Founded by a Wharton MBA and MIT Sloan graduate who sits on the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants Board of Directors, Personal MBA Coach has been guiding clients for 17 years and consistently ranked #1 or #2 globally by leading sources including Poets&Quants. We help clients with all aspects of the MBA application process including early planning, GMAT/GRE/EA tutoring, application strategy, school selection, essay editing, and mock interviews. Our team of business professionals includes former M7 admissions directors and former M7 admissions interviewers.

Last cycle, our clients earned more than $11M in scholarships!

At Personal MBA Coach, we take the time to get to know every client personally as we go through the journey together. This starts with deep analysis into your background, an identification of your objectives and a thorough development of your personal story. Our no BS approach ensures that nothing falls through the cracks and our feedback is honest, non-sugar coated and immediate. We push our clients very hard and the work pays off. See testimonials from past Personal MBA Coach clients for more details.

One Expert Consultant - ALWAYS

Unlike with many other firms, you will have one consultant (our founder or a former admissions director) throughout your entire MBA application process. There are no interns in a back office editing your essays and you will not be handed off to someone junior who happens to have availability. Having an expert who knows you, your needs and your strengths and weaknesses ensures not only the greatest success but a comfortable working environment throughout the application process.

Our Flexible Product Offering Guides You Through Each Stage of The MBA Application Process

Whether you are looking for help with early MBA/career planning, need tutoring support or are ready to begin work on your application essays, Personal MBA Coach has a package to suit your needs. Most clients choose comprehensive packages that allow work on every aspect of the application from school selection to interview preparation and offer acceptance. We also offer more limited services during certain times of the year.

We Work When You Work

We know that MBA applicants are busy working professionals juggling a demanding full-time job and extracurriculars. Our clients live or work globally across numerous time zones. See below for a map! We make ourselves available when crucial needs arise!

Why Else Should You Try Personal MBA Coach?

  • Founded by a Wharton MBA graduate who not only understands business schools inside and out but also has career experience across consulting, corporate strategy and financial services, we can advise you on the best steps and the best schools to attend based on your specific profile in order to accomplish your career goals (getting into business school is only step one).
  • We offer customized, personal, MBA application consulting with no red tape, no complex forms, no cookie cutter approaches.
  • You will be working with our top MBA admission consultants. We have no junior consultants. All clients work for Scott or a former M7 admissions director.
  • Former M7 MBA student and alumni interviewers will prepare you for the crucial day.
  • Our clients earned an industry leading $10M+ in scholarships during the 2022-2023 admissions season.
  • We are a boutique, family-owned business (with multiple ivy league MBAs in the family).

Scott Edinburgh

Founder

Wharton MBA, MIT Sloan BS

A Wharton MBA graduate with a BS from MIT, Scott has been an MBA admissions consultant for 17 years and has helped hundreds of applicants around the world get into top MBA programs. He is on the Board of Directors for the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants and was an invited speaker at the GMAC Conference with admissions committee directors from every top school.

Prior to perfecting the MBA admissions process and making dreams come true for applicants from Tokyo to San Francisco (and everywhere in between) as a full-time admissions consultant, Scott worked across consulting, financial services and strategy & corporate development roles. He ran Global Strategy/Corporate Development as a Director of a 700 person leading independent publishing company. He also worked for InterContinental Hotels Group in Global Strategy, as well as JP Morgan and Deloitte Consulting in Mergers & Acquisitions. Scott’s first-hand experience in many of the jobs applicants have today or hope to obtain post-MBA helps him advise them on the best ways to not only get into their top choice schools, but position themselves for their dream jobs.

In his free time, Scott enjoys visiting vineyards to taste wine in new regions, listening to live music and staying active outside. Wish him luck as he tries to plant more vines in his backyard.


Mae Jennifer "MJ" Shores

Director

MJ has served in senior admissions leadership roles at top business schools, including The Wharton School of Business, UCLA Anderson, and the International University of Moscow – Russia. She served as Admissions Director at The Wharton School of Business and as an assistant dean in Admissions at UCLA Anderson. At the International University at Moscow, MJ taught Organizational Behavior, International Trade, and Negotiations to MBA and undergraduate business students.

During her time in admissions, MJ served on boards and committees for the General Management Admissions Council (GMAC), the Forté Foundation, the MBA Tour, and others. She regularly spoke on panels and made presentations to alumni and prospective MBA students around the globe. She was also featured in Business Week, The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, China Post, and others.

MJ earned baccalaureate degrees in Economics and History from Guilford College and Arizona State University, respectively, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She also earned a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University in New York City.

In her free time, MJ is an active volunteer in the community. A lover of gourmet coffee, she can frequently be spotted spending time with friends at local coffee shops.


Frenk Nebiu

Director

Frenk is a former Associate Director of Admissions at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, where he evaluated and interviewed Full Time MBA applicants globally from 2018 until late 2021.

