GMAT Club

Daniel Richards Reviews

Company: mbaMission

With over a decade of MBA admissions experience, Daniel Richards has earned more than 50 five-star reviews on GMAT Club and assisted hundreds of clients in pursuing their business school goals. Dan himself holds a MBA from Columbia Business School (CBS), with a focus on marketing and corporate strategy, in addition to a BA in journalism from Northwestern University.

A former writer and editor for several print and online publications, Dan spent three years as the retail and consumer packaged goods editor for SmartBrief, Inc., a publishing company specializing in email newsletters for trade associations. His clients at SmartBrief included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Retail Federation.

While at CBS, Dan was active in the Marketing Association and was elected by his cluster to represent the group in alumni development activities. He developed an expertise in digital marketing and strategy and in social media while working in online marketing and product development at American Express in New York City. There, he designed and released the first American Express social media app, managed a company-wide Innovation Challenge, and relaunched a small business email newsletter that reached one million customers. He also managed the online marketing strategy for the first-ever Small Business Saturday—a complex, multichannel event credited with having the fastest-growing Facebook page in history. Dan lives with his family in Washington, DC.

4.9 /5 Average Rating
Based on 76 reviews
May 12, 2020
wannasingash

Joined: Dec 25, 2019

Posts: 7

Kudos: 3

Verified score:
740 Q49 V42

Dan Richards - Highly Recommended!

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I knew I needed a consultant to reach my MBA dreams, and spoke with around five different people before choosing Dan. Other consultants told me that with my qualifications I was a slam-dunk for M7, but Dan was the only one who remained logical – and told me that with hard work, there was a good, but not guaranteed, shot. I liked that approach best and it really pushed me to go that extra mile on my apps. I purchased the 7-school package with him and applied to 3 others on my own (I know, I’m crazy.)

Dan was consistently timely and effective. (Just know that you will need to make sure to be on top of all of your own progress/deadlines.) That being said, he was always available. We went through many, many iterations of all of my essays and resume: he really shines in his ability to shape an essay draft into something great. He even had me send in my choices for the application drop down menus and short answers for his approval, which was great peace of mind.

I received 8 interview invites, and Dan graciously let me swap out one of my seven included mock interviews for a school that we didn’t work on together. The mocks were extremely helpful and I went into all of my interviews feeling confident and fully prepared.

I was admitted to two M7s and received three full merit scholarships to T15s. I ultimately chose Kellogg, my top choice – and Dan’s first suggestion from day one, I must say – which we successfully navigated the waitlist for together. We were even able to negotiate a hefty scholarship on top to boot. I am over the moon with my results and would suggest him to anyone in a heartbeat.

If you’re looking for a consultant to reach your goals, go with Dan. Working with Dan was an investment that paid for itself many times over, and I’d suggest him to anyone who is looking to reach their best potential. Thanks Dan!!!

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May 12, 2020
moniquembani

Joined: May 12, 2020

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Pick Dan Richards - You will not regret it.

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Dan is focused, honest and transparent about what you need to achieve your goal which worked perfectly for me. He was incredibly patient and when reviewing my essays and worked me hard till my essays were as strong as they could be - He wanted my application to be as competitive as possible and for all my qualities to shine through. He was also very quick to turn around feedback as he understands the urgency and need to keep things moving, which kept me driven and on-track. I was able to hit all my deadlines because of that. Overall, with Dan, I felt like I was ALWAYS moving forward and moving closer to my goal. I got into a Top Ivy League Business School with his help.

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April 25, 2020
hlatif1s

Joined: Apr 25, 2020

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified score:
720 Q49 V40

Longshot that made it

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Dan helped me with a one school package to an m7. After a string of rejections applying R1 on my own, I turned to Dan's help in identifying unique aspects of my profile and crafting a really unique story that spoke to my background and potential contributions to the class profile. I had a lot of concerns regarding what to convey in my essays and thinking my background didn't really have any unique or interesting points to craft a compelling essay behind. With Dan's help he identified some unique aspects to my story and helped me highlight what I thought was a minor aspect of my background (a part-time job I had in college) to become a compelling story for my admissions profile.

