GMAT Club
April 08, 2015
Anonymous

Posts: 0

Kudos: 0

I started working with Katharine about 3 weeks before my application deadline, which I initially thought was a lot of time to review my application, but proved to be short, because Katharine had so many positive changes to suggest.
I sent the first draft of my application to her:
Essay 1: Personal statement and why I want to pursue an EMBA now?
Katharine put life into my story and beautifully complemented one fact with the other, making a firm case to the Admissions committee on why they should accept me. She carefully asked me questions about my life & career that would strengthen my application and added the same.
Even though she is from a legal background, and I work in Finance, she really made an effort to understand my work environment and animate the same in my essay

Essay 2: How will you take advantage of being at the very centre of business?
Katherine pointed out that there was overlap between what I had written in my 1st essay and this one, so she strongly suggested I come up with reasons other than Essay 1. She forced me hard to think of reasons and well research the program website.
She always kept giving me feedback from the perspective of an Admissions committee member (since she used to review applications for a little bit at Stanford), which was very useful. She made me see her how an admissions person (not from my field) would look out for in my application, at the same time making my application unique and not commonplace.

Essay 3: Tell us something that your Cluster would be pleasantly surprised to know about you
This was the hardest question for me. Katharine did a few phone calls with me and pushed me hard to think about this one. When I actually put some disparate facts together, she put it together so well, that only after that could I see a story falling in place. Being able to give your application a unique touch and doing so in an interesting yet concise way, is the least to describe Katharine's talent. She was able to understand me and make me see how I could add value to Columbia, and represent the same in my application

Finally she reviewed my entire application front to back. Her prompt reviews on my application material esp towards the end, her close attention to detail (and I can say this because I work in Finance) and her unparalleled wisdom to see someone like me in my current environment and use the same in the application to give it a unique touch proved very valuable to me. This got me into the Columbia EMBA program and I would be more than happy to recommend her to anyone I know.

The interview prep:
Katherine prepped me so well in the interview, that I felt very relaxed when I was actually at the interview. She forced me to think of examples from my life to present to the admissions counseler. I actually HAD fun at my interview and came off as a natural. Kudos to her!!

Overall, 5 out of 5

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