I enthusiastically recommend Square One Prep. Being from Latin America, hiring an admissions consultant was a huge financial commitment for me. It was a tough choice, but looking at my final outcomes, I can confidently say it was 100% worth it. I honestly don't think I would have achieved these results without their help.

Going into this, I had so many doubts. I worried that my software engineering background was overrepresented, that I was getting too old for an MBA (33 when I start school), or that I was simply aiming way too high. The team at SOP helped me see my actual potential and shared past success cases that completely shifted my mindset and gave me the confidence to go for it.

What makes their service stand out is how structured the whole process is. They don’t just rush into writing essays; they take the time to really get to know you first. They pushed me to dig deep into my motivations, my background, my past decisions, and my relationships, and they helped me build my career narrative from the ground up. I also loved that the process involves different people from their team stepping in at various stages to provide additional support and fresh eyes on your work. They see you as a whole person and dare you to keep exploring yourself, which ultimately makes the stories you tell the adcoms so much stronger.

Of course, the MBA journey has its bumps. I actually got rejected by a program we applied to early on. But honestly, I didn't even get discouraged. I was so confident in the process and the quality of the work we were putting in that I knew rejection was just a normal part of the game. That patience paid off—I ended up with several offers from schools across different tiers, secured scholarships, and most importantly, got into my absolute dream program!

There are a couple of areas for improvement. First is how they organize their past essay examples. Right now, everything is just dumped into a single folder by school. It makes it pretty hard to search for what you actually need or to easily highlight the ones that inspire you. A better-organized database would be a huge time-saver. Second, I think having all written work managed in a Google Drive would be much better. Currently, documents are sent back and forth via email, but using a shared drive would make collaborating on files and keeping track of version history so much easier.

Finally, a huge shoutout to my consultant, David Chan. Working with him on a daily basis was incredible. He is a true professional who figured me out at every single step. He knew exactly how to look at my experience and help me frame it to be as impactful as possible. We made an amazing team. I loved that he was always outspoken and direct—he never hesitated to tell me when something wasn't working, but he was just as quick to praise a good idea. He gave great advice throughout the whole process and is a fantastic mock interviewer. Beyond the technical stuff, I felt like David genuinely cared about me getting into business school. He celebrated every interview invite and admission offer right alongside me. Choosing him was definitely the best choice.

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I found Square One Prep through a friend’s referral, and I’m very glad I trusted that recommendation.

Kathryn, Catherine, and the SOP team are genuinely passionate and highly committed in their work. It’s clear this is more than just a job for them. They were consistently responsive and supportive throughout the process, even during busy periods.

What stood out most to me was how clear and structured the process felt from start to finish. I always knew what to expect next and where things stood. Every step was transparent, which made a complex process feel much more manageable.

If you’re looking for a team that is thoughtful, structured, and supportive, I would strongly recommend Square One Prep.

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Strengths:

Theyre with you every step of the way

Would make the product better:

Nothing, they take care of everything :)

When I first started my MBA application journey, I was coming from a non-traditional background with little understanding of the application process. I had no idea where to begin, whether it was which round to apply in, which schools to choose, or how to find the right recommenders. That's when I found Square One Prep.

From day one, they made me feel at ease, guiding me through the entire process, from essay work to interview preparation. They truly walked with me every step of the way. They knew when to accelerate the process and when to give me the time I needed in my personal life, making the journey feel manageable and tailored to my unique needs.

I was pleasantly surprised by how structured and organized the approach was. What I thought would be a complicated and stressful process turned out to be a smooth, efficient journey thanks to their clear, step by step guidance. The portal they designed for applicants is a true marvel, making it incredibly easy to track applications, school by school. The added feature of past references was especially helpful, providing real-world examples of successful applications.

Square One Prep was not just a service, they were partners in this journey, helping me navigate the MBA application process with confidence. I couldn't have asked for a better team to support me. Thanks a lot Kathryn, Kelsey, Collin, and Horatiu!

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Working with Square One was a central part of my MBA application journey. I’ll start first with my outcome - a large scholarship to a top MBA program (HSW). I couldn’t be more excited to start this chapter and I’m incredibly grateful to Square One for equipping me with tools to represent myself in the application.

