Who We Are: mbaMission Reviews

Devi is one of the most incredible people I have encountered. She, not only fully prepared me for the HBS interview, she transformed the way in which I convey my story. There was not a single question the HBS interviewer asked, that Devi and I had not prepped for. I saw the tremendous lasting impact of Devi while on my Pre-MBA internship interviews. The feedback I received was how succinct my story was and how I was poised and polished. I, without a doubt, will refer anyone I personally know and encourage anyone reading this to use Devi as I know she will generate value far beyond your expectations.

HBS Admit (via Poets&Quants)

Devi has been instrumental in ensuring my success in the application process. Devi will help you elevate your candidacy from great to outstanding. It is a must if you are serious about HBS regardless of your applicant profile. You do not want to have regrets by missing this great experience. Specifically, her tailored advice on how to interview and present my candidacy was unparalleled given her experience on the board and her holistic understanding of the HBS process. 70% of the questions during the interview resembled in either essence or in entirety what was practiced. Beyond the sheer coverage of key questions, Devi was able to help me understand my candidacy from a different and more strategic perspective. The new view helped me frame the answers in a more concise, compelling and powerful narrative which came through during the interview. The practice built up my confidence and helped me have a strong interview. In addition, the perspective gained in the process is something that will serve you not just for the MBA, but for the rest of your professional life.

HBS Admit (via Poets&Quants)

Devi was incredible to work with and I could not recommend her more! Finding out I had been invited to interview at HBS was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. But despite reading all of the interview primers, networking with students, and mock-interviewing with my partner multiple times a week, I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that there was more I could do to prepare. Luckily, working with Devi completely allayed all those fears. She took me on with extremely short notice and, from our very first session, she proved her worth. Despite being lucky enough to go through many mocks with a very willing partner (who manages 70+ people and is in charge of interviewing new candidates at her firm), the HBS interview is just simply different. Devi’s intimate knowledge of how the HBS interviewer thinks, what types of questions would be asked and (more importantly) the pace of their questioning, immediately helped me reframe my mindset to achieve success in the HBS interview environment. While I initially thought the value from working with Devi would come from the peace of mind knowing I’d done everything I could to prepare, my mock interviews went so far beyond that. I genuinely don’t know if I would have been able to succeed without her counsel. Knowing the outline of what to expect, and how to best prepare for it, gave me immense confidence leading into the interview and I am so thankful to Devi for taking me on as a client!

HBS Admit (via Poets&Quants)

Looking back, I can say for sure that choosing to work with Devi was the best decision I have made during the preparation for my HBS interview. Devi not only helped me to obtain a deep understanding of the interview process, but step by step worked with me to build my confidence, by emphasizing equally my strength and the areas I needed to improve.

What I loved the most was that mock interviews were not aimed to prepare perfect answers on specific questions, rather the goal was to be ready to present the best self no matter what questions would come up on the actual interview. Devi made sure to customize each mock interview to my personal needs. After the third mock interview, the progress I had made was evident and it enabled me to feel confident in the real interview, ending up enjoying every minute of it.

On top of knowing the interview process inside-out and giving extremely valuable feedback, Devi is an extremely nice person who is always ready to support her clients.

HBS Applicant (via Poets&Quants)

Devi is an extremely talented interviewer who helped me become a significantly better interviewee in just three 1hr long sessions (30min mock, 30min feedback). Initially, my interview responses were verbose and failed to highlight my ability to think strategically. Through honest and direct feedback, Devi wasted no time and gave me exactly what I needed to hear in order to improve in just 3 sessions over the course of 2 weeks. I felt much more confident at the end of the process. More importantly, I came away feeling I've learned skills that would benefit me for the rest of my life in business and beyond! I highly recommend Devi to anyone who wants to improve their interview skills.

HBS Applicant (via Poets&Quants)

Devi is amazing. In our 3 sessions, Devi homed in on exactly what the HBS admission committee wanted to investigate in my interview and helped me create a tone and brand that rung through my HBS interview. Devi correctly assessed that Harvard would want to dive deep into my knowledge, viewpoints, and expertise on the function I have been in for the past 5 years. When the HBS interviewer grilled me for 10-15 minutes on this exact topic, I felt completely ready to answer their questions.

Additionally, Devi helped me hone the persona that I brought into the interview. My demeanor in the interview room was heavily colored by my coaching with Devi, and I felt that it resonated incredibly well with my interviewer since it fit in so well with my story.

Devi is also a great coach. She pumped me up and helped give me the confidence that I could walk into the interview, tell my story, and know that I gave the admissions committee a great picture of who I am and what I can contribute to the HBS classroom.

Her services are pricey but well worth it if you have the funding. I think her coaching played a big role in me landing a “Yes” from HBS and would recommend her to any of my peers.

