SquareOne Prep was recommended to me by some close friends who had all received an admit from HSW through SquareOne. I however wanted to be thorough and spoke to several MBA consultants before deciding. Eventually, I chose SquareOne because it provided the perfect balance between optimism and blunt honesty. As a pessimist, I knew I needed a support system that would encourage me throughout this gruesome application process, and at the same time provide hard honest feedback when needed. Kathleen Danoher, who I chose to be my personal advisor was a perfect match, and Kathryn provided ample guidance and time for me to find the right personal advisor for me.

SquareOne’s career narrative approach is unique and sets a very strong foundation to build the rest of the application on. Wendy Bagdi-Durrua and the team goes through as many iterations as required till both they and I are satisfied with the narrative. This was a great time for true introspection early on in the application process. I worked with Kathleen almost daily, but every essay was also reviewed by Kathryn and the senior leadership. Having multiple experienced eyes go through the essays critically reassured me that the intended aspects of my essay were coming across clearly and plainly.

Overall, SquareOne was a wise choice and I am very happy to have made it! I applied to all M7 schools in R1, and I couldn’t have done it without SquareOne. Kathryn suggested doing a combination of full-package and hourly services, which was helpful in optimizing my spend. I received admits from Booth, Kellogg and Wharton with scholarships of 60K+ from two of them, and waitlisted at Sloan. It has been a pleasure working with SquareOne and they continue to support me even now.

For the future applicants reading this testimonial, I highly recommend Square One Prep! Just get on a call with them, and you will know what I mean.

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Like others, I scheduled free consultation calls with many admissions consultants. However, after speaking with Kathryn, the decision to choose Square One became very easy. She spent hours with me on the phone understanding my goals and guiding me a full year before I even started the application process.

I felt very confident going into application season and once I started working with my day-to-day advisor Matteo, it was abundantly clear I had made the right choice in choosing Square One.

Coming from a technical background, my writing skills were very rusty but Matteo patiently brainstormed essay ideas with me over many phone calls. Once I sent drafts for him to review, he would send me his thoughts the very next day. This ensured that I kept a smooth pace. More importantly, Matteo helped me write about my experiences from perspectives that would appeal to the admissions committees. Once I received interview invites, Matteo held several mock interviews over the phone. He challenged me during these sessions which allowed me to formulate more purposeful and concise responses. By the time I interviewed with schools, I was confident and well prepared.

In addition to the day-to-day support, the rest of the SOP team played a crucial role in my success. Wendy helped me craft a solid career narrative that I used as a guidepost throughout my application timeline. Bailey and Jenny created a timeline for me that kept track of deadlines, recommenders, and more. I was never in a rush to complete applications and importantly - was stress-free.

Throughout the process, Kathryn was always available when I needed her. She helped me put together a great list of schools to apply to and provided insight into the unique characteristics of each school. Her reviews of my essays and resume ensured they were exactly what the ad coms were looking for.

Initially, I was anxious and not very confident of my chances getting into a top school. I was a young applicant and didn’t have the strongest GPA. I can now happily say I will be matriculating at my dream M7 school because of Square One’s guidance!

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Square One Prep is the best investment I did throughout my application process. They are incredibly professional, talented and knowledgeable.

Kathryn Lucas runs a phenomenal program. She is invested and passionate about the success of every candidate. Her response time is also unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Even before starting the applications, she gave me great advice on working through my GRE and selecting schools which made me feel at ease from the beginning.

My advisor, Darcy Cain was a fantastic advisor. She took the time to get to know me holistically, supported and challenged me in great ways! Her feedback ensured that the connections between different elements of my background, personality and career goals were really coming out in my writing.

Bailey Miller kept me on schedule, reminding me of the weekly milestones. This was very helpful to stay organized and balance doing my applications with my job.

I can’t recommend them enough to anyone applying to business school!

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Before starting the application process, I was really worried about crafting a unique story and differentiating myself from the many other consultants applying to top business schools. Kathryn, Wendy, and Leila helped me dig deep into my past experiences and future career goals, and their application support was instrumental in my acceptance to Kellogg, my top choice school.

The SOP team refined every line of my resume, pushed me to develop a compelling career narrative, reviewed materials I prepared for my recommenders, helped me brainstorm a wide range of essay topics that reflected my values and experiences, and provided constructive feedback on many versions of my essays. The whole team was committed to my success and continued to work through my application materials with me until we were all confident that they were ready to submit.

The SOP team held my hand and made sure I stayed on track with all aspects of the application process. They relieved a lot of my stress, offered incredible expertise, and celebrated my successes. I would highly recommend SOP to anyone going through the MBA application process!

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I contacted 7 different consulting services. Having seen my girlfriend go through the process, I knew I had to steer away from some peculiar consulting characteristics:
1) Consultants who individually work with 10+ clients.
2) Consultants who suggest you apply to colleges below your ambition level (hoping that your ambition is an educated one)
3) Consultants who don't believe in your uniqueness.
There was only one firm which did not have the above: SOP!!
My first call with Kathyrn was almost 90 mins long where she answered all my questions and we went in depth about my life, ambitions and the SOP process. From thereon, till the time I decided on SOP, I contacted Kathryn 5 times on email and 3 times to chat with her about my concerns, my candidacy and the selection of an advisor. Not once did I ever feel hurried or pushed while talking to her. Kathryn's work ethic is like none other in the industry and she definitely leads the firm from the front. She was extremely candid throughout the entire process and her response time was always a few hrs!!

