school selections, and interviews. He really analyzed and understood every aspect of my background and experience to leverage on my strengths and craft the best stories that would make my application unique and stand out from the thousands of other applicants. His strategy was very effective and really fit all MBA application essays, making the application process even smoother and easier. Using Elite Admit’s strategy, I received 7 interview invitations out of 8 applications to top MBA programs (even my GMAT score was much below most of the schools’ average score).
The most challenging part for me was the interview process. I would say Elite Admit provided the most comprehensive and intensive interview practice (over 36+ hours of group interview sessions and private sessions) in the market. Elite Admit not only provided a lot of hours for interview training, but also equipped us with many interview strategies to effectively approach different types of questions and interview formats (e.g. group interview for Wharton and case interview for LBS), making the real interviews much easier and more relaxed. Also, I got to meet many new friends in the group interview session who are very supportive and help to cheer each other up during this stressful process. I am not a fluent English speaker, but with Elite Admit’s strategy and interview practice, I received an offer from 6 out of 7 top MBA programs that I interviewed.
Throughout the process, Elite Admit demonstrated the highest level of commitment and dedication to help all of their clients succeed. They were always available for every client. I would never have made it this far without them.
Sincerely,
Wharton MBA
Screen reader-friendly testimonials (consolidated)
Table of Contents
CMU MISM-BIDA Candidate
Logo of Carnegie Mellon University
To whom it May Concern:
I graduated from Chulalongkorn University with a degree of Petroleum Engineering. However, I began my first career in banking, and I wanted to apply for MS Business Analytics program at top university in US. I knew it is a very challenging task to move from one field to another that is totally different. I then decided to find a professional consultant who can bring out the best in me. Luckily, Dane’s comprehensive understanding of banking business, economics, and data analytics made him the perfect consultant.
Dane helped me carry out my entire application process smoothly starting from outlining my positioning, outlining my SOP, editing my drafts, to preparing me for many admission interviews (video and Skype). Dane helped me outline my amazing story containing various achievements that distinguish me from other applicants through dozens of hours of private meeting. Dane helped me draft my SOP that can apply to many schools by implementing a specific paragraph structure that each paragraph contains a perfect mini-story for my achievement. Finally, Dane coached me the interview strategy so that I can present the best version of myself to admission committees. By applying storytelling techniques that I learnt from Dane, I can answer any interview questions confidently and concisely. Additionally, he also offered his help that beyond the initial agreement by offering advice on an additional school application for free!
Having an opportunity to work with Dane, I also developed many important skills particularly logical thinking skills to organize my thoughts and to deliver my messages effectively through both oral and written communication. These skills can apply not only to SOP and interview but also to real-life application.
I can assure that Dane is the major contribution to my success, and I was fortunate to know, to work with, and to learn from the professional consultant like him. Eventually, due to my outstanding performance, I was accepted into Carnegie Mellon (ranked #3), Duke, UC San Diego, and Columbia.
Sincerely,
MISM-BIDA Candidate
Carnegie Mellon University
Signed: CMU'19
Cornell MBA
Logo: Johnson Cornell University
Dear aspiring MBA candidates,
I worked with Dane on my MBA applications, and his coaching service has been immensely valuable. Dane was able to uncover, from my previous experience, the optimal stories that will make my application stand out. He also guided me to compose outstanding essays for my application, which was still in my own words even with his advice and improvements. Even today, I am still using Dane’s guidelines when writing application essays, and they have been particularly effective on job applications.
Dane was superb in strategic planning when it comes to interviewing preparation. He was able to access my limitation and weakness and create a working strategy, utilizing his expertise in human’s psychology and risk/reward concept.
On the personal side, Dane is genuinely keen on helping his clients succeed and he has an exceptional work ethic. This has been repeatedly proven to me throughout my application journey and especially afterward, during my MBA, he keeps in touch with me and even helped me on recruiting and did a mock interview with me.
I recommend working with someone who truly cares about an applicant’s success, in MBA and in life. Dane has proven he is that person, along with being a top consultant in Asia.
