Case Study
Faizan
Faizan was an accomplished debater from the first day of freshman year, but knew that just being a top debater wouldn’t show enough innovation to get him into a top school.
Biggest Strength
Biggest Weakness
Faizan contacted us on December 15. He and his father were extremely disappointed that Faizan was rejected from his Early Decision Yale application, and were scared that reusing the essays Yale rejected would just compound the mistakes they made initially.
GPA (On a 4.0 Scale)
Extracurriculars
He learned lots about politics for debate, attended a summer leadership seminar at Notre Dame to be a better debate captain, and coached public speaking for elementary and middle school students during the school year. He took the knowledge of public policy he gained from debate, along with his leadership skills from the seminar and coaching younger students, and created a Super PAC to engage more students on policy issues. He set out a core list of projects, assigned teammates to work on them, then organized group calling and mailing of legislators to make youth voices heard. This gained notice and was discussed in the news.
The Pak Group Difference
Knowing what top schools are looking for in their essays, and allowing Faizan to demonstrate all of the attributes that made him a compelling speaker, student, and person in his essays.
Challenge
Show schools why Faizan was so special, and fast. We had 15 days, and had to make the most of them.
Strategy
We helped Faizan totally overhaul his essays, weaving his interests in politics, social justice, debate, Rohingya refugee relief efforts, and supporting his family into a comprehensive examination of his identity.
Admissions Outcome
Faizan was accepted to Stanford.