Throughout my engagement with Square One, I worked with a robust highly skilled team, spearheaded by Lara. What I most deeply appreciated about my team was that they never encouraged me to misrepresent or overstate any element of my application. Rather they worked with me to craft the most holistic picture possible of my skills, interest, passions and reasons that I’m so excited to pursue an MBA. They highlighted things I never would have thought to include and in doing so helped me put the best possible version of myself on the page.

I would be remiss to omit mentioning Square One’s founder Kathryn. While she was not part of my core advisory team, she was always willing to take a call (often very long calls) to answer my questions, guide me through application components for which I was uncertain, and eventually help me make the best possible decision for which program to attend (I was granted admission to 8 of 9 programs I applied to).

Square One is personal, professional, and I could tell from the start that they cared deeply about my outcome. I admittedly started the application journey late in the cycle. From Day 1, my Square One team created a complete schedule and tracker for milestones that I needed to hit in order to accomplish applying to a large breadth of schools. I have no doubt that my application process would not have been nearly as streamlined and stress free without Square One in my corner and I’d highly recommend their services to anyone applying to MBA programs (particularly the most competitive programs).

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Strengths:

Great structure, accessibility and attention to detail.

Would make the product better:

None come to mind. All my needs were easily addressed.

Working with Kathryn, Wilson and the Square One Prep (SOP) team was a fantastic experience and essential to my MBA application success.

After speaking to several consultants, I initially hesitated to hire one and delayed the decision for several months. However, Kathryn’s genuine investment in me as a person, not just as a client, convinced me that SOP would bring clarity to what often felt like an opaque and overwhelming process.

Despite my many doubts about my candidacy — including my age, GRE score (which I had not yet taken), lack of undergraduate extracurriculars, and unconventional work history — which other consultants had caused me to worry about, Kathryn made me feel confident about my prospects as an applicant to programs I truly wanted to attend.

Once I signed with the firm, Kathryn thoughtfully selected several coaches for me to talk about my goals. While they were all excellent, Wilson immediately stood out with both his acute analytical abilities and zeal.

Before our first call, he emailed me with genuine enthusiasm about my background while also identifying the concerns that were at the heart of my anxieties about the process. But when we spoke, it became clear that he did not see those things as weaknesses; only as plot points in the narrative we would create in telling my story to schools.

Working with Wilson was a terrific experience. He consistently went above and beyond, bringing a calm, confident, and thoughtful approach to every stage of the process. I always enjoyed our conversations and they always led me to think in a fresh way.

His insightful edits, strategic suggestions, kind advice, patient answers to countless questions, and responsiveness transformed what could have been an extremely stressful experience into something not only manageable, but genuinely rewarding and reflective.

While I did not use the team for every school I applied to, Kathryn’s well-designed systems and resources gave me everything I needed to navigate confidently through the applications I chose to complete on my own.

Even after receiving multiple admissions offers, the team has continued to support me, helping me negotiate scholarships and formulate rejection letters to schools that I’d never imagined would admit me.

They are a team I now feel genuinely close to now.

As someone who originally believed I should handle every application entirely on my own, I believe now that working with Square One Prep was not only worth it, but the best decision I made over the course of the entire MBA application process.

Working with SOP is the first investment one should make in their pursuit of an MBA.

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Strengths:

Industry knowledge, authenticity, and dedication

Would make the product better:

N/A

I got to know of Square One Prep (SOP) through a chance encounter with someone who had worked with Kathryn directly. After several free consultations with various consultants, including with the “big names”, Kathryn’s knowledge, enthusiasm, and unwavering belief in me (you) as a potential MBA candidate stood out - this feeling of renewed confidence after each conversation would become a consistent theme throughout my interactions with the SOP team.

I worked with Kelsey Wise (senior advisor), and was supported by the broader team of Kathryn (team lead), Pat (coordinator), and Horatiu (career coach). The process from early on was extremely structured, well-organized, and clearly communicated, and I knew what to expect working with SOP over the next few months; this process had clearly been refined through decades of experience in this field. In particular, I felt the career narrative work helped me to be more introspective and crystalize and communicate my career motivations. In fact, this work became the foundation of many essays during the application period.

