I strongly recommend Square One Prep.
I am from outside the US and found the whole process baffling. I was unsure if my qualifications were sufficient because I had a pretty low GPA and GMAT. I didn't know where to begin with essay topics or writing as I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a strong writer. I wasn't even sure which programs were the best, in general and for me. Square One was extremely helpful in taking the time to understand my story, validate my experience was sufficient (with some shoring on my part), strategically help me select topics as well as write well on them, and suggest other programs that weren't on my radar. In fact, the school, I'm going to wasn't on my radar at first!
I am also one of those people that needs a bit of kick to move things forward. Square One will definitely will let you know if you are falling behind and encourage you to pick up the pace. They will also push you to introspect and grow as you develop your work. It really is quite a process.
Also there is so much advice out there on the internet. It's ridiculous. It was great to have someone qualified to distill down the best admissions strategy. Square One had extreme clarity about how to structure things to help showcase my best attributes. They also simply told me to stop surfing the net for advice, to just trust them. Square One didn't just offer sound advice; they really were a full-service guide to me. They did it all with personality which made the entire stressful experience less so.
I'm heading to MIT Sloan which is the perfect school for me. I definitely don't think this would have happened if it wasn't for the guidance and support of Square One."

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If you are serious about gaining admission to the most competitive business programs in the world, you need to have an edge. I am by no means the perfect candidate: I have average college grades and a slightly below average GMAT score, but I was accepted at Yale, Darden, Tuck, and Kellogg. Square One Prep's expertise helped me shape my story and portray my experiences as an Army officer in a way that was both highly relatable to the admissions committees and true to myself.

I am confident that whatever your background, Square One Prep will invest in you the way they did in me and give you the edge to succeed.

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Square One Prep has an incredible ability to help you find your voice. When I first approached the process, I was worried. I had worked in several industries and worn lots of hats. I truly was about as nontraditional as one could be. Additionally, although I had lots of ideas about what I wanted to do in the future, I didn't know where to begin with telling my story in a way that would make me seem like someone who's been working toward getting my MBA. I didn't know how to explain the career transition I was eager to make.
My consultant was indispensable. Without her, I can't imagine crafting a story as clear and compelling as my application turned out. I applied only to my top choice school, Tuck, and they admitted me in the first round.
After speaking with me for four hours--my initial assessment call, my consultant was able to help me strategically pick out key elements in my background to highlight in my resume and essays. She knew exactly what would resonate with the admission committee. She also knew how to bring focus to my various career visions and help me develop a career narrative that brought together all of my seemingly disparate work experiences. It didn't happen overnight. But my consultant was by my side, guiding me the entire way. She was not only thorough, smart, and available 24/7, but she was also incredibly friendly. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with her.
I would recommend Square One Prep to anyone who wants to take the mystery and fear out of the application process, enjoy what is supposed to be daunting, and is serious about getting into their top choice program.

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With a liberal arts undergraduate degree and a military background, I was extremely nervous about applying to business school. Square One Prep came highly recommended to me from friends that were also in the military. Working with them was absolutely critical to getting accepted into my dream school, and being close to my family. Square One not only helped me translate my military experience into something the admissions committee could understand and relate to, they also helped me discover what was truly important to me in terms of a future profession. Of all the consultants I talked to, I chose Square One because they gave me honest and direct feedback, even on the first call, and did not sugar coat my weaknesses; rather they helped me come up with ways to overcome them. My consultant was always available, day, night or weekend with timely, spot-on responses to my queries. Not only was my written application strong, so was my interview. The mock interview my consultant gave me is what sealed the deal for me. It set me up to ace the real thing and get that invitation to matriculate.
If you are serious about getting into a top school, look no further than Square One Prep.

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Stanford GSB here I come!!! Working with Square One Prep was just fantastic. My consultant was extremely supportive, always responsive and full of great ideas to help bring my applications to the next level, and then the next level. She knew I had an uphill battle as I am someone who already has investment banking and private equity under my belt; yet here I am saying that I want to stay in private equity---how "vanilla" is that? And how do I prove the need for an MBA?

Well, with Square One Prep's constant attention and ability to push me to think about my past, present and future in a way that helped me better define who I am and break away from the all the other applicants who, on the surface, have profiles similar to my own, I developed a sincere, unique story. Thank you so much for being so invested in my success. Getting into my top choice is really a dream come true!

Something I found really special about Square One was their candor. My consultant initially told me that Stanford was out not a good school for me, due in part to how "vanilla" my ambitions were and because I didn't seem to be driven by passion - passion to do good in a way that was genuinely outward looking and thoughtful. She was right. So we took Stanford off my list of schools because I understood what my consultant was saying. Six weeks later though, I had a breakthrough while working on the essays for another school with her. She probed and probed and suddenly got me to share something from my past that I'd always been embarrassed by but in many ways, I realized by talking to her, define me. By coming clean about a personal struggle, and learning from her that it was nothing to be ashamed about, together we suddenly saw how I could turn my vanilla ambitions into something that was anything but vanilla. Would I still be doing PE? Yes, but with so much more purpose. I was so excited. Then, when my consultant told me that I now had the ingredients to be taken seriously by Stanford, I was ecstatic. Because we worked at such a great pace, we had plenty of time to add Stanford back into our plan. It was the last application we worked on, and the first school I got admitted to!

If you’re applying to business school, I’d strongly recommend you work with Square One Prep

Oh, I also got into Tuck, Haas, and Booth!

