Hourly Service Reviews

Teresa and Kathryn provided the resources and feedback that I needed in order to clearly understand what I was bringing to the table as an applicant. They provided samples and specific ways to add gravitas to each point on my resume. Even working hourly, I felt Square One wanted to get to know me and wanted me to succeed. Square One was fundamental in helping to bring a focus to my application that resulted in a fantastic scholarship that I am proud to accept. They followed up with me throughout the admissions process and provided support each step of the way.

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Kathryn was highly recommended to me by my brother and his network. I did a free consultation call with Kathryn and there itself I had made up my mind that I would work with her to prepare my applications as she showed an amazing ability to understand me, my background and my motivation in that short call. She showed high confidence in my candidacy and that was very important to me, given the track record of Square One Prep's clients' acceptance rate.

Through the applications process, Kathryn was prompt, extremely thoughtful and helped me put my best foot forward. I broadly knew what I wanted to put in my applications and what were my motivations to apply to B-Schools, but Kathryn helped me getting the essence out so beautifully, coherently and honestly that there were moments in the otherwise anxiety-inducing process of applications that I ended up cherishing. Later, having mock-interview with her helped me in boosting my confidence for the real interviews.

Additionally, Kathryn had asked me to give GMAT and get it out of my way as soon as possible. I heard her, but due to various reasons and some faults of my own, I did not give my GMAT for a very long time. In hindsight, I realize that that was the most valuable piece of advice, and she had given it to me for no cost during my free consultation call. Had I had worked on the advice, it would have saved me a lot of energy and would have prevented me from putting myself in tight timelines while also hopping through jobs during the gruelling process of applications. Kathryn was patient and put up with my short timelines cordially. To be respectful of her time and providing her a good window period to help you out, I would suggest candidates try their best to work ahead of the deadlines.

I had started working with Kathryn on a very low budget and had asked her for focussed help to be able to afford her support. Eventually, I applied to more schools than I had thought of (purely my decision, with no coaxing/pressure from Kathryn), and ended up asking for more of Kathryn's time. It did inflate my budget, but since I could see the value she was bringing in, I believed in my instincts and went ahead. In retrospect, that was the best decision ever as it helped me fetch a HUGE scholarship, in addition to getting me into my dream school, Stanford GSB! There was no way this could have been a possibility without Kathryn's support, cheering and confidence in my candidacy.

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Kathryn helped me prep for the interview stage of my MIT Sloan application by running a mock interview with me and providing detailed feedback.

While preparing for my interview, I was uncertain how my stories would come across to the admissions committee. Through the mock interview, Kathryn was able to pick out which stories worked well, which didn’t add as much value, and which I absolutely had to mention. She also gave me suggestions for improving my narrative by considering the sequence of how I told these stories and the points that I should emphasize. She even provided some insightful observations about my experiences which I hadn’t previously thought of.

Given that I was extremely nervous and panicked about potentially messing up my chances of getting into my top choice school, the most valuable thing Kathryn did was reassure me that I was completely on the right track and, to my surprise, ready for the interview. Of course I was still nervous about the interview, but Kathryn’s guidance went a long way in calming my sheer panic and enabling me to approach the interview with some more confidence. I believe that the right mindset is key to performing your best during an interview.

In the end, the real interview went very well and I am super excited to announce that I received an offer!! A very big thank you to SOP for their hand in this.

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It was a wonderful experience working with Kathryn. I had my mock interview 4 days before my final one. Kathryn asked me relevant questions and guided me how to answer them effectively. What was remarkable was the fact that Kathryn understood my profile well and made sure my answers were customized accordingly.

This was my fourth collaboration with Kathryn and amongst the various other important reasons for me to keep going back to her, one key reason was that Kathryn immensely cared about me. She went beyond the professional requirements to help me and understand my profile. She was dedicated to my success all throughout. She consistently spent more time with me than what I had paid for to ensure my success.

The experience was very helpful as it prepared me well for the interview and boosted my confidence. I would any day recommend Square One for your MBA prep.

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When I got my first interview invite, I realized that I had no idea how to prepare for MBA interviews and only a few weeks to figure it out. I heard about Square One Prep through a co-worker and was so impressed that Kathryn gave me a phone consultation the very first day I reached out. I liked that Square One was willing to spend as much or as little time with me as I wanted until I felt confident in my interview skills. The feedback I got from the mock interview was so insightful. I do not think any of my friends or family members could have given me the caliber of advice I received. Square One helped me navigate four interviews in a month and come out with no rejections, including, most importantly, an acceptance from my top choice school.

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The MBA journey was a tough one for me. After an unsuccessful attempt last year (I applied 4 schools with no interviews), I decided to work with Kathryn for a second attempt. Not only did Kathryn work tirelessly with me to put together the best materials possible, I felt like she was genuinely invested in my success.

Given that MBA applications are time consuming and extremely introspective, it's important to work with an adviser who brings both compassion and advanced expertise to the process.

