44
Energy
Engineering/R&D
Sponsored
Wash-Olin
MBA
I first learned about Round One through a small advertisement posted on the wall of a prep school in Okachimachi. At the time, both my TOEFL and GMAT scores were stagnating. As summer passed and I was increasingly pressed to begin working on my essays, I finally forced myself to start searching for an essay counselor. In addition to Round One, I explored services offered by well-known prep schools as well as several independent counselors who had branched off on their own. In the end, however, I decided—largely based on intuition—to work with Round One.
Essay counseling is inherently a one-on-one endeavor. I believe it must be carefully chosen by considering factors such as compatibility with the counselor, their personality, their confidence and pride in the services they provide, and their dedication and commitment to their clients. Mr. Round demonstrates strong confidence in his services and, above all, provides unwavering support with a clear focus on the ultimate outcome: his clients’ admission to their target schools.
What constitutes a satisfactory level of quality in essay counseling is ultimately determined by the client, but it is likely that the benchmark is simply this: an essay that leads to admission. If a client is not satisfied—meaning the essay does not result in an offer—then the service cannot truly be considered valuable. Considering that I was admitted to a top-20 school despite having TOEFL and GMAT scores that were by no means outstanding, I must acknowledge that Round One’s service quality was indeed very high.
Ms. Emma Round sometimes provided extremely detailed, line-by-line guidance on my essays, and at other times issued bold instructions to restructure them entirely. Her counseling went beyond merely completing essays; her advice and revisions were always guided by the question of what was necessary to gain admission.
The essay development process began by refining the core ideas that would form the backbone of each essay, and only after receiving approval to proceed with those ideas would I draft the essay itself. On one occasion, due to time constraints, I drafted an essay without first obtaining Ms. Emma’s approval, and she determined that it needed to be rewritten. Looking back, I believe this uncompromising stance was a critical factor in guiding clients toward successful outcomes.
To all applicants currently preparing their applications: I understand that choosing the right essay counselor under constraints of time and cost is not easy. I hope that after carefully evaluating other services as well, you will select a counselor you are truly satisfied with—one who can help you craft essays that lead to admission.
