I decided to apply for an MBA in late June 2021, skeptical about my chances as I belonged to an overrepresented applicant pool, carried relatively low work experience and had little time remaining for my target college’s R1 deadlines (5 top M7 schools)

Before beginning the application process, I reached out to several MBA consultants, and mostly received the same feedback – to either tone down my expectations, or save the application for another year. But right from the first call with Kathryn, Square One Prep stood out from the rest. Instead of just evaluating my profile based on my background and test scores, Kathryn pushed me to open up about different experiences in my life through a series of introspective questions. She encouraged me to continue aiming for the best schools, somehow believing that I’d find a good story to tell.

I immediately signed up with SOP, and could soon tell that this would be the right call. The MBA application process can be an exhausting mental rollercoaster, so I was glad to have Annie, my advisor, share this with me. She became equally invested in my applications right from the beginning and provided much-needed honest feedback to help me deliver quality essays and prepare well for my interviews. Annie is extremely diligent, really approachable, incredibly supportive, and looking back – the very best person I could’ve had to navigate through the challenges of these applications. I also received tremendous support from Wendy, who spent several hours helping me draft a leakproof, ambitious yet well-grounded career narrative, that became the core for all my applications.

I went on to receive interview invites from 3 colleges, and finally got accepted into my dream school!

Square One Prep’s encouragement and support was critical in my journey, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND them for the MBA Applications. They’ve got an absolutely amazing team, who’ll have your back and put you in the best position to achieve your business school goals

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About SOP:
• SOP has a well-developed, structured process to help you build your application material within timelines, ensuring you are ready to submit your best effort well in time. With an air-tight process that ensures you put your best foot forward, the results seem guaranteed.
• The process is central to the development of your application components and guides you to explore your journey to this point, reflect deeply and translate it into compelling content through your essays. SOP IS VERY FOCUSED ON THE CLIENT, THE PROCESS NEVER LEAVES YOU OUT AND YOU REMAIN CENTRAL TO THE GOAL.
• My advisors at SOP were always prompt and always put in their best, becoming an integral part of my application journey.
• I was challenged to keep improving my application materials through various reviews and iterations.
• Through the several rounds of revisions, I was able to transform the material to shine and stand out to the admission committee.
• The resources are fantastic. You can access the content of previous successful applicants.
• On the introductory call I was able to ask all the questions and understood the process focused approach. The call itself served as a SWOT analysis and I understood my strengths and weaknesses as an applicant. With KATHRYN;’S VAST EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH CANDIDATES OVER THE YEARS AND NON SUGAR-COATING APPROACH, I WAS CONFIDENT IN THE EVALUAYION AND ALSO FELT ASSURED THAT THEY WOULD GUIDE ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
• THE STRATEGY IS FOOLPROOOF, WITH AUTHENTIC APPLICATION CONTENT CRAFTED AND STRUCURED TO DELIVER YOUR STORY, MOTIVATIONS AND GOALS TO THE ADMISSIONS TEAM, YOU BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE FOR THE FURTHER STEPS OF THE APPLOICATION LIKE THE INTERVIEW.
My experience:
• Through the journey I took with SOP, I felt more confident and surer of my chances as a B-School applicant.
• Due to personal and professional reasons, I had limited time and was opting to apply to one college only.
• I was referred to SOP by several of my peers and seniors who had been successfully guided through their application process by SOP and were happily admitted to their dream schools. At the same time, I was aware that applications to top tier business schools are competitive and many fail to make it on their first attempt. In fact, I had seen the more common trend among my peers where they had applied unsuccessfully on their first attempt and only in their second year of application had offers from a few business schools. I also assumed this application to be my first attempt and with only one arrow in my arsenal, didn’t initially expect the application to convert to an offer. With a thorough and well-designed process, the application content evolved with my inputs and several reviews. The best part of the package is the unlimited reviews and Square One Prep partners with you such that they do not sign off on your content unless they are sure that it would be high quality and make the cut.
• The process made me reflect on my own MBA goals and at the end of it not only had I developed application material but was surer in my intent and motivations to join business school. While working on the content you forget the anxiety of the result

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My journey with SquareOne started with an introductory call with Kathryn, who is the founder of the firm. Before the call, I've talked to many firms including the most famous ones. and they seemed to try to fit me and an application prep procedure into their formulated method. As a non-traditional background person, I thought it would not work for me. On the other hand, Kathryn and her firm's approach were tailored to my needs and on point all the time.

