The Best Decision I Made: Why I Highly Recommend Brian & Career Protocol

Brian truly embodies the “Under-commit and OVER Deliver” spirit, and the career protocol package is both super-detailed and truly end-to-end (they guide on everything: from deciding which schools to apply for  to now sharing tips on how to maximize the next 2 years).

Top 3 value adds for me: helping me improve my GMAT score from 740 to 770 (V47!!), helping me find my calling and encouraging me to make a pre-MBA pivot from consulting to Venture Capital, and of course, helping me land an offer from my dream school, Booth! I applied to 7 schools (Harvard, Stanford, Booth, Columbia, Duke, UCLA, and McCombs), got interview invites from 5 of them, and finally got into 3 (Booth + UCLA and McCombs with 50% scholarship).

I’ve had a FANTASTIC experience working with them and would highly recommend them to anyone who’s willing to put in the time and effort. Below are my top 5 reasons:

• Extensive support – When you sign up with CP, you don’t just get a consultant, you get an army of people who have your back and a community of applicants who are driven and supportive. I am someone who asks a LOT of questions, and I can safely say that their team has a wealth of experience to guide you/point you in the right direction. For instance, I was gutted when I learned that I was waitlisted from Booth in R1. Soon enough, another member from the CP team who was a waitlist expert stepped in. She gave me tips on how I can continue engaging with the school and helped me approach the waitlist process with a positive mindset.

• They give you “no-nonsense” advice – I come from an over-represented Indian, Engineer, Male demographic. Brian was honest about what was realistic for me and had enough knowledge and inspiration to help me make a valiant attempt for the top. He didn’t hesitate from telling me if I needed to completely scrap off an essay draft or that I needed to retake the GMAT.

• Their process is painfully introspective – When I signed up with CP, I was completely clueless about what I wanted from my MBA. Their “Discovery process” pushed me to take a pause and reflect on my life experiences: My successes, failures, choices, everything. For someone who’s not as open about their life, Brian created a comfortable environment for me to express myself freely which led to some beautiful essays, and ensured that my applications were 100%, authentically me. (That’s their way of helping you stand out). Beyond the results, their process was transformational for me. Personally, I’ve become much more comfortable owning my story. Career-wise, I’ve been able to join a VC firm. Something I could not have imagined doing a year prior. The clarity I gained on what I wanted motivated me to consider my options and the confidence he inspired enabled me to boldly “go for it” and pursue the change.

• Brian is a GMAT God! – I thought I had maxed out when I scored 740 and didn’t know how to go beyond that. Brian used his expertise to quickly identify what my gaps were (Verbal + taking too much stress) and gave me advice that inspired me to take a fresh approach to the test, which combined with my work ethic, helped me score 770 in <1 month. This gave me a lot of confidence as I approached R1 applications at top B-schools.

• Value for Money! Brian works with only a handful of applicants every year and I could feel that he was genuinely invested in my success. As an international student, their package was well out of my budget. But I can reassure you, that he is worth every penny and then some more. By the end of our time together, Brian knew my stories better than I did. He is very generous with his time and leaves no stone unturned: he happily responded to my countless questions, returned drafts faster than expected as deadlines approached, and things like GMAT advice, and preparing for VC interviews were technically not a part of our MBA application scope. Yet, he did that. (with a smile!)

Lastly, I would like to add that the MBA application process is a long and tedious journey, when you do it with someone like Brian, it doesn’t seem like “work”.

Good luck with your applications! 😊

Lakshay Piplani

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My Coach: Your Go-To Cheerleader, Mentor, & Friend

Before meeting my coach, I had previously applied to 18 business schools over the course of three admissions cycles, with a few waitlist offers but no acceptances. My GMAT was over 700, I graduated from an elite undergrad institution with honors, had an extensive record of local volunteering, and was a consistently high performer as a consultant at a Big 4 firm with plenty of valuable work experiences. Something really wasn’t clicking in my apps… because even though I aimed a bit high and applied to top 15 schools as a white male consultant (crowded demographic) from a large market area, I figured my profile warranted at least one admission.

Feeling discouraged but determined to pursue my goal of obtaining an MBA, I read a Q&A with Angela from Career Protocol on Poets & Quants. The way she addressed the questions made me feel like she really understood the admissions process and what the applicants go through. So, I reached out to learn more about Career Protocol, and after a free 30-minute consultation Angela paired me with my coach to get going on another application cycle.

