MBA Protocol | MBA Admissions Consultants

I knew I would have a tough time when applying to MBA programs due to my super low undergraduate GPA (2.9!!). However, Louise helped me showcase that I was still a very strong candidate and allowed me to gain acceptance to 3/6 programs that I applied to. I also received very generous scholarships at all 3, despite my low GPA. I didn’t expect how much the work I did with Louise would benefit my professional life. She helped me craft the strongest resume I have ever had. I ended up applying for a new job during the MBA application process and got almost a 100% response rate to my new resume. The process Louise led me through in exploring my goals, wins, and learning experiences helped me confidently express myself during the interviews and resulted in several job offers. Even after starting the new job, several coworkers have commented on my ability to communicate concisely but effectively, a skill Louise helped me hone through essay writing. Working with Louise was 100% worth it, not only allowing me to be accepted into my top choice MBA program but also helping me grow stronger professionally. I would recommend Louise to absolutely anyone that wanted to grow their communication skills and practice showcasing their best self through storytelling. Louise’s unconventional experience in comedy and puppeteering are actually her biggest strengths and show you how to create a real connection with the admissions committee. Thank you, Louise!!

I loved working with Angela due to her holistic approach to MBA admissions. During the application process, she constantly pushes to ensure essays are succinct and tell the most effective story possible. The CP materials drive clients to a level of depth in essays and interviews that differentiate us as applicants. My appreciation for working with CP only increased over time. Not only did I secure admission to one of my top choice schools, but I now head into business school with a greater understanding of what my career goals are and what I truly care about outside of work.

I came to Career Protocol looking for a guide to help navigate wielding an unorthodox narrative in my pursuit of an MBA. More than that, I found one of the most genuine advisors and friends in Aziz, who helped me redefine my path and launch my future with astonishing clarity.

Aziz is a deep listener and an honest communicator. He pushed me early on to dive deeper into my own motivations to develop a career path that was going to do more than signal ‘success’ to some outside scorekeeper. While I continually pounded my head against the pavement trying to optimize my career, my life, my goals – and solve the universal equation to success while I was at it – Aziz patiently redirected me to explore where I could uncover meaning and fulfillment. Our time became a mission to identify where I could grow myself and ignite the passion that would authentically drive the success that I was craving, rather than a box-checking exercise to amass the most success indicators.

Through this incredibly personal and often challenging process, I discovered an opportunity to pivot pre-MBA into consulting – a place where I could do all kinds of exploring while leaning into my existing talents for strategic thinking and problem solving. While I had hired Aziz to help me prepare for an MBA application cycle, he didn’t miss a beat and immediately pivoted to serve this new directive. He connected me with resources to practice case interviews, helped me polish my resume for the industry, and filled my cup when my confidence was less than stellar.

I am at an absolute loss for words to describe how grateful I am for Aziz’s attention and care for the most human parts of his clients. While I did not leave Aziz with an admit to Business School – though I have plans to hire him for this again in the future – I did walk away with a newly minted colleague at McKinsey & Company with a fuller spirit and a fresh perspective on what I am seeking in life.

If you are looking for more from your application process than GMAT scores, school research, and endless grammar edits, look no further. I can’t tell you who Aziz will help you find in yourself, but I know I am so proud to have met this bolder, more inspired version of me and I can’t wait to see what else we dig up in the future.

Do yourself a favor and work with Aziz.

I began my journey with Career Protocol after discovering Angela’s refreshingly uplifting approach to crafting individual narratives in a Forté workshop.

I applied for a spot with CP thinking I was aiming for Business School in 2021 and began the in-depth exploration necessary for any complete B School application. During this process, I discovered that I had a pre-MBA opportunity to pivot into consulting which aligned perfectly with my recently clarified career map. Angela and her team were in lockstep, pivoting with my priorities and making sure I was as prepared as possible for the many rounds of case and fit interviews that lay ahead.

To help support me in my application prep, I enrolled in a preparation program for consulting interviews that Angela developed called the Smartest Person In The Room (or SPITR). SPITR helped me evolve from a Case in Point style rote practitioner into a versatile case problem powerhouse within the month. I inhaled the course and rewatched as many of the masterclass topics as I could – designing my own problem-solving style along the way and incorporating it into partner case prep each week. I am confident that my interview performance, and ultimate McKinsey offer, was supported hugely by the strong foundation for business problem solving that I practiced through SPITR and would enthusiastically recommend SPITR to anyone serious about breaking into consulting.

The first time I hopped on a call with my Career Protocol consultant, I knew she was who I wanted to work with. Applying to Bschool was extremely daunting for me and her friendly demeanor and can-do attitude were exactly what I needed to keep me going, After I completed Career Protocol’s self-discovery exercise, I was amazed at the tidbits they were able to pick out and help me to draft a cohesive narrative around my life. While I wasn’t exactly sure of my story going in, we were able to identify my goals, key values, and decisions I’ve made in line with them. I would note this wasn’t an easy process and we came back to the drawing board several times. Since then, I’ve noticed this deeper understanding of myself has helped me gain confidence and served me in all aspects of life, not just in applying to B-school. Throughout the application process, I was grateful for the structure Career Protocol provided, in particular the curriculum on story-telling which kept me on track and making progress. Further, her essay comments always began with kind, encouraging words to keep me going, and she helped me tease out the crucial stories that best exemplified what I was looking to share. I seriously could not have asked for a better teammate in this process and I am so grateful to have been able to work with Career Protocol. And I got into top schools I would never have dreamed of!! I was admitted to my dream school, Harvard, as well as Wharton, Booth, Columbia, Tuck, and Yale with some solid scholarships. None of it would have been possible without their guidance and I am forever grateful.

I came to Career Protocol late in the application game with very little understanding of the application process. After my initial conversation with Angela, I knew that this consulting company was the right one for me. I had reached out to other consultants as well but got sent away because my scores were not good enough. While these other consultants tried to boast their acceptance rate for their clients, Career Protocol showed that they humanized their clients and truly wanted to work with people they believed in. This faith in me made me truly believe in myself and in investing time and finances with Career Protocol.

Working with my consultant, Louise, was a true pleasure and such an incredible experience. Louise constantly pushed me to dig deep as I began to understand my journey to MBA and how I could cohesively and smartly tell my story. While I find that I am a storyteller, Louise taught me how to truly communicate with MBA programs and tell my story with heart. This was incredibly important as she helped me learn to be mindful of how much of my story to share and find how to frame my story to bring out my most authentic self to show that my values and morals aligned with the values of my dream schools. On a personal note, I found that Louise was always available to chat and she personalized her approach with me as I continued to learn about my authentic self throughout my application process.

At the end of the day, I got into 50% of the schools I applied to and was waitlisted at another one of my reach schools. When I was waitlisted at my dream school, Louise had my back and was on my team and helped me come up with a game plan to ensure that I achieve my goal. I am happy to say that it is because of Career Protocol’s lessons and Louise’s personal and loving touch that I am attending my dream school in the Fall. Thank you Career Protocol, and mostly, thank you, Louise!

Working with Aziz was such a pleasure. He helped me discover and pull out things about me that I never thought were important enough to discuss or mention in essays/interviews. The whole process felt empowering and he kept me confident throughout the journey. Before applying, I felt that I had no idea how to write a good essay about myself but after the process, he turned me into a storyteller. If you’re looking for a consultant who isn’t just focused on the numbers, go to him!

Working with Angela on my MBA applications was a truly awe-inspiring adventure of self-discovery and affirmation. And a journey of advice, tough love and reflection that pushed me to do my best, and in turn find out and reaffirm what makes me, me, and more than good enough for the college admits: great at manning and captaining my own boat.

As an entrepreneur, driven, Latin woman I have rarely felt that I had someone so competent, and such an expert, unconditionally in my corner – ready to give me great, unbiased coaching while keeping the eye on the prize, and pushing me to reach far. The application process, which is both time-consuming, emotionally daunting and at times discouraging, was an exciting and joyful process next to Angela.

In the beginning, middle, and end, the ultimate takeaway was that, even if I was not admitted in the college of my dreams (and as I kept replaying whether it WAS my dream and my path or not, I admittedly kept adding complexity layers on that thought), I was coming out of the application process with a clearer understanding of myself, my life story, the value that I bring to the table professionally and what path makes me, in particular, to minute details, happy and fulfilled.

I tackled my biggest fear: unaccomplished potential – not coincidentally the top of the list of Angela’s priorities – by taking a leap of faith, except that this time I felt like I did it with supersonic goggles with a road map, strategy, timeline and a plan – given by career protocol.

