Coming into the process with Square One, I was very concerned that I had little going for me outside my GMAT. I came from a small country, a university that wasn’t even regionally recognized, let alone globally, and had a middling GPA. However, talking to Kathryn and Natalie gave me confidence that my story was M7 material. I worked with Natalie for three schools and was able to apply what I learned through the process for a few more.

Natalie first got on a 3-4 hour call with me to discuss my positioning, strengths, and weaknesses. Afterwards, she provided me a detailed document analyzing each aspect of my application and action items to improve on, particularly me doing the legwork on research for the three schools we were working on. From this launch point, we worked on my resume, going through something like 13 passes to ensure everything was ironed out before moving on to my first school.

For each school, Natalie and I crafted answers not just for the essay questions, but also the short answer prompts on each application form. I have to give a ton of credit to both Natalie and Kathryn here. I found that I tended to gloss over a ton of things in my writing that would have been very meaningful and impactful had I expounded. Natalie found a way to make room for those items while cutting down on the clutter and helping my writing be more concise. Kathryn, on the other hand, gave me the tough feedback I needed to know and made sure that everything in my essay was bulletproof. She made sure everything I wrote was clear and impactful. Their one-two punch was incredibly helpful in ensuring that my essays were not only well though-out but also reflective of who I was and what they knew about me.

With their help, I was able to secure interview invites to 2 of the 3 M7 schools we worked on (with Harvard being the other). Interview prep was also excellent. Natalie gave me a thorough list of common interview questions to prepare for and gave me a mock interview and feedback session. In the interview proper, Natalie also threw me curveballs in the form of questions she didn’t have me prepare for to underline the need to be on your toes and thinking on the fly. With this, I felt like I was able to ace both interviews.
However, what really stood out to me was the concern SOP displayed. There were nearly 2 months between my interviews and decision release dates for the 2 schools we worked on with active applications. Despite this, Natalie was very active in checking up on my application status on even the schools I applied to independently.

Come decision day, I got a waitlist for 1 M7 and instead of letting me wallow in not getting accepted, Natalie and Kathryn immediately got down to business and let me know what the next steps were towards getting off the waitlist. Without a second thought, I had all their waitlist essay prep materials on hand and ready to help me prepare. While we’re still working on those essays, I have to say that I’m very pleased with our working relationship. They strike the right balance between care and concern and directness that keeps you working at optimum efficiency. I’m pleased to say that I got admitted to the 2nd M7 I interviewed with and I’m currently getting ready to place my deposit and secure my slot. While I don’t know if I would have gotten in without Kathryn and Natalie, I do know that they made the entire process much easier to navigate and gave me a lot of peace of mind in the midst of such a daunting process.

Read More

I’ll never forget coming home after taking the GMAT. My wife and I began to celebrate and popped a bottle of champagne. My hard work had paid off. She smiled and looked at me and said “so, what’s next?”

“What’s next?” I thought to myself. “I have no clue”. That night I started researching schools, applications, and essays. I was overwhelmed. I called a friend who had just completed his MBA. His advice was clear – find a consultant.
After ‘due diligence’ calls with nearly ten firms I researched on GMAT Club, I met Kathryn at Square One. I’ll never forget that call. I felt like I was being interviewed. It was evident that Kathryn was very deliberate in finding candidates who were committed to the process. After our call, I met with several folks at her firm and chose to work with Sunny.

We spent hours on calls and exchanged tons of emails. Sunny worked with me to beautifully articulate my story. She challenged me to reflect on my experiences and distill who I am and what I truly want out of not just my career, but also my life. The months of quiet thought and reflection- followed by the months of working with Sunny (and Kathryn who scoured my work as I developed it to ensure it did the job) - helped me craft a captivating story, and I can truly say that the end product was nothing less than phenomenal.

Sunny was my thought leader, my cheerleader, and my tour guide on this adventure. From interview advice to random check-in emails, I could not have asked for a better partner in this process.

I’ll let the results speak for themselves, next year I will be enrolling at HBS.

