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Menlo Coaching – Reviews, Pricing, Blog

Menlo Coaching – Reviews, Pricing, Blog

Expensive or affordable? Worth it or not?

 

About Menlo Coaching

David White - Menlo CoachingMenlo Coaching has been helping MBA applicants get into the top 20 business schools since 2012. The founders, David White and Alice van Harten, have been ranked among the best by Poets&Quants, a leading MBA site. Their team members Yaron Dahan and Rebecca Anderson were included on a Poets&Quants list of consultants with a perfect 10/10 net promoter score

Their approach to MBA consulting has been in stark contrast to their rivals’. Their consulting team has MBA graduates and former admissions officers, but also consultants with eclectic backgrounds in the humanities and performing arts. The consultants have worked in investment banking, consulting, tech, and non-profit.

Most of the Menlo Coaching team works in their head office on a full-time basis. In order to ensure client focus, coaches accept a limited client load – usually no more than 20 comprehensive clients per year for a senior consultant, and sometimes lower for someone who is newer to MBA admissions consulting. This is around half of the industry average.

Their suggestion to applicants is to take all online reviews, success rates and “CPA verified” statistics published by consultants with a grain of salt, since there’s little that candidates can do to validate the credibility of such claims. This is also why their website includes a large number of video reviews from their satisfied former clients.
 

Menlo Coaching MBA Admissions Consulting

Unlimited support – that’s the underlying theme when it comes to Menlo Coaching admissions consulting. You’re not working against a fixed number of hours or review cycles.
The MBA consultant will be there to help with anything you need to submit a strong application. And that includes interview prep, which we cover in the next section.

You’ll have access to not only your consultant, but also an active community of applicants who’re applying that year, as well as alumni (former clients). That’s helpful when you want to connect with someone from your target program and get more insights.

The team uses a structured process to supplement the 1:1 consulting, with their platform sending email reminders to complete the tasks assigned to you, and providing a huge library of self-paced materials covering topics such as career goals, writing style, resumes, interviews, video essays, and more. The platform is simple to use (just reply to its emails), and provides a well-organized archive of all of your documents together with their feedback. Compared to the Google Docs that most firms use, Menlo Coaching’s automated system saves you a lot of time.
 

Menlo Coaching Interview Prep

The interview preparation process is spread across 3 phases.

1. Mock interview

The team will pick common questions that each bschool you’re interviewing with is known to ask. This is helpful, as you’d be well-prepared and aware of what to expect on D-day.

2. Communications Training

You’ll work with a professional actor to focus on not just what you say, but how you say it. This would include tips on dealing with nervousness, relaxing your voice and body, and presenting a confident persona.

3. Team-based interview preparation

This is helpful for business schools such as Wharton that include group activities such as the team-based interview.
 

Menlo Coaching Early Birds

This is a good option to consider, if you’re convinced that Menlo Coaching is the best team to partner with. And you have an additional year to prepare.

You can get support on planning the entire journey without worrying about the impending deadline. The coach will provide guidance on preparing for the GMAT, choosing the right extra-curricular activity, selecting the right business school and more.

The good thing about this is that you are not paying any additional fee for the extra support. It’s exactly the same pricing as their regular admissions consulting service.
 

Menlo Coaching Reviews

You’ll probably not find many Menlo Coaching reviews online compared to their rivals. This is mostly because they’re relatively small in terms of team size. This forces them to be selective in taking on new clients.

Many of their clients come from referrals. In fact, we know of a candidate who was not just referred, but also sponsored by a close friend who believed in what Menlo Coaching could deliver.

From what we’ve seen, the reviews of Menlo Coaching admissions consulting services posted by their clients on different forums are positive.

Here’s a sampling of the reviews we’ve come across, along with the bschools the clients got into. These have been verified by credible sites such as Poets&Quants, GMAT Club and our own MBA Crystal Ball blog.

