When I first decided to apply to business school, I immediately felt overwhelmed with the thought of the application process - the essays, interviews and all the work that goes behind it.On top of that, I knew I came from an overly represented demographic – Indian females. If it weren’t for Square One Prep, I wouldn’t have known where to even start the process. 

Kathryn does a brilliant job at making this long arduous process easy and manageable for you. She will make sure you keep to the deadlines she’ll create for you and will ensure you put your best foot forward. What I was most impressed about Kathryn was her attention and interest in your career goals and why you want to pursue an MBA. She not only helped me craft a beautiful story for my essays but also helped me develop a career narrative. Kathryn went out of her way connecting me to other applicants/ personal network so I could work on my goals effectively.

Kathryn is honest when giving feedback which at sometimes can feel harsh going through this difficult process. But you need to trust she’s doing this to make you look the best in your application and interviews. She has an ability to push you - outside of what you think you are capable of. I was amazed at how I and my essay story grew working alongside with Kathryn. 

Kathryn was always available for any questions/ concerns I had during the process and to review my work. There were times when I fell through on the milestone deadlines that S1P created for me but Kathryn would quickly notice and help me get me on track. Even though Kathryn supports multiple applicants, it never feels so! She’s always genuinely interested in you getting into your top school of choice.  

Getting into HBS has been a childhood dream and I don’t think it would have been possible without Kathryn’s continuous support and encouragement. I honestly can’t believe the success I’ve had with my applications and I don’t think that would have been possible without Kathryn! 

Thank you for all your help!! 

Read More

I was a client of Square One Prep after being referred from a former classmate and was ultimately accepted to a top school where I applied. Square One Prep was the right choice to prepare all the applications and was without a doubt an invaluable benefit to my candidacy. Without Kathryn and her team, I probably wouldn’t be attending my dream school in the next couple of months!
I paired up with Eva who was a great source of motivation (which was critical to write the best essays and applications). I truly had a fantastic experience with Eva who wasn’t my initial advisor, but who made up immensely for the lost time at the beginning of the process. Regular calls with Kathryn and Eva around career narrative gave me a sense of full support from the team.
When I think of my first draft of resume and essays, I know that Square One Prep was instrumental to craft the best stories, filled with self-reflection, creativity and logic, to support my applications. Their approach is very methodical and served as a guide for me during these weeks of preparation.
I know Square One Prep was the best decision I took and I am recommending this team to current colleagues and anyone considering an application advisor ahead of b-school application process. I even got in the process an unsolicitated scholarship!

Read More

I had zero intention of using a consultant during the MBA application process; I thought that applying to business schools would be like applying to colleges and I just needed to buckle down for a few days and write some essays. I scheduled the first call with Kathryn because a friend recommended Square One and I thought I had nothing to lose. I remember ending our call feeling overwhelmed--applications were due within the next 2 months and I hadn't even narrowed down my list of schools to apply to!

Kathryn and my consultant, Eva, created a timeline for me and helped me apply to all schools on my list round 1--while working my full-time job. I could not have pulled this off without their help. Moreover, I felt like I had a team of experts on hand at every step of the process. At one point, I attended a school's info session and wanted to scrap my entire essay. Kathryn and Eva were immediately available to talk through all of my concerns. Interview prep was another part of the application process that I had overlooked and I quickly learned that business school interviews are not like job interviews! With Eva's coaching, I felt completely prepared for every question that came my way. Lastly, Kathryn and Eva helped me successfully navigate the waitlist process--something I wouldn't have known how to approach otherwise. Applying to business school is a tremendous amount of work, but Square One Prep helped make the workload manageable and alleviated a lot of the stress from the process.

Read More

I had strong test scores (GMAT 770), some interesting experience, top 5 undergrad school, but also average grades (3.2 GPA) and had bounced around in my career a lot. I was pretty much clueless about where I had a chance of getting into. Ultimately, I would described my results as mixed, but Kathryn gave me tons of confidence and working with her was a joy.