Read More

I am still reeling from the second denial notification I received from NYU Stern (which follows the rejection from Columbia just few weeks before) two weeks ago and as such, my dream of attending an MBA in NYC has been wiped out (at least for this year). Now, if I told you that I applied with a 650 GMAT score , you may say that I should have expected such an outcome. Fair enough. But what you may not know is that I hired the consultants of SOP Advisory service to help me through the application process. I fell for their wonderful website where they brag about their incredible, high admission success-rate for their clients as prospective MBA candidates. Unfortunately, I experienced that their service was not wonderful at all: I can't know whether my poor GMAT score was the deal breaker in my application, but I can definitely say that the SOP ambition, to make your application as strong as possible and make up for other weaknesses in your profile, (among others a low GMAT score, it is one of first mentioned...take a look at their website under the most common application challenges list) has totally failed.

On top of this, every time I sounded the consultants out on any advice, I was treated with haughtiness and talked down to, both in the emails sent to me and during our Skype conversations. For example, I sent an email to my consultant last week saying that I has also been rejected from NYU and I am still waiting for his reply!!
On the other hand, the monthly payment reminders were sent like clockwork.

All in all my personal experience with SOP has been disastrous, not only for the very questionable service standard but also because of the poor customer care .
The service was very expensive and not value for money at all (LORs, essay and resume advisory for two business schools totaled 5,700 USD). Furthermore, the service should have included interview training as well. In the end I was rejected and did not benefit from the service. On top of this, I have never received even a partial refund from them.
I discourage future applicants to resort to this service: in hindsight I would never ever hire them!

Read More

Kathryn and her team played a pivotal role in my acceptance to both schools that I applied to. With their help I’ll be attending Columbia!

Overwhelmed by the MBA application process, I first reached out to Kathryn in the fall of 2015 after reading the raving reviews on GMAT Club. During our initial 1 hour consultation Kathryn focused on understanding my personal history and immediately began building a framework for my personal narrative. With my GMAT exam a couple a couple weeks away and first round applications due in less than a month, Kathryn developed and outlined a strategy to tackle my applications for my target schools. With a plan in place, she left me to focus on studying for the exam. I took the GMAT a week later, and disappointed with my score, I scrapped my plans to apply to business school that year.

Fast forward to the spring of 2016. Destroyed but not defeated, I was back on the horse studying for the GMAT. Out of the blue Kathryn emailed me asking whether I ended up applying to business school last fall. We informally caught up and I confided in her about my struggle with the GMAT. Kathryn was able put things into perspective-that I was psyching myself out-which allowed me to take a deep breath and realize that the GMAT wasn’t do or die. While I still wasn’t satisfied with my results, this time I followed up with Kathryn after my exam. She did offer sobering news, that my GMAT score will work against me but assured me that my narrative and work experience would stand out to some select schools. She urged me to put the GMAT behind me and take a shot at applying this fall.

I took her advice and I was partnered with one of her advisors, John, who took the lead in managing the application process. John not only kept me focused and on top of a tight schedule, but also, through dialogue and self-reflection, got me comfortable talking about not only my past but also the obstacles that molded me into the person I am today. Most importantly, with his help, I was able to craft powerful essays that created narratives to interpret my past and link an MBA degree with my future. The finished products, from the resume to optional essays, were captivating, to say the least.

Kathryn and her team are relentless in their effort to make their clients shine to admissions committees and I can’t recommend their services enough!!

Read More

I have nothing but positive things to say about SquareOne Prep, Kathryn in particular.

From the very beginning of my process (which started a year before I actually applied), Kathryn spent an enormous amount of time with me on the phone addressing my concerns, reassuring me and giving me extremely honest advice about how I should think about my candidacy. This was before she even signed on as my advisor. After multiple phone conversations, we agreed that I ought to wait, re-take my exam (I was barely crossing 300) and strengthen my profile for first round the following cycle. When it was time to kick off the application process, Kathryn reached out to me unprompted and asked if I was ready to begin our work together. Initially I was wary about hiring an advisor but after speaking with Kathryn and learning more about her curated approach to the application process, I knew I would greatly benefit from her coaching and acute knowledge of the admissions committees. I could tell she was truly invested in my success and was as intent on me getting into the school of my dreams as I was.

