Alessandro Di Trapani

Consultant Bio

Alessandro Di Trapani – it’s a long name, so let’s just go with Ale (ah-leh), it’s what everyone calls him anyway. Ale was born and raised in South Africa in a large Italian family – an upbringing that gave him a deep appreciation for diversity and a passion for people. Ale believes that helping his clients flesh out their unique, memorable stories is the key to admissions success. As such, Ale loves guiding his clients through an introspective process, asking deep questions to understand their choices, motivations, and goals in lives, not just in their careers.

Ale is a CFA Charterholder and holds an MBA from London Business School and Bachelor of Commerce from University of the Witwatersrand. After completing his applications to business school, Ale founded an admissions consulting business focused on helping African students gain admission to top business schools. He was also VP of Admissions & Alumni for LBS’s Africa Club, with a mandate to assist applicants from Africa through the admissions process.

Before LBS, Ale spent five years working in commodity trading before swapping the Bloomberg terminal for a pick-up truck as he moved to Kenya to launch an agri-tech start-up focused on improving the sustainability and transparency of the African agricultural value chain. Ale founded a sustainable pet food business after LBS and hopes to change pet parenthood forever.

Ale lives in London (despite how important sunny weather is to him) and spends most of his spare time experimenting with new pasta recipes and enjoying fine South African wines.

Company Information

Square One Prep has partnered with 1200 clients since 2009. 90% have succeeded; 35% have secured unsolicited scholarships (avg.: $91,000 as of April 2022) due to the quality of their applications.

Our clients come from all types of professions – from financial services, product management, engineering, operations, and consulting to professional sports, entrepreneurship, non-profit, family businesses, and teaching. They come from all parts of the world; 54% are from outside the US. They’re all imperfect, as there’s no such thing as a perfect applicant. And they’re all unique, with compelling stories to tell. So are you, even though you may question that right now. With an unmatched team and approach, we’ll guide you through the increasingly competitive application process and make the time you spend on applications transformative so you grow in ways that benefit you far beyond getting offers. Hard to imagine, right? Trust us. Take a deep breath and relax.

Top business schools teach that diverse teams create the most impactful solutions. Our diverse team ensures our clients craft the most impactful applications. In addition to being the most diverse among admissions firms, our team is the most rigorous and hands-on.

We are selective about who we guide, as our focus isn’t revenue; it’s you.

Menu of Services and Associated Costs

OUR SERVICES:
Comprehensive Guidance
Hourly Support (on any aspect of your applications)
Ding Analysis
HBS Mock Interview Package
Career Coaching
Roadmap To Your Apps

With comprehensive guidance, we offer two service levels: PREMIUM (P) and PREMIUM NEED-BASED (PNB). Whether you choose P or PNB, your team will have 30-80 years of diverse, expert experience.

Top business schools teach that diverse teams create the most impactful solutions. Our diverse team ensures our clients craft the most impactful applications. In addition to being the most diverse among admissions firms, our team is the most rigorous and hands-on.

With PNB service, your team is:
– An Advisor (a top MBA with proven coaching and writing skills)
– A Career Narrative Expert (a current/former MBA Career Management professional)
– A Former MBA Admissions Officer (no further description necessary)
– An Editor (a writing professional with a creative writing MFA)
– A Partnership Manager (an MBA with operations and client relations expertise)

With P service, your team is everyone above, plus:
– A Current MBA Admissions Officer (yes, you read that right)
– Square One’s Founder (to amplify your relentlessly supportive SOP team)

You may choose a standard advisor (has 1-4 years advising experience) or a senior advisor (has 5+ years advising experience). Some of our advisors do this fulltime, some are entrepreneurs, and some have traditional 40hr/wk careers. Some clients want their advisor to be dedicated to this fulltime while others value their advisor having a wider spectrum of present-day expertise than admissions. None of our advisors work with more than 6 clients at a time. Most work with only 1-2. Again, our focus isn’t volume; it’s you.

There is one more asset on your team when you work with us: our portal. It includes your customized, dynamic, day-by-day schedule, which is always in real-time, reflects your bigger objective (not just the schools you’re building with us), shows your actual pace, captures everything you must do or have done as it regards your application effort, and includes embedded samples of everything imaginable as well as school data to help you. We give you transparency while guiding you proactively.

OUR COVERAGE:
Assessment of your candidacy
School selection
Career narrative strategy
Resume development
Essay topic selection and essay development
Recommender selection, letter of recommendation (LOR) package development, LOR construction
Online application
Interview preparation (includes pre- and post-interview essays/videos)
Scholarship negotiation
Waitlist work (if necessary)

OUR PRICING:

PREMIUM PACKAGES

1-school | Standard Advisor $6,900 | Senior Advisor $7,700
2-school| Standard Advisor $8,750 | Senior Advisor $9,650
3-school | Standard Advisor $10,600 | Senior Advisor $11,600
4-school | Standard Advisor $12,450  | Senior Advisor $13,550
5-school | Standard Advisor $14,300 | Senior Advisor $15,500
Hourly | Standard Advisor $390 | Senior Advisor $390

PREMIUM NEED-BASED PACKAGES

1-school | Standard Advisor $5,050 | Senior Advisor $5,900
2-school | Standard Advisor $6,450 | Senior Advisor $7,500
3-school | Standard Advisor $7,850 | Senior Advisor $9,100
4-school | Standard Advisor $9,250 | Senior Advisor $10,700
5-school | Standard Advisor $10,650 | Senior Advisor $12,300
Hourly | Standard Advisor $285 | Senior Advisor $285

Location: County (optional), United Kingdom

Phone: 07307568507

Email: alessandro@squareoneprep.com

Website: https://www.squareoneprep.com