My Coach Is EVERYTHING & MORE

Switching careers during the middle of the Pandemic from medicine to real estate finance, I knew I wanted to go to business school. I started as an executive assistant at my firm for the two co-founders and then earned a spot on the deal team after a year. Although I learned so much, it was a lot of DIY and googling. Given that I didn’t have a traditional finance background, I wanted to gain a more holistic understanding of business and finance as well as further my growth in real estate. I knew that business school would allow me to explore different sectors of real estate, give me the flexibility to see what my interests are and create an invaluable network. My goal post-MBA is to work at an institutional firm with a specialization in development and/or hospitality.

I started my MBA journey by first reaching out to a current MBA student and she connected me to her consultant. Let’s just say, I didn’t leave that intro call with the warm and fuzzies. So, I decided I could probably do without a consultant since I’ve had experience applying to medical school. However, as months of GMAT prep went by, I realized that I might need some help and I was lucky enough to connect with a different friend who just went through the whole process and did very well. That’s when my coach entered the chat. Within the first few minutes of speaking to her, I knew she was the one.

I knew that my biggest weaknesses within my profile were going to be my GMAT/GRE score and GPA. I was a chemistry / pre-med major at a top university and had a few grades in calculus, chemistry, and organic chemistry that fell short of my tiger mom’s expectations. But I knew my saving grace was going to be my story and I’d only have one chance to tell it right. I say this with my entire being, I could not have done it without my coach. I’ve always been a very confident writer and knew how to tell my story, but she knew exactly how to push me to dig deeper. After writing numerous drafts of something, it can be incredibly challenging to change the content or to develop the story further, but she somehow found a way to pull things out of me that I didn’t even realize existed. She helped me connect the dots not only for the essays but also for my self-discovery. She knew exactly what questions to ask to guide me to write the most powerful and meaningful essay I’ve ever written. I realized that this essay meant more than just an essay to get into school – it was my journey to finding who I am. The toughest part was sculpting each essay and figuring out where and how to cut since each word matters when you have a limit. Given that each phrase was written from my heart, I was very protective when it came to cutting. However, she was too. She knew exactly what was necessary to keep my voice. She found ways to make what I wanted to say more efficient and impactful. She helped me find the beauty in my weaknesses that I’ve always struggled to find.

As we nailed down my story, she helped me narrow down my schools. School research was daunting to me because I had no idea where to start. But she always had an answer. Her advice allowed me to be more targeted with my research, and it showed in my essays and interviews. I knew that if I could just get my foot in the door for an interview, I’d win the hearts of admissions. But my lifelong testing anxiety could prevent me from even having a chance. After working 12-hour days, I’d study for the GMAT until 11PM / midnight. Saturdays and Sundays were reserved for studying and practice exams. Despite the countless hours of studying, I never achieved my desired score. I took both the GMAT and GRE several times and fell short of 700 (GMAT) and 320 (GRE). Because of this, I was ridden with anxiety. I struggled to sleep for days on end. When you’re going through the process, even though you’re told by everyone that tests aren’t everything and you know it to be true, it is impossible to truly believe it. I was terrified that no matter how great the rest of my profile was, I might not even get a chance. But my coach helped me replace my shame with confidence by focusing on all my unique strengths.

She was the best cheerleader I could have ever asked for – so much so that at one point I wondered if she was just telling me what I wanted to hear haha! However, come interview prep, I realized that everything was genuine and she’s not afraid to give you tough love when you need it. I was lucky enough to get interviews from Columbia, Cornell, and UCLA. I’ve always been good at interviews, so I thought it was going to be a breeze. However, after practicing the “Tell me about yourself” question (arguably the MOST important question of your interview) with her, I realized I was maybe a little too confident. She stopped me halfway through my spiel and helped me realize that I’ve essentially told her nothing about who I am and what impact I’m going to make on my community. This further solidified what I already knew – I could not have done it without her. Her pointers allowed me to choose my words wisely so everything I talked about would showcase how I was going to move the needle.

I feel so lucky and honored to have been accepted to Columbia, Cornell, and UCLA. At Columbia, I received the Forte Fellowship with a $50,000/year scholarship. At Cornell, I received the Forte Fellowship with a $30,000/year scholarship. At UCLA, I received a full-ride scholarship. Thanks to my coach, I will be attending my dream school. She is more than just a consultant – she is a friend, therapist, mama bear, and cheerleader. Anything is possible with her by your side.