After our first official introduction conversation, for the first time I was excited about the cumbersome journey of the b-school application process. Kathryn made the process seem less daunting and more of an exciting road that we would be on together. Kathryn always made herself available, even if it was just to hop on the phone for 5-10 minutes. She gave me encouraging, honest and incredibly detailed feedback about each aspect of my candidacy – where I was strong and where we needed to strengthen. After taking my exam multiple times and still receiving a low test score of 305, I was convinced that going to a top b-school was not a reality for me. Yet, Kathryn believed in my potential and promised that we would overcome my low score by strengthening the rest of my application. When I was doubtful about applying to only top schools, Kathryn pushed me to go for it because what she believed in what I had to offer. With a strict timeline and thought out plan, I began my applications very early which eliminated last-minute haste and stress. Ultimately, I got in early to my top choice program – Columbia—and owe much of this success to Kathryn and Square One Prep.

I highly recommend Kathryn & SquareOne Prep to anyone going through the b-school application process, it is a wise investment.

Read More

As someone who was looking to transition careers post MBA and with just over 2 years of work experience at the time of application ( not to mention the fact that I belong to the most competitive application pool ), I knew I needed help to differentiate myself and present the best version of myself to the adcom.

After much research and many free profile evaluations with several agencies, the call with Kathryn was a breath of fresh air. I was looking for someone that really understood me as a person and my motivation for this degree and could help me build an application around that. Square One was the perfect match. My career path post-MBA is fueled by my passion for a particular industry that isn't a tradition one for business school. Still, Kathryn was able to help me understand how I could channel that passion to create the perfect B-school application. Even during our free consultation, we spoke for over an hour ( was supposed to be a free 30-min consultation ) and Kathryn gave me some great feedback. In fact, Kathryn readily hopped onto Skype sessions for free for well over two hours in total even before I decided to work with Square One.

I think the Square One system of working with one consultant full time and then getting a second pair of eyes in the form of Kathryn to provide fresh perspective/feedback is excellent. I worked with an SOP consultant on my applications and he made the entire process so much easier. He tells it like it is and is incredibly patient from start to finish. As someone who was introspecting through the process, I found that immensely helpful. He encouraged me take my time with the essays ( I started the application process fairly early ) in order to get my content just right. Even when it sometimes took over 20 revisions to get my essays right, he would never lose patience with me and made sure the essay was exactly that, just right. His ability to take every sentence and transform it into impactful text made a huge difference in every essay. Additionally, I was particularly impressed with the finesse that I was able to gain on my resume with his help ( Nailed a few job interviews with this too! ). I distinctly remember sitting down to compare the first draft of my resume and the final version and the difference was remarkable. Kathryn is a stickler for authenticity and this not only speaks for the kind of work Square One does but also helps build the perfect application in my opinion.

My process was certainly not straight forward and I received a ding in R1 from a top 4 school. Kathryn was extremely supportive in making sure my head didn’t drop and reassured me that I was a strong candidate and that I would definitely get the call I deserved. It didn’t take long for that call to arrive! I got admitted to Fuqua EA ( Class of 2019 ) and I could not be happier! Fuqua was a dream school for me and to matriculate there next year is a dream come true. Safe to say, I would not be in this position if it wasn’t for Square One.

You guys are the best!

Read More

I was looking for a strategist who can guide me to overcome a shortcoming in my candidacy. But after this journey, I realized that admissions consultants can not make you whole different person. All the idea, contents, and storyline has to be outlined by you. So, be honest and love yourself. You will never know until you try it.

I chose SquareOne Prep because Kathryn was very impressive to me. She doesn't look a sale person; she were genuinely interested with me, and willing to talk seriously even it was a free consultation.

My advisor, Manisha, was extremely attentive, organized, and very punctual. We communicated all most every day. We had struggled to come up with a goal - why MBA. I guess this was mainly because I was not clear about my vision, so we had to spend many hours to find a common ground.
Another hard part was school selection. I crunched all the data in spread sheet to compare schools, but all look same. I reached out several alumni as Manisha recommended me to do so, but I rarely got much insight.

We worked together for three applications in first round, which ended with disappointment. Manisha voluntarily revisited my vision and goal, and we decided to change goals and recommenders. After then, I worked alone in Second round, but I finally was able to get an admission from one of top schools after being waitlisted for several months.

