While searching for a consultant for the MBA application, I occasionally saw an article about tips for writing a good essay. The detailed information and guidance within the article attracted me to view the MER webpage. When I read the positive feedback from students, I scheduled a call to understand more about MER. After the introductory zoom call with Poonam of MER, my heart told me that MER is the one that I want to take for my MBA application process.

School selection is a process of figuring out which school will help me achieve my career goal. I enjoyed the school selection process with Poonam, as our discussions clarified my logic for selecting my target programs.

The counseling session on zoom is one of the parts I enjoyed the most in the application process. It's a process of learning. We brainstormed to make each resume point short and robust. The resume-building process gave me a deep understanding of my past achievements. I took her suggestions to build each bullet with the STAR method. For essays, I still remember the confusion when I prepared my first drafts essays for Haas. I had 100 ideas but could not decide where to start and end. Our discussion provided me with directions

I appreciate the questionnaire of 25 questions that she made me fill out to brainstorm ideas before starting the application. It provided me with a lot of materials we later used in essays. Also, the questionnaire helped me find the right story that fits the essay topic (especially for Stanford), which I didn't realize before. Her guidance helped my essay flow more smoothly and led me to do self-reflection sincerely. The self-reflection she encouraged me to do also helped me a lot when I prepared 2nd round school essays. Poonam significantly helped me highlight my strengths in my resume, essay, and interview. She helped me show my best aspect to the admission committee and suggested many stories I had ignored earlier. Her editing was excellent, especially when we needed to meet the word limits.

Poonam always answered my questions and provided practical advice. Her guidance was not limited to the professional level; she also helped with emotions. I truly appreciate her encouragement and moral support after my Round 1 failure, which led to my success in Round 2.

For LoR, my recommender initially didn't follow the proper format . Poonam’s guidance and feedback were beneficial. Also, I faced a peculiar situation regarding my recommenders, as both my recommenders quit PwC in late November 2022. Poonam helped me draft an optional essay explaining why taking my LORs from them was crucial. This was indeed helpful. Poonam's response time is within 24 to 48 hours, and she was very particular about following the timelines. But I couldn’t follow it well and shared some draft essays late. So sorry for the inconvenience.

The interview was my weakness in my application process, and I wasn't well prepared for Round 1. However, the interview tips, mock interview session, and her detailed feedback on the mock interview greatly helped me prepare for 2nd school's interview. Following her advice, I practiced more, felt more confident and kept getting better in my subsequent interviews.

I am happy to say that I have been accepted into Kellogg, Anderson (with 120 K scholarship, and UC Davis (70 k scholarship). Also, I was interviewed by CBS and Haas and waitlisted by Chicago Booth. I am excited to join Anderson in Fall. I would not have been able to achieve this without Poonam's help. Thank you, Poonam. I am 100% sure I will recommend MER to my friends who want to apply for the MBA program.

Read More

I signed up for MER (myEssayReview) for help and guidance with my application essays for the Haas EWMBA program after a lot of research. Three of the many reasons why I signed up:
a. "myEssayReview" website – The website is very well structured and provides a lot of detailed information regarding MER services. Listing out the expectations and operating procedure in advance helped build the required confidence. The website also houses insightful blogs (on several topics such as Essay, MBA Admissions etc.) and samples (Essays, Resume) which I found immensely helpful in drafting my essays. I also used one of the blogs to draft my MBA resume from scratch.
b. Testimonials – It was encouraging to see testimonials from candidates who were accepted into the program that I was targeting. I also had positive reviews from someone who I personally know.
c. Proven track record – Success stories for over a decade

Personal Experience:
In the introductory Zoom call, Poonam took time to go over my personal and professional background in detail. We also went over the essay prompts to identify the right structure, approach, and discuss timelines. After my first drafts were ready, Poonam scheduled a Zoom call to discuss her review of my drafts and help me critically analyze them. This session was very insightful since I realized how far I was off from the essay prompts and what I needed to do to close the gap. I also liked that we worked off of ideas that I had already brainstormed for one of the essays. Important advice related to content – “Show not tell”, “identity essay is about you” helped me draft the essays better in the later revisions.