  • Wharton, Stern (with full scholarship) and Ross (with partial scholarship): “Looking back to when I was first researching MBA consultants, I was hesitant about the price, but I KNOW now that David and Menlo Coaching were worth every penny. He helped me beyond what I was paying for.” (source: P&Q)
  • Stanford, Harvard: “I was astonished by how swiftly and thoroughly Alice and the Menlo team would come back with comments or responses to my questions – the level of attention and care made me feel like their only client.” (source: GMAT Club)
  • Kellogg, Wharton, Columbia and Yale: “David is one of the most successful consultants in the business. However, he does not have the airs or the impersonal attitude one’d expect. Instead, I found his to be the best guide, balancing candidness with warmth.” (source: MCB)
  • Stanford GSB: “Alice was highly recommended by a close friend who got into HBS. I was lucky to work with her as she had no availability when I spoke with her (and I only got the opportunity when one candidate dropped out). Despite my concerns of applying in R2, I was fortunate to be admitted.” (source: P&Q)
  • Stanford, Harvard: “I was astonished by how swiftly and thoroughly Alice and the Menlo team would come back with comments or responses to my questions – the level of attention and care made me feel like their only client.” (source: GMAT Club)
  • Stanford, Wharton: “I was extremely impressed by Yaron’s commitment to my application push. He spent hours on the phone with me, drawing out every detail of my childhood up through my current job, taking detailed notes and spit balling some potential essay topics.” (source: GMAT Club)
  • Harvard, Wharton: “I was struck with Alice’s candid feedback on my essays and resume – she never shied away from giving me honest, constructive criticism. She does not tell you what you want to hear but tells you what she really feels, and backs her arguments up with solid logic.” (source: P&Q)

You’ll find a few more on Reddit, but we’ve not included them here since they’re anonymous and unverified.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, you can find numerous video reviews from real clients on their website.

Menlo Coaching Kellogg review

Here’s a more comprehensive review of a candidate who worked with Menlo Coaching and got a full scholarship from Kellogg School of Management, along with several other top MBA admits.

 

Pricing: Admissions consulting fee

Most top consulting companies list their consulting fees on the official website. In contrast, Menlo Coaching doesn’t mention the pricing for their standard admissions consulting services on their website or any other forum they’re active on.

We assume this is to keep candidates from making judgements about the team and their services, based on a single isolated parameter. From the reviews, we know that their approach to consulting is quite different (and highly engaged) compared to the other teams. We also know that their consultants work full-time and spend more time on each application, which translates to higher costs for the company.

They encourage applicants to reach out and share their profile details and career plans. Once they verify a good fit with their services, they offer a quote based on the scope of work (e.g. number of schools).

On average, Menlo Coaching is more expensive than the large US-based MBA admissions consulting firms. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.
 

Menlo Coaching GMAT

In 2020, Menlo Coaching began providing GMAT services by hiring one of the world’s most experienced GMAT tutors, Chris Kane.

Their GMAT prep course is designed to be an affordable way for new GMAT students (or ones who are stuck below 700) to learn the basics, and their GMAT tutoring service is designed for students with specific weaknesses, or students who are pushing for elite 750+ scores.

All of their tutors have 99th percentile GMAT scores, but more importantly, they are selected for their skills as teachers. Several of their tutors work as instructors at the university level.
 

 

Is Menlo Coaching worth it?

If you want to leave no stone unturned, and create your absolute 100% best MBA applications, and have no regrets when you receive your decisions, Menlo Coaching may be a great choice for you.

For candidates looking for limited scope support, or an affordable service to handle just the basics, Menlo Coaching isn’t a good fit (but they could refer you to a trusted partner if you inquire with them).
 

Get a free profile evaluation from Menlo Coaching

Click on the link below and share your profile details.

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Menlo Coaching Blogs

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How to study for the GMAT effectively
Family Business applicants: Tips for MBA essays and recommendations
Tell Me About Yourself: Common MBA Interview Questions
Applying to MBA Programs as a Sponsored Candidate


This article is part of CrystalConnect, an outreach initiative by MBA Crystal Ball.