To whoever believes you have something to say and do in this world but is hesitant whether an MBA journey is for you, reach out to Angela – it will change the way you see yourself and your future! Oh and yes, I DID get into my dream school: Stanford GSB

Despite a 610 GMAT, a state school background, work experience in only one company, and only applying to two programs because of my fear of being rejected everywhere, I got an acceptance from HBS and waitlisted post interview in the GSB in the most competitive MBA application year!

At my desk, I didn’t consider myself material for the institutions where I thought my goals would flourish – it made me feel sad. However, Career Protocol’s process helped me take a deep introspection of my life and my future. Angela and her team are professional big sisters and brothers who are wise, funny, and knowledgeable in how to best present yourself in your MBA applications. They are good people who care.

Angela worked with me on more than +50 essay re-writes and added +200 comments throughout +3 months in my essays. Her background as a screenwriter helped me craft my story arc across the different elements of the application. She didn’t write sentences for me or gave me a template. She even prohibited me from looking at examples! She thoughtfully guided me to realize the highlights of my life and how to best express them in each part of my application. Even my passion to create the perfect Pisco Sour was included as a small line in my resume. I got questioned by both interviewers in the GSB and HBS about it. Angela knows exactly what detail to add where. She even worked with me in tiny job description boxes that perhaps other consultants don’t consider. There wasn’t a detail that Angela didn’t help me craft.

The essays that I ended up writing and my application inspire me. This is the most important. I’m also happy they inspired the Adcom! In addition, my post-MBA goals have multiplied in ambition and impact. The interview skills I’ve gained in Career Protocol’s program have already opened many doors and I’m no longer nervous. Working with Career Protocol I feel that I did not only create an MBA application but also embarked on a journey towards my dreams. I’m eternally grateful to them!

I was introduced to Aziz and Career Protocol through Forte’s MBA Launch program. In a week of speaking with 5-6 admissions consultants, Aziz stood out to me above everyone else. Even though our pull-up was only 30 minutes, he was truly interested in who I am as a person and how he could help me showcase that in an application. This was incredibly different from folks who were focused on how to hide some of my weaknesses (undergrad from non-target state school, avg GPA).

Once I started working with Aziz, I honestly felt more and more excited by the application process. First, Career Protocol’s guide on story-crafting was so, so, helpful for me. I learned how to articulate my journey and values in a concise way, that I have even been able to use outside of the MBA process. Second, Aziz’s ability to ask leading brainstorming questions helped me hone in on my post-MBA goals. I don’t think I even realized how unclear and jargony my responses to goal-related prompts were, and without Aziz, I would’ve floundered in that aspect of my application. And lastly, Aziz’s interview prep. I was so nervous for one of my interviews, and honestly was feeling the imposter syndrome set in without even knowing anyone in the rest of the applicant pool. Career Protocol’s guide. on storytelling and interview prep was amazing, but I couldn’t have done it without Aziz. He was incredibly patient and did mocks with me to take my answers from good to excellent.

In short, in Aziz, I feel I’ve found a friend and mentor– not just an MBA consultant. Sign up for an intro session with him, and you’ll see what I’m talking about!

TL;DR: Working with Aziz has given me a clearer outlook on myself, my strengths, where I’m headed, and whether an MBA is the right path. He’s added so much value to me as a person and a professional, not just as an MBA applicant.

I came into the MBA process more out of curiosity and with an expiring GMAT score that I thought I may as well use. I talked to most of the highest recommended admissions shops based on this website, and I felt that Career Protocol and Aziz were the most invested and interested in me as a person versus just as another applicant. Based on this I chose to go with them, hoping that I may also gain a little more value for my life from the process as well.

Aziz definitely blew that expectation out of the water. I think he was the perfect consultant for me because he helped me identify then articulate what my differentiators are (something I really struggled with after being in consulting) and he was the optimist counterbalance to my slightly cynical outlook.

The process itself went as smoothly as it could, given my odd availability, and Aziz was always happy to work with the subpar drafts I used to send back late at night and brainstorm well outside business hours on how to make my essays honest and succinct. He was candid when something wasn’t working for him, and he’d work with me to find a replacement or a different storyline instead of just dumping the ball back in my court and moving onto his next advisee. I don’t think that my essays would have turned out anywhere near as well as they did without his guidance. When I had my interview, he helped me think through what was important and spent 1.5h with me just on the “tell me about yourself” question (then worked on more). Sometimes I think he was more committed to seeing me succeed than I was…

However, the reason that I would always recommend Aziz to others is because of his commitment to helping me figure out what I wanted to do. While there’s clearly some level of that that goes into every MBA essay, he went well above and beyond to really help me narrow down what I thought my path was and what the steps on that path were. Through his continuous prompting, I was able to become more and more specific about what I found interesting in a company and a role, and now I have a pretty clear path forward for myself in the FinTech world.

After I got into one of the top US MBA programs, he was still happy to help me think through whether going for the MBA was the right decision for me and how I could get the best out of it. He even helped me try to negotiate with the program for a scholarship.

Coming out of this process, I think that I’ve learned a lot about myself as a person and a professional, and that’s worth so much more than application advice. If you want someone to fit you into a tried-and-tested mold I don’t think that this relationship would work out for you, but if you’re willing to engage I think you’d find it very beneficial and entirely worth it.

I worked with Aziz for my MBA deferred enrollment application, and I was surprised at the quality of care I received. I have had a consultant for my college application, and Aziz is just so so so much better in every possible way. If you are looking for a highly responsible, capable coach for your MBA application, then Aziz is your top choice. He would give you honest, powerful feedback and helped you grow in your MBA application process. English is not my first language, so I sometimes struggle to accurately express my thoughts in essays. Aziz helped me to piece my different ideas into a holistic story and made me have a better understanding of myself. MBA application is a lot more stressful and challenging than I thought, and I am glad that I have found such an excellent coach to help me along the way.

When Angela first introduced me the Louise, I knew that she was relatively new to being a consultant in the MBA application prep process. Therefore, I was a little apprehensive. Hiring a consultant is an investment in and of itself so I wanted to make sure that I got to speak to her. Unlike other consultants I had spoken with, Louise came in with a genuine desire to get to know me from the very get-go. Before I had made any sort of a commitment to Career Protocol, she spent the time to get to know me and my story.

It was clear that she really cared about people and their journey in life and I felt very safe with her throughout the process. Telling my story turned into somewhat of a journey and it was very collaborative, non-judgmental, and sometimes cathartic. She helped me see myself from a point of view that uplifted my self-worth and really made me believe in myself. She and I worked together to find a school that really resonated with my personal core values.

Louise was very accessible through the process and while being very understanding, she stayed firm with deadlines to ensure that we remained on track.

When I began my MBA consultant search, I felt as if most only cared about my GRE scores and discouraged me from applying to my dream school. Louise and Angela tried to get to know me as a whole person and I was accepted into my dream school!

Career Protocol boosted my self-confidence and made me chase my dreams. This is something that will stay with me way beyond the MBA application process. Thank you, Louise and Angela, I am a better person for having met you both!

When I first started seeking an admissions consultant, my sole objective was to find a person who could teach me all the tips and tricks to sneak my way into one of the most prestigious programs in the world. I felt that my background was weak (white male, undergrad at a non-target state school, average GMAT score, and an impressive, but non-traditional professional background), and many consultants had me convinced that they held a secret formula to help me disguise these flaws. Then comes Aziz…

By the end of our free intro call, my perspective on the application process had been flipped on its head. While many other consultants spoke of how they’d leverage their expertise and talent, Aziz spoke of how he’d leverage mine. In the duration of a 30-minute call, he had thoroughly dissected my ambitions and desires to a degree that I had never thought to explore. But more importantly, he was genuinely excited for what I dreamed to accomplish. Our conversation made me feel empowered and proud of my accomplishment, not ashamed of my shortcomings. All the self-doubt and insecurity that I’d felt thus far was gone, and I knew that I’d found not only an admissions consultant, but a friend, mentor, and cheerleader with a sincere interest in seeing me succeed.

After hiring Aziz, we started a several-week process of introspection; school applications were not discussed until later. He wanted to extract the personal and professional stories that shaped me, understand what was driving me to pursue an MBA, and ultimately what I hoped to accomplish in my life and career both short- and long-term. This self-discovery process not only helped Aziz as we crafted my essays, but also helped me provide a far more genuine and compelling story as I networked and interviewed with current students, alumni, and ad-coms. As we moved into the essay and interview prep phases, this introspection paid dividends. I knew who I was and what I wanted to accomplish in a concise, genuine, and believable story, and I had already reflected on the stories to prove it. While I had zero doubt that I’d made the right choice with Aziz, it was confirmed when I received Stanford GSB and Wharton interviews and over $80k in scholarships from Duke Fuqua and Yale SOM (which Aziz masterfully helped me negotiate).

