I went into b-school applications with more knowledge on the process than the average applicant. My fiancé has recently applied to several schools, using an alternative consultant (larger firm than SOP). Based on her experience, I was hesitant to work with a consultant. I observed a cookie-cutter essay formation process, a lack of attention to detail, and over engineered writing help that made her essays seem artificial to her.

But, I also recognized the value of someone keeping my story, and timeline, on track. So when it came time to vet consulting firms, I dedicated real time and resources to finding the right fit and personalities that would work for me.

From the first discussion with Kathryn, I knew SOP was the right fit. Where other consulting firm discussions were highly formal and limited in time, our initial discussion lasted over an hour – with her probing on my background – increasing my confidence as an applicant while challenging my story. Kathryn and her team then allowed me to vet my day-to-day advisor, and I found a great fit in Gary. Gary was able to pull my story out of me, polish it, then put it on paper – perfectly tying back to my resume, extracurriculars, and goals. Each piece of my application felt synced, with reasoning behind each step I made. It was a highly productive and intrinsic experience.

I had a very positive experience in what is usually a stressful process. I actually looked forward to writing about my path, and with the mock interview provided by SOP and synced application package – I felt highly confident entering interviews. The SOP team will make the process something to look forward to and that positivity and confidence comes through in essays – the proof is in their results. I consider the SOP team friends and would refer them to anyone applying to b-school.

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It has been an absolute delight working with the SOP team (Kathryn, Bailey, Kathleen, Eva, Wendy). I cannot thank them enough for their support through the application process. I first spoke with Kathryn over our initial evaluation call which stretched for 1.5 hours, and instead of selling herself or her services like most other consultants did, she spent time really trying to understand my story and my motivations for wanting to pursue an MBA. Over the next year, I spoke with Kathryn a couple more times, to update her on my professional and personal progress, before finally deciding to enroll with the SOP team. All through this, Kathryn was extremely understanding and upfront with what she thought would work best for me.

Once I enrolled with SOP, the process was extremely smooth. Bailey and Kathryn helped craft out a schedule that would allow me to manage my applications while in a hectic work schedule and almost hand held through the process. I worked with Wendy, Kathleen and Eva, as my immediate advisors, and all of them were extremely helpful in helping me draft a strong career narrative, craft strong essays and build a stellar resume.Working with them really allowed me to break down each application into parts (and perfect each part individually) and that helped me showcase my best potential to the Adcoms.

I would highly recommend the SOP team to anyone looking to apply to B-School. My experience was extremely smooth and really allowed me to introspect and put my best foot forward. SOP, unlike other consultants, were personally invested in my success, and really allowed me to have an extremely enjoyable and successful admissions process.

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With Kathryn and Mary’s help, I received offers from 2 schools (one with a 30% scholarship). I would absolutely recommend them anyone going through the process.
Of all the consultants I spoke to, Kathryn was the only one who actually heard my views and very bluntly pointed out the weaknesses in my profile. While the call was scheduled for 30 mins, we ended up talking for more than 90 mins. We ended up scheduling another free consultation which lasted another good 60 mins. She cares about you (sometimes a bit too much :D)
Initially I had a fear that consultants would persuade you to target safer schools so that their record stays intact. However, Kathryn/Mary always encouraged me to aim higher (even when I was not confident I could get in).
Mary and Kathryn were both very experienced in framing cohesive stories out of seemingly unrelated incidents in your life. Sometimes, I felt they understood my life more than I did. Mary never backed down from spending more time when required. For instance, while she was supposed to spend ~9-15 hrs on my booth application, she ended up spending more than 20 hours.
One thing I absolutely loved: They focused a lot more on who I am as a person (my hobbies, my interests) and tried to highlight that in my essays which helped me add a personal/funny flavor to my essays.

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In May 2020, I unexpectedly lost my job in healthcare operations due to COVID-19. In deciding my next step, I thought about applying to business school, as it was part of my long-term plan. But I knew nothing about the process or requirements and was worried that I did not have enough experience and knowledge to a) be accepted to a competitive program and b) be able to contribute at the same level as my peers. After hearing from a friend about Square Prep One, I scheduled a free consultation with Kathryn.
From that first conversation, Kathryn was supportive and encouraging while offering a candid assessment of my applicant outlook. She asked probing questions, laid out different scenarios, and confidently answered all my questions. She clearly had a tremendous amount of knowledge in the area and, even though it was a short timeline to the extended application deadline (7 weeks), her confidence and eagerness to help solidified my belief that this was the team for me if I was serious.
Kathryn and my advisor Mike quickly whisked me into their structured process including a four-hour call to understand me as applicant with my strengths and weaknesses, building a competitive resume, developing a career narrative, crafting thoughtful essays, etc. Their process helped me create a focused, cohesive, and compelling application. Throughout the process, my advisor Mike was engaged, thoughtful, and advocated for me, pushing me to be clearer, more succinct, and powerful in telling my story through my essays and interview. Even if I had worked on my application by myself for months, I am convinced that the quality of my application would not have come close to the final work I produced with their help.
If you are serious about applying to business school and are looking for a partner to help guide you through the process, Square One Prep is your team. In roughly 9 weeks, I went from trying to decide if I should apply to business school to being accepted to my top choice, Goizueta. I could not have done it without them and cannot more highly recommend them.