I appreciate her dedication, and genuine care to support my entire process. Even I was not working with her in Second round, she has been always attentive and informative in various way.

As the person who passed quite bumpy road over the process, I realized this process is highly demanding, and you have to seek helps from many people. Admission consulting is one of the source, but can not be the only source. Get many reviews and discuss your idea with people. Trust yourself, and do not give up until the end.

Read More

Why I chose SOP - As I was doing my due diligence, I had a initial consultations with all the major players in the Admissions Consulting business. For SOP, I discussed my aspirations and expectations with Kathryn, who also owns the firm. During that call itself, I was surprised to see how deeply involved I felt Kathryn was in assessing my needs and whether SOP could help me succeed (she really believes in this). I would really nudge anyone considering to hire admission consultants to have this free call with her and this is a benchmark the other firms need to raise themselves to.

Working with them - I worked with Manisha Shahane as my consultant. I started with just one school, but ended up working with her on all the schools that I applied to. Was this necessary? No, but she became such a trusted partner in my application journey that I wanted to involve her in any decision I took for my application and she was supportive right from Early Action till R4 dates. Manisha is highly competent and knows how to craft a compelling storyline for the top schools. Even though some of my timelines were aggressive, Manisha was always there to support me because of which I was able to put my best foot forward each time. Much of this work is creative as well as about respecting what the applicant's personal experiences are. Manisha is a thorough professional and understood where to nudge me to think deeper to bring out important nuggets of my experiences (and these are the real differentiators) as well as where to hold back so as not to influence the originality of my story. Workflow wise, she would always communicate the time-frame when she would send back the edits and I always had them back in that time. As MBA admissions have become so competitive with many variables involved, its really important to stay positive throughout the entire process. Manisha helped me there as well by keeping on motivating me throughout the process.

Another great benefit of working with SOP is their unique approach to handling LORs for multiple schools so that the process is not taxing on recommender's time. Kathryn's approach makes submitting LORs to multiple schools very straightforward and should be definitely emulated by all.

I wholeheartedly recommend SOP to everyone considering applying to M7 or even top-10 schools, as creating those schools' specific strategy is the best use of consultants like Manisha that SOP has.

Read More

I worked w Kathryn, the head of the Square One Prepp, on my MBA applications for entry in the fall of 2016.
Kathryn knows the process for the different schools very well, and was able to provide me with detailed guidance on how to approach the application process for each program.
Even more importantly however, Kathryn was an amazing mentor and helped me find my own voice through the challenging essay writing process. The essays I ended up crafting came out very authentic and truly representative of who I am and what I am after! And the Wharton adcom recognized that too!

Read More

In spring 2014 I was looking to apply to business school. I knew I was getting a late start and applying in late rounds, but I thought I was ready. Since I'm an international applicant, I decided to work with an admission consultant in order to help me with the twists of the process and to polish my resume and essays. I came across Square One Prep. They offered a free consultation, so I decided to take the opportunity and talked with Kathryn Lucas. The call lasted almost 1h30, during which Kathryn tried to understand my personality, my professional experience, my goals and my target schools. In addition we also discussed my GMAT score, which was in the low 600s. Surprisingly, after a 2nd call - also free, she suggested I retake the GMAT and target the 1st round of application for the following year instead. Even though hearing that advice was tough, it increased my confidence in Square One Prep, because it showed that they were interested in my success and not just in my money.

Following Kathryn’s recommendation, I retook the GMAT but I didn't manage to increase my score. Regardless, we decided to build a strong application and apply. I was paired with Manisha Shahane from Square One Prep as my admission consultant. Manisha helped me recall stories and actions from my childhood, which really helped me understand my personal journey. This was so crucial when it came to writing the essays. As a result we put together essays that were reflective of my personality and more importantly that told my own story with my own voice. In addition Manisha was so thorough and detail oriented that we needed seven drafts in order to come up with the final version of my resume.

After several months of hard work, I applied to three schools. As a result, I have been admitted to one of the three to which I applied. I have also been waitlisted by the others.
I essentially attribute my admission to Square One Prep. Their support, patience and knowledge of the twists of the admission process were tremendously valuable. I highly recommend Square One Prep for everyone looking to succeed with this process.

Read More