To summarize, gaining Aziz as a mentor and friend has become one of the greatest blessings of my life. He changed the course of my life not only by helping me gain admission to my dream schools, but also by equipping me with the skills, confidence, and self-awareness to achieve my goals during and after my MBA. If you want to simply gain admission, go with the other guy. If you want to gain admission and prepare yourself for the rest of your life and career at the same time, go with Aziz.

I was first introduced to Career Protocol through the Forte MBA Launch Program. After speaking with several MBA consultants, I chose Career Protocol because of their positive energy and their focus on finding your TRUE self. I am so glad that I worked with Aziz on my MBA applications. There were many times (COVID, job change, suddenly move back to Asia etc.) that I wanted to give up but Aziz was always there for me — he inspired me and helped me come up with a concrete plan. Every time I got off the phone with Aziz, I felt so pumped and knew exactly what my next steps should be. I would not be able to complete this journey without Aziz. After submitting the application to my dream school, I truly felt that this was already dream come true. Aziz spent so much time digging and helping me connect the dots so I would be able to show the school my best self and tell all the stories that I ever wanted to tell. THANK YOU AZIZ! You are truly an amazing person! I have learned so much from you and have grown a lot.

I was extremely hesitant about working with a consultant, but ultimately am so glad I chose to work with Angela. I had decent stats that were on par with the schools I was applying to, but I work for a big consultancy from which hundreds of applicants apply each year, so I was worried about being able to tell a unique and compelling story about why I was a good fit for schools. Angela worked with me to comprehensively understand my background and what made me tick. She also helped me clarify what I was looking to get out of business school, and worked with me to put together an application I could feel really proud of. Our work together not only aided me to get into 100% of the schools I applied to (all with scholarship offers) but helped me reframe my past career experience and think more clearly about how I want the future of my career to look. Even if I hadn’t gotten into all the schools I applied to, the process still would have been helpful in thinking through my career goals and getting all the interview and storytelling advice. Career Protocol offers a curriculum that helped me refine all parts of my application and I felt great about how I learned to talk about my career experience, which I expect will pay dividends far beyond just business school applications.

TLDR: Go With Career Protocol. Sure, read all the reviews and do all the consultant calls you want. Whatever you do, just pick Career Protocol. I am a woman in tech working 90 hours per week, stubborn AF, and only wanted to apply to 2 schools: GSB and HBS, no backups. Angela helped me make that happen. Last week I paid the deposit to become a member of the HBS class of 2023. Angela, her team, and her curriculum give you FAR more bang for your buck than imaginable. Read on.
I was hesitant to hire an MBA coach. For months, I had watched every Career Protocol video Angela had posted on youtube. I attended multiple admissions info sessions each for HBS and GSB over the summer of 2020. The slogan of the admissions officers seemed to be “Don’t write what you think we want to hear.” Through months of aimless brainstorming, I had convinced myself I could do it alone and didn’t need to hire anyone for help. It felt a little like cheating. BUT after talking to other friends applying to MBA programs and realizing that I hadn’t taken the standardized test yet NOR made any progress on my applications, the self-imposed FOMO of ‘what if investing in an MBA coach is the difference between getting in and not getting in’ sent me off to the races reading reviews of consultants and setting up ‘free intro calls’ with many of the top-ranked companies on P&Q. For context, I am a high-achieving woman working at a large tech company, not a typical consultant or IB or PE applicant, working 90+ hours per week. If you’re reading this and hesitant about calling yourself a high-achieving woman, don’t sell yourself short. You are probably high achieving. But back to my story.
My priorities were largely finding a coach who would make the process enjoyable, who would put up with me wanting to do things my own way, and who would give me the tough love I (often) need in moments of stubbornness. Every consulting agency intro call got straight to business. They reviewed my profile, said nice things, and talked about how many former admissions officers they had employed on their staff. They told me what they thought I wanted to hear– that I was a good fit for my choice schools and that they would help minimize any weaknesses in my candidacy.
But my intro call with Angela was different. It wasn’t just business. There was laughter. We were both a little bit goofy. She talked to me like a human being and about their approach being centered around human growth. She was exactly what I was looking for—and THAT is the magic behind Angela Guido and her sorcery at Career Protocol.
I was confident I wouldn’t need much help in the self-knowledge part of applying because – as I told Angela in our intro call– I tend to be very self-aware. Almost too self-aware. And yet, like every other review states about working with Angela, I was blown out of the water after Angela and I met for our first Discovery Call. As it turned out, the self-awareness I had proclaimed – among stellar career achievements that I hadn’t even realized were indeed stellar – turned out to be an indicator that I have high functioning Autism, which is commonly missed in women but was pinpointed by Angela during the discovery process. Looking back, I can confidently say that I wouldn’t have survived the application process without her.
The application process was hard. Really hard. Angela was fearless in digging in, giving deep feedback, and telling me when something wasn’t working and why. I had to start over from scratch multiple times, which was confidence-blowing and embarrassing. It felt like it shouldn’t be that hard to write a few hundred words about who I was, what my principles are, and what I envision for the future. HA! It is hard. But Angela is a master of encouragement and training – and after tens of iterations, I ended up with so much more than two stellar applications. Working with Angela sharpened my ability to articulate both my essence and my experiences, built a toolkit of ACTIONABLE and SUSTAINABLE frameworks for goal-setting and network-building for before, during, and after MBA, and most importantly, taught me to be more empathetic with myself. If someone had told me I would emerge from the application process a more confident, joyful, proud person – AND an HBS admit – AND that my daily life would improve by 5X because of Career Protocol – I wouldn’t have believed it. But it’s true. All thanks to Angela. I couldn’t have done it without her. She changed my life. GWCP.

Yes, I got into HBS. Yes, I had the privilege to choose from a handful of M7 schools. And no, I don’t have some crazy stats going on. I just had a very compelling story on why I wanted to go to business school, which Angela helped me navigate through the years.

I met Angela back in 2018 when I was considering applying to Business School but I wasn’t sure it was the right path for me. There were still many things I wanted to do before going to business school, but I was afraid I’d be too old by then (you hear all these crazy stats about people (especially women) going into business school super young and I thought I needed to be a certain age to get in). Sounds crazy now, I know. Angela invested in my development before I was even a client of hers. She became my go-to person to test different career paths and encouraged me to take risks.

We stayed connected all throughout and in 2020, with a global pandemic just starting, and MBA program uncertainty, at its peak, I decided to work with Angela. I interviewed other consultants, offering packages for 1/2 or 1/3 of what Angela offered. I have friends who went with them, so I saw first hand the difference in experience.

I applied to 6 schools, took the GRE from home (19 days before submitting my application), and was running a due diligence project (the most brutal kind that exists) at the same time. It was a mess. But without Angela it would have been impossible for me to navigate this whole process. Because you’re going to doubt yourself. You’re going to think that you’re not good enough, and there will be moments in which you think you should just give up. But Angela won’t let you. She will remind you how amazing you are, how much you have achieved, and how giving up is not an option.

Yes. I got into HBS. But that’s not why I’d choose Angela again. I would choose her again because I grew as a person, as a professional, as a friend, and as a partner.

I am an incoming Class of 2023 and have worked with Angela in the past application cycle. Whenever I look back at my experiences of working with Angela over the past few months, I can only summarize them into one sentence: “Absolutely worth every penny!!”

A quick overview about my background: I am a native speaker of Chinese, finished my undergraduate in the U.S., and had around 3.5 years of working experience in one of the Big Four. GMAT and GPA are both around average. Nothing extremely unique from my prior experiences, either.

I started to look for an MBA consultant around February, and Angela was recommended by one of my friends. I had talked to 6-7 different consultants before Angela but never really felt the “click” with any of those. I was quite clear about what I needed – someone who REALLY knows me and trusts me on this whole process. I didn’t want to work with someone who has no faith in me – applying to MBA is super stressful, why do I need to add extra pressure on my shoulder by working with someone who doesn’t trust me???

During our first conversation, Angela, unlike all the other consultants that I had talked to, went beyond just my numbers on paper (i.e., GMAT, GPA, undergrad, job title, etc.) and focused more on the “invisible” things about me. I could feel that she genuinely wanted to know me as a human being and try to help me, even though I never promised her anything during that first meeting. Just 10-15 minutes into our conversation, Angela was already able to put together a decent picture about me and tell me how to best position myself. That was mind-blowing!! While the other consultants could only tell me “Top XXX is your goal” in the first conversation, Angela was already helping me brainstorm my MBA stories.

