3 M7 Admits and $390K in scholarships as an unusual candidate

When I decided in September 2024 to apply for round 2 by January, it was a sprint. I had just a few months to study for the GMAT, get my applications in order, and make some magic happen. I was referred to Angela by my GMAT instructor, and I could immediately tell she was a great fit. She has a fascination for good stories, and having started three cannabis companies, and grown up across several countries, mine was anything but a traditional MBA path.

We signed the contract in early December and hit the ground running. Her process was incredible. The way she made me download what felt like my entire life into a structured brainstorming session, my accomplishments my personality, who I was as a person, it felt like no stone was left unturned. It’s a wild feeling to have someone analyze your life and come back with insights you never considered yourself. Experiences I thought were mediocre she called out as “rockstar” stories. It felt like she was helping me craft my autobiography, not just for work, but really digging into my personality and letting it show through in every application.

We were in a race against time, and our time zone difference was actually a huge advantage. I would work on essays late into the evenings, send them at 1am, and wake up to comments from her. Rinse and repeat.

After submitting apps I was genuinely proud of, the results were humbling. I went 0/4. But I wasn’t deterred. I retook the GMAT and improved my score by 100 points. The following September, I went back into the process armed with essays I’d already written, stories I’d already excavated, and a clearer strategic gameplan Angela helped me create for reapplying. I was much more focused in the stories I told, and my career vision more aligned to my experience. Angela checked in on me, helped me retool my narrative approach, and armed me with the tools to approach this cycle myself. Success! I received offers from Kellogg, Booth, and Columbia, with a total of $390k in scholarships! (After negotiating, of course.)

I truly couldn’t have done it without her. Her ability to identify and elevate great stories is unmatched, and her genuine investment in my success across two application cycles despite me only paying for one made all the difference. She has my strongest recommendation.

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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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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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The Best Consultant/Supporter/Friend

My coach is the best storyteller and a supporter of your MBA application journey. I can tell you why below:

I was very skeptical when I first chatted with Career Protocol founder Angela Guido for a 30-minute consultation. (The main reason for my skepticism was that I already had about ten consulting firms that told me that my profile is not near to any of the “Top” MBA programs”) After the consultation, Angela introduced me to my coach, as Angela thought my coach would be the best fit for me. After the first chat and introductory zoom call with her, I was drawn to her energy and encouragement.

One of the fantastic and unique things about the Career Protocol’s approach to the MBA application is the discovery process (and my coach was serious about this process). The process was strenuous and stressful as I had to look back at my entire personal and professional life and figure out what I needed.

She helped me thoroughly with this process and I was extremely grateful for her support whenever I felt overwhelmed with all the required essays and introspections I had to do during the process.

With her amazing storytelling skills and support, I was admitted to many of the top programs namely: Stanford GSB, Wharton, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, and Yale SOM (combined scholarship worth over $350,000)!

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A comprehensive review of Angela Guido - In short, Great!

It is long past due for me to do this review. First, I want to thank you, Angela, for the exceptional job that you did with me. I would not have been accepted at 3 top business schools if it weren’t for you. Also, I wish you the best of luck with Career Protocol!

BEFORE I START, SOME CONTEXT. I am 33 years old from South America with a solid career at small investment management companies. I started early (May), had a solid gmat score (740) but due to my age, I knew this would be my only and last shot at business schools. Career wise, I wanted to keep working in finance and stay in America after my MBA. I did the full package for 5 schools with Angela and applied to another 3 on my own (all on R1).

WHY ANGELA? She had great reviews, but I am a thorough person. I talked with about 5 consultants, all from top firms and with great reviews. Angela was the one that I felt most confident about. She really knew all the schools, had a great insight into the reality about employment of the programs and we had a great chemistry. I am sure all the other consultants were great, but I know Angela was the right choice and I don’t regret, not even for a second, choosing her.

THE FIRST GREAT FEATURE – She really knows the employability of each program. I think that most of the employment statistics provided by business schools are bogus. There is industry and region bias and people might be employed at second tier jobs or companies. Do you really believe that a top 20 BS is better than HBS because HBS has only 90% of its students employed upon graduation? Well, I don’t and neither does Angela. Our first task together was to narrow my 15 schools list to about half of that and also pick the 5 that made more sense working together. She really knew which programs were doing great and which were struggling to get jobs for their students. It was like I was working with someone from the inside! We also discussed a lot about the career path that made more sense given my goals. The MBA consulting came with a bonus of career counselingJ! She made me realize that PE was not a go way to go for an international to stay in the US. After putting all together, we decided on HBS, Booth, Kellogg, Tuck, Duke, Wharton, MIT and UCLA. The first five I worked with her.

