Status: First-time applicant
Pre-MBA industry: US Military/Entrepreneurship
Years of experience at time of matriculation: 8
GMAT/GRE/EA score: 313 (154V 159Q)
Undergraduate GPA: 3.05/4.00
Admitted to: Columbia, Goizueta, Kenan-Flagler
Service Type: Premium Need-based
To the Square One Prep Team and especially to Kelsey Kephart.
I would like to take a moment to write a review for the Square One Prep team and thank them for helping me get admitted into Columbia Business School.
My MBA admissions journey started back at the end of 2023. I had a few friends who were students in Top 25 programs and were giving me some guidance on how to first approach my application. I spent most of 2024 studying for the GRE to get a competitive score for my target schools. Toward September, I managed to get a decent score, enough to be considered for admission. Immediately after getting that score, I started working on the rest of the application. The essays, for me, were the next big struggle. However, my journey would take an unexpected turn toward the end of November 2024.
In a serendipitous meeting, I ran into a friend in the Army who had just been admitted into an M7 school. I asked him what most applicants ask those who get into these schools: “How did you do it?” -He replied: “Get Square One Prep, and they’ll square you away.” That same night, I made an account in the Square One Prep portal and got a consultation with Kathryn.
Having spent the last eight years in the US Army Artillery, I felt that the Square One Prep team was the fire support I needed to complete this daunting task. Understanding I was applying during Round 2 (it was November when I first contacted SOP) and with a tight timeline of roughly 30 days, they immediately onboarded me. I initially worked with Horatiu building a strong narrative for essays, and Kathryn helped us make the narrative even stronger. Finally, with that initial narrative, I worked closely with my advisor, Kelsey Kephart.
Kelsey is a rockstar! Words will never fully express my appreciation for her, her work ethic, and her willingness to help me throughout the process. She was my North Star during this journey and helped me build the strongest applications I could. I will venture to say that without her support, it would not have been possible to gain admission to CBS.
I would like to end this review by recommending the Square One Prep team, especially Kelsey. My only regret is not having contacted them sooner.
All the best,
Arturo Pacheco