Working with Angela was painless. The Discovery session was magical – it made my school selection and storyboarding SOOOOO easy. I was asked to fill out a 15-pager with questions around my values and my life experiences, and then Angela turned my input into a PPT deck filled with extremely nuanced insights all about my personality and uniqueness. Then, we had a deep-dive conversation, during which I almost felt like I got to know a brand new “me”. I started to realize some hidden qualities that I may not had noticed before but that have been impacting my daily life in every single way. With this Discovery process and brainstorming sessions done in a proper way, the essay-drafting was just a piece of cake. Angela did not word-edit my essays, but she provided comments that helped bring my stories up to the next level. In fact, sometimes she might just leave one or two comments, but those one or two comments literally took me the whole day to address. I think it shows how insightful Angela’s comments were. I also like the fact that Angela did not word-edit my essays, because I did not want my voice to be taken away.

After the essay-drafting part, the interview-prep was another amazing experience. The Interview Hero course slides interviews (not just the MBA interviews, but any type of interviews) into various different pieces. By learning and practicing under a systematic framework, you would not go wrong again in any interviews. And yes, the skills that I picked up from Interview Hero would definitely be applicable to my future interviews. The magical thing about the course is that it helped me present my authentic and best self. And by being myself, I felt more powerful than ever when talking to strangers.

I ended up getting an offer from an M7 with $$ and being waitlisted by another M7. Angela has continued to support me throughout the waitlist process and we will see how this will turn out!! Regardless of the final result, I cannot thank Angela enough for what she has done for me. Not only did I earn the MBA opportunity that I had been dreaming of, but also I made a trustworthy friend, developed tons of practical skills, and most importantly, established the self-confidence that I never had.

If you want a phenomenal storyteller who also knows exactly how to bring the best stories of your life to light, Louise is your perfect fit. I did a lot of introspection before drafting my application essays, and she did an amazing job in identifying the gems from my past experiences and worked with me tirelessly to bring out my authentic voice in a meaningful and delightful way.

During the essay drafting process, Louise asked important probing questions to tune in to the most vivid, significant details of my stories. She also played the devil’s advocate to read my story from different angles and challenge me to make the story comprehensible, significant and memorable to a broader audience of different backgrounds while maintaining my authentic tone.

I have to admit choosing to work with Louise was a risk I took, because at the time she was quite new to MBA consulting and had a non-traditional background (law, comedy, screenwriting), without an MBA herself. However, I knew what I personally am good at and what complementary skills I needed from an MBA consultant, and she far exceeded my expectations.

Louise and I make a dream team. Her creative mind, tireless work ethic, and kind heart brought so much value and joy to our work together. I got into 2 out of the 3 schools on which we worked together (Harvard Business School and INSEAD). She also provided constructive feedback on other schools I applied to which brought me much more comfort and confidence in turning in those applications. Thank you for your tremendous help, Louise!

Before working with Aziz I had applied to business schools in the previous admissions cycle without any success. I was feeling completely defeated until I had my first call with Aziz. He was empathetic, honest, enthusiastic, and so genuine in every interaction we had. He made me feel like I was the only applicant he was working with. He took the time to carefully identify unique stories, and relate them to specific values at each school. After each essay draft, Aziz provided clear and impactful feedback and I was beyond happy and so proud of the final products. He pushed me outside of my comfort zone and provided immense support throughout the entire process. He defined a clear plan of action to tackle my weaknesses like a below-average GMAT score, and helped me really dig deep to identify my strengths to go above and beyond in all other areas of the application. With Aziz’s support, I was accepted into my top choice (Duke) and received a Forté Fellow scholarship. I could not have done this without Aziz!!

Louise was the perfect guide through my MBA applications. Coming from a background that isn’t a common MBA feeder, I was not confident in my writing skills or understanding of what it takes to get into a top MBA program. Louise was instrumental in helping me grow my writing, storytelling, and interviewing skills to allow me to bring my best, fully authentic self to this process. She skillfully pulled out my life experiences and helped me transform them into genuine, inspiring stories. I was able to not only get interviews at every school I applied to, but I got admits to 6/7 schools I applied to. I am still astonished to be able to pick from multiple of the top MBA programs. Ultimately, I was able to get into my dream school, YALE SOM!! I can confidently say that without Louise I wouldn’t be in the same place I am today. If you want a partner to help you transform your life experiences into inspiring stories then you NEED to work with Louise.

I’m so so so appreciative of Aziz and his guidance throughout my application journey! He helped me in 3 key ways:

1. Understanding and articulating my specific goals: I started out using tons of industry jargon that painted a flowery, unclear picture of what I wanted. Aziz asked the right questions that pushed me to really reflect on my short- and long-term goals in a way that not only helped with my applications, but also strengthened my understanding of the specific role and industry I see myself in, what I envision myself doing on a day-to-day, and how I plan on getting there.
2. Highlighting how my unique strengths complement a school’s culture: Aziz is a wizard at active listening and quickly processing information. After I rambled about my life story and what I thought of as my achievements, Aziz was able to identify strengths of mine I didn’t consider previously. He succinctly tied these strengths together into themes, painting a powerful authentic story-driven by specific life experiences. He helped me connect my story to specific aspects of each school, which illustrated a deep understanding of a school’s culture and how I could add value.
3. Providing structure: I work best with structure. The application process felt very nebulous, but with Aziz in my corner, I felt like everything was tons more manageable. On days I felt overwhelmed and stuck with my essays, it was comforting to know I could always call Aziz and bounce ideas off of him. Even if I felt like an essay draft was terrible, I could send it over to him for feedback and keep the momentum going, which I felt was so valuable during the MBA application marathon.

With Aziz’s help, I was accepted to 5 schools that gave out a total of approximately $400K of scholarship money, including an acceptance to a US News top-10 school with a full-tuition scholarship!

I started working with Aziz while preparing Round 1 and Round 2 applications. I appreciate what he and Career Protocol stand for and how they look at the whole person and not just your application statistics. He was there for me every step of the way. Coming from a non-business background he whipped me, and my story, into shape. It is truly invaluable to have someone who can give you honest feedback at every point. In a non-traditional application cycle because of COVID, it was really helpful to have someone to turn to and ask questions. From brainstorming my essays, practicing interviews, to deciding where to apply, I couldn’t have done it without Aziz!

I connected with Aziz to prep for my Executive MBA interview. It was on a really tight timeframe and I had to prep fast. Aziz gave me honest and valuable feedback that was not only applicable to the MBA interview but also to other interviews moving forward. He also went out of his way to provide his personal contact information in case I had any questions before my interview. I was accepted into the CBS EMBA program!! After admission, he was also really helpful in providing tips on looking for scholarships/funding.

There are so many great things to say about working with Aziz, that it’s hard to know where to start!

When I first started the MBA application process, I really wasn’t thinking of working with a consultant because I was afraid that the interaction would be mostly transactional (since that is sometimes what I hear from friends), and that the consultant would not really bother getting to know me as a person.
But through Forte Launch, I got to know the Career Protocol team, and then eventually had a conversation with Aziz, and I felt that his approach really resonated with me, and everything just felt “right.” I was also really stressed about the application process (remembering how
stressed out I was during my college application process, and not looking forward to having to put myself through this again), and I wasn’t sure what my chances would be at different
schools. So, after balancing all of this out in my head, I decided to work with Aziz.

Now that I’m at the end of my MBA application journey, I can say that this has been such a great decision! Aziz does a great balance with pushing me to be the best I can be and not letting me sell myself short, while also keeping things real. After not being able to crack 700 on the
GMAT after repeated attempts, I was thinking of not applying to Stanford anymore, but Aziz still encouraged me to do so, wanting to make sure I stayed true to my interests. He often said I shouldn’t do things out of fear, and that I would regret it in the long-term if I didn’t apply. At the same time, to make sure I applied to a balanced set of schools, he encouraged me to consider what my safety schools would be, something that I wouldn’t have done on my own – looking back, doing so gave me greater peace of mind throughout the application process than if I hadn’t done so.

Aziz also took a lot of time to know what my “life story” is, and where my real interests lied. At first, I said what sounded like a list of disjoint things, between education, economics, technology, etc. After doing multiple rounds of digging with me, and taking into consideration
everything I’ve written about myself, it was Aziz who actually saw the unifying theme and articulated back to me what my actual interest was. This was a crucial turning point for my goals essays – before they were completely weak and generic, and after articulating my goals, Aziz enabled me to write goals essays unique and true to myself and reflective of my life experiences, that made me a much more compelling candidate. But I would say, even beyond business school, Aziz’s insight here is valuable because it enabled me to recognize what drove all my disparate interests, and what was the essential thing that made me tick.

Overall, working with Aziz enabled me to focus on the things that mattered and not get stuck in my own head. I appreciated that Aziz always gave me the feedback I needed to hear, and told me what was working and what was not. When I kept falling short of my GMAT target, he kept things realistic for me but also prevented me from excessively worrying about it. He was always generous with spending time talking through my concerns, even if I felt I might be asking some annoying questions!