THE HARSH TRUTH. It was early June and we were excited to start working on the essays. We were already done with the Brainstorming, which turned out great and full of stories, and were very advanced on my resume. My original Resume really stunk. It was very bad! LOL. Angela had a tough job there, but it became a masterpiece. I am so proud of it that I am thinking of framing it! Back then, only very few schools had they essay out. We started working on HBS (the dream and reach school). The first essay was terrible! The second, worst! Angela kept returning my essays with honest comments about them. After five bad essays, we decided to take a break and go back to the drawing board. She taught me the concept of a narrative. Tell the story, show the facts, be specific, but not so much that you can be concise, which I am not being here, and not turn boring. Also, she demanded me to take another look at the material she had sent to me. Advice: read everything carefully and pay attention to the structure of the examples. Angela does what a great consultant should do. She will tell will the truth, teach you how to overcome the problem and will not let you deliver anything short of a great work.

THE GREAT TALENT. Angela is the best writer I have ever seen. She could really spin any fact that I told her in a perfectly told story. It is amazing how she does it on the spot and had I had that talent, my life would have been so much easier. Well I don’t have the talent, but I was fortunate to have Angela as my consultant. She guided me on the right direction in a way that I was able to tell my stories and at the same time the essay were compelling and resonated with the AdCom. After the HBS fiasco and of a round of advising, we decided to move on to Tuck. I nailed it on the very first draft! Her counseling really stuck and that essay was so compelling that became the base for at least another 3 different business school. Angela really taught me how to write a perfect essay.

THE ESSAYS (in order of writing). HBS – Took me 13 drafts. I only started getting right on the 11th. The final draft made my wife literally cry. TUCK – Nailed both on the 1st draft but after minor reviews they were ready in 3 drafts. DUKE – About 5 drafts each. KELLOGG – 3 drafts each. BOOTH – 5 drafts to what, I am quoting here, became the best essay Angela had seen for Chicago that year. MIT – 2 drafts. WHARTON – 5 drafts. UCLA – 5 drafts.

SOME OTHER QUALITIES. Besides the career and essay insights that were fantastic, I really enjoyed working with Angela. Not only me. In fact, my wife participated all the way in the business school applications. She was with us from the first to the last call. She read every single essay and short answer. Angela embraced her all the way in the process, as if she was the one applying. Even though she was in Europe and we in South America, we had little trouble in arranging calls to discuss essays and strategies. I sent her a huge amount of work every week (I must have been her most frenetic client) and she handled it beautifully. The interview prep material and the mock interviews were extremely helpful. She was even a shoulder to “cry” on, when everything seemed to be falling apart. The first five schools to release their decision dinged me, including Duke that I was certain to get in. She asked some friend to review my stuff to check for inconsistencies and problems, which they didn’t, and she gave me advices on how to proceed for R2.

THE FINAL RESULT. I got invited to 5 interviews (Booth, Kellogg, Tuck, Duke and UCLA). Booth suggested me to pursue their executive MBA. I got accepted to Kellogg, Tuck and UCLA. I also got 70K in scholarship from UCLA and an additional 30K from an UCLA Alumni Society.

GRATITUTE. I want to one more time thank Angela for her work. I had 2 weaknesses on my profile. I had always worked at smaller non mainstream firms and I was on the verge of being too old to be an MBA applicant. I would not have passed to any of these schools if it weren’t for her. Instead, I got much more than I was hoping for.

If anyone has any questions, just PM me. Sincerely, Guilherme Kobylko

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You want to work with Angela

I have an unusual profile for an MBA applicant, so early-on I decided that it would be best to work with a consultant. I went on to have 2 free sessions with the biggest consultancies out there. One session felt very general and impersonal, and the other one was with Angela. It was a complete accident that I spoke to Angela. She kind of just randomly chose my name from the list. Best randomness ever! Just in the intro, the free 40 min consultation, she was on-target and specific. No general stuff, no blablabla, very focused and directed. It was a clear choice for me to work with her. Plus she has like the best reviews out here. Now, she has one more AMAZING RATING from me.

