The estimated time commitment for MBA Prep is 10 to 30 hours per month. MBA Prep Alumni will attest that the more you put into the program, the more you will get out of it. Here’s how MLT will help you achieve your goals:

One-on-one coaching: Your MLT Coach (many of whom are former MBA admissions officers) will guide you throughout the program and will help you develop your own roadmap to exceed “the bar” for admission at top schools. Your coach will also offer application advice, and feedback on your resume and admissions essays.

Personal clarity: You will gain insight into your passions and strengths and how they align with your ultimate career goals. During interviews, you will be able to better articulate your story and how you can add value to your target MBA programs.

Supplemental GMAT guidance: You will work to increase your score by creating a personalized action plan with your coach and utilizing the study support from your cohort. MLT also provides a separate GMAT coaching option that focuses on strengthening GMAT scores.

Access to admissions officers: Fellows hear insights directly from the decision-makers during MLT’s MBA Prep seminars, which are attended by admissions officers from top MBA programs.

A winning application: you will learn what it takes to be a competitive and successful MBA applicant. MLT demystifies the MBA admissions process and gives you the winning formula.

An accelerating professional network: Fellows go through the program with a cohort of peers who share similar interests and career goals.  They also have the opportunity to form lasting relationships with corporate partners and other executives. Upon completion, fellows join a lifelong network of more than 7,000 alumni who are committed to helping each other advance toward senior leadership.

In-person seminars: Fellows attend three mandatory weekend seminars. Each event includes intensive skill-building workshops with insight into the admissions process and in-depth case studies. Content is delivered by our corporate and business school partners, MLT coaches, and additional subject matter experts. Seminars are hosted on the campuses of MLT’s business school and corporate partners. The typical time frames for these seminars are:

• Kickoff: Seminar 1 – March 24 – 26, 2023 (Duke Fuqua School of Business, Durham, NC)
• Seminar 2 – June 23-25, 2023 (Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business, Pittsburgh, PA)
• Seminar 3 – July 28-30, 2023 (Harvard University, Harvard Business School & Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, Massachusetts)

MBA Prep Team

Shannon Reinard Demko, Sr. Director & Coach, MBA Prep and School Partnerships

Education: B.A., English, Georgetown University. M.S., Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania; with studies in Management and Marketing at Wharton

Experience: Shannon joined MLT in 2013.  Previously, she served as Director of Admissions at American University’s Kogod School of Business, and before that, as Associate Director of Admissions for the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. Her professional background also includes work in corporate programs for the American Council on Education and in undergraduate admissions at Georgetown. In addition, she has completed training in nutrition, health, and stress reduction, is certified in both yoga and mindfulness meditation, and founder of MindfulMBA, all of which she uses to bring balance to the MBA application process.

Ashley Harrington, Sr. Manager, MBA Prep and Strategic Initiatives

Education: Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania

Experience: Ashley has been instrumental in developing the GMAT Coaching initiative, which supports both MBAP Fellows and prospects to maximize their GMAT score outcomes.  Ashley has a wealth of experience developing growth strategies for Fortune 500 companies.  Prior to joining MLT, Ashley worked across a host of strategic roles at VIACOM, Tiffany & Co., and Booz & Co.

Stacey Tate, Sr. Associate

Education: B.A., English Literature, Delaware State University. M.A., Adult Education and Training

Experience: Prior to joining MLT, Stacey’s most recent role was at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business as a Program Coordinator. She successfully planned and executed events domestically and internationally for eight programs, including MBA, Executive, and Masters of Management. Additionally, she has previously held roles in admissions, recruitment, student services, and online instruction. She is truly passionate about education and providing resources and tools to those in need.

MBA Prep Coaches

Kendra Crook, Senior Coach

Education: B.A., History and Psychology, Columbia College.

Experience: Kendra joined the MBA Prep team in 2007. She started her admissions career with Columbia Business School’s Executive MBA Program as the admissions manager, transitioning to the assistant director of Student Recruitment for Columbia University’s Biosphere 2 Center, an interdisciplinary study abroad program in environmental science.

James Frick, Senior Coach

Education: James received a BA in Communications and English from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a Master’s degree in English from Radford University. In 2018, he will complete the Professional Coach Certificate Program at Duquesne University and then pursue the International Coach Federation certification.

Experience: James spent nearly 18 years at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, where he first served in Academic and Student Affairs as Associate Director of MBA Programs.  In 2003, he was appointed Senior Associate Director of Admissions and, in 2006, the Director of MBA Admissions. In this capacity, James worked closely with nearly 1600 applicants each year, to enroll students in the full-time, part-time, and distance-learning MBA programs. From 2015 until joining MLT, James was a member of the leadership team in the newly-formed Office of Graduate Admissions at Duquesne University, during which time he also served as a consultant for the Forté MBA Launch program participants and as a member of the MLT MBA Prep essay review team. He is a diehard fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Jon Fuller, Senior Coach

Education: B.A., Biology, with a concentration in Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University M.S., Instructional Technology, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

Experience: Prior to joining MLT in 2015, Jon was a Senior Admissions Consultant at Clear Admit, counseling numerous successful applicants to gain admission to the world’s leading business schools.  Jon also served for four years as Senior Associate Director of Admissions at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.  He managed Ross’ full-time MBA program recruiting and admissions processes and team and was also the Ross admissions office’s point-of-contact for The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management and MLT candidates.  Jon spent the early part of his career in consulting and interactive marketing, working with a mix of federal government and national security clients and for-profit companies.