I’m really glad that I worked with Aziz – he takes a very humanistic, authentic, and grounded approach to coaching me through the application process. He’s prevented me from making a number of critical mistakes, both in terms of the application and maximizing my scholarship chances, and I’m sure without Aziz, I would’ve gone through this entire 8-month process (working through R1 and R2) with a lot more stress! He also goes beyond in other ways – early on, he connected me with a personal friend of his, who was a Product Manager, so I could learn more about the PM career!

I’m thrilled to have gotten an acceptance call from Chicago Booth this past week (and with a $40K scholarship!), especially since I’ve dreamed of going to the University of Chicago since I was in high school! Moreover, I think I’ve grown a lot as a person through this process, and Aziz has also shown me the right mindset to have when tackling challenges – one that keeps things in greater perspective and leads to less stress navigating various unknowns!

I was first introduced to Career Protocol through the Forte MBA Launch Program. After speaking with several MBA consultants, I chose Career Protocol because of their holistic approach to MBA admissions. I appreciated how they prioritized unlocking your joyful story (that speaks to your strengths, your unique story, and what makes you feel alive), rather than exploiting a more fearful narrative (that relies on false lies that you need to be a ‘perfect’ candidate in order to get into business school). Applying to business school is stressful enough — I am so glad I found Career Protocol.

Aziz was spectacular throughout the entire process. I started working with Aziz from May to March (almost a whole year!). We worked on 3 applications together. For the first school, we spent ~2 months drafting my story, my motivations and making sure that my entire application was authentic to me.

Aziz also helped me strategize how to address my lower GMAT score. He connected me with a GMAT tutor who provided advice on how to raise my score. He helped me weigh the pros/cons of applying during R1 with a lower GMAT score vs. retaking the GMAT in hopes of raising my score for R2 deadlines. Aziz also helped me identify an additional 6 programs to apply to, and he provided guidance on how to approach each school’s essay prompts too.

I ended up applying to 9 programs. I was accepted to 6 schools, three of which offered scholarships of $30k, $44k, and $110k.

I was speechless to receive so many acceptances, and with scholarships!! As an Asian-American woman who works in federal technology consulting, I was concerned about how I would stand out in a sea of similar candidates. Aziz helped me find my deep and honest story, and I think that is the reason why I was accepted to so many top programs. Aziz helped me tell my authentic story, and as a result of Aziz’s wisdom and coaching, I was accepted to my top schools: Yale SOM and Dartmouth Tuck. Woohoo!!

I worked with Aziz in 2020 to apply to three schools. I knew this would be a competitive admissions year and that my candidacy was iffy on paper, so I decided early in the admissions process that I would engage a consultant to help me refine my story and personal brand.

What I liked about Aziz from the start was his candor and realism. Our first conversation was inspiring – I gained a ton of clarity on the application process and I felt motivated to get to work.

Aziz was great throughout the entire process. He’s a witty and quick editor, a ruthless interview partner, and a strategic contingency planner. But where Aziz made the biggest difference for me was in career visioning. I had ideas about my future career that I hadn’t had a chance to test. Right away, Aziz pushed me to do informational interviews to talk with people who were actually doing those jobs. After having dozens of these conversations, I brought my findings back to Aziz so that we could test new hypotheses for how I might spend two years at business school and end up well-positioned to get my dream career. By articulating realistic and impressive career goals that align with my core values, I was able to write essays and interview with admissions officers confidently.

Aziz’s profile mentions that his life’s calling is to help others make decisions under uncertainty. I can confirm that he’s gifted in this area. While working together, I made bold changes in my life. Aziz provided advice and empathy, all the while helping me stay focused – not just on my MBA applications, but also on my career goals.

I’m proud of where I landed – I received a full-tuition named scholarship from my top school!

I knew I wanted to work with Angela as soon as I met her during our introductory phone call – her genuine interest in my background and aspirations, her charisma and enthusiasm, and her evident expertise in the MBA application process were palpable (even over the phone). One of Angela’s strengths is her ability to identify key themes and strengths (and weaknesses) in an applicant’s pre-MBA career and experiences, and highlight connections across experiences that may not be obvious at first. She helped me draw out themes and learnings I had never paused to consider before. In fact, through the process of putting together my MBA application, I gained perspective on my goals and skills that will influence how I approach my career and relationships far beyond grad school.

Angela strikes a great balance between supportive and critical – she provides clear, direct feedback on ideas and application materials, and engages you in reflective, introspective conversation to ensure that your stories are representative and compelling. I found that Angela went above and beyond to turn drafts around in hours when I was in a time crunch and discuss ideas over the phone; she even encouraged me to join in a mock group interview for a school that was outside the scope of the package I had signed up to work with her on.

Through working with Angela, I submitted an application that I truly felt represented my personality, achievements, and MBA aspirations in an articulate way. I am planning to attend HBS this Fall, and I couldn’t have done it without her support and advice. I truly couldn’t recommend a consultant more than Angela – she helped me gain admission to my dream grad school, pushed me to develop a clearer perspective on my long-term career goals (that I have found beneficial even in the past couple of months), and made the experience lively, engaging, and gratifying.

I started working with Aziz toward the end of June, by September I had submitted 5 round 1 applications, and in December I was accepted at Booth with a 90k scholarship (which he helped me negotiate to 100k). I could not have asked for a better partner than Aziz through the application process.

From our first meeting, Aziz perfectly balanced extreme candor and knowledge of each school with contagious excitement and enthusiasm. I left each conversation with Aziz with a clear understanding of where essays weren’t working, but never discouraged by the feedback I received. I never doubted that Aziz believed in me and was committed to doing everything he could to make my applications successful.

Aziz reviewed countless essays, helping me work through as many as six drafts on an essay I struggled with. On each draft, Aziz provided clear and actionable feedback on each that allowed me to efficiently edit and prepare applications that I was proud of.

After I had completed the three applications for which I had contracted, Aziz continued to review applications and coach me through the applications for two additional schools.

Working with Aziz felt like working with an old and trusted friend who had been through the entire process. Were it not for Aziz I would have gone through this process immeasurably more stressed, and not achieved nearly as good a result.

My MBA application journey is rather the long one. I have been working on getting into an MBA program for the past 5 years. In 2016, after months of diligent research, I found the consultant I decided to work with: Angela Guido. Based on feedback and reviews, I somehow felt comfortable that she will be able to help me. Unfortunately, the company that she worked for back then refused to guarantee that if I subscribe to one of the company’s admission packages, I will be assigned to Angela. After this unsuccessful attempt, I decided to work by myself mostly because I was not comfortable with the idea of sharing certain details of my life and career with the randomly assigned consultant. Starting from 2018, I applied to several top MBA programs and was denied without an interview in all of them.

I have a complex career and life experience and putting together an application that touches every aspect of my candidacy was really challenging. Consistent failures forced me to look for help again. For the 2020 application cycle, I again searched for Angela to see if she is accessible or changed the company. After learning that she actually founded her own company, Career Protocol, without any further thought I took advantage of the free consultation with her, and right at the end of our conversation, I was already decided to work with her. Her approach, analysis, and advice regarding my profile reassured me that I was not mistaken that Angela would be the right person who would help me to present the best of myself to the schools.

In the beginning, I thought we are going to right away start working on school essays. But instead, Angela spent more than a month getting to know me: I responded to an extensive questionnaire, had several calls, wrote biographical essays, and discussed in-depth every aspect of my life and career. This process didn’t just assist her to know me, it also really helped me to understand in-depth who I am. It is a totally different experience to lay out the details of your past and experiences associated with them while also figuring out how these experiences affected me and my life. This process really cleared the idea of why I want an MBA and what I am going to do with it. As you may know, this statement is required to address in every single application essay either openly or discreetly. The moment that I realized the importance of the process, I went even beyond and shared even the most personal aspects of my life and goals. And that was the turning point. Things that I thought were ordinary and less important became the core of my story and identity. Angela immediately grabbed those aspects, went even deeper so that I understood how unique my life story was. I wasn’t aware back then but with this approach, we were apparently covering most of the essay prompts that we would have to deal with. But most important thing was to build the connection: Angela completely understood who I am and what I want, and I reached the point of putting together a profile of myself that includes my past, present, future, goals, and most importantly emotions attached to those.

I genuinely felt how much Angela believed my story. She honestly expressed her opinions and advised me on which schools I might be fit in and what to expect from the application to these programs. I strongly felt that if Angela believed my story I could make the admission committee give me a chance as well.

The essay writing process was another extraordinary journey for me. It is quite easy to miss important points while writing about yourself. I seemed to have a habit of assuming that the reader knows everything about me and especially about how I felt in a particular situation.

