I hired Square One after doing due diligence on 6 different admissions consultants (Scott at Personal MBA Coach, Debbie at MBAMission, Judith at Fortuna were the other top contenders for me). I needed help telling my story in a concise way (public ivy, 5 years in consulting and tech, 3.4 GPA, 740 GMAT).

I'm happy to report that, with Square One's support, I was accepted into Wharton's Lauder program (MBA/MA International Studies joint degree). This is a program I've been dreaming about for the last 5 years, and they made it happen.

Before Square One, I actually started working with Stacey Blackman, who set me up with Paul, one of their veterans. The guy was totally unprepared for our first call - he was late, did not set an agenda, and was reading my resume for the first time as he rambled. I bailed after he completely missed our second call. Unforgivable at $300+ per hour.

Thankfully, Square One was another level of professionalism. I was set up with Josh, who was really patient and spent hours with me to refine my business school story.

Key areas that he excelled in, in order of importance - helped set up my recommenders so that their letters could thoughtfully add more to my story, completely reformatted my resume, and shared essays from a ton of previously successful admits to my top choice schools (inspired my own writing).

Key areas that he needed to improve - Josh wasn't a huge value add for my essays. Writing these are more of a personal journey anyway, but it would have been better to have his frequent input. Josh became less and less available as time went on, often taking days / up to a week to respond (when we started, we were in touch over text and he would have updates for me within literally seconds), as he had a side business that he worked on while advising me. When Kathryn got this feedback, she let Josh go. I then worked directly with Kathryn, the founder. She helped me get through the finish line, and she is by far the best admissions consultant I have worked with. Her insight on what's important to the schools really showed. If you have the chance, work with Kathryn.

One area that I went to someone else for - Judith at Fortuna ran an incredible mock interview for Wharton's Team-Based Discussion. Judith previously worked at the Wharton adcom, and it showed. A group of us jumped on a conference call, and walked through a real-life TBD facilitated by Judith. She gave us really solid individualized feedback after the fact. If I had not done this, I would not have had nearly the same confidence in the real TBD. Kathryn at Square One did not offer this service - I wish she did!

Final takeaways - I think the polish on my rec letter requests, resume, and interview prep all contributed to getting my acceptance letter. My advice is to spend a lot of time finding the right consultant who is backed with the right resources. I found that with Square One, and am pretty thankful for it.

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I worked with Melissa from the Square One Prep team for hourly services on 3 applications in Round 2 (Booth, HBS, Kellogg). She was meticulous in her work and gave guided inputs. I enjoyed working with her. She exceeded my expectations. We did most of communication through e-mails which was very effective. I got interview calls from Booth and Kellogg. I also did practice interview sessions with her. The whole process was a learning experience for me as well. She was helpful and at the same time pointed out my mistakes and kept correcting me.

I would surely recommend her and services of Square One Prep.

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I worked with Melissa from the Square One Prep team for 4-5 b school applications across Round 1 & 2. I was working under a strict deadline for my Round 1 applications and thanks to Melissa, we could turn around quality essays and applications in time. She was strict and constantly kept pushing me to improve my essay writing and to deliver on timelines. I was especially happy about the fact that she didn’t just give me the “ideal” answers/essays that I should write in my application. She actually pushed me to think what I really wanted to do and come up with my own story that actually helped me relate better to what I wrote and made it easy to justify during my interviews. Further, the material we worked on in the first few applications, I could re-use later for my other applications as well. I am finally heading to NYU Stern and really excited about it. I would surely recommend them.

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I had a very postitive experience working with Square One. Joey was supportive about my decision to apply to the two schools we discussed and I felt that he kept me on a good schedule for completing the necessary work.

Kathryn and Joey's insights into how my essays might be interpreted were also very helpful. They were a good team in advising on how to craft the most logical and compelling story for my background. We spent a lot of time bouncing ideas off of each other regarding anecdotes to include in my essays which I found useful. Additionally the intro call where we talked through the entire process and I told joey my story was crucial in helping me get a sense of the story direction I wanted to take.

I also appreciated how accessible and easy to reach they both were. I would recommend working with them both.