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The SOP team (Kathryn, Bailey, Garry and Wendy) is the best of the best. They take an individual approach with each candidate that they work with and genuinely care about their success. Applying for an MBA while you are balancing a full time job and other responsibilities can be very intimidating, but Bailey creates a customized schedule based on the programs you are applying to which makes each deadline more manageable. She constantly updated the schedule to ensure it reflected reality. In my case, my list of schools was dynamic for a few weeks as I applied late round and wanted to apply to schools that wouldn’t require a GRE/GMAT score. Schools were very much in a state of flux on this subject when I started my work with SOP, so the school list I started with wasn’t the school list three weeks later.

My experience started by having a conversation with Kathryn (the founder). It was supposed to be 30 minutes and we ended up talking for over an hour. She listened to my past experiences and challenges as an applicant, and then gave me reassurance that her team could help with the quick turnaround I needed to get three applications done in 10 weeks. Despite being the founder, Kathryn made the time to play an active role in my applications from start to finish and every essay was reviewed by her before being submitted.

Before starting your applications/resume/essays, you work on crafting your career narrative with a career advisor. My career advisor, Wendy, truly made my story come alive. The thing I appreciated was her ability to push me to think deeper about my individual narrative (not just a general narrative that anyone could use), asked me to expand on my thoughts, and guided me when I felt stuck. Once you have your A+ narrative, you present it to your career advisor, daily advisor, and Kathryn. This boosted my confidence and was extremely helpful for my essays and interviews.

Garry was my daily advisor and I cannot say enough good things about his approach and our relationship during this process. He brainstormed with me for my essays, helped me strengthen my resume, and made sure I was prepared for the interviews. But most importantly, I felt like we were a team. He was available 24-7 and had the fastest turnaround on my essays. If you have the opportunity to work with him as your daily advisor, you are BLESSED!!

It is hard to put into words, but I am so thankful for my entire SOP team— they helped change the projection of my life and will always hold a special spot in my heart!

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I was in the last round for MBA application, I needed to find a consultant who can help me to succeed within limited time. Then I talked to Kathryn, at the first free consultation, her passion and knowledge of the MBA world, the long time you spent for me, and professionalism made me choose Square one. Now I got admitted to both schools I applied(2/2 applications).

The first day I worked with Square One team, I was being pointed in a clear direction, which saved me a lot of time and energy, especially in a rush timeline. The team was efficient and responsible, they set and followed up every step and task for me.

Mary was my consultant, she directed me with the whole application, analyzed and advised me with a better perspective , sent me relevant materials. She always responded to me, even on weekends and holidays.
Wendy has been advised on me for career vision. It turned out to be super helpful for my interview. Bailey was also very nice and friendly.

I felt wholeheartedly that Square One has the best team.

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Working with Square One was the best decision I made in my part-time MBA application journey. I prepared my own application for Kellogg and was denied. For my Booth application, I decided to work with a consultant and talked to a few before deciding to work with Square One. There are two main reasons why I chose Square One. First, Kathryn (the founder) spent more than an hour with me on the phone for the initial free consultation and shared excellent insight and experiences. Other Admission Prep companies had 20- or 30-minute time slots and strictly held to them – they were also not that generous in sharing information/strategies like Kathryn had done. I got the vibe that Square One would go above and beyond for me and they did. Second, Kathryn is very pragmatic and logical. She won’t hesitate to point out weaknesses in your application. Other companies I talked to were very salesy – seemed like they were just after my business.

Once I got on-board, I was extremely impressed by the schedule Square One created for me. They had planned out each week with specific activities. I only had 30 days till application deadline and this schedule played a crucial role in the application preparation. Bailey is also great to work with – she sent frequent reminders to ensure everything was proceeding as scheduled.