In the first few drafts, Angela spent a lot of time teaching me how to discreetly express my emotions, and also since she knew all the aspects of my story, in certain cases, she advised me to connect things from my experiences. I literally printed out all the comments she made in draft versions of my initial essays and made sure that learned all the reasons for those comments. In less than a month, I was able to drastically improve my writing style and ability to effectively and concisely communicate my ideas.

Together with Angela, I was able to finish my application to four schools: HBS, Stanford, Booth, and Yale. Writing the essays for HBS and Stanford was especially challenging. Make no mistake, all the top MBA programs know what they are doing when it comes to setting up the essay prompts. You have to really know yourself and your goals and how they connect with the particular school that you are applying to. When I finished my application to these schools, I was comfortable with any decision because I really believed that with the help of Angela I put together the best of myself. I also decided that even if I fail again, I would continue to work with Career Protocol and target my dream schools again in the next admission cycle.

I received an interview invitation from Booth and believe it or not without much preparation showed an amazing performance. Throughout the months, working on my story with Angela really helped me to learn effectively and fully present myself and my goals. So extra preparation was not needed when it came to the interview: I was excited, a bit nervous but also very well prepared. Finally, I received the news that I was working towards for several years: admission offer from Booth School of Business, my dream school, and program.

In the end, I cannot describe enough how much I enjoyed working with Angela and her company. MBA consultancy is a big industry, and even though our relationship had business interests in it, I never felt those interests in any stage of our cooperation. There was only one thing, telling my story in the best possible way and letting the schools decide. If you have a complex, unique, and interesting story Career Protocol will help you to brush it to the level of perfectness. The most important feeling is to know that you have done your absolute best. Getting into the program or not is just another thing that you really have no control over. But Career Protocol will make sure that you will not have doubts about yourself even if you don’t get accepted to any program because your journey doesn’t end with MBA education. In my MBA application journey, Career Protocol gained so much trust that even my dad, the head of a multimillion-dollar corporation, asked “What does Career Protocol say?” in every decisive moment. I suggest you choose Career Protocol and see what it says about you because whatever it says will benefit you lifelong.

The first time I hopped on a call with Britt, I knew she was the consultant I wanted to work with. Applying to Bschool was extremely daunting for me and Britt’s friendly demeanor and can-do attitude were exactly what I needed to keep me going, After I completed Career Protocol’s self-discovery exercise, I was amazed at the tidbits Britt was able to pick out and help me to draft a cohesive narrative around my life. While I wasn’t exactly sure of my story going in, we were able to identify my goals, key values, and decisions I’ve made in line with them. I would note this wasn’t an easy process and we came back to the drawing board several times. Since then, I’ve noticed this deeper understanding of myself has helped me gain confidence and served me in all aspects of life, not just in applying to Bschool. Throughout the application process, I was grateful for the structure Career Protocol provided, in particular the curriculum on story-telling which kept me on track and making progress. Further, Britt’s essay comments always began with kind, encouraging words to keep me going, and she helped me tease out the crucial stories that best exemplified what I was looking to share. I seriously could not have asked for a better teammate in this process and I am so grateful to have met Britt and been able to work with her. And I got into top schools I would never have dreamed of!! I was admitted to my dream school, Harvard, as well as Wharton, Booth, Columbia, Tuck, and Yale with some solid scholarships. None of it would have been possible without Britt’s guidance and I am forever grateful.

I came to Career Protocol through a friend’s recommendation, and I knew that they were the right fit for me after my first call with Britt. Compared to other consultants I had spoken with, Britt and Career Protocol led with understanding my values and my unique story. What really sold me about the process at the outset was the deep dive at the start of the process into who I am as a person and the stories that have illustrated that throughout my life. For me, that was the most important factor – I knew that by working with Britt I would be able to stay completely true to who I am and what I care about in my application. One of the most powerful parts of the Career Protocol process was the initial self-discovery exercise in which I worked through a structured reflection document that Career Protocol developed to holistically uncover what mattered most to me. Britt then took all of this stream-of-conscious writing and helped distill for me the most salient points and helped me understand the direction I wanted to take in my applications. This process helped me feel confident that I was putting my best foot forward while also giving schools the most realistic experience of who I am. This also definitely held true throughout the process – from brainstorming essays to helping me figure out what to highlight on my resume. Britt also had a way of keeping me motivated during the darkest parts of the process and was always available to patiently talk through the stressful moments. I am BEYOND grateful to Britt for all of her insights and thoughtful questions that helped me better understand what I wanted out of this process – AND I got into two of my dream schools with scholarships that I never even dreamed possible. I cannot thank Britt enough and would recommend Career Protocol to anyone who is looking for a consultant who will help you be the best version of your authentic self in applications.

I worked with Aziz on my MBA application this year and I couldn’t be happier with the result! Nobody really enjoys or looks forward to the application process, but Aziz found a way to make it fun and inspiring. He’s a natural at identifying whether your target schools are a reach, match, or safety, and this really helped me narrow down my options whilst keeping my post-MBA goals in mind (figuring out the perfect mix). Even then, I was never discouraged from shooting for the stars, so I did end up getting into my top-choice school!

One of Aziz’s biggest qualities is efficiency. There were several elements to my application and too many layers to my personal story, but he supported me in figuring out the key themes to my life very quickly, which then helped me tell a cohesive story that best represented me in the limited application space I had. It also really helps that he’s super quick at giving feedback (and is very direct), especially when deadlines were fast approaching. In several instances, I had to completely switch up my story, but (with a lot of patience) Aziz agreed it was better to write a new essay from scratch, despite having gone through several versions of it already.

One often-overlooked quality in MBA consultants is their ability to keep a positive attitude and build the confidence in their clients. Particularly this year, I knew that MBA applications would be on the rise for my target school, and that meant that I had to create an especially great application if I wanted a real shot. As a result, I had a lot of ‘what if’ moments, but these were always quickly addressed, and his attitude towards rejection really put things into perspective for me – so I was ready for just about anything.

Finally, and most importantly (for me, personally), he’s genuine. Not just in his feedback, but also in wanting to get the most genuine application out of you – with all your ‘flaws.’ He could always tell whether my voice in my essays was real or ‘edited’ to impress someone (which often happens unintentionally), and he always made sure I showed my 100% authentic self and embrace my perceived weaknesses as part of what shaped who I am today.

Aziz – very personable, efficient, agile, and natural storyteller. Beyond your standard MBA admissions consultancy: Ironically, his process made me understand my own world better than I ever have – Would totally recommend!

I came across Angela’s resources shortly after being dinged following an awful interview. I knew that my biggest weakness had been storytelling and connecting with the interviewer… what’s more, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do Post-MBA. So I decided to sign up for Angela’s YOMO course, even though it’s generally aimed at people MBA candidates thinking about summer internships and post-MBA jobs.

The YOMO course helped me to dig deep and create a career vision in line with my passions and values – this helped a ton with writing my application essays. The course also came with loads of invaluable resources – from a career game plan workbook to introduction email templates. The best thing is I now have these resources handy for when I’m applying for future roles!

After submitting my MBA applications, I read “Interview Hero”. This is hands down the best interview resource I’ve come across. After reading it, I only wished I’d had it before my interview. But all is well that ends well!

Shortly after submitting my application, I was invited to interview with INSEAD, my top choice. My interviews went really well… I actually enjoyed them! And I’m really happy to say that I’ll be moving to France to pursue an MBA at INSEAD next year!

I never imagined I’d work with an admissions consultant, but when I moved up my application timeline by a year, I knew I needed help to pull everything together in two months. I chose Career Protocol because I wanted to work with someone who would help me communicate my story with confidence rather than fit me into a template or push me towards “safer” schools. Aziz delivered all of that and so much more! I applied and was admitted to Kellogg and Booth’s Evening Programs, but more importantly, I feel much more confident and clear-eyed as I start business school.

-Insight: Even in our first conversation, talking to Aziz felt like talking to a (very smart) childhood friend. Aziz quickly picked up on my key life experiences and also helped me identify value in experiences that I had planned on downplaying in my application, like my religious upbringing. Because Aziz quickly earned my trust with his accurate insights, patience, and humor, I was more willing to dig deep into some painful experiences that added depth to my essays.

-Inspiration: Aziz helped me develop short- and long-term career goals that kept me inspired and energized even when I didn’t want to work on one more draft. We started with my desire to revitalize rust belt communities and then investigated different paths to that goal. He pointed me to innovative individuals and organizations to help me work out the details. He also inspired me to push past self-doubt when I was writing resume bullets or essays that discounted my accomplishments.

-Efficient Editing: Aziz is an excellent and efficient editor. He turned every draft around quickly. In early drafts, he asked difficult but necessary questions that forced me to provide more specific details. I was amazed by how he was able to help me convey my ideas vividly and concisely.