I could write for ages about the journey I had together with Angela towards reaching my goals. She was there when I was excited, when I was exhausted mentally, when I completely lost it (like I was wondering down the streets, completely brain-dead), but also when I finally got admitted to 3 RAD programs. But I'll try to be more to the point. After 6 months of talking and working together, I see Angela as a friend - to the point that I invited her over to my hometown, to give her a tour. (BOOK YOUR TICKET, ANGELA!)

I have an unusual profile. I know, I know, I said that already. But I was terrified the schools wouldn't see past that. So I had to write down my life story for Angela - I wasn't sure which parts were relevant and which weren't. Angela analyzed everything, and together we selected the best stories to fit into those specific school essays. Her depth of analysis, her multi-angle viewpoint and her power to bring out the VERY BEST out of you is the top feature that you need to remember. That is what you want from your consultant, that is what you need from your consultant. Also, she's like really, really, cool. And supportive. And encouraging. All that plus a bag of chips.

Now, to the specific stuff that is borderline voodoo. I didn't know what schools I should be targeting. Angela said HBS, Kellogg, Wharton, Booth, and after some negotiation with me, we added CBS, and LBS. MARK MY WORDS - from the free 40 min intro session in April 2015, she told me: "You'll be a strong candidate for Booth, Wharton, and Kellogg. HBS is a risk, LBS, and CBS are gonna be more difficult."

This September, I got rejected from HBS, LBS, and CBS. This December, I got admitted to Booth, Wharton, and Kellogg. But wait, there's more - she was like - yeah, you might end up with a scholarship from Booth. GUESS WHAT? I DID.

So Angela CALLED IT! She actually called the cards in April. This is how well she knows the schools. This is how well she can analyze you based on a 10 minute intro about your life. This is how well she knows where you fit. What more do you want?

So in case you missed the point, I don't only recommend Angela. I would not have wanted to work with anyone else IN THE WORLD but her. And I'm not just saying it, she is my friend, and I feel lucky I got to know her.

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Decision to Hire Angela

When I first decided to apply to MBA programs, I had no idea how competitive I was, where I had a shot of getting in, or how high I should reach. While I had good stats (3.9 GPA from a top 20 liberal arts school, 760 GMAT), I worked in accounting for 3 years and I didn’t know how to differentiate myself from the other good applicants who were applying. I didn’t feel like I had a particularly interesting story. I was intrigued by the idea of hiring a consultant but, frankly, couldn’t fathom spending that much money only one year before I would be taking out upwards of 150K in student loans.

When I got an email from Angela inviting me to have a free 30-minute consult live in my city, I figured I had nothing to lose. I went in thinking that if a consultant would simply save me time – tell me things I could find online, save me calls to admissions offices, etc – edit my essays, and set a schedule for me, I would skip it. But if hiring one would actually increase my chances of getting in in ways that I could never do myself, then I would consider it.

Free Consult

In my 30-minute consult, Angela assessed my competitiveness at all the schools I was considering, helped me with my resume, told me I didn’t need to take the GMAT again (despite getting 70% Quant and 67% IR scores) and helped me with my “story” – my reason for going to business school and my post-MBA goals. I remember leaving that 30 minutes consult feeling already like she’d added incredible value to the process. I no longer had to stress about whether or not I should retake the GMAT or figuring out what schools I should apply to.

I realized that if I thought an MBA was worth the cost of tuition and opportunity cost of not working, it was definitely worth another $3.75K to have a consultant help me with one school. After all, applying to one school would mean perfecting my resume, my “story,” and, if I picked the right school, I’d probably be able to use the essays for other schools. So I decided to use Angela for one school.

My next dilemma was which schools to choose. I had decided to apply to Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton as reaches, Booth and Kellogg as fit schools, and Fuqua as a safety. And I couldn’t figure out which one hire Angela for. If I chose Harvard to increase my chances of getting in, I figured I could still end up rejected everywhere. If I chose a fit school, then I thought my chances at HBS/Stanford went out the window. If I was only going to get into my safety, then I thought it was worth using a consultant to see if I could get scholarship money. In the end, I decided if it was worth using her for one school, it was worth using her for all of the schools. And that $8K when compared to the cost of an MBA was a drop in the bucket, especially if I could get a scholarship that would make the consultant more than pay for itself.