I saw the price tag and given my interests, felt that the 3-school package was the best deal. It looked steep initially, but I can’t emphasize enough how good of a deal this process was. My coach coached me and encouraged me to rethink my approach to these schools. My career goals were fine, but the more important thing for me to share was my personal narrative so that we could paint a better picture for admissions as to what value I could bring to my communities and what really motivates me.

Her approach carries a lot of empathy and positive reinforcement, which is exactly what I needed after an ego-bruising few years of applications. She helped me dig deep and reveal very personal anecdotes that not only enhanced my applications, but also proved therapeutic as I grappled with something I had never really done before – telling essentially my life story and coming to terms with who I am.

She was there for me 24×7, and her insights and support played a significant role in my admission to two top 20 schools, one with scholarship (unthinkable for me one year ago). Her guidance and the Career Protocol resources also will help me for life as I’ve received extremely beneficial resume and interviewing tips that will serve me long after b-school. I can’t recommend her and CP enough, especially for those who have similar trajectories as mine. Thank you!!

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From Zero to Hero

I made a promise to never again hire an MBA consultant. I applied to B-school twice. The first time around, I utilized a consultant from a well-known, big name consulting company. I ended up getting dinged by every school I applied to, without an interview. Given the results, I followed up with my consultant and shared my disappointment with the service. What blew my mind was that my consultant refused to take ownership and framed the situation in way where I was at fault. I found this to be incredibly discouraging. After all, MBA consultants are not cheap. If you drop good money, I believe you’re entitled to good results. This experience was clearly not the case, and it tainted my image of MBA consultants. I was less than inclined to take on another one for the next round of applications.

Then came my coach.

I heard positive things about Career Protocol both from online sources and a friend. After researching my options and an initial consultation call with my coach, I decided to jump the gun and work with her. The first great impression she made was her invitation to communicate via webcam, what this demonstrates is her genuine interest in getting to know YOU as a person. Our conversations were never robotic or transactional. It honestly feels like you’re just talking with a friend. What I came to realize is that it is through these interactions that she really gets to the core of who you are, what you value, and where your strengths lie. It’s important to remember that a strong MBA application requires you to be personal and vulnerable. However, the process is still an intimidating task. For many, the question of “what makes me special” constantly runs through our heads. Working with her made me realize that you don’t have to be an ex-navy seal or an MBB consultant to get into a top program. You just need to be… you. She helped to uncover my shining attributes and did an impeccable job of helping me formulate strong essays and preparing me for interviews without distorting my true voice.

There were a couple of occasions when I was under extraordinary time constraints and needed help outside of business hours. My previous consultant wouldn’t consider speaking to me after hours. However, when I explained my circumstances to my coach, she carved out some evening and weekend time to accommodate my situation. Before submitting my applications, we reviewed each one together, ensuring that they were clean and ready to go and that we both felt great about them.

The first round of applications, I applied to four schools and got zero acceptances. This time around, I applied to seven schools and got six acceptances (M7 included). I also got multiple scholarship offers, including a full ride plus stipend for my top school!

My perception of MBA consultants has changed. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe that there are a lot of bad consultants out there. But there are a few kick-ass consultants out there who will truly be invested in you and unlock your potential. Just a few. She is one of them.

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Guido is the one!!!

To work with Angela Guido is to have an MRI performed on your soul.

After a 30-minute consultation with Angela, I was stunned by the accuracy with which she summarized my motivations, character, and potential. Other consultants took one look at my stats (3.1 GPA, mid-ranked public university, ~600 practice GMAT score) and either steered me towards 2nd & 3rd tier schools or ignored me altogether. Not so with the MRI of Souls.

During our consultation, she saw right through my unimpressive stats and assured me that I was a strong and differentiated applicant for a top program, then provided evidence for this assertion by highlighting the strengths of my candidacy. Where other consultants were hesitant to provide too many details for free, Angela was generous: She gave me a specific GMAT goal, a short list of top schools with which she thought I was a fit, and guidance on when to apply, all during the FREE call. She was professional, affable, and direct. I knew that I had to work with her when, in one sentence, she summed up my post-MBA aspirations more precisely and succinctly than I had ever stated them myself – to her or anyone else, for that matter.