Bottom line – Aziz will help you craft an application that’s reflective of your potential and your dreams, and he’ll keep your spirits up throughout the process!

I participated in YOMO, Angela’s course to help you prepare for an MBA the summer prior to beginning. YOMO is the perfect way to prepare for your MBA. I love that the course was self-paced and that we had regular calls for us to meet and catch up. The course helps you better understand the keys to work-life success and what really makes you happy. You’ll encounter several frameworks that you can employ while recruiting and having these in mind before even beginning the process is so helpful. The course was valuable for me because, in addition to the above, it helped me realize the importance of relationship building, whether you’re recruiting or not. There are also cool guest speakers that you can listen to, and I appreciated hearing their perspectives since they also went through the process. And most importantly, you’ll spend time reflecting and better understanding your values and what you want to do, which is much easier to do before you get busy with school.

Angela is a wonderful coach. I first heard her speak at a Forte event in London a few years ago and was inspired by her unique way of thinking. A former recruiter, she truly understands how candidates can differentiate themselves to not only get the job but also to be a better connector outside of the recruiting cycle. I read her networking book while completing this course and the information in both gels so well together (I highly recommend this). I’m more confident going into the recruiting cycle because of her and YOMO – thank you, Angela!

I began my MBA journey in late 2018/early 2019 by reaching out to a handful of different consultants and setting up initial calls with them. I was less than two years out of undergrad and while I had taken the GMAT, was ill-prepared for an MBA application. A handful of the consultants I had spoken to seemed eager to get the process started and felt that I would be a strong candidate at all the schools I had the desire to go to. Angela was not one of them. Angela was candid with me, letting me know that I was not the strongest candidate that I could be if I decided to focus on my career for a bit longer, gain more experience, and take on more responsibility. I appreciated her honesty and took her advice. I postponed my MBA applications for a year and when I felt I was ready; I knew Angela would be the right consultant for me. Before I was even a client, she was focused on putting together my best possible application.

Once we began working together, Angela’s honesty was once again a big piece of why we were able to work well together. If I had a draft of an essay that was lacking depth, missing key elements, or straying off-topic, Angela had no issue telling me exactly what the issue was and challenging me to do better. I knew I could trust her feedback because she had never tried to sugarcoat anything in the past. Before working with Career Protocol, I was uncomfortable speaking about myself, but Angela challenged me to dig deep in every essay I wrote to showcase exactly what made me unique and helped differentiate myself from other candidates. This was not a skill I picked up immediately, but through months of working with Angela, I began to pick up on her way of thinking. Angela has a unique ability to take a series of facts and craft it into a story. This is a skill that I know will be valuable throughout the rest of my career and I can thank the Career Protocol team for it. I’m eager to start my MBA this fall at University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and am confident that without the help of Career Protocol I would have had a very different experience. I would highly recommend Career Protocol for anyone pursuing an MBA and hope to continue my professional relationship with the team for years to come.

I came from a lower socioeconomic status and clawed out of poverty by planning ahead and relying on my community for support. Yet, most people where I come from couldn’t tell you where Harvard is located on a map, and you’d be lucky if they had even heard of Stanford. Despite being a highly qualified deferred enrollment candidate, I didn’t have my community to help me on this one, and I was dreading going on that journey alone -at least, until I met Angela. I would love to say that I shopped around, but truth be told an HBS alum I respect referred her to me and between all the free resources on her website and the immense value she packed into our free 30-minute consultation, I was sold. I selected her 3 school package for HBS 2+2, Stanford Deferred Admission, and Booth Scholars.

I expected to face some imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and self-sabotaging humility during the process. For people like me who’ve spent their entire life being told they don’t deserve a seat at the table, those emotions are a given. I thought that would be the big hurdle I’d need Angela’s help to overcome, but Angela killed it before it could even show up. She had me start by writing the book on my life for her. I expressed everything that I thought could have possibly mattered to the experience of being me and hit send.

I will never forget the zoom call that followed. Like some sort of voodoo, she captured my essence, my story, my core values, and my character-defining moments into a PowerPoint reflection of my identity as it truly exists. She was able to articulate me -without all the lies I told myself, without all the biases of my lived experience, and without all the insecurities that kept me up at night. It left me, a burly manly man, in tears because I felt truly worthy and capable of taking on the challenge that laid ahead of me for the first time in my life.

We wrapped Stanford up quickly, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and my journey came to a screeching halt. I was putting in 12-hour workdays in a hastily converted linen-closet-office. I was quarantined away from my partner. I took on my parents’ financial responsibilities despite worrying about getting laid off myself. What finally brought me to my breaking point was having to say goodbye to my grandmother over Facebook Live while strangers “heart reacted” to her funeral with the same reverence they gave to cat videos. On top of this Stanford was taking their sweet time inviting me to interview, and I was sure I had gotten dinged. I was unable to function, let alone finish my applications.

Yet, Angela was constantly there for me. Not as an admissions consultant, but as a friend, mentor, and quasi grief counselor. When I felt like I was losing my mind she always had wisdom for the moment -providing equal parts actionable advice and compassion. With her help, I fought off depression and took back control over my life -just in time for my Stanford admissions interview invitation to show up. The only complication was that my Stanford alumni interviewer was General Motors CEO and Stanford Board of Trustees member, Mary Barra… Surely, Angela wouldn’t have any experience with that terrifying situation, right? Wrong, she’s had clients get interviewed by her before and gave me the direction I needed to absolutely slay it.

Angela Guido is certainly a voodoo shaman of the human spirit and a magical MBA unicorn, but she has a secret to her success. The truth is she couldn’t care less about whether I got into business school. Her engine is fueled by helping people find lifelong fulfillment, business school admission is the byproduct. I can now proudly wear my “I learned to articulate my life’s purpose, and all I got was this lousy Stanford acceptance letter” t-shirt. Thanks, Angela!

After working with Career Protocol for my MBA application, I only have amazing things to say about their process and my coach Sarah Mason.

The process started with a kick-off call during which we spoke on a high-level about my background, target schools, and goals. Career Protocol’s process for the MBA application is very holistic and my coach – Sarah – spent a tremendous amount of time getting to know me, learning about my life story, passions, and motivations. Once I was set up in the system, I had access to modules created by Angela Guido and other great resources that served as a guide for everything I needed to do at every step in my application – from reaching out to current students, alums and recommenders to establishing a compelling case for the MBA and preparing for interviews.

The deep dive into my life story started with me filling out the youDiscovery form for my coach. I was most impressed by the accuracy of my key character themes, anecdotes, personality traits, and other very rich details Sarah deducted from the simple life narrative I shared. These details were critical to not only the individual stories told in my essay but also the entire structure of it. And many times, we referred back to the document to come up with a unique but compelling essay to make a strong case for my MBA.

Even though I paid for only one application of the five I had planned to submit – Harvard, Wharton, MIT, Booth and Ross, Sarah was still very generous with her time to provide high-level feedback on my application packet for the other 4 applications. Sarah often worked weekends just to cut short the turnaround time on my application material. I couldn’t be more grateful.

Career Protocol’s process is very rigorous and each of my application documents (essays, resume etc) was reviewed numerous times (in some cases more than 15 times) by Sarah before approving for submission. Initially, I felt like I was being punished but by the end of the process (after concluding interviews) I had not only greatly improved my writing skills but also felt better prepared for the highly competitive MBA program.

Without Sarah’s guidance and Career Protocol’s resources, I would have been overwhelmed by the grueling MBA application process and probably have submitted weak applications. With Sarah’s help, I secured an interview with 4 of the 5 programs I applied to and got admitted to Wharton and MIT with funding.

I am very pleased with the services I was provided and the outcome of my applications. I highly recommend Career Protocol for candidates who want to significantly strengthen their MBA application.

If you are serious about maximizing your B school application potential, look no further. My experience with Britt was truly lifechanging – and helped me gain acceptance to my M7 dream school I initially thought was well out of reach!

When I set out to begin the MBA process, I had no idea where to start. Having gained acceptance to a company scholarship in August, it was clear I was already behind the curve to even make round 2 application deadlines. I had not studied for the GMAT/GRE, started essays, networked, or even done much research on the application process (I come from an industry that typically does not get to do this). In short, I was lost. Fortunately, I discovered Career Protocol via a friend who spoke highly of how it was helping him (he would late be accepted into his dream M7). I was set up with Britt – and the rest is history!