Poonam provided me with great input and feedback in each of her review, which helped me put together a compelling narrative. I was very happy with how the two essays shaped out in the end. The time spent initially on developing a structure and strategy, and her excellent editing skills helped maintain essential details even after we trimmed down a lot of details from the essay in the later revisions to meet the word limit. The comments section in the document helped a lot.

Lastly, it was nice that Poonam always kept me posted on when she would get back with her review. She followed the 24-48 Hours response time as promised on her website. I am very happy to say that I have received acceptance from the EWMBA program of Berkeley Haas.

I would definitely recommend MER services to prospective applicants.

Read More

While researching for consultants in the previous application cycle, I got to know about Poonam, I saw one of her videos with one candidate whom she helped to get into Harvard. I really liked the way she discussed how they went about doing things and Poonam’s process made sense to me.

I got on a call with Poonam pretty early in March. We had a discussion, and she was able to help me with my doubts mainly about my comparatively less work experience. What struck me was that she was more concerned with clearing my doubts and getting to know my profile rather than convincing me to take her up as a consultant.

In our 2.2.5 hour long counseling session, we went in depth about my first drafts, the right stories, and the process of how she works. Poonam helped me make my resume more B-school- appropriate. Also, she gave me pointers about my accomplishments that I shared with her in the questionnaire. A majority of our time went into the initial questionnaire and Poonam made sure that I gave it the importance it needed. Surprisingly, the questionnaire not only focused on my academic/professional achievements but also my personal traits, which proved crucial in the long run as we were able to leverage such traits for a couple of essays.

Out of all the areas, I think organizing my stories in a coherent essay was the area in which poonam helped me the most. With her help, I was able to flesh out proper essays which didn’t seem like a collection of random stories put together. I can’t thank poonam enough for her editing skills. She played a very critical part in helping me meet the word limits of the essays without compromising on the stories I wanted to tell mostly. This gave me the confidence to present my stories knowing that poonam will be able to trim it down to meet the word limits.

Regarding LORs, she helped my recommenders use more concise language and overall structured the points shared by them to be more in line with our stories, highlighting my achievements.

Poonam was always available to answer any questions I had, and she did in fact quickly respond to my queries about the essays, stories and general admission process. She was absolutely fantastic with her response time. Since I started the process a bit late, we only had 1.5 months to cover 5 b-schools. But I was able to complete all of them properly with time to spare. This wouldn’t have been possible without Poonam’s help as she instantly responded to all my drafts and queries well within 24 hours.

One thing which I loved about our time together and one of the main reasons why I wanted to work with Poonam was the genuine attention she gave to my applications. It didn’t feel like I was just another client whose applications she just wanted to get over with. She was always straightforward, and she let me know when my drafts weren’t up to the mark. I have received admission offers from ISB and McDonough. Also, I was interviewed by Tuck and Foster , and waitlisted by Tepper. I will be joining McDonough in Fall. I will definitely recommend her to other applicants.

Read More

I wanted to apply for MS programs in the US for which I wanted MER’s help in reviewing my essays, as it is one of the best admissions consultants in the country.
In my initial call, Ms. Poonam asked me about my interest in various schools where I wanted to apply, and based on my existing profile/resume, shared honest feedback. She highlighted my strengths and my weaknesses in a very
constructive manner which helped me choose schools and programs wisely.
Over the essay discussion zoom call, Ms. Poonam took a keen interest in knowing my story and guided me on how I can write it better for a greater impact. After her guidance in the zoom session, I was able to write my essay in a more structured manner and effectively narrate my stories and experiences.
Writing several pages is easy but compressing it within the given word limit whilst keeping the essence of the story intact was the biggest challenge I faced.
But Ms. Poonam helped me a great deal in this by suggesting ways through which I can tell my story in a more concise form without reducing the impact.
Ms. Poonam was very prompt in answering all my queries and helped me throughout my journey by being very encouraging and showing confidence in me.
Ms. Poonam is ‘true to her words’. Whatever deadline she had set after discussing with me, she made sure to help me finalize my essays at least a day or two before that. I would suggest MER to other prospective applicants as Ms. Poonam is very talented, responsible, and a wonderful human being, who helps bring out the best in you. By the end of my essay-writing journey, I was amazed to see how well I could write and learned so much about myself. All this became possible as Ms. Poonam asked the right questions, pushed me to think harder, and showed tremendous confidence in my abilities.

