Amalia della Paolera Reviews

I worked with Square One Prep (SOP) in RD 1 of the 2022-23 application cycle, with the pleasure of working with Amalia as my Advisor. I could not recommend SOP enough - SOP's unwavering support, commitment, and human touch are among the core reasons why I was able to succeed in a highly competitive season (admitted to 2 of HSW, waitlisted at 1)

As an international candidate who grew up in Asia, went to undergrad in the US and spent his professional career across both US and Africa, I knew very early on I wanted to partner with a team that is energized by my story, challenges me to reflect and gain clarity on my own motivations, and is committed to my success. After speaking with ~10 firms , including both China-based and US-based firms, I chose SOP because of Kathryn's honest style and SOP's team-based approach. Kathryn was enthusiastic about my profile: telling me that I should focus my energies on M7 schools and that with work and reflection, I have the elements to develop a compelling package for any M7 school. However, she was also brutally honest: cautioning me that especially for schools like HBS/GSB/Wharton, no one is a shoo-in, and while SOP team can help me craft the best possible application materials, there is still an inherent element of luck in the highly competitive process. Additionally, I loved SOP's leadership-team approach in the Premium package, where the leadership team (incl. Kathryn) reviews each essay (and resume, career narrative, etc) after the advisor and I felt good about the content. The leadership-team approach essentially creates a stage-gate for seasoned advisors to review my application materials from an outside-in perspective (similar to how an admissions officer would read my file) - and ensure that the logic flows smoothly, the language is easy to understand, and the storyline is consistent with my overall narrative. Later on, I realized that Leadership Review is truly one of the best parts of the SOP experience.

The first step in my SOP journey is the Career Narrative process - where a former career coach at top business program helps me ideate, develop, and refine my career narrative: a vision statement that tells the story of what I want to do professionally long-term. Wendy, my Career Narrative coach was very effective in using facts to back-up my career vision. Coming into Career Narrative process, I thought it would be an exercise of storytelling - focusing more on my personal journey. However, what I appreciated most is SOP's focus on using industry facts + trends to back up the career narrative. Indeed, the process feels more analogous to building the business case for a start-up: Wendy pushed me to reflect on my personal story (the founding rationale); conduct research to validate the opportunity (the growth potential); and articulate why I am the best person to deliver my career vision (the competitive dynamic). Throughout the process, Amalia (my advisor) and Kathryn stayed engaged: including multiple rounds of presentations to ensure that my story is compelling, easy to follow, and memorable.

While I signed on with SOP relatively early in the process (Jan'22) - Kathryn and Amalia both offered me the valuable advice of not starting too early, but instead, create pace by starting at a more reasonable time. Therefore, I started the essay drafting in mid to late June - which was quite helpful as I found myself to be much more effective when Amalia and I started rapidly iterating on essays. The essay process involves a brainstorming call, where Amalia and I would go over high-level ideas and stories / anecdotes to back up the storyline, followed by me drafting the essay in the next 1-2 hours and sending the rough draft to Amalia. I found the approach to be highly efficient as it enabled me to rapidly prototype essays, and advance / kill different ideas for the essay. What I also appreciate is Amalia's willingness to work with whatever I could produce in that 1-2 hour interval - which sometimes could look more like a skeleton sketch than a nicely flashed-out essay. With the process, Amalia and I would iterate essays with

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It will be an understatement to say that Square One Prep was extremely pivotal in my application journey.

I made up my mind to apply to a select number of schools and was looking for the right partner to help me through this arduous and nerve-wracking process. I spoke with 20+ consultants across the world, but my first conversation with Kathryn was good enough to convince me that SOP would be the ideal organization to help me see through this period - Kathryn spoke with me for an hour when the original slot was for 30 minutes, giving me golden advice on how to navigate the application process even though I had not signed up with SOP. I signed up within a day, and in hindsight that was one of the best decisions I made regarding my overall application strategy.

