48
Finance
Corp. VC
Sponsored
Cornell-Rubacha
MSRE
About a year and a half after first meeting Mr. Round (Steve), this March I was fortunate to receive offers of admission to my first-choice program—the real estate program at Cornell University’s graduate school—as well as to several other real estate programs. I am writing this admissions success story on the flight departing Narita Airport, on my way to Cornell University with my family. As I look back on my application journey, I am convinced that I would not have made it this far without Round One’s support—particularly the essay counseling provided by Ms. Round (Emma). My TOEFL and GMAT scores, frankly speaking, were far from impressive.
Round One’s solid reputation had already been well established among several senior colleagues at my company who had pursued MBA studies abroad. However, in my case, I was applying to graduate-level real estate programs—an area where even major prep schools, including Round One, had relatively limited track records—so I was honestly quite unsure about which service to choose. Initially, I even visited another prep school that claimed multiple admissions results for real estate programs. However, I had clear and specific goals for pursuing a real estate program and felt reasonably confident about the substance of my essays. Rather than relying on the vague reassurance of “multiple admissions results,” I chose Round One—a native English-speaking consultancy with deep familiarity with Western academic admissions systems.
At first, unlike MBA applications, I had assumed that essays for general graduate programs should be more academic in nature and strongly emphasize “what kind of research I want to pursue in the future.” I later realized that this was merely a preconceived notion—mine and that of the information I had gathered. What is required differs by program, and what truly matters is carefully answering the questions being asked while effectively presenting oneself. Whenever I had doubts, they were addressed clearly and promptly, and eliminating even small uncertainties proved extremely important for my peace of mind.
Most applicants go through the admissions process while juggling their regular work responsibilities, making schedule management critically important. After choosing Round One, I received regular information updates, and by objectively reassessing my current situation each time, I was able to reduce the burden of managing multiple application tasks in parallel. While much of the information Round One provided was primarily aimed at MBA applicants, this never posed an issue for me. Once full-scale essay counseling began around August–September, I was assigned weekly tasks such as résumé preparation, recommendation strategy, and individual essays. By tackling these one by one under Round One’s guidance, everything was managed so that deadlines were met, allowing me to focus my time on essay content and test preparation without unnecessary distractions.
Another benefit was that by securing an excellent counselor like Round One early on, I no longer had to worry about counselor selection later, saving both time and mental energy. Well-regarded counselors have limited availability, and throughout the application cycle I often heard complaints from other applicants about mismatched output or insufficient access to their counselors. In contrast, I never heard such dissatisfaction regarding Round One. Moreover, being able to handle everything via Skype and email—without commuting to a prep school—was extremely valuable.
My overall counseling was handled by Steve, while Emma took charge of individual essay counseling. As siblings, the two share information closely. Emma’s essay counseling skills are exceptional, and her work is highly efficient. Above all, she has a positive, pleasant personality that made each counseling session enjoyable. While essay questions differed subtly from program to program, she reviewed them with great care, and in the end helped me produce essays that fully reflected my passion and key strengths. Some applications included optional comment sections, and even there, Emma’s counseling ability truly shone.
One of the greatest reassurances of working with Round One was having my ideas evaluated objectively by a native speaker. There was always the risk that points I, as a Japanese applicant, wanted to emphasize might not resonate with American admissions committees. Being able to present my thoughts to Emma each time and receive candid feedback was, to me, a defining strength of Round One.
Throughout the application process, the positive personalities of Steve and Emma were an enormous source of support. In my case, my test scores never improved to the level I had hoped for, and there were times when I felt deeply discouraged. However, the siblings’ bright encouragement helped me maintain my motivation. In November, when it looked like my work schedule might allow for a campus visit, I consulted with them and was warmly encouraged to go. As a result, I was able to make a highly productive visit. It is often said that applicants with weak conversational English should avoid on-campus visits, as exposing poor English skills can be a disadvantage. However, they respected my wishes. Even if they had advised against it, I likely would have gone—but thanks to their encouragement, I was able to approach the visit aggressively, even in situations where I met exclusively with native speakers.
In closing, while my circumstances may have been somewhat unique, I can confidently say that Round One is highly recommendable in many respects. For applicants who must invest significant time and money, choosing the right counselor is critical—yet there is limited time to deliberate. I sincerely hope that those reading this will reach out to Round One directly, use that interaction as a basis for judgment, and ultimately experience an application process with as few regrets as possible.
