Harvard Undergrad, Stanford GSB | 9 Years in Admissions | Startup COO

I'm an experienced admissions consultant with almost a decade of expertise navigating elite admissions - for my own admissions processes for undergrad (Harvard) and full-time MBA (incoming Stanford GSB, additional acceptances to Wharton and many others). Outside of my own admissions successes, I've been a professional admissions consultant, beginning in 2016 with my work as an early hire at CollegeVine, one of the leading (undergrad) admissions consultancies in the US. I've formally consulted with, and informally mentored, countless students across both undergrad and grad school, with many acceptances to Ivies+. Regarding MBA admissions: I navigated my own admissions process with a relatively "nontraditional" background, coming from startups and, further back, self-employment. My view on admissions is one rooted in pragmatism and genuineness; let's dispense with some of the trite advice and focus on what your background offers, the story you have to tell, and why you actually want to go to business school. (And even whether you *should* go to business school! Navigating doubt is, in my opinion, an important part of this process as well.) Beyond admissions, I'm a successful startup operator - most recently as the COO of Impactive, a YCombinator-backed political software startup.