27
Finance
General Mgmt
Sponsored
LBS-Sloan Masters
MSc Mgmt
Without R1, my admission would have been impossible. Just like my acceptance letter from LBS, I plan to keep forever the many essays that Ms. Emma Round carefully reviewed and refined for me.
I was preparing for my applications while working as a London-based expatriate at a Japanese financial institution. Unlike in Tokyo, I did not have access to so-called well-known prep schools, and I was at a loss as to how I should proceed with my essays. It was at that point that I learned about R1. I sent a single email to Mr. Round and received an immediate response, followed by a virtual call. He listened attentively and quickly grasped my situation—not only with respect to essays, but across the entire application process. I was convinced at that moment that he would truly run alongside me as a partner.
The fact that Mr. Round worked as a close two-person team with his sister, Emma, was also a major source of reassurance. Given the long and unforgiving nature of the application journey—where failure was not an option—having two well-coordinated counselors who genuinely understood me was a tremendous advantage. The distance between London and Canada suddenly felt insignificant.
That marked the beginning of my long series of essay exchanges with Emma. Every comment she returned was precise, and her questions consistently had the potential to draw out deeper layers of my inner thinking. More than anything, she completely reshaped how I thought about my essays—the structure of the writing, the choice of vocabulary, and the overall approach. Writing essays is one of the most challenging parts of the application process, but Emma stayed with my challenge all the way through.
There were moments when Emma and I disagreed during the process. I asked questions until I was fully satisfied, and while she listened carefully, she never wavered from the core narrative. She always explained her thinking clearly and concretely. At many points, I could strongly sense the depth of her career—shaped by her INSEAD MBA and her executive experience in Silicon Valley.
Her professionalism extended beyond essay content to the manner of her communication as well. After receiving my emails, Emma would always reply with a clear message such as, “I will get back to you within X hours,” which eliminated unnecessary stress. She continued running alongside me regardless of Christmas, year-end holidays, or weekends. At times, she even mixed in humor, and our exchanges became pleasantly casual. In the midst of intense and suffocating essay work, this offered much-needed relief, and it genuinely felt as though Emma was always in the next room rather than across the ocean in Victoria. The climax came on the final day of online submission. Emails went back and forth almost every hour, and Emma reviewed the entire application until the very last moment.
Often overlooked, interview training is another major strength of R1. I completed a total of five mock interviews—some with Mr. Round and others with Emma. Having interview training conducted by the same counselors who shaped my essays was highly effective, both in drawing out my strengths and in deliberately pressing on weaknesses within the application. After each Type A mock interview, a comprehensive feedback report arrived within about an hour. My habits and weaknesses were pointed out in fine detail, along with clear guidance on what needed to be strengthened and how. This made it possible to identify exactly what to work on.
As I wrote at the beginning, my admission would not have been possible without Round One. I am deeply grateful for the good fortune of having found R1. Having counselors who truly understood me has been invaluable, and I hope that throughout business school—and even after graduation—I will continue to seek the perspectives of Mr. Round and Emma whenever the opportunity arises.
