After I decided to attend a B-school and started to choose among the schools and opportunities, I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of information I received by talking to people. When I started the research, I knew the schools I wanted to apply to and I knew what my goals were but after talking to so many people...let's just say that I ended up worse than when I began. Honestly, I was confused and lost. That's when I decided I needed a consultant. I started to ask around and I was referred to a couple of them here in India. Very soon I realized they wouldn't be very helpful to me as I wanted more than school names and a goals list. I was looking for a personalized approach. Then I came across many US consultants (including Square One Prep) that offer 30 minute free consultations. To be honest, at that time I wasn't really looking to hire someone. Being a cost conscious Indian I thought their services were out of my range. I just wanted to run my profile with them during the 30 minute free call and get some information. I think the call with Kathryn was my third such free call. My agenda for the call was to come out with something that would help me finalize the school list and career goals.

The first thing I realized while talking to her was that she wasn't holding back any information. She was genuinely interested in my success rather than landing me as a client. Take school selection for example. While many consultants might push the clients to go for safer choices, Kathryn pushed me towards tougher ones. At the beginning of the call, I had Tuck, Darden, Kenan Flagler and Johnson in my list of choices. Kathryn convinced me to remove the last two from the list and change it to include Kellogg and Yale. Moreover while talking about school choices, she was looking beyond my resume. She was looking at the fit, not just rankings. I realized I finally found someone really interested in my success at the school, rather than just providing me a service.

I'd say I have a slightly unconventional profile. I have an engineering degree and I worked in O&G before making a career switch to Finance. At the time of applications, I had close to a year of experience in the industry. I was very confused about how I would convince adcoms about my career switch and to my post MBA goals (with my little experience in the industry). Kathryn took great interest in listening to my concerns and made my goals look presentable and simple to understand but strong enough to convey passion.

The call went for about 90 minutes (a good one hour beyond the free 30) and at the end of the call I told her I wanted to work with her. Given my financial status I worked with them only on Tuck application but that was still a very big decision for me to make. Even though I was working with them on only one application, in fact I received help for all the applications that I submitted. In hindsight, I made the right choice. I'll never have second thoughts about that.

Once I became their client, Kathryn quickly drew schedules and assigned me to one of her consultants Chi. Most of her team, including herself are Wharton MBA's. They are truly top class. The best part about Square One is that even though I worked mostly with Chi, it was not exclusive. Every part of material - Resume, Essays- has to go through Kathryn for final approval. That way I actually worked with the two of them. When I say two, it wasn't just for name sake that she has to approve the materials. I would find a hundred edits and comments from Kathryn every time she reviews an essay. That is one area where she can get really tough. She doesn't approve anything sub standard.

Moreover the brain storming sessions and other supportive materials (understanding my situation, Kathryn shared a lot of resources of the other schools I applied to) helped me comfortably manage my work and my applications easily in the very short time I had. Also, she understood my financial status and allowed me to make the payments in installments, a couple of them after the work was finished. Such is the trust she places in her clients. By the end of December, my Tuck essays probably went through 10-12 revisions and when I read them one last time before submitting, I knew I made the right choice. To prove it right, I received interview call from Tuck within a week. While I couldn't make it to Tuck, the brainstorming sessions and lots of supportive materials certainly helped me prepare for other interviews. Now I've received admission from Darden with a big scholarship and to say the least, I am sure without Kathryn and her team it wouldn't have been possible.

Long story short, I recommend Square one with all my heart.

One final tip: If you can work with Kathryn directly, don't think twice though she is a little expensive. Her team is really good, patient, kind, talented and all but Kathryn is simply exceptional.

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I had a wonderful experience working with Square One Prep on my MBA applications. As someone coming from a relatively non-traditional background, I was unsure about the best way to convey my experiences and accomplishments to business schools. My relationship with Square One began with a comprehensive consultation through which they really got to know me as a person and that allowed them to provide tailored, customized service to me as an applicant. From my resume to essays to interview prep, I had a trusted advisor in my corner working with me to help share my personal story with schools in the most effective way. After being waitlisted at several schools during Round 1, Square One worked with me to provide strong update letters to those schools while also applying to additional schools Round 2, the results of which led me to getting 6 offers, several with scholarships. I am pleased to say that I was admitted off the waitlist at one of my top choices from Round 1 and could not imagine having gone through the application process without the support of Square One Prep.

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I would not be going to a top 10 business school without Kathryn Lucas and Square One Prep. I was very nervous to apply to top schools as I had a well below average GMAT score and wasn’t certain of my career goals. I had calls with 8 admissions consultants, and Kathryn was the only on who took the time to understand my story and told me that I had a shot at my dream school. (Two consultants actually told me to call them back after I’d retaken the GMAT!) I definitely chose correctly because with Kathryn’s help I received interviews and acceptances to all 9 schools I applied to—a crazy feat!

