Katherine Canning Reviews

I started working with Katherine in July of 2018 for round 1 applications. I was immediately drawn to her background in real estate (a field I’m interested in), her dedicated work ethic, and driven personality. During our initial call, she took the time to ask personalized questions to get to know me. I liked how Katherine continually “pushed me” to stop using b-school buzz words and helped me be very specific on my short-term and long-term goals and how business school would help me achieved them. I ended up purchasing the 3 school inclusive package and then bought additional hours for my other applications. We started with revising my resume (something I didn’t even know needed editing) to show how I made an impact in each role rather than describing the job. When writing my essays, her comments really helped me to eliminate the “fluff” and be more direct while still allowing my personality to come through. In some essays, I wrote about a personal and delicate situation in my life, and I really respected how Katherine was sensitive to that and did not exploit this experience for the sake of a dramatic essay. I appreciated how timely and professional Katherine was throughout this process. She had a very quick turnaround with essay comments/revisions – her efficiency left us with plenty of time with the purchased hours! She also helped me prep for interviews, leverage a scholarship offer, narrow down schools, and seek financial aid. Overall, Katherine exceeded my expectations and helped me immensely throughout this process! I have decided to go to Berkeley Haas and can’t thank Katherine enough for helping me get here!

Read More

I highly recommend Vantage Point and the advisor Katherine who I had the pleasure working with over my application process. She made it very seamless and streamlined during a very hectic time in my life. We set up times to talk which lasted anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 minutes which were very thorough and detailed. Her response time and comments on resumes, cover letters, and general questions were prompt and concise. The scheduling of phone calls was also very convenient. I was given a few options that Katherine was able to accommodate. I went with the 1 school comprehensive package and was able to get into my top choice of NYU.

Read More

I worked with Katherine on my round 2 application for HBS, MIT Sloan, Haas Berkeley and Yale SOM. I was accepted to all four schools with substantial scholarships – and could not have done it without her!
As background, I come from a non-traditional background (global health) and had a mediocre GMAT score, with a low quant score. I had applied to a few of the schools last year and was rejected without an interview. I had worked with another consulting company but felt that the consultant was often rushing or didn’t seem as invested.
My experience with Katherine was completely different. She spent a lot of time with me upfront to carve a compelling narrative that was true to who I am. Throughout the process, she kept me on message and was always there when I had any questions or concerns. She was also proactive in helping me mitigate any “weak points” in my application. (Side note: Katherine is super-efficient – I don’t know how she does it!)
Most importantly, throughout the process, I felt that Katherine, Meredith, Melody and the rest of the Vantage Point team truly cared about me and helping me reach my goals.
I would HIGHLY recommend the Vantage Point team – trust me, you won’t regret it!

Read More

I applied to business school in Round 2 this year and am very glad that I had the opportunity to work with Katherine -- I was admitted to both Wharton and London Business School. I would highly recommend her to anyone considering applying.

When I first started working with Katherine, I had initial drafts of my essays but quickly realized I was nowhere close to being submission-ready. Katherine knows exactly what each school is looking for and gave me a very clear understanding of how to shape my essays for each. She also helped me completely rework and rewrite my essays so that they addressed 1) my past experiences, 2) my personality / interests, 3) my professional goals, 4) and how the schools would help get me there. She helped me really dig deeper and write essays that truly capture where I am now & where I want to go next. The transformation of my initial drafts before working with her to the final drafts after was truly night & day. I truly could not have done it without her help!

Read More

I am so thankful to have worked with Katherine as a comprehensive client throughout the MBA admissions process! I applied to 5 M7 schools in Round 1 and am happy to say that I was admitted to 3 (2 with substantial scholarship!) I come from a traditional pre-MBA background and have a below average GMAT score, so initially was considering not even applying to these schools. I probably spoke with almost every MBA consulting firm and I felt like they all tried to fit my background into a box and encouraged me to apply to a number of "safety" schools. Katherine was the only consultant that I spoke with that actually put in the effort to help me craft my story in a unique / compelling way. She had confidence in me and encouraged me to apply to the reach schools that I was most excited about.

During the process, Katherine surpassed my expectations for an MBA admissions consultant. I had so many questions during the ~7 months we worked together, from choosing my recommenders to negotiating scholarships, and she provided thoughtful and prompt feedback every step of the way. Her advice on the essays was a complete game-changer. I had no idea what was appropriate to include in a business school essay and am positive that my essays would not have been nearly as personal / effective in helping me to stand out without her guidance.

I honestly never expected to have this outcome and am confident that I could not have done it without Katherine! I felt like she was personally invested in my success and I know I would not have gotten that with another consultant. I definitely recommend her to anyone going through the MBA admissions process.

Read More

Katherine was incredibly helpful from step 1 through the end. I only applied to HBS and Wharton, and got interviews with both. I am very happy to say that I will be enrolling in my dream school (Wharton) in the fall! I have no doubt that working with Katherine greatly increased my chances of landing the interview. Not only did she help me gather my own thoughts on if the timing was right for me to apply, she helped me decide which schools I should apply to, and how I should position myself as a candidate. Katherine is a no-bullshit kind of person who will not waste your time - which I'm grateful for given that I paid it all out of pocket. If I had to do it all over again next year, I wouldn't hesitate to rehire her! Karthine is an amazing consultant and business coach, and I would highly recommend her to anyone!