From start to finish, the team made sure to emphasize the integrity of the process, and that presenting your authentic self and story was the foundation of the application. Kelsey brought positive energy to all our conversations, and struck a fine balance being a sounding board, and providing the guidance for me to brainstorm and craft my own ‘style’. From resume development, to interview prep, and even to waitlist strategy, the team has been consistently proactive and responsive, and I have always felt supported. In addition, I found incremental comfort that Kelsey would provide the final oversight on application materials.

Even outstanding applicants can fall short without the right story, which itself requires a great deal of introspection. I don’t think I could have gotten into the schools I was admitted to without the support of the SOP team. I highly recommend working with SOP for the application process and if you’re on the fence - about which consultant to work with, or even whether / when to apply for business school - schedule a consultation with Kathryn; I trust you’ll immediately experience her honesty and warmth just as I did.

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Strengths:

Working with Kathryn, Amalia, and the whole SOP Team throughout the admissions process was an outstanding experience. They were consistently timely and highly responsive, which made an otherwise stressful process feel much more manageable and organized. What stood out most was how thoughtful and insightful their feedback was: they pushed me to reflect more deeply and helped bring out the strongest, most authentic version of my story in my essays. Their guidance materially improved the quality of my applications, and I genuinely felt they were invested in helping me put forward my very best work.

Would make the product better:

N/A

Kathryn, Amalia, and the entire SOP team were incredible to work with throughout my MBA admissions journey. From day one, they were exceptionally responsive, organized, and thoughtful. I always felt supported, even during the most stressful parts of the process. Their feedback on my essays was consistently sharp, strategic, and deeply personalized.

What impressed me most was how invested they were in helping me put forward the absolute best version of myself. They didn’t just review essays -- they helped me refine my narrative, clarify my goals, and bring out strengths and experiences in a very effective way. Every interaction felt intentional and high-touch, and it was clear they genuinely cared about my success!

I’m thrilled to say that I was admitted to all three schools I applied to: Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton!! I'm extremely thankful to have had Kathryn, Amalia, and the SOP team in my corner. They are exceptional at what they do, and I’m incredibly grateful for their partnership and support throughout this journey!

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Strengths:

I had a team of 4, compared to working just with 1 adviser. There was Kathryn (the founder, who is chop chop I loveeeeeeee), Lara (my main adviser, my school alum, all in all so fire!), Pat (overall coordinator, so so encouraging), and Wendy (the lovely career adviser who went through the career narrative process together for months).

From the start to finish (even after I got multiple offers), the team (especially Kathryn! she honestly responds within hours if not minutes, I can't help but wonder how is her sleep hahaha) got me through the thick and thin. First, I had such a short timeline to prep - only half-decided to apply in June (yes 3 months before R1 deadline). Second, I was legit ready to say in my apps that I need to go now because my work visa is expiring and I need to remain in the U.S. Third, everything, and I'm talking about everything, went wrong with my GMAT preparation (which had nothing to do with SOP). In fact, because of Kathryn and Lara's sage advice, I didn't go completely stressed out over GMAT and was able to secure a 99th percentile 1st time attempt with 3 months of prep. Yes!

On Lara, I COULD NOT have asked for a better adviser. We clicked instantaneously. Honestly a word of advice is choosing your admissions consultant team wisely. I am beyond grateful to have found her through SOP. She saw something in me I truly had no idea of prior to going through this application process. She told me on Day 1 that success (in terms of admission results) is a byproduct of my journey, and that is in fact so so true. From 0 clue what I was gonna write about, to wow crafting a truly impactful and coherent story showcasing who I truly am from birth to now, Lara did some black magic.

On Kathryn, I am equally so so grateful to have had her on my team. Initially I was shock that she dedicated more than 2 hours listening to my life story. Who does that?! Then, I got scared (but also glad) when she was chasing me to talk to all her advisers hahaha. Honestly she took matters to heart - I joke with my parents and friends that she cares more about my own application journey than myself. And it's true! Without her advising me to start writing application essays while prepping for GMAT, and without the whole team at SOP with me, I could not imagine churning out the most robust application essays for 7 MBA programs. Kathryn is also kind and honest, which are qualities truly rare in the MBA admissions industry where people pray on applicants' fear. SOP is nothing like that.

