I’ve been in touch with Kathryn Lucas, the founder of Square One Prep (SOP) for years and she’s always been supportive and served as a soundboard to me even prior to my application year.

The SOP group became my dream team of trusted advisors and highly experienced mentors in my journey to B School.

Following a structured approach that helped manage timelines effectively, they went the extra mile to ensure that every component of my applications is crafted to perfection. The ideation and brainstorming sessions helped lay a solid foundation for my overall career narrative and essays. The team helped me craft compelling stories and really differentiate myself.

Throughout the process, they were super responsive and always available to address any concerns. With their support, I felt the utmost confidence submitting applications and performing in interviews.

I couldn’t be happier with my results! I’m extremely grateful for this partnership and would highly recommend their services!

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Kathryn and her entire team are true professionals. When deciding on a consulting firm to hire for the application process, I interviewed a few other firms, and none demonstrated a greater command of the process than Square One Prep’s team. Kathryn approaches each of her clients with the straightforwardness that you need as a top business school applicant.

Square One Prep’s process pushes you to look inward and gives you the tools and support you need to turn your ideas into a thoughtful, well-crafted application. Their strategy goes beyond essay edits by working with you to present yourself as effectively as possible in each application.

Your advisor will match every ounce of your hard work with the thoughtfulness and rigor that other firms simply do not offer. It truly feels like you have a full team working with you, taking so much of the stress and guesswork out of the application process. With the Square One Prep team behind me, I received over $350,000 in scholarships to my most desirable programs. I couldn’t have done it without their support.

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The application process for MBA admissions to US B-schools is very different to college admission processes in my home country. To present the most compelling culture-adjusted narrative to the admissions committee, I felt I needed professional help and I chose Square One because of its methodical approach to the applications.

I couldn't have asked for a better team for my applications. With Kathryn's honest feedback, Haratiu's analysis of my career narrative and Matteo's essay strategy and iterative analysis, I was able to craft a successful application. What differentiates Square One from the rest is that the team is as invested as you are in your application - which also means that as an applicant you need to be open to feedback, often brutally honest ones, every step of the way.

If you are looking to create a strong application and are committed to putting in the time required to draft one, don't think twice and have your first call with Kathryn.

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Looking backward to the massive work completed with the SOP Team, I strongly recommend partnering with SOP to navigate and successfully finalize the application process. SOP has developed a tailored, structured, rigorous, and methodical approach, which helps to stay focused, push the thinking, and manage the deadlines.

Working with the SOP Team, I matured a great sense of trust, crucial to producing the best application possible. Since the beginning, it was clear we were all working toward a common goal. In the beginning, Kathryn (The founder) dedicated plenty of time to discuss my background, strengths, weaknesses, and objective to help me build a unique application package. We discussed for more than 1 hour, despite the fact that the call was scheduled for 30 mins!

My day-to-day advisor was Matteo. We knew each other already before preparing the application. He has been my mentor for more than 3 years. In all the different steps of the process, Matteo was always ready to brainstorm in advance, sharing unique insights that helped me push the thinking and improve the quality of the application. While preparing the application package. Matteo was always ready to provide feedback and suggestions via phone and email, proactively providing ideas and new perspectives for me to expand and elaborate. Finally, Matteo was also fundamental during the interview process, with multiple mock interviews done together. Having known Matteo for 5 years now, I strongly suggest him as SOP advisor.

Luis (career narrative) was another important person in the journey who helped me refine my career goal and speech for the interviews.

Overall, I thank Kathryn, Matteo, and Luis for giving me their advice, insights, and support, along with the different process steps. I strongly recommend the SOP Team to anyone approaching the MBA application season.

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I reached out to SquareOnePrep early in the summer as part of my reach-out to multiple other consultants. I was quickly impressed by the fair and sincere feedback from Kathryn, and she took the time to really understand my profile and requirements.

Their process is pretty elaborate and thorough: from onboarding to ideation to application. It enabled me to choose colleges, recommenders and figure out timelines in an informed manner. Multiple conversations around goals and core ideas ensured my applications presented a compelling case. I then worked with Matteo across colleges, and he offered sound advice and inputs throughout the process. Since he understood my industry and my work really well, it enabled a robust creative process of ideating essays and stories. He was honest and straightforward in his feedback while providing strategic inputs to improve the essays - an underrated aspect since it's easy to hit a wall while writing and iterating stories. Even while preparing for interviews, the feedback Matteo provided was precise, actionable, and candid. At every point, I felt there was constant and prompt support from the SOP team; and in a journey as daunting as the MBA application process, it helps to have a team backing you throughout.

Coming from the most competitive background, I eventually landed a dream college, and I couldn't have been happier to have made it! SOP helped me put my best foot forward, and I'm so glad I chose them!

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Kathryn and the Square One team were instrumental in my success with business school applications. Kathryn spent 2-3 hours with me over multiple phone calls answering my questions even before I had committed to working with her company. Her willingness to go above and beyond on the front end is the reason I chose to work with her firm. Once I had officially signed up with Square One, I was on a very tight time frame for second round application deadlines. I purchased an hourly package and was advised by Matteo. With Matteo’s day-to-day guidance and Kathryn following along and diving in when needed, we successfully got three applications submitted. In an extremely short time frame during the holiday season, Square One amazed me with the fast paced and detailed feedback they gave me on my application materials. I was fielding and responding to emails and calls with Matteo on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and New Years Day. Square One truly cares about their clients and makes themselves more than available at ALL times. I am pleased I chose Square One and would strongly recommend them to any business school applicant considering hiring a consulting firm.

