From zero to hero

This is my second year applying for MBAs. in 2021 I applied to MIT, Wharton, Harvard and Stanford with help of another admissions consultant. I was interviewed by HBS and Wharton and got admitted to none. I felt that my applications were superficial and did not reflect my true self, containing what I thought that the schools wanted to see.

Last year (2022) I had Angela’s help to reflect and understand my personal stories and values during the application process, this completely changed the application experience. Moreover, my self-discoveries during this journey will greatly impact decisions in my personal life and career over many years to come. This second time, I applied to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton/Lauder, MIT, Booth, Kellogg and Berkeley. I landed interviews at Stanford, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg and Berkeley. Angela’s interview preparation was invaluable and contributed for my admissions at Booth (with a USD 40k merit scholarship), Kellogg, Berkeley and waitlist spot at Wharton / Lauder.

Finally, I am so supportive of Angela’s & Career Protocol’s work that I have sponsored their services for a dear friend, Ronaldo, from an underprivileged background with aspirations to change education in Brazil. With Career Protocol’s help, he was admitted at MPAs / MPP both at Columbia and the University of Chicago, both of them with extremely generous scholarships.

Carlos Rosis

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Grateful To My Coach!

I’m writing this review from the POV of a reapplicant. I purchased the 5 school application package and was paired with my coach in my first year of application. I found his ability to synthesize and distill down my values and guide me through essay writing invaluable. I cried when I read my final draft of “what matters most to you and why?” on Stanford’s essay because he helped me see layers of what really matters to me (this was useful beyond the MBA application for me and into what I want my long-term vision to be). It was a heart and mind-opening exercise to write that essay as my first b-school essay and have that as the basis for all of my other essays. He was open, approachable, caring, and would give honest feedback whenever I had questions. It was tough when I found out I didn’t get into any schools in my first year even with the help of Career Protocol and his guidance. When it came time to reapplication, the greatest value-added from my coach and Career Protocol has been the ability to follow up with him in the second year to approach a post-mortem and see where to improve for my reapplication. He helped connect me to the right resources to strengthen my application and think about points to highlight in the optional essay required for reapplicants. I am happy to share that I am an incoming student at Berkeley Haas with a full-ride and have also received a full-ride from a top 10 school and received scholarships to attend 2 other schools in the top 15 in my second year. Turnarounds do happen!

Even though I wasn’t with my coach for my second-year reapplication beyond the optional essay, he’s been a pivotal person in my MBA application journey from the very start in year one and helped me kick off applications in year 2. I learned the art of applying to business school, what matters to me/my values, and in general appreciated having an insightful, caring, and kind sounding board for business school and general career woes. Grateful is the only word I’m left with when I reflect on my MBA app journey with him and CP!

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Angela the Unicorn

If you want the best, go with Angela. I would choose MBA Protocol over and over again. With their support, I was admitted to Booth, Kellogg, Yale, Berkeley, and Ross, with over $400K in scholarships.

I started seriously considering doing an MBA almost 3 years ago. That’s when Angela spawned in my YouTube algorithm with her energetic, candid, and refreshingly honest videos. I learned about other MBA consulting firms later on, but it was immediately clear that Angela’s approach and level of care were on a completely different level.

We had our very first call 3 years ago. Even though I was still early in the process, Angela already saw my candidacy clearly. She helped me identify the values that would eventually define my story, and we talked not just about schools, but about what an MBA could truly mean for my life and long-term goals. That early belief in me and the clarity she brought made it obvious that Angela and her team were the right partners to help me achieve my dreams.

When I officially signed up for my MBA Guided Quest Package this year, I was welcomed by the whole MBA Protocol community – creating something truly unique. Beyond working 1:1 with my coach, I fully took advantage of the huddles and office hours held by other coaches, as well as exchanging advice with the other clients who became an extended part of my journey. The chance to interact with multiple people gave me continuous fresh perspectives, inspiration, and ideas to keep going and improve my apps every single day. The level of care and attention I received was simply beyond expectations.