Kathryn was incredibly effective for the following reasons:
-Prior to reviewing essays, resumes, recommendations etc. she takes the time to get to know her clients. Our first intro. call lasted 7 hours in total! This enabled her to help me craft a compelling narrative throughout my application.
-She encourages self reflection and pushed me to be comfortable revealing very personal stories in my essays, which helped the adcoms get to know me in a much deeper way.
-Kathryn doesn’t always say what you want to hear, but rather what you need to hear. She ensured that every part of my application was perfect, even if it meant completing 12+ revisions on one essay.
-Kathryn keeps you on track. She sets attainable deadlines, and helped me complete 18+ essays in 8 weeks! With Kathryn’s help, I was done well before the New Year, and had time to relax over the holiday season.
-Kathryn is incredibly invested in the success of her clients. Her response time to emails averaged 2 minutes every day/ hour of the week (not even exaggerating).
-Kathryn believed in me, which helped me believe in my abilities and boosted my self confidence.

I cannot recommend Square One Prep enough as thanks to Kathryn, I will be attending the school of my dreams—Kellogg-- in the Fall!!

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I started my MBA apps 2 weeks before the deadline, and I decided to apply only to the Top 4 schools. This was a big risk, and I don’t think I would have been able to make this happen if I hadn’t signed up with SOP.

I spoke with many admission consultants before partnering with SOP. My initial 30-minute free consultation with Kathryn Lucas, founder of SOP, went on for slightly over an hour – I was genuinely impressed by Kathryn’s commitment and interest in my story. Kathryn helped me refine my goals in our initial conversation, even before we started working together officially. I felt assured that if I used SOP, I was not going to be disappointed …and I wasn’t!

Those 2 weeks before MBA round 2 deadlines were crazy…a lot of editing back and forth going on until late hours of the night, but Kathryn was always available and laser sharp. The difference between the initial drafts and the final products is hard to put into words.
I really enjoyed working with Kathryn – I liked her direct approach, and at times, it felt like working with an Associate on a transaction. She’s a terrific mentor!

If you want to get into a top business school, go with SOP - it’s worth it! You won't be disappointed.

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After losing out on my dream schools in the round 1 applications, I decided to work with Kathryn for round 2. I chose her because she was the only consultant who had predicted my round 1 chances correctly during a profile evaluation on GMATClub.

During my first skype call with Kathryn, I realized that she is not only a professional but also a very kind lady who had my best interests at heart. She encouraged me to apply to Wharton and gave me the confidence to believe that I could do it (I had lost hopes after being dinged by both HBS and Stanford without interviews in the round 1).

She played a key role in turning around my situation. She started by analysing my previous applications very closely which was a really smart thing to do. That way we could work on the parts that needed overhauling without touching the rest. I felt that Kathryn was always there to guide me no matter the time of the day.

I ended up applying to Berkeley, UCLA and Wharton and receiving acceptances from UCLA (with full fee scholarship) and Wharton (with a 40% Forte Fellowship). I could not have imagined such outcomes without SOP's help. Thank you Kathryn for your invaluable support and guidance!

To future applicants reading this testimonial, do yourselves a favour - partner with SOP and give yourselves the best chances of achieving your dreams!

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I am confident that Square One Prep has played a decisive role in my admission to 4 top business schools, among which Wharton and Booth.
I come from the Middle East where admission consulting services are not very popular.
My background is also diverse and I don't have the typical profile that top MBA schools usually look for. I am not a consultant and never worked in investment banking. Because of that, my confidence level was at its lowest, and everyone was discouraging me to even apply.
I had scheduled phone calls with several admission consultants from different companies, but it is the call with Kathryn (the owner at Square One Prep) that made me regain my confidence and made me believe that I could make it.
Kathryn's work was both on a professional level and a personal level: besides the fact that it was entirely tailored to my situation, her approach was motivating me and pushing me to always be at my best. She would identify areas in my personal/professional experience that even I would not have thought of, and help me use them in a way that reveals my strength and fit with the programs.
We had frequent and thorough phone discussions during which not a single area was left out.
Kathryn made herself available 24/7, and this was not easy knowing that there was a 7-hour difference.
In a way, working with her made me discover myself and she definitely helped me think out-of-the box, never settling for average quality, always aiming for the best.
This is what I think is of major importance: I constantly felt in good hands because I knew that I was getting the best advice and the most spot-on comments, and I think this has no price.
If you want to put all your chances on your side and don't feel like gambling with your applications, Square One Prep is the company for you.

