Square One Prep is simply the top admissions consulting firm in the business today. Originally referred by a former client of Square One Prep who was admitted to a top business school, I got to know Kathryn through multiple points of contact over hours of conversation that took place over years before I finally became a client. I am happy to say that throughout my interactions with Kathryn, I never once felt as if I was in the wrong hands given her truly limitless creative powers and unmatched attention to detail. At every stage in the process - narrative formation, resume preparation, essay crafting, and mock interviewing - I was completely blown away by the methodical approach she used to prepare me in the best possible way for success. All of our hard work paid off in the end, as I was admitted into multiple top-ranked schools as an unconventional, international applicant with more than a few blemishes on my profile, having ultimately accepted an offer at an M7 program. I would never have had the confidence to make it over the finish line without the coaching and mentoring of Kathryn, and will be forever grateful to her and Square One Prep for helping me achieve this major milestone objective in my life and career.

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Kathryn and her team were extremely helpful in setting up a framework for me to be successful in the MBA application process. As someone with a fairly generic profile, Square One worked with me to develop my story and create a resume and essays that allowed my strengths and accomplishments to shine and set me apart from other applicants. The team at Square One believed in me and pushed me to apply to schools I never thought I could get in to. There is a lot of ambiguity in the application process, but Square One’s deep knowledge of MBA admissions helped me feel confident in the work I was creating. Their help in school selection was paramount, as I was accepted in multiple top programs programs, including one with a scholarship!

I couldn’t imagine going through this process without Square One!

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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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Kathryn Lucas was incredibly helpful in guiding my through the process. From the beginning, she took the time to speak with me as well as provide several former clients as references so I could make sure that Square One was the right fit. I was familiar with the process and started my application in advance so I wasn't pressed for time. I thought I was ready for the process, but Kathryn was invaluable.

On our first call she listened and took detailed notes on my "story." This was incredibly helpful in the first step of crafting my resume and informed the rest of our conversations. While I thought my resume was in decent shape, Kathryn re-tooled it for business school applications (as opposed to job searches). I would not have thought to make several of the edits or include some of the activities / descriptions that she did.

For my essays, Kathryn helped me brainstorm and review numerous drafts. She was always quick to turnaround edits and point out what she thought didn't work. Her advice was always direct, honest, and usually correct (though it sometimes took me a while to come around!).

I needed Kathryn's help the most on strong letters of recommendation and the interview. Kathryn was able to strengthen the letters of recommendation just by changing a few key words and without changing the content. For my interview prep, she gave me question-by-question feedback after a mock interview. She took the time to do a second mini-mock interview and even commented on the difference her advice had made.

With Kathryn's help, I was able to get into my top choice! I would absolutely recommend Square One Prep. Knowing I had Kathryn throughout the process and could email her with any questions I had (down to asking what time acceptance emails would be sent!) was incredibly helpful.

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When I first began thinking about applying to business school, I felt completely overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start. Fortunately, a good friend had worked with Square One Prep the prior year with great results, and put me in touch.

Right away during our initial call, I could tell that Kathryn “got” me in that magical way you hope a consultant will. She understood my career progression and accomplishments of course, but she also understood the subtle qualities that make me unique as a professional and as a person. That’s the SOP difference—the ability to hone in on, fully embrace, and express what makes you special to an adcom. For those of us coming from overrepresented industries, that’s a game changer.

Working with a consultant should feel like a seamless partnership, and that’s exactly what I experienced with Kathryn. She spent countless hours with me brainstorming content and revising drafts together until we were both satisfied with the final version. She was available 24/7, even late at night or on the weekend, which was ideal (I have work days that regularly extend past midnight). Her responsiveness was incredible too, always replying within minutes regardless of the hour. 
Kathryn constantly challenged me to push harder and dig deeper, not just with my applications but also my career goals. I learned so much about myself through the process, and felt completely taken care of. For a grade-A overthinker like me, Kathryn was a lifesaver. 

With Kathryn’s guidance I was able to craft a clear and compelling narrative that expressed who I am. I will be heading to HBS in the fall, and fully recommend SOP!

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The help that I received from Square One Prep transformed my application from mediocre to great in just a matter of weeks. I thought I had it covered, but minutes into my initial phone evaluation, it was clear that my application was disjointed and I lacked a vision. Immediately, Kathryn, put together an action plan outlining the steps that I needed to take to strengthen my overall application.

