Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi Stacy,

What should I look for in an admissions consultant if I need very specific help in a narrow area? I have a limited budget and want just a few hours of consulting to help me solidify my "story" before writing my essays. I'm a very good writer, so I'm fairly confident I'll be able to make my essays shine on my own. I just think I could use some help brainstorming an outline and making sure my leadership skills and creativity are coming through in the examples I chose when crafting my package.

Here are my questions for you:

What homework should I do beforehand to ensure that I'm getting the most out of the 2-3 hours I could afford? Or is it even worth working with someone for that short a time? Do you think I'm shooting too high for my chosen schools and would require more than 3 hours of consulting to have a shot? What could your admissions service offer me in this area (we can talk offline about this if you want)?

Here is some information about me and my candidacy:

- Desired schools: Columbia or NYU, with focus on Entrepreneurship track. Would also like to be active in the Women's association at either University.
- 3.85 GPA from University of California Berkeley (double major in innovation and Spanish). Graduated in 2007.
- 730 GMAT (43 Quant, 46 Verbal)
- Current Customer Experience Analyst for startup software company (market research analysis, working on customer experience and doing some product management for small changes to site, also technical writing and management of Help center for website).
- Former team leader of Berkeley's fundraising center. Personally raised over $150,000 for the University in FY07, trained and managed up to 35 fundraisers each day. **This was technically a "student" job that I had part time while in school, but I think I was able to show much more leadership here than in my other "real" jobs.
- Current volunteer for a senior center and volunteer translator for micro loan non-profit
- Volunteer for Obama (canvassing, 08) and Kerry (telephone banking, 04)
- Launched and led several one-off community service projects both at work and among group of friends
- Active participant in local women's organization
- Professional actress with credits in independent film and network television
- Fluent in Spanish, spent a year abroad in Spain and 4 months in Australia
- Competitive horseback rider and active horse trainer, former paid and volunteer riding instructor

I appreciate any advice you can give before I launch into some expensive consulting!

Thanks in advance for your help!
midgely