I was sold and signed up for a 3 school complete package. Given my budget, she assured me that after we worked together, I would understand the process and be able to complete additional applications on my own. We decided to work on Harvard Business School (HBS), Wharton, and a Master’s in Public Policy application at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) together. I applied on my own to MIT Sloan and Yale SOM.

It became clear how lucky I was to work with Angela during our first brainstorming call. She had me complete a lengthy questionnaire in advance – I was sure she would need me to clarify a few things, but I was wrong; She already had me completely figured out. She has this uncanny ability to channel the essence of who I am. She thought the way I thought. She understood my voice. She could articulate things about me that I hadn’t fully realized myself.

This was particularly useful in my case because I have an unusual amount of varied experiences in my background and needed help choosing the most persuasive stories to tell. She noticed this (of course) and identified several experiences in my life that were formative, interesting, or revealing. She then suggested a few different narrative arcs that I could use to tie those experiences together into an essay, and left me to my own devices to pump out a draft.

Working with Angela is wonderful, in part because she teaches you the process as you go through it. There is always an overarching strategy, and she will explain the tactics as she guides you through the process. She will not write anything for you, and because she knows what your best effort is, she will reject sloppy substitutions for your best work. The process is demanding, but it is a lot of fun. She roots for you. She’s in your corner. She pushes you in a direction that she knows will be authentic for you. She will give you a pep talk whenever you need one, and in the end you really want to make her proud.

I eventually got my GMAT score up to 720 and submitted all my applications in Round 1.

And what were the results?

I was admitted to Harvard Business School – My dream program! I was also admitted to MIT Sloan with a Dean’s fellowship (1 ½ yrs tuition: ~ $107,000). I was dinged without an interview at Wharton, Yale, and HKS.

HBS & Wharton were no surprise to Angela – She’d told me all along that I was a strong HBS fit but wasn’t the Wharton “type”. Yale made sense to me – I didn’t have a clear rationale to go there. HKS was a surprise, but it wasn’t our fault: The essay that she pushed me to write was a masterpiece. I could not have made a stronger case and never would have gone in that direction on my own. So if that application didn’t get me admitted, nothing could. I’m fine with that.

I’m sure that a number of consultants could have helped me get into HBS, but Angela Guido’s services stand out because in addition to helping me submit the strongest possible applications, she’s also given me a bonus gift: A deeper understanding of myself than I’ve ever had before. This self-awareness leads to incredible confidence and is a tremendous competitive advantage.

So for anyone out there who isn’t sure about Angela Guido, you should be. A 30-minute call with her two years ago changed my life forever. It just might change yours, too.

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Angela Guido comprehensive prep

After researching a few different companies and interviewing 3 different consultants, I did not hesitate to work with Angela, and I still consider hiring her as one of the best things I did to prepare for the long process of applying to business school. She is upbeat, down to earth, kind, and the type of person who will tell it like it is and tell it how you need to hear it. Now that the process is over, I would definitely go back and choose her again in a heartbeat.

I am a non-traditional applicant- first of all, I am a 38 year old mother, so from the perspective from many Adcoms, I may as well have an AARP card. The stats for my admission to any top tier school were not good just based upon this fact alone. I am also military (I had a long commitment), but I had a late start to my career due to some flailings in my personal and professional life in my early 20’s. My extracurriculars were nothing spectacular and my college GPA was 3.3. I did, however, have a 740 GMAT, so I decided that maybe a school or two may overlook my faults if I could sell myself correctly, and this is where Angela came in.

I knew that I would give this one shot- no reapplying next year, so I wanted to make it count. I bought the 5 school comprehensive package and paid the nearly $10,000 fee (gulp!) With her advice, I decided to apply to MIT, Yale, HBS, Kellogg, and Foster (U of Washington). Here are a few of thoughts about my experience with Angela:

1. I am an extremely private person, yet I felt completely comfortable sharing things with Angela that even some of my closest friends don’t know. Not only is she not judgmental, but I also felt that in sharing certain things with her, she was able to understand me as a total person, which was key when helping me craft compelling narratives.

2. She was ALWAYS on time and NEVER missed a deadline or phone call. Ever. She was always prepared for the call.

3. I am not by nature a procrastinator, so I did not hire her to help me stay on track. I hired her because she knows what she is doing. She did not disappoint.