I worked with Mary Winograd as my lead advisor: Mary is very empathetic and will have your back till the very second you submit your application. Her response time was always within a day and her systematic thinking helped bring a well defined structure to my application. She pushed me at every step to make the application better. I worked with Mary for 2 M7 applications and received an offer from both.

Thanks to SOP, they were genuinely my partners in this process!

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I cannot recommend Square One enough. Not only does Kathryn and her team help break down the process into manageable steps, but they are also your biggest cheerleaders along the way. While other firms told me my stats were too low and there was no way I would make round 1 deadlines, Kathryn was optimistic about my profile and desired timeline. The step-by-step approach from resume review to working on the career narrative made it easy to focus my attention to areas that mattered, while her team took care of the administrative end.

The application process is a personal and introspective one and I would be remiss if I didn’t give my advisor, Afiya, a special shoutout; her warm and open personality made it easy for me to share some of my most personal stories that I know helped differentiate me as a candidate. I am also extremely thankful for her patience and reassurance as she indulged any and all questions and concerns I had.

Square One is truly your partner throughout the application process, giving you an extra push and lifting you up when you need it, and without them I would not have been admitted to my dream school, CBS.

Thank you!

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I couldn’t be happier with the MBA application consulting services I received from Square One Prep (SOP)! From the very first introductory call to making the final decision to attend a suitable MBA program, the entire SOP team provided invaluable guidance and advice. Throughout the process, it felt like a true partnership between me and SOP. It was clear that the team was invested in my overall success rather than be limited to providing services within pre-defined hours or pre-set criteria.

Luis Bellon provided critical career positioning advice essential for crafting the MBA resume, storyline, and applications. John Shaw gave important essay feedback, answered application questions, and provided emotional support and consolation when the nerves started to act up. John's reviews ensured that my unique professional background and elements of my true personality really came out in my writing. Kathryn Lucas, the SOP founder, made herself personally available for calls, reviews, and emails. Bailey Miller almost acted as my personal assistant, ensuring everything kept moving along in a timely manner.

The streamlined approach the SOP team followed and the promptness of the responses to any kind of questions throughout the process made me feel very confident in their services. 2020 was predicted to be one of the toughest application seasons, so I’m extremely happy with the final outcome of my applications! The SOP team has a proven track record of getting aspiring candidates into their dream colleges – and I can now attest to their ability firsthand. I know I can count on some of the SOP team members I worked with as future mentors and friends. I wouldn’t do my MBA applications any other way!

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I cannot thank Square One Prep enough for all that they have done for me. With help from the magic team of Ram, Kathryn, Bailey and Wendy, I got into Wharton. I would highly recommend SOP to any aspiring MBA applicant.

What stood out for me from the get-go was how invested they were in my success. When I first reached out to Kathryn, I got a response almost immediately and the entire team showed the same level of responsiveness and commitment throughout the process.

Though the application process was quite daunting at first, Square One's structured approach helped make it easier to navigate. When I started out, I wasn't very clear on whether I really wanted to do an MBA. But the career narrative exercise with Wendy, Ram and Kathryn, where we talked about my long term goals and the steps that I could take to achieve them, helped me gain this clarity.

After the career narrative exercise, I worked primarily with Ram who was my main advisor. Working with Ram was an absolutely wonderful experience. Ram is not somebody who only wants to help you get into the best business school. He is somebody who really wants to help you succeed in life. This was evident right from our first interaction where he spent hours getting to know me better - my background, interests, aspirations, accomplishments and even my failures. He constantly pushed me to dig deeper, introspect and reflect, so that I could understand myself better and craft an authentic and compelling story in my essays.

Ram is also someone who doesn't want to settle for anything below the best. There were some essays that we went over more than 20 times, brainstorming multiple ideas until we landed on what felt right! He was always available over phone and email if we had anything to discuss. With his vast experience mentoring people, Ram almost always had the answers to any questions that I had around how I should structure my essays. However, what I really liked was that he never directly handed the answers to me. Rather, he kept nudging me in the right direction so that I could come up with the answers myself. This helped me craft a story that I truly believed in, and also served me well in the interviews.

Ram's writing skills are phenomenal. He has the ability to take any sentence you write and rephrase it in the most succinct way possible so that it can have maximum impact. He also has the ability to convert a seemingly mundane idea into something special.

All in all, I had a great experience with Ram, Kathryn and the entire Square One team. I could not have done this without them, and would strongly recommend them to any aspiring MBA applicant.

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Square One has an extremely thorough process to create strong business school applications. Kathryn and her team diligently ensured my application was buttoned-up - they helped me refine my resume and create a compelling narrative illustrating how business school supported my career objectives. Mock interviews with Krasina and career narrative discussions with Wendy prepared me for interviews with MBA admissions team members. Thanks to the help and support from the Square One Prep team, I received interviews from 2 out of the 4 programs that I applied to (all top programs) and accepted an offer from my top choice - Columbia Business School.

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I thoroughly enjoyed working with Square One Prep throughout the application process. Their approach is transparent, efficient, effective, and well-organised. They take the time to get to know you, your background, and your ambitions to help you portray yourself as authentically and clearly as possible.

The career narrative process pushed me to define and detail my story which manifested in stronger essays and interviews. Feedback from interview preparation illuminated when and how I could communicate better to the admissions committee.

Whenever we had a call, I never felt like they were rushing through our allotted time. In fact, they always stayed longer if I needed. They made themselves available and responded immediately over email. The customer service was impeccable.

The honest and direct feedback throughout the process showed that they weren’t just trying to please me as a customer but truly wanted the best outcome for me.

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