Fortuna is a relatively new name to the admission consulting scene. Its selling point of having a team of former admission directors on board was what got me signed up for their services.

I started off with an introductory phone call with Matt, the founder. Matt was very knowledgeable on all the top business schools, describing the characteristics of each school's admission process relative to their traditions and geographic locations.

Fortuna assigned both a senior coach and coach to assist with the application process. Overall, both coaches did a great job in helping me to map out my ideas and tailor my essays and applications. In terms of interview preparation, Julie also gave great advice on articulating my story and answers.

However, the idea of having 2 coaches at once would sometimes lead to confusion and seemingly miscommunication among the 3 of us. Therefore, it would be better if there were a clear division of responsibility and communication from the get-go.

Nonetheless, I believe being able to see through the lenses of former admission directors is what make Fortuna unique, and I would definitely recommend them.

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I signed up for a Comprehensive School Package covering two schools - INSEAD and Tuck. I was admitted into both.

The team at Fortuna Admissions played a significant role in helping me achieve this. My lead consultant was Caroline Diarte Edwards and Jessica Chung was my expert coach.

The first step of the program was a comprehensive strategy questionnaire, containing questions that kick started my process of self reflection. The questions guided me to think carefully about my values and key experiences, and this formed the core of all essays that I wrote.

Both Jessica and Caroline were always very quick to respond to my questions. Jessica consistently ensured that I was on course to complete my applications on time. I found the frequent conversations and brainstorming sessions with Jessica to be extremely useful in helping me pick the right experiences and personal qualities to focus on in my applications. I really liked that there was no spoon-feeding during the process, and instead the focus was always on helping me think in the right direction, therefore ensuring that my essays were completely authentic and reflected my own story.

The team was always supportive and encouraging, giving me the confidence to express myself in my application. As a result of their guidance, apart from having admits from my dream schools, I also have a better understanding of my own strengths and weaknesses, and what areas of growth I should focus on in the months leading up to my MBA.

I strongly recommend working with Fortuna Admissions for your MBA applications.

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I was thoroughly impressed by Fortuna Admissions. I would recommend Fortuna to anyone who is seeking admission to a competitive business school and wants to submit a strong, polished profile.

Two things really struck me in working with Fortuna:

1) They really get to know you before you dig deep into the application process. Judith became familiar with my background, to the extent that she pointed out that there was a cohesiveness to my education, professional background, and strengths that I wasn’t aware of. Not only did this significantly improve my application, but I can communicate in a more compelling way about my background.

2) They are extremely intuitive and detail-oriented. The feedback they gave me on my essays was extremely helpful. I wasn’t going into nearly enough detail in my essays—I mean, I thought I was!—but Judith pushed me to really get into the “why,” why I was passionate about my professional goals.

Finally, the other perk of working with Fortuna is that they know this business inside-and-out. There were things I learned about the application process and making the most of my application materials that I didn’t get from reading “MBA Admissions Strategy” by Avi Gordon or listening to dozens of MBA Podcaster podcasts or picking my MBA cousin’s brain.

Also, this sounds miniscule, but the one other thing that I really liked about working with Fortuna is that 80% of my anxiety about applying to business school went away. I knew that I was working with professionals, they were aware of my deadlines, and it was my job to stay organized and just focus my energy on writing great essays.

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After working with Malvina and Judith over several months, I can definitely say that Fortuna shines in the following two regards:

1) Approachability – In order to get the best essays out of you, you have to feel comfortable bouncing ideas back and forth with your counselors. I had a million questions regarding my applications, essays and interviews, and never had any qualms about emailing or setting up a skype call with Malvina and Judith. They were prompt and gave me useful, direct advice based on their years of experience.

2) Interview prep – Fortuna not only gave me access to dozens of school-specific interview questions but also connected me with alumni and a prior admissions officer to schedule multiple practice interviews. As someone with little to no connection to any of my target schools, this access was invaluable.

