I made a last minute decision to apply to business school in September of last year – and given how much I knew I’d have to hustle in a short time frame to get solid Round 2 applications in (I hadn’t at that point even taken or studied for the GMAT/GRE, and I ALSO knew that I only wanted to apply to my top two schools, HBS and MIT Sloan), I knew I wanted to work with a consultant to make sure that my application was as strong as it could be! I did a few free consults with a couple of other MBA admissions consultancies, but found myself very disheartened by the response I was getting; most encouraged me to spend several months studying for the GMAT/GRE and applying in the following year and seemed eager to get off of the phone and move on to their next free consult that they had lined up.

One of my good friends had used SOP the year before and encouraged me to try out a free call with Kathryn, and it was honestly the best decision I could have made for myself. During our free call (which went well over the 30 minute time limit) she asked probing questions about my background, motivations and goals, and I felt she really tried to get to know me on a personal level. We left the call with her encouraging me to start studying for the GRE, and she even recommended various study resources for me, which I found so helpful. A few days later, she sent me over a detailed timeline and schedule that I could expect if I were to work with SOP. That was the first, of many, instances in which SOP went above and beyond to put me on a track to success.

I ultimately chose to work with Julia who has a similar social entrepreneurship background to myself, and who from our first intro call I felt could help me leverage my application to be its strongest (plus I immediately liked her a lot!). She provided constructive, detailed feedback and edits on every aspect of the application, whether it was my resume, letters of recommendation, essays (for all of these, we had at least 5-6 drafts of edits before sending it along to Kathryn for final review!) not to mention nonstop encouragement along the way anytime I doubted myself. Even when I was simultaneously juggling studying 4+ hours a day for the GRE with writing essays and getting my recommendation letters sent in, Julia provided the motivation to keep on going and answered any questions I had with a super quick turnaround (and I definitely had a lot of questions throughout the process!). I was incredibly excited to get interviews at both schools – and Julia prepared me extremely well. She ensured that I researched the different aspects of each school’s program thoroughly, and helped me strike a balance between preparing for commonly asked questions, but ensuring that my responses were candid and authentic.

I hit a snag when I was waitlisted at both schools, and immediately began regretting my decision to only apply to my top two. Julia and Kathryn immediately dispelled this thought, and reminded me how impressive it is to have two top schools to be seriously considering me given the sheer number of applicants. They both immediately set up a call to discuss my waitlist strategy, including who I can have write me reference letters, and brainstorming content for waitlist reply essays. This two-month process was the most grueling in terms of the waiting game – but Julia was there to support me every step of the way, from the emotional support to really having me focus on why I wanted to attend each school and provide thoughtful responses in my essays. I am thrilled to say that I just found out that I have been accepted to Sloan, and it’s a dream come true!!

I am so grateful to SOP for their incredible help over the last 9+ months of the application process. I feel that Kathryn and Julia not only set me up to be the most successful I could be, but also pushed me to learn more about myself, my motivations, and what I really want to get out of business school. I am incredibly excited to start school in the fall and could not recommend SOP more to anyone else who wants to take this next step on his or her professional journey!

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I applied to 9 top MBA programs in Round 2. My numbers were below average for M7 schools, so I applied to a wide spread of schools (#1-20). Kathryn and my Square One Prep advisor helped me with 1 comprehensive application, but the service was useful in crafting all others. I got 4 acceptances and 2 waitlists. One of my waitlists was my dream school (a top 2 program) and I was recently admitted!!

Here are some highlights from my experience with Square One Prep:

- My SOP advisor was a great match. He was an alum from my desired program and had lots of experience coaching MBA candidates. He really understood my values, passions, and goals, and helped me identify the best stories to put together compelling essays.
- My resume was significantly improved. I had a very good initial draft, but SOP helped me make it solid. I was able to say so much on one carefully crafted page. And I was able to use the same resume for all applications.
- On all documents for my desired program, it was great to have the constant reviews of my SOP advisor and Kathryn’s additional feedback. Both of them were super honest and thorough throughout the process.
- I had to explain extenuating circumstances that affected my academic performance. SOP gave me the confidence and support to deal with this successfully.
- I had interviews with 6 MBA programs. I spent 2 hours on Skype with Kathryn preparing for one of them: 30 mins of mock interview and 90 mins of feedback. This was SUPER helpful!
- I was waitlisted at two of my top 3 programs, including my desired one. Kathryn helped me put together a strategy and I was admitted in Round 3. I cannot emphasize enough how helpful SOP was during the wait list process. The last two months made all the investment and previous work worth it.