HBS Admit (via Poets&Quants)

I can’t give enough praise to Devi for thoroughly prepping me! Her prep also put me in great shape for my Wharton (I got accepted last week!) and Sloan (waiting to hear back in a few days) interviews. To be honest, I was hesitant about getting a consultant’s help at first because I was worried that I’d get “over-polished” and reveal less of my personality at the interview. I was completely wrong! Prepping with Devi made me reflect deeper and I ended up having many anecdotes to share outside the ones I’d already stated in my application. Her prep also helped me identify common themes in my experiences and this awareness let me answer the “why” interview questions comfortably. Finally, Devi’s interview simulation got me in the habit of articulating my answers more concisely and consequently, I was able to cover a lot of ground with my HBS interviewers. She’s really the best!

Wharton Admit (via Poets&Quants)

Working with Devi was a fantastic experience! When I first received my HBS interview invite, I was happy, but my happiness quickly turned into panic. I did not know how to prepare for interviews, let alone HBS! Devi’s patience and guidance helped me overcome my challenges. Her dedication to perfect my performance demonstrates her sincerity in helping make a difference in people’s lives. Despite being eight time zones apart, Devi trained me every day via Skype and took the time and effort to fly halfway around the world to conduct with me multiple in-person mock interviews to make sure I was ready for my interview. She helped me self-reflect to extract impactful stories related to my resume and taught me the right approach to connect my different stories.

Most importantly, she trained me not to sound “scripted”! Although I practiced with Devi for HBS, her preparations paid dividends. I leveraged her approach during my interviews with other top schools and, thanks to her, I also got admitted to Stanford and Wharton!!! Working with Devi is the best investment ever!!!

Stanford GSB and Wharton Admit (via Poets&Quants)

I cannot recommend working with Devi enough. Once I got the HBS interview, I signed up for 2 mock interviews with her and honestly feel like it could have made the difference between my accept / reject.

Having been an interviewer in the past, Devi knows the HBS interview process inside and out. Prior to our first interview she had studied my application thoroughly and was able to ask specific, targeted questions (many of which actually came up during my interview!). In addition to helping me understand what the interview would be like, Devi was particularly good at helping me think through how to answer questions thoughtfully and how to emphasize certain points I wanted to get across.

In addition she’s super nice, honest, and gives constructive feedback. Really also got the feeling that she’s genuinely rooting for me. Totally worth it and would recommend the sessions to any of your future clients.

HBS Admit (via Poets&Quants)

I had the pleasure of working with Devi for Round 1 of HBS application process during the interview stage. I cannot recommend her highly enough. She is all things you could want in a consultant: extremely knowledgeable about HBS and its process (which leads to really interesting insights), gives very thoughtful feedback that you can actually work on to improve your chances, and is honest and friendly. Devi's interview coaching was fantastic. We set up two sessions which mimicked the real life HBS interview. Devi does her homework: she fully researches and analyzes your entire application beforehand, coming up with tailored and specific questions to interview you with, similar to how an actual HBS interview would.

HBS Applicants (via Poets&Quants

I worked with Devi ahead of my HBS interview, and I want to share my experience with you. As you know, an HBS interview is a unique experience. They ask probing questions designed to know you better (which is great), but it also makes it challenging to prepare for what to expect. I had three weeks until my interview, so I made a decision. I had gotten this far, let’s not fall short of the finish line.

In my mock sessions, Devi brought her experience as an HBS alumni interviewer to the table. It was clear that she went through all my application materials, understood my narrative, and, most importantly, found the gaps in them. Her questions were straightforward but directed at areas of my application that I did not expect. I rambled away trying to explain the things I know so well, but have never had to articulate before. After that first 30 minutes, needless to say, I failed horribly. If that had been my real interview…

But that’s what great about working with Devi. It was a mock session that gets as close as possible to the real thing—a practice run where the ideal outcome was to make mistakes and learn from it. Also, Devi provided immediate feedback that gave me insights about my ability (or then lack thereof) to translate my thoughts into words. Through her coaching, I developed skills to recognize and end my rambles, to frame up the complicated concepts into a simple 30-second response, and to lead my interviewer to highlight the unique aspects of my narrative. It was an exhausting three weeks; however, re-watching my first and last mock interview sessions, I saw a completely different me. I was organized, my responses were concise, and the interview became a conversation. I knew that whatever was to be the outcome, I will be presenting the best version of myself to HBS.

In conclusion, looking at my preparations with Devi, my HBS interview, and ultimately the result, I can say with absolute conviction that I recommend Devi Vallabhaneni to get you ready for this pivotal 30 minutes of your career.

— TL;DR —

Pros:

• Practice sessions that get as close as possible to the real interview.
• Insightful and immediate feedback that efficiently develops your articulation skills.

Cons:

• It will not be easy; she will push you to be the best version of yourself.
• Expensive, but worth every penny when you receive your acceptance to HBS (it was for me).

HBS Admit (via Poets&Quants