I feel also fortunate that I've also encountered some of the most incredible people in this trade/the world. I could see on every single day while working with Kathryn, Lara, Pat, and Wendy that they love what they do. I'd gladly pick SOP all over again if time traveling back to last summer!

Would make the product better:

Honestly nothing. Kathryn and the team have dialed this process to a tee. All I can say is that if you are not ready to have the most responsive team with the most transparent pricing/experience/expertise, or you are not ready to work towards success through coaching and caring mentorship, SOP is not the right place for you. HOWEVER, if you want anything similar and/or beyond, SOP is second to none.

Full disclaimer - I'm not being incentivized in anyway for this review, besides paying it forward and hoping my review could help guide others in choosing the best admissions consulting team. I have interviews a slew of advisers, some are companies and some are individuals, and here's my takeaway.

I've talked to companies such as mbaMission to pretty negative experiences (Katharine Lewis), who wouldn't start working with me until 2025 October and said I might be able to only get into Anderson/Marshall type of programs (this could not be further from the truth). Comparatively, I got into every single school I applied to (including M7 with $100k scholarship) except 2 and SOP started working with me in June 2025 and we crafted out the best application roughly by end of October. I also chatted with multiple individuals from Leland - they were all pretty young and predominantly a 1-man/woman gig. I would NOT place my future in 1 sub-35 year old's hand, especially given the fact that I had multiple viable career pathways but not sure which one to pick for my application. Kathryn and Lara truly guided me through what could've been doomsday chaos, I'm not kidding.

Lastly, I care about the values of the people I choose to work with, and every single day I can tell without doubt that these are honest, supportive people. This made working with my team such a positive reinforcement that I'm almost always excited to click onto the SOP email for feedback and/or suggestions.

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Strengths:

-

Would make the product better:

-

Working with Kathryn was the best investment I have ever made. I can say unequivocally that I would not have been admitted to Stanford GSB without her support, and she played a critical role in my other school admits to Wharton, MIT Sloan and Chicago Booth.

Kathryn is the very best in the business. Her knowledge of the MBA admissions process is second to none, and her advice was consistently sharp, thoughtful, and exactly what I needed at each stage of the journey. I came into the process with a long and complex personal background story, and Kathryn was exceptional at probing in exactly the right places, quickly identifying the details that mattered most, and helping me shape them into essays that were both authentic and MBA-appropriate.

In addition to her expertise, Kathryn was available day and night to help me navigate any issue, whether big or small. Her level of commitment was extraordinary. I would find it very hard to believe that the time Kathryn invests in supporting her clients is matched by any other MBA admissions firm. Throughout an intense process, she made me feel fully supported from start to finish.

The wider Square One Prep team also provided outstanding support throughout the process. The career coaching with Wendy was particularly fundamental to my successful admits and will also help me be intentional during the MBA experience itself. The support I received was comprehensive and highly personalized.

I recommend Kathryn and the Square One Prep team without reservation.

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I was recommended by a friend to work with Square One, and the experience working with them was fantastic and well-structured. From the initial call with Kathryn, Square One stood out to me as an organization that would be extremely forthcoming and honest with me, as well as being truly invested in my individual success if I were to work with them.

The team helped me develop a custom working plan that held me accountable to specific deadlines in their process, which was crucial as I decided to apply under a compressed timeline. My primary consultant was Lara -- I appreciated how direct she was and she really pushed me to be my best. During our brainstorming sessions, my ideas were often rough clay and she showed an incredible ability to help me turn them into a legitimate story. Most of all, I was a big fan of how human the process of working with Lara felt. She was very open about her own life and helped guide me through this introspective journey.

Horatiu and Pat were great contributors to my experience too, helping craft my career narrative story and ensuring I was running in-line with our schedule. Sincerely grateful to all of the individuals mentioned above for their help!

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