Read More

Reasons to sign up for MER services:
1.The feedback I read on MER services and especially the personalized touch by Mrs Poonam made me opt for MER services. This is an edge that you get from MER over the rest.
2.Another main reason was that she had already worked with successful applicants for the university I was applying for.
3. Morever, the possibility to choose the type of services that you want to purchase out of a plethora of services rather than having only one option of buying a school package makes MER distinct.

Initial Call:
During the initial call, Mrs Poonam guided me in the right direction over how to best tackle my essay as well as the resumé. She explained to me what the essay prompt was asking for and sh also asked me questions in order to familiarize herself with my professional background. This helped in building up my confidence to write the essays and resumé and not feeling lost.

Counseling Session to discuss resume and essays :
During the counselling session, Mrs Poonam made sure that I understood what her comments from her editing process meant and brought me back on track if ever I diverted from the essay prompt. I really appreciate the fact that she took all the time that was required to answer all my questions that I had and go through both the essays and resumé line by line during the meeting without having a hard ending time.

Poonam tries to understand the applicant’s profile and provides guidance on how best to incorporate some specifics in the essay and resumé during both the initial and couselling sessions. She ensures that the story flows throughout the essay. Also, the comment section whereby we both interact regarding some points does help a lot there.

Answering queries:
Mrs Poonam is very quick at responding to queries by email and she does so even after her working hours. You would never have to wait for a reply from her.

Turnarounds (Response time):
I was very impressed by the turnaround time and Mrs Poonam is known to abide by her committed assignment timeline. But at the same time she is equally comprehensive should you have any problem in abiding by the agreed timeline.

I really enjoyed working with Poonam and she has impressed me on a lot of fronts but the main one is that she sticks by her words. She is very conscious of the timing of an assignment. Yes I will definitely recommend your services to prospective applicants provided the latter are serious in their applications and are able to cope with deadlines as I wouldn’t want them to be a pain for her by not being respectful of her time. I am happy to say that I have been accepted to my target school – Manchester Global Part time MBA program.

Read More

I came across MER during a Google search and then read about it on GMAT club.
Positive reviews enticed me to leverage MER. I moved pretty quickly through the
first two drafts and the Zoom session happened after draft 2. It helped in several
ways – to identify key areas that need to be improved, zero-in on specific
paragraphs that need edit, etc. Poonam was pointed in her feedback during the
session which suited my style of working.
Poonam spent time going through my profile which helped both of us focus on
specific areas only. My first draft contained the stories that I wanted to include in
the essays. They were not well organized, were verbose and needed better
organization. Poonam was very good at ensuring that all the required corrections
were made to the essays.
Editing was one area that made a tremendous difference. My essays were well over
the limit on number of words. Poonam’s work made the magic. Besides correcting
punctuation and structuring sentences, she was able to make the stories concise and
to-the-point.
Poonam was prompt in responses and answers to queries. As promised in the
Agreement, Poonam was always on time. I am a stickler when it comes to
timelines because of work schedule. So her timely responses helped both of us
move forward quickly.
I am accepted into LBS Sloan Master’s program in Strategy and Leadership.
I would definitely recommend MER to prospective applicants.

Read More

I got in touch with Poonam early summer of 2021 when I was getting my application ready for NYU Stern. She was quick to respond and had initial conversation regarding my profile and advised I should not apply in R1 as my GMAT score was low as well as I needed more time to prepare application. That was the best decision ever. I re-took GMAT and got my dream score. After that, Poonam, with 15 days left before deadline, helped me compile 2 school application's. She went through my essays word by word, spent hours refining them and asked me questions which helped me even during the interview process. I will highly recommend using myEssayReview's services especially for people who are working full time and have very limited time to apply for MBA programs.