Dan was extremely efficient with his comments and his ability to streamline my writing and help me more concisely express my points in my essays were extremely valuable. Comparing the results for the applications that i did on my own versus the ones I had Dan's help with, I noticed a huge difference in results, clearly speaking to the help that MBadmissions offers and Dan's expertise in this space.

Besides the essay editing services, the interview prep was also extremely helpful as Dan's advice on how to concisely discuss my work experience and doing a mock interview helped give me confidence during my interview.

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April 21, 2020
GMATPlayer18

Joined: Oct 13, 2018

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified score:
610 Q42 V33

Dan is the man!!!

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I signed up for the hourly package with Dan and my experiences with him were great. He was extremely helpful in the brainstorming and essay components. He was great at filtering out the details that were not important and helping me stay focused on the story that I wanted to share with the admissions committee. There were times when I would feel nervous and I would have questions about my essay or the application process; however, Dan was always available by phone or email to logically go over the questions on my mind. All of our conversations were very professional and no matter how silly questions were, Dan was able to address them all with equal weight, including waitlist and scholarship related questions.
Dan helped me put together strong applications for the business schools that I was interested in. I am very satisfied with the outcome and would happily vouch for Dan.

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April 08, 2020
jcl357

Joined: Apr 08, 2020

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Insightful and Helpful Resource

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Overall, I enjoyed working with Daniel for the past month. The process wasn't stressful at all. I retained Daniel for his hourly services and asked him to provide feedback on my MBA essays. Daniel was extremely insightful and helpful during the brainstorming process, asking poignant questions to help me delve deeper into my story and highlight my strengths. His feedback was always constructive, concise, and clear. I appreciated how he always was extremely responsive to emails and would have 24-48 turnaround on essay feedback.

Daniel met my high expectations and I would recommend him to anyone applying for business schools!

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January 07, 2020
MBAgal2020

Joined: Mar 31, 2018

Posts: 1

Kudos: 0

Thank you Dan!!

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Dan was so helpful from the very beginning to the end. During our first call, I was very unsure about the schools I wanted to apply to and whether or not they were the right options for me. He spent a lot of time researching the programs and understanding what I wanted to get out of an MBA to help me narrow down my choices. He also connected me with several students which also helped my decision making process.

During the application process, he spent a lot of time suggesting ideas and helping me rework my essays. There were times I didn't even know where to begin with my essay and he was able to give me suggestions on what to talk about. He was also extremely patient and he always responded to my questions / provided edits for my essay in a very timely manner, making this daunting process a lot easier.

The MBA process is very challenging. Going into the process, I knew that even crafting the perfect application might not guarantee admission into the school I want. But I didn't want to have any regrets and I knew I wanted to take advantage of all the resources that were available to develop a strong application, and with Dan's help I was able to do that.

Happy to say that I got into my top choice and I couldn't have done it with him!!

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September 12, 2019
dmkcmj14

Joined: Sep 05, 2019

Posts: 1

Kudos: 1

Verified score:
700 Q43 V42

Daniel Richards - Highly Recommend

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I would highly recommend both mbaMission and the specific consultant I utilized (Daniel Richards) for perspective MBA applicants.

The Beginning: I set up free consultations with 3 consultants at 3 different firms based on reviews. Dan was the first consultant I spoke to and the other 2 didn't come close to meeting his bar - Dan made sure to make our free consultation about ME, my needs, my interests, he provided me with a solid action plan and recommendations going forward. The other two agencies spent the 30 minutes selling me on their services in a generic pitch.

The Middle: After hiring Dan he provided me with excellent recommendations and feedback from each part of the application - from ironing out my post-MBA goals, to helping me select schools, to meeting with me in person (he's in DC, i'm in NYC), writing (MANY) rounds of essays, and everything in between. All of our communication was quick, straight forward, specific, and actionable. Dan is not afraid to be blunt in his feedback which I personally appreciated greatly - the purpose of a consultant is not to build up your ego but to be realistic and help you present the best version of yourself in an application, which Dan does beautifully.