I must tell you that working on your B-school applications is a hard process (especially when you have to balance taking your GMAT/GRE, doing your full time jobs, and managing other life commitments). SOP was super comprehensive throughout the process - choosing the right schools (in my case, it was helpful to cross-check if my choices were suitable/apt), crafting a career vision, creating a robust resume, writing endless essays, and finally preparing for the interview stage! The orderliness with which SOP manages these distinct parts of your application helps you feel at ease - they truly acted as equal partners in the process and were fully invested in my success. And in the whole process, Kathryn was very actively involved in making sure that we collectively put the best applications forward, responding to even the silliest of queries I had in my mind.

I had the privilege of working with Amalia as my SOP advisor, and I couldn't have asked for a better guide. Amalia spent COUNTLESS hours with me on all of my application material - hearing my story, building a resume that would reflect my journey effectively, brainstorming essay ideas, helping me craft and express my story in the most impactful manner, preparing me for my interviews (in a manner where I could show my best self and be fully authentic) and so much more. Not only is Amalia one of the most intelligent guides I've ever met, but she also acts as your true cheerleader in the WHOLE process. She was available 24*7 over the many months we worked together, answered my endless list of questions with utmost detail and patience, and matched my ambition/aspirations with her unbounded wisdom! Amalia is a rockstar - You will be lucky if you get a chance to work with her.

SOP even understood my ambition to apply to different programs (including dual degrees). Not even once did I feel that my spirit/aspirations were inhibited by the process. Kathryn and Amalia showed extreme patience and generosity throughout the whole process. Infact, they balanced my optimism and fears with top grade pragmatism and professionalism. I felt safe and confident following their advice (after all, B-school experiences can be life altering experiences). One part of the process that people don't speak about is rejection - when I did not get an interview invite from one of the schools I applied to, Kathryn and Amalia gave me the courage to march on in that phase and work with full force on the other schools on my list. For some of the schools we worked together on, I changed the format of our engagement from comprehensive to hourly - but it did not change the seriousness or depth with which both of them helped me prepare the best applications possible!

Out of the schools I applied to, I got interview invites from Wharton Lauder and INSEAD, and got an admit from INSEAD (where I'm headed off to in coming months). These invites and my INSEAD admit would not have happened without SOP! Thank you, Amalia and Kathryn, for helping me realize my B-School dream :)

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I am a reapplicant and can objectively say that SquareOne helped me to not only secure multiple admits to top schools, but also unexpected scholarships ($610k in total) from the quality of my applications. SquareOne hand held me through the complicated application process, and even made it fun and interesting, which allowed me to stay motivated during the busy and stressful period.

My journey started with my consultation call with Kathryn, which ran to 2 hours. Compared to the ~10 other consultants who I consulted with, Kathryn did not try to fit me into a proven template/story, made extra effort to understand my profile as an international applicant coming with different brand names from applicants with an Americanized background, and strongly believed that I was an M7 candidate, which proved to be accurate, despite discouragement/non-commitment from other consultants.

Kathryn remembered my details as she matched me with her most suitable experts/consultants to optimize the different components (career narrative - Luis, personal stories, interview prep - Lara, etc.) of my application. My personal consultant Amalia was sincere in getting to know me and letting my personality shine through my essays. She never took the easy way out, and I felt challenged to dig deeper and think broader, to produce quality essays sometimes with 40-50 iterations/essay, even though this meant that she would have to spend a lot more of her time on me, while going through a pregnancy and eventually child birth (congrats!!).

Despite having many other clients, Kathryn and Amalia always made me feel like a priority, be it from the timeliness of their edits to their generosity with their time, advice and care. The application process can be emotionally draining, and Kathryn and Amalia provided support above and beyond my application package - checking in after my interviews to constructively point out areas for improvement before my next go, checking in on results day to console me for being waitlisted, while celebrating my admits and scholarships, and sharing my excitement in picking schools! Everyone at SquareOne is as committed to my success as a supportive parent sending me off on my first day, excited for my future journey.

