Why passion matters more than popularity