Booking · Step One of Two
Book the 90-minute diagnostic.
Then decide.
This is not a discovery call. It is the opening session of a structured engagement — a candid, line-by-line read of your candidacy against the standards of the program you are actually targeting, conducted by a senior strategist. The fee is credited in full toward a full engagement if you continue. If you do not, the brief belongs to you.
1,847 admits · 2009–2024 · Boston
What happens on the call
A diagnostic, not a sales conversation.
The 90 minutes are spent on your file — not on our services. We open with the candid read: where you stand competitively, where the gaps are, and what a realistic path looks like across the schools on your list. We close with a written follow-up memo, regardless of whether we work together afterward.
Positioning read
We open with a frank assessment of your candidacy against the past three admitted cohorts at your target programs — the schools you will realistically compete with, not the fantasy short list.
Target list recalibration
You leave with a tiered school list — reach, target, foundation — calibrated to your profile, your sponsor's pre-approval list (if applicable), and the current cycle's competitive dynamics.
Roadmap and timeline
A 12–24 month arc: GMAT or GRE cadence, recommender cultivation, narrative development milestones, and interview prep. Concrete dates, not aspirations.
Written follow-up memo
Within 72 hours, a two-to-three page memo summarizing the read, the recommended target list, and the engagement options. Yours to keep whether or not we proceed.
Send ahead, 48 hours before the call:
- Your current resume, in any state — do not polish it first.
- Unofficial transcripts for undergraduate and any graduate work.
- Your working school list, even if it is still aspirational.
- A short note on the role you want on the other side of the MBA, in your own words.
- For sponsored candidates: your employer's pre-approval list, if one exists.
The booking
Choose a window. Send the brief. Arrive prepared.
Slots are released in two-week blocks and tend to fill within 72 hours of opening, particularly between mid-July and mid-October. If none of the times below work, email [email protected] with two or three windows that do, in your local time zone, and we will open one for you.
We cap intake at 40 clients per calendar year, and 14 of those slots are typically reserved for re-applicants and Round 2 deferred candidates. The calendar reflects what is genuinely available.
Available windows, Friday 15
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Late-stage questions
What an M7-bound executive asks in the final ten seconds.
Who actually runs the call — a partner, an associate, or an algorithm?
A senior strategist — never an associate and never a chatbot. Maren Walsh leads the first diagnostic for every new client herself; subsequent diagnostics are run by one of the 11 senior strategists on the team, each of whom has logged a minimum of six admitted MBA cycles. We do not subcontract the opening call to a junior researcher, and we do not run a churn-and-burn applicant mill.
Is the $950 diagnostic fee credited toward a full engagement?
Yes, in full, within 30 days of the call. If you retain us for a full engagement within that window, the diagnostic fee is applied as a credit on your first invoice — you are not paying twice for the same work. If you do not retain us, the written follow-up memo and the diagnostic read are yours to keep, with no further obligation.
My employer is sponsoring this. Can the booking be routed through our L&D team?
Yes. Roughly a third of our clients are sponsored — by McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Google, Goldman Sachs, Amazon's Career Choice program, and several Fortune 500 L&D departments we cannot name publicly. Email [email protected] with the sponsor contact's name and we will route the booking, the invoice, and the reimbursement paperwork through them directly. 92% of sponsored candidates land at a school ranked at or above their employer's pre-approval list.
I am a re-applicant from a previous cycle. Does that change anything?
It changes the diagnostic — not the fee. Re-applicants receive a dedicated re-application read: what the prior file communicated, what the committee most likely dinged you on, and what a credible second-attempt narrative looks like without sounding defensive. We hold 14 of the 40 annual slots for re-applicants and Round 2 deferred candidates; mention the prior cycle in your booking note and we will reserve the appropriate reading time.
What is the cancellation policy if something shifts on my end?
Reschedule with 48 hours' notice, no fee, no questions. Within 48 hours, the slot is forfeited — we do not pro-rate, because the strategist's hour is committed the moment the booking is confirmed. If the reschedule is driven by an employer emergency or a medical event, email us; we have never charged a re-booking fee in those cases and we are not about to start.
Or, the quieter route
Prefer a human first?
Some executives route the booking through an assistant, an L&D lead, or a spouse who handles the calendar. Some simply want to email a question before committing to a paid call. Either is a perfectly reasonable way to proceed.
Boston, MA 02116
Replies are sent within one business day, by the principal consultant or by a senior strategist — not by an autoresponder.