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INSEAD was on my radar for over 2 years and I had referred to all available free online resources and colleagues who were INSEAD alumni while crafting my application.

However, at the end of it, about a month before the application deadline, I felt that my application lacks a certain polish, that final touch that would convince me that I had put my best foot forward.

I reached out to Matt & Caroline for the Admissions Director's Evaluation as I felt that since I had already built my application, what I needed was the final touch.

Caroline, the expert that she is and with the tremendous history that she brings to the table, was the perfect addition. She was able to quickly and efficiently point out some of the holes in my application with suggestions on how to fill them.

Caroline always responded quickly and I felt I was getting her full attention. I often asked her opinion to break ties among the different options I had to put into my essays while sticking to the recommended word limit. Her vast experience as an Admissions Officer at INSEAD shone through and she was able to guide me to craft my application and bring more clarity to the essays.

I would definitely recommend Caroline's help if you're building out your INSEAD application to give it that final touch.

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I mostly worked with Nonie on my INSEAD application. I also briefly worked with Caroline, who helped me polish my final drafts.

Nonie has been the real superstar in my successful journey to INSEAD. Everything about her is Gold! Her honesty and open-mindedness are the biggest hallmarks of her coaching attributes. She has been pleasantly honest about her opinions and feedback throughout the application process, even if that meant more re-work, drafts and revisions. She has a tremendous eye for detail and helped me rectify things that are sometimes easy to overlook. Nonie is also extremely open-minded, flexible and accommodating. She never restricted my chain of thoughts; she always encouraged me to write different narratives and her insightful critique eventually helped me select the narratives that best showcased my winning attributes and presented me in the best light possible. Although, I started working on my application quite late into Round 1, and hence was always racing against time to submit my application by the Round 1 Deadline, Nonie never allowed me to settle for less or compromise on the quality of any aspect of my application for the sake of meeting deadlines. In fact, Nonie powered me throughout the journey, especially at times when I felt that I might not meet the Round 1 deadline. Despite the zonal time difference between UAE and Singapore, Nonie was very flexible, responsive and her turnaround time was exceptional. Her feedbacks were succinct, crystal clear, and extremely constructive. Nonie leveraged her tremendous knowledge of INSEAD to help me create a bullet proof strategy for my INSEAD application.

However it was not all tough love from Nonie all the time. She displayed abundant sensibility when I shared a few of my personal stories with her. She helped me allay my anxieties and overcome my inhibitions. The mock interviews with Nonie were a lot of fun. I feel, this is where the student-coach relationship really came to life and started thriving on an entirely different level of comfort and camaraderie. Nonie's care and coaching was extremely personal. I could feel that she was really invested, almost like a stakeholder, in my INSEAD dream, and when time came, she seamlessly switched gears from being my essay critic to becoming my biggest supporter. She championed me and positively reinforced my thoughts right until the decision day. Her confidence in my candidacy eventually became the cornerstone of my own belief, faith and confidence. With, Nonie beside me, I never felt alone in the journey - She not only kept me in the race all the time, but also helped me get over the line. I am absolutely indebted to her.

While Nonie was the Superstar of my INSEAD application journey, I would like to remember Caroline as the real Rockstar of my application. Having been the MBA gatekeeper at INSEAD admissions for several years, and having shaped the application procedure herself, Caroline sprinkled the much desired magic dust on my application that quite literally transformed my solid application to a sparkling one. Caroline stressed on brevity, simplified complexities and helped me make my application a breezy read. Her comment's were razor sharp and succinct. Caroline's initial assessment and feedback about my goal was also a massive help as it genuinely made me rethink about my career goals, propelled me towards a more realistic goal and definitely helped me avoid any potential red flags in the minds of the AdCom regarding my post MBA employability. In the end when Caroline, who herself made the final decision for more than 34000 applicants during her time at INSEAD, told me "I enjoyed reading your essays", I did feel a lot more positive and optimistic about clicking that "SUBMIT" button, than I would have felt if I did not have Caroline's blessings.