I talked to 2-3 potential advisors to work with (make sure to ask all questions and share your expectation on the call. I had to change mine due to an unaligned expectation. Even the changing process was smooth as Kathryn and her team listened to my concerns and solved the problem in a day). After I landed on one, we as a team dissected my strength and weaknesses over many lengthy phone calls and emails (very responsive) and built my resume first and then essay by school.

Even with my below-average GMAT score and a non-traditional background, I've been admitted to one of the top 25 MBA programs.

I highly recommend Square One Prep and Annie, my advisor (she is the best!!)

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I am so thrilled with my results after working with the amazing resources at Square One Prep! There is no way I would have been able to have received four acceptances and two scholarships without their help every step of the way. They broke down each component of the overwhelming process into doable, bite-sized steps, and kept me on a schedule which was truly invaluable.

One of the most helpful parts of the process was working on my career narrative with Wendy and the team. As someone who plans to make a substantial career change post-MBA, it was vital to form a clear story and define my short- and long-term goals. The team was very patient with me as I went through multiple ideas and figured out what exactly it was that I was trying to convey to adcoms through my applications. They helped guide my thought process until I had what felt like the most authentic narrative for me, and they never dictated a certain story that they thought I should tell.

Annie, my individual advisor, was incredibly helpful as I went through the essay writing process, particularly as I generated compelling and thoughtful ideas for each essay. She was not afraid to push back on me when the ideas or content was not strong enough. She really got to know me, my interests, and my stories in order to help me craft the strongest responses to each school and their unique prompts. She also was very helpful when guiding myself and my recommenders through the recommendation process.

I would absolutely recommend Square One Prep as you take on the MBA application process!

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My experience working with Square One Prep was absolutely amazing. When I first approached Kathryn, I had only a few weeks remaining for my application deadlines and I had barely any idea on where to start. I was extremely anxious about the application process. But as I began working with Kathryn and the SOP team, my mind was put at ease. My initial consultation call with Kathryn gave me the confidence I needed to believe in the strength of my profile. Unlike other consultants I'd approached before, Kathryn gave the time to hear me out completely and understand my expectations.

I was especially delighted by my experience working with my SOP advisor. She left no stone unturned to make sure that my application was perfect. We worked on several iterations on my resume and essays, until we were truly satisfied with the result. Moreover, she acted as a constant pillar of support throughout and kept me motivated during the entire process. I was amazed by her meticulous approach and her prompt response while working on my application. Her invaluable feedback at each step really helped me put my best foot forward.

I worked with SOP for 2 schools - HBS and Wharton. I received an interview invite for both and was accepted to Harvard Business School, which was my dream school. I just could not have done this without Square One Prep. Working with Kathryn and her team was the best decision I made during my MBA application process. Looking back, I would not have done this differently

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I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed my Square One experience. Before I started working with S1, I didn't think I had a realistic shot at any of the MBAs inside the top 25. Kathryn encouraged me to think and dream bigger, and ultimately convinced me that top 10 programs were well within reach. Kathryn and her team (a big thank you to Bailey for keeping me on track and Wendy for helping me with my career narrative) did an amazing job of working hand-in-hand with me to make sure I found a coach (Annie) that was a perfect fit for my background and admissions goals. Annie pushed me every day to craft essays and personal stories that helped me stand out during the admissions process, and made sure I was 110% prepared for my in-person interviews. Even if I had been rejected by all of my schools, the journey of thinking critically about my future and my career would have been well worth the investment. To end up getting accepted to Ross and Michigan SEAS with a $10k scholarship is more than I could have hoped for going into this process. To anyone who is doubting their chances of attending a competitive MBA program or unsure about working with S1, my success proves that the S1 team can make miracles happen!

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