Katharine Lewis was an excellent consultant and mentor from the beginning to the end of my JD/MBA application process. I applied to the top JD/MBA programs in the United States, and so far I have acceptances to the joint JD/MBA program at Wharton/Penn Law and the joint program at Chicago Booth/UChicago Law. I was also accepted to Harvard Law School. While my work with Katy focused on the MBA component of the application process, given her background as a JD/MBA, she also was able to offer advice and insights surrounding the JD application process, as well as connect me to top advisers who were more familiar with this latter process.

Overall, the key aspects of Katy's support were: the initial brainstorming, the essay review, interview preparation, and holistic confidence building. At the beginning of your work together, Katy will work with you to brainstorm and assess your professional and personal life to date and bring out the application narrative that is most cohesive and aligns best with who you are. While most of us will have a broad sense of what this narrative is, Katy will play a pivotal role in going through all of the details--her outsider's perspective is vital here, too--with a fine-toothed comb. This will permit you to flesh out and really provide much more color to your narrative than you otherwise would have.

Second, as you begin to write your essays, Katy will provide candid and valuable feedback so that your writing style and voice can really shine and stand out. She doesn't sugarcoat and is direct, which really worked for me, especially in the time-constrained context of the application process. Katy will provide top-down support on the essays, from thinking with you strategically about how certain stories and narratives should be presented, to reviewing more tactical facets of the writing process.

Perhaps one of the most impactful components of her support is Katy's work with you on the interview preparation. She's coached hundreds of applicants and been on the other side of the application process (as an admissions officer for Stanford GSB), so she clearly knows exactly what the admissions or alumni interviewers are looking for. We worked on preparing many different stories from my professional and personal background that I could bring to the interview, and that I could adapt to different questions. This way, I wasn't memorizing any script and running the risk of sounding unnatural, but I was ready and confident to share different scenarios from my experience with a beginning, middle, end, and reflection at a moment's notice.

Finally, a more intangible, but nonetheless invaluable, component of Katy's help is the confidence and wisdom she instills in you throughout the MBA application process. By working with her, you know you aren't going into this process blind--she instills in you an overarching understanding of what admissions is looking for, and by helping you to look at things from her vantage point, you are also granted a sense of wisdom and serenity that comes from having done this many times over (even though you are hopefully doing this for the first and last time!).

If you are able to get Katy as your consultant (she is in high demand!), go for it. You will not regret it. She will help you crush your MBA and JD/MBA applications!

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Working with Katy, it quickly became obvious why she is consistently ranked as one of the best MBA admissions consultants out there. As a typical banking/private equity applicant, one of my main concerns was figuring out what makes my path unique. After just a few hours of chatting, Katy was able to identify the key messages from my story that made it stand it and skillfully tied it up in a bow with a powerful theme that resonated with me – It’s like she knew me better than I knew myself. Working with someone that takes the time to get to know you beyond the resume is critical. Katy is that person.

I couldn’t be happier with the results. I applied to Harvard , Stanford, and Wharton, and got into my top two choices, Harvard and Wharton.

If you have the chance to work with Katy, don’t second guess it.

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I was an international applicant coming from boutique institutions and a public Ivy. I applied to 4 schools with Katharine and she helped me craft really impactful essays and stories for my applications that helped amplify the impact I drove at those lesser-known institutions. Her knowledge of the different interview nuances and the points to highlight for each of the different essays drastically reduced the amount of guessing I had to do and made the process less stressful and much faster. I ended up being admitted to 2 top 5 b-schools in Booth and Wharton with some scholarship money. I attribute that in large part to the help I got from Katy! I couldn't recommend her more.

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I worked with Katy Lewis for my MBA applications, and I couldn’t have been happier with my decision. I met with many different consultants during my selection process. I decided to work with Katy for her expertise in some of the top schools I was interested in (Harvard and Stanford) and her direct/open communication style, which worked well with me.

I am from the Middle East, and my work history has been a little less traditional than consulting/banking/PE. However, I felt like Katy really understood my background and various nuances in my experiences and helped me better articulate my strengths, accomplishments, and goals without impacting my authenticity and voice.

On the process side, Katy is on top of her stuff. Expectations and ways of working are established early on. Expect to be very busy from April to September if you are going for round 1. My favorite part of working with Katy was her accessibility. Whenever I wanted to jump on a call, she was always available within 24 hours. Having her caring support and expertise on my side throughout this long and challenging process gave me a piece of mind.

Katy and I decided to work on three schools together (Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton); however, she voluntarily shared her wisdom and support for the other two schools I applied to (Booth and Sloan). With Katy’s help, I received interview invitations from all five schools and got into Harvard (my top choice), Sloan (with $$), and Booth, and I am waitlisted at Stanford.

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I was an international applicant, with a very non-traditional background. I applied with Katy to 5 schools (HSW, MIT, Booth). As I had no previous MBA connections, Katy was instrumental in improving my understanding how to navigate the world of MBA admissions. We did a lot of brainstorming in advance and defined the strategy of the essays. She was able to work with tough deadlines and always managed to deliver the updates. 2020/21 admission cycle was tough for internationals in the US, so I applied to INSEAD on my own and was admitted. I wasn't admitted to 5 US schools with Katy but I used materials for my INSEAD application. In addition, Katy provided a mock interview for INSEAD. In general, I highly recommend Katy as a consultant.

