First of all, Poonam is a wonderful coach. She started by putting a lot of effort into digging out my best stories in order to get a good selection for typical themes (leadership, setback, goals, etc.). The editing process is pretty structured: she uses the first couple of edits to get the right content (without concerning with word count) and the last couple of edits to make the essays comply with the word count limits
The one-hour initial call was really helpful in identifying my best stories and reasons for applying to MBA. After that, the sample essays were essential to get me into the right “mood” (especially on Emory’s cultural shock essay). Although my recommenders kept making the same mistakes over and over, you kept reviewing the LORs to get them as best as possible. The concrete suggestions (e.g. sense of humor in Kellogg’s LORs) were essential to guide my recommenders.
I can’t thank you enough for all the effort you put in editing my essays. When everything seemed lost (such as a word count twice of the limit), your edits kept me focused in what was essential and what was fluff. You’ve operated some miracles in word count trimming.
Sometimes you’ve made some changes in the sentence order in paragraphs that enhanced the “readability” a lot. It’s my understanding that most of your word count miracles were due to changes in word choice to keep the meaning while reducing word counts (and it worked!). Well, I don’t know how I got a V41 in GMAT with my punctuation skills, but you certainly helped me with punctuation. Part of my application strategy was to get my essays perfect in grammar (due to low AWA score) and I feel that your edits helped me in achieving that.
Regarding timelines, you were more professional than I expected on following deadlines. This helped a lot, especially in crafting Emory’s essays in a couple of days. During the whole process you kept me very motivated, especially when I needed some wake-up calls.
Yes, Poonam, thank you (again) for all the support during this process. I couldn’t get there without your help. I feel that words aren't enough to thank you for all your support. I can’t wait to join Cornell in fall, 2014.
Carlos Jose,