28,603Leland Reviews

Dione was an absolute pleasure to work with. When I started doing research on various consultancies, I imagined working with someone who would simply take a few looks at my essays and give me brief feedback via email. Dione went above and beyond. She took a clear interest in me and my narrative and worked closely with me to make sure that my story was not only coherent (tying together my disparate professional and personal experiences), but also that it would ring true to my aspirations and simultaneously align with what each school was looking for. Additionally, Dione was refreshingly critical and gave me a 'real' outlook on how my application would be viewed given my career to date and my background as a South Asian American male. She was also incredibly responsive - I honestly don't know how she could provide so much depth in her feedback on such quick turnarounds. I’m so lucky to have been paired up with Dione and could not have imagined a better experience. If you have a chance to work with her, there really shouldn't be any hesitation. Totally worth it. Thank you Dione for all of your guidance and for helping me get into Wharton (and interviews at HBS and GSB)!

Dione's coaching and support was invaluable during the application process. She consistently added value to my application – from our first call where she helped accelerate my introspection to developing my essays/stories where she helped me reframe my inelegant language to be more admissions appropriate to interviews where she helped me practice beforehand and reflect/refine afterward to the waitlist process where she pushed me to craft genuine and original updates. Would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone who is looking for an admissions consultant!

I had an absolutely fantastic experience working with Dione, it was worth every penny and I truly believe without a doubt I would not have gotten the scholarships/acceptances that I did without her help....If you have the opportunity to work with Dione, take it and don't look back! In just a few short months she helped me take my hundreds of different ideas and edit and package them into polished applications to present to 7 top business schools. Applying to MBA programs is stressful and working with a consultant is expensive, but each step of the way, Dione gave me peace of mind as she guided me towards success. She was always quick to respond with essay edits (even during holidays), gave honest feedback, and was an expert literary editor. She also has the professional business and MBA background to give you short and long term career ideas that make sense for your personal goal statements. If you have hopes of getting into a top b school, but don't know how to present yourself to admissions committees, work with Dione. She will work hard day by day to get you there…. I got into one of my target schools with a full tuition scholarship (valued at over $135K). I am sure I would not have gotten here without Dione's constant guidance, editing, and advice.

A big reason for the reason I received as many interviews and acceptances as I did from the top 20 MBA schools was because of Dione. Her ability to highlight and exemplify key skills from work experience and undergraduate experience is what makes her unique. She asks the right questions to ensure you are able to express yourself in the best way possible to the admissions team. Another thing that makes Dione unique is that she doesn't want to change who you are in your essays, but helps you develop a great story and application. She is quick to respond, and never hesitates to answer more questions. She has gone above and beyond for my application, and I was lucky to have her.

Working with Dione was extremely helpful. I found her to be very focused and always pulling me back to the root cause or 'why' of why I was applying to business school. It sounds simple, but this allowed me to not only hone my story but also reflect personally on my motivations for applying so that when interviews came around, I was able to present my best possible self and story. Dione was very flexible, working with me mostly through pushing my thinking on essay edits, and providing helpful interview prep and tips. She was never pushy and great at explaining her logic and how the adcomm might view a certain element in my application.

I approached Dione with one target program in mind at my dream school in the USA – however as an international applying to a US advanced degree program, I knew it would be a tough and competitive process at an already highly selective school. I was also applying in one of the last rounds so I knew it was not going to be easy. First off, Dione is very knowledgeable when it comes to the application process and the evaluation of candidates thanks to her background. She gave me candid feedback throughout the entire process and was my sounding board in drafting and articulating my story. She also asks very thoughtful questions to guide you in the right direction; for example, her feedback on my essays contained some of the most comprehensive comments I’ve ever received, down to even the smallest detail about my past work experience – however, this is exactly what you need to produce a high caliber application. She would also send me notes after our sessions so I knew what to focus on immediately after our calls. Most importantly and what I think was the real key to my successful application is that Dione tells you the honest truth. I understand that the truth is not always what people want to hear but this is exactly why you need an admissions consultant like Dione as this was essential to avoid potential pitfalls in the application process. As you can imagine, each session was extremely efficient, productive, and filled with value-adding advice. Dione provides very quick feedback and worked really hard to help me put my best application forward. She is extremely committed and I felt like she went over and above her remit. I am happy to say my application was successful and I am beyond grateful to Dione for all her help as it would not have been possible without her. I would absolutely recommend Dione to anyone and especially international applicants who really do need someone with her level of knowledge and expertise when it comes to US business schools and admissions.

