Santiago Gil

About Santiago

I grew up between the U.S. and Mexico. I studied industrial and systems engineering to preserve optionality, a defensive decision I regret, but one that permanently cured me of betraying my own interests. Since then, my focus has been strictly on leaning into unconventional, high-ambition projects on the unbeaten path. These have included working on a banking transformation for Latin America's largest leasing company; co-founding a boutique investment banking firm; and driving structural change through technology at Mexico's largest VC firm. I am currently wrapping up my MBA at HBS. I executed my (7!) applications in a single month with a newborn (warning: do not recommend). The most common refrain I heard was, "don't apply," or "wait another year." Ignoring that advice acted as a forcing function to laser into the elements of my application that actually mattered. I've always loved writing and I do it for fun. To me, it is its own kind of thinking. I first started helping my friends craft their college essays back in high school. While working in banking, I got into stocks and began writing equity research articles to hone my own thinking. They resonated enough that I began ghostwriting for other authors. Finally, I've been writing across a range of themes at The Harbus (HBS student newspaper) as an Editor over these past two years. My coaching approach centers on the most accurate cliché in admissions: do not pander to what you think the school wants to hear. The application process is, by design, a forced audit of your life and motives. You have to put in the grueling work to unearth your authentic narrative. Whether you are firmly committed or on the fence, I will help you ruthlessly interrogate your trajectory and build a story that, for better and for worse, is undeniably yours.