Jennifer

Consultant

Stacy Blackman Consulting

United States

Consultant Bio

Jennifer received her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and her MS in Mechanical Engineering and BS in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Most recently, she ran a technology and innovation management consultancy, with major clients including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Lockheed Martin. She has also worked in business development and engineering roles at Pacific Nanotechnology (now Agilent), Microfabrica, and Onix Microsystems. Jen holds a patent in the field of microelectronics and has been published in several technical journals. She began her career as an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and at the GM/Toyota joint-venture NUMMI.

Jen is an avid volunteer and strongly believes in the rewards felt by both the receiving organization and the volunteering individual. She serves on the PTA Executive Board at Camino Grove Elementary and also volunteers with the Girl Scouts of America and the American Youth Soccer Organization. On the weekends, she enjoys playing soccer in an adult recreational league.

Company Information

Since 2001, Stacy Blackman Consulting clients have been admitted to every top business school worldwide, often with merit scholarships. Stacy Blackman Consulting (SBC) delivers results, as shown through its record of the highest number of online reviews across multiple MBA admissions ranking and review sites. Our online track record includes #1 on MBAinsight, BeattheGMAT, ClearAdmit, and #1 out of 11 firms for our team caliber by PoetsandQuants.

We begin with meticulous matchmaking before we begin an engagement or accept payment. We recommend a primary consultant only after evaluating your candidacy strength and differentiating qualities; we respect your investment and the trust you place in us. We offer a high-touch, limited client-per-consultant experience.

Contact us to request a free MBA advising session with an SBC Principal. Just give us 15 minutes.

OUR TEAM

SBC is the only consulting firm in the industry who has on our team a complete panel of former MBA Admissions Officers from the top US programs and European programs. No other firm has this complete talent. 75% of our MBA consultant team hails from the top seven US MBA programs as MBA graduates and/or former MBA Admissions Officers, including from Harvard and Stanford. The SBC team has MBA expertise at every top school, has graduated from elite MBA programs and understands career paths in every industry, traditional and non-traditional.

Over 1/4 of SBC’s consultant panel is of minority background, and SBC has five consultants who identify as and specialize in LGBTQ+ applicants. This reflects the company’s mission to further diversity in the MBA applicant pool. No other established MBA admissions firm has a team that is as diverse.

OUR KNOWLEDGE

We know what’s going on, and we know it first. We have former Admissions Officers (AdCom) from every top MBA program who are informing us of the current internal program priorities, best practices, unusual dilemmas, successful essay strategies, and interview standards. We have tremendous insight as to what is currently keeping the AdCom up at night and what values they are looking for from their current students.

As one SBC client explained, “What really sets the SBC team apart, however, is the breadth and depth of knowledge; any time that my consultant and I were wondering how to approach a school’s application better, there were numerous former admissions officers from those schools that we could draw on.” Another client said, “I appreciated how the team uses all their former AdCom members to make sure you feel like you’ve put your best foot forward in the application process.”

OUR MODEL

The SBC System™ has eight core modules and is the most robust of all firms.

SBC offers unlimited time with a carefully selected primary consultant, who will be dedicated to understanding you authentically, creating a winning strategy, and defining your unique story for each school. Your primary consultant will be your creative and strategic guide, helping you to create materials that are provocative, informative, school-specific and ultimately effective in resonating with each of your target MBA programs.

Your primary consultant will engage in multiple iterations of brainstorming, development, outlining, and applied review across all MBA application touchpoints—resume, online application form, recommender letters, essays, short answers and more –to eliminate blindspots and optimize every detail so that your story shines and reflects deep knowledge of each of the MBA programs.

SBC also believes in checks and balances, as it has the Flight Test™ which is a complete review by a former AdCom. This structured feedback from a former AdCom mimics a real AdCom review and helps to ensure that a candidate’s application is most compelling to the target audience.

We also include free access to THE VAULT, SBC’s Resource Center with over two decades of sample essays, recommendations, resumes, school overviews, interview transcripts and more. A recent client shared, “The large SBC database was priceless, especially when understanding the differences between schools and when preparing for interviews.”

GET STARTED WITH SBC

SBC deeply values mentorship within its client engagements and limits the number of clients for each consultant. We engage with clients only after evaluating candidacy nuances and deciding that we could be successful together.

Our matchmaking process includes criteria such as track record with target schools, proficiency with your career path, demographics, interests and character qualities, and the consultant’s availability at the time you’re interested in engaging. You’ll be matched with a primary consultant who believes in your candidacy and who is truly excited to work with you. Some of our consultants have a sweet spot for non-traditional applicants while others excel with engineers. Just like you, our consultants’ backgrounds and perspectives are varied.

SBC offers a limited number of complimentary phone or email-based consultations weekly for inquiries who have been pre-screened by our tenured team.

Contact us today to request a free MBA advising session with an SBC Principal.

Menu of Services and Associated Costs

The SBC All-In Service

A FORMER HBS ADMISSIONS OFFICER ON OUR SBC TEAM SHARED THAT MBA ADMISSIONS LOVE A GREAT STORY AND CLARIFIED:

“I believe it’s true that all people, and therefore all MBA admissions boards, love a great story. It’s a way to bring life to your application and show the realness of who you are during what can be a dry process.”