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I suspect many MBA applicants view the admissions consulting business with a fair measure of cynicism. I certainly did. The upfront cost is high, most firms market comparable services at a similar price point, and online reviews are almost uniformly positive. Yet, after my first conversation with Katy Lewis, I immediately realized she would be a valuable partner and advisor. I am now fortunate to also call her a friend.

I write this testimonial as someone who was accepted to Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton in a historically competitive admissions cycle. Even if I did not achieve these incredible outcomes, I would value Katy’s services equally highly. Katy has received dozens of testimonials speaking to her personality, work ethic, dedication, and value for interview preparation. I wholeheartedly agree with these reviews. I now want to highlight some additional facets of Katy’s work that, while less obvious, are perhaps even more important.

Katy’s education and experience seem custom-tailored to her present role. She unites the strategic thinking of a McKinsey consultant with the discerning and critical eye of an attorney. As an HBS alum and former member of the Stanford GSB admission committee, she brings a true depth of understanding to the application process. Moreover, Katy has years of experience working with clients specifically targeting the top three MBA programs in the country. Carefully read the bios of admissions consultants from other firms; buried in a sea of self-congratulatory superlatives you might find one or two relevant substantive experiences. With Katy, every relevant skillset and experience is brought into play. If you are serious about optimizing your chances, why compromise?

Katy demonstrated a sophisticated and enthusiastic understanding of my background and career aspirations. Though we do not share a similar professional background, Katy immediately and intuitively grasped the “narrative arc” uniting my educational and professional experiences. This ability allowed Katy to provide individualized, thoughtful, and nuanced advice specific to my situation. Thus, contrary to prevailing wisdom, Katy advised me to apply in round 2, which proved to be a shrewd (and very beneficial) decision. Any consultant can provide generic advice about the various components of the application (essay, recommenders, employment, etc…) Katy’s value was most evident in those ambiguous situations that ultimately come down to a matter of sound judgment.

Katy was incredibly proactive at all stages of the application process. She volunteered to reach out to my letter writers to provide some insight into the MBA admissions process. As I come from a non-traditional background, my recommenders had never written a letter of recommendation for admission to business school. Understanding the admissions criteria helped my recommenders more effectively communicate their sentiments. Perhaps most importantly, I felt like my own voice, style, and values, and motivations were clearly present in each and every application. At no point did Katy attempt to “package” my unique story into a template.

Returning to my skepticism regarding admissions consultants, I do suspect that in 99% of cases they are ineffectual or downright harmful. Katy Lewis is the other 1%.

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As many prospective students will quickly find out, top MBA programs really want to hear your story and there is no better person than Katy to help you with the introspection process. She has this unique ability to get to know you as a person and help get that authentic self across to the admissions committee. Together, we were able to brainstorm specific themes of my life, how they were important to me, and communicated those in my essays.

Through all of her help, I was able to secure R1 interviews at 6 top programs - Stanford GSB, HBS, Booth, Kellogg, Tuck, and Yale. She spent a lot of time prepping me for my interviews and provided her perspectives on each of the different programs.

Because of Katy's help, I was able to secure multiple offers and ultimately accepted my offer to attend Stanford GSB. I truly cannot recommend Katy enough as an admissions consultant and now as a friend!

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Katy did a terrific job of helping me discern what to highlight on my MBA applications. She took the time to understand my background and aspirations, helping me grasp the cultures of the programs to which I was applying. She was incredibly responsive throughout the application process. I wrote her a panicked request for help when one of my programs scheduled an interview for a mere three days down the road: Katy responded within 30 minutes and offered me a selection of time slots for a mock interview with her the next day. She gave me the confidence I needed to represent my genuine self on my MBA applications.

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As an HBS 2+2 applicant, I knew that every little thing could make the difference between being accepted and rejected. I contacted Katharine after doing thorough research on basically every consultant available. I probably did 15-20 free consultations with different firms and consultants before deciding to go with her. Already in our first call, she showed that her knowledge about what HBS is actually looking for is remarkable. During the process, she helped me craft my application to make sure I really stood out - and that I didn’t just look like the usual male, econ undergrad, incoming consultant.

I can confidently say I think Katharine made the difference for me - and I would recommend her to anyone who wants to increase their odds of admittance to a top school!

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Katy was an incredible consultant and mentor throughout the entire process, from the initial consultation to navigating the waitlist process through the summer. I was ecstatic to get off the waitlist for Stanford GSB – my top choice – with Katy’s help, and couldn’t have done it without her! When I was waitlisted, Katy immediately helped me come up with a plan to stay engaged with schools throughout the summer, regularly and proactively checked in with me to see how things were going, reviewed all of my update posts, and gave me invaluable insights and motivation to stay committed to the process. The waitlist process can be nerve-wracking and confusing to navigate at times, and Katy’s endless support and encouragement made a world of difference in helping me ultimately get accepted. Katy is the best and I truly can’t recommend her enough.

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