36
Consulting
HR
Scholarship
UCLA-Anderson
MBA
Amid intensified competition driven by the financial crisis and other factors, being able to enroll at UCLA as a scholarship recipient would not have been possible without working side by side with Ms. Round and the consistently high quality of Round One’s support.
I was able to achieve a highly satisfying result in the application process despite being a self-funded applicant with a purely domestic background (although I use English at work), which was by no means an advantageous position. In that context, the return on my investment in Round One was particularly significant, and when factoring in the scholarship I received, it can be said to have been a major positive both qualitatively and quantitatively. Below, I would like to outline the reasons I recommend Round One.
I worked with Ms. Round on my essays. To be honest, although I had read about her track record in these testimonials (as many others likely have), at first I wondered whether her experience would measure up compared with Mr. Round’s well-known record in Japan. However, those concerns proved to be completely unfounded. The quality of Ms. Round’s counseling was exceptionally high, as evidenced by the fact that I received offers of admission with scholarships from multiple schools. Her approach was also extremely professional. While respecting the applicant’s initiative and personal motivations, she did not hesitate to point out what needed to be said from the perspective of creating an “application package that leads to admission.” Personally, I do not work well with people who berate students, so I found it especially positive that I could work comfortably and productively with Ms. Round. In addition, many admissions directors at business schools are women, and from that perspective as well, her insights as a female counselor can be considered a distinct value. Beyond standard essays, she also provided highly useful guidance on special requirements such as scholarship essays and audio essays (for UCLA, applicants were required to choose one topic and submit a one-minute recorded response).
I took interview training with Round One several times, and it was extremely beneficial. This is because they clearly pointed out concrete ways to improve responses to questions that are frequently asked in real interviews—for example, explaining how answering in a certain way would be more effective. The training itself was highly practical, and when questions we had practiced appeared verbatim in my actual interview with an admissions director, I remember thinking to myself, “This is it.” In fact, I received an offer of admission with a scholarship from that school on the next business day after the interview. I believe this was clearly because I was able to leave a strong impression during the interview.
Communication with Round One is conducted primarily via email and Skype, and this proved to be the most effective and efficient method for me. As mentioned earlier, I had no overseas experience, so in face-to-face communication I could not always fully understand what was being said or perfectly convey what I wanted to express. With email, however, that concern disappears, and written records are preserved. In addition, it eliminates travel time simply to meet—something that, at least for me, would have been extremely inefficient. Responses to emails were always prompt, within 24 hours. Some people may feel uneasy unless they speak face to face, but I personally felt no inconvenience at all. In fact, I never met either Mr. Round or Ms. Round in person.
Unless one is a reapplicant, it is difficult to anticipate how much work the application process will involve, making schedule management challenging. In reality, beyond essays, there are many time-consuming tasks—such as recorded responses and various application forms—that must be handled simultaneously. In this regard, Round One presents an efficient roadmap based on its extensive past experience. Homework is assigned on a weekly basis, and by completing it in a timely manner, applicants can be confident of meeting all application deadlines. While I cannot say this definitively, as I did not make direct comparisons, I suspect that counselors in larger organizations may struggle to offer this level of flexibility. Even when my work became busy and I fell behind on assignments, Round One responded with considerable flexibility. As a result, I never once worried that I might miss an application deadline.
In closing, while the above points may not apply equally to everyone, counselor fees are by no means inexpensive, and choosing a low-quality counselor can have irreversible consequences. It is therefore important to carefully seek out someone who is a good fit for you. In this respect, I believe that both Mr. Round and Ms. Round are people with whom many applicants will find it very easy to work.
Of course, Round One does not guarantee admission. Application outcomes ultimately depend on factors such as GMAT and TOEFL scores and the applicant’s own level of commitment—and, if you choose Round One, how effectively you are able to leverage their resources. If you are fully committed to the application process, Round One will help maximize your chances of success.