Read More

I decided to apply to business school fairly late in the game (~6 weeks before my first application was due). I had fortunately taken the GMAT a few years prior, but I knew I had a long way to go in order to hit my deadline: crafting a story, resume, essays, recommendations, etc.

Faced with a daunting task, I determined that using a consultant would be highly beneficial. After speaking with a number of firms, I chose Katherine and Vantage Point because they took time to get to know me, did not have a one-size-fits-all approach, and encouraged me to apply to the schools I wanted.

Katherine was instrumental in keeping me on track, offering me sound advice, and helping me reach my full potential. In just over a month, we established a credible story and produced essays that were, in my opinion, excellent (I hadn't written much more than an email in 5+ years).

I ultimately applied to 3 top programs with Katherine's assistance and am happy to say that I received substantial scholarship to 1 of the 3 (I knew the others were a stretch at the onset). There is no way that I would have had the same outcome without her help - I can recommend Katherine and Vantage Point without hesitation.

Read More

I worked with Katherine over a period of four months to submit five applications (HBS, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, NYU). I used a comprehensive package for one (Wharton) and hourly services for the rest. She was absolutely instrumental in my successful admission to three out of the five (Booth, Kellogg, NYU). Her approach is logical, straightforward, organized, and direct, which is exactly what I needed. I came to her after spending 5 months trying to figure out my “story” on my own, and she helped me choose the right thing after just one hour-long session together. (Seriously, she’s amazing!) Working with her, I had complete confidence that every detail of my application would be addressed on time. She does a great job editing essays without actually writing any part of them – I came out of the process knowing that my essays were mine completely, but she provided the right leading feedback to make sure that they would be received well. She is also fantastic at ensuring you get what you want out of working with her – she gave recommendations on how much time to spend on each application, how many hours to purchase, and how to use our time together to the fullest. Lastly, she’s continued to be a support to me throughout my decision-making process, even though that’s not technically part of the service, which makes me feel like she’s genuinely invested in my success.

Read More

Vantage Point has a very strong comprehensive school package to help craft your story and think through an individual's strategic positioning (and how that should vary from school to school). Being a bit late in the GMAT and application process and wanting to submit applications in R1, Katherine was very supportive in proactively identifying areas that I could knock off early while preparing to take the GMAT (ordering transcripts, brainstorming for essays, etc.).

Katherine was incredibly helpful throughout the entire application process and, coming from a similar work background, was able to help identify my truly differentiating experiences. Katherine applied the perfect balance of pressure as well to make sure I was appropriately prepared to meet deadlines, and had thought through anything and everything for the application and interview processes. Katherine's guidance in that regard was very beneficial in maintaining clarity on the application process since I often get tied down in projects at work, so setting milestones and having reminder emails and catch-up calls along the way was definitely useful. In addition, Katherine only takes on a handful of MBA applicants each round, which you can absolutely feel in the level of engagement shown and support provided throughout the entire process.

I have heard mixed reviews from others on their experiences with MBA consultants, but I can confidently say that in hindsight I would absolutely work with Katherine and Vantage Point again, and would highly recommend her to others.

Read More

About myself:
I am an Indian engineer working with Schlumberger for the past 5 years. Coming from a highly competitive pool (the Indian Male Engineer) the application process was extremely challenging as I had to work to differentiate myself from the competition.
My GMAT was 780 (on the second attempt, first was 700. Gave the attempt again in the min period of 16 days. Just goes to show how random the GMAT exam can be)

Services Taken:
I had taken a Comprehensive School Package with Melody and hourly services with Katherine.
I applied to the top 6 schools in R2 2017.

Why I chose Vantage Point:
I had taken free consultation calls with several highly rated consultants. I ended up choosing Vantage Point because of the following reasons:
1. Cost effective - Although most top consultants are priced roughly the same, Vantage Point was at the lower end of the spectrum, which definitely works for someone working on a tight budget
2. Personalized attention - I had my first call with Melody and had an instant connect as I was able to relate with her. Although the call was scheduled to be only half-hour, the actual call was well over an hour. She was able to identify kep aspects of my story and identify which colleges which colleges would be the best for me.
I decided to go ahead as I felt understood and really enjoyed the personalized and friendly nature of the conversation. This was a refreshing change from the commercial and often matter-of-fact nature of the other companies.

The Process and overall comments:
Really liked the way they identified my story and had frameworks so that I could remember key events from my past.
The essay reviews were also were useful, as I was able to create a professional and ultimately winning essay after 3-4 reviews. This was especially beneficial as I was short on time during my application time. Kudos to both Katherine and Melody for adhering to timelines even in the crunch time (last moment before application submission) and keeping me on track during the process.

Special shout out to Katherine for her guidance in wharton application specially, as I really feel I would not have got this admit without her advice. Her comments on the essays and especially before the interview/GD were very useful for my preparation. Often direct and clear when the essay was not flowing or answering the prompt accurately, she helped me craft the essay to a winning one after 3-4 reviews. Note that the colleges I did not convert happen to be the ones which I did not have time to review to her satisfaction- just goes to show how effective her opinion was.

Conclusion / Summary:
Totally go ahead with Vantage point ( both Melody / Katherine) for a great friendly personalized and effective application process!

Read More