Status: First-time applicant
Pre-MBA industry: Account Management/Real Estate Development
Years of experience at time of matriculation: 6
GMAT/GRE score: 700 (V: 40 Q: 46)
Undergraduate GPA: 2.9/4.0
Admitted to: Sloan
Scholarship(s): $35,000
When I started my MBA application journey, I was cognizant of the glaring weaknesses in my profile – my sub-3.00 GPA and seemingly disjointed work experience (experience in ~3 industries). I reached out to different consulting firms and had intro calls with a couple of senior consultants. My biggest observation is that the other firms are quick to lump you into a bucket based on your weaknesses. In my case, I was immediately advised at the start of our calls to aim for lower schools because of my background, without even giving me a chance to talk about my story.
Enter SOP – upon my intro call with Kathryn, I was very impressed by the fact that she gave me a chance to talk about my past experiences and why I wanted to do an MBA, before giving her expert assessment. She was very honest in telling me that certain schools may be a far “reach” for someone with my profile, but that my story had enough substance in it to get into some of the top programs I had selected. We identified a consultant (Joan) I would be comfortable working with, and mapped out a time table for the whole process. I had decided to engage their services quite late (a month before my first deadline), so I’m thankful their turnaround was quite fast. From fine-tuning my story (over 10 edits per essay!), to selecting my recommenders, identifying which achievements to disclose in my resume, and prepping for my interview, Joan and Kathryn made sure I included things that will help tell my story, and leave out those that don’t. All the hard work paid off. I got into my no. 1 choice with a generous fellowship to boot!
I can’t recommend SOP highly enough. If you’re looking for a partner who will be as driven as you are to get into your dream program, who will look beyond the numbers and understand your personal motivations, reach out to SOP and get on an intro call with them. You won’t regret it!