"Laura was brilliant! If you want to apply to INSEAD, she is definitely the best in the business. She knows exactly what type of candidate the school is looking for and will be open and honest with you about your chances of success right from the outset. She draws out the best in you so that you shine on paper and is also really inspiring to work with. I wouldn't look anywhere else if your dream school is INSEAD."

"I have worked intensely with Laura for the last two months on my applications. Based on my experience, I would highly recommend her service to other fellow MBA hopefuls. Here are the simple reasons why I loved her very much!

"- Excellent understanding: Compared to many other candidates, my background was a bit unusual given where I was coming from. Laura has worked and lived around the world for the last thirty years, so whatever your background is, she can easily relate to it. She really put an effort to get to know me well and on top of that, she was extremely personable and easy to work with.

"- Brutal honesty: She is super honest when she discusses about me and my shortcomings and strengths. This is actually a lot more helpful than you might expect and saves tons of time. She will just say it loud if she does not like something on the application. Her feedback is usually right on the spot and she really pushed me to get my applications better and better.

"- Story teller: The essays are all about story telling. She really took time to sift through my life experience to craft cohesive stories for my application. When it comes to storytelling, she is a pure talent and I could not have done my essays without her help."

"At the end of the day, the right consultant will help YOU articulate YOUR "unique selling points" This is the essence of any good bschool application. The originality, appeal, and fit of your personality will only come out of a deep introspective process - otherwise your application will tend to tell a story that you think the adcoms want to hear rather than the story you should be telling about yourself.

"My experience led me to selecting Laura Freedman at Access Education MBA Admissions Consultants in Singapore. Simply put, I don't think that I could have worked with a more effective partner for completing my (now successful!) application to INSEAD.

"Laura, very refreshingly, did not offer any cookie cutter suggestions. She took the time to hear about me. And asked questions. And more questions. I immediately got a sense that we would have good working chemistry - she's smart, she cares, and relentlessly keeps you focussed on reaching your goal.

"Her approach starts with several sessions of getting to know you so that she can speak from a place of knowledge about you in context of your application. I really can't emphasize enough how important this process was in helping me create a truly unique, self-representative application.

"Access Education was without question right for me. Do yourself a favor and talk to Laura Freedman and do the free diagnostic as part of your Admissions Consultant evaluation process. "

"Laura is one of the rare mentors/coaches who goes the extra mile to genuinely help her clients. Laura's initial assessment of my profile was more thorough and critical than those of other consultants who were just trying to convert me into a paid client. As we started working through the essays, I found Laura's feedback and suggestions to be helpful not only for the B school apps, but also to think through the kind of professional career I wanted to embark on. If you are a serious B school applicant - this is the kind of coach you need. Highly highly recommended!"

"I struggled a long time between Fortuna Admissions and Laura Freedman from Access Education. I worked with both Access Education and Fortuna and I liked Access Education better.

"Laura's personality and the way she shapes what you say is incredible. She was always prepared, organized, never forgot anything, our sessions were efficient and passionate. Fortuna was very professional too but I think Laura has a passion that will inspire you. Laura is well spoken and is incredible at structuring what you want to say and making it sound pretty. Laura makes you look like a rock-star, Fortuna just improves what you write. Laura will do more, she will go that extra mile.

"I also worked with Laura on reshaping my CV, while Fortuna sent me a couple of bullet points to improve, Laura sat down with me for 4 hours until I was completely happy with the result and oh boy you should see my CV now!

"The interview preparation was especially valuable. We looked at all the possible questions and rehearsed my answers over and over, I had no surprise at the interviews, I was completely confident. Most of the scholarships I was able to secure were based on these interviews, so I guess I did well, thanks to Laura.

"Laura's an expert at INSEAD but was also very knowledgeable on the other schools' processes and cultures as well. She was very diligent on follow-ups, I never had to wait, she was always available to chat whenever I had a question, even after her services were delivered, she still took the time to Skype to see where I was at and provide valuable insight.

"I got admission offers and scholarships from all the schools I applied to. I applied to 3 schools, INSEAD, Oxford and London Business School. I have a very low GPA and never thought I would make it anywhere. I would never have achieved this without Laura. She simply does not compare to anybody out there."