Krista Giancarlo, Senior Coach and Curriculum Lead

Education: B.S., Hotel Administration, Cornell University. Graduate Certificate Program in Nonprofit Management, Northern Kentucky University.

Experience: Prior to becoming an MLT MBA Prep coach in 2008, Krista worked at the Yale School of Management, first in the Dean’s office and then for several years as an admissions officer. She was involved in recruiting women, non-traditional and early-career students. She managed recruiting events for the department and served as the alumni liaison for admissions.

Wendy Weiss Eder, Strategic Initiatives Lead and Senior Coach

Education:  B.A., Sociology, Tulane University MBA, Marketing, The George Washington University

Experience: Wendy joined MLT as an MBA Prep Coach in 2008 and is based in the Washington, DC area. She discovered her love for higher education when she became an undergraduate admissions officer, and she has worked in the higher education world for over twenty years. Prior to MLT, Wendy was Assistant Director of Admissions for Georgetown’s MBA program. Her travels and experiences as an admissions officer give her great pleasure, but her passion is to have a real impact on those with whom she works.

Katelyn Rosa Stephenson, Coach and MBA Prep Early Access Team Lead

Education: B.A., English, concentration in Spanish & Women’s Studies, Boston College; M.Ed., University of Notre Dame in Secondary Education; Doctoral coursework and qualifying exam completed in Higher Education Leadership, The George Washington University

Experience: Katelyn joined MLT in 2022. She recently worked overseas in Asia, and then here in the U.S. as both an undergraduate and graduate admissions consultant. She previously served as Assistant Dean of Admissions at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, and prior to that, as Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at The George Washington University. She’s a passionate educator and teacher at heart, and began her career as an AmeriCorp volunteer teaching English on the border of Mexico. She’s motivated by creating positive environments and guiding others on their educational journey.

Natasha Gore, Senior MBA Prep Coach

Education: Natasha has undergraduate degrees in public relations and print journalism from NC A&T State University and a master’s degree in public administration and nonprofit management from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She also has a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University.

Experience: Natasha spent seven years working in MBA admissions, capping off 10 years of university experience, including her most recent role at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business leading diversity admissions, managing diversity admissions at Wake Forest University School of Business, and serving for five years as Adjunct Faculty at Salem College. Natasha’s higher education experience overlaps a bit with eleven years of nonprofit management experience, having served as executive director of a small social-capital organization in Winston Salem, as well as roles held in marketing/outreach within early childhood education and grantmaking at a community foundation. Natasha is a supporter of all things artistic but has a special place in her heart for dance and musical theatre as a local performer. Natasha joined the MBA Prep Coach team in 2020.

Lance Bennett, Coach

Education: B.S., Business Management, Southern Wesleyan University. Lance is also a certified Diversity Practitioner through Wachovia’s (now Wells Fargo) Diversity Practitioners Development Program.

Experience: Lance has over 12 years of experience in graduate business admissions. He was an Associate Director leading diversity admissions for the Wake Forest School of Business and most recently the Director of Diversity Admissions for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He also spent several years in Diversity and Early Talent Recruitment at Wachovia Bank (now Wells Fargo). Lance is passionate about DEIB and is the Founder and Managing Partner of L.E.B. Partners, a consultancy helping organizations build more equitable and inclusive environments. Lance is currently based in Columbia, South Carolina.

Candace Gonzales Tumey, Senior Coach and MBA Prep Accelerated Team Lead

Education: Candace earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology at UCLA and her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at USC. She also has a certificate in College Admissions and Career Planning from UC Berkeley.

Experience: Candace has over 14 years of experience in undergraduate and graduate admissions. As an Associate Director of Admissions at the Haas School of Business, Candace served for six years in roles that encompassed recruiting domestic and international candidates, leading diversity and inclusion efforts, and evaluating hundreds, if not thousands of applications. Candace earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology at UCLA and her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at USC. Her passion for education led her to admissions. Her passion for education equity brought her to MLT. Candace enjoys international travel, the temples at Angkor Wat are her favorite destination thus far, and must visit the local museum wherever she lands. She is located on the West Coast.

MBA Recruiting & Admissions Team

Maura Clark, Director, MBA Recruitment and Admissions

Education: B.A., English Literature, University of Pittsburgh M.A., Higher Education Administration, The George Washington University.

Experience: Maura joined MLT in 2021. She previously served as the Director of Admissions at Vanderbilt University’s Master of Science in Finance program. She spent over a decade recruiting Vanderbilt MBA and MS students. Prior to Vanderbilt, she served as an undergraduate career coach at the Kogod School of Business at American University.

Sarah McCall, Senior Associate, MBA Recruitment and Admissions

Education: B.A. English, North Carolina State University. M. Ed. Higher Education Administration, University of Virginia

Experience: Sarah joined MLT in 2022. Prior to joining MLT, she managed member recruitment at a non-profit professional association. Sarah’s background is in higher education and she has previous experience as a Community Director at Georgetown University and in admissions at the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development.