I wouldn't have gotten to Chicago Booth without Square One Prep. I'm a Brazilian student from an alternative background - nonprofits and startups - and an average GMAT (710). This led me to doubt myself regarding even applying for an MBA. However, Kathryn made me trust myself since our very first call. She paired me up with Darcy, who was rigorous and kind throughout the whole process. Darcy replied quickly to my emails and WhatsApp messages, was available even on Sundays, and gave me specific and challenging feedback on every piece of writing of the application. Her obsession for clarity pushed me to improve constantly on the story I wanted to tell. Her emotional intelligence was key when I was tired and feeling down. If you are having doubts about their services, don't. I guarantee it's worth your money.

Read More

I am really happy with the process and results SOP offered. Now that I am already admitted into CBS, I can assure you that every service SOP offers is exactly the way they describe it and the execution is very methodical. I strongly recommend going into their webpage and checking the “process” chart since it is very accurate.

At the very beginning of the process, what attracted me to SOP was that they gave me the chance to have three free consultations (two with Kathryn and one with my future advisor Allison), something other firms didn’t agree to do. I already knew that I wanted to apply to HBS, GSB and CBS, and Kathryn gave me a thorough explanation of my strengths and weaknesses and described the areas I could improve to be able to get into those schools. During the first consultation, I told Kathryn I had a weak GMAT score and she honestly told me she couldn’t work with me if I only wanted to apply to those three schools. This surprised me and told me A LOT about the firm since she could have easily said yes knowing I didn’t have too many chances of success. So, after I retook the exam and got a better score, we agreed to start working together on my MBA application.

During the process I worked most of the time with my advisor Allison Nelson. What I liked about her was that she was completely to the point – no bs, no false expectations, always honest and succinct in her answers. She pushed me to write some of the best essays I ever wrote, prompting me to think about my past experiences and helping me build a strong story. She always reminded me to send the drafts back to her and kept me on track every time I was falling behind schedule. Something that caught me off guard during the process was the work I did with Luis Bellon. Luis is a master storyteller and made me think the most how I wanted to present and pitch my story. I struggled during this process because it pushed my confidence boundaries and I ended up taking more time that I was comfortable with taking.

Overall, I have to thank the three of them for giving me advice and emotional support in every single step. I recommend SOP to anyone who wants to apply to business school.

PD: I selected the three-school premium package

Read More

I had a very pleasant experience working with the team at Square One and would highly recommend the team’s services to anyone interested in applying to business school. I first heard about Square One through my cousin, who had a very positive and extremely successful experience working closely with Kathryn and the team. Having not been too familiar with the landscape of business school advisors and their respective styles initially, I was really impressed by Square One’s highly tailored, thoughtful and organized approach, which was very apparent from my initial conversations with Kathryn.

Once I decided to proceed with applying to business schools, Kathryn surrounded me with a supportive, reliable and tight-knit team that was committed to helping me craft my personal narrative. I was specifically fortunate enough to work with Wendy, my career coach, and Ale, my direct advisor. Along with Kathryn, Wendy and Ale were instrumental in helping me articulate my story to date as well as my near and longer-term visions. Throughout the application process, they were all focused on allowing me to preserve my own voice and personal interests, while simultaneously optimizing my profile as a candidate. In order to do so, they spent a lot of time getting to know me as not only an applicant, but also as a person, which I found to be very unique. In addition, they were extremely attentive to my needs and questions, maintaining almost daily dialogue with me via the phone and emails. Ultimately, I was able to leverage their experience and insights to develop a genuinely compelling application that afforded me the opportunity to interview with and get into top programs such as Wharton.

I am delighted with the results of my work with Kathryn, Wendy, Ale, and the rest of the team at Square One, and would emphatically recommend their services to anyone looking to partner with an MBA admissions consultant!

Read More

As a re-applicant, I was tentative about going through the admissions cycle again, especially since I wasn't clear about what went wrong the first time. I was also conscious of making similar mistakes compared to my first set of applications. This was when a friend referred me to Kathryn and I had my first introductory call with her.