4. I had one minor recommender-related crisis that occurred half way through the process that I freaked out about. Angela was on the phone with me almost immediately and talked me down off the ledge and gave me some much-needed direction.

All of this was still hard work on my part. Having Angela as a consultant did not mean less work for me- on the contrary, it probably resulted in more. I had anywhere from 3-6 drafts on each essay, but as a result, my applications were WAY better than they would have been had I not been working with her. There are so many ways to screw up an essay, and I probably would have if left to my own devices.

I ended up receiving a full scholarship to Yale and a $40K scholarship to Foster. I was offered an interview to both MIT and HBS but was waitlisted at MIT and rejected to HBS. I was rejected to Kellogg (they interview everybody). All in all, not too shabby for someone with my stats! I probably would not have gotten into Yale at all or Foster with such a large scholarship without Angela. So the way I see it, this was a great ROI on my initial 10K. Aside from the economics, working with her just made the process… well, better. It was nice not to have to bug my friends to read my essays and I liked having a totally unbiased opinion. I looked forward to our brainstorming sessions and I felt like she really got me. All in all, I would do the same exact thing and hire Angela again if I had to re-do this process (which I don’t, thank goodness!).

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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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Building your story -- not just editing your essay

I think it's safe to say that anyone seriously considering a top school is probably competent enough to write a decent essay (or two or three). With that in mind, it's tempting to unknowingly write off admissions consulting as an essay-editing service.

Admittedly, I too was unsure as to the value of hiring a consultant. It's not inexpensive, and it definitely adds a third party to an already complex and stressful journey. But I was fortunate to work with Angela Guido, whom I had known after having taken her GMAT and LSAT prep courses -- and she really made a world of a difference in my applications.

Keep in mind, I was a less-than-ideal candidate: decent but not stellar GMAT, strong but not save-the-world-type work experience, white male from the 'burbs. Oh, and a sub-3.0 undergrad GPA. The deck was stacked against me in some really big, important ways.

Angela's strength -- which turned into my advantage -- was to help me craft an entire narrative about myself. To uncover strengths that I didn't realize I had. To articulate the differences I had made in the lives of others. To really get to the heart of what challenges, motivates, and perplexes me. Angela helped me through a lot of introspection that enabled the true "me" to translate within my entire application "suite" -- my resume (don't underestimate the importance of this!), essays, interviews, and more. I can barely recognize my initial drafts against my finished products, and I have her to thank for that.

Angela also kept me on track. I'm a serial procrastinator, and being accountable to an agreed-upon schedule ensured we had ample time to bounce ideas off one another, draft essays, and prepare for interviews. She was always available, whether by email (the easiest for both of us) or frequent calls. Even with what felt like dozens of items on my plate, she made my life easier by being a sort of "advocate" along my way.

In short, I emerged a far more confident applicant than I ever would have been without this help. And in the end, this humble 2.79-GPA-er was accepted to Ross and McCombs; waitlisted at Booth and Johnson; and will matriculate with nearly full scholarship at Kelley. I don't think any of this could have happened without Angela's guidance and support. '

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Admitted to Harvard and Stanford in 4 weeks with $295,000 in scholarships!

Working with Angela was one of, if not the best, decisions I made during my MBA application process. What truly sets her apart is that she never tried to impose a formula or reuse someone else’s success story. It is tempting for a coach to say, “this is what worked for another candidate, so you should do the same,” but Angela did the opposite. She consistently helped me draw the right answers from my own story, strengths, and motivations. As a result, my applications felt authentic rather than engineered. At the time, I was working at an MBB firm with long hours and intense deadlines. The process was stressful and fast-paced, with real constraints. Despite this, Angela helped me manage both time and stress, and we successfully completed two full applications in just four weeks, right in the middle of an August crunch period. While the investment was significant for me, especially given European compensation levels, it was absolutely worth it. Angela brought structure to chaos, pushed when needed, and raised the quality of my applications far beyond what I could have achieved alone. More than just improving my essays, she made the entire process clearer, calmer, and ultimately successful. In the end I was admitted to both Harvard and Stanford (with a total of $295,000 scholarships!) I would strongly recommend Angela to anyone looking for a thoughtful, rigorous, and genuinely personalized coaching experience.

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