GRE: 319

Accepted schools: Columbia, Stern, Anderson, Mcdonough (60K Stipend).

Waitlisted schools: Sloan and Berkeley. I can post an update once I finalise the process.

I was first introduced to Square One Prep by a friend that had a positive experience with Kathryn and recommended that I reach out. I honestly had no idea at the time that people actually used advisors for MBA applications. I had a first call with Kathryn, without having much idea of what the actual process for MBA applications was as I had been focusing on preparing for the GRE. The MBA application process is really demanding and stressful given that you have to juggle it with a full-time job and most likely with standardized test preparation as well (in my particular case). Hands down I can say that it really helps to have an advisor that can be there every step of the way to guide you. Square One is very structured, they help you from creating your CV to navigating the waitlist in the later stages. Their structure and expertise facilitate your life a great deal as an applicant. Throughout the entire process I have had a team of SOP giving me advice and giving me guidance. I consider myself a very demanding client, and the SOP team (Kathryn, Kathleen, Cristina, and Wendy) helped me navigate everything smoothly. There were several times when I wanted to give up on the GRE and Kathryn motivated me to keep going. A special thanks to Kathleen and Cristina as well who answered all of my questions and were an incredible resource! I was really happy when I was accepted to Columbia, Stern, Anderson, and McDonough (with a 60K Stipend)!

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In 2021, I was laid off after having worked in the company for 5+ years. I decided to pursue an MBA on a whim, with only 4 months left to get a competitive GMAT score and submit a competitive application to a top MBA program. With no room for “what-ifs” and “maybes”, my friends suggested that I engage an MBA Admissions consultancy. Square One Prep was the clear choice after my free consultation with Kathryn because of her experience, warm personality and commitment to answering all questions without ever looking at the clock. After a few introductory calls, I picked Kathleen as my advisor to guide me through the process.

As my decision to pursue an MBA was made on a whim, the struggle to fully crystallize my long-term goals felt insurmountable. Fortunately, I had Wendy who set a very high bar and didn’t settle for a run-of-the-mill narrative template. My thought process and ideas were critiqued until I backed up every assumption with industry research and data. Eight drafts later, I not only had a strong logical career plan, but also improved awareness of myself and my target industry.

Such exacting requirements are Square One Prep’s trademark and were placed throughout the process, be it crafting the resume, shortlisting schools, or writing application essays. I’ll admit that there were times it felt disheartening to have my best drafts critiqued and sent back with comments. But Kathleen’s encouraging presence and commitment helped me persevere. Always available to talk, she even accommodated many last-minute requests, despite conflicts with her personal commitments and ensured that I stayed on schedule throughout the process.

And of course, everything occurred under the watchful gaze of Kathryn who never settled for even at-par and kept pushing until every deliverable met her exceptionally demanding standards. All in all, I can confidently say that without this grueling journey, I’d never have received admission offers from both INSEAD and HEC Paris.

Square One Prep is an onerous experience for sure. I However, if you desire to build outstanding applications and secure offers to top schools, while also growing as an individual, Square One Prep is a no-brainer. My only piece of advice: start early to make the most of Square One Prep’s amazing team!

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Square One made my MBA application process seamless and enjoyable. The entire process is very structured and multilayered ensuring there will be no stones unturned by the time you hit submit.

I felt Kathryn and her team were very experienced and knew exactly what the school was looking for from an applicant. The kind of questions that I encountered during the career narrative session with Wendy helped me reflect deeply on what I want to do in future and how I would go about achieving it. My advisor, Kathleen was a pleasure to work with and made herself available whenever I needed help. I also felt that she genuinely cared about getting to know me which helped bring out the best stories from my life in the application. Kathleen also helped me with the mock interviews ensuring I aced the real interviews. I am very thankful for Kathryn's honest and ruthless feedback on my essays, which certainly set me up for success. I remember fully rewriting one of INSEAD's 7 essays but looking back, I understand why it was necessary.

Overall, I am very happy to have landed the INSEAD admit and had a great experience working with SOP. As for anyone seeking help with their application, I can tell with certainty that SOP will help you put together your best application forward

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I started preparing for an MBA application in September 2021, which was a month away from my M7 target school's deadline. I knew I was on a tight schedule and therefore selecting the right advisor would be crucial. While I was doing the initial consultation calls among a few consultancies, Kathryn and the Square One Team immediately stood out. My initial call with Kathryn lasted more than one hour and she showed that she truly cared about me when she really tried to understand my story and my goals and shared her insights and experience. I was impressed by their multi-layer process which meant that I’d have expert opinion throughout every single step of my application, and their commitment to the applicant as there was no cap on hours of help that you could get from the team - both are rare at other consultancies.

After deciding to work with Square One, I was able to talk to three senior advisors before I decided to partner with Kathleen, a decision I couldn’t be happier with. Not only was she experienced and knowledgeable about what the schools are looking for, she was also very responsive and was able to jump on a call within a few hours’ notice. She really tried to know me as a person, and helped bring out my best self and curate a story that was both strong and authentic to me. She also provided invaluable advice on recommender selection and managing their timeline.