Good luck with your journey,
Signed: Cornell MBA
HBS MBA class of 2020
Logo: Harvard Business School
Dear Future MBA's
What I learned the first day I met Dane is that MBA applications are not a writing contest. Therefore, I knew I needed a very competent consultant. I needed someone who truly understood my industry, could identify the best aspects of my achievements, and then could help outline a positioning that would make me stand out among the best candidates in the world. Dane provided all of those services and more.
I really enjoyed working extensively with Dane. Moreover, he went beyond what I could have possibly expected, helping me develop a unique and impactful social initiative that integrated business tactics, social entrepreneurship, and global awareness, which resulted in a great essay and the perfect interview story. He connected me with experts and then worked with me to ensure my project represented my personal passions and current global trends. He then spent months teaching me the intricacies of interview training, making sure I could effectively convey my professional and personal experiences in a way that made my interviews with top-10 programs not only effective, but genuinely comfortable and conversational. My HBS interview was one of the best half hours of my life, and it resulted in the admissions offer I had dreamed of for years.
Most importantly, what Dane consistently made clear was that my HBS offer was because of who I was and what I had done. He just helped me present it in the most effective way possible. I think a truly great consultant makes it clear that you deserved to be accepted. They just make sure the schools see that too. Because of all this and more, I can confidently say that Dane is definitely one of the best MBA consultants in the world. He truly understands both Asia and America thoroughly.
Sincerely,
Harvard Business School MBA, Class of 2020
Signed: Harvard'20
INSEAD MBA class of 2019
Logo: INSEAD
To aspiring MBA candidates,
My experience with Dane was awesome! At his last company, I met with his business partner a few times at the very beginning, but then every meeting for the next 8 months was only with Dane. He did strategy, essay planning, revisions, and interviews, managing literally every aspect of the process…while his old partner just took my money and disappeared, which is why I am so glad Dane decided to launch MBA Elite.
From our very first meeting, I could see that Dane was confident in my abilities, and I felt reassured that he had strategies in mind specifically for me and my challenging career background. Dane's approaches gave a boost to my confidence, which counts for a lot given the intensity of the MBA application process. Along the way, he was quick to reply and open for discussion. Since an MBA application is an evolving process, this allowed strategies to be continuously developed and refined.
While he was extremely knowledgeable and skilled in all aspects of MBA, the most impressive thing about him would be his interview strategies (group mocks that went on for months) which made sure I never had panic attacks and allowed me not only to remain calm during live interviews but work with timing to deliver my best stories. Without his support, even after getting waitlisted, I would have not pushed through this far. That’s why when I finally got my INSEAD offer, my top choice, he was the first person I messaged. Thank you so much!
Signed: INSEAD MBA 19
INSEAD MBA class of 2017
Logo: INSEAD – The Business School for the World
To Whom it may Concern
I still remember walking into meet Dane in 2015, with my GMAT result in hand and no idea of what to do to get into a top school for my MBA. When asked what I felt were my achievements, I drew the biggest blank because I was honestly not aware of what they were. That is when the process of self-introspection first started for me, with the help of Dane, leading me to doing my MBA with INSEAD in 2017.
Dane, showed me that what I had achieved in my previous career was quite substantial, things that should be highlighted in my admissions applications and my CV. The entire process of first creating the essays, from my perspective, with Dane’s guidance, and then filling in the applications would not have happened had I gone about the process alone. He established proper timelines for everything to be completed, guided me about some extra schools which I was applying to myself without hesitation, and then prepared me rigorously for the interviews. I still use a lot of his lessons when applying and interviewing with firms in the real world since they were so valuable. One of the most valuable is his structure to interview questions, which is both similar but slightly different/unique as compared to what is taught at some of the top B-schools in the world.
Personally, I found Dane to be extremely helpful and insightful, very dynamic and focused, accepting of individual nuances of each applicant and overall an excellent consultant. I would have no hesitation in recommending him to anyone as I do feel that he adds that extra something that everyone needs order to separate them from the pack and help them to go from a good school to a top-5 school. Anyone at MBA Elite will be in great hands.
