23
Manufacturing
Product Mgmt
Self-funded
Penn-Wharton
MBA
School Attending: Wharton
Other Admitted School: Kellogg
Professional Experience: 10 years at an electronics manufacturer
Funding: Self-funded
GPA: 2.9 (Private university, Economics major)
TOEFL: 111
GMAT: 710
Securing admission to both Wharton and Kellogg would not have been possible without Round One.
Choosing Round One from among many essay counseling services was a decisive step toward admission. Having failed once before in selecting a counselor, I spent an extraordinary amount of time researching and gathering information. The keyword I ultimately arrived at was the so-called “Big Three Japanese MBA counselors.” Mr. Round being regarded as one of those three was a major deciding factor.
Before starting, I was honestly quite anxious about remote counseling conducted via Skype. However, that concern disappeared completely from the very first session. With every counseling session, I came to understand exactly what people mean by “the Big Three.” Prior to working with Mr. Round, I had attended multiple face-to-face essay counseling sessions, and it took only a moment to realize how much money I had wasted on those.
What makes Round One exceptional is its meticulous, boutique-level service. If “boutique counseling” has a definition, it is Round One. Even as a self-funded applicant who is extremely sensitive to cost-effectiveness, I was thoroughly satisfied. My impressions of the service are as follows.
In MBA admissions, deciding which schools to apply to and how to approach them is critically important. Drawing on many years of experience, Mr. Round provides highly detailed strategic advice tailored precisely to each applicant’s situation. For example, whether interviews should be conducted on campus or not depends heavily on the school. I started quite late, in October, but thanks to the optimal, personalized strategy Mr. Round designed for me, I was able to get through the entire process without once feeling overwhelmed by anxiety. The quality of this service is worlds apart from the generic, one-size-fits-all strategies offered by large prep schools.
I scheduled counseling sessions on weekdays and devoted my weekends entirely to writing essays, which allowed me to work with exceptional efficiency. For those who are working full-time, writing essays on weekdays is extremely difficult. This approach is particularly powerful for people who cannot afford to slow down at work.
The counseling itself is also highly strategic and completely free of waste. The biggest difference compared with other counselors is the precision of the process—there is no unnecessary writing. Through repeated exchanges with Mr. Round, we carefully identified which of my experiences could become effective material, and I was guided to write efficiently and purposefully. Even as someone who had never written essays before, I was astonished at how strong my essays became simply by being guided in the right way. This methodology is impossible to fully describe in words—you really need to experience what “the Big Three” means. Once you receive interview invitations and arrive at interview venues, you will be surprised by how many other Round One clients are there as well. In an environment where MBA applicants have surged due to the subprime crisis, the fact that so many Round One clients are being invited is truly remarkable.
To be blunt, interviews are incredibly important. The idea that good scores and decent essays alone are enough to secure admission is a fantasy. I can say from direct experience that without Mr. Round’s interview training, I would not have been admitted. I received thorough training for the two schools I was admitted to; for the one school where I was rejected, I became complacent and skipped the training. Interview responses differ by school, and failing to prepare accordingly can cause you to stumble just as you reach the final stretch. Mr. Round’s interview training is completely tailor-made. Original, well-crafted responses leave a deep impression on interviewers. At one school where I had fully prepared with Mr. Round, after delivering a response we had refined together, the interviewer smiled and said, “You clearly did your homework!” At another school, a question Mr. Round told me to be ready for the day before came up exactly as predicted. From there, I controlled the pace of the interview, and the moment I left the interview room, I was so excited by how well it went that I couldn’t help pumping my fist repeatedly.
At some point, most applicants will visit campuses. When you do, you will be genuinely surprised by how many Round One alumni are at top schools. Despite meeting them for the first time, they were incredibly supportive and generously shared detailed insights about their schools. As a self-funded applicant without any corporate network to rely on, this network was invaluable to me. Campus visits provide excellent material for both essays and interviews. Although I was only able to visit campuses shortly before my interviews, the impact was undeniable. As a future Round One alumnus myself, I intend to give back to this network as much as I can.
If you have found your way to this page and are reading this, you are honestly very lucky. There are many essay counseling services out there, but I can recommend Round One with complete confidence. Welcome to the Round One highway!
