194
Finance
General Mgmt
Sponsored
NUS
MBA
School Enrolled: National University of Singapore
Background: 36 years old, finance, company-sponsored study abroad, TOEFL score of 56 at the start
After passing my company’s internal selection almost on a whim, my MBA challenge began despite not knowing anything about the process. Around that time, I was introduced to Round One by a colleague from the same company who was also a sponsored candidate, and that was how my relationship with Mr. Round and Round One began. I had no overseas experience at all and was what you might call a purely domestic applicant, but thanks to Mr. Round’s careful and thorough support, I was able to pass both the essay and interview stages and ultimately gain admission to NUS, one of Asia’s top universities. While I could go on endlessly with details, the key advantages of Round One from my perspective are as follows.
I had been accepted into my company’s sponsorship program almost on momentum alone and truly had no idea where to begin. However, during the initial counseling session, Mr. Round organized a clear schedule covering everything through to admission, including test preparation, essay writing, and interview preparation, which helped me visualize the entire process. When considering target schools, he helped build a portfolio of primary and secondary schools and clarified what score levels would be required for each, making it very clear what I needed to do next. Even when I had to reconsider my target schools later in the process, he flexibly revised the strategy, allowing me to stay focused on preparation.
In addition, a particularly notable strength of Round One is its hands-on support with application submissions and communication with universities.
Application submissions are, of course, conducted entirely in English, and as a Japanese applicant, I often struggled with what and how to write. By working together with Mr. Round, however, I was able to complete these tasks smoothly. The fact that I was able to submit application materials to multiple universities accurately and by their deadlines was entirely thanks to Mr. Round. In the later stages, when there was frequent communication with admissions offices regarding interview scheduling and other matters, Mr. Round also supported me with drafting emails in English, which allowed communication to proceed smoothly. MBA applications are full of unknowns for Japanese applicants, but with Mr. Round’s comprehensive support, I believe it is impossible to get lost.
By organizing my career background and identifying which aspects would leave a positive impression on admissions committees, Mr. Round helped me structure my essays smoothly. He also worked with me to analyze each school’s program and determine which elements to highlight in my essays so that my motivation for each university would come across more clearly. As a result, I was able to produce essays of a very high standard. In the end, I was not able to gain much of an advantage through test scores, but the fact that I passed the document screening stage at all schools and received interview invitations is, I believe, clear evidence of the high quality of Mr. Round’s support.
After submitting my essays, I participated in several rounds of interview training. In each session, I received feedback on what went well and what needed improvement, which was extremely effective for making progress. Interview questions were also designed with each university’s characteristics and tendencies in mind, so I encountered very similar questions in the actual interviews and was able to respond calmly. In addition, support in developing questions to ask interviewers at the end of interviews was extremely helpful. Asking strong questions can significantly improve one’s evaluation, and the questions I developed together with Mr. Round were praised by interviewers as “good questions,” which I felt contributed to a positive overall assessment.
Especially during periods when my test preparation was not going well, Mr. Round consistently encouraged me with warmth. MBA applications are truly filled with setbacks, but thanks to Mr. Round’s character, I was able to persevere through them.
As described above, by walking alongside Round One’s high-quality services, I believe strong results are inevitable. I personally feel very glad that I was able to fight through the MBA application process together with Round One. Thank you very much.
