Soterios Rouman

Soterios helped me with my application package and I got into UCLA and Berkeley! He is a really good mentor. I love the fact that there’s a process to go through to write down the stories relating to the application. We also went through the resume and schools that are better fitted for me. I also like Soterios because of his background in entrepreneurship and I’m interested in exploring that.

Soterios wanted my admission at least as much as I wanted it, and he did his best at every step of our work together. Even before hitting “submit,” I had gained a lot from my experience with him.

For me, one of the great strengths of Soterios is his ability to get to know you well and very quickly in order to strongly support you in your personal direction. I started the application prep process a bit confused, lacking comfort in recognizing and accurately expressing important parts of my stories and future goals. But if 20 years from now, someone wants to know who I really am, what deeply matters to me in life, what has shaped me at times, and what I would like my main accomplishments and impacts in life to be, I could just share my MBA essays with him/her. Soterios guided me in a way that the final versions of my application materials so accurately reflected my truth and so precisely captured my essence. He constantly pushed me in the right direction, encouraging me to dig deeper and find the profound meaning/reasons of things. Because he got to know me very well in a short time, he helped me a lot to keep my ideas relevant and compelling. For example, when outlining my essays, he helped me a lot by reminding me of details and anecdotes from my introspection and personal MBA strategy work that I personally forgot or did not think of as good examples to use.

I quickly realized that being in line and happy with every word, every sentence, and the structure of each of my essays/answers to short questions, and even my CV, was very important to Soterios. As we were about to complete a step, he would stop and clearly ask me whether I felt good and was happy with the outcome, expecting me to actually answer and be sincere. If necessary, before moving on to the following steps, he would not mind additional iterations/revisions, always ready to jump on improvised calls. I specifically remember, for example, when I was working on my career goals, we had many iterations and at one point had a long zoom meeting that was very helpful to me as Soterios brainstormed with me and brought his own experience and field expertise, which significantly helped me clarify and find the right words for my short term and my long term goals.

Thanks to the tremendous support and incredibly genuine guidance from Soterios, from day one, I ended up submitting my applications in a serene mood, in a peaceful state of mind, very happy with everything I shared with the Adcoms because I shared my authentic self. I knew that the school or schools that would accept me would do so based on my real personality, story, and aspirations in life.

One thing worth mentioning is that when you decide to go with a Stratus MBA Consultant, you really gain a whole support system with a dedicated strategist, as many school-specific reviewers as MBA programs you are applying to, and proofreaders, all of them always present whenever necessary.

I feel fortunate and grateful to have had Soterios by my side on my application pre-journey, and I recommend him 100%. Soterios will be sincerely interested in your story; he will carefully listen to you; he will push you to travel deep into your past and to take the time to seriously reflect on your career ambition in connection with your core. Once he knows you well, he will bring his expertise to guide you step by step. At the end, not only will you have very solid application materials, but also will you walk away from your collaboration with him with a better understanding of yourself, having experienced personal growth along the way. Then you will have won for your whole life, no matter where you end up. That’s my case.

I worked with Soterios on a comprehensive package for R1 of 2021. I truly cannot speak highly enough of Soterios and his expertise. With his guidance, I gained acceptance to three top 10 MBA programs and received ~350k in total scholarship funding across four T20 programs.

With a somewhat non-traditional background, Soterios was able to help me craft my story in a way that was consistent and compelling. He challenged me to dig deeper into my background and really understand the ‘why’ that fueled many of my decisions, and I felt that I walked away from the experience with a fundamentally better understanding of myself. He even spent time coaching one of my recommenders who is a non-native English speaker.

Stratus more broadly has some fantastic resources tailored to each school. Through their interview guides and team of school experts reviewing my essays, I was able to put forth the best fitting application for each school.

At every step of the process, I was impressed with the quality and timeliness of support Soterios provided during a hectic application season, answering my most detailed questions with kindness and clarity. He made a stressful process infinitely more manageable and I felt assured knowing I was submitting the most polished and cohesive applications I possibly could.

I’m really pleased I chose to work with Soterios, and would happily recommend his services and the Stratus team to others. With his advice, I was also able to negotiate a higher scholarship to the T10 program I’ll be attending in the fall!

Soterios is an expert consultant. He provided hands-on guidance and feedback throughout every step of the process and got me into HBS. While working with Soterios, I always felt supported and that he was 100% dedicated to getting me into my dream school.

Key Strengths:
Crafting My Story – Provided a framework for identifying my top selling points as an applicant and advised on how to build those into a compelling story (that helped me overcome weaker parts of my application).

Maximizing My Essays – Offered detailed, iterative feedback on my essays to maximize every sentence.

School-Specific Tailoring – Leveraged his expertise and Status’s community to recommend alterations to essays that fit what each Admissions Office is looking for.

Rigorous Interview Preparation – Prepared me for the stress of the interview process by pressure testing me in mock interview sessions. Without this, I would not have succeeded in the real thing.