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Kate Richardson earned her MBA from the University of
Chicago’s Booth School of Business and has a BS in psychology from the
University of Illinois. After earning her MBA, Kate worked for several years in
management consulting at Axiom Consulting Partners, a boutique strategy
execution firm. Kate’s work at Axiom focused on ensuring that clients had the
right organization and talent in place to execute their business strategies. As
a principal with the firm, she also co-managed its recruiting program,
including hiring MBA interns, and mentored entry-level consultants. While at
Chicago Booth, Kate was actively involved in the Business Solutions Group and
the Dean’s Student Admissions Committee and was also an Admissions Fellow,
reading applications and conducting on-campus interviews. Kate has remained
involved in the Chicago Booth community since graduating by serving as
communications chair for the Booth Alumni Club of DC and as an alumni
admissions interviewer. Before attending business school, Kate worked in human
resources for Pepco Energy Services and KPMG. Kate brings a passion for identifying
and developing future business leaders to her work at mbaMission. Originally
from the Chicago area and having spent most of her professional career in
Washington, DC, Kate now lives in Columbia, South Carolina.
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Kate Richardson
Coming from a non-traditional background, the MBA application process seemed incredibly daunting to me. I selected the two-school package and thanks to Kate’s wonderful guidance, I was able to get into both! From the beginning, she provided me with a detailed schedule so that I could better prepare and understand the various components in the application. She was instrumental to help me put my best application forward. To help land on my story, we had several brainstorming sessions where we would discuss in-depth about various experiences, either personal or professional. These sessions were so valuable to me throughout the application process, be it while drafting essays or even preparing for the interviews. Kate’s essay editing skills is just amazing! I don’t know how she does it, but no matter how long an essay is she always managed to trim down the content and yet not have its meaning lost. Kate’s extremely responsive, with great turn-around times! At the time of application submissions, I was confident that we had truly put together a high-quality application. I was very happy to hear I got accepted for interviews but was also nervous. Prepping with Kate for the interviews was highly useful! Her feedback is very specific and constructive, and allowed me to really focus my talking points in a way that would speak best for the school. All in all, Kate is incredible, and I am very thankful for her support! If you are looking for an admissions consultant, then look no further – Kate is the one!
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Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Kate Richardson
Kate at mbaMission was so helpful throughout my application process. Her communication style is very direct, clear, and thorough. Anytime I asked a question feeling totally lost she was able to put me at ease by sharing her experiences and providing her recommendations. Having Kate help edit my application essays made me feel extremely confident in the topics and structure because her feedback was targeted, specific, and always constructive. She supported me from applications, through interviews, and final acceptances and scholarship negotiations. There was never a question she didn't have an answer to, and she was a joy to work with overall!
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Kate Richardson
Kate was absolutely essential throughout my MBA application process, and I ended up getting accepted to my top 2 choices - Wharton and Kellogg! I also received an interview invite to 5/5 schools I applied to (2 additional M7s + Tuck).
I was very nervous going into the process given that I come from a highly saturated consulting background/demographic with average stats. Kate was immediately able to assess my profile and help me shape my application to truly stand out. She was very prompt to respond and provided in-depth feedback and guidance, making me feel like I was her only client at times.
I primarily used the hourly services for offline essay reviews and did one mock interview with Kate. The mock interview that Kate conducted was identical to all 5 interviews I had and I would highly recommend doing at least one with her.
She is incredibly knowledgeable about all aspects of the MBA application process and knows exactly what the top schools are looking for. Thanks again Kate for all of your help!
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Kate Richardson
I recommend Kate 100%! I signed up for her hourly services as I wanted someone to brainstorm and revise essays with. I applied to 6 schools and got into 4 (3 of them M7), including my dream school. I’m so grateful to have had Kate’s guidance during the process!
Kate adjusted her level of feedback as I would request, depending on what stage the essay would be in (e.g., comments on high-level theme for early essays, phrasing/wording for near-complete essays). She was incredibly efficient and even with the hourly services, I was able to get her input on essays for 3 schools, my resume, and random questions I had about the process and recommenders. Her advice was incredibly helpful and transferable for other schools’ essays for which I didn’t get her direct feedback. Despite going back and forth between multiple topics, Kate was always responsive and thoughtful in her comments.
If you’re looking for an experienced yet approachable consultant, pick Kate!
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Kate Richardson
Kate was incredible to work with! I signed up for the 3-school package and found her to be very generous with her time. As a younger candidate in management consulting, I worked with Kate to identify my personal strengths that we could highlight throughout the application process.
We mainly worked on essay development/edits together, where I was always impressed by her attention to detail. With every review, we would discuss not only basic revisions but overall application strategy to deliver meaningful and impactful essays. Not to mention that she was incredibly responsive and engaged, with truly impressive turnaround times!