The End: Came sooner than expected for me because I was accepted into my top choice program which was my first application! Throughout the entire processes and while (impatiently) waiting for a rolling application decision Dan was reassuring. Every single piece of advice and timing estimates from schools he provided was spot on. When deciding if I should continue applying to alternate programs he provided extremely realistic and honest feedback.

Working with Dan and mbaMission eased the arduous task of applying to top tier MBA programs in Round 1. Moreover, while waiting for a decision Dan would check in which truly made me feel like we were in this together. I sincerely thank mbaMission and specifically Dan for a wonderful experience!

Tip - if you're going to work with a consultant start early. I began in February for summer-2019 applications which allowed us plenty of time to talk about things I could change, i.e. taking the HBS CORe course before applications started

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August 29, 2019
avc1234

Joined: Aug 29, 2019

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Dan Richards - Highly Recommend

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Dan was so great to work with!! He really helped me think about my story and how everything came together. I applied a little last minute for a part-time program starting this Fall, and Dan and I put together a timeline that we kept to very closely. Dan also was very flexible - he has a planned vacation when I needed to make progress on my application, but made sure a colleague of his could help me while he was out, and he picked right back up when he came back. It was really appreciated and I got into the program I wanted to!

I highly recommend Dan - super nice, understanding, flexible, and supportive!

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June 04, 2019
testtaker11111

Joined: Jun 04, 2019

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Verified score:
710 Q46 V42

Great admissions and writing coach

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I worked with Dan on a Complete Start-to-Finish Package for two schools during the Fall of 2018. Coming from a purely engineering background, I was not very “in the know” about business schools and was looking for someone with both insight and strong written skills to help me navigate my applications. After initial calls with consultants at the main admissions consulting companies, I selected Dan because I found it incredibly easy to talk candidly with him and because I knew his background in marketing and journalism would help bring out my best “story”.
I couldn’t have been happier as I got into my first-choice school (HSW) thanks to Dan’s help. Specifically, I found Dan to stand out in a couple of ways:
Responsiveness: Despite me sending countless revisions of my essays and short answers, Dan almost always got back before the 2-day response time. He was quick to answer emails and was always able to work with me and my hectic work/travel schedule to find a time if we needed to jump on a call. His feedback was both actionable and prompt, and he held me accountable to the tight internal deadlines we set. Also, Dan was good at communicating his own travel and personal plans, so we were always aware of his availability.
Coaching: Dan helped me decide what angle to approach the applications from, hone my initial brainstorming, and was very candid about what was working and what was not during drafts and my mock interview. As application deadlines rolled near, Dan was always level-headed and let me know when I was overthinking things, helping assuage my last-minute nervousness and be confident in the applications.
Written Skills: I think this is where Dan added the most value for me since essays are really the differentiator amongst thousands of amazing candidates for top business schools. From selecting the best essay outlines and strategy, to overcoming writer’s block on a total re-write, to cutting, crafting, and rearranging minutae, Dan helped me craft and present the best version of myself and my aspirations. As an engineer, I had not written a serious essay for many years and Dan really helped to improve my writing.
I highly recommend Dan to anyone interested in applying to business schools.

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May 17, 2019
nyc201

Joined: May 17, 2019

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

Highly Recommend Daniel Richards

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I worked with Dan Richards on three schools and he was extremely helpful and professional. He made the process a lot less stressful and helped me get into my goal school and then some. I highly recommend using him. He keeps you on track and focused to make sure you are ready to submit for the deadlines but is not overbearing. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, he really prepared me for the interview stage with his mock interviews. This is a crucial step and practicing with him gave me a lot of confidence. We went through a whole list of questions and because of the mock with him, the actual interview that day was a breeze.

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29 Older and Non-Verified Reviews for Daniel Richards