Succeeding in my INSEAD application, while being a part of the most overly represented demographic (Indian Male Engineer), on the wrong end of the 20's, with a modest GMAT score, a young family, a very demanding work schedule, and no plan B (INSEAD was the only school I applied to) could not have been possible had it not been for Nonie and Caroline, and Matt (who posited a reservoir of optimism, faith, belief and encouragement in me right at the beginning, in the initial free consultation). As Gordon Gekko said “The most valuable commodity I know of is information”, leveraging the collective insider knowledge of INSEAD was my biggest advantage of working with the Fortuna Dream Team. The recipe for success at Fortuna pivots on a fine balance between the various stakeholders at play - the coach, the mentor and the applicant - In my honest opinion the balance, as it is, is perfect.

Therefore, Fortuna's Dream Team receives my highest and strongest recommendation.

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After conversing with Matt and Melissa, it was clear to me that Fortuna would meet me where I was (schools selected and story roughly drawn out) and take my ideas to the next level. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Melissa who is efficient and proactive and provides thoughtful guidance relevant to the programs. She demonstrated knowledge of the difference between programs and connected me to resources that eventually would help me make my decision. After working hard on the applications and interviews I was able to secure a spot at my top choice MBA program in Europe. Massive thanks to Matt and Melissa for being there throughout the process!

Even if you have a strong sense of story and have zeroed onto your top choices, I highly recommend Fortuna and Melissa to hone your message and put your best possible case on the table. It makes all the difference.

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"INSEAD was my goal and with the help of Fortuna team that dream came
true. Susanne was a tremendous help, she not only helped me with my
essays but also kept me motivated throughout the application process.
One of the best qualities about Fortuna team is that they encourage
you to tell your story in your own words. I learnt a lot about myself
as well in the process. I would recommend Fortuna without a doubt to
anyone who is struggling with essay questions or even confidence. They
will guide you towards your goal and will be your biggest cheerleader.
I would like to thank Susanne and the entire Fortuna team with all my heart. "

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I decided to go ahead with Fortuna after having a 30 minute consultation with Matt Symonds. I was very impressed that he had taken the time to thoroughly research my background and it was evident that Fortuna has expert insight into INSEAD admissions, having many consultants who have previously worked in the admissions team (e.g. Caroline and Susanne). INSEAD has a notoriously long application with many essay questions and a video component, but Susanne immediately put me at ease. She knew which aspects of my background to highlight and how to best position my story. She also gave me an action plan with deadlines for the various milestones, which helped to break down the daunting application process. She thoroughly reviewed my drafts and gave me detailed and straightforward comments, and was always responsive on email. The entire process was stress-free as I felt I was working with someone very experienced. I can’t imagine getting through it without her!

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I come from an overrepresented pool of applicants: Indian, Male, IT Engineer = 3 strikes right off the bat.

Given my handicaps, I realized to succeed in admissions I needed to work with the best consultants.

Seeing as Fortuna has a strong record I set up a call with Matt Symonds. Matt was so welcoming and helpful I decided to pursue working with Fortuna further.

Next, I got paired up with Natasha De Masi and Caroline Edwards. They setup a call to understand me and my profile better. Right from the get-go it was evident that they understood the challenges I had to overcome in my profile and how to bring out my advantages. Also they were really helpful in shaping my essays to make me stand out amongst the crowd.

I was incredibly impressed by their dedication to help me succeed. Natasha kept me honest and motivated to get things done. She has an incredible eye for detail and is a magician with words. At times I felt she was more invested in my application and success than I was!!

When I clicked submit for my application I felt that regardless of the outcome I had done my best and that working with Fortuna was the correct decision.

Ultimately I got admitted to INSEAD and given the odds in my profile this was nothing short of a miracle. However, this wouldnt have been possible without working with Natasha, Caroline and the rest of the Fortuna team!! Thanks Fortuna!!

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