I was not sure about using an admission consulting service at all. I have had quite basic previous free 30 min calls and the hefty price tag could have been a deal breaker. Also, as an ambitious under represented minority (African educated guy working abroad) with some level of pre-MBA quality experiences, I was (in a hindsight) somewhat confident that I was top B-School material enough and underestimated the amount of work I had to do.

Following a recommendation of a friend who had just been admitted into 2 top 10 B-Schools, I decided to register for a call with Kathryn.

Our discussion has been a game changer : (i) Kathryn took the time to understand as much as she can about who I am, my current level of self-awareness and my understanding of my personal statement (from a scheduled 30 mins we spent around 1h45) and (ii) her remarks were incisive and more elaborate than those I received in others free calls.

From this moment till the reception of my acceptance letters (admitted to two top Bschools with above average scholarships), Kathryn and her consultants (Joey and Kaitleen) provided really strong support in helping me going through my ideas and presenting them in an effective way.

Particularly, Joey has been critical to this journey. His personality, impressive track record and professionalism were catalyst into how well and how deep I walked through my past experiences to reflect about them and to determine how these experiences could highlight specific set of skills. Last but not least, Joey has solid practical post MBA experience in my field of interest and was therefore quite eager to pinpoint some broken understandings I had. He has been extremely instrumental in my self reflection part of this MBA application process.

Obviously, I strongly recommend SOP work.

Excellent:
• Application strategy
• Availability (phone or mail)
• Post MBA industry insights
• personal statement and brand definition
• Ability to bring my personality into the multiple essays and application parts
• Essay editing
• Emotional support
• Diverse point of views on application work (key phases of essay work assessed by your consultant, Kathryn and -possibly- another SOP member)

Good:
• School selection
• Management of a transition when Joey and SOP

Improvement points:
• School tailored interview preparation
• Deepen the interview strategy (depending on the type of interview and the business school, what axis and what potential shortfalls a school might want to stress test, which aspects of one's application should one try to bring forth?)

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From the get go, my experience with Square One, Kathryn and Mary has been nothing short of amazing. While I was shopping around MBA admissions consultants, the thing that most appealed to me about Square One was how Kathryn displayed time and again that they would tailor their approach to best suit my needs. Kathryn went out of her way to cater to me, getting on multiple calls with me before I even signed on with them. She even allowed me to have conversations with a few advisors to ensure I would be able to find someone who matched my working style – something I didn’t experience with any other consultant that I talked to.

I had attempted to apply by myself, the previous year. The part I struggled most with was setting my career vision and goals. The experience of exploring career options in depth and bouncing ideas off Wendy, my advisor Mary, and Kathryn was eye opening not just from the perspective of MBA applications, but also in actually affecting my desired career path.

After setting my goals, it was onto creating my resume and writing the essays. Being in a full-time, demanding job, I had the habit of regularly getting sucked into work and de-prioritizing my applications. I deeply appreciate two very specific things that Square One did, that helped me keep on track. One, they published a weekly tracker that showed me where I was against where I should be on my applications, and Two, whenever I had something on my plate, Mary wouldn’t go more than a day without checking in on me, to ensure I hadn’t hit any snags or gotten sidetracked. Even though these were small things, it showed me that they were deeply invested.

Speaking of Mary, she was invaluable during the entire application process. Her turnaround times were never more than a day, with it being a matter of hours most of the time. While her exacting standards left me having to re-work entire essays sometimes, the results always made it worthwhile. However, the part that I most appreciated was that Mary did more than just review my essays. She went the extra mile to think of ways to make the essay better, suggesting themes from her understanding of my story, asking me to dig deeper for illustrative anecdotes, and even, the one time, recommending scrapping the essay we had already iterated on because she felt I could do better - and she was right!

Overall, I ended up getting 3 interview invitations of the 5 schools I applied to and got admitted into one of my dream schools. I can whole-heartedly say that I definitely would not have achieved this, without Mary and Square One Prep. I have already recommended them to my friends, and if you are thinking of getting an admissions consultant, I highly recommend you to go with Square One.

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It was an incredible experience working with Kathryn , Bailey, Wendy and my adviser Krasina. They are not just admission consultants, but are counsellors too.

I was introduced to them by one of my friends from Alaska who worked with them last year and got amazing results. I was unsure and hesitant initially because all the other consultants I’d talked with were blunt, telling me that it was unrealistic to apply to US schools with such a low GMAT score (580).However, after my first call with Kathryn I was able to regain some hope and was optimistic about my journey to apply to MBA schools. Brainstorming sessions with them was very helpful and worth it. The team pushed me to get deep into my research on why I want an MBA and how it’s is going to help me. That positioned me to answer such questions with great ease in my essays and during interviews. As the days went by, I gained more confidence in my journey and this happened solely because of their organised, focused, optimistic attitude towards me every step of the way.

Every day counts , which is what I have learnt from them .My adviser Krasina who is a great soul advised me to enjoy this journey instead of anxious – to trust her and the rest of the team. She worked with me on my resume, LORs, and essays. She also helped me with sites and links if I was stuck with my research during the career narrative work. I remember an incident where I pinged her on whatsapp to talk to me right away if free, and in no time she was on call with me. I truly am overwhelmed with all the efforts my adviser Krasina along with Kathryn, Wendy, and Bailey made to help me succeed with my applications.. Thank you so much everyone from the core of my heart for being there for me and help me to make my dream, which seemed to be irrational initially, come true.

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I worked with Kathleen/ Kathryn on applying to Harvard and Stanford. I can speak very highly of the team on how they handled the entire process. In retrospect, a few aspects stand out:

1. They were knowledgeable about the application/ admissions process: I came to the process without a lot of knowledge of the application process, and through the Square One team's help, was able to find which programs really interested me and what would be required in preparing for the applications.