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Brian Birdwell & Career Protocol - Best No-Regret Decision I've Made

Personalized introspective MBA application experience with stellar outcomes.

One of the amazing things about Brian and the Career Protocol team is that they helped me whittle the many vast ideas in my brain down to concise essays that got results. Results including acceptances from 7 out of the 8 programs I applied to, with 5 of them offering me scholarships totaling $500,000. I went from worrying about not getting in anywhere to getting in virtually everywhere I applied. Acceptances included: Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, Columbia, Ross, Johnson, Fuqua. Brian helped me through the process end to end, and I wholeheartedly recommend Brian Birdwell at Career Protocol.

But since essays are done, here are some bullet points that describe how amazing it was to work with Brian: • When I initially decided to apply to MBA programs and work with Brian and the Career Protocol team, I didn’t know what I was getting into but took a leap of faith. I am so glad I did. • When I decided to go forward with applying to MBA programs, I felt behind. Brian accelerated my process to apply to 8 schools during ONE ROUND. He helped me through the journey by meeting me where I was at. He knocked it out of the park. • Brian keeps it real. He is very down to earth and easy to talk to. This was so helpful for me to be able to be authentic with him, the process, and my applications. • He was firm when needed and encouraging when I felt down. • Brian knows and has in-depth experience with the application process, enabling him to help me maintain the right mindset and avoid overthinking. • Brian is organized, thorough, sharp, and really knows his stuff. He’s extremely talented and smart. He kept the process lighthearted, which helped me relax. I definitely needed the humor and those laughs! • He is RELIABLE. I would hear back from him quickly with updates. Communication felt easy. • Scheduling video calls was easy, even with my busy schedule. Him being based in the United States / the time zones worked well for me. • He was one of my biggest cheerleaders throughout this process and helped motivate me to keep pushing forward. This helped me cross each hurdle, especially when it came time for interviews. • He focused on me and who I am rather than using a school focused lens throughout the process. It helped me reframe my thinking toward what I have to offer and who I am vs. trying to say things that I think the school wants to hear. He genuinely cares. • He offers great practical advice that I took to heart. Also, lots of great wisdom that I’ll cherish. • As we combed through the details of my life, the ups and downs, and dug into who I am as a person, I noticed his incredible attention to detail and story crafting abilities. When we would brainstorm together, he would bring up things about me that I was sure that he wouldn’t have remembered. Goes to show how much he cares and how personalized they make this experience. • Somehow Brian knew the right way to support me… pumping me up when I’m down, reminding me that I really don’t have to be so self-critical, also sharing KEY ADVICE to act as if each interview is my only interview…. Totally immerse myself in the school’s program for the 48 hours prior to the interview and only think about that school (because he noticed I was getting distracted thinking about other schools). SERIOUSLY such good advice that stuck with me and I adhered to it!!!! • Truly listened to me. Got to know me and focused on looking at this as the whole package. • Built my confidence to meet people, talk to admissions, talk to other candidates. Made friends!!! • Networking, campus visits, school research… guided me through it all! All the materials were so helpful. • Resume – killer job helping me with one of the things I dreaded and put off THE MOST. • Stories – many times I wanted to give up. But we kept going. • Knew how to cut the right corners for me and focus on the right things at the right times. • Brian offered encouragement and praise where he saw I was progressing. It may sound funny, but not only did it help motivate me, but it also demonstrates how much he cares and how much attention to detail he is giving. To be able to comment on someone’s improvements takes time and it takes knowing the person to have something to compare against. • Brian offered critiques and was a straight shooter when I was way off (e.g., stories, essays, video essays, interview mindset & approach) • Short responses / mini essays – they sneak up and can be a lot. Did a great job working through this with me and really the whole package end to end. • Interviews + Mock Interviews – practiced interviewing with Brian over video calls. Very helpful to get in the right headspace and think about how to approach it. By the time interviews came around, we had done so much self-reflection and digging deep into my values as a person that the interviews were an easier lift than I expected. And more enjoyable 🙂 • I had some atypical interviews but rolled with them. Brian would check in on me, provide his thoughts on my reflection, etc. He was there every step of the way. • Strategized applications together for 4 schools that I applied to independently. Got into all of them! Got into 3 of the 4 I worked closely with him on. This was where the real leg work was done. • This process revealed a lot about myself and pushed me to grow. I didn’t know how hard it would be. I also did not know how much I would get out of it with them. Truly 10/10. • These are good people that I trust. I have already recommended them to my friends.