Thanks to Kathryn's help, I secured interviews at all 5 schools I applied to, with acceptances from Columbia, Ross (full scholarship) and Fuqua (70% scholarship). This outcome exceeded my expectations, and I cannot thank Kathryn and SOP for making it a reality!

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When I first started the application process, I have no idea where to start. Coming from what felt like a slightly nontraditional background (non-business undergraduate major and startup experience), I struggled with how to tell my story in a compelling way. That's where Square One Prep came in. Everything from choosing schools, to defining career goals, brainstorming essay topics, structuring my resume and interview prep, the time I put in working with Square One Prep has more than paid off. Crystal helped me to make my application a unique package that detailed who I was a candidate and my goals for attending business school, as well as how I would thrive and contribute to the programs. Working with Crystal and Kathryn on my applications gave me the confidence I needed to be successful in my interviews. They believed in me and pushed me to put my best self forward in my application. It was an incredible feeling getting the acceptance phone calls from Fuqua and Darden. I could not have done it without Square One Prep, and I am THRILLED to be admitted to two of my top choice schools!

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After my 30 minute phone consultation with Kathryn, I immediately knew her experience and knowledge would be invaluable in my MBA application. She was direct, straight to the point and understood the importance of application process.

Following my call with Kathryn, we would only have 4.5 days left until the application for Johnson was due. She connected me with Lee Kaplan and we developed detailed a game plan. Creating a strong application is difficult regardless of the individual and it was especially difficult with my below average GPA and GMAT score. To overcome this, Lee and Kathryn did an amazing job tailoring my resume and essays to reflect my personal character and work experiences. They were diligently over this short time period and were responsive at all times of the day.

I could not be more excited to be attending Cornell Johnson next year.

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After two failed attempts (12 submissions over 2 years) at getting into a top-10 business school working with another admissions consulting firm, I almost gave up on my business school aspirations. Every time I spoke with an admissions consultant about my candidacy, I was given the same diagnosis… Your story is compelling! Your scores are incredible! Any business school would be lucky to have you! But, no one could give me a concrete reason I was rejected without interview at every single school I applied to - only that the top schools are all extremely competitive and it is sometimes just luck. When I came to Square One for their thoughts on my previous applications, I expected the same response. And then I spoke to Kathryn.

My initial 30-minute consultation turned into an almost 2-hour long conversation about every part of my application. She gave me 3 specific areas where my previous applications went wrong, and unlike the other consultants, Kathryn said she could see why I was rejected. She was direct and didn’t sugar-coat any of her thoughts. Everything she said was spot-on and I appreciated her candor about how I needed to improve my applications. I was sold. Kathryn paired me with one of her consultants, Julia, to rush out round 2 schools after my round 1 rejections. Julia was supportive, creative, and pushed me to dig deeper on every aspect of my applications. She helped me finish 5 school applications in less than a month (even through the holidays), and I received 4 interview invitations out of the 5 top-10 schools I applied to in round 2.

This September, I will be starting at Michigan Ross with a full-tuition merit scholarship! After 17 applications over 3 attempts, I almost lost hope, and certainly never expected to have the life-changing opportunity to go to an amazing business school debt-free. If you are looking for an admissions consultant, I highly suggest you work with Square One. I cannot recommend them highly enough!

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Navigating the MBA application process can be very intimidating but Kathryn provided exactly what I needed to get through it. Helping to craft my application strategy, to answering my numerous questions, she was always extremely responsive. In a process that requires you to uncover your personal weaknesses, goals, strengths, and dreams, Kathryn was incredibly easy to talk to and knew exactly what to do with the information that I was telling her, which was incredibly important. There were bumps along the road, and weaknesses that we had to
address, but she was insightful and intuitive to help me develop a strategy that made my strengths as strong as possible. With her help, I applied to 5 schools (including 1 of the 2 top schools) and got accepted to ALL including my top choice program and was offered bursaries/scholarships for 3!

She has bolstered my confidence and provided a larger sense of context regarding the applicant pool, giving me a sense of where I stood; tailored for each school and constantly reinforced my goals and helped me focus on telling my story in a way that best represented my true voice. Together we brainstormed a few options and jointly developed very strong points on how I should write my essays. Thanks to the mock interviews with Kathryn, I felt extremely confident at the interviews and I was able to put my best foot forward. I have no doubt that without her dedication, hard work, and commitment, the entire application process would have been far
more difficult and challenging.

Her initial assessment of my case provided me invaluable advice that gave me a clear direction on how to work toward completing the requirements. She reviewed my essays and gave me great pointers throughout the process and as a result, the essays clearly defined my goal and the reason for pursuing an MBA.

As someone who initially spent a great deal of time contemplating the benefits of investing in an admissions
consultant, I am now completely satisfied with that investment; additionally, I believe that working with SquareOnePrep and especially Kathryn, albeit a pretty rigorous experience - yielded incredible results.

I appreciate the strategic, consistent, detail-oriented approach Kathryn took throughout the process. I highly recommend SquareOnePrep.

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