I called 10-15 consultants for free consultations since I knew I would need a lot of help presenting a clear, succinct narrative about my varied experiences. Almost all of them told me I had no chance at HSW (and maybe they were right) and discouraged me from applying. One even told me I should wait a year and then maybe I'd have a chance at a top 15 school. My feeling was that most consultants are highly motivated by their acceptance rates, so they're incentivized to take fewer risks with their clients.

The thing that really struck me about Kathryn was that she actually encouraged me to shoot above my expectations, and she conveyed a real conviction that she could help me get there. The fact that she was willing to risk hurting S1P's acceptance rates by having me apply to HSW convinced me that I could trust her 100% and that she really thought we could accomplish those goals together. This was in stark contrast to many of the other consultants I spoke with, and convinced me she was the advisor I should work with.

Kathryn is extremely diligent and accessible. She helped me at crazy hours day and night, and she was immediately responsive if/when I wanted to make last-minute changes on due dates.

She makes you feel challenged throughout a tough, extensive, honest reflection process, but you come out with lots of confidence and a better understanding of yourself. It's a surprisingly introspective process. She asks questions you might not have thought of, and uncovers experiences from your past you forgot about or didn't realize were relevant. She does a remarkable job of helping you discover what's important to you and what will be important to present about yourself.

Kathryn was helping me craft a narrative about my experience in the human capital space, which I suspected might be challenging at some places but unique/compelling at others. I was disappointed to be rejected without interview at H/S/W + Sloan -- I thought S1P and I had done a great job putting my best foot forward, but of course I knew all of these might be reach schools for me. The good news is that I was accepted with a $25K fellowship at another M7 school, which I was thrilled about. Again, my career background was non-traditional and I got a huge range of feedback from different consultants, so it really was difficult for me to gauge how strong a chance I had at each of these schools. That said, Kathryn helped me build strong applications I was confident in, and even though I was rejected from 4 of my 5 schools, I think the unique case she helped me build really stood out and paid off with a big win at one of my top choice schools.

The fellowship more than paid for the cost of S1P's services, and I suspect without them I would have been either rejected or accepted without fellowship. So I think the investment in S1P actually saved me money in addition to helping me get in.

Read More

I’ve had a great experience working with SOP and managed to get a $60k scholarship at a top 20 school. Their resume service is impeccable: my consultant Kunal helped me articulate my work experience in a way that made my resume really stand out.

Kathryn really “gets” what’s needed to reveal a good application – I figured this out while discussing career goals, where she knew and could logically explain career goals that don’t make sense and ones that do. I believe this is very important in the admissions process.

The other great thing about SOP is that while they’re very structured in their approach and push you to stick to deadlines, they’re also a source of encouragement and support. Kunal took personal care to coach me into giving my best when my confidence levels weren’t high. I think this is a crucial, intangible element that helps with emotional preparedness during the process.

Read More

Working with Square One Prep was critical to my acceptance to a top 3 business school. I had below a 3.0 GPA and a below average GMAT score. SQUARE ONE helped me put together strong essays and really helped me develop my short and long term goals. Kathryn and Joe challenged me to put together the strongest essays and application package possible and they didn't let me settle for an ok product.

Additionally they provided guidance on the interview process as well. Square One enabled me to show the admissions board that my strengths lies elsewhere and that I could be an important addition to the program. This was key to my success, thank you Square One!

Read More

From the day of my scheduled consultation with Kathryn, through the day I received my acceptance letter, I received nothing less of professionalism. When I first spoke with Kathryn, I quickly realized that she truly takes the time to understand each applicant's situation/background. She noticed that I was also originally aiming for schools well below my capability, and explained what was needed from me to push for better. Kathryn questioned my reasons for wanting to pursue an MBA. The call was over an hour long in which she provided helpful advice and knowledge for me to reflect on after the call. She didn't push her service, it was important for her to know if the MBA was the right decision.

I am utterly grateful to have chosen to work with Sarah during the application process, she was outstanding! I appreciated the candor, professionalism, and overall work effort that both Kathryn and Sarah displayed. They challenged my ideas and thinking to push me to new heights I never saw myself reaching. They fully analyzed my profile to decide which are important to highlight and others that you could exclude. The entire process was gruesome, that required for you to be 100% focused to meet deadlines and their expectations.