If I had to do it all over again, I would hire Square One Prep earlier in the process and I would apply in Round 1!

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I had the pleasure of working with Kathryn and Joey at Square One Prep on my EMBA application process. Square One Prep’s method was not only extremely well organized and thorough but their approach was a journey unto itself that had great value. Their guidance through self-exploration gave me insights about myself to better craft my own story through the essay process. Every step of the way, they were challenging and supportive allowing me to truly showcase my ability to succeed in a business school environment and beyond.

The investment in Square One Prep’s program gives you the opportunity to elevate yourself through the application process with a partner/advisor whose feedback is priceless. They not only helped me reach my goal of getting into the MIT Sloan EMBA program but also made me more self-aware and equipped for this next chapter in my life.

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I’m 2 for 2 with Square One Prep! With Kathryn’s help I got into Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School. Kathryn helps you clarify your message so you can get into the best schools in the world. Kathryn gives you her time. This is very valuable. I spent over 14 hours on the phone with her. This helped me because she simplified my big ideas into a one page essay that the Harvard admission’s committee loved.

You should hire Kathryn if you want to work with the best. You should hire Kathryn if you want her to (virtually) kick you in the butt to make sure you craft the best application possible. Tough love isn’t for everyone. It works perfect me, and that’s why I go to Kathryn when I need results. I highly recommend Kathryn to anyone who has big ideas and needs the best graduate program so they can accelerate to their goals.

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Kathryn and Square One Prep, through the full service package and my advisor Joan, were instrumental in my acceptance into top notch business schools with scholarship money! From my first time on the phone with Kathryn, during our free consultation, to the end of the process, it was clear that she not only cared, but had the skills and work-ethic to help me reach my goals. I used the full service package, which helped me shape my story - so that business school adcoms would relate and warm to my interests, passions, hopes, and dreams -, fine tune the actions and results I needed to display in my resume, and brainstorm/work on essays, which my consultant and I must have gone back and forth on over 20 times. Kathryn and I also went through a mock interview where she pointed out my strengths and my opportunities for improvement, helping me feel comfortable with the process. Finally, Kathryn and I spoke at length about which school was best for me, helping to give me clarity once I heard back from schools. Really though, what separated Square One Prep for me all the way through the process was Kathryn's passion and interest in my success!"

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Square one has my unqualified endorsement. While it is impossible to know what would have been without their help, it's hard to imagine that I would have gone 5/6 for interview invitations and ultimately been accepted to 3 including STANFORD without it. Kathryn and John pushed me to dig deeper and develop my narrative to help me stand out from the crowd.

I can also say that they without a doubt made the process far less painful and stressful than it would have been on my own. I interviewed a number of companies and Kathryn seemed more supportive and honest from the beginning. I have already recommended them to friends.

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I worked with Kathryn Lucas and Melissa Chan for my 2017 R1 bschool applications. I would recommend them to anyone hoping to succeed with the demanding application process.

INITIAL CALL - Unlike some other admission consultants who basically snoozed through the 30-minute initial assessment call, Kathryn dedicated over an hour listening to my “story” and providing feedback. A few weeks later, when I abruptly lost my job and was unsure if applying to bschool 2017 R1 cycle was even possible, Kathryn spent the next few months answering several emails and fielding calls from me as I tried to figure my life out. She was there for me every step of the way as I recruited for jobs and helped me assess if the job was a right fit for me and my post-MBA goals. She also did all this free of charge.

RESUME – Melissa and Kathryn helped me restructure my resume so that it was layman friendly and captured a bigger story about myself. Bschool resumes aren’t job-hunting resumes, and so they needed to be written to highlight certain things that a regular resume wouldn’t highlight. This fact gets easily missed, and SOP was very helpful in educating me about this and guiding me through recrafting my resume.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION – Letters of recommendation are a tricky thing to handle due to sheer amount of work you’re asking other people to do for you. A lot of applicants struggle with streamlining this process. SOP’s LOR framework is AMAZING. There are a lot of tricks and nuances to the LOR process that would be lost on the usual applicant; working with SOP definitely opened my eyes to all those nuances.

ESSAYS – This area is where Melissa was most invaluable. I’m not an inexperienced writer, and I have friends who are good writers. One would think that by leveraging the skills and network I already had, I could churn out decent essays. Wrong. Bschool essays are a special beast. Not only do you need to get the mechanics correct, but what kind of story you tell and the way you tell it is very hard to nail down correctly. Melissa asked thought-provoking questions that helped me draw out interesting and personal aspects of my story, while pushing me to be disciplined about editing out extraneous information that didn’t add to my application. I went through over a dozen drafts of each essay, and when I was flailing about navel-gazing, Melissa helped me forcibly steer the essay back on track. A lot of Melissa’s critical feedback was on-point. Melissa was also good about letting my essays reflect my voice. I have a particular writing style and voice, which Melissa recognized, and she didn’t try to force me into writing in a way that wasn’t me.