Hiring Angela was the best investment I’ve ever made. I ended up with full tuition scholarships to Booth and Fuqua, a partial scholarship to Wharton, and admission into HBS. I’m not at all saying that I don’t deserve admission or scholarships at these schools, but I can say without a doubt that I would not have been this successful in my applications if I had not hired her.

One of the biggest values that Angela brought to the admissions process was making me realize how strong of a candidate I was. When I first spoke with her, I thought I was a weak candidate and that Booth/Kellogg would be a reach. I wasn’t even thinking of applying to HBS/Stanford. But Angela recognized aspects of my candidacy that made me exceptional and pushed me to be as successful as I could.

Essays

She knew what I needed to highlight in my applications. At the beginning of our work together, Angela and I had a long brainstorm session in which she got to know ALL of my stories, personal, professional, and from undergrad. Because of this, whenever we started working on a new essay, Angela was able to pull from my life stories to know how I should best answer the question. Throughout the process, I was amazed at the extent to which Angela was able to tie together stories from my life that I would not have pieced together. She was able to find themes that portrayed parts of me I hadn’t identified. For someone who believes she has lived a very normal life, I didn’t think I could put together an inspiring essay. But Angela got to know me well enough to find the things about me that would make me shine in the eyes of the adcoms.

As I wrote the essays, Angela pushed me to do what she knew I was capable of. We went through 12 versions of some essays. In the first versions, she would often tell me to scratch it and start over. While I’m a perfectionist and a hard worker, Angela pushed me farther than I could have pushed myself. She often asked for more insight into what I was thinking, what my motivation was, and what I learned in a way that helped me discover things about myself that I never would have learned without her. Also important to note is that my essays (and the rest of my application) were entirely my work. She asked questions and pushed me to success, but didn’t make direct edits or in any way embellish the truth. Still, looking at the end product, I couldn’t have written the essays on my own.

Interviews

When it came to interviews, Angela delivered a workshop for all her clients with a really novel and refreshing approach to interviews. Then for each individual school interview, she helped me feel thoroughly prepared. She not only helped me come up with answers to specific questions during mock interviews but more importantly, taught me a methodology for how to answer questions, so I would never be stumped. She built up my confidence, which is perhaps the most important part of an interview. She even sent me a youtube video of an interview with a movie star so I could learn by example how to show in an interview that I’m human without apologizing. She taught me how to highlight my strengths without sounding full of myself. These are lessons I will take with me and apply to future job interviews, and I have even begun coaching my colleagues based on what I have learned from Angela.

Overall

One of the most incredible things about working with Angela is that I always felt like I was her only client. One of my hesitations in hiring a consultant was the fear that they would give the same advice to everyone. Angela’s advice was completely tailored to me. She also responded to my emails sometimes instantly. Even when on her holiday vacation, she responded within a couple hours to any and every question I had. She could not have been more devoted or available.

Coming from an industry where we track the time spent on each client, I was also nervous that if I got a package, the consultant would cut corners and try to spend as little time with me as possible. But on the contrary, Angela went above and beyond to give her time and energy. She pushed me to write more drafts of essays. After I was accepted to schools, she initiated a call with me to discuss my thoughts and offer advice on where I should accept. After I visited schools for their accepted students events, she reached out to me to hear how they went. I truly feel like Angela cared about my success and in finding the best fit for me almost as much as I did. She was there every step of the way.

For me, as a type A perfectionist, working with Angela also considerably reduced the amount of stress and anxiety I felt during this whole process, largely because instead of worrying over details, I trusted Angela. While I had been freaking out over whether to retake the GMAT, Angela said no, so I didn’t give it another thought. There are countless questions that you will have during the application process, any of which could cause considerable doubt and anxiety. Working with Angela took all of that away. If she said to use story A instead of story B I said okay and moved on instead of second guessing myself. Angela’s fees were worth it if only because working with her during this year-long period made my life a lot easier.

I can’t express enough how valuable Angela was in this process. My friends can attest to this as I can’t count the number of times I said to them “I don’t know what I’d do without Angela.” I’ve raved so much about her to everyone I know that my friends have already referred their friends and colleagues to her.