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Heading into the MBA application process I knew I had some gaps in my profile and could use all the help I could get. I spoke with all the top admissions consulting firms and ultimately settled on Square One Prep. I had an initial consultation with Kathryn to discuss my interest in pursuing an MBA. She was inquisitive, provided feedback on my candidacy, and addressed my concerns - employment gap, no professional managerial experience, and slightly below average GMAT. She walked me through their services and process. At no point did she pressure, make it feel like a sales pitch, or make me feel like I had no shot. Following the call, Bailey followed up with detailed information on their process as well as a sample application task timeline. What sold me was their structured team of experts and flexibility to add additional schools later in the process.

When I decided to partner with SOP, they connected me with two advisors, and both were great. It was a tough decision, but Kathryn helped me think through and narrow down my choice. I ultimately decided to work with Matteo Rattighieri. We held a kick off call where I comprehensively discussed my background and he educated me on the application journey and SOP process. Additionally, I had a call with Kathryn to go through school selection and my risk tolerance. I purchased the multi-school package and had SOP work with me on what I considered my "super reaches".

The first two items were the resume and career narrative. Matteo was very prompt with his responses and feedback. He provided numerous revisions and helped me better articulate my experiences. For the career narrative, Wendy drove this process, but Kathryn and Matteo were also involved, providing a dynamic balance. I was initially scattered and didn't have a defined goal, but the team helped me narrow it down and tie my interests with my background. The team asked the hard questions to make sure my story made sense and teased out details that connected the dots from start to finish. Afterwards they prepared me to confidently recite my goals. It was a lot of work, but at the end of the day it solidified my ability to articulate my story. The career narrative served as the base for short-term and long-term goals essays and interviews.

Next was recommendation preparation. SOP has a process that guided my recommenders to save time and filled in the pieces to my application puzzle.

After the LOR we got started on essays. SOP provided a collection of essays to familiarize me with the structure of essays that worked. Matteo was very quick to turn my drafts and provided additive edits and suggestions. He pushed me to connect the dots while retaining key elements and trimming the fat, which made my essays concise but compelling. After many iterations, leadership reviewed and provided comments to wrap it up.

I felt very confident in how my application came together. I was quick to turn drafts and Matteo was equally as quick to turn comments even when he was traveling. Throughout the process Bailey checked in to make sure I was satisfied and sent weekly schedules to make sure we remained on track.

Once the applications were submitted I was provided resources to start thinking about interviews. I waited until I heard back from schools before preparing. Matteo walked me through the interview process and core interview questions to prepare for as well as some curveball questions. During one mock interview, I wasn't in the zone, which Matteo noticed and duly suggested we reschedule. After our last mock I felt well prepared and agreed with Matteo that it was best to not overprepare and come off sounding recited.

Although my interviews went well I unfortunately didn't convert and had to push for R2. I added another super reach and we got to work on preparing materials in a fairly condensed timeline but we were able to utilize R1 materials as a framework. SOP kept rooting for my success along the way.

I was ultimately admitted into a school I considered a super reach. I don’t think I would have been able to tailor my application as strongly without their guidance. SOP kept me focused with their process and their service was well worth the value. I considered pursuing a top-level MBA a real stretch goal, but SOP helped me make it a reality. The entire application process was daunting but I’m glad to have had SOP by my side.

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Throughout my application process to graduation, the Square One Prep (SOP) team was an amazing and indispensable resource. If it hadn't been for their help and guidance, I'm certain that I would not have achieved the same application results. Specifically, Matteo Rattighieri was my advisor. He provided relevant, constructive input on all aspects of my application, from resume and essay composition to interview preparation and even waitlist strategy execution. He demonstrated outstanding attention to detail and helped me devise a personalized strategy that emphasized my application's strengths while minimizing its weaknesses.

Overall, by working with Matteo, Kathryn, and other SOP team-members, I felt fully supported throughout the application, especially as a candidate applying to multiple schools with rather tight, back-to-back deadlines. The SOP team-members were incredibly responsive and took my own application with as much dedication as they would their own. If you are applying to competitive programs, I highly recommend forming a partnership with the SOP team!

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It was an absolute pleasure working with Kathryn and the SOP team through the MBA application process!

When I started researching MBA consultants, I spoke with several, but Kathryn’s expertise on the subject was apparent, right from the very beginning. From school selection to defining my goals and crafting the essays, SOP provided outstanding resources every step of the way. I started out with a vague idea about my goals, but Wendy helped me gain immense clarity on my career narrative, while Bailey ensured I stuck to my timelines. My advisor Matteo helped me come up with the strongest content on my essays, even when it meant working on several iterations, so we could achieve the best version possible. Kathryn was always available every step of the way, guiding me through moments of self doubt and pushing me to reach for the stars.

The most remarkable thing about working with SOP is the level of commitment the team exhibits towards your application, almost as if it’s their own admission they’re working towards. I cannot thank the SOP team enough for helping me gain admission into one of my dream schools with scholarship!

I truly recommend SOP wholeheartedly to all wanting the best from their application process!

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Thanks the Square One Prep team (Matteo, Kathryn, Wendy and Bailey) so much for helping me get into my dream school! I believe MBA will be a life changing experience for me and SOP plays the most important part in this application process. I'm a re-applicant and SOP is the key to help me rebuild my confidence.

Thanks Matteo, who spent great amount of time, kept revising and refining my version again and again.

Thanks Kathryn, who's always critical and popping out the key questions for me to think about and work on.

Though the application process is definitely a tiring process, I'm so lucky that I have SOP to accompany me along the way! I'm not alone!

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