100
Finance
Info Tech
Sponsored
Emory-Goizueta
MBA
Admitted School: Emory University Goizueta Business School
Counselor: Emma Round
My admission to an MBA program would have been unimaginable without Round One.
In March 2013, I was selected by my company to be sponsored for an MBA program, and from that point I had less than one year to survive an extremely demanding MBA application process. It is said that there are only around 1,000 Japanese MBA applicants each year, making the applicant pool very small; as a result, it is extremely difficult to gain a clear overall picture of what kind of preparation is required and how one should proceed. In addition, there were very few MBA holders around me, making it hard to gather information from experienced individuals. However, by using Round One’s counseling services, I received detailed guidance from Stephen on how to design a preparation schedule and how to select target schools, among many other aspects of the admissions process. This enabled me to prepare in a highly efficient manner.
In addition, I received essay and interview counseling from Emma, and the quality of her services was exceptionally high—to the point where I genuinely looked forward to each weekly session. I come from a science and engineering background and worked in systems development, which is relatively uncommon among MBA applicants. However, through Emma’s perspective—having worked at IT startups in Silicon Valley, being an INSEAD MBA graduate herself, and having served as an INSEAD interviewer—she was able to identify the most compelling aspects of my professional experience. Together, we crafted essays and interview responses that resonated with Western admissions committees, and I believe this directly contributed to my successful outcome.
In recent years, the MBA admissions process has placed significantly greater weight on the evaluation of essays and interviews. Against this backdrop, hiring a highly capable counselor to help craft competitive essays and persuasive interview responses has become the single most critical success factor in MBA applications.
