How Angela Helped Me See the Bigger Picture (ending in $375k in Scholarships)

Working with Angela Guido and MBA Protocol was one of the best investments I made in my MBA journey. My admissions results went better than I ever thought possible, but the Career Protocol process fundamentally changed the way I understood my own story and career path which transcends this esoteric MBA application process. Coming into the MBA application process, I knew I wanted to pivot careers, but I struggled to explain why in a cohesive way. My background was unconventional compared to many MBA applicants: I had spent nearly eight years at an international trade law firm working with agricultural exporters on high-stakes trade cases while simultaneously building the firm’s operational infrastructure. Outside of work, I volunteered at my local farmers’ market, focused on expanding food accessibility programs. I knew these experiences were connected somehow, but I did not yet know how to articulate the thread between global trade, food systems, operations, and my long-term goal of working in Food CPG strategy and operations. That is where Angela completely changed my understanding of storytelling. What makes Angela different from other consultants is that she does not try to force applicants into a formula. She genuinely wants to understand who you are, what motivates you, and what kind of life you are trying to build. Through the Discovery process, she helped me connect experiences that I had previously viewed as separate parts of my life into one authentic narrative about food accessibility, operational leadership, and cross-border impact. One of the biggest transformations for me was confidence. I had taken the GRE four times and worried constantly that my scores would define my candidacy. Angela never dismissed those concerns, but she also never let me reduce myself to a test score. She helped me focus on presenting the strongest and most authentic version of myself across every component of the application. She was also instrumental in interview preparation. I tend to become overly polished and robotic when nervous, and Angela identified that immediately. She helped me relax, trust my own voice, and approach interviews like real conversations instead of performances. That shift changed everything for me. The results still honestly feel surreal. I applied to nine MBA programs and interviewed at seven. I was admitted to every school where I interviewed, including Dartmouth Tuck, Chicago Booth, Duke Fuqua, Ross, UCLA Anderson, IESE, and NYU Stern, and I received a total of $385,000 in scholarship funding across programs. When I got the call from Tuck, I was in shock. When I got into Booth — my reach school — I cried. I had poured so much of myself into the process, and for the first time I truly felt that my story had been understood. But beyond admissions outcomes, the biggest thing I gained from MBA Protocol was clarity. I learned how to communicate my experiences, understand my motivations, and confidently explain the kind of impact I want to make in my career and life. If you are someone with a nontraditional background, a complicated career pivot, or a story that feels difficult to package neatly, I cannot recommend Angela highly enough. She will help you find the thread that makes your story make sense, and more importantly, help you believe in it yourself.

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Mission Accomplished - Brian Is The One!

12 months ago I was down in the dumps. After 8 years of riding the self employment rollercoaster my business was getting quiet once again. I had just lost a parent, I was lacking direction and knew I needed a factory reset. I was seeking a path to a more purposeful existence that offered stable employment and long term financial prospects.

I was a 32 year old immigrant with a BA in Communications from a European university and I had no direct corporate experience. I had worked in media production for 8 years taking whatever work came through.

After spending many nights going down rabbit holes looking for inspiration, googling “how to get a good job”, I discovered Career Protocols YouTube page and benefited from a wealth of information that I felt was leading me in the right direction. I had never heard of an MBA or a GRE!

I recognize the ridiculousness of pursuing a $150k degree without a specific career goal but the employment reports were promising and I knew with the right guidance this could be an opportunity to get back on track. I was open to new challenges but didn’t want to completely start from scratch competing with 22 year olds for entry level jobs. I was willing to make the investment in myself to learn new skills which would help me to compete for coveted roles at amazing companies that I currently had no access to. I rolled the dice, made contact with Career Protocol and was matched with Brian Birdwell, aka The Wizard.

Within the first week of working together I knew my investment with CP was going to pay off. The first round of essay edits opened my mind to a whole new way of storytelling and I can’t believe I ever thought I could do it alone. We did a deep dive into my entire background and not only did Brian identify the most impactful events of my life, he wove them into a framework that helped me rediscover my confidence, recognize my achievements and inspired me to reach for the stars.

Brian balances being an absolute professional while also being the chillest dude. He’s a sage and has an unbelievable memory - 2 months into the process he was still recalling details of my background that I had mentioned during our initial discovery call, making for an incredibly personalized experience.