INSEAD MBA 2017, and a big fan of Dane’s work
Signed: INSEAD MBA '17
Kellogg MBA+MEM class of 2020
Logo: Kellogg School of Management
Dear future MBA hopefuls
Successfully applying to a top MBA program is a uniquely challenging endeavor. From making the best of your profile to understanding the strategies for an impactful interview, I was very glad I had the guidance of Dane Phillips. His help was most definitely a vital part to my success in the process.
Having been rejected from numerous top schools when I applied the previous year (with a different consulting company) in conjunction with a career move that, on surface, did not appear to be a planned transaction built on previous experiences and towards a certain goal, I was not in a good position to join a top MBA program before I met Dane.
Dane immediately dedicated much time to understanding my experience, both my previous and current employers and their industries, which enabled him to form a coherent logic underlying my career shift that leveraged my variety of experiences into a wide range of contributions to an MBA program. Together, we picked out my best achievements to develop in the best possible way to fit any and all MBA application essays and helped me to develop a career goal that was both ambitious and realistic, a vital part of an applicant’s profile. Through his help, my profile had been developed into a highly unique and competitive MBA application. Furthermore, through his network and work with the nonprofit sector, he was able to match me with an NGO that leveraged my skillset to greatly and systematically contribute to their work, not only providing me with a valuable CSR project to my profile but also bringing genuine benefits to those in need. And of course, he meticulously read through every single word I wrote in my application to make sure it was crafted as effectively as possible. All this effort in profile development ultimately paid off when I received 6 invitations to interview out of 8 applications to top business schools throughout the world.
However, submitting applications is only the first part of the process. Just as challenging is making a positive impact upon representatives of the school through the interview process. This was another area in which Dane’s help is crucial to my success. The interview training that he gave was both rigorous and intense, with both group sessions that let us understand the sort of mistakes to avoid and individual sessions to hone ourselves. As a sign of the faith Dane had in us and our application, these sessions started 3 months before interviews began and well before invitations were released. The results of such intense training ultimately paid of as I received acceptances to join the MBA program of 5 of the 6 schools that I interviewed with (including Kellogg, Chicago Booth, and INSEAD).
Throughout this process, Dane was a pleasure to work with. In a process as rigorous as preparing MBA applications, he understood that such stresses catch up with human beings and endeavored to make the process as interesting and invigorating as possible. It is to him that I owe much of my success in my MBA applications this year.
Sincerely,
Kellogg MBA+MEM 2020
Kellogg MBA class of 2019
Logo: Kellogg School of Management
Dear Future MBA's,
Working with Dane for over one year, I benefited from his expertise in planning, personal development, and application execution. From the beginning, he helped me see the most interesting and important aspects of my profile, and then he worked with me to developed new personal and family business initiatives that would improve my chances of success. And it worked! Even with my GMAT and GPA below Kellogg’s average, I still gained acceptance, and I am now leaving to study at my MBA dream school in Evanston.
Specifically, Dane helped me plan essays, gave me writing advice, and edited my writing so that it was strong but still totally my own. I appreciate that he was very ethical and supportive, never trying to take the fast or easy way to a great application. And I love my essays!
But he also taught me that an application is about a lot more than essays. He was extremely holistic in his process, with a huge emphasis on interview strategies and training. He spent months getting my ready for interviews, and his strategic communications classes are what I know probably most helped me get into Kellogg, but they will also help me during my MBA and throughout my career.
After more than a year working together closely, I can definitely see what Dane means when he says other people are admissions counselors or essay editors, but he is a human capital consultant. It’s a totally different experience, and I am so happy with the process and the result.