Kate is truly adept at taking the best of yourself and ensuring that it comes across in your application. She was a true partner throughout the entire process, and with every application sent, I felt proud of the quality of the submission.
Thanks to her support, I was able to secure admission to my dream M7 school!
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Kate Richardson
I did my research when selecting a consultant to help me navigate the MBA admissions process. I read many positive reviews on mbaMission’s Kate Richardson. If this review helps you choose Kate, then I will feel as if I paid it forward!
Kate Richardson is among the best, if not the best. Never did I feel alone during the daunting MBA admissions process. Kate has the unique ability to make you feel like her only client. Kate, of course, provided invaluable feedback during the resume reviews, essay edits and interview prep. But, where I found Kate's guidance most helpful was with the intangibles. For example, no question about logistics or timeline was too small or unimportant for Kate to answer. It was really important for me to have a clear picture of expectations and a manageable schedule to complete all the steps of the application. Kate was a great partner in this. I found Kate was always encouraging while providing realistic perspective. Kate is a serious bright spot throughout the MBA application process. If you want an advocate who will help you realize your goals, look no further than Kate!
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Kate Richardson
Kate was an amazing consultant and delivered all the guidance I needed throughout the entire application process. I spoke to a few consultants but I think what separated Kate was I could tell she was not just in it for the business but genuinely cared about her clients.
I ended up getting into my top choice school and attribute a lot of the success to Kate's help. While I used much of the time available for essay editing, Kate was always around to answer any questions that I had. Would 100% recommend anyone who is considering business school to consider Kate as a consultant.
Joined: Jan 22, 2021
Posts: 0
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Verified GMAT Classic score:
700 Q44 V41 (Online)
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Kate Richardson
I work in investment management and will be attending a part-time weekend MBA program. I worked with Kate on a two school package and she was an incredible resource in making my applications as strong as possible.
She helped me narrow in on the strengths to highlight in my applications but also helped me identify my weaknesses and developed a plan to address them. One of my key weaknesses was a lack of community engagement.
Kate kept me on task throughout the process. Her help in tailoring my story and providing constructive feedback on my writing resulted in extremely strong essays.
We did mock interviews that made me much more prepared and confident in my interviews. Ultimately I got into both of the schools that I applied to and both offered me merit scholarships that exceeded my expectations. Going into my MBA applications, I was somewhat naive to the process and all that it entailed. Kate helped me navigate all of it and prepared me better than I ever could have on my own.
Product mbaMission Hourly Services
Consultant Kate Richardson
I worked with Kate based on a recommendation from a friend who was admitted to Wharton with Kate's help.
I knew I wanted to apply to a mix of US and international MBA programs and was surprised to learn that Kate had more experience with business schools abroad than I initially expected.
I signed up for the hourly rate and found Kate to be efficient with her time. She provided very helpful feedback throughout the process and was well versed on the differentiators that each school looked for. This helped me tailor my essays in the most impactful way.
She knew my essays almost better than I did myself recalling parts of essays that I can leverage for others. This was particularly impressive because in some cases, she did not review them thoroughly (based on my requests). I would not have been able to submit the quality of applications that I did without Kate's help and am beyond thrilled to be attending my dream school, INSEAD!
Product mbaMission School Package
Consultant Kate Richardson
Overall, I had a very pleasant experience with Kate and a very satisfactory outcome. Kate worked very hard to ensure the success of my applications and I found my entire application process very engaging and stimulating (in a good way!).
Kate was referred to me by a close friend who worked with her two years ago. My first impression was reassuring - Kate appeared knowledgeable, chill, and most importantly, not as aggressively/unrealistically optimistic as some other consultants I had spoken with.
I decided to go with her for the two-school package in Round 2. That was a decision that I am very glad about.
There are three areas where I personally found most helpful from Kate. First, I was working full-time in a demanding job and taking care of a toddler at home - so Kate's game plan for my application journey at the beginning of the engagement was super helpful. We would schedule turnarounds way ahead of time and I would work hard to meet all of our internal deadlines. By the end, I did not feel rushed and I felt that I had enough time to review everything multiple times. Second, the initial brainstorming session/documentation was very helpful. I indeed spent a lot of time creating that document (spent more than 10 hours), but it turned out to be the most helpful document - from finding topics for the essays to preparing stories for the interviews. Finally, Kate is very good at materializing my one-off ideas - there were a few instances when had some random ideas that I would like to include in my applications but could not find a good place to do so. Kate was always able to propose a few alternatives and one of them would fit well with the rest of my materials.
As said in the title, I will recommend Kate to anyone who is interested in applying.