157
Finance
Banking-Inv.
Sponsored
MIT-Sloan
SFMBA
I will enroll in the MIT Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), my first-choice school, starting in the summer of 2018. My acceptance to my top-choice program was entirely thanks to the appropriate support and advice provided by Round One.
Background: 11 years at a financial institution, company-sponsored study abroad, age 34 (at the time of application)
Admitted program: MIT Sloan Fellows Program (MBA)
As my company had almost no prior experience with mid-career executive MBA applications and no accumulated internal knowledge, Round One provided highly accurate advice based on their extensive experience. This included guidance on target test scores, timing for campus visits and applications, and the construction of an optimal application portfolio.
They also handled everything from reviewing and refining emails to the Admissions Office and post-interview thank-you notes, to checking every single item in each application form. In addition, some schools now require applicants to submit a LinkedIn profile link instead of a resume, and I was deeply impressed that Round One even checked this in detail. I believe there are very few counselors who provide such comprehensive, end-to-end support.
The quality was extremely high. First, using Round One’s proprietary worksheets, Mr. Round worked with me to conduct a thorough “inventory” of my past experiences, including both my professional career and student life. Completing this process at the outset allowed me to gain deep self-understanding and made the subsequent essay-writing process significantly easier. Next, after creating my resume, we moved on to refining my short- and long-term career goals and other “future-oriented” elements. By working consistently with Mr. Round on these steps, individual “points” in the essays—such as Why MBA? and Why [School]?—were connected into coherent “lines,” resulting in essays with substantial depth and substance.
Underlying all of this is Mr. Round’s exceptional character. Even during busy periods, he was always calm and genuinely engaged with me as an individual, which I believe directly led to the production of a large number of high-quality essays. In addition, no matter how close we were to application deadlines, he stayed with me until I was fully satisfied with the revisions.
Although my test scores were not particularly high, I was invited to interviews by most of the schools I applied to after submitting my essays. I firmly believe this was due to the high-quality essays produced with Round One’s support.
I received interview training from both Mr. Round and Ms. Round. Rather than simply conducting mock interviews, they recorded my responses and provided written feedback that included suggested model answers, such as “in situations like this, this wording or phrasing would be better.” It is often said that the final “Killer Questions” in an interview are extremely important, and there was even a dedicated session focused solely on developing these questions. This proved to be extremely valuable. In fact, during my interview with MIT—my first-choice school—I asked a question that Mr. Round and I had prepared together, and the interviewer responded, “That’s a very good question,” leaving a positive impression.
Finally, MBA applications can feel like a marathon with no visible finish line, and at times the process can be extremely difficult and painful. Even so, Round One always ran alongside me throughout the journey, and I was emotionally supported as well. If you trust Round One and see the process through to the end, I truly believe you will achieve excellent results.