Dione's attention to detail was the first thing I noticed about her. This is especially important because admissions teams notice everything in (or missing from) an application. She extracted heaps of information from me early, and then helped me organize and concisely communicate it….Each school looks for something different through their respective essay prompts. Dione helped me decipher the prompts and taught me how to make every word count to meet length restrictions without omitting any information….She has invaluable insight in everything from school selection to interview prep. Her support helped me receive the offers that I did and I am so excited to be starting at Sloan, a potentially life changing opportunity. I truly believe working with Dione was the best decision I made during the application process and fully expect to use what I have learned during and after my MBA.

I highly recommend Dione for MBA applications if you are looking for a resourceful, timely, and professional consultant who will push you to think and give you the best shot in your application. I quickly discovered Dione was the right consultant for my situation, and she became my dedicated MBA consultant for strategy, positioning, and career visioning. I had a very tight timeframe for R1 applications, and Dione was very responsive and effective at the same time. She first helped me narrow down to a list of few schools that best meet my needs and background and then drew up a game plan in terms of the sequence and how to tackle each school. Through various questions, personality tests, conversations, and reflections, Dione helped me figure out a short-term and long-term goal that fits my interests and makes sense for the schools. Within a couple of weeks of intense back-and-forth with many e-mails, we were able to draft a compelling story for the essay questions that are true to me and unique to each school. Given the tight timeline, Dione worked extremely hard and responded to my questions and essay drafts tireless with turnaround time, often less than an hour, and responded late into the evenings. Throughout the application, Dione pointed out the areas I need to prioritize and encouraged me to push forward....With Dione’s support, I’m lucky to be admitted by Dartmouth Tuck and Cornell Johnson. I will recommend Dione to anybody with a traditional background or a diverse interest and interest in a top MBA program.

Dione was an incredible and professional consultant throughout the entire application process. First, she walked through my life story and got a feel for what really made me ‘tick’. Next, she helped me develop a strategic plan for my application and we began the arduous process of developing applications for six elite MBA programs. When I sent Dione my drafts, she would always be quick and thorough with reviews. In fact, I found myself hoping (to no avail) that she might take a bit longer so that I could procrastinate. She has a wealth of experience in marketing and communications, so she understood how to focus my messaging. She helped highlight elements of my personal narrative that I had overlooked but that others would find interesting. In addition, she is very kind and is always helpful even with tight deadlines. My applications would have been far more time-consuming and much less focused without her guidance. Prior my first interview, Dione gave me a mock interview. She shared some honest feedback that I really needed to hear; she is always polite but will never withhold feedback that might help an applicant. In the end – of my six elite target schools – I was admitted to four and am currently waitlisted at one. I received 2 full tuition scholarships and a sizeable scholarship from another program. I have decided to go to MIT Sloan School of Management, and I couldn’t be happier! Thanks Dione!

I highly recommend working with Dione. As I reflect on the past 6 months of my MBA application journey, what I appreciate about Dione the most was her patience to understand who I was. There was no rush for me to start churning out applications, drafting essays, or pushing out recommendations. Instead, Dione and I spent hours speaking about past experiences, stories, and my friends and family. More importantly, she asked me questions that no one else had ever asked me. Questions that made me dig into my goals, dreams, and aspirations to define where I wanted to go professionally. And once I figured that out, Dione and I explored the experiences I needed to have and the skillset I needed to build to get me to where I wanted to go professionally. Through this patient and introspective process, I was able to prepare applications that effectively demonstrated to schools the important role that I wanted them to play in my journey. After it was all said and done, I was offered admission to my dream school. Six months ago, I wouldn't have believed that the excitement of an acceptance call would be matched by the clarity and empowerment that I received from defining my dreams - and game plan to get there - with Dione.