MBA Mission - Katy Lewis helped Make my Harvard Dream Come True!

I have wanted to go to Harvard since I was 10 years old. Katy Lewis helped me make that dream come true.

I work at a private equity megafund in New York. A lot of people here didn’t use consultants because applying from a bigger PE firm is usually a fairly routine process. I decided to go with a consultant because my view was that if anything, it certainly couldn’t hurt. I was very happy I did; results speak for themselves - I got into HBS, my top rated school.

Hiring a consultant is expensive; I began interviewing consultants in November before the application year. After speaking multiple times to about 30 different people over a 3-4 month period, I decided that it was Katy I wanted to go with. She came with stellar recommendations and I had some very positive experiences with her before we were even under contract. I had some questions around GMAT score sufficiency and re-taking, around structuring my application process, as well as some random other items that came up every now and then – I would always shoot Katy a note and she’d always answer immediately or be available to discuss on the phone, without me having mentioned anything about wanting to go with her for sure. You could say that she was putting on her best face since she was trying to get hired by me, but I assure you Katy doesn’t need to worry about being hired. It is March now and I’m trying to have my friends who are applying round I this year work with Katy, but Katy already is hopelessly booked out for Round I! Booked out in March – way before a lot of people are even starting to think about the process. So, I truly believe that when Katy spent all that time helping me with no contract, it wasn’t some marketing plot, it was just generally her being the phenomenal and kind and caring person she is. If you’re going to share the most intimate details of your life with someone, knowing that they have a good heart (which usually tends to be accompanied with people being respectful and discreet!) is important.

I tend to be ruthless and while I appreciated Katy being a mentor and a coach who calmed me down at every point in the process, I would often shut down any supporting sentiments from her end (even though I’m sure they were well intended) to get straight down to business. My view was that her job was to tell me where I was lacking, and I wanted to work in a quick and efficient manner. Katy took very well to that desired style of mine; while I could tell that she tends to be very much of a cheerleader and someone who would act as a powerful encourager to people lacking confidence etc., she worked with me in a very financy-private equity style, completely cutting all the bullshit and just helping me produce great work in the most efficient manner possible. (at the same time, if I would have weak moments, like right after my interview, she would always be there for me with open arms and an open heart, I felt she believed in me at every point in the process even at points when I had given up belief in myself, and I felt I could always come to her – while I didn’t need this much it was nice to know it was there, unconditionally, always)

There’s a few very concrete items I want to call out were Katy decisively impacted my process:

• Initial brainstorm and continued work through the essay: a lot of people have mentioned this, but Katy has an unbelievable ability to draw a red thread through someone’s life and come up with that story to tell. I had my bits and pieces, but she provided the glue that fit it all together. She was the one who created one holistic, beautiful mosaic out of the different pieces of my life. I ended up absolutely loving my essay and simply writing it was a transformational journey. Katy has a beautiful ability to work with all the information you give to her and then arrange it in a logical manner, draw themes, etc. this had as a result that everything on paper is all mine, it’s all from deep within me, it’s my own work – but it is arranged in a logical manner, a coherent story, a story that people can follow – rather than the mess in my head. Please note by that I actually do a lot of writing in my spare time, have studied a lot of literature and consider myself very adept at language – what Katy brings is a whole different level. It’s not so much about being a good writer I think as it is her ability to understand what admissions wants to see, what you bring and what’s important to you to express, and how it can all be aligned

• Recommenders: Katy encouraged me to contact one recommender she felt strongly would be great to have. I would never have approached that person because I thought that there was a 50-50 shot that he would either write something great or meh, and I thought it was much too risky. Katy helped me put together a reach-out email that in a very diplomatically correct and polite yet effective manner asked for the recommendation and would also help crystallize right away whether the recommender would write the sort of stuff we would want him to write. Turns out the recommender was one of my biggest fans and my fears were completely ungrounded. He wrote an absolutely stellar rec. Had Katy not insisted I ask him, I would have never gotten that rec from him, and stuck to a much safer but probably less standout choice. Katy also helped me navigate another politically a bit tricky situation of getting a third person to volunteer to contact the university on my behalf and act as an informal recommender, without me actually ever asking that person to do so. Katy literally gave me instructions on how to just call that mentor person, have the catch-up conversation, mention HBS, and “wait for the recommender to offer.” Would never have thought this would work, but it did. I could barely believe it. I am convinced that it’s not just dumb luck this worked the way it did, but rather Katy helped me set it up the right way

• Reflection: HBS makes you write another essay within 24 hours of interview. Cruel. Looking back the thing that I had written initially was horrible. Katy helped me “see the light.” I need to be careful what I write, because if HBS somehow traces this back to me I don’t want them to withdraw my offer ;) but let it just be said Katy shaped this one decisively. Note she doesn’t obviously actually write anything for you (and there was a moment when I was really upset when at 1 in the morning after I had just landed back from Boston and the thing was due at 11am, she told me what I had written was bad, needed to be redone, and oh by the way she wasn’t going to line edit or give me specific detail since that was “against the rules” .. but she then in an incredibly practical and helpful way conveyed to me the sort of spirit this thing needs to be written in, and then offered to set her alarm for 4.30am (I could request any time I wanted) to do another turn). I literally went from feeling terrible about my interview, to in a confident and upbeat manner addressing everything in my reflection, to then as a result feeling pretty confident about my admission. ALL thanks to Katy.

In summary, I really cannot commend her enough, and I feel so fortunate to have gotten the chance to work with her. My only advice is book her early!!