Frenk was the admissions liaison to the Kellogg student affinity networks and oversaw end to end admissions for the MSMS program with Northwestern University. Frenk has led hundreds of domestic and international sessions as brand ambassador for the Kellogg MBA programs. Additionally, Frenk leads MBA recruiting nationally for Deloitte Consulting. In this role, Frenk has developed a deep understanding of the post MBA employment market.

Frenk earned his Bachelor degree in Communication from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. In his free time, Frenk enjoys traveling, cooking and recreational sports.


Erin Wand

President

As a former Bain & Co Consultant and Forté Scholar with a Yale SOM MBA, Erin has over 20 years of professional experience. Erin began her career consulting for clients across the healthcare, consumer products and finance industries at Bain. She then joined the marketing department at American Airlines (formerly US Airways) before returning to business school. As a brand marketer at Mars, Inc. Erin later guided top consumer brands including M&M’s and TWIX and still has a passion for helping clients enter the consumer products industry.

Since joining Personal MBA Coach in 2015 to run the company’s marketing and operations, Erin has worked behind the scenes developing Personal MBA Coach’s extensive knowledge base and comprehensive project management system. She also leads Personal MBA Coach’s talented team of editors and works with a limited number of clients each year.

Erin graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Colby College. She currently lives outside of Boston with her husband and two children and enjoys spending her weekends both coaching and cheering on her kids on the soccer field.


Richard Emmanuel

Director

Richard has an MBA from Wharton and a MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. At Wharton he served as an Admissions Fellow, conducting interviews and leading Team-Based Discussions. Following Wharton, Richard worked in the finance department at Google before transitioning into the education field. Prior to business school he spent 5 years in the finance industry working at Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Citi.  Richard’s diverse background gives him a unique perspective on both the professional and academic aspects of the MBA journey.

Richard has been working at Personal MBA Coach for over five years.  This experience, along with his role as an alumni interviewer for Penn, has positioned him to help applicants refine their stories and stand out in the admissions process.


Cyrus Hessabi

Director

Cyrus has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an aeronautical engineering degree from Imperial College London. Cyrus has extensive experience coaching candidates and has been serving as a coach in various forms for over 10 years. Having transitioned from engineering to venture capital himself, Cyrus particularly enjoys guiding engineers who are interested in making a career transition. He also has an expertise in AI software development. 

Prior to business school, Cyrus worked at Salesforce as a sales engineer in London, defining digital transformation programmes and supporting the company’s strategic enterprise clients. Of Persian descent, Cyrus was born in France and grew up in the UK. His broad network across the U.S. and Europe, and his understanding of highly contrasting cultures, environments and styles allows him to guide his clients in building compelling business school applications.


Ade Popoola

Director

Ade Popoola earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA from Harvard College. While at HBS, she served as an admissions representative, managing prospective student engagement and supporting prospective applicants. Additionally, as a management consulting mock case interviewer for HBS’s career and professional development, Ade helped HBS students transition into consulting. After earning her MBA, Ade worked as a consultant and a manager at Bain & Company. Prior to joining HBS, Ade spent 8 years in nonprofit strategy, including working at the JP Morgan Chase foundation and KaBOOM.

Ade has over 8 years of experience coaching MBA applicants, including reviewing applications and conducting mock interviews as an MLT prep alum. Ade currently lives in Chicago, IL and in her free times enjoys cycling and playing basketball.


Nicole Shay

Director - Advisor

Nicole is a former Associate Director of Admissions at Columbia Business School, where she evaluated and interviewed MBA applicants globally from 2015 until early 2021. She also served as the admissions liaison to the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program and oversaw admissions for the JD/MBA dual degree program with Columbia Law School. Additionally, Nicole managed recruiting for Columbia Business School’s Executive MBA Program. Nicole has travelled to Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America to recruit MBA talent, deliver presentations to applicants and leading global companies and host events for alumni and prospective students to connect. She frequently participated in panels for the Forté Foundation and the MBA Tour, and has been interviewed for multiple MBA admissions publications.

Nicole earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh and her Master of Science degree in Human Capital Management from Columbia University in the City of New York. In her free time, Nicole enjoys traveling by plane to reach new places and by bike to explore them.


Where do Personal MBA Coach clients live?

Where Have Clients Been Accepted?

Past clients have been accepted at every top business school in the world including Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB, Wharton, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg, Columbia Business School, Berkeley Haas, Dartmouth Tuck, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, NYU Stern, UCLA Anderson, Yale SOM, Cornell Johnson, London Business School, INSEAD, and more.

96% of clients are successful. We work with applicants applying to full-time MBA programs as well as Executive and part-time MBA programs. Want help getting into HBS, Wharton and other top global programs? Submit an inquiry to learn more about the best MBA admissions counseling.