I was super stressed in meeting the school's deadline, but the Square One Team made sure that I stayed on top of my deadline (sometimes by doing multiple turns of essays a day) and provided emotional support to help me manage stress. I wouldn't have been admitted to my target school without their help and I couldn’t thank the entire Square One Team more!

I would definitely recommend partnering with Square One to make your dream come true!

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For applicants who are overwhelmed with business school applications, SquareOne Prep is a top choice.

After speaking to numerous consultants, I decided to work with SquareOne Prep because of the extensive support being offered by the team. I had an amazing advisor (kudos to Kathleen Danoher), a super thorough Career Narrative expert (Wendy- you helped me figure out what I wanted to do) and of course Kathryn (Team Lead) and Samuel (Lead Editor). My diligent team was as invested in my success as I was.

SOP was very methodical from the get-go; they took the time to get to know me (over a span of ~4 hours) before moving on to the Resume and Career Narrative sections. I felt very comfortable throughout the application process, which enabled me to be as honest as possible in my essays. Our efforts bore fruit as I was accepted to 3 amazing programs- Kellogg, Haas, and Tuck!

I genuinely recommend SquareOne Prep and urge a potential applicant to reach out to Kathryn for the first call.

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The business school application journey is a whirlwind of a process but SquareOne were with me through every step. They truly try to get to know you and in the process of going through self-discovery, help bring out your strengths to show what's unique to you and ultimately build a solid narrative that helped define my application in the most concise and impactful way.

They were available for a quick call whenever needed and responsive, even at times when I felt I was struggling. Every part of the application would go through various iterations with the team to get multiple perspectives. My mentor guided me through each part calmly and provided honest feedback, truly wanting the best outcome for me. Despite the applications being extremely competitive this year due to COVID and having an average GMAT, through the partnership with SoP, we were still able to strengthen the rest of my materials, bringing out the strengths in me as a candidate and ultimately helping me get admitted!

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Square One Prep was instrumental in my acceptance to my top choice business school, Darden. As a younger applicant from a non-traditional professional background, I often doubted my
chances of acceptance, but Square One Prep believed in me from day one. During my initial call with Kathryn, I was immediately impressed by her knowledge of the application process and appreciated her candidness regarding my candidacy.

Working more than full-time, studying for the GRE, and applying to six schools simultaneously was not an easy feat, but the full Square One Prep team, especially Kathleen and Bailey, ensured
that I met all deadlines and provided the consistent encouragement that I needed. With support from Kathryn, Kathleen, and Luis, I crafted a compelling career narrative, defining my short-, medium-, and long-term goals, which translated into confident and strong essays and interviews.
Through many iterations and topic calls, my advisor Kathleen helped me develop essays that stood out. She was also an exceptional resource for my many questions (and worries).

Overall, I can’t recommend Square One Prep enough!

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The Square One team was extremely supportive of me throughout the entire application process. Back when I was still considering whether to apply to MBA programs, Kathryn carved time out of her schedule on multiple occasions to help me talk through my career path, my professional goals, and how an MBA might fit with these goals. She made me feel comfortable and I truly felt that I could completely be myself around her and the Square One team. I had a pretty aggressive timeline from the time I started my application journey to the application due date, but my advisor Kathleen created and guided me through a plan that was manageable and effective. The team's style involves really getting to know their client, and I appreciated how much effort they put into bringing out the best in me. In addition to just creating the application, I also learned a lot about myself, and I had fun doing it, too! Without Square One, I would have struggled to create an application and conduct an interview that so heavily emphasized my strengths and limited my weaknesses. I would recommend Kathryn and her team to anyone who is kicking off their MBA journey!

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SquareOne Prep was recommended to me by some close friends who had all received an admit from HSW through SquareOne. I however wanted to be thorough and spoke to several MBA consultants before deciding. Eventually, I chose SquareOne because it provided the perfect balance between optimism and blunt honesty. As a pessimist, I knew I needed a support system that would encourage me throughout this gruesome application process, and at the same time provide hard honest feedback when needed. Kathleen Danoher, who I chose to be my personal advisor was a perfect match, and Kathryn provided ample guidance and time for me to find the right personal advisor for me.

SquareOne’s career narrative approach is unique and sets a very strong foundation to build the rest of the application on. Wendy Bagdi-Durrua and the team goes through as many iterations as required till both they and I are satisfied with the narrative. This was a great time for true introspection early on in the application process. I worked with Kathleen almost daily, but every essay was also reviewed by Kathryn and the senior leadership. Having multiple experienced eyes go through the essays critically reassured me that the intended aspects of my essay were coming across clearly and plainly.

Overall, SquareOne was a wise choice and I am very happy to have made it! I applied to all M7 schools in R1, and I couldn’t have done it without SquareOne. Kathryn suggested doing a combination of full-package and hourly services, which was helpful in optimizing my spend. I received admits from Booth, Kellogg and Wharton with scholarships of 60K+ from two of them, and waitlisted at Sloan. It has been a pleasure working with SquareOne and they continue to support me even now.

For the future applicants reading this testimonial, I highly recommend Square One Prep! Just get on a call with them, and you will know what I mean.

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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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