At Square One, I decided to work with Matteo – I simply cannot compliment Matteo enough. Matteo is very knowledgeable, extremely friendly to work with, and a person with excellent strategies and insight. His communication was excellent throughout. Whenever I felt stuck, I found Matteo to be very supportive and available, even on the weekends. He’s a guy who’ll go above and beyond for you – if I had to do this all over again, I’d only do it with Matteo.

The MBA application process is haunting, there’s significant strategy and effort involved. Because of the resources that Square One provided me, and with Matteo’s help, I never felt any unease and was comfortably able to finish the entire application within 30 days. I must also commend their communication. Matteo/Kathryn/Bailey always got back to me within 24 hours – I never felt disconnected from them throughout the 30 days I worked with them. But there’s more: even after submitting the application and doing the interview, Matteo stayed in touch and kept checking up.

Lastly – there are cheaper Admission Consultants than Square One but don’t let the price dictate your decision. Square One truly is a company that will go above and beyond for you. My admission to Booth would not have been possible without Square One.

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Applying to business schools was a challenging marathon- especially for a lazy amateur like myself – and I am grateful to have had Square One Prep as my strict running coach.

I had had preliminary conversations with three prominent US consultants, before having my first conversation with Kathryn. In all three conversations, the consultants highlighted the importance of applying to ‘safe schools’, covertly implying my M7 ambition was a tad bit delusional. Kathryn- after patiently hearing my previous academic and professional credentials- gave me the much needed assurance that I should ‘reach for the stars’. In that same conversation, Kathryn was also quick to list down my weaknesses- some of which we really needed to improve, some of which we just have to live with. That conversation was the beginning of my business school journey with SOP and also my last interaction with any other prospective consultant.

Piersten- my co-runner on the marathon- was just amazing! She helped me think, she pushed me to work harder (after my 13 hour work days), she gave me the confidence to share certain vulnerable aspects of my life and she ensured I don’t get lost in brainstorming. Piersten would also very quickly switch from the role of a patient coach to that of a stern elder sister. And I would not have been able to successfully submit my application or sit for the interviews without that.

The process at SOP mandates every piece of work- the career narrative, goals, short answer essays, long answer essays- goes through two layers of supervision. Kathryn would always ensure the quality of work never gets compromised or diluted- even if the deadline sometimes is in 24 hours. The process pushes you out of your comfort zone, and really makes you think. I was very happy with the final essays and applications submitted to business school.

I have enjoyed the run- and I recommend SOP to you and to all my friends/ acquaintances applying for business schools. Thank you Kathryn, Piersten, Luis, Ashley, Bailey and the entire team at SOP.

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A good friend of mine recommended SOP and I’m so glad I decided to work with them! I had an amazing team including Kathryn, Yarden, Luis and Bailey, who guided and supported me throughout the entire journey. They were truly invested in my success, from the very first interaction to my acceptance celebrations. Applying to MBA schools certainly takes an enormous amount of time and devoted efforts. It’s an introspective process where you go through a lot of emotions as you look back into your past accomplishments and challenges. Kathryn, Yarden and Luis really took the time to understand my background and future goals to craft the most compelling and realistic narrative that showcases my strengths and passion. While working with the SOP team, you’ll quickly realize they truly care about their clients, beyond application preparation but deeply connecting with you on a personal level to bring out your unique story.

I was still preparing for the GMAT/GRE while working on my applications. The SOP portal schedule was essential in keeping track of the deadlines as I had a lot on my plate. I’m a perfectionist who puts a lot of pressure on oneself and I struggled with the test prep. Thankfully, Kathryn and Yarden were always there for me, as my biggest supporter, advisor and cheerleader.

Although I didn’t work on all of the schools I applied to with SOP, I can confidently say that the career narrative I worked on with Luis built a strong foundation for the other applications I worked on individually. I cannot recommend SOP enough, it’s an investment in yourself that you will never regret!

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The SOP team was a great resource throughout the application process from school selection and strategy development through admittance. The entire team including Wendy, Bailey, and Kathryn were always available and immediately responsive to all questions, large and small. The SOP team is extremely thorough and readily prepared with every detail throughout the process, ensuring timelines are met ahead of schedule. I believe SOP saved me an incredible amount of time throughout the application process, helping decipher "nice to know" information from "need to know" and prioritizing time spent in the areas of my application that would drive the highest value to an admissions team.

I also want to give a special shout-out to Allison Skinner for her help throughout the application process. Allison was incredibly flexible through changing schedules and application priorities, ensuring all details were accounted for ahead of submission. Allison facilitated a thorough application process, whether a particular essay took 2 drafts or 8, and always approached questions/application strategy with a 360-degree viewpoint to account for all potential perspectives and considerations.

I highly recommend any prospective MBA applicant to work with the SOP team.

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