Britt knew right away how compressed my timeline was for round 2 applications, but never once sounded the panic alarm. To provide some context when it was all said and done – I took several GMATs and GREs (including one GRE in December) to get the scores I needed. During this “chaos”, Britt was supportive, optimistic, and kept me on track with everything else for my applications. Her ability to identify my strengths and then market those in my essays and resumé was nothing short of remarkable. During our brainstorming calls, she would provide the needed perspective to “dig deeper” and find what I was truly trying to convey. She knew how to break down some of my industry specific jargon and how to market it so anyone could understand. I should note, this sort of help goes well beyond B school!

Britt kept me on track. I would tell Britt, “just give me a timeline for these essays that I should be meeting.” She took this to heart, drafted me up a timeline for the entire essay process, and held me to it! It forced me to work on all aspects of my application instead of getting locked in on test scores. Her feedback on essays is no-nonsense. If they do not meet the mark, she lets you know it! With that being said, the dialogue is never negative and there is always a clear way forward. You know when you are hitting submit that you have the best product possible!

When it was over, I successfully submitted applications for several schools on time. Later – when interview invites started to arrive in January, Britt immediately provided the best interview prep I have ever had in my life. Upon showing up to my interviews, I felt confident and ready. Career Protocol’s Wharton TBD prep was perhaps the most valuable experience during my entire process!
With Britt’s help, I was accepted into Wharton, CBS, and UVA. As someone who went from being totally lost on the entire process in August – to hitting submit on applications in January, I can state with a fact it would not have been possible without Britt and the Career Protocol process. My life is now forever changed for the better.

Thank you, Britt!

Working with Career Protocol made a very stressful process so much less anxiety-inducing. Knowing that I had someone who could help talk through the 1,001 questions swirling in my head made it so much easier for me to focus on the most important and often hardest part about the MBA application – getting the words on paper.

Britt was to work with. The process of looking within to discover what matters most to you requires so much vulnerability, but Britt established a comfortable, judgment-free zone from our first call. I genuinely felt like I was talking through my thoughts and concerns with an old friend, rather than a professional consultant. Ultimately, even though I didn’t get into my reach school, I felt like I put my absolute best application forward as a result of working with Brit – plus the Discovery process coupled with all of the tools in the Career Protocol portal definitely helped me nail my interview at another top school, where I’ll be enrolling with a scholarship!

Britt helped challenge everything I knew about the MBA application process and my future. Having a traditional background in Investment Management, I wanted to take the safe route and write about wanting to do finance, post-MBA. Britt could immediately tell that this was not my passion, and that I was trying to write a story that made sense on “paper,” Recognizing this, Britt and I scrapped my previous essay drafts, and we started the whole “discovery” process over again. Britt spent over an hour unpacking my hobbies and passion projects to come up with my most authentic story. If it wasn’t for Britt, I would have never realized my true passion or have the courage to follow my dreams, which ended up being a complete pivot from my current career.

Apart from helping me realize my true passion, Britt also significantly shaped my storytelling skills. She taught me the value of the four C’s, eventually shaping my current writing style. Working with Britt through all her feedback/edits, I’ve learned that it is more powerful to write a story that is clear and concise, rather than writing one filled with platitudes and fluff.

I completely underestimated the MBA application process, and never anticipated how difficult and self-reflective it would be. Having said that, I honestly couldn’t have gotten through it without Britt. Her cheerfulness, constant support and honest feedback kept my spirits uplifted, and kept me honest throughout the process. She believed in me even when I was too nervous and scared to believe in myself! Thanks to Britt, I got into my dream school and will be starting at Wharton this fall.

By the end of this entire process, Britt has become a friend, and I still plan to send her panicked emails at 6am looking for advice/guidance. I highly recommend Britt if you’re serious about getting into the school of your dreams and discovering yourself in the process.

Upon doing my own research on consultants last year, I had intro calls with many firms. During my call with Career Protocol, there was a differentiating authenticity that was like a breath of fresh air. It was like talking to a close friend who happens to have all of the knowledge you need to help you in your MBA applications and will also shoot you straight. Working with Britt in this process has been such a gift (who would’ve thought anyone would ever say that about MBA applications)! She’s been a trusted guide, mentor, and listening ear. She saw parts of my story that were strongest for each individual application; parts that I didn’t always realize were even noteworthy. She helped me get accepted to 6 out of my 7 target schools and waitlisted at my top reach school. I was awarded full-tuition scholarships at 2 schools and had a total of ~$450,000 in scholarship offers across 6 schools. Working with a consultant is a big financial investment, but I truly could not have gotten accepted to these schools, especially with massive scholarships, without Britt!

After seeing first-hand how knowledgeable Angela is about the business school application process through Forte MBA Launch, I knew I had to work with her! Angela supported me in getting into Wharton with a named merit scholarship.

I worked with a different consultant at a top firm the year prior, but I much preferred working with Angela and wish I had worked with her sooner! I felt the previous consultant I worked with was too busy for me at times and kind of gave up on me. Angela is always wholly supportive. I think my best essay topics came from ideas that I put forth and deeply refined with Angela, so I recommend that applicants come to the brainstorming session with Angela with a strong sense of what they want to write about.

The best thing about Angela is that she will be your biggest cheerleader through the grueling application process. She always went above and beyond for me, getting drafts back to me early so that I could get my application in on time. No matter how many questions I asked, Angela was always there to provide answers.

Angela also really shines in interview prep. Halfway through the MBA application process, she helped me prep for job interviews, and I landed a role at a FAANG company. The mock MBA interview she set up also helped me to feel completely prepared and confident during my actual Wharton team-based discussion.

I look forward to continuing to have Angela as a friend and mentor in the future.

I worked with Aziz Lalljee on business school admissions and it was amazing. Without his guidance and insights – from preparing for the GMAT, understanding how my profile stacked up and writing essays I certainly would not have gotten into Ivey Business School. Over time, I went from seeing him as an admissions consultant to a mentor, coach, and friend. Furthermore, he already knew so much about my strengths, weaknesses, and how I best receive feedback that it helped me prepare for my job interviews while at business school. This helped me land a job at the Royal Bank of Canada.

Inspires you to aspire: When I started the application process, I wasn’t sure how my profile stacked up. He helped me decide between a 1 year and 2-year program, the geographical location – US/Canada/International, and aim for the best programs in each region. For applicants suffering from a lack of confidence, Aziz can change your trajectory. I felt like he took it as a personal challenge to shoot for “stretch” schools, rather than convincing me to apply to a bunch of safety schools.

– Keeps it real: I really valued Aziz’s brutal honestly and bluntness. I valued his candor and that helped to identify strengths and weaknesses in my profile. It kept me focused to introspect and ask the right questions to mitigate weaknesses in your application and place emphasis on telling my story and highlighting strengths.

– Maximizes efficiency: He helped brainstorm different ways to express key points to make every word count while making sure I provided a balanced representation of myself. It’s easy to get tunnel vision while writing essays. Aziz saved me precious time and energy by providing feedback on what NOT to write about.

Overall, the time I spent with Aziz was invaluable. Aziz kept the faith, and I never got the sense that he was ignoring me to devote more time to other clients with more promising outlooks. Thank you so much, Aziz!

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 – Britt), 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/Britt, 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.

I was completing what schools to apply to, I narrowed it down to five schools, Booth, Fuqua, HBS, Wharton, and GSB. Aziz gave great insight regarding best practices to manage the application, on-campus visiting, and GMAT studying process. Aziz consulted me on my applications and we spoke and corresponded via email on many occasions throughout my application process. His feedback was extremely beneficial, pointed out areas he thought made me a strong candidate and methods to showcase my strengths in addition to potential solutions to combat my weaknesses. In the end, I got into and choose Duke! One of my top choices.

I met Aziz through a common friend when I was applying to top tier MBA programs. My first preference was INSEAD because of its diversity and yearlong course duration.

Just like any hopeful applicant, I scoured the internet for tips and tricks to distinguish my application but I didn’t make much headway. Once I talked to Aziz, I knew working with him would be the right strategy. Instead of focusing on the application questions, Aziz patiently heard my story and asked questions which helped me reflect on the highlights and lowlights of my professional and personal life. Unlike most people, I didn’t have a streamlined career path until that point – I had dabbled in the non-profit and corporate sectors wearing multiple hats. Aziz helped me stitch my story together and connect it to my ambition in the future. He is a gifted conversationalist with a high emotional quotient which made it easy to share my thoughts and uncertainties without the risk of judgment. He is also an out-of-the-box thinker with ideas that are sometimes so funny that they keep you entertained and sometimes so insightful that they hit the right nerve.

In the end, thanks to him eventually I churned out 4 applications for R1 deadlines and got into INSEAD, my top choice! I would highly recommend Aziz as an application coach – he’s a natural!

Angela helps you realize how amazing you already are. That alone empowered me to believe in myself and in my story. The rest was just putting the pieces together. I got accepted to one of my top schools and 4 other schools; all of them with scholarships ranging from 50K to full tuition.