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Me? A younger applicant (less than 3 years, with absolutely no extracurricular involvements since college, but a strong career, GMAT score, uni performance, and personal story (that I would have not tapped into without the help of my admissions advisory group). I can’t imagine having made it through the application process, let alone getting accepted into Stanford and Wharton, without Square One Prep. My consultant not only provided quick turnaround and flawless strategic editing on my resume as well as draft after draft of the essays, but she really pushed me to make sure I was telling the right stories and conveying them in the strongest way I could. Looking at the before and after of my essays is just incredible! Looking in the mirror before and after is incredible as I see myself in a new way - bloody silly but true. My consultant's great knowledge of the application process and what each top school is seeking in combination with her invested attitude really helped me stay sane during the process. She was always supportive, and went above and beyond what she had to throughout my application journey. Thank you!!

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Square One Prep played a huge role in my ability to get accepted at Wharton. I took a big risk, applying to only one school. But I knew where I wanted to go. I needed a partner who would support my appetite for risk and believe in me. Square One Prep did believe in me. They proved that by staying in touch with me for more than a year - as a free resource to me - before I decided to pull the trigger and apply. That really showed me what kind of company they are. I didn't feel like a transaction. I felt like they really cared.

My consultant was always available, had a no nonsense style, and was very organized. These attributes were very important to me. I needed someone who could adjust to my travel-heavy schedule, not beat around the bush, and keep me on track to meet important deadlines. She executed in every department.

Additionally, going in, I really underestimated just how much time, thought, and effort I needed to put in to the process to put together a competitive application. I also didn't understand that I would be deemed a younger applicant or that my low GMAT score would be problematic. My consultant not only educated me, she walked me through how to tackle my relative inexperience compared to my competition and helped me choose the best way to mitigate my low GMAT score. Having someone who knows exactly what the adcoms want, and don't want, was a lot more valuable than I originally anticipated.

The admissions process is extremely competitive. I couldn't have pulled it off without Square On Prep. I highly recommend them to anyone who is serious about getting into any leading MBA program."

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In at INSEAD, IE, and IMD. Now I have to decide which to attend. I wouldn't be in this AMAZING position if it weren't for all your help! You were simply a godsend the last two months. Working with you was seamless and so eye-opening, especially as someone from Kenya where attending business school is far from the norm.. Is it wrong to say it was also fun? It was! Even when I was pulled in tons of directions outside the process, due to work and family, you managed to get me to focus and come to the table excited to tackle what initially seemed incredibly daunting. I can't thank you enough for your dedication, insights, candor, spirit, and support!

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If your goal is to really present your best self in your business school applications and get into a top program OR FOUR, Square One Prep is a fantastic partner.

Before consulting Square One Prep, when I tried to write my resume and essays I had trouble pin-pointing the achievements and anecdotes that would best capture my professional and personal story. I knew my resume had to be focused toward the Adcom audience. I knew my essays needed to resonate with that audience. The problem was that I didn't know that audience, what mattered to them. My Square One Prep consultant listened to what I wanted to convey - listened for hours. Between my initial assessment and essay topic calls, we seriously must have talked for 10-12 hours. It was worth every minute. My consultant probed to help pull things to the surface that I had not even considered, regarding my work and life experiences. My work with them transformed how I thought of myself!

When the time came to work on my letters of recommendation, we used a really creative process that enabled me to get all my recommendations - and I had a lot - done at once. My recommenders loved the process and couldn't thank Square One Prep enough. Neither could I, as happy recommenders = happy LORs! It was clear to me from start to finish that Square One Prep's goal was to help me succeed, and I was so happy with the result! I got into Columbia, Kellogg, and Wharton. I also got into my first choice school, and am off to HBS!"

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As an older applicant from India, applying late in the cycle, I knew the MBA application process was going to be quite challenging for me. Further, I have significant writer's block. Even though I spend a lot of time putting together client presentations as a consultant, writing is quite stressful for me. But working with Square One Prep made the whole essay writing process - actually the entire application process - a rather enjoyable experience.

When I first approached Square One Prep, I had just turned in my applications for two schools and was looking for a quick second set of eyes before starting on my next two applications. While I was expecting a high-level critique, Square One Prep did a thorough review of my essays and provided a detailed red-lined assessment. I was blown away by the number of things I approached incorrectly in my essays and resume. In a nut shell, Square One Prep's feedback was that my essays sounded like an extended version of my resume and that there was no way the ad-com could know who I was as a person. It was clear that my essays were rather pedestrian and showed a lack of self-awareness.

To remedy this critical mistake, my consultant took the time to understand who I am. She and I worked together to review my life experiences and identify stories that would make my essays come to life. She helped me develop my first drafts into finished essays that really conveyed who I am in a way I never could have done on my own, in a way I never would have thought to do on my own.

Working with Square One Prep made me realize that essay writing is more of a self discovery process - I learned to look at my life experiences from childhood to now and identify the situations/events/influences that make me who I am. With Square One Prep leading the way, I learned how to then communicate that in a simple and interesting way.

Further, the application needs you to look ahead, identify your goals and build an argument for why the MBA with a particular school is the right thing right now. Square One Prep was immensely helpful here in making sure that my I had a rigorous but straightforward logic.

In short, if you are looking for an intelligent and compassionate group to work with, one that knows what the ad-com want and can help you structure a compelling case that gets results, as I got offers from both Columbia and INSEAD, then Square One Prep is your consultant!

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