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I first contacted Square One Prep, and specifically its owner, Kathryn, on the recommendation of a friend. I was initially skeptical as the fees seemed high especially considering that I am an Indian applicant. But after my first discussion with her, I knew, if I had to hire an admission consultant, it would have to be her. There were consultants who tell you what to write in your applications based on what you think the Adcom wants to hear (the polar opposite of what Kathryn told me to do)! Kathryn asked me to dive deep and think about why I really want to do a MBA and tell my story based on being authentic, real. She carefully listened and analyzed my profile to provide me a path ahead for my apps that actually aligned with my passions for what is happening with the automation revolution in manufacturing. Before I talked with Kathryn I was going with the "strategy consulting" angle that other consultants had told to go with even though I couldn't really create ties to my background or excitement about the direction.

Kathryn was encouraging and positive throughout my application process. The process is stressful enough and there were times I was apprehensive about proceeding ahead. But she was always just a call or mail away to support me when required.

But even after all this, I wasn't actually successful in my first attempt in R1. But she kept my hopes up even after that. She kept guiding me on my apps for R2 and constantly checking up on me. She even offered to look at several schools essays for free because she knew I couldn't afford her, but wanted me to have the best shot. She spent hours on my work - for free. My efforts and her dedication to my efforts and me finally paid off and I got into one of my target schools!

Her moral encouragement during my initial failed attempts kept my spirits up and helped me focus in R2. She went above her role as a consultant and rather acted as a guide. She made this incredibly exhausting process worth it. had she not helped me, I would not be heading to McDonough in the fall.

I suggest anyone thinking of hiring a consultant to just set-up an initial call with Kathryn and then...I trust that will be enough for you to know that Square One is not like other companies. You will find making your decision to work with them easy.

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I have to say Kathryn is a gifted admission consultant. I was a re-applicant and she was referred by a friend. I had talked to other admission consultants too but Kathryn was totally beyond my expectation since the very first call. She is very professional and intelligent but at the same time very caring and encouraging too, a combination hard to find, especially in an admission consultant. During the whole process, rather than being just an advisor, she became a stakeholder in my success and with her guidance I was able to secure a fellowship of $40K. In my opinion, her most outstanding professional attribute is her ability to consistently refine and super-efficient turnaround time. Moreover, her detailed and thorough mock interviews prepared me to walk into any admissions interview with complete confidence. I must say that investing in a partnership with Square One Prep was without any doubt one of the best decisions I ever made. Without any doubt, I would recommend Kathryn to all my friends.

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When I embarked on this process, I wasn't even sure I had a shot at business school much less a top 10 program. So I knew I wanted a guide through the process. When I was looking for an admissions consultant to work with, I was impressed by Kathryn’s willingness to discuss my candidacy in detail, which was in stark contrast to other companies that rushed me off the phone after an impersonal fifteen minute conversation. I could tell that Kathryn not only believed in me, but wanted to ensure I aimed high. However, what really sold me on Square One Prep was my conversation with Joan, one of the company’s consultants. By the time I spoke with her I had spoken to many consultants about my b-school candidacy and received almost the exact same feedback on my strengths and weaknesses. However, Joan presented a unique point of view of my strengths and how I could market them that took even me by surprise.

Kathryn has put together a great set of tools for guiding b-school candidates through the process and knows when to jump into the process to inject her expertise. These tools and Kathryn and Joan’s expertise and support are what led me to be successful in an uncertain and anxiety-inducing process. They were willing to get on the phone with me whether I wanted advice on whether I should completely re-write my essay or how to deal with the stress of waiting for interview invitations.

Thus far, I have been accepted to two of the four schools I applied to (with a sizable scholarship at one), and am waiting on the decision from a final school. I know that I would not have been as successful in the process without Square One Prep, and for that, as well as Joan and Kathryn’s continued support and advice as I decide on a school, I am deeply grateful.

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Square One Prep - One thing I like about them is the freedom of choice they would allow their candidates to think about school fit and career narratives.