2. They challenged my application to make it stronger: throughout the process, whether it was the application essay or the interview, they constantly challenged with questions and comments, to make the story stronger and succinct.

3. They were responsive and punctual: in the life of a busy New York professional, managing the Business School application process was not easy. Thanks to Square One team, it felt a lot more manageable and ultimately achieved an outcome that I wanted.

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If you’re considering Square One, do it without hesitation! This is absolutely the best investment you can make in yourself and the process of getting into the business school of your dreams!

Let me start by sharing that the Square One team believe in me starting the second I had my introductory call with Kathryn. As a self proclaimed over achiever, I was disappointed with my test score and was told by other MBA consulting firms that I had no chance of getting into a top ten, let alone top twenty business school. Well I proved them wrong! Ultimately, I was accepted into several top ten and top twenty programs. I cried tears of joy when I was admitted to Wharton (the #1 business school in the world) with fellowship money!

I owe much of my success to Kathryn and my advisor, Lara. Lara was my rock throughout the application process, she served as my coach, mentor, friend, and therapist. She pushed me to believe in myself as we worked together to identify my unique brand. During this entire period both Lara and Kathryn were there every step of the way, providing thoughtful feedback and getting back to me EXTREMELY quickly so we could meet deadlines. Their advice and structured process was key to ensuring I had a unique and compelling application.

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Victor, Kathryn, and Wendy were extremely helpful during my application process. As an international applicant coming from finance, I knew defining my career vision and building the essays would be the most difficult parts of the application. I was a little skeptical about MBA consulting at first because I thought no one could know me better than myself. But Square One's service really far exceeded my expectation. My Square One team used their expertise to help me brainstorm ideas into a distinct, thoughtful career plan and polish the essays to perfection. With their help, I was able to conduct some deep soul searching and at the end, I felt I knew better about myself. Very happy with the comprehensive package.

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Using a consultant last year and not getting into any schools was discouraging. I knew I was working with a low test score and thought it was the main reason for not getting in anywhere. I needed to hear feedback from an expert on what went wrong. After being referred to Square One by a friend and hearing about her experience, I was intrigued. I set up time for an initial consultation. Right away, my strengths and weaknesses in my last applications were identified. The brutal honesty surely helped. I discovered that it wasn’t just my test score that needed work, it was my essays. After hearing about the many ways to improve my applications and have a real shot for the next application round, I decided to go with Square One.

Along with Square One helping me identify areas of improvement in my applications, the team also guided me on how to show that my story was special. Square One takes a structured approach that makes application organization easy. The one-on-one guidance and customization made me realize that Square One is the best in the game. After the entire process was complete, I learned more about myself and was extremely proud of presenting my narrative to admissions committees.

Square One was instrumental in encouraging me to push forward in times of doubt. Thanks to Square One, I’ve gotten into my dream school.

I highly recommend Square One!

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Square One did an excellent job in framing each stage of the application process and laying out the marching orders. They were thorough, responsive, and great in helping to paint my story in the best light!

I found that outlining my career narrative with Square One saved me significant time in writing essays and presenting my application holistically. They were also excellent in helping me narrow the content of my essays to fit the specs while maintaining the essential content.

They also did a good job in helping me navigate the waitlist process for one of my top schools, where I ultimately got accepted and matriculated.

Overall, I'd recommend Square One if you are looking for a service to help keep you on track throughout the application process without feeling overwhelmed or stressed.

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Kathryn and her team were a tremendous help throughout the entire application process, and they made the application process as smooth and pain free as possible. After shopping around a few different admissions consultancies, I decided to go with Square One because of Kathryn's brutal honesty and willingness to spend more time with me on that initial consultation. I knew quickly after signing up that I was in good hands. My dedicated consultant kept me on track and kept me motivated throughout the entire process. I highly recommend the full school package, as that covers everything from crafting your initial story to interview prep. After getting into a few of my top choices and receiving generous scholarships, I knew that Square One paid for itself. If you're on the fence about using a consultancy or in deciding which service to choose, I encourage you to go with Square One.

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When I first began the business school process, I truly didn’t know where to begin. I only knew I had an ambitious goal for myself: get into a top 5 MBA program. The application process itself is extremely overwhelming, and adding 5 schools into the mix becomes an even more daunting task. Thankfully, I had Kathryn to take me through every step of the way. I can honestly say I would not have been able to do this without her.

From the very beginning, Kathryn pushed me to think critically about my desire to receive an MBA. In our introductory call, we mapped out my career goals in a way that aligned with my interests. It felt like a real conversation, and I will use her advice to me when thinking about my career even beyond the MBA/application process.

While I consider myself a qualified applicant, like many who go through the MBA process I began to doubt that I had characteristics unique enough about me to be accepted into a top program. Coupled with my below average GMAT score (680) for all the schools I was applying to, I nearly considered giving up on the whole idea of applying a few times. I’m so thankful Kathryn was there to push me out of my own head, help me realize my value, and portray it in a meaningful and powerful way to the admissions committees.

In addition, Kathryn’s robust schedule for working together kept me on task and productive as I made my way through 5 applications. She has a truly brilliant system that allows you to craft the best possible story while maintaining true to yourself. By the end of working together, in addition to now having a whole portfolio of essays and a new resume completed, I also felt like I had a practical career journey that I was interested in pursuing long term.

Above all else, Kathryn always made herself available to me as I needed. Her email replies usually took less than 60 seconds, and her reviews of my material had a quick turnaround but were extremely thorough.

Thanks to Kathryn, I can proudly say I received interviews at 4 out of the top 5 programs I applied to, and was formally admitted to 3. Thanks so much to Square one for everything - you really helped my dreams come true!

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