155
Finance
Ops/Logistics
Sponsored
HEC-Paris
MBA
Destination: HEC-Paris
Counselor: Stephen Round (with part of the interview training conducted by Emma Round)
Background: Japanese financial institution, age 30 (at the time of application)
With the tremendous support of Stephen and Emma, I was able to secure admission to my target school. The challenge of juggling score preparation, essay writing, and interview preparation in parallel is difficult to fully convey in words. In this account, I would like to outline the services provided by Round One and share my observations, both to express my gratitude to them and to offer some guidance to those aspiring to pursue an overseas MBA.
Service Coverage
They cover virtually everything that Japanese applicants typically expect from an essay counselor. In addition to standard services such as résumé preparation, essay counseling, interview training, school selection, advice on application timing, and mailing lists announcing school events, they also provide more detailed support such as connecting clients with Round One alumni and proofreading emails to admissions offices. I consider this broad service coverage to be Round One’s greatest strength.
Timing of Engagement
I first contacted Stephen in the spring of the year I planned to apply, and after an initial meeting, formally engaged him as my counselor. By entering into a Strategic Guidance contract, I became eligible to receive the full range of services described above.
Spring–Summer
During this period, I focused on score preparation while using Round One’s services for gathering school information. Specifically, I received a comprehensive list of prospective schools, including score requirements and averages, class sizes and acceptance numbers, application timelines, and links to official websites. While this information could theoretically be gathered independently from each school’s website, having it compiled in advance saved a tremendous amount of time. In addition, through the school event mailing list, I was able to stay informed about various events hosted by schools in the U.S. and Europe, such as information sessions held during admissions officers’ visits to Japan, alumni-led sessions, and webinars, and participated as appropriate.
Fall
I began working on my résumé. Following Round One’s proprietary career planning sheet, I listed detailed information including my academic background, work history, career goals, hobbies, and family background, and submitted this to Stephen. We then held a Skype meeting to go through follow-up explanations and Q&A. This process helped me build a strong foundation that later proved invaluable for essay writing and interview training.
Fall–Winter
Once the résumé was completed, I moved on to essay writing. Stephen also advised me on the order in which to tackle essays among my target schools, for example prioritizing schools with earlier deadlines or those sharing common themes such as “Why MBA?” or career plans. For the writing itself, I combined independent drafting with Skype sessions with Stephen. When I was unable to complete a full draft within the word limit by the time of a session, I would instead prepare bullet points and discuss them over Skype to receive guidance. Stephen generally refrained from making major changes to my content; instead, he focused on advising how to make my points clearer and more persuasive, both logically and in terms of English expression. As a result, I was able to produce essays that conveyed my true intentions clearly, without distorting the content or exaggerating my achievements.
Winter
I also began interview training during this period. Because I was handling score preparation and essay writing in parallel, it was particularly helpful that I did not need to re-explain my background to a separate interview coach. The interview training included very detailed feedback, such as bullet-point summaries of my answers, strengths and weaknesses, suggested improvements for weaker points, and numerical evaluations on a ten-point scale. Each session’s feedback was extremely dense, so after two or three sessions, I focused mainly on self-review. During this time, I conducted campus visits, and on one trip, I was unexpectedly offered an interview by a school on the final day of my visit. When I consulted Stephen, he rearranged his schedule to make time for interview training. I consider this level of flexibility to be another major strength of Round One.
Advantages
The services are truly applicant-centered. By striving to tailor their support to each individual, they deliver a comprehensive and highly flexible service. I believe this stems from the fact that both Stephen and Emma genuinely enjoy Japan and have worked with Japanese applicants for many years.
Disadvantages
The cost is not inexpensive. However, given the breadth and depth of the services provided, I believe the cost-performance balance is reasonable and not a significant concern.
Preparing for an MBA while working full-time is physically and mentally demanding. I have heard this from others, and it was certainly true in my own experience. In a situation where there are few people who truly understand the process and where one can easily feel isolated, I am deeply grateful that the two at Round One approached my case with the commitment to provide comprehensive support, rather than limiting their assistance to essay and interview preparation alone.
Finally, I wish every reader of this account the very best in their own journey, and with that, I conclude.