Last words. I had the rare opportunity to work with both Brian Birdwell and Angela Guido. You both amaze me. The speed at which you’re able to think, your relaxed demeanor, the enthusiasm you have. I hope it never dies for either of you. You are both such wonderful, talented, kind people. I can never share my appreciation enough.

Thank you both for taking a chance on me. Brian, I really cannot thank you enough for your thoughtfulness, wisdom, kindness, empathy, enthusiasm, and downright hard work. You really went above and beyond for me when I know you didn’t have to.

I remember showing my significant other one of your emails, and him being really impressed. Several times he has mentioned that it seems like I’m getting exceptional value for the investment.

You both always have people’s best interest at heart.

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Angela got me into my dream school!!!!

I worked with Angela this year and I have to say my experience was an EXCELLENT one!! I’m extremely happy with both the result and the process!

My background is 3.10 GPA / 710 GMAT / 3 years of work experience in a field that is not common for MBA applicants. I wasn’t one of those typical superstars on paper and to be honest, before I worked with Angela, I wasn’t confident about (and sort of intimidated by) getting into top schools. But I had big passion for my professional dream and for getting into my dream school!!

Angela did a tremendous job of guiding me to realize what is unique about me and express my uniqueness and passion through every aspect of my applications. Honestly, I don’t think I could have gotten into my dream school (Johnson at Cornell Univ.) if it wasn’t for Angela!

Here are some highlights of why I think Angela was GREAT!

-Angela REALLY cared about my success! I wanted to work with a consultant who I can truly trust and who cares about me getting in to my dream school. With Angela, I never felt like it’s a business, but I really felt like we were a team!! From the initial free consultation, she focused on making sure that we’re a good match. She even introduced me to a couple of other consultants to compare and made sure that I was comfortable making this commitment. Throughout the process, she was very generous with her time, and she was there every time I needed support and expert advice, and she took time to reply to tons of my crazy paranoid questions! (She replied very quickly. Sometimes within 10 minutes..!)

On top of that, Angela’s personality was just amazing! While I was on 4 months painful wait list, I was almost giving up... but Angela never gave up and kept encouraging me to fight till the end!! I kept sending updates to the school and I got accepted after a long wait!!!

-Expert in story telling!! Angela was amazing at helping me see my unique stories and tell them in absolutely effective way. We did very thorough brainstorming sessions (both general and school specific) for my stories. During the session, Angela asked many profound questions about my life events and as I thought hard of answers to those questions and we discussed them, I started clearly seeing MY STORY of upbringing, passion, goals, setbacks, why MBA, and why now, and my story became very cohesive and it just made sense. If there were any fluffs or BS in an essay, Angela didn't hesitate to point out and asked more questions to help me clarify. Every word and every sentence in my essays became well though of and very clear. By the time I applied, I was really confident and excited about my story and application! The process of brainstorming was very rewarding; Angela helped me REALLY get to know myself in depth, owe my own success, define what is unique about me, clarify my goals, and above all be confident about talking about myself and my story!

-Expert in admission process! I had 100% trust in her expertise and I knew following her guidance and advice would give me a great result! I was placed on a waitlist (which had 10% conversion rate to admit last year) and it was very critical for me to have a strategic wait list plan. Angela gave me a guidance of what admission officers were looking for and what additional materials (some of the ideas were just outside of box that I couldn't have thought of by myself!) to send and when to send them. I followed her guidance and I did get off the list after 4 months!! Stressful waitlist process was manageable thanks to her!!

These are just a few examples but Angela truly had such a great impact on my life and I cannot thank her enough for her service!! I STRONGLY recommend her to anyone, especially for those who not only really want to get into their dream schools but ALSO want to get the most out of this application journey!! Now, looking back, I absolutely enjoyed this process and learned so much all thanks to Angela! It was a GREAT Investment!!!