We started with my resume. When I look back at what I was planning on submitting to my dream school, it’s embarrassing. Not only did I lack the specificity needed to demonstrate the impact I had throughout college and my career, even the format was horrendous. Kathryn was able to share a large quantity of successful resumes (with personal information removed) so that I could understand what business schools expect. After a few revisions, my resume was ready for primetime.

She then proceeded to review my letters of recommendation and gave incredible advice on how my recommenders could make them even better. This was really critical for me because one of my recommenders had never written one before. While my recommendations highlighted that I would be a great candidate, at times the language and examples were not specific or powerful enough. She gave concrete feedback on where the letters needed to be reworked so that admissions officers could attain a better picture of my potential.

With the essays, she gave me the hard feedback on when I lacked a clear vision, was not using my authentic voice or went too far and no longer seemed practical. She also questioned whether some ideas were right for the questions I was asked to answer. Her guidance helped me be true to myself while answering the exact questions from the school.

Lastly, the interview prep was so helpful! She gave me a list of 50+ questions to practice with. After our mock phone call she provided the critical feedback I needed to hear so that I could knock the real interview out of the park. She also gave tips on how to handle certain situations should they arise on interview day.

I highly recommend Square One Prep for anyone who wants to put forth their best application. Even if you think you are covered (like I did), I have no doubt that they would take your application to the next level. Without their help I would not have gotten into my dream school (Stanford!).

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Coming into the process with Square One, I was very concerned that I had little going for me outside my GMAT. I came from a small country, a university that wasn’t even regionally recognized, let alone globally, and had a middling GPA. However, talking to Kathryn and Natalie gave me confidence that my story was M7 material. I worked with Natalie for three schools and was able to apply what I learned through the process for a few more.

Natalie first got on a 3-4 hour call with me to discuss my positioning, strengths, and weaknesses. Afterwards, she provided me a detailed document analyzing each aspect of my application and action items to improve on, particularly me doing the legwork on research for the three schools we were working on. From this launch point, we worked on my resume, going through something like 13 passes to ensure everything was ironed out before moving on to my first school.

For each school, Natalie and I crafted answers not just for the essay questions, but also the short answer prompts on each application form. I have to give a ton of credit to both Natalie and Kathryn here. I found that I tended to gloss over a ton of things in my writing that would have been very meaningful and impactful had I expounded. Natalie found a way to make room for those items while cutting down on the clutter and helping my writing be more concise. Kathryn, on the other hand, gave me the tough feedback I needed to know and made sure that everything in my essay was bulletproof. She made sure everything I wrote was clear and impactful. Their one-two punch was incredibly helpful in ensuring that my essays were not only well though-out but also reflective of who I was and what they knew about me.

With their help, I was able to secure interview invites to 2 of the 3 M7 schools we worked on (with Harvard being the other). Interview prep was also excellent. Natalie gave me a thorough list of common interview questions to prepare for and gave me a mock interview and feedback session. In the interview proper, Natalie also threw me curveballs in the form of questions she didn’t have me prepare for to underline the need to be on your toes and thinking on the fly. With this, I felt like I was able to ace both interviews.
However, what really stood out to me was the concern SOP displayed. There were nearly 2 months between my interviews and decision release dates for the 2 schools we worked on with active applications. Despite this, Natalie was very active in checking up on my application status on even the schools I applied to independently.

Come decision day, I got a waitlist for 1 M7 and instead of letting me wallow in not getting accepted, Natalie and Kathryn immediately got down to business and let me know what the next steps were towards getting off the waitlist. Without a second thought, I had all their waitlist essay prep materials on hand and ready to help me prepare. While we’re still working on those essays, I have to say that I’m very pleased with our working relationship. They strike the right balance between care and concern and directness that keeps you working at optimum efficiency. I’m pleased to say that I got admitted to the 2nd M7 I interviewed with and I’m currently getting ready to place my deposit and secure my slot. While I don’t know if I would have gotten in without Kathryn and Natalie, I do know that they made the entire process much easier to navigate and gave me a lot of peace of mind in the midst of such a daunting process.

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I’ll never forget coming home after taking the GMAT. My wife and I began to celebrate and popped a bottle of champagne. My hard work had paid off. She smiled and looked at me and said “so, what’s next?”

