How do you decide which consultant to pair me with?

The short answer is chemistry — because in our experience, that’s what most reliably drives outcomes.

Matching based on undergraduate background or target schools can make sense for a younger firm with less experienced consultants. At our level, it matters far less. Every consultant on our roster knows the schools, the applicant archetypes, and the strategic terrain cold. What varies isn’t expertise; it’s working style. The question isn’t “who knows your background” but “who will think best with you.”

We look at communication style, temperament, intensity, and how you’re likely to engage in a high-stakes, iterative process. When the fit is right, everything moves faster and sharper.

We’re confident making those calls because of how we recruit. Our screening process is blind — we evaluate work product with no résumé attached — and roughly 5–6% of applicants make it through. The result is a roster where every consultant clears what we call the VIP bar: we could assign any one of them, sight unseen, to the highest-stakes engagement we’ve ever taken on and feel completely comfortable. That’s not aspirational language. It’s the standard we enforce.