28,622Leland Reviews

Melissa Lee was instrumental in shaping both my decision to attend Princeton University and my success while there. From the very beginning, she advocated for me—not only during the admissions process but also as I weighed competing offers from other top institutions. Once I enrolled, she immediately connected me with faculty members who have since become lifelong mentors and friends. Melissa’s commitment to student success goes far beyond the expected. She spearheaded the creation of a tutoring program that provided critical academic support for students navigating the rigor of quant-intensive coursework. Her advocacy was also deeply felt in moments of global urgency, such as when she supported student-led efforts to ethically engage with Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. Years after graduation, Melissa continues to be one of my most trusted champions—always ready with thoughtful advice and unwavering encouragement as I navigate a career at the intersection of international affairs and business. If you have the opportunity to work with Melissa, count yourself fortunate. You’re not only working with an expert—you’re working with someone whose investment in your success is both personal and profound.

I reached out to Will super last minute, but he was able to make it work. His feedback for our mock was highly relevant and helpful. The things I saw as a burden (i.e., the pronunciation of my name and the lengthy titles of my academic disciplines), he saw as a source of pride. This shift in perspective, and the confidence it gave me in my authentic self, is something that will serve me not just for admissions but for a lifetime. I feel lucky that our paths crossed.

I'm extremely satisfied with the overall process and support provided by Ellin Lolis. I can think of 4 reasons why I believe working with Ellin helped me achieve my goal: 1. The brand strategy exercise helped me think through stories dating back to my childhood to better understand underlying character traits that I could explore in my essays. I was also coached on how to express these stories to show these traits in the best way possible. 2. The essay review was extremely deep, sometimes even helping me rethink an essay's entire structure to bring out the best in me. This review wasn't just a grammar and word count review that some consulting firms stick to. 3. I chose the full consulting experience, which meant that I also asked for interview coaching. The approach combined strategizing, which stories I should choose and how to phrase them, with various mock interviews with different coaches to leave out any bias that could exist when doing mocks with people who already know your story. I would also receive thorough feedback, not only on content, but also on body language and phrasing of certain subjects. 4. The first 3 can all be summarized into this final reason, which takes into account the overall experience: Ellin treats your application with tremendous care and personalizes the process based on what is believed can help you reach your goals. You truly feel that her support is tailored to what you require to succeed. I highly recommend working with Ellin Lolis because of her tailored approach to your application. Anyone wishing to get into top business school programs and who wants an approach that is tailored to how they like to work and to their experience should choose Ellin.

I am extremely happy with the services provided by Ellin. She is extremely competent and organized. She uses a platform to update the tasks, therefore, one always knows what the next step of the process is. I was really focused throughout the process - I just wanted Insead or IESE.. Although Ellin is American, she is very updated and knows the European MBAs in detail. She was very helpful during the process, organizing the tasks that I had to do and guiding me with the essays. She is extremely successful in marketing the candidate. I would extremely recommend working with Ellin, and I have already done so. I have referred her to many people who were looking for consultants. She is accessible, organized, and very aware of the trends in the MBA world. Besides all her qualities, after my approval in the two schools I have applied to, she also helped with the decision process. She is a complete professional.

As a first-time MBA applicant from Colombia, Ellin's support and thoughtful feedback were key for me to structure and better communicate all of the stories that I wanted to convey in my application process and ultimately being accepted with a scholarship award at my top business school choice. Right from the start, Ellin focused on fully understanding my profile and suggesting the best ways to help me highlight my best examples and stories using effective communication strategies. As a Round 2 applicant, Ellin's flexibility and responsiveness were essential. She was available and ready to answer questions, even during the busy holiday season, so I always felt supported during my application process. For anyone who's applying to top business schools and want to create a brilliant MBA application, get thoughtful feedback and guidance during the application process, and work with a friendly MBA application expert, look no further: I'd highly recommend working with Ellin, as she delivers incredible value through her unique personalized service. I was blown away by the quality of the service in general and the amount of value that she added to my application with just a few 1:1 sessions and essay revisions. I can confidently say that working with Ellin was one the best choices I made during my application process and it made a huge difference to ultimately getting accepted at Rotman.

I can not stress how important Ellin was to my MBA journey. Not only did she help me with the application essays and interviews, but more importantly, she made sure the schools I was applying to were the best fit for me and my goals. Ellin was great at keeping track of everything I needed to do and being honest with my flaws, not pulling punches, and making sure I could put my best face forward to get into Cornell. She is quick on her responses, wasting no time. Part of my process was online, and it worked just as fine as the in-person sessions. I highly recommend Ellin Lolis to anyone thinking about pursuing an MBA, not only as an application consultant but also as a career coach. I couldn't be happier at Cornell. I feel right at home here.

I worked with Ellin to prepare for my Round 1 interviews for Cornell Johnson, Michigan Ross, and Dartmouth Tuck. I noticed that I improved a lot in my ability to structure my answers and to link my story with the information that I needed to convey to the interviewer. Ellin helped me focus on the unique aspects of each school and understand each one’s culture. I really had personalized support at every step of the process, even after we finished our interview preparation. Ellin helped me to highlight my best experiences in the best way and helped me understand my weaknesses in a way that helped me to be more competitive in the application process. As a result of Ellin’s help, I was admitted to all the schools I interviewed at. I have already recommended to my friends because Ellin knows the profile of each school very well, and she knows how to match a school with the student’s needs and aspirations.

As an applicant in my late 30s, Ellin made all the difference in being accepted into my top choice business school. From the beginning, she helped me define my application strategy and provided me with support throughout the process. She helped me plan and polish my essays, choose and guide my recommenders, and prepare for my interviews. Because of our work together, I was accepted into three business schools, a choice I am not sure I would have had otherwise. I highly recommend Ellin because she offers a truly unique service in the market. She has the expertise to know what the schools want, and she cares a great deal about her clients. She is not interested in steering you toward a mediocre program in order to improve her acceptance numbers, but instead helps you define your goals and challenges you to go after the best possible result. If you are applying to a top business school, you have to work with Ellin!

I had the opportunity to work with Ellin on two different occasions. The first one was to edit my presentation for Chicago Booth, and she really enthralled me with her work. She was able not only to understand my story and my personal and professional achievements in depth, but she also put that in a presentation smoothly linking my story with the school’s fit. The final presentation surprised me a lot. As an American, her English is flawless, and she knows just what the schools want. In addition, her PowerPoint skills enabled her to do an outstanding job in terms of design. The next time we worked together was to prepare for the interview, and she once again proved to be very skillful and accurate. She provided me with the main questions that were asked in that step of the process and was very good in preparing me, as well as in giving me feedback in a very straightforward yet polite way. In a nutshell, I strongly recommend her work, and I believe she is the X factor in preparing for any MBA.

Ellin helped me to prepare for the interview at London Business School. I was really impressed on how much hands on and helpful she is, giving the best she could to provide me with inside, updated and complete information to succeed in the interview. The fact that she closely monitors her students is certainly her great advantage compared to other renowned consultants in the market. I strongly recommend Ellin Lolis to everyone who wants to be accepted into a top business school.