From the outset, Kathryn did a great job of studying my previous application packages and pinpointing areas of weakness I hadn't seen before. She is honest and blunt, without sugar-coating her feedback in any way for the sake of 'winning over' an applicant, which I really appreciated and felt a lot of other admissions consultants do not explicitly do. It also helped me build a strong trust equation with her and the team. Her open and objective approach to diagnosing problems, and providing actionable feedback also convinced me that SOP was the right partner for me as I went into the 2022 admissions cycle.

Since Day 1, the Square One team has been absolutely fantastic in terms of walking through the basics of what is a long and grueling marathon. The challenge for me felt more daunting as I was a reapplicant with a largely similar profile to the previous year, which required me to tell a more nuanced story than last time. Kathryn, Wendy, and my SOP advisor, Garry, were immense in helping me through that as well as much more. The Career Narrative is an approach unique to SOP and was hugely valuable to me as it forced me to introspect more deeply about my goals and reasons for pursuing Business School, adding a strong sense of uniformity and cohesion to all of my materials across multiple schools, which is key when building a compelling narrative. Wendy also does a great job in terms of cross-questioning your research and thought process, forcing you to iterate multiple times until you have a vision you can be proud of and talk about in great depth during interviews.

My SOP advisor, Garry, was also a constant source of calm and support throughout the entire process. Often I found myself worried about impending deadlines and work still being done on each of the essays, but Garry's patience and clarity always helped keep things on track and helped me reach the finishing line with minimum fuss. His experience of working with a number of candidates with a similar background to mine also helped tease out the unique aspects of my own candidacy and position them in a more nuanced yet explicit manner compared to my previous applications, adding a whole new dimension to my materials. He constantly pushed me to dig deeper and was constantly available (even at odd hours!), whenever I needed to clarify any questions.

Overall, I would wholeheartedly recommend Square One Prep to anyone looking to apply to a top MBA program. Without them, I wouldn't have received offers from multiple top schools. Their structured approach (shout out to Allison as well!) and deep expertise will never allow you to feel overwhelmed by the process, while their patient and warm approach will make you feel like you're navigating this journey with a friend.

Read More

I worked with Square one Prep for my MBA applications. I was referred to Square One by one of my friends who spoke very highly of their team and services. I talked to 4-5 consultants before deciding to work with Square One Prep. My primary reason for picking them was the fact that I worked not only with one person, but an entire team of people each with their specialized skillset. My initial call with Kathryn alone helped me realise a lot of mistakes that I was making while planning my applications as well as made me think about multiple factors, that I had previously skipped, when it came to deciding where to apply and why. My consultant was Rahul Kalita. It was great working with him. He made sure we worked on each aspect of the application in detail and was always available to answer any questions that I had. Applying for schools while working full time is especially difficult and the entire team was extremely accommodating of my needs. Rahul made sure he understood all my strengths and weaknesses and helped me prepare my application accordingly. His help on the Recommendation Packages was also beneficial as it made life easier for my recommenders; they didn’t have to think twice before committing their time for my applications. The step-by-step approach comes in very handy. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with the Square One Team. I am very grateful to the entire team. I have an offer from all the colleges that I applied to and am now in the process of deciding where to go.

Read More

I reached out to SquareOnePrep early in the summer as part of my reach-out to multiple other consultants. I was quickly impressed by the fair and sincere feedback from Kathryn, and she took the time to really understand my profile and requirements.

Their process is pretty elaborate and thorough: from onboarding to ideation to application. It enabled me to choose colleges, recommenders and figure out timelines in an informed manner. Multiple conversations around goals and core ideas ensured my applications presented a compelling case. I then worked with Matteo across colleges, and he offered sound advice and inputs throughout the process. Since he understood my industry and my work really well, it enabled a robust creative process of ideating essays and stories. He was honest and straightforward in his feedback while providing strategic inputs to improve the essays - an underrated aspect since it's easy to hit a wall while writing and iterating stories. Even while preparing for interviews, the feedback Matteo provided was precise, actionable, and candid. At every point, I felt there was constant and prompt support from the SOP team; and in a journey as daunting as the MBA application process, it helps to have a team backing you throughout.

Coming from the most competitive background, I eventually landed a dream college, and I couldn't have been happier to have made it! SOP helped me put my best foot forward, and I'm so glad I chose them!