Read More

I started my MBA application journey early July because I still didn’t have a decent enough GMAT score until June end. I had gotten in touch with Poonam early on and knew how important it was to start the process early. I couldn’t follow through with her warnings and timelines because I was so under confident given my GMAT.
When I finally started the process with her, I knew I was late, but she was more than willing to formulate a strategy with me and get going. She never made me feel like I was too late and there was little hope left. She was encouraging, and never suggested that I aim for or settle for anything less than my dream.

School selection: Post GMAT, this was the first step. I have always appreciated her for instilling in me the understanding of school ‘fit’. As Indians we are taught from a young age to obsess over rankings. Through her, watching her content and speaking with her, I learnt how truly important ‘fit’ is. This was showcased in my school selection list as well. Since I was so late in the process and only had a 710, I was trying to be conservative about the list, but she kept highlighting how GMAT is only ONE component. If it wasn’t for this over-emphasis, I won’t have taken my Tuck application seriously and won’t have gotten in as well.

Brainstorming: The questionnaire she shares with you at the very beginning really helps in getting your story aligned. It helps YOU more than it helps her because the stories go back so much in the past that on a day-to-day basis, we don’t even remember that some of the stuff happened with us or what we made happen! The questions are expansive and really make you think hard. Don’t consider this exercise a waste of time because this is what ultimately saves you time in different essay prompts.

Resume: The STAR method saved my life here. I sent Poonam a resume way above the word or page limit. She sat me down and explained what the Ad Com is looking for and how each point in the resume is a smaller version of the STAR method. It’s a total game changer.

Essays: I used to think I am a good writer but boy was I wrong! My style of writing was superfluous - too many words and sentences that spanned three lines. This was a disaster for b-school apps! Poonam understood that this was a weakness for the apps, and she patiently cut short my sentences into concise ones which delivered the point and sounded beautiful too. This is where her experience of writing for decades comes in. This is where her very well-earned PhD comes in. The fact that she has edited over 10K essays enables her to retain your message and communicate it in a third of the words you used. Not only that, she guides you enough so that your future iterations and fresh versions come off better than your initial drafts. She truly empowers you. You slowly realize you’re spending way lesser time on churning out drafts by the time you reach your second or third school.

I’d like to conclude by saying that while I got into 2 of the 4 schools I worked on with her, I also got waitlisted at Fuqua. I was complacent and since Tuck was a dream school, I didn’t focus on the waitlist too much and withdrew my application. I can guarantee that had I listened to her tips for the waitlist, I could’ve stood a chance at a positive outcome from that too. She gave me very valuable insights for the same and has a stellar record of converting waitlists too.

When it comes to apps, we already deal with enough stress as is. Be it taking and retaking GMAT, spending years building our profiles and then dealing with recommenders. It’s best to leave the essays to the experts as they’re a crucial part of the application! Thanks for not only your guidance but also your constant support by treating me not just as a ‘client’ but like a pupil whose future you’re so invested in!!

Read More

I was a re-applicant and after my first year of applications, I knew that I had to strengthen my essays. Through my research and a friend’s recommendation, I researched MER. The key things that stood out were 1. Pricing for the comprehensive package and 2. The turnaround time.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t skeptical when I saw MER’s competitive pricing as compared to other MBA application consultants. But because of the recommendation and my introductory phone call with Poonam, I knew this would be the right fit. Poonam showed genuine interest in helping me with my application and offered lot of advice and feedback in the introductory call itself. Moreover, while some other consultants were being very pushy about signing up with them ASAP, Poonam gave me enough time to think about my needs and plan accordingly. This experience with Poonam assured me that MER would be the right partner.

The brainstorming session is the first step with MER, and it is very important. Even though I had been through one cycle of applications, I still had to do lot of introspection to answer all the questions in the brainstorming sheet. The questions are well structured and helped me list several life stories that I eventually used in my essays. After submitting this, I was surprised with the detailed comments and ideas she had about essays based on my school selection. Poonam read through the entire document in detail, and she even quoted few of those stories, months into the application cycle. This was reassuring to me – Poonam took to a personal level to learn about her client. Based on the school’s essays and life stories, Poonam suggested few structures that I could use. She highlighted the advantages of one structure over another, which helped me pick the right content for my essays.