Aside from my age, lack of corporate exposure and unclear career goals, I hadn’t taken a math test in 14 years. I self studied over the Summer and improved immensely but ultimately managed to score below average on the GRE. In hindsight I should have sought professional help here as well. I subsequently took the Executive Assessment, scoring above average, and I used that test score when applicable.

Brian helped to identify programs for which I was a competitive candidate but encouraged me to apply to a range of schools. Despite the initial challenges with my profile we stuck to the plan and I ended up getting admitted to Michigan Ross, NYU Stern, Georgetown, the University of Washington Foster with a scholarship and I was waitlisted at Columbia!

I am immensely proud of what we achieved, particularly because I crafted truly authentic, soul bearing stories that are entirely original and unique to my experiences. Before connecting with Brian I interviewed 2 other admissions consulting firms. One of them told me I didn’t have a chance at top programs and the other pitched a scenario where their team of writers would interview me once and then write my essays for me - a ludicrous proposition. During one MBA school interview the admissions director told me I was one of the best storytellers that had ever applied to their program - wow. Without Brian’s expertise that would never have been possible.

This service is so much more than just essay support. It’s part admissions consulting, interview training, resume refining, school selection, career guidance, community support and at times, therapy. I achieved what I set out to do and learned an arsenal of new skills that I will take with me into my MBA and beyond. I am eternally grateful to Brian, Angela and the Career Protocol community!

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$1.4M in Scholarships // Brian Changed My Life

I began working with Brian at a vulnerable point in my life. I was recently unemployed with no expectations of getting a new job before applying. I also didn’t have a test score yet, I had no recognizable brands on my resume (schools or employers), I knew my post-MBA goals would need a lot of fleshing out and explaining, and that I’d only attend business school if I got a large scholarship.

What I did have was a lot of free time and a unique life story that I thought could lead to good results. I spent weeks interviewing a dozen or so of the top-ranked consultants on this site. A few told me what I wanted to hear to try to get my business. Most didn’t want to work with someone who had such a messy story. One of the most prominent groups went as far as to say that I probably wouldn’t get into any T15 schools and that I had a “0% chance” at M7 schools.

When I met with Brian, he didn’t say anything about potential results. All he promised was that we’d work tirelessly to tell my story in a compelling and authentic manner. Recognizing that that’s all anyone can promise, I signed up and never looked back.

Our first task was to go through my entire life and career to date, diving deep into stories that I had never thought would be relevant for applications. It didn’t take long to realize Brian is otherworldly intelligent (780 GMAT/99th percentile GRE and LSAT). But he’s not just intelligent in a fill-in-the-bubble kind of way. He’s intelligent in a pierce-through-the-nonsense (like my initial essay drafts which were flowery garbage) kind of way.

Brian quickly connected the dots between my life events in a way that I hadn’t connected in my head, and together, we worked on a story arc that fit my school’s essay prompts.

When writing this review, I looked back at the very first essay I ever sent Brian and then at the final draft of that essay that I submitted months later. There were eleven revisions in between. And, goodness, I’m surprised it only took eleven revisions. The difference between the two essays is enormous.

About seven or eight drafts in, I really thought the essay was done, and that it couldn’t get any better. It would’ve been easy for Brian to agree with me and for him to move on with his day, but he didn’t. I’d be shocked if Brian has ever used the phrase “it’s good enough.” Brian’s high standards, while tiring at times, led not only to incredible results (more on that later) but also taught me to communicate better which has been valuable even outside of the application process.

Brian is unique in that while he’s not laid back with the work itself, he’s very laid personality-wise. I didn’t realize how important this would be when I was interviewing admissions consultants. The application process is long and stressful, and it’s super valuable to have someone in your corner who doesn’t add to that stress.

I worked with Brian on three schools, two M7s and one T10. I got full rides from all three. I also applied to eight schools on my own and got into six of them with five full scholarships and one-half scholarship. In total, I received $1.4M in scholarship offers and will be attending an M7 school on a full ride this fall. None of this would have been possible without Brian. Working with him changed the course of my life and I’ll always be grateful for that.

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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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The Unicorn Consultant You Didn’t Think Existed, DOES!