“What’s next?” I thought to myself. “I have no clue”. That night I started researching schools, applications, and essays. I was overwhelmed. I called a friend who had just completed his MBA. His advice was clear – find a consultant.
After ‘due diligence’ calls with nearly ten firms I researched on GMAT Club, I met Kathryn at Square One. I’ll never forget that call. I felt like I was being interviewed. It was evident that Kathryn was very deliberate in finding candidates who were committed to the process. After our call, I met with several folks at her firm and chose to work with Sunny.

We spent hours on calls and exchanged tons of emails. Sunny worked with me to beautifully articulate my story. She challenged me to reflect on my experiences and distill who I am and what I truly want out of not just my career, but also my life. The months of quiet thought and reflection- followed by the months of working with Sunny (and Kathryn who scoured my work as I developed it to ensure it did the job) - helped me craft a captivating story, and I can truly say that the end product was nothing less than phenomenal.

Sunny was my thought leader, my cheerleader, and my tour guide on this adventure. From interview advice to random check-in emails, I could not have asked for a better partner in this process.

I’ll let the results speak for themselves, next year I will be enrolling at HBS.

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I am still reeling from the second denial notification I received from NYU Stern (which follows the rejection from Columbia just few weeks before) two weeks ago and as such, my dream of attending an MBA in NYC has been wiped out (at least for this year). Now, if I told you that I applied with a 650 GMAT score , you may say that I should have expected such an outcome. Fair enough. But what you may not know is that I hired the consultants of SOP Advisory service to help me through the application process. I fell for their wonderful website where they brag about their incredible, high admission success-rate for their clients as prospective MBA candidates. Unfortunately, I experienced that their service was not wonderful at all: I can't know whether my poor GMAT score was the deal breaker in my application, but I can definitely say that the SOP ambition, to make your application as strong as possible and make up for other weaknesses in your profile, (among others a low GMAT score, it is one of first mentioned...take a look at their website under the most common application challenges list) has totally failed.

On top of this, every time I sounded the consultants out on any advice, I was treated with haughtiness and talked down to, both in the emails sent to me and during our Skype conversations. For example, I sent an email to my consultant last week saying that I has also been rejected from NYU and I am still waiting for his reply!!
On the other hand, the monthly payment reminders were sent like clockwork.

All in all my personal experience with SOP has been disastrous, not only for the very questionable service standard but also because of the poor customer care .
The service was very expensive and not value for money at all (LORs, essay and resume advisory for two business schools totaled 5,700 USD). Furthermore, the service should have included interview training as well. In the end I was rejected and did not benefit from the service. On top of this, I have never received even a partial refund from them.
I discourage future applicants to resort to this service: in hindsight I would never ever hire them!

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Kathryn and her team played a pivotal role in my acceptance to both schools that I applied to. With their help I’ll be attending Columbia!

Overwhelmed by the MBA application process, I first reached out to Kathryn in the fall of 2015 after reading the raving reviews on GMAT Club. During our initial 1 hour consultation Kathryn focused on understanding my personal history and immediately began building a framework for my personal narrative. With my GMAT exam a couple a couple weeks away and first round applications due in less than a month, Kathryn developed and outlined a strategy to tackle my applications for my target schools. With a plan in place, she left me to focus on studying for the exam. I took the GMAT a week later, and disappointed with my score, I scrapped my plans to apply to business school that year.

Fast forward to the spring of 2016. Destroyed but not defeated, I was back on the horse studying for the GMAT. Out of the blue Kathryn emailed me asking whether I ended up applying to business school last fall. We informally caught up and I confided in her about my struggle with the GMAT. Kathryn was able put things into perspective-that I was psyching myself out-which allowed me to take a deep breath and realize that the GMAT wasn’t do or die. While I still wasn’t satisfied with my results, this time I followed up with Kathryn after my exam. She did offer sobering news, that my GMAT score will work against me but assured me that my narrative and work experience would stand out to some select schools. She urged me to put the GMAT behind me and take a shot at applying this fall.

I took her advice and I was partnered with one of her advisors, John, who took the lead in managing the application process. John not only kept me focused and on top of a tight schedule, but also, through dialogue and self-reflection, got me comfortable talking about not only my past but also the obstacles that molded me into the person I am today. Most importantly, with his help, I was able to craft powerful essays that created narratives to interpret my past and link an MBA degree with my future. The finished products, from the resume to optional essays, were captivating, to say the least.

Kathryn and her team are relentless in their effort to make their clients shine to admissions committees and I can’t recommend their services enough!!

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