Status: First-time applicant
Pre-MBA industry: Financial Services
Years of experience at time of matriculation: 2
GMAT/GRE score: 760 (V: 42 Q: 50)
Undergraduate GPA: 4.0/4.0
Graduate GPA: 3.72/4.30
Admitted to: Columbia, Kellogg, Sloan
Scholarship(s): $120,000
As my current job is very demanding and requires travel in short notice, I was thinking to hire an admissions consultant to help with the notoriously daunting MBA application process in Round 1 2020. At first, I was very skeptical about engaging a consultant as I was told no one cares more about my application success than myself. However, my SOP experience proved it wrong as client-centricity and professionalism is manifested in every step of the firm’s service. I couldn’t have received the three M7 offers without the unreserved help from SOP team!
I started due diligence on 20+ consulting firms in July after finishing GMAT exam. SOP founder Kathryn is the first I spoke to. She not only assessed my profile with candid opinion, but also helped me reflect deeply. I was uncertain about my application readiness, but I felt confident and deeply committed to pursuing an MBA degree in a top school after the call. This confidence seeded by Kathryn is key to persevere the 5-month intense process. All the free consultations I had later with other firms did not match the bar she set.
I signed with SOP right after speaking with my consultant Iris Tian, an intelligent, thoughtful and patient lady. She agreed to keep open communication and promised to push me to my limits, the very things I needed from a consultant. I can say she more than delivered that promise as she turned out to understand me even more than myself at the end of the partnership. Despite 12/13-hour time zone difference, Iris is always available for me via email/WhatsApp/call and accommodates my ever-changing work and travel schedule. As I applied for 7 schools in Round 1, deadlines are approaching at around the same time, but Iris was able to deliver with consistently high standard of quality, sometimes even with several hours of notice and I feel sorry for that (e.g. I sent her a draft before going to bed in Asia time, and received her mark ups before I went to work the next day morning so that we can send to Kathryn for leadership review before finalizing to meet the application deadline in 2 days).
What also set SOP apart is that I got a whole team to support me throughout the challenging yet rewarding journey. Apart from Iris, Kathryn gives candida advice at all critical moments to help me make important decisions and controls quality of all key deliverables. Wendy, the career narrative consultant, weaves my broken thoughts into a compelling career story that I leveraged to convince every school I applied for. Bailey, Chief of Staff, not only arranged logistics in the most organized manner, but also promptly addressed my random application questions to give me peace of mind. It is the unparalleled teamwork that underpins my application success. I sincerely appreciate the partnership with SOP and would genuinely recommend it to anyone who is at square one with applying for his or her dream schools!