Adam is the single biggest reason behind my acceptance at HBS in R1. I had been rejected the previous year by HBS without an interview and as expected did not rate my chances high on the second attempt. Neither did Adam. Anybody who rates your chances high at HSW is lying to you. I think this rational approach helped me approach the process with a bit of dispassion and less expectations, something I had not done in my first attempt. At the same time, Adam made sure that I put my best foot forward. I found him fantastic for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, at the beginning of my research I had reached out to 5-6 consultants for a free 30 min call to better understand where I had failed in my first attempt. Some sugar coated my failures, while others tried to lower my ambitions. Adam was different. He bluntly told me where I had messed up and that I still had a chance at the top schools but I should be sensible enough to not let this drive my choices. I found the feedback really useful. He then helped craft a strategy wherein I would reapply to my dream schools H-SW in R1 and apply to other schools in R2.
Secondly, he let me take the lead on my applications. I wasn’t spoon fed and felt in control of the process, something that was important for me. I would reach out to him when I needed help and he would always be available despite charging on an hourly basis (btw he was quite generous with his time!). I also think Adam’s hourly pricing model turns out to be far cheaper on a per school basis compared to other consultants who charge by school.
Thirdly, he helped me focus by prioritizing the important stuff and supplementing that with high-quality advice and feedback based on his extensive experience in this space. Application process can be really stressful and differentiating between the important and not so important is really critical to manage time and costs. He was spot on here.
Lastly, I got something I had not asked for – A wonderful sense of humor which really kept the application process light, especially during some really tense moments in the night before my HBS interview. I sincerely owe this to him.
