Steve Berkowitz
8,271 min coached
43 followers
Top Expert
Studied at The Wharton School (UPenn)
Worked at Boston Consulting Group
Successful clients at
Available tomorrow
Starting at 2:30 PM UTC
Excited to take on clients at any stages - regardless of where you may be in the process
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Steve’s Leland+ Resources
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MIT Sloan Cover Letter – Operations, Analytics, and Collaborative Leadership
168 views
Wharton Essay – Resilience, Mentorship, and Giving Back
144 views
Wharton Essays – Transformational Strategy and Peer-Driven Leadership
80 views
From DashMarts to BCG: A Example Resume Rooted in Strategic Execution
60 views
About Steve
I grew up in London and moved to the U.S. for college at the University of Chicago, where I studied Economics and English Literature. That combination still shapes how I approach MBA applications: I care about the logic of an applicant’s story, but just as much about whether it actually sounds like them. I have more than 10 years of experience in coaching and mentorship, including 2+ years specifically supporting MBA applicants, which is now where I focus my coaching exclusively. I’ve worked with 25+ clients across essay editing, interview prep, and full-application support, helping candidates gain admission to reach schools and earn substantial scholarships. I also went through the MBA process myself, attending Wharton (graduated in 2026), where I gained a much deeper appreciation for what makes candidates and their stories stand out beyond the basic markers of a strong application. While there, I served as a Leadership Fellow and Communications Fellow and graduated as a Palmer Scholar, an honor awarded to the top 5% of students in the class. Those experiences also gave me the chance to work closely with classmates across a huge range of backgrounds and career paths, something I draw on today when helping clients think through their own applications. Professionally, I’ve worked at both DoorDash and BCG. I joined DoorDash’s DashMart business early in its growth, starting as its first Operations Manager and helping scale the business as it expanded nationally. I later moved into management consulting at BCG, where I’ve worked with senior executives across retail, financial institutions, and technology. I know many of the career paths MBA applicants are coming from firsthand, particularly consulting, tech, operations, and strategy. I also think application writing has changed meaningfully with AI. Admissions readers are seeing more polished, generic prose than ever. Specificity matters more. So does having a point of view and stripping out the buzzwords and sentences that could have been written by anyone. I don’t think candidates should pretend AI doesn’t exist. It can be genuinely useful for brainstorming, managing word count, and refining ideas. I encourage clients to use it thoughtfully for those things. But deciding which story is worth telling and understanding what an admissions reader will actually take away from an application still require thoughtful human judgment. That also means I try to use our time carefully. I don’t want you paying me to do something you can easily do yourself. I’d rather focus our work on the questions where an experienced outside perspective can actually make your application better. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York. Outside of work and coaching, I’m usually watching international films, playing soccer, or going to concerts.
Why do I coach?
I’m at my best when we’re working through the substance of your application together: figuring out what your story actually is, why the MBA makes sense within it, and how to communicate it clearly to your primary reader: AdCom. In particular, I work best with candidates looking for the following: • Find the strongest essay stories. The best answer is rarely the first one that comes to mind. I enjoy asking the follow-up questions that uncover the smaller details or experiences that make an essay feel personal rather than generic. • Make the logic of your application click. Your past experience, future goals, and reason for pursuing an MBA should feel like parts of the same story. I’m particularly helpful when those connections aren't immediately obvious or when you know what you want to do but haven't yet figured out the clearest way to explain why. • Strengthen your writing. If you work with me, you’ll hear me use the word “surgical” a lot. I like getting into the nuts and bolts of an essay and making each piece as specific and clear as possible. That might mean pushing you for one more level of detail in a story, questioning whether a sentence is actually doing any work, or figuring out the exact wording that makes an idea click. I care about the writing itself, but also the logic underneath it. • Understand school fit. I can help you move beyond listing clubs and classes to explain why a particular school genuinely makes sense for your goals and how