Plus, I got the chance to work with Angela herself – from reviewing my career game plan to refining resume bullet points. This is the real competitive advantage of MBA Protocol: you’re never alone. In fact, you’re surrounded by experts who actively support you at every step in a community of peers that inspire you to aim higher.

You really cannot go wrong with this company. Choosing Angela and MBA Protocol was one of the best decisions I made in this journey, truly a unicorn in the MBA admissions world.

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Brian The Magician

I still can’t believe how meaningful and game-changer Brian’s counseling was for my MBA admission process. The bottom line: I got a scholarship of $70k at Haas and admission to my dream program at London Business School.

My MBA admission process started with another consultant who was very discouraging because of my low GRE scores. He told me not to even waste my time with LBS and suggested Florida instead…

But then I met Angela and Career Protocol. She matched me with Brian and my journey started. Working with Career Protocol and Brian was a transformative experience for me – they coached me to know myself better and my self-esteem grew a lot through the process. I started unsure of what value I would add to the class and I finished with a clear understanding of what matters to me and the value that my experiences have to offer to my classmates.

The Awesome Sauce call (or kick-off call), where Brian presented my life story back to me, was particularly meaningful. It helped me realize how much people mean to me, how passionate and also empathetic I am, and how one of my biggest strengths is in connecting with people.

Brian also gave me the best advice for handling the GRE and helped me stop going crazy with it. During the whole process, he was optimistic and realistic. Not discouraging and not just a cheerleader for taking the biggest risks with the schools I applied to. Brian pushed me to chase my dreams and also to hedge with some other schools (though not Florida).

One thing I’d say to people getting started with applications is to change their mindset from “how can I make these adcoms like me” to “how can I be most myself”, and that was one of the most important mindset changes that I developed thanks to Career Protocol.

I will forever be grateful to Brian and Angela.

Thanks CP!

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Super Brian: The Superhero You Want

Repeat with me: “I. Want. Brian.” With Brian, I was admitted to 5 out of 6 MBA programs with $150k+ scholarships: Booth, Kellogg, Yale, Haas, and Ross (and was invited to interview at Wharton as well).

I’m an international future student who has been working in Marketing and Sales for the past 5 years. From the very first call with Brian, I could immediately tell that he’s not only an amazingly professional and trustworthy person, but he’s also the chillest, most fun guy I’ve met in years. And trust me: you really want someone you can fully trust and who lifts your mood during this process – especially when you’re doing it on your own and most friends and family won’t fully grasp the amount of work ahead.

Brian will not forget a single detail of your personal and professional story. He has remarkable emotional intelligence and an incredible ability to highlight your persona in the strongest, most authentic way. With his help – made of lots of laughter, some shared tears, and tough love – I developed the most compelling stories in my essays, without ever settling or feeling like I wasn’t myself.

But the work we did went far beyond essays. We rebuilt my resume from scratch (even though my previous one had already helped me get into FAANG companies), strategized on the best recommenders, and carefully selected the portfolio of schools that best fit my goals and dreams. Most importantly, Brian was always there: ready to answer questions of all kinds and to offer thoughtful, honest advice whenever I needed it.

You just cannot go wrong with Brian. And, in the end, he’s someone that will always root for you as long as you are willing to work hard, be authentic, and have fun. I already miss working with him, but I’m sure I’ll keep in touch for the rest of my life.

“I. Want. Brian.”

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Couldn't have done it without her!

I met Angela through the Forte 2016 MBALaunch program. She was sharp, persuasive, and authentic. I respected her from the get-go and immediately felt like we’d get along. When it came time for applications and picking a MBA consultant, I knew Angela would be my top choice.

I have a wide network of friends/acquaintances that are in the business world, in b-school or are alums. As I was talking to folks to get a pulse of the different schools, I realized that all of them have different opinions which I was getting swayed by, and I needed a sounding board to stay true to myself in this process. A professional that would understand my life story, my goals, my dreams and not let me lose sight of myself as I applied – which is exactly what Angela did!

Angela essentially knew my entire life story after reading the 25+ brainstorming document I created prior to our first real call. She helped me think through the parts of my story that I wanted to share in that essay. My essay was a very personal life story about what I’m passionate about, why and how that came to be. After it reached a point where I felt it was final, I sent it to a 5 friends for feedback (3 applying to b-school, 1 at HBS and 1 alum). All of them had varying feedback, but they all said that I needed to vastly change my essay or at least ½ of it. One friend forwarded it to her brother. Her brother sent it to an HBS alum, who reached out to me and tore my essay apart. This was a week before the deadline, and he essentially told me I needed to start from scratch and apply round 2.

After hearing all of this feedback, I went back to Angela – confused and upset. I didn’t know what to do. Angela helped me process the feedback and think through it piece by piece. She fully supported me changing it if I wanted, but she helped me remember that this essay is a true reflection of me and my most honest and authentic answer to HBS’s essay prompt. I decided not making any changes to my essay and turned it in.

Ultimately, I was accepted into HBS! I was also accepted into Wharton, Kellogg with a sizeable scholarship, and Berkeley.

I know I couldn’t have applied to 5 schools during round 1 without Angela’s support for 3 of them. She helped me not only be true to myself, but also stay accountable. The firm's turnaround time of 2 days to review submitted documents to consultants helped me not procrastinate and get my apps done in a timely manner. I turned in all 3 of my apps that I worked on with her many days prior to the deadline.

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Your Most Supportive Champion & Coach

Working with my coach is like having your own personal cheerleader and a stellar coach – who will both guide you to success and support you when the going gets rough. When deciding to apply to business school, I was seeking guidance with my story coming from a non-traditional background, to present my authentic self to schools, and to have grown from the application process regardless of the outcomes. Working with my coach and Career Protocol not only helped me achieve all of those goals but also helped me learn so much about myself.

My coach is phenomenal because he truly gets to know you personally and deeply. He has a sharp intuition and will help you discover strengths and gems in your story you didn’t even know about. He was diligent, helpful, and insightful at every step of the application process, from essays to interviews to decision guidance. I got into Haas (one of my top choices), and I know the application process would have been a lot more grueling and precarious if I had done it on my own. I would recommend working with him and Career Protocol in a heartbeat – they will bring you on a journey, and you will emerge having gained valuable insights about yourself and your future.

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Angela Guido - The best mentor and support you could ask for!

I first met Angela through the Forte Foundation where her webinars really stood out as having uniquely practical, actionable, and smart advice. In the saturated space of MBA admissions consulting, it was refreshing to hear Angela present with her signature amount of energy and drive. When I ultimately decided to apply to school and to select a consulting firm, Angela and her firm was the obvious choice. Working with Angela is undoubtedly one of the best investment decisions I have made to-date, and it not only made my MBA application process stress-free and fun, but also a great opportunity to truly reflect on myself and my goals.

In the end I was accepted to both of my top choice schools: Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

A few notes on what made this journey with Angela fantastic:

How did you get here? Where are you going? Angela’s ability to bring out the best in her clients is a natural talent. Out of a million different ways that I could have told my story, Angela helped guide me towards the one that felt most authentic and genuine. I came out of the essay writing process feeling confident, grounded and armed with a much greater clarity of my own narrative.

Brevity is the soul of wit Editing – everything from essays to resume to short answer questions – is by far the toughest, but most critical task and Angela was incredibly helpful in providing constructive criticism tailored to each piece of the application and each school. Trimming down your work from “could this qualify as a novel?” to “YES 450 WORDS EXACTLY” is daunting, but quick, clear, and laser-focused feedback from Angela can calm even the most frayed nerves.

Details, details, details Beyond the application there are a lot of small details you don’t really think about until you are in the thick of things and panicking. Whether it’s questions/emails for the admissions office, scholarships, deposits, the decision-making – everything could have an impact on the admissions process. I tend to get mired in the small stuff, and being able to send Angela a quick question knowing I will receive a reliable and fast response made all the difference in my confidence that I did the very best I could in my applications to business school.

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