168
Finance
Banking-Inv.
Sponsored
Penn-Wharton
MBA
Despite significant disadvantages—including no overseas experience, an extremely low GPA that initially felt hopeless, and only one year of preparation—I was able to gain admission to multiple schools, including my dream top programs in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
I began preparing for my applications after passing my company’s sponsorship selection in February 2018. Due to a slow start, many aspects of my preparation fell behind schedule, and as a result, I did not obtain competitive test scores until late January—after submitting all of my applications—making the process a true high-wire act. Under these circumstances, the fact that I ultimately received offers from multiple dream schools is something I attribute largely to Round One’s support.
I believe that Round One’s essay counseling played a particularly critical role in my success, for the following three main reasons. (Mr. Round was my primary counselor, so references to individual counselors below refer to him. That said, Ms. Round also supported me with interview preparation, and based on that experience, I consider her to be equally capable, professional, and trustworthy.)
As noted above, because I was already behind schedule, the single most important factor was how effectively I could secure time for test preparation within the limited time remaining. I therefore wanted to minimize time spent on matters that did not directly contribute to improving the quality of my essays—such as traveling to in-person meetings or coordinating logistics and scheduling.
In this regard, Round One’s Skype-based counseling model was extremely effective. In addition, having a fixed weekly day and time slot eliminated logistical friction and allowed me to conserve both time and energy for studying. As a result, I was able to persist with score preparation until the very end and ultimately obtain competitive scores just in time.
Furthermore, the fixed counseling schedule functioned as an excellent pacemaker, preventing me from postponing essay work under the excuse of being busy with test preparation and enabling me to move through the process in a well-balanced manner.
I was also greatly helped by Mr. Round’s professionalism in consistently maintaining a high standard of counseling, even during periods when my test scores were not yet ready and during the particularly busy year-end and New Year season.
Despite the fact that many of my review requests involved short-notice deadlines, he never once missed a deadline and consistently delivered high-quality feedback. This reliability allowed me to somehow make it through an extremely tight and risky schedule and complete application materials I could submit with confidence.
Finally, Mr. Round’s consistently positive, trustworthy character and professional ability represent one of Round One’s most important strengths.
The essay-writing process requires applicants to openly share their career histories and personalities with a counselor and to collaboratively shape outputs for which there is no single correct answer. As such, being able to trust the counselor on a human level—and to believe that their advice will genuinely lead to a convincing final product—is essential for moving forward without hesitation.
In this respect, Mr. Round’s character and qualities, as described above, make him someone I can confidently recommend as a partner not only for the essay-writing process, but for successfully navigating the entire application journey together.
