Admissionado Reviews

Pros

Everything was great! Listen to employees

Cons

No pros at this time

Pros

1. The culture within the staff is unlike anything you'll ever experience. There is so much genuine love, support, respect, professionalism, kindness, understanding, and humor shared between everyone. There is ZERO drama, conflict, passive-aggression, or shady behavior present (which is strange to say as this is common everywhere). Everyone is transparent and always willing to collaborate and help one another. Many of the consultants on the team have been at Admissionado since the beginning and have continued to love it. 2. Clients LOVE Admissionado and Admissionado values providing high-quality services/work to clients rather than fixating on the bottom line. Clients often refer to Admissionado as the "company with a heart" and rave about not only the quality of services provided but also the genuine human connections. Consultants who get hired on do the work because they enjoy mentoring others and that is evident in the strong relationships and trust they build with their clients. The hiring process for consultants is really long and rigorous to ensure that those who are hired on are qualified, intelligent, creative, and dedicated to helping others. 3. Continuous commitment to keeping consultants, staff, and clients happy from the CEO and senior management. The company has been around since 2007 so maintaining a culture where people feel valued and can't imagine ever leaving (Admissionado has many veterans who have stayed with the company for 8+ years) takes a lot of effort, intention, and time. They do a great job balancing this casual, fun, and friendly social atmosphere while also having high professional expectations of everyone (as they and everyone should). 4.

Cons

There aren't any cons IF you get hired. Getting hired on isn't easy though. The interviewing and screening process is deliberately rigorous so that only the best people are selected. Once you get hired though,...it's like hitting the jackpot professionally.

Pros

-- You can work remotely on your own time, setting your own hours. You can literally travel the world and work whenever, wherever you want. I've taken trips to Italy, the UK, China, and Berlin, and with a laptop and internet connection I can still do my work. -- Collaborative culture where your fellow MBA consultants all went to top schools. Very helpful, friendly, and warm culture. Lots of friendly emails and webinars to promote collaboration (putting minds together for the greater good). -- Leadership is extremely strong, responsive, and open to change. Lauren and Claudia are rockstars and available anytime. They are open and willing to listen. They also challenge you to meet all the deadlines and meet all of the rigorous standards for the company (which is a good thing, they are clearly on top of their game). -- Pay is competitive. -- You get to work with great candidates who sincerely want to get into the top business and graduate schools. There is a real "feel good" aspect to this. You are helping people to change their lives.

Cons

-- High expectation for fast turnaround times, based on a 72 hour turnaround standard. This is just simply a byproduct of the deadline driven nature of applying to graduate school. But expect to work weekends, holidays, and whenever is necessary to get the job done. The upside is if you let the team know in advance that you are unavailable, they simply provide an alternate to cover for you.

Pros

Admissionado is one of the best companies I've ever worked for, and I think this has a lot to do with the philosophy of its founders, Jon Frank and Raj Patil, super bright and creative guys with high ethical standards committed to helping folks through the arduous MBA application process. They hire people who share the same values, and the result is a very collegial work environment where it's all-for-one and one-for-all and where people are not only dedicated to their clients but to having a good time. Two things I really like about the job are that I work closely with professional editors who know their craft inside and out (and I learn a ton in the process), and that I get to interact with clients and prospects one-on-one and push them to think more deeply about what they want to accomplish in their lives. This mentorship role is very gratifying, and it suits my personality and strengths well. Counseling smart and motivated applicants from very different industries, functional areas and cultural backgrounds keeps the work challenging.

Cons

Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years fall smack during the busiest time of the year (round 2 deadlines), so you can forget about taking any significant time off during the holidays. However, the seasonal nature of the work (busiest during the 2nd half of the year), and the control I have over my time on any given day more than make up for that, allowing me to pursue my environmental consulting activities.

Pros

- Deadline-based remote work: Most of the assignments are due in 48 hours, if you plan right you can have free time basically whenever you want. - The pay is great for the quantity and type of work. - You get to work with cool editors and consultants and some impressive clients. - Lauren, Claudia and Ann (editors' direct supervisors) are preternaturally responsive. If you have a question or concern, no matter what the hour, they will reply promptly. When do they sleep? I have no idea. - Management is always improving things--they seem genuinely concerned about making sure editors aren't overworked or underpaid. - The company and the industry are rapidly growing. - Culturally, Admissionado doesn't cross ethical lines. The service is similar to guidance counseling at a fancy school, where some of their competitors are just doing people's applications for them. You really do feel like you're just helping people put their best foot forward. It's rewarding, not deceptive. - You get business editing level pay, but the content is much more interesting and narrative-focused than most business writing.

