Stratus is Poets&Quants’ Top Medium-Sized MBA Admissions Consulting Team
Since 2006, we have helped thousands of MBA applicants from more than 50 countries gain admission to their target business schools—and earn millions of dollars in merit scholarships—with our unique team-based, personalized approach. Our dedicated team of experienced MBA admissions counselors is there every step of the way to help YOU as an applicant.
Why choose Stratus?
Team-based, personalized approach to MBA admissions consulting
Just as business school admissions committees will read your application multiple times, our staff of highly skilled admissions counselors, the majority of whom are former admissions committee members, will repeatedly review and provide feedback on your application materials throughout the process. We not only pair you with a dedicated Admissions Counselor who will coach, mentor, and guide you—we also connect you with an admissions strategist, school-specific reviewers, and a proofreader who provide additional support.
Expert MBA Admissions Counselors
Our team members combine decades of wisdom and experience with profound insights on how admissions committees think. Having relevant information and critical work experience means our team understands the hard work and the nuances involved in pursuing a higher-education degree. As alumni of top-ranked business schools, we can also speak to the challenges of and offer introspection about the business school application process. Our expertise will help you find schools that will be the best fit for your career goals.
Personalized services for every step of the process
Whether you’re looking to revise your application essays, receive guidance on articulating your goals, update your resume, or prepare for your interview, our counselors will be by your side throughout your admissions journey. They can identify and help mitigate weaknesses in your profile, all while keeping you motivated during the sometimes grueling application process.
MBA Four-School Guarantee
We at Stratus invest in your MBA application goals like no other admissions consulting firm. If you are working with us on four or more business school applications in Round 1 and are not accepted to any of those programs, we will support your applications to two more schools in Round 2—at no additional cost to you! That’s how committed we are to your success.
We have a proven record of success and a clear understanding of how to help you get into your target MBA programs and reach your career goals
Our team-based, personalized approach to MBA admissions counseling has helped young professionals gain admission to all of the top-ranked business schools worldwide, including Harvard Business School, the Stanford Graduate School of Business, UPenn Wharton, MIT Sloan, Columbia Business School, and INSEAD, as well as dozens of others.
At Stratus, we take our clients’ success seriously, and it shows! With a 83 Net Promoter Score, our clients are fiercely loyal and highly satisfied with our services. We are proud of our hundreds of five-star reviews on Google, GMAT Club, and Poets&Quants from past clients. In addition, in 2024 Stratus was named the #1 medium-sized MBA admissions consulting firm on Poets&Quants with an "eye-popping" 9.9/10 client satisfaction rate. Not only that, but our Director of MBA Admissions Counseling, Susan Cera, was named the top MBA admissions coach in 2021 and a top-five admissions coach in 2022 and 2023. Senior MBA Admissions Counselors Donna Bauman and Melisa Prevost have also been recognized with perfect 10/10 scores. We are not just consultants—we are leaders in our field.
Five-Star Reviews on Google, GMAT Club, and Poets&Quants
Net Promoter Score
in Merit Scholarships since 2021
Ranked Medium-Sized MBA Admissions Firm in 2024
Business school applicants love working with us! Read what just a few of the thousands of happy Stratus clients have to say:
The school I’m now attending is a huge testament to how fortunate I am to have worked with you, and yet, given how much I feel I’ve benefited from your advice throughout this process, my ultimate decision is just another way this experience exceeded my wildest expectations. Thank you for such a phenomenal experience.
Overall, I can say that Susan was one of the best investments I could have made with my MBA admissions journey. Because of her, I was able to get into multiple M7 schools, including Wharton, my dream school, where I will be matriculating this year! Susan walks the walk and talks the talk and I could not be more thrilled to give her the highest of recommendations.
“[My counselor] helped instill confidence in me for my applications and was vital in my navigation of the application process. She was instrumental in my acceptance into Columbia, along with my scholarship offers to Duke and Texas. I recommend Stratus to everyone who asks me what helped me the most in applying to law school.
Latest Blog & Resources
How to Get into Stanford Graduate School of Business
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How to Get into The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
In 1881, Wharton became the first collegiate business school in the world. Joseph Wharton’s legacy lives on (his image can be found on the MBA Pub shirts) through a highly-ranked MBA program, emphasizing collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Seven Tips for Low-Income MBA Applicants
Top business schools are increasingly seeking socioeconomic diversity alongside other dimensions such as race, gender, nationality, and professional background. Admissions committees understand that students who’ve navigated financial constraints bring valuable perspectives on resource allocation, risk assessment, and stakeholder impact that can’t be learned from a textbook—perspectives that make case discussions richer and challenge assumptions in...
Eight MBA Waitlist Tips to Improve Your Chances of Admission
If you’ve been placed on an MBA waitlist or offered “further consideration,” you’re not alone. In this blog post, we at Stratus break down what being waitlisted means and share eight actionable MBA waitlist tips to improve your chances of admission. What an MBA Waitlist or “Further Consideration” Email Looks Like Has this email showed...
Schedule a free consultation!
Learn how Stratus’s team approach can help you get accepted to your top-choice business schools. Start with a FREE consultation with one of our Admissions Counselors. Our team is ready to dive into your goals, answer your questions about your profile and the application process, and help you boost your appeal to admissions committees!