you would contribute once you arrive. • Use AI without sounding like AI. I’m very comfortable working with candidates who use AI for brainstorming or drafting. My focus is making sure the final product still has the personal texture and specificity that admissions readers respond to. AI can help you get somewhere faster, but it shouldn't flatten your voice in the process. I’ve worked extensively with international applicants, including candidates from India, China, South Korea, and other countries, as well as LGBTQ+ applicants. I’ve also worked with a smaller number of military veterans. I particularly enjoy applications where someone’s background or career path requires thought about what context an admissions reader needs and what is better left to speak for itself. I also want to be transparent about where my coaching is most useful and where someone else may be a better fit - for these individuals, I may not be the best fit: • If you’re looking for someone to manage every application deadline for you, I’m probably not the right fit. I’ll absolutely help us plan our work together, but I expect candidates to keep track of school deadlines and stay accountable for moving their applications forward. That lets us spend our time together on the parts where I can add the most value. • If test prep is your primary need, I’d recommend working with a dedicated GMAT or GRE tutor. I can help think through how a score fits into your overall school strategy, and I generally encourage candidates to understand how they compare with the median at their target schools. But I don’t closely track the latest test-prep materials or techniques, and I’ve seen plenty of candidates get into reach schools without fitting neatly into every statistical benchmark. • If you want someone to manufacture your story for you, we probably won’t work as well together. I’ll challenge your ideas, restructure essays, and push you toward a much stronger answer, but the underlying experiences and voice need to be yours. • If you’re looking for certainty or a formula, I’m probably not the right coach. I’ll give you a clear point of view and tell you when I think something isn't working, but MBA admissions can be unpredictable. I don't believe in pretending there is one essay structure, career narrative, or school strategy that guarantees an outcome. • I’m also very happy to work with candidates who are already deep into the process and simply want another set of eyes on an essay before submitting. Sometimes a focused final review is exactly what you need. My primary measure of success is, of course, the outcome: getting into a great school, reaching for a program you weren’t sure was possible, or earning a meaningful scholarship. I take great pride in my work as a coach, and I encourage you to visit my Reviews page to hear directly from clients I’ve worked with about their experience. When you finally hit Submit, I want you to feel completely confident that we put forward the strongest and most authentic version of your story. No second-guessing what you should have said or wondering whether the application really sounds like you.
Work Experience
Club Performance Intern
Major League Soccer
June 2025 - Present
Intern on the Club Performance team
Consultant
Boston Consulting Group
June 2024 - June 2024
Focus on the Transformation practice (across Financial Institutions, Consumer / Retail, and Technology). Projects span Organizational Design, Operating model, and PMO.
Senior Associate
Boston Consulting Group
June 2022 - May 2024
Senior Associate, Business Operations & Strategy
DoorDash
February 2022 - June 2022
Strategy & Operations Associate
DoorDash
November 2021 - February 2022
Operations Manager
DoorDash
November 2020 - November 2021
Steve was also given offers to work at
L.E.K. Consulting
Capgemini
Boston Consulting Group
National Park Service
Under Armour
Education
The Wharton School (UPenn)
MBA
2024 - 2026
Activities and societies: Leadership Fellow, Wharton FC (Soccer), Sports Business Club, Cinema Club Awards: Palmer Scholar (Top 5% Academic Performance), Academic Engagement Award (awarded additional CU of tuition credit), Directors List: Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026 (Top 10% of students) Nominated as sole MBA student to the Management Q-Department committee to review the direction and future of the Management department at Wharton
University of Chicago
Bachelor’s Degree, with General Honors, Double Major in Economics and English Literature & Language
2015 - 2019
Activities and societies: Trott Business Program, Milgrom Summer Education Fellow, Harper Café, Thompson House President & Service Chair, Admissions Office (Tour Guide), Student Leadership Institute, Athens Study Abroad, University Theatre (Dean's Men) Data Analysis, Leadership and +2 skills
Steve was also personally admitted to
Chicago Booth
MIT Sloan
14 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
Knowledge
5.0
Value
5.0
Responsiveness
5.0
Supportiveness
5.0
Steve has helped clients get into these schools: