Status: First-time applicant
Pre-MBA industry: Sports
Years of experience at time of matriculation: 7
GMAT/GRE score: 750 (V: 41 Q: 50)
Undergraduate GPA: 3.88/4.00
Admitted to: Kellogg, Wharton
Scholarship(s): $80,000
Right from the start of my experience with Square One, I loved having the ability to talk with multiple different day-to-day advisors on the phone and then choose which one I felt most comfortable moving forward with. It made me feel in control of the whole process. But I was also surprised (in a good way!) of just how hands-on the leadership team is from the first day all the way through application submissions. I was nervous at first about using an application consultant because I knew that I would be traveling and moving across many different time zones during this application process. However, the team was amazing at creating a detailed schedule that worked around my constraints and allowed plenty of time for feedback and many iterations on all of my application components.
Coming from a non-traditional background, the team at Square One first went above and beyond to help me wrap my head around my own career goals (both long-term and short-term). They did not let me get away with being vague, acting as a forcing function for me to reach out to people and do real research about roles and industries that I would actually enjoy being involved with. From here, also with their help, we were able to craft a detailed and compelling narrative that would be the driving force for both my application essays and my interviews. As my recommender choices were also slightly non-traditional, I was able to use Square One (and their resources) to provide these recommenders with all the information they needed to write clear, interesting, and honest recommendation letters for my schools. This was especially useful given the fact that every school I applied to had different requirements for these letters
After I got into multiple of my desired schools, Kathryn even took the time to help talk through this decision with me on the phone so in order to get an additional perspective beyond talking to current students! Overall, I think Square One did a phenomenal job of challenging me on things that needed to be challenged while also being accepting of my individuality and respecting the things that I felt passionately about. Instead of them using a template to tell me what to say or write, we were partners throughout my experience.