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Around a year ago, I decided that I wanted to pursue an MBA. I had already written the GMAT and I had a good score but I had no idea where to go from there. Since I’m from an extremely competitive applicant pool (Male Indian Engineer) I decided that I would engage an MBA advisor to help run my MBA ‘project’. I remember evaluating some of the leading advisors through the free consultations they offered. At that stage – even before I had committed to engaging her services - Kathryn/Square-One spent hours on the phone with me.
The value from those discussions was more than enough to convince me that I would need their help. In reality, there is IMMENSE competition to get into the top programs and even with a perfect application you are only giving yourself a chance to get in. I’m glad I hired Square-One to coach me right from the Square-One assessment to bring focus to my MBA story - to CV preparation, short listing schools, building an application timeline, essay/application review and interview preparation.
Today, I’ve been admitted (with scholarship!) to a top school in Europe and a top school in the USA and I’m still talking to Square-One as I decide which school to pick. I definitely would not be here with these two amazing options without their support and I whole-heartedly recommend them to anyone who is in the position I was in one year ago.

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I was extremely overwhelmed when I initially started the MBA application process. I knew that I wanted to go back to school for my MBA, but I wasn’t positive exactly what I wanted to do afterwards or how I could create a cohesive story that would get me into a top program. After my initial consultation with Kathryn, I immediately felt at ease. Even though I wasn’t even a client yet, Kathryn spent over an hour on the phone with me, talking through my uncertainties and helping to boost my confidence. I was very impressed by how generous Kathryn was with her time during this pre-client phase, and as a result I decided to use Square One Prep.

After signing on with Square One Prep, it was time for me to choose the consultant that I would be working with. I will admit that I was nervous about this, as I had established such a strong connection with Kathryn; however, Kathryn was not taking on new clients at the time. Unfortunately, after a few weeks of working with my initial consultant it became apparent that we were not a good fit for each other. As a result, Kathryn made an exception to take me on as one of her clients and I am very glad that she did. Kathryn was extremely valuable in helping me to craft my story, and I noticed a significant improvement in the quality of my essays. In addition, I was very nervous for my interview and Kathryn’s mock interview was tremendously helpful in helping me to prepare. She even did a second “mini-mock” interview with me after my initial mock to make sure that I felt as confident as possible going into the interview.

Finally, Kathryn was always there for me when I needed her – I was working long hours at my job and Kathryn was more than willing to accommodate my schedule, often scheduling calls with me late at night or on the weekends. In addition, if something came up at work last minute and I needed to push back our scheduled call time, Kathryn was always understanding and flexible (but made sure that I stayed on track!)

Thanks to Kathryn, I was accepted into NYU Stern!

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Perhaps like many of you, I was initially very skeptical about using a consultant for my MBA applications; how much could a third-party help in crafting what should be a very personal application?  

I am here to tell you that, if you are looking to get help and want to get into your #1 choice, you should definitely work with Square One Prep.  I am off to Wharton in a few months and I absolutely owe this opportunity and any future accomplishments to Square One Prep.  Having just attended Wharton Welcome Weekend for all new admits from R1, I am more excited and thankful than ever.

My consultant took an extraordinary amount time and effort to understand my story and helped me establish a narrative that was not only genuine but also consistent with what business schools were looking for.  My consultant was honest, flexible, timely, and meticulous.  She really pushed me when I needed inspiration and encouragement. Her interview simulation was a hugely helpful process.  Her engaging approach to this relationship really showed that she was personally invested in my success.

 Looking back, I am surprised that I even thought about doing this whole process on my own.I have absolutely no doubt that without Square One Prep’s help I would not have gotten into the Wharton.

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Having been in the tech industry for 9 years, my goal of wanting to do an MBA was very specific: I wanted to leverage my tech background and life experiences to accomplish my dream of being a tech-focused social entrepreneur. Right from the start, I knew that my case was going to be tough from a demographics perspective - an older applicant to a full-time MBA program in a highly competitive Indian male tech engineer pool. So what all this meant was that even with a 750 GMAT I needed all the help I could get to make it to a top 10 MBA program. Kathryn and Square One Prep understood my requirements very well. But what really set Kathryn apart was her unique mix of school specific insight, attention to detail, and a refreshing in-your-face approach that really helped cut to the chase in every aspect of my application. Add to that, her amazing response time consistently throughout the process meant that help and guidance was only an email, Skype chat or phone call away. I’m happy to say that my goal of making it to my dream top 10 school came true and Square One Prep played a big role in it. I’m not sure if I could’ve managed the roller coaster emotional ride that is MBA apps all on my own and having Kathryn by my side every step of the way helped both the quality of my work and my sanity. I would highly highly recommend her!

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