"Before Laura, I spoke with at least 10-12 typical large US-based MBA admissions consulting firms and had almost given up on the idea of working with an admissions consultant. Laura stood out from the very first call. She didn't hard-sell and more importantly, I felt her unusually diverse experience let her understand and appreciate my personal and professional background.

"Even before we started working on essays, she took the time to understand the minutest details of my personal and professional background. Consequently, when it was time to write essays, her advice on what stories to select was something I'd pay double the amount of money for! Her editorial and story-telling skills are undoubtedly supreme and her insider's knowledge of INSEAD and Cornell was a huge advantage.

"The application process can be extremely stressful. Whenever I crumbled, Laura kept pushing me to rework and fine-tune the essays till I could nail them. Even before I got the admission decisions, I knew I had gained tremendously from the whole process. She also advised me on how best to use my pre-matriculation period to be able to derive maximum benefit from INSEAD's one-year format.

"I highly recommend Laura. Not only was she instrumental in helping me get in to Cornell and INSEAD (my first choice!), she helped me better appreciate my strengths and career trajectory - and ever since we finished, she keeps connecting me with interesting people in my industry. She's also a career counselor for INSEAD's Career Development team in Singapore and is on INSEAD's Singapore Alumni board, so I'm looking forward to continuing to work with her during the program."

"I heard about Laura from a senior at my university. He told me how quickly she understood his value proposition and how well she helped him present it in his MBA application essays. I couldn't agree more!

"Laura really grasped my cultural and professional backgrounds well (I'm an Indonesian engineer), and helped me capitalize on my strengths and mitigate the weaknesses in my profile. Moreover, with her extensive network, she helped introduce me to alumni from schools that I applied to, providing me deeper insight into my target schools without traveling halfway around the world.

"Thanks to her help, I was admitted to the MBA program that I wanted. I can't imagine how I could have gotten in without her help, given that the admission process is so intensely competitive. I highly recommend Laura for MBA applications, resume building or personal development. Thank you, Laura!"

"Unlike many other Admissions Consultants (yes, I watched many videos on Youtube and read webpages of other consultants), Laura works DIRECTLY and PERSONALLY with you. I mean, you will work directly with HER and not with her TEAM. That was very important, since she got to know me really well and was able to remember examples I had missed and help me use them in my final essays.

"Laura is also an amazing editor. She really knows how to write (she used to teach English). It was amazing how she helped me frame and shape and re-shape my essays to get my stories to flow smoothly and with just the right amount of detail (she calls it "fish tank clear"). Working with her really improved my business writing at work, not just on the application.

"With all the sessions that I spent sharing my personal story with her so she could provide better insights for my application, I can say that Laura ended up knowing me better than myself! I had a great experience with her - and I got in!!"

"Laura's ability to quickly identify my unique strengths and articulate these in a strong storyline is what made Laura extraordinary in my eyes. I actually gained greater clarity around my strengths and weaknesses through working with Laura, which I am grateful for.

"Moreover, Laura's professional background in law and management consulting meant that she could relate to my own professional working experience and help me tease out the most significant details in a scenario thereby building my story and profile step by step. This was immensely helpful and definitely helped create a strong application.

"Laura's willingness to go the extra mile and do long and late hours up against a deadline to make sure I was able to submit on time was also appreciated. Her razor sharp eye for detail, grammar and complete mastery of the English language ensured the essays never skipped a beat and were error free.

"Finally, as an active INSEAD MBA alum and a coach for INSEAD Singapore's Career Development Office, Laura's knowledge of INSEAD is extensive, which is a great source of guidance if one is applying to INSEAD specifically as I was.

"I recommend Laura strongly."

"When I began planning for INSEAD, I knew that I wanted professional help to submit a strong application given the shortcomings in my profile. I talked to 3 admission consultants here in the US but did not feel the connection or confidence. There was hardly any difference in the conversations, questions and feedback that these 3 consultants provided. I won't name them as I have not taken their services.

"I decided to work with Laura Freedman from Access Education, Singapore (www.Accesseducation.com). My experience with Laura was totally different right from the first Skype session that we had.

"- Laura's career experience was tremendously helpful in helping me articulate my career goals (I'm targeting consulting). She's worked for over 20 years in different industries and functions, including two top-tier consultancies and several global financial institutions, and has lived all over the world. She had a lot of insight into my professional background and where my experience would really have an impact, and great practical advice about how to get where I'm looking to go.

