Steve Berkowitz

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, 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 students in the top 5% of the class by GPA. 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, recognizing when something doesn’t ring true, 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, going to concerts, or buying more records than I have room for.