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I can safely say that I would have not been able to get accepted to Anderson without the help of the
Square One Prep team.
I had the pleasure to work Amalia and the team for about 5 months and was impressed by the amount
of time and resources that was invested in order to make sure that my application was as strong as
possible.
The team took the time to get to know me on a personal level and guided me through the process with
patience, a strict schedule, and extremely helpful feedback, while always listening to my ideas.
The career narrative exercise allowed me to narrow down my short- and long-term goals, which in turn
greatly helped me craft stronger essays and applications.
Additionally, I would have not been able to ace my interview without Amalia’s help, and the interview
resources at my disposal.
I would work with the Square One Prep many times over and will continue recommending them to
colleagues and friends in the future.

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From the moment I got on the phone for an introductory call with Kathryn, I could see that Square One had a process that worked. There were clear steps that the team walked me through that pushed me to get to the bottom of my career aspirations and motivations for business school, resulting in an application that was far more genuine and credible than what I could have put together through independent self-reflection. My advisor, Amalia, was always willing to jump on a call to talk through countless iterations of essays and asked me questions that caused me to think deeply about how I wanted to present myself as a candidate. I am thrilled to be heading to HBS for the MS/MBA dual degree program in Biotechnology: Life Sciences and could not have done it without the support of this team!

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I cannot say enough good things about Square One Prep, and in particular, Amalia and Kathryn.

From the very beginning, Kathryn and Amalia pushed me to celebrate my own unique story and to articulate my goals with confidence. When I put together a career narrative with all the "right" ingredients (logical/linear path, easily definable positions, etc.), both Kathryn and Amalia pushed back. They'd been listening so intently during our conversations, that they'd picked up on my real career goals — literally before I had! They encouraged me to create a plan that both made sense and truly resonated with who I was and wanted to be. We went back to the drawing board, and the resulting product was a set of goals that encapsulated all of my passion. I then got to carry this passion — my authentic story — into every essay and interview. This made my candidacy more compelling, but it was also personally empowering.

Kathryn and Amalia worked with me through a months-long waitlist process, while on vacation in Europe, and on Christmas Eve (and everyday in between!). They had a personal investment in every aspect of my application. While I only partnered with SOP for 3 schools, I credit them for my success across the board. My story is mine, but my ability to tell it with confidence and clarity...Kathryn and Amalia made that possible.

I'm thrilled with my results, and I'll be attending a Top-5 school in the fall.

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I contacted Square One Prep a few days before the application deadlines. I was really stressed and confused on whether I should be giving the GMAT again, what part of my story should I highlight, how should I best convey my post-MBA goals. I had a first one-hour chat with Kathryn and she really helped me clear out most of my queries. Unlike a lot of other firms, she critically analyzed each aspect of my profile, even though this was a free consultation. When I (unexpectedly) got a call from HBS, I decided to take their services to prepare for an interview. I approached them just 3 days before the interview, but Kathryn was kind enough to quickly set up a session for me. More than help with answers, I was looking to get comfortable with the format and stay confident. Amalia did just that. She gave me really valuable insights into how I could convey more in a short span of time. Being an HBS alum herself, she helped me understand what the school focuses on. While she talked about her experience there, I got even more motivated to make sure I ace my preparation for the D-day.

I cannot thank Square One Prep enough for their prompt help, insightful suggestions and friendly attitude. I would highly recommend them for interview prep!

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Square One has been fundamental in helping me gather and consolidate my thoughts for the MBA application process. Kathryn and Amalia did an amazing job pushing me forward and taking the best out of me so that I could craft my best stories.

Applying to an MBA is a challenging process by its own nature, since you are competing with goal getters and top performers from all over the world, and I believe their support and experience with schools was key to make my application very competitive and unique. They will be very honest about your performance, personal and professional story and weakness and the process will make you more mature. They helped me from the brainstorming process up to interview preparation, and allowed me to choose what I wanted to talk about, boosting the way I presented my story.

I wholeheartedly recommend working with Square One Prep

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