"It's Almost Like…Admitting An Impostor"

More and more these days, MBA applicants are paying big bucks to counselors to help them get into the business school of their choice. Growing numbers of applicants--including, increasingly, foreign students--and a relatively static number of slots make hiring a coach a way to stand out.

Admissions officers are of two minds about this: Coaching is O.K.; manufacturing entire applications isn't. "If someone else has done the work, it's almost like you are admitting an impostor to the program," says Liz Riley Hargrove, assistant dean and director of admissions for Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.