Cons

- Deadline-based remote work: Either you love it (like me) or you hate it. If you're not sure if you can pull of working every day in your underwear, a season at Admissionado isn't a bad way to find out. - The 1099 contract worker deal means no benefits; it would be hard to work here if I weren't getting benefits from other sources. - The busy season is Christmas to New Years. It helps if you're Jewish. - You probably shouldn't put this on your resume if you're applying to grad school.

Pros

- Great people. Despite the fact that all employees work remotely, everyone is incredibly accessible, makes an effort to stay connected, and is always ready to help or answer questions. - Flexible schedule, even for full-time employees. Though everyone who is full-time works a fairly standard workday, there is a lot more flexibility than what you would have with a standard 9-5 job. (Especially considering that we're all in different time zones!) - Reasonable deadlines. As an editor, I must return client work within 48 hours, which (in my opinion) is more than enough time. Occasionally, work must be turned around in 12 hours, but I almost always know this ahead of time. - Diverse opportunities. Because it is a growing company, there are many opportunities for employees to step out of their roles, wear different hats, and learn something new. - Work from home! This is almost always a pro.

Cons

- Difficult to maintain work/life balance. Because full-time employees work from home, it can be difficult to separate work life from home life. But I think this would be true for ANY full-time work from home position. - Few "official" days off, apart from Thanksgiving and Christmas. Management is super flexible and reasonable and does NOT expect you to work on holidays or weekends, but if client work happens to roll in at the wrong time, then it can be hard to work around it. In my opinion, the flexibility we're given far outweighs this, but I could see it being frustrating for some people.

Pros

There are a lot of pros. I would say my number 1 is the work itself. Helping prospective MBA students put together great essays is not only rewarding, it's awesome to hear the stories of so many amazing people around the world. Highly gratifying and fun. Second, is the great environment of Admissionado itself. The company takes its work VERY seriously, but it doesn't take itself seriously. It's a fun, quirky, enlightened place to work. Big points for culture. Third is the flexibility. I am an entrepreneur that did not take a salary for over a year when I started my company. Working with Admissionado allows you to take on as much work as you can handle, and get it done by a deadline, which means you can fit the work into your schedule. This allowed me to focus on starting my company yet still pay my bills! I can't thank these guys enough for creating such a great company.

Cons

I don't think there are any real cons. They are demanding, but they should be. Deadlines are strict, but they should be. They have a strict process of peer reviews, etc, but it's the right way to do it. Getting into the best bschool is such an important thing for the applicants, they deserve 110%. Nothing bad to say here.

Pros

I've been working for Admissionado for 3+ years now, and I've had the chance to grow alongside the company. While work was tricky at first, a result of Admissionado just entering the college space, everything is a lot smoother now. My role is well-defined, and new hires are given extensive training in mentorship. The two best parts of the job are: 1) I can make my own hours, and 2) it feels great to help kids through the difficult admissions process. It's surprising how even the brightest students get it wrong, so I enjoy helping them do it right.

Cons

My initial complaint was that the job was too free-form, and I felt I needed stronger guidance. This is definitely less of the case now, but some people might not like that after training is over, you're expected to work mostly on your own, with guidance available when requested.

Pros

From day one I felt like I was part of the Admissionado family and could connect to everyone on the team. It is energizing to be part of such a talented, smart, cool and passionate group of people, constantly striving to be and do better. Everyone at Admissionado is super high energy; exhaling love and excellence in everything they do. There is a complete alignment and deep investment in the client’s success. The The opportunity to coach and mentor people as they embark in such a life changing and transformative experience is unique and to do it in a firm that is 100% committed to serving its clients with excellence and personalized support to each and every client, is unmatchable!

Cons

It's hard to point out a con, I would say that when approaching round 1 and 2 deadlines there is a lot coming through the pipeline at once (inherent to the nature of the job) and we have less predictability on the amount of work. The beauty of working at Admissionado, though, is that we as consultants manage how many clients we take on at a time.

Pros

The team here (Founders, HQ, etc.) are fantastic...genuinely smart, likable people who are always there to offer advice, encouragement, relief when the load gets too heavy... etc. Even as a virtual office, it's a supportive environment. For writer and film types, working as an editor here will develop communication muscles you didn't know you had. The flexibility of unstructured work from home allows for focus on outside-of-work passions as well.

Cons

Basic time management is a must -- you'll flounder if you can't regulate yourself, since no one can physically watch over you. Work from home can be lonely if you don't make the effort to maintain a social life outside of the job. The job/pay is pretty good for recent grads or people in transition, but the seasonal contract nature of the work means it's not for people with families, mortgages, etc. who need stable long-term stuff.