Just a few clicks searching “MBA applications” on the internet draws up all sorts of fearmongering threads, posts and video analysis of the US business school process. Couple that with rankings, financial costs, and a plethora of consultant choices, “overwhelmed” is the understatement of the century. Filling out CP’s comprehensive form which asked about my professional experience, stats AND preferred TV show humour– I knew I arrived at the right place.

As an applicant on the ‘older-side’ from a recruitment background looking to pivot into something that was not investment banking, my coach expertly investigated (what felt like my soul!) and asked all the insightful, non-judgemental questions that guided me to a long-term goal I felt confident in. She was the fun, responsible, older sister who gassed me up when I was feeling insecure, helped me draw out my story in gentle nudges, and coaxed me to use active language in my writing. This language shift influenced my confidence in re-telling my stories during interviews and my self-talk of who I am and where I am going.

Her decorated background of working with international applicants or Americans living abroad, plus having actually having worked IN admissions and on the other side, put me all at ease.

What I love about my coach is that she saw me as a human and not just a cog in the proverbial business school wheel. A particular low point during the application process was a momentary blast of FOMO I had in the middle of the night when I was ready to purchase thousands of dollars’ worth of plane tickets to visit all the schools I was applying to. She immediately coaxed me off the ledge- when everyone around me was saying to pull the trigger. I’m so glad she did. With the other suggested strategies, I was able to land 3/6 acceptances and ALL with scholarships from T10-T15 schools. I had a 3.4 GPA with a Humanities degree and a 333 GRE.

When I got the from my dream school, admissions verbatim said my application was “one of the best” they had ever read, and they read lots of essays! Had my coach not spent as much time and care scrutinizing every sentence of my application, there’s no way I could have landed a full-ride from my dream school.

I cannot thank her enough. If you’re on the fence about working with her, I’ll leave you with this: RUN, don’t walk!!!! (to her of course!!)

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The Partner you NEED on your MBA Journey!

The MBA application process can be nerve-wracking and intimidating. Although I had a solid GMAT score, work experience and extracurriculars, I was so nervous going into the process because I had a below average GPA for the top schools. But working with Angela made the process SO much less stressful and even fun!

Before working on any of the essays with Angela, she has you fill out a discovery document, where you really reflect on yourself, your accomplishments, and the most important moments of your life thus far who have shaped who you are. Angela also makes a summary powerpoint of this document with the main themes and stories for your essays and interviews. I went back to this initial document and powerpoint over and over throughout the MBA process. Not only did it set up a foundation for the stories I was going to tell for my essays, but it also was immensely helpful when I was preparing for interviews.

Angela also helped me figure out what I wanted to do in the short term in addition to the long term. I was able to clarify these career goals for myself through one of our initial phone calls, and through various career goal tools in her client portal. This was crucial to helping me figure out my story, and what I want to do immediately post-MBA.

When it came time to write the essays, Angela and I worked long and hard on the big, ominous prompts to really dig deep into the stories that I wanted to tell, which were uncovered piece by piece with every draft. While a LOT of work was put into these drafts up front, once we got them finalized, the rest of the process moved so quickly and I was able to cut these drafts down and revise them for each of the schools I applied to. In addition, writing these essays helped me learn more about myself than I ever could have imagined.

I loved the attitude that Angela and the entire Career Protocol team had. The MBA application process – from GMAT to networking to actually writing the essays – takes up a lot of mental and emotional energy. Angela was always enthusiastic, motivating, uplifting, and made me feel like I could do it and could achieve the results that I wanted. She also took the time to meet up in person whenever she could, which is rare for working with a consultant in Europe! The two times she was in the US, she took care to meet up – once in the airport, and once with the whole Career Protocol team too! I was able to join them on their team lunch in Sonoma, which was a total blast.

But even though Angela is motivating, when I needed to change something, she wasn’t afraid to call me out. For example, she encouraged me to take the GMAT a second time, and I may have only skimmed through Angela’s resume protocol, which led to many, many resume rewrites (that eventually turned into a masterpiece). 🙂

For whatever questions I had, Angela was my sounding board. I had several questions and concerns over the several months we worked together…from where to apply, to what to expect in an interview, and so much more. Her client portal is also chock full of helpful tips touching every single part of the application process. There is a whole interview course, resources on how to conduct informational interviews from current MBA students, storytelling workshops, and so much more. Angela and I also did mock interviews together – including a Kellogg video essay mock and a group interview with other clients for the Wharton team-based discussion – both of which fully prepared me for the real thing.