Signed: Kellogg MBA 2019
Kellogg MBA class of 2019
Logo: Kellogg School of Management
Dear Aspiring MBA candidates,
At first, the MBA application process seemed difficult and very challenging to me. In my view, it required lots of energy and time, a resource that I had limited in my case. Since the beginning of the process, my concern was workload at my job. In fact, I had postponed my MBA application for years due to this reason. Once I decided to apply last year, referred by many friends who had worked with Dane, I reached out to request for his support. Since then, he never let me down.
Since I started my application process later than many other applicants, I can see Dane put a lot of his time and effort focusing on my application. Along the way, he had always insisted that I can make it. Working hard with him within just short period of time, I was able to submit my application and get successfully admitted by my dream school, achieving a goal that I had postponed for years.
His understanding of businesses and industries had also played important role in my application. Having been focusing my career in real estate and finance sector for over six years, I believed I had gained expertise in my area. With Dane's support, accompanied with his good understanding of my industry, I was able to communicate my past challenges, my key actions, and my achievements effectively in my application.
Interview process was another major concern to me. Having been studying and working in Thailand for my entire life, I felt that interview could be a weak spot in my application. Understanding my concern, Dane put a lot of effort providing me tricks, techniques, as well as a lot of interview practices that not only helped me get better at answering questions, but also allowed me to gain much more confidence, which I think is the most important success factor when it comes to MBA interview.
Moreover, Dane's knowledge and connection allowed me to strengthen impact of my social works. Previously, I engaged in social activities focusing on creating impact on a small group of people. Dane advised me how I could improve my activities leveraging on my family business platform and connected me with several NGOs who were looking for help. Following his advice, I was able to utilize my resources to enhance impact of my social program.
Lastly, I must mention that another point that meant a lot to me is that Dane stayed with me during my entire application process, from day one until the acceptance. Along the process, I knew he was always there to help me no matter what problem or question I had. For these reasons, I knew I had chosen the right guy, and I totally thank him for his great support.
Appreciatively,
Kellogg MBA 2019
Kellogg MBA class of 2018
Logo: Kellogg School of Management
To Whom it May Concern,
Applying for an MBA is more difficult than what I originally thought, especially when you were working full-time for a top consulting firm.
Before I met Dane, I got rejected from my dream school on the previous year. I was depressed and almost gave up. My self-esteem hit bottom.
However, this changed when I met Dane. Throughout the process with Dane, I realized that I shouldn't write the essay that is perfect for anyone, but it should be the essay that best reflects who you are. It should be unique to you, not others. And that is even tougher. Even with my competitive industry background and lower GMAT, with Dane's help, I got into three schools and waitlisted for one ( even with significant scholarship from some, and they are all top 10 MBAs). I wouldn't come this far without him.
He helped me brainstorm my position and bring out the best in my background -the aspect that I haven't looked before. I took a step back and realized that I should apply to the school that really matched my values and my personality. Dane was very helpful from helping me narrowing down the schools to even support me with my transition to the school after I got accepted. We even had lunch together to celebrate my offers. He also advised me on how to best optimize my time at Kellogg.
His help goes beyond that, the group interview was one of the best experience I could ever ask for. Learning to tell the story that sticks and to convince others. It's even applied to my recruiting. I didn't have to prepare for my job interview that much as all the skills Dane taught me stuck with me and it comes naturally now, resulting in top tech and consulting offers.
In all, Dane is the best mentor I could ever ask for -not only for MBA applications but also for helping me grow as a candidate for any interviews.
Sincerely,
Kellogg MBA'18
MIT Sloan MBA class of 2021
Logo: MIT Management, Sloan School
Dear Aspiring MBA's candidates
It had been months working with Dane before I received the greatest news of admission. Dane is not a consultant who makes candidates get into their dream schools, but he is one of the best human investor. By this I mean, he sees precious elements hidden inside them and transforms those into their strengths, which eventually let his clients stand out among other gorgeous MBA’s candidates around the world.
With the fact that he has been accumulating experiences for more than ten years, he can definitely pull out the interesting parts from his clients’ daily jobs and routines and consecutively convert them into written formats. The most vital key, which makes Dane distinct from many consultants, is that his clients’ essays are built by each of their own words only. Additionally, for me, he also identified the gap of one of my project that I can fulfill in order to have perfect complete story. In other word, he emphasizes the candidates to embrace weaknesses and fix them before any admission committees could found.
