Status: First-time applicant
Pre-MBA industry: Consulting, Healthcare
Years of experience at time of matriculation: 5
GMAT/GRE score: 328 (V: 167 Q: 161)
Undergraduate GPA: 3.58/4.00
Admitted to: Wharton
The MBA process is a whirl wind process that is full of both too much and too little information. You’ll listen to advice from mentors, alumni, friends, and family all while trying not to take what you read on blogs and forums too seriously. It is a vast ocean of perspectives and possibilities and I wanted someone to be my rock to guide me through it. SOP was my rock.
I was recommended to SOP by a colleague who had actually used another consulting service that translated into two waitlists at Wharton and HBS. After pivoting to SOP who guided her through the waitlist process (an adventure in and of itself), she got into both.
The word she used to describe her SOP experience was “honest” and honesty is exactly what I got. My 30 minute intro call with Kathryn lasted easily over an hour giving me a very frank perspective on my profile. Most importantly, Kathryn told me my dream schools of Wharton and HBS were possible, if I was willing to put in the work. Kathryn wasn’t just selling me by telling me what I wanted to hear. In fact, Kathryn was very frank in saying if I wasn’t up to snuff for a school she would tell me. Her honesty is what cultivated a trusting partnership with SOP, which is crucial in this process. There will be times when you believe you’ve written a knock out essay full of insights gleaned as you stared at yourself hard in the reflection of your laptop screen. Nope. “Doesn’t work”, is what you’ll hear back. Having a partner you trust across Kathryn, your SOP advisor, and the whole SOP team you work with (a whole team!) knowing they are pushing you to bring out the best in your application is what gets you to that next level.
This process is full of emotional swings and speculation. Throughout the entirety of it, I was able to rely on Kathryn and my SOP advisor to give it to me straight and drive me to create the application that got me accepted Wharton’s HCM program. It was a dream that I didn’t fully believe was possible until Kathryn gave me the confidence that it was and then provided the support to make it a reality.