Sam Weeks Consulting's Performance Report: 2023 - 2024

It’s been another remarkable year of growth at Sam Weeks Consulting.

Over the last year, we’ve made some pretty big strides. That includes our highest intake of clients ever, a 100% success rate for international MBA programs, a new team member, and major features across industry platforms and events. 

There’s no humble in our brag. Let’s look at the numbers in detail.

Client Success

We worked with 60 clients this year. That’s our highest intake ever - triple that of last year’s intake! Of those 60, 55 clients secured admits, giving us a client success rate of 92%. 

In total, we helped our clients submit 180 school applications, of which 99 were successful. Our school application success rate was 55%.

34 clients applied to M7 schools. 22 of them were admitted successfully, giving us a 65% M7 school success rate. That was a solid performance in the most competitive segment of MBA admissions.

This year’s application season was the busiest ever for our team. As always, we were selective with applicants so we could meet them 1-to-1 live over Zoom. That also meant working weekends and holidays (yes, even Christmas!) to make sure each client had all the support they needed to work on multiple school applications. 

And, as the numbers show, it paid off!

Scholarship Success

Most SWC clients aim for business school scholarships. According to BusinessBecause’s 2023 report, the average cost of a top M.B.A. in the U.S. was approximately $202,200. Rising MBA fees and living costs mean that applicants are increasingly seeking financial aid. See our full MBA cost breakdown here.

31% of our clients received scholarships this year. We had an impressive $2,398,000 awarded in scholarships, significantly reducing our clients’ financial liability. That’s an average of $43,600 per admitted client.

Of these, 5 clients received full-ride scholarships to their target schools.

Key Achievements

SWC clients mainly applied to M7 MBA programs in the US, plus INSEAD, London Business School and Oxford Said Business School in Europe.

12 out of 26 of our clients received admits to the 3 most selective M7 schools - Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton (HSW). That gives us an HSW success rate of 46%.

Every client applying to an international program made it through - a 100% international program success rate. That’s going to be a tough record to beat next year, but we’re not going to stop trying!

Application Statistics

At many MBA programs, average GMAT scores are increasing. Last year, our average GMAT score was 696, which is up by 2 points this year to 698. This score may also be affected by the new GMAT Focus edition that was released late last year. The average GPA score of SWC clients was 3.5/4.0.

However, this year, some of our clients also had GMAT/GRE scores and GPA results well under the average range of the business schools they were applying to. The lowest GMAT score of a successful applicant was 460, and the lowest GPA of a successful applicant was 2.4 / 4.0. We focused on their strengths instead of their academic limitations, highlighting the impact they were able to create in their career and their strong career goals.

Poets & Quants ranking

We’re making big waves.

Sam Weeks is P&Q’s 8th Most Favorably Reviewed MBA Admissions Consultant of 2024 globally, with a 9.94 client satisfaction score. 

Sam Weeks Consulting ranked #3 in the world’s Most Favorably Reviewed Small-Sized Admissions Consulting Firms of 2024, with a 9.96 average client satisfaction score.

Geographic Diversity

Our clients come from all over the world. 40% of them were from the United States, followed by India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Peru, Singapore, Pakistan, Canada, and the UK. 

We take great pride in working with clients from underrepresented regions. For example, our first Moroccan client was admitted to all 4 schools they applied to. 

Team Expansion

We welcomed Zack Hoyt to our team! Zack completed his MBA at Harvard Business School and graduated “With Distinction” (top 10% of the class). Zack brings years of experience as a management consultant for McKinsey, a military veteran, a Private Equity operator, and a leader in startups. See his full profile here. 

He joins Jon Cheng (Former admissions evaluator at Berkeley Haas), Alex Zarganis (Columbia MBA and admissions veteran), Rowan Hand (GMAT coach and editor), and Malvika Patil (Lead editor and Chief Content Creator @ MBAconsultant.com).

Program Expansion

MBAconsultant.com has a new look! We revamped our self-paced online admissions consulting program for a smoother interface, quicker navigation, and a better, cleaner user experience. 

Over the last year, we also added 6 new schools. MBAconsultant.com now covers all M7 schools, Haas, Johnson, NYU Stern, Fuqua, and top European programs - with over 100 example essays based on real applicants. 

Partnerships and Events

We continued to roll out our ever-popular “Roast My Resume” sessions and application presentations at QS and AccessMBA events across London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and New Delhi. 

Sam also chaired a panel with representatives from top business schools like Oxford SBS, Hult Business School, and Rotterdam School of Management, discussing business school culture and new courses in the pipeline, like AI. 

We can’t wait to meet you again! 

Media and Recognition

Sam was named a LinkedIn “Top Voice” with over 12,000 followers for his insightful and unique contributions to the LinkedIn community. He joins a global group of experts who consistently meet LinkedIn’s high standards. 

Sam Weeks Consulting ranked on Google’s first page for 80+ key search terms. We were also featured in top news and industry articles, including US News and AccessMBA. 

It’s been a big year for us. It’s only going to get better - we’re excited to share our new updates and milestones with you. Read the full performance report here.

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Want to work with us on your MBA applications? Book a free chat with our expert team of consultants here.