More importantly, as a great human investor, he does not stop after the perfect stories are created. He then guides his students — I personally prefer to use this term in this application phase — to convey their own stories in the easiest way but still being able to grab listeners’ attention. His well-prepared strategies are amazingly applicable to not only MBA interviews, but also to real life immediate questions.
Needless to say with all mentioned, Dane is among the top-ranked consultants in the world. I can ensure that he does not consider what he is doing as a job. He truly cares about his clients and does everything he could to fulfill their dreams.
Sincerely,
Best of Luck,
MIT Sloan class of 2021
Stanford GSB
Logo: Stanford Graduate School of Business
Dear upcoming MBA applicants
A great business school education helps open the door for life-changing experiences. However, the application process is a massive burden, especially for someone who had 12-15 hours commitment at work each day like me. It was very difficult to find time for the long and involved application process.
I initially hired some advisers, but I did not want to spend valuable time learning about grammar and generic essay writing. I knew I needed a true professional to help me get to my dream school, Stanford GSB. Then, at the last minute, less than a month before application deadlines, I met Dane.
Dane immediately made me feel less stress, even with the tight time constraint, because he helped me to understand the big picture and expertly guided me through the process. He knew the schools so well and strategically selected several programs that best fit my profile and goals, which saved me so much time and effort researching.
When I began working with Dane, we spent time discussing what I had done in my years of work experience. To my surprise, I found out that some achievements that I wouldn't have expected can be interesting information to the admissions officers. Dane's insight about cultural perspectives and what's important to each school helped me to know what details to highlight so my application would stand out. Dane's deep understanding of business and many different industries also helped make the process fast and smooth.
Throughout the entire process, he worked closely with me and gave me the highest level of commitment despite my time constraint. As a result, I got offers by top schools and even a scholarship.
Dane is not only an adviser but a wonderful person who genuinely wants to help others. For example, after I was accepted, Dane visited my business site and, with his management consultant expertise, gave great suggestions on how we could improve our operations. He is not just an admissions adviser but a visionary and a truly great person you really want to work with.
Best,
Stanford GSB
Wharton MBA
Logo: Wharton University of Pennsylvania
Dear Future MBA Candidates,
Gaining admission to a top MBA program is a tough and challenging process. When I began my process, I talked to many consultants at various admission consulting companies. I decided to work with Elite Admit because they were the ones with greatest passion, dedication and expertise to help me succeed. And it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
From the start, Elite Admit staff worked closely with me in every pieces of the application process including application and essay strategy planning, profile development, recommendation letters, school selections, and interviews. He really analyzed and understood every aspect of my background and experience to leverage on my strengths and craft the best stories that would make my application unique and stand out from the thousands of other applicants. His strategy was very effective and really fit all MBA application essays, making the application process even smoother and easier. Using Elite Admit’s strategy, I received 7 interview invitations out of 8 applications to top MBA programs (even my GMAT score was much below most of the schools’ average score).
The most challenging part for me was the interview process. I would say Elite Admit provided the most comprehensive and intensive interview practice (over 36+ hours of group interview sessions and private sessions) in the market. Elite Admit not only provided a lot of hours for interview training, but also equipped us with many interview strategies to effectively approach different types of questions and interview formats (e.g. group interview for Wharton and case interview for LBS), making the real interviews much easier and more relaxed. Also, I got to meet many new friends in the group interview session who are very supportive and help to cheer each other up during this stressful process. I am not a fluent English speaker, but with Elite Admit’s strategy and interview practice, I received an offer from 6 out of 7 top MBA programs that I interviewed.
Throughout the process, Elite Admit demonstrated the highest level of commitment and dedication to help all of their clients succeed. They were always available for every client. I would never have made it this far without them.
Sincerely,
Wharton MBA
