I approached Karen late in the application process (in November) and I
was intent on applying to MBAs by the round 2 deadlines (early
January).
Karen is knowledgeable, attentive, and gives direct and constructive
feedback. She was very responsive and made time to answer my
questions, even on very short notice. Her advice spans the initial
thought process about which MBAs to apply to through to preparing for
admissions interviews and finally on deciding on which program to
attend.
Throughout my application process, Karen helped me to develop my ideas
and go far deeper on essays to ensure I communicated an authentic
message to admissions committees and to help differentiate my story
from other applicants. A large part of the MBA application requires
communicating your short and long term career goals and how an MBA can
help you achieve these. Karen helped me to develop and convey these
ideas clearly.
Early on in my application process, I appreciated Karen’s
recommendation to re-sit the GRE for a second time sooner than later.
In doing so, I thankfully scored in the range necessary for my target
schools. Had I waited, which I was planning to initially, I would have
had far less time to work on the application essays, and would have
lost the option to re-sit a third time if I needed to. It’s small
strategic decisions like this that can make a big difference to one’s
application process.
Crucially, Karen knew when an application was ready to be submitted.
As a first time applicant, this is very difficult to gauge and one can
spend countless hours finalizing minute details on one application at
the expense of working on another.