28,622Leland Reviews

I’ll start off by saying I’m absolutely a miser - I over-research every purchase over $100. I say this to give you some perspective when I say that hiring Bill Chionis was some of the best money I’ve ever spent in my life. - From the very first call, it was immediately obvious how experienced and knowledgeable he was of the entire process. I never once doubted he knew exactly what he was talking about. He would say things like "I think you have a very strong shot at x, y, and z, but you should go for z and y because your background is more of a fit for what their adcoms are looking for" And he was right. - He made every single minute count - he was a fountain of information that was clear, articulate and confident. He answered questions I didn’t know I had. We got it done with far less hours than I expected. In the end, his services cost me a third of what some other consultants wanted. - I’m a fairly neurotic person. Bill answered all my questions patiently and expertly, no matter how small or nitpicky. I didn’t realize how important it would be when I started, but working with Bill made the anxiety of the whole process so much more manageable. Just small things like whether a certain experience was worth putting down in my essay or not, how to word or represent a certain story, etc. I knew exactly how to represent different aspects of my life without second guessing myself. - He responded FAST. Very important and helpful while I could only snatch an hour here or there to work on my apps. - I am starting at H/S/W in May and I fully believe I would not have been able to get in without Bill

I applied to business school and was considering hiring a consultant, but due to a tight timeline, I decided to take a go at it independently. During that time, I had a free consultation with Bill. My solo-attempt at navigating the application process resulted in being waitlisted at my top-choice schools. I was discouraged and frustrated. While waitlisted, I had many free consultations with numerous companies, all of whom seemed informed and knowledgeable. My gut told me that I should revisit Bill, and after speaking with him a second time, I knew that I wanted to work specifically with Bill. I am so happy I made that decision. Thanks to Bill’s help and advice I was accepted to my top choice school with a full scholarship. I also received 2 additional scholarship offers from top 15 and top 25 b’schools. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Bill. He’s a true professional. His edits and advice were simple, yet incredibly insightful. He is an unbelievable writer. My essays were so much tighter and more impactful once Bill worked his magic. During the interview process, he really helped instill confidence in me and helped me develop skills which I now use while recruiting for internships and will continue to use during my professional career. Lastly, I really appreciate how Bill didn’t try to sell me more hours than necessary. He could have easily convinced me that I needed the all-In package, but instead, suggested a very modest hourly package, which he stuck to. I truly cannot say enough wonderful things about Bill. I wish there was someone like Bill at school that could guide me through the process.

Being international and not having a vast network of colleagues/peers in top business schools, I knew starting off that I would need help with my application process. Additionally, considering my age and other personal factors, timing was critical from my side, and I absolutely needed to put my best foot forward in my application. Going primarily off of online reviews, I decided to try out Bill. However, I was a bit skeptical initially given the high cost of services. I was paired with Bill, and at the very outset, was pleasantly surprised by his professional yet warm attitude. He was genuinely interested to build a good working relationship and he even suggested that I purchase hourly services to keep my costs low (and my costs indeed turned out much lower than I had initially anticipated). I was also very impressed by his knowledge of the whole admissions process. Quite honestly, although I knew I wanted to do an MBA, I was a bit fuzzy on my exact career path, and by way of the application process, Bill explained the business world really well and prepared/mentored me on possible career paths based on my background, interests & goals. I must emphasize that the interview prep session was especially helpful and I will carry my learnings from that throughout my career. I had only applied to one top business school and was thrilled when I was admitted to that program. I definitely recommend his services to anyone considering consultation for his/her application.

Bill was very professional and knowledgable. During our first discussion, he helped explain to me the pros and cons for each of the program I was considering. His feedback helped me filter the list of schools I was considering and helped me save money on applications. That alone was worth every penny! Throughout the process, I felt a lot more comfortable with the help from Bill. He was clearly knowledgable of business schools, and the application process. Bill made the process a lot less nerve wrecking.

I would highly recommend William(Bill) Chionis for his expertise in understanding and crafting essays and interview preparations for the Kellogg's EMBA program. Bill understands the program well and informed me of my probability of success up front. I was in touch with Bill for over 4 years before we submitted an application. This speaks volumes about how Bill works. Bill stayed in touch with me through that time to help me develop my career and when it came time to submit an application, he guided my essays without eliminating my own voice. My essays were uniquely mine, but so much more polished and better in every way. The interview at the school felt like I had gone through it before when Bill took me through the interview questions beforehand. We rehearsed this twice and I breezed through the interview. I was ecstatic to get the call from my dream school and know that this would not have been possible without Bill's excellent, customer focused way of operating. I highly recommend them and when my wife is ready to apply, we will enlist his support for sure! Thanks Bill. You rock!!