I am so pleased to say that I have finished the MBA process with fantastic results. I got into 4 out of the 6 schools I applied to, including 3 schools in the M7! I also received a FULL RIDE from Kellogg, and VERY generous financial packages from Wharton and Booth.

So if you’re thinking about who to hire, choose Angela!! She will be the best guide throughout the journey to help you learn more about yourself and come out with amazing results. And even better, I know she will be a lifelong friend and mentor.

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12/10 Would Recommend If you know what’s good for you, work with my coach! When I started this process, I didn’t have a vision or any long-term goals. Our work together forced me to grow in places that I definitely needed but did not expect. Now, thanks to our work, I’ve got my head on my shoulders, I’ve got a plan, and I’ve got a huge scholarship to my #1 choice MBA program!

My coach was super reliable – I could email her freaking out, and she’d get a call scheduled to talk things through asap, which helped soothe extra anxiety about the process. In addition, her enthusiasm really helped get me through the times of the MBA process that were daunting and difficult. Even when we were on the 10th draft of an essay(!!), every edit felt fresh; her comments and actionable advice was easy to understand and something I could implement immediately.

For one of my schools, we had already COMPLETED one of my essays, but then the school changed it on the website! Of course, I was sitting at my desk freaking out and under severe time crunch, but my coach said, “Don’t worry! We can do this!”, and we did!

The resources that are available to you as a client are unparalleled – all the info you could ever need will be right in front of you (when to expect getting an essay back, scholarship info, interview prep documents), and I could reference it whenever I needed. In particular, two things I loved most were the Discovery doc and the interview prep doc. The Discovery doc became the foundation for my entire application because it forced introspection as well as brought out patterns that I didn’t see before. The interview prep portion helped me to confidently and concisely articulate everything I discovered in the Discovery doc and I honestly had a fantastic time interviewing (which I was super surprised by, considering that I was most anxious about that component!).

She was my coach, cheerleader, and voice of reason – I’m so SO glad she was my consultant. If nothing else above has convinced you, maybe this will: I’ve really enjoyed working with her so much so that I’ve already put myself on a waitlist for the course YOMO (You Only MBA Once) so that I can work with her again!

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Angela Will Change Your Life!!!!

I will always remember my first phone call with Angela. I was a nervous wreck, with a million and a half questions about the MBA process and uncountable doubts about my prospects. After talking to Angela, she not only gave me hope but also real advice. Within the next few days, I signed up with Career Protocol; looking back, I can say it was the best decision I made.

While I didn’t work directly with Angela on my application (I worked with another AMAZING consultant), Angela and I worked closely on mapping out my career path. She scheduled a career coaching call with me where we would discuss what I wanted to do post-MBA; this call was not part of the package, and she did this simply because she could tell how confused and stressed I was about my post-MBA plans during our initial call.

Before our scheduled call, Angela had me fill out both the Myers Briggs Personality Test and the Strengths Finders Test. She used the results from these tests, coupled with my discovery doc, to come up with my professional strengths and weaknesses. For context, I have a very traditional, cookie-cutter background in Investment Management, and I initially wanted to write about what sounded “right.” So, during our call, I told Angela how I wanted to do Fin-tech and how that “made sense.” Angela immediately called out my BS, and challenged me to think outside the box and embrace my true passion and hobbies. By the end of the call, the following happened: 1) Angela and I had designed an entire career path, which was a complete pivot from my current role in Investment Management. 2) Angela pointed out some uncovered assumptions I had about other safe career paths I wanted to explore, helping me realize that none of those options were actually anything I wanted. 3) Angela made me feel that she had known me for years, and genuinely wanted the best for me. 4) Lastly, Angela gave me the courage to believe that my side passion project could turn into reality, only if I had the courage to believe in myself and followed my dreams, unapologetically.

Thanks to Angela/my coach, I got into both Wharton and Booth, and will be attending Wharton – my dream school – this fall. Beyond helping me get into a top business school program, they gave me the courage to follow my heart, even when it’s off the well-worn path.

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