From the start of the conversation either with Kathryn or with Dione, they were friendly, open-minded, collaborative and of a helping nature. They took that extra effort to understand my story and gave me suggestions.

While working with Dione, I always felt that personal touch to my application and clear response to my queries. It was evident that she was clearly thinking from my perspective. She took that extra effort to give me suggestions that would increase my overall chances of succeeding not only with the application process but in the real world, in my career.

GMAT - This is one factor on which the overall process is heavily dependent. It is in the candidate's remit to improve the score. I had the support I needed for my preparation, and I also hired a personal trainer based on Square One Prep's timely suggestion which allowed me to reach my target score on time.

School Selection - Initially my ambitions or goals were very high, and my ask was not realistic. Now, when I look back I can realise the patience both Dione and Kathryn had to get on calls with me to educate me at my pace about what schools were good fits and what schools were not as well as why. I was happy to change my school selection as we worked to build the narrative and as Square One learned more about my background.

Timely Response: Across the overall process, Dione put extra hours in to understand my narrative. She would respond to my emails quickly and always got work back to me within 24 hours. She would drive and urge me to save time and work on my application. I would have lost time and may have missed my application deadlines otherwise.

Admitted to Cornell - Finally, Dione was and is still in touch with me. . Her timely advice, her accurate reflection of my application, her suggestions and feedback were above and beyond all that I could expect as part of the services.

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I was looking for a strategist who can guide me to overcome a shortcoming in my candidacy. But after this journey, I realized that admissions consultants can not make you whole different person. All the idea, contents, and storyline has to be outlined by you. So, be honest and love yourself. You will never know until you try it.

I chose SquareOne Prep because Kathryn was very impressive to me. She doesn't look a sale person; she were genuinely interested with me, and willing to talk seriously even it was a free consultation.

My advisor, Manisha, was extremely attentive, organized, and very punctual. We communicated all most every day. We had struggled to come up with a goal - why MBA. I guess this was mainly because I was not clear about my vision, so we had to spend many hours to find a common ground.
Another hard part was school selection. I crunched all the data in spread sheet to compare schools, but all look same. I reached out several alumni as Manisha recommended me to do so, but I rarely got much insight.

We worked together for three applications in first round, which ended with disappointment. Manisha voluntarily revisited my vision and goal, and we decided to change goals and recommenders. After then, I worked alone in Second round, but I finally was able to get an admission from one of top schools after being waitlisted for several months.

I appreciate her dedication, and genuine care to support my entire process. Even I was not working with her in Second round, she has been always attentive and informative in various way.

As the person who passed quite bumpy road over the process, I realized this process is highly demanding, and you have to seek helps from many people. Admission consulting is one of the source, but can not be the only source. Get many reviews and discuss your idea with people. Trust yourself, and do not give up until the end.

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Coming from a smaller firm in finance where there is not a structured program after which many participants every year apply to business school, SOP and specifically Kathryn Lucas provided me necessary structure to my application process and invaluable insight into what admission committees at the schools I applied to look for in applicants. After introductory calls, SOP provides you with a detailed schedule of how long your application writing process will take, including specific resume/essay deadlines for brainstorm sessions, reviews and final draft submissions by school. Words can’t describe how helpful this was especially when working a full time job that takes up most hours of the day.

Apart from keeping me on track with deadlines, the advice and recommendations SOP gave regarding my essays and overall ‘story’ were fantastic. There are so many different aspects I learned about myself that I wouldn’t have thought of before the brainstorm sessions with Kathryn, let alone things I would write in an essay! That being said, perhaps the most valuable part of working with SOP to me was the interview prep. Kathryn is an unforgiving interviewer who is great at imitating real scenarios and provides excellent feedback directly after mock interviews. Some of the vital interview advice Kathryn shared helped me narrow broad and meandering answers, generate an awareness of how fast I spoke at times and come up with a strategy if there were particular questions in my interview I couldn’t answer.

Overall, working with SOP met my expectations and was a great decision as I was accepted to my top choice! Some of the descriptions above may seem general, but it comes down to this -- if you want to put yourself in the best position to be accepted into top business schools, consider working with SOP.

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