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Before MBA Protocol

I have worked in logistics in retail and pharma/bioscience spaces for five years. Though I have been successful in my roles, and even earned a promotion in the retail space, I found different issues with both companies. In the retail space, I grew fatigued from corralling delivery drivers, working weekends and repetition routing deliveries, so much so that I had to take a leave of absence to tend to my mental health, despite generally enjoying my coworkers and the company’s atmosphere.

More recently in the pharma space, I found no career ladder, a stagnant salary structure as well as unethical and unnecessarily complex systems that made my job exponentially more difficult. On top of that, turmoil within the company meant that my success was often overlooked and underappreciated by people in charge.

I worked with a career counselor and aptitude test company in early 2024, which uncovered a faculty with retaining numerical information that I had not thought out prior, concerns about my financial future and life satisfaction if I could not make a change, and a desire to work with intelligent colleagues on more complex or creative problems that require in-depth thinking.

Why MBA, why now

I explored some analytics certification programs in early 2024 and tried some open source materials to get a feel for what I would need to learn to market myself. However, I struggled staying focused and determined that I would need to formally return to school to work in a program with the resources and structure I needed.

I first considered an MBA after an exit interview with the retail company, where my colleague in the HR department mentioned her MBA, which allowed her to take on some new opportunities and ultimately settle on HR long-term. After conducting research, I decided to pursue my own MBA after seeing the flexibility I could have with the degree - for someone who has struggled for years to decide on a career path due to a wide variety of interests, a degree with flexibility sounded like a perfect fit.

Why MBA Protocol

I previously applied to MBA programs in the 2024-2025 cycle, completely on my own and without knowledge of what I was getting into. The results were disastrous, and I took a free consultation meeting with another well-known firm once I decided to reapply in the 2025-26 cycle to try and nail down specific areas that most needed my attention. While the meeting was productive, the price point and personality of the consultant did not match what I was looking for. I felt like just a resume to her.

I remembered watching Angela’s YouTube videos at some point previously, and found them fun, informative but also supportive. Angela was kind enough to jump on a free call with me, and opened the conversation by asking about a non-work item on my resume that she found impressive before reaffirming the previous consultant’s advice (that I was a candidate for a top program with a little extra care). The LFG program’s cost fit my budget as well as the services I required - something more self-paced with the option to schedule one-on-one sessions as I needed them.

The work we did together

Generally speaking, I tend to not shy away from tackling big goals. Even though my confidence wavered at times, I never stopped believing that I deserved entry to a top program. With MBA Protocol, I found not only supportive coaches who agreed and reinforced my beliefs, but also a team of other prospective students who cheered me on along the way. Having hit my goal of attending a top program, I feel greater confidence that I can successfully recruit for a top firm as long as I follow the structure of the program and seek out resources when I need them, just as I did through MBA Protocol.

MBA Admission Results

In 2024-2025, I was rejected at MIT, Harvard and Dartmouth, with admits to lower-ranked part-time programs in Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern.

In 2025-2026, my test scores went up. This put me within the median range at every school I applied to, six in total.

While I was rejected once again at Harvard and MIT without an interview, I did get an in-person interview at Dartmouth this time, and ultimately two admits from Georgetown and Cornell, the latter of which I accepted. There was an issue with my application to Carnegie Mellon and I turned down their invitation to interview, but I felt confident I would have converted that to an admit as well.

I grew up in rural Vermont and was the first in my family to graduate college. The average Cornell Johnson graduate earns three times my current salary. The Ivy League felt like a place that existed in imagination only, no matter how successful or impressive my resume, and that I would have to settle for smaller programs in the region. Thanks in no small part to MBA Protocol, I am on the precipice of making this imagination reality. To say that I am ecstatic about the results would be the understatement of the century.

Advice to other pivoters

Everything that has happened to me over the past ten years has come as a result of hard work.

Be confident in yourself and your ability to do challenging things.

Do not put pressure on yourself to figure out your career in a day. I still don’t know what I want to do with my life, but I am a lot closer than when I started.

No one is great entirely on their own. Invest in yourself if you need some clarity, take an aptitude test, hire a career coach, and work with MBA Protocol. Seek help when you don’t know the answers and listen to people with experience. Work together to develop an action plan and stay diligent following it.

And perhaps self-effacingly, if I can do all this, so can you.

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