The majority of our clients select our All-In package because they recognize that the competitive admissions process requires an application set that is stellar and strategic on all levels. SBC’s  “All-In” engagement includes:

  • Personal Assessment & Critical Reflection. Your primary consultant will work to understand you through deeply-probing questions that reveal your authentic dimensions.

  • Your consultant will dig into the who, what, how and why that forms your story through our 360° Personal Orbit™. You will explore the key MBA acceptance triggers that will be central to crafting your personal story.

  • We will evaluate your school preferences and criteria and develop a school list according to reach, reasonable, or safer program choices that ensures you apply to programs that you’ll love attending.

  • We will cover career path guidance–selecting and optimizing your career goals to ensure they are ambitious, purposeful, and attainable– and also recommendation letter(s) guidance to support your story and reinforce your aptitude and potential.

  • You will receive a complete MBA Application Strategy written summary including your value proposition and career path evaluation, as well as deliverables and tasks with an Attack Plan & Timeline.

  • One AdCom Flight Test™ as described by a recent client: “After I had gotten the applications to a near-finished state, we shared my application with my flight tester, who was a former MBA admissions officer, to offer a fresh perspective of my entire package. This review was unique and insightful because the reviewer reviews the file in the same way as an admissions officer. The Flight Test ™ provides insight into how the application stands up under the realistic, unbiased scrutiny of an AdCom member versus intensely in the details as your admission’s consultant.”

  • Up to three formats of interview coaching. Post-application consultation to work through issues such as interviews, waitlist and deferral strategy and school selection.

Hourly First Services

Start with 2-3 hours for the initial strategy work a la carte to test the waters, and you can then roll up into the purchase of an All-In package.

Hourly Services

Hourly services can include any or all of the below:

  • Initial Strategic Planning

  • Background Assessment & School Selection

  • Resume Review

  • Recommendation Counseling – selection, prep, review

  • Essay Review – one draft of set of essays

  • Waitlist Strategy & Communications

  • Ding Analysis

Contact us to request a free MBA advising session with an SBC Principal. Just give us 15 minutes.

Location: United States

Phone: 866-667-8229

Email: info@StacyBlackman.com

Website: https://www.StacyBlackman.com

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P&Q Consultant Reviews

  • Top Notch Service - Headed To My Dream School!
    1 year ago
    I had a fantastic experience working with Jen this year, and can happily say I will be attending my dream school! What I most appreciated most about working with Jen was that she spent a lot of time understanding and crafting my story upfront, so that all subsequent insights and advice came through this perspective of truly knowing me. Secondly, Jen provided a great balance between being realistic and believing in me, and providing me encouragement. I didn’t want someone selling me a bill of goods that I could for sure get into my dream school, but I also didn’t want someone who thought I had zero shot - Jen was realistic about my chances but gave me confidence in my story. The last thing ...
    Read the full review
    Class of 2025 Admit
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.
  • Jen & SBC Are Amazing
    1 year ago
    The comprehensive package for SBC is expensive, but it is worth the price. With their guidance, I was accepted to all the schools I applied to: HBS, CBS, Kellogg, and Stern. Jen was very thorough and responsive. I really enjoyed working with her. I come from an engineering background and was initially worried about adcoms not understanding what I did and seeing me as a stereotypical engineer. After our kick-off call, my worries were allayed. She understood my background, weaknesses, how to overcome them, and what I should highlight in my essays. I don't think I would have written the essays I did without her guidance. If you are worried about finding or telling your story like I was, I highly recommend Jen.
    Class of 2025 Admit
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.
  • Excellent Service, Highly Recommend!
    4 years ago
    I know the first thing people balk at is the price point of the comprehensive package. However, I can say that it is definitely worth it as I got into Kellogg, my top choice for Round 2! I specifically asked for Jen because of my sister's great experience with her, and she definitely exceeded all expectations. She quickly pinpointed my strengths and helped me develop a strong personal narrative. She was also very direct in her feedback, and always gave me her honest thoughts on my essays, which helped me present my story in the best possible way. She was incredibly patient and responsive throughout the entire process. She always responded quickly and would go through as many revisions as necessary until we both were happy ...
    Read the full review
    Class of 2020 Admit
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.
  • Fantastic- Jen and Team
    6 years ago
    My work with Jen started with a phone call and I knew right away that this was going to be very good. It's been a long but extremely productive process and I gained so much including 2 acceptance letters! I was very overwhelmed and nervous when we had our first call. Jen walked me through my background and brag sheet and drilled me on my actions, my decisions, consequences and more. It was a very draining two hour call but it made the rest of the process much better because I had core marketing tenets and great examples to back everything up. We picked out a list schools that were a good fit for me. Jen helped me think through not just "where I could ...
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    - Vicki Mills
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.
  • Highly Recommend SBC and Jen
    8 years ago
    I purchased SBC’s comprehensive package with Jennifer Vargo, and I couldn’t be happier with the experience! After my initial 2-hour phone conversation with Jen, she was able to help me identify important life experiences that I could write about – stories that I didn’t think was all that important. Jen was also extremely responsive, and always responded within 24 hours (sometimes at 4am in the morning!) What I really appreciated was Jen’s patience and her honest feedback, as she would at times tell me that my essay theme didn’t work as well or that I should try using a different example, and I would start over and re-write the essay. I had two different drafts for one of my schools (each highlighting a different personal ...
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    Class of 2018 Admit
    All reviews are independently verified by Poets&Quants staff.