I reached out to Bill pretty late for the Booth and Kellogg spring batch deadline. He convinced me that I had a good candidacy and I could complete the application in time. That gave me the confidence to apply and as promised Bill was there to help at every step of the way. He was very responsive and clear with his feedback. His tips on handling different aspects of the application including the interviews were invaluable in helping me get through. I applied to three colleges and got a positive response from all. Thanks Bill. I would recommend him to anyone thinking about consultation for part time MBA programs.

I highly recommend Bill Chionis’ exceptional services to anyone looking for an experienced, considerate, enthusiastic, and efficient guide to the MBA application process. I applied to the Wharton EMBA program and successfully got admitted with Bill’s help. I conducted more than 8 calls with other highly ranked consulting firms prior to signing up for the All-In Package with Bill. Bill’s approach stood out because it was crisp and straight-to-the-point. Given his experience, he knew how to navigate the application process (i.e., the key parts that we needed to hit in order to craft a competitive application). Following Bill’s advice (and putting in the work) will get you results. For example, we only had to do minor modifications to my draft application after we submitted it for a FlightTest. Bill intimately knows how admissions committee's evaluate applications. Wharton was the only school that I applied for and my admission to the program is an undeniably clear validation of Bill’s approach (i.e., application strategy). Bill is highly passionate about working with candidates and that’s exactly what you want when looking for an advisor that’s dedicated to helping you create the best application. Appreciate all the help Bill!

I was in a very tight time schedule when I decided to apply for EMBA program. So I decided to look for a consulting service to help me. I did a lot of research online and chat with consultants of different companies, Bill specialized in the EMBA application, and he has very good knowledge and resources on the schools and application process. I choose an all-in package for my dream school. My consultant Bill was very professional and helpful. Also given that I was in China during the entire application period, he was very nice to adjust his time for me to make phone calls.

I started off the search for an executive MBA program knowing little about the process. During the search, I was overwhelmed, intimidated and confused when I looked at various school rankings and admission process. This is what prompted me to explore various executive MBA admission-consulting firms. Particularly, Bill's reviews on various MBA websites motivated me to go for a complimentary profile assessment with him. Right from the get go, Bill was very candid and friendly in his approach—a combination that I think is rare in most consultants. He patiently listened to my background and immediately pointed out areas of strengths and weaknesses. He was genuinely interested in my success and made a cogent argument on long-term value of an executive MBA. In fact, Bill was the one who suggested an hourly package rather than a comprehensive package based on my profile. I signed up for hourly consultation with Bill to help me with school shortlisting, essays, and interview preparation. I had many questions about shortlisting schools. Bill was very patient, thorough and knowledgeable about the executive MBA admissions process for Wharton, Kellogg, Columbia, MIT and several other top business schools. His advice helped me eliminate a ton of hours of research and zero in on a few schools. He also pointed out schools I should focus on and the ones that may not be a good fit. This helped me strategically invest time in schools where I had the best admission chances. Throughout the 12+ months of our interaction, Bill was a pillar of support for my application process. Perseverance and motivation are two key ingredients needed to put up a strong application for a top business school. Bill's methodical approach, no-nonsense feedback and gentle nudges (☺) were really helpful in making sure I stay focused on my goal. As Bill and I spent several hours (and emails :)) strategizing on my story, all parts of my application logically flowed from the unified strategy. My essays, recommendation letters and interviews had a common theme and complimented each other. As a result, I felt very comfortable during the interview process and was optimistic about my chances. I was elated to hear about my admit into Wharton and profusely thanked Bill soon after. When you are evaluating executive MBA consultants, choose someone who can be honest about your candidature and can specifically tell you what s/he can do to help enhance your profile (and what aspects cannot be mitigated). This will level set your expectations and help you get into the best business school that fits your profile. Overall, I am so glad that I chose to work with Bill. Their professionalism, thoroughness and customer focus are top notch. Thank you Bill!

I felt a personal connection to Bill, and felt as though he truly understood how my profile and future intentions were well aligned with Columbia's JTerm in particular, and I'm happy to say this was the correct instinct! Given Bill's wisdom and ability to empathize with the Adcom, I was able to put my best foot forward in drafting my application, while eliminating unforced errors. Essentially, if Bill were a soccer coach, his team would score more goals than otherwise, while having fewer scored upon them.