INTERVIEW – Doing a comprehensive run through with Melissa was helpful because it illuminated areas I needed to practice. For interviews, I would also recommend applicants to reach out to people at the schools they’re interviewing at to practice school-specific questions.

END RESULTS – I applied to 4 schools, admitted to 1, and waitlisted at 1. I’ll be working with SOP through the waitlist process and figuring out next steps. I am relieved and excited because I really questioned my chances when I embarked on this process.

SUMMARY (the tldr version) – I think almost every bschool applicant could benefit from engaging with a good admissions consultant. I have friends at all the top bschools, who went through the application process, and their feedback/advice was nowhere as comprehensive and nuanced as what I received from working with Melissa/Kathryn. Just on the essay part alone, the revisions I received from friends were completely lightweight relative to the revisions I received from Melissa. Also, no friend is going to work with you through a dozen drafts of essays, resumes, etc. (or maybe I need better friends). That being said, Square One Prep goes beyond merely good to superb. They’ll help you towards success, and through the process, you’ll learn a lot about yourself, personally and professionally.

If you’re applying to bschool, call Square One Prep. Your first call with Kathryn will be illuminating and will tell you that you’re in capable hands.

[4/25/17 UPDATE] - I got off the waitlist at my waitlisted school the same day that R2 decisions were released. Melissa/Kathryn were instrumental in helping me craft the letter that ultimately moved the needle on the waitlist decision. They shared with me a portfolio of previous successful waitlist letters, which pointed me in the right direction of how to approach letter-writing. Most importantly, after I submitted my first letter draft, Melissa/Kathryn gave me a very blunt assessment that the draft was not up to par and would not suffice. I had to go back to the drawing board and rework my entire letter. When I was spinning circles (again), Melissa really pushed me to dig in deep about why and how I (emphasis on I) could contribute to and benefit from the school. This ultimately helped me come up with a letter that did the job. I'm very thankful for Melissa/Kathryn being frank with me, and not letting me slide. If they had not, I would probably still be languishing on the waitlist right now.

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I strongly recommend Square One Prep for anyone going through the MBA application process. From my very first call with Kathryn, I could tell Square One was not like other MBA consulting companies. I come from a non-traditional background and was unsure of the strength of my application. Instead of focusing on a specific score or one part of my application, Kathryn took a holistic approach during my initial consultation. She was the first consultant I talked to who didn't crush my dreams of a top-MBA program because of my lack of a high GMAT score. From that moment forward, Square One was instrumental to my success. I was paired with Crystal as my one-on-one Advisor. Crystal was very knowledgable about the entire process and was great at helping me frame my overall story and craft impactful and powerful essays. She was willing to work on as many drafts as necessary to make each essay perfect and her honest feedback and suggestions were critical in pushing me to put together the best application possible. In addition to essays, Crystal helped me narrow down my list of schools, gather my recommendations, questions for school visits, and interview prep. Crystal's commitment to my success was evident in everything she did. I ended the process with clarity about my future and acceptance into a top MBA program.

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I worked with Melissa from the Square One Prep team for 4-5 b school applications across Round 1 & 2. I was working under a strict deadline for my Round 1 applications and thanks to Melissa, we could turn around quality essays and applications in time. She was strict and constantly kept pushing me to improve my essay writing and to deliver on timelines. I was especially happy about the fact that she didn’t just give me the “ideal” answers/essays that I should write in my application. She actually pushed me to think what I really wanted to do and come up with my own story that actually helped me relate better to what I wrote and made it easy to justify during my interviews. Further, the material we worked on in the first few applications, I could re-use later for my other applications as well. I am finally heading to NYU Stern and really excited about it. I would surely recommend them.

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I had a very postitive experience working with Square One. Joey was supportive about my decision to apply to the two schools we discussed and I felt that he kept me on a good schedule for completing the necessary work.

Kathryn and Joey's insights into how my essays might be interpreted were also very helpful. They were a good team in advising on how to craft the most logical and compelling story for my background. We spent a lot of time bouncing ideas off of each other regarding anecdotes to include in my essays which I found useful. Additionally the intro call where we talked through the entire process and I told joey my story was crucial in helping me get a sense of the story direction I wanted to take.

I also appreciated how accessible and easy to reach they both were. I would recommend working with them both.

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