Read More

For applicants who are overwhelmed with business school applications, SquareOne Prep is a top choice.

After speaking to numerous consultants, I decided to work with SquareOne Prep because of the extensive support being offered by the team. I had an amazing advisor (kudos to Kathleen Danoher), a super thorough Career Narrative expert (Wendy- you helped me figure out what I wanted to do) and of course Kathryn (Team Lead) and Samuel (Lead Editor). My diligent team was as invested in my success as I was.

SOP was very methodical from the get-go; they took the time to get to know me (over a span of ~4 hours) before moving on to the Resume and Career Narrative sections. I felt very comfortable throughout the application process, which enabled me to be as honest as possible in my essays. Our efforts bore fruit as I was accepted to 3 amazing programs- Kellogg, Haas, and Tuck!

I genuinely recommend SquareOne Prep and urge a potential applicant to reach out to Kathryn for the first call.

Read More

Square One Prep provided me with the guidance and support I needed to build the best application possible. Kathryn, Collin, and the rest of their team were with me every step of the way to build my story and highlight my most authentic self in my application. Going into this process, I was especially worried about applying to top schools with a lower GMAT score, but Collin and Kathryn reassured me every step of the way that if I put in the hard work, we, together, could make it happen. I am thrilled to say that with great success, I got into almost every program I applied to, and even with substantial scholarships! I truly cannot thank them enough for their hard work and support.

Read More

The MBA application process is a grueling and stressful one, it is important to work with a consultant who not only helps you write great essays and put forward a competitive application but also one who helps you believe in yourself – SOP does just that!

Before speaking to Kathryn, I interacted with multiple consultants and the interactions made me feel stressed and underwhelmed. On our very first call, Kathryn spent nearly one hour getting to know me, my professional background, my requirements and posed thoughtful questions. This aspect was something that wasn’t done by any other consultant. Most importantly, Kathryn helped me see my strengths and persuaded me to apply to colleges I couldn’t have dreamed of! I eventually received an admit from a top program with a great scholarship!

During the process, the school selection with Kathryn was a highly comprehensive discussion with well-planned timelines. The mix of colleges Kathryn helped pick suited my needs yet pushed me to get out of my comfort zone.

For the career narrative, it was a pleasure working with Wendy, who helped me craft a compelling career narrative and helped me drill down my short-term and long-term goals with utmost clarity.

My advisor Lara was brilliant – she constantly challenged me to help bring out the best in my essays and provided clear, actionable feedback every step of the way. I couldn’t have imagined writing such strong essays without SOP’s help. The interview prep session with Lara was extremely fun and helpful. I am certain without the great interview prep session with Lara, my actual interview would not have been as impactful as it turned out to be (after receiving an admit, my interviewer actually emailed me telling me how remarkable and memorable my interview was).

Even after submitting the applications and receiving an admit, Kathryn and Lara have been extremely supportive and are available to provide realistic advice and encouragement every step of the way.

I would strongly recommend SOP to any MBA applicant (in fact, I’ve already recommended them to several friends)!

Read More

I opted for an hourly service with Square One Prep - and I am very glad that I reached out to them at an early stage during my applications.
Kathryn went above and beyond in our first "introductory" call as well and gave me so many tips that other consultants would probably not have. She listened to my stories and gave me advices on schools I should target. The call went on for more than an hour - and I felt comfortable sharing my personal stories with Kathryn. On our first call itself, I was sure I wanted to work with her. I went ahead for the hourly service.

Kathryn provided diligent and candid feedback on my previous work - my essays and resume. Her feedback was crisp and actionable. The greatest benefit I got was Kathryn completely quashed my main essay - and rightly so. It got me thinking in the right direction- and now I am telling a completely different story in my next drafts. In fact, some of the stories I had thought were not super useful are the ones which actually highlighted my strengths. Such introspection has turned my application 360 degrees - the different "components" are still there but arranged very well and telling a cohesive story.

Kathryn was very knowledgeable when it came to resumes too. She clearly pointed out my shortcomings- the places where I was "spoonfeeding" too much and the places where there were mysterious blanks.

All in all I would highly recommend Kathryn! If you are looking for someone to get you into your dream school, I would not think twice before choosing Kathryn.

Read More