When I received my acceptance letter I was elated! Without Kathryn and Sarah's help, this wouldn't have been attainable. Thank you both again for your help, patience, and hard work!

Read More

I was initially hesitant to apply to MBA programs and was nervous about my chance of acceptance by a top 10 program. I spoke to a number of consultants before deciding on Kathryn and S1P. Not only did she demonstrate the same or higher level of insight into the application process as the other highly recommended consultants, she also displayed incredible emotional empathy and positivity that sealed the deal for me.
Despite having a traditional finance background professionally (banking to private equity), I had a very different background personally. Without her support, I doubt I would have been able to write my essays at all, nevermind effectively communicate a cohesive story to the adcoms. With her help, I applied to four top 5 programs and received offers to two of them!
Some key highlights of my experience:
- Very knowledgeable – Kathryn has great insight into the adcoms and their evaluation process (more random than I thought!). That insight was invaluable in helping me select essay topics that would allow me to tell my story in the effective way – acknowledging my challenges whilst highlighting my achievements. Her expertise permeated the process, helping me through online forms, short answers, interview prep, and more
- Very supportive (but firm!) – This was one of the most important and valuable parts of my own experience with Kathryn. I was a mess of insecurity and self-doubt throughout the process but Kathryn was always there to pull me up, including talking me through my first rejection. She has a lot of positive energy that makes her a joy to speak and work with. She was supportive but realistic and firm with me. For example, if I slipped behind on a deadline, she would definitely let me know!
- Depth of resources – One benefit of working with an established firm such as S1P is their deep bench of knowledge and resources. For example, I could bounce essay ideas / tone / style on Kathryn and she was able to draw on all of S1P’s resources to give me feedback based on other essays and applications that were successful in the past
I am thankful to have worked with Kathryn during my application process and have recommended her and S1P to my close friends. Think about how important the MBA is to your career – you do yourself a disservice if you don’t at least consider working with S1P

Read More

Deciding on Square One Prep was without a doubt the best decision I made during my long and challenging MBA application journey and the easiest one, I knew I wanted to work with Kathryn long before my 30 minute free consultation ended even though I had a couple of other free consultations scheduled with other top MBA consultants.

Kathryn and Eva not only made this mentally grueling and exhausting process feel seamless by creating a structured plan for me to apply to 6 programs while still pursuing my GMAT target score in less than three months, a feat I though impossible but also insightful as I came out knowing myself much better than when I started though out all the thorough and challenging questioning they both had during the whole process.

Having said that the two things I most valued of having worked with Kathryn and Eva are their immense knowledge of business school application process and their critical honesty.

Their immense knowledge not only allowed me to avoid the horrible mistake of wanting to postpone my application because I felt unsecure about my GMAT but also made me feel secure going into the interviews.

Their critical honesty was essential throughout the whole process not only because it avoided wasting time, a luxury I did not have, but also because it allowed me develop the best application I could present.

Finally I would like to say every penny spent working with them was well worth the investment and that getting into Wharton would not have been possible without both of them (Kathryn and Eva) and for that I will be forever grateful to them.

Read More

As a school that I had considered a far reach, I honestly believe S1P was the make or break difference for my Stanford offer. The essays that I was able to craft with John and Kathryn were realistically in a different league from what I may have done on my own. Not to say that they weren’t authentic, quite the contrary, they were probably some of the most authentic pieces that I’ve ever written, even helping me gain clarity on aspects of my personality and career goals.

Essays aside, S1P was able to help me present my profile with the best foot forward, be that through my CV or during the interview process. As a fairly accomplished young professional I had thought I was already adept at doing this, but you’d be amazed what you don’t know. Kathryn would take a ruthlessly critical approach to all aspects of your application, which is EXACTLY what you’d want when signing up for an admissions consultant.

Honestly, if you’re serious about getting into a top business school, throw down the money for S1P, you’ll be surprised what a difference it will make to the end product of your application.

Read More