Testimonial Detail

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764

December 06, 2022
Client from: China/Canada
Status: First-time Applicant
Pre-MBA industry: Automotive Tech/Family Business
Years of experience at time of matriculation: 9
GMAT/GRE score: 770 (V:47 Q: 51)/340 (V:170 Q: 170)
Undergraduate GPA: 2.28/4.00
Admitted to: Booth, Yale, other schools TBD
Service Type: Premium

When I contacted Square One, I didn’t think I had what it takes to get into business school. But admissions firms offer free consults so I spoke to some to confirm my suspicion. All of them did, expect Kathryn. My call with her was different. Kathryn asked me questions other firms didn’t. For example, she was the only admissions advisor to ask me WHY my GPA as what it was, and then ask more questions as I probably didn’t give a very clear answer at first because I was embarrassed and shy. My GPA was terrible, a 2.48/4.00. I also left college after two years with a sub 1.00 GPA and had just graduated in May 2022 at age 34. Here too, she asked my WHY my path was what it was. She didn’t just tell me that my GPA and path were problems. Other firms did. They did not talk to me. They talked at me. Kathryn talked to me for close to 2 hours, not just the prescribed 30. She told me that she believed in me and would help me believe in myself.

What I gained from working with Kathryn – how I think about my past and my future, how I can make the most of business school, is invaluable.

She built a schedule for us to follow so I’d never worry about time. She understood that I am busy leading two companies. We did everything as a team. I didn’t know she’d help me as much as she did with all the application components.

In our first week, she spent 10 hours on calls with me so she could build my first draft resume, which was a huge help as I had never built a resume – I’d worked at my family company and then done entrepreneurial things, so there was no need. We then made it stronger as a team, and I was stunned by it by the time we were done. I actually began to believe in myself, just as she said I would.

The attention Kathryn brought to helping me build a strong resume she also brought to helping me build strong essays. I kept trying to sell and brand myself, and so I wrote a lot of bad essays. Some of her edits of my work were more like rewrites except that they somehow retained my voice. Kathryn steered me toward sharing things I couldn’t believe business schools would want to know about me. She connected with my heart. Just like with my resume, as I completed essays I began to feel more optimistic.

Kathryn brought the same attention to my career path work, which we did with Horatio who was my career lead. The work I did with him became even stronger once Kathryn helped me mold my career path into a goals essay. Horatiu was great though. He was patient as I had no idea how specific I needed to be, I thought I could just say that I want to keep growing my business. He asked me a lot of questions to ensure I knew what to research in order to build a strong career vision. Kathryn pushed my further to build it into a real business plan.

Also, with the LORs, we built packages for my recommenders which was important because neither of mine had ever written one, so getting a lot of support was critical. Kathryn was instrumental.

I secured interviews at Columbia, Wharton, Harvard, and Yale, 4 of the 5 schools I applied to! By this time, she knew me. She assessed that I could struggle in interviews. She went above and beyond to help me prepare. We did 6 mock interviews for Harvard and full preparation for all the other schools. I saw how much she cared about me and my success. When I got into Yale I was amazed. With Kathryn’s help I almost got into 4 schools and did get into one of the best in the world. I can’t wait to start!!

To anyone who wants a guide through the application process, someone you can trust will always be honest and focused on helping you grow, and will go above and beyond for you to help you succeed, look no further than Kathryn.

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