Going to Wharton - and working with Katy was the best decision I made to make this possible!

Katharine Lewis is one of the finest mentors I have ever met, and one of the most effective – thanks to her, I’m going to Wharton!!!

When I reached out to Katy during my senior year of college, I was concerned about my Deferred MBA chances since I was going into an overrepresented career and had been told by many mentors to wait a few years before applying to B school if I wanted better odds of getting in. But Katy stood out among other consultants because she firmly believed that I stood a fighting chance, and that I should own my authentic story around my passion for pursuing affordable and accessible healthcare, as opposed to weaving or creating a narrative more “catered” to my ambitious list of schools. I worked with Katy to apply to 7 schools via their Deferred MBA programs – Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, Sloan, Columbia, HBS, and Stanford – and it is predominantly thanks to Katy that I got into the first 5 on that list, and had the glorious problem of having to pick from these incredible choices.

Right from brainstorming, Katy pushed me to dig deep and bring out my most authentic, raw stories around what drives me – and her “tough love”-esque commitment to sharing honest and clear feedback (as feedback should be delivered to be helpful), in combination with her enthusiastic encouragement and unwavering support throughout the process, make her the perfect person for the job. I lost count of how many essay drafts I sent Katy (it was easily 50+) – but she patiently edited and sent constructive, valuable feedback on every single one. Her extensive experience in the field of MBA admissions coupled with her analytical ability to distil nebulous, wordy thoughts into short and powerful depictions, often left me thinking “thank the gods I have Katy – there is no way I could have thought to write this in that way!”. When I received interview invites, even for the schools that were not in my “package” with her, Katy went out of her way to send me incredibly detailed interview prep material that ultimately helped me get into those schools too. And whenever I hit a major obstacle, was uncertain about something or downright nervous, I knew a phone call with Katy would instantly fix the issue and make me feel better – and it did, every single time. Now, after working for 2-5 years, I’ll be headed to Wharton – and I KNOW that Katy made all the difference. I’ll always be grateful to Katy for helping me get into B school, but also for being a mentor who I know I can turn to whenever I need sound advice. If you’re thinking of applying to a Deferred MBA program, you MUST speak to Katy – I’m convinced a counselor and mentor cannot possibly get much better than her!!