So if I had to give those of you applying to business school one piece of advice, I would say hire a consultant, and hire Angela. The value you will get far outweighs the cost.

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Before MBA Protocol

I was working in VC investing and thinking about becoming an operator of some sort. Although the VC to operator pivot is common in the space, the roles that ex-VCs go into are far and wide, so I didn’t know which role specifically would be right for me. Since VC investing was my first role out of college, I felt the need to try something different, and at the same time I found myself attracted to the non-investing projects within my VC role. I was personally very interested in AI products, so I was generally looking in that direction, but I honestly didn’t have a clear idea of what kind of company or role to aim for.

Why MBA, why now

My VC role was my first job out of college, and I didn’t major in business. When I started working on more projects with our portfolio companies, I felt unknowledgeable how a business/product should be built and scaled because I had no direct experience in it. I felt that limitation for both my short-term goal of a product role and long-term vision to become an entrepreneur. I realized that an MBA would provide both the preparation to succeed in a product role and the more structured business education I lacked so that I can round out my business knowledge.

Post-MBA, I want to be a product manager or strategist at a tech company. I am targeting big tech or growth-stage companies. It’s most important for me to get my hands dirty building out a product, so I am open to similar roles in smaller companies as well.

My post-MBA vision was heavily shaped by the career gameplan exercise and discussions with Angela and Paul. I realized that my ultimate goal is to build a consumer wellness product, and we devised what needs to happen in between my current VC experience and future goal to be an entrepreneur. Product management was what excited me most, and it was helpful to get validation from my coaches that that made sense and was realistic. My coaches suggested that a product strategy role would also be a fit since my VC experience comparing companies/products would be relevant, and I was happy to expand my target roles, especially if I would be a more compelling candidate in that role.

Why MBA Protocol

When I started researching MBA applications (5 months before the deadline), I came across Angela’s videos on YouTube. They were fun and informative, so I kept watching more and more — over time, I felt that she and the team had a distinct human-focused approach to the application process and genuinely eye-opening, unique (and strong) opinions on what makes a successful application. That attracted me immensely because I wanted to use the MBA application process as an opportunity to reflect deeply on my past and gain clarity on what I wanted in my future. I loved the focus on introspection and discovering more of myself, rather than doing things just for the sake of completing the application, and I knew that I would benefit from receiving guidance along this application journey.

The work we did together

Firstly, I developed the very valuable ability to see my life experiences as interesting stories that show who I am. After reflecting on my entire life deeply and with guidance, I understood myself better and felt empowered to use my unique individuality to my advantage, not only for the application but generally in my life. The process made me stop and think about things like why I feel more attracted to certain projects, why I thrive in certain environments, and what role I play in a team.

I now feel a lot more confident about telling those stories as well. I felt that I had developed this new skill when I did my first mock interview with Angela and shared my draft response to “tell me about yourself” — we both felt that it captured the parts of me that I would want my interviewer to know in a cohesive way. I had just followed the Interview Hero program (I will definitely be taking everything I learned during the Interview Hero program with me in my MBA recruiting and beyond). I felt very prepared for my interviews not because I practiced a ton but because I knew that I had the right mindset, frameworks, and just the right amount of preparation to guide me.

I also generally felt more calm and confident about my application, even before getting any concrete results. There was a lot of waiting and uncertainty throughout the process, but I knew that I had been genuine in showing who I am, and that made me feel at peace during the waiting period.

MBA Admission Results

I interviewed with Kellogg, Wharton, and Booth. I was admitted to all three with scholarships. I got waitlisted at Sloan and Haas. I received an $85K scholarship from Wharton and a generous full-ride plus stipend offer from Booth, where I will be matriculating! I couldn’t believe it at all when I got the final scholarship offer from Booth, and it felt like they accepted me for the human that I am, not just as an applicant, and it made me grateful for the human-focused MBA Protocol approach once again.

I raised my GRE score by 6 points on each section within 3 weeks to get a final score of 170 Q/163 V. I would say that the feeling that I didn’t want to let down Paul and Angela played a role in my motivation (I envisioned sending them a happy email with awesome scores).

Advice to other pivoters

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to bring your full and honest self to your MBA applications. That is the person who will be doing the MBA and the pivot, so believe in that you!

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