My resume needed significant work. Being an engineer, my impact to the company are very technical – impact that makes the product more efficient. It was difficult for me to demonstrate some of my key accomplishments as an impact to company. In the session, Poonam helped me show the impact to the company as a result of some of those and convinced me to drop a couple by explaining why those didn’t add value to my resume from a B-school application POV.

The essays and resume strategy sessions showed me how well Poonam understand the application process and the purpose of each material in the application packet.

I appreciate Poonam’s skill of trimming down the essay to meet the word limit. I am a wordy writer, so Poonam told me to not worry if I went around 150-250 words over the limit, depending on the essay, of course! While retaining the same meaning, she would efficiently restructure sentences or cut out words in just one edit! I was impressed. Sure, there were few instances where I thought my voice didn’t show in the edit, and Poonam helped me get to where I wanted the essay to be.

Poonam was very responsive to my questions about essays, resume, applications etc. The night before one of my applications, I had a question for her. She replied within 15 minutes. Turns out she had made herself available to support all her clients during the application time
As advertised, Poonam always delivered the edits in the 24–48-hour time frame. The quick turn around kept me on a schedule and helped me be ready with my materials ahead of the deadlines. That said, Poonam was very accommodative of my hectic, start-up work-life. Sometimes, she gave me an additional day or two to send my draft of essays. But she followed up consistently to make sure that I was on track.

I have a relatively low undergrad GPA. Poonam worked with me to clearly highlight the reasons of the low GPA, how I overcame some challenges, and more importantly, the lessons I learned. I think the low GPA essay alleviated any concerns around my undergrad GPA, which I think was one of the obvious weaknesses in my application.

Poonam understands the expectations that b-schools have from interviews and provided feedback that helped make my responses more powerful. She shared some strategies around when to talk about certain key topics, and which topics to avoid. For example, coming from a niche industry, there was a point that I had pushed to a very low-probability question in the end. Poonam showed me versions of my own response that could easily fit into common questions about “Tell me about yourself” or “why MBA?”. MBA applications are all about differentiation, and these tips definitely helped me do so.

Thank you, Poonam, for working with me on my applications. You have been very patient with my timing and have accommodated by hectic work-life through the process. For where I was in the process, your services helped elevate my application.

I received admits from Haas and Tepper with scholarship and am waitlisted at Darden. I will certainly recommend MER to any prospective applicants whom I come across.

Read More

I got Poonam’s assistance for my resume and essays for Berkeley Haas EWMBA program .

The 2.5 hour session was our first session while working with Poonam. The session was kept after I sent the first draft of essays and resume. This was the right time to get a feedback and make improvements. She was patient and went over everything slowly and steadily one by one. Her feedback was valuable in the brainstorming and coming up with the ideas for further drafts.

Resume writing for MBA was something I was most unfamiliar with. Her approval of the resume was something that was most valuable to me. During the resume building process, she suggested submitting two page resume , considering I have a lot of volunteering experience and extra-curriculars. This feedback was very valuable. She was also very helpful in removing extra details from the bullet points and making them crisp.

Poonam was very quick in understanding my strengths and was always, ready to patiently listen to anything I had to tell. She told me that it will be best to focus on the music aspect for the identity essay. This was again very helpful. She pushed me to not settling and kept me going till we got the best version.
With her feedback, we moved the story structure around multiple times to make the story more cohesive. She demonstrated good knowledge about the structure and always provided useful feedback regarding the flow of the essay. She made me very comfortable and were always open to questions. The answers were also pretty insightful. The response time was spectacular.

Most importantly, all this help I was able to get for the most cost effective price because of Poonam. I couldn't have afforded the heavily priced packages from other consultants. Glad that I approached Poonam.

Overall, Poonam was very professional. Her approval of the essays, resume gave me a lot of confidence. I am happy to say that I have been accepted into Haas EWMBA program. I would certainly recommend Poonam to prospective applicants.

Read More