"- Another aspect of working with Laura that I highly appreciate is the face time that you get. Unlike telephonic conversations with other admission consultants, I had Skype sessions with Laura where we worked on discussing my story, editing the essays and even had mock interviews (she was an INSEAD alumni interviewer for over 10 years). This provided a personalized touch to the entire process.

"- I admire Laura's direct approach. She can be blunt at times :-) . However, it really worked for me in bringing out the best in my essays. After all, we need a guide who sees beyond the obvious and can provide constructive criticism.

"- In spite of the time difference between the US and Singapore, Laura always made time and provided multiple options for scheduling the sessions.

"- Laura's mock interview prep was spot on. It not only prepared me for interview surprises but also boosted my confidence immensely.

"- Laura has an "Insider's view" on everything INSEAD. She is an INSEAD alum who has worked with the admissions committee, has coached applicants since the '90's and advises current students as a counselor with INSEAD Career Services in Singapore. She's also served on INSEAD alumni association boards in the US, Russia and Singapore (she even helped launch Blue Ocean Strategy in the US!). This vast experience was evident in the inputs that she provided while developing my story, editing the essays and preparing for the interviews. She was able to highlight aspects of my life that I would never have thought as important.

"In summary, working with Laura for my INSEAD application was one of the best decisions that I made."

"After consulting with many other MBA admissions consultants, I decided to work with Laura at Access Education in Singapore based on my initial impression of her. I couldn't have made a better decision. Laura was incredibly professional, got back to me in a timely manner and most importantly she's amazing at what she does. She is clearly very passionate about her work. Unlike other consultants I met with, she really took the time to get to know me well, and was immensely helpful throughout my application process.

"She was very quick to understand my personal history, unusual cultural background and technical career experience as an oil and gas engineer. She helped me identify and capitalize on my strengths as a candidate, articulate my story and bring out the best of myself in my essays. She also helped me realize what I truly want out of my MBA, something I was unsure of when I first started. Her knowledge of international schools is outstanding, her understanding of different cultures is extraordinary, and her editing skills are phenomenal. Her positive energy kept my confidence up during the entire process. And I got in! I can't recommend Laura enough."

"I had already used a US-based MBA admissions consultant to edit my application essays, but wasn't happy with the result. Then I found Laura at Access Education in Singapore over the internet just three days before my submission date. In the next three very intensive days, she really took time to understand my professional and personal backgrounds to bring out my unique story.

"With her rich cultural background and her acute eye for "what drives people", she could really pull out stories that I had skipped. Her consulting background gives her an excellent understanding of different functions in different businesses at different levels in organizations (even in a heavy industrial company like mine). She also helped me clarify my "ambitious but achievable" range of career options and chart a clear path not only for my application, but for my life after business school. On top of this, her editing skills are outstanding. I wish I could have engaged with her much earlier in the application process to realize the full potential."

"Laura was of indispensable help in my appeal to law school at the National University of Singapore. Her precise, analytical approach helped me identify the areas to focus on in my appeal letter and she delivered her opinions emphatically and persuasively. She was very quick in understanding my situation and mapping it against her extensive experience in the education industry; the insights I received from her were of invaluable assistance in my succeeding at getting an interview. I highly recommend Laura as a professional admissions consultant who approaches her work with consummate skill and sincerity."

"A recent graduate and Singapore bonded scholar, I came to Laura for help positioning myself to get into top MBA programs when I complete my bond in a few years. Laura helped me identify gaps in my profile and strategies to address them over the next several years. She helped me work out an extracurricular and community service strategy to develop and showcase my leadership skills. She also showed me ways to begin cultivating relationships with senior mentors and to access stretch opportunities in my company. Most importantly, she had a keen sense of opportunities I would have otherwise neglected, and ways to make sure I take full advantage of them. After working with Laura, I feel really inspired and geared up to be on a fast-track!"

"People with your passion for their work, combined with your experience, are indeed hard to find. Your clients are lucky to have you in their corner!"

"She is an expert in her field. When I got problem about extracting out the ideas of my accomplishments and other ideas to write my MBA essay, I can get the answer right away when I talk to her. She is a great mirror to reflect who am I, even I did not realize that before."

"Thanks to her deep knowledge of business schools, Laura helped me understand what an MBA was all about and how I could benefit from it. The insights and experience she shared during the application process were invaluable to understand what was expected. Finally, I especially appreciated her optimism and positive energy that gave me a lot of confidence."

"I was fortunate enough to have found Laura to help me throughout my MBA application process. She has exceeded my expectations in many ways. Laura has an astonishing flair to identify skills, abilities and/or past experiences that enriched my application in ways that I would not have expected. Another quality that I greatly appreciated about Laura was her professional and straight to the point, no-nonsense approach.

"I was so impressed with Laura that I called on her again after my admission to my 1st choice program to help me put together my CV and cover letters for my internship applications. Once again, I was extremely happy with her valuable input which is backed by many years of practical experience in some of the top global companies. I would recommend Laura without any hesitation to anyone looking to put together the best possible profile for MBA applications and/or CVs.""

"I'd been doing well, getting the jobs I'd wanted with the CVs I wrote. But when I needed a CV for a high-level international specialist role, I realised that none of the CV-writing workshops could help me. I went to Laura for professional help. Within 2 sessions together, she's transformed my CV to really do justice for my accomplishments. Ever since my CEO saw it, she's been raving to everyone about what a damn good job Laura's done!"

"I heard about Laura from a senior at my university. He told me how quickly she understood his value proposition and how well she helped him present it in his MBA application essays. I couldn't agree more! Laura really grasped my cultural and professional backgrounds well (I'm an Indonesian engineer), and helped me capitalize on my strengths and mitigate the weaknesses in my profile. Moreover, with her extensive network, she helped introduce me to alumni from schools that I applied to, providing me deeper insight into my target schools without traveling halfway around the world. Thanks to her help, I was admitted to the MBA program that I wanted. I can't imagine how I could have gotten in without her help, given that the admission process is so intensely competitive. I highly recommend Laura for MBA applications, resume building or personal development. Thank you, Laura!"

"If I had to describe Laura in one word it would be: Understanding. Laura has this rare gift to recognize and comprehends anyone's strengths and shortcomings, in a short span of time (probably less than 2 hours!). She taps into people's personalities and just knows how one can best project oneself. It's not just people that she understands, she has an in-depth knowledge and history about every business school. It was truly amazing how she brought out my best stories to suit the school's "personality".

One thing that sets Laura apart from the rest is that she has this fascinating personal integrity and urges clients to be truthful, she quickly sees through any deviations and is not afraid to say "Wait a minute".

All in All, I have immensely enjoyed in working with her, my stories, my tone and even personality for the interview have never been so bold, candid and clear before.

"I had no idea all those things were so important! I'm so glad I included them in my application - thank you!"

"WOW, this is fantastic! I am very impressed by what you have done for me. You really listened very carefully and got all the details. I am much more confident in myself!"

"I wanted to share with you that I think you are really awesome. Our discussions have already brought me on an invaluable self-reflection process. Your perspectives are always stimulating and the feedback you have given me on my essays extremely well-targeted and practical. So, thank you very much!!"

"You have been so very very helpful and incredibly patient! I was like Wow! Why didn't I realise I could actually bring in certain points which you helped me articulate so well! They're my exact sentiments but you really gave them a voice.... Thanks!"

“Laura has been a great help with sorting out all of my admissions doubts and questions. Given her extensive experience, Laura was able to advise me on key issues such as boosting my resume, picking the best schools, timing the MBA and better projecting my profile etc. Laura's comments and help on my resume were priceless. Thanks Laura!”

"As a prospective client, I truly appreciated Laura's frank advice. Even though I was ready to pay for her service, she persuaded me to wait a few years to build on the opportunities I already have and deepen my experience before applying to business school. She also gave me valuable career advice at no charge - and even helped me network into Singapore's volunteer community. Her extensive experience, her broad network and her passion make her an exceptional MBA admission consultant. I hope to share a second testimonial in a couple of years' time when I get into the school of my choice as a result of her wise advice. Thank you, Laura!"

"I GOT IN!! And to think I almost didn't apply! Thank you!!"

"I really appreciate your support re getting me into INSEAD. I think you were FANTASTIC!!! I really valued the way you treated my getting in like your personal mission."

"Her clients just LOVE her!"

Read more testimonails posted on Beat the GMAT here, here, here, here, and here; on GMAT Club here, here, here, here; and on my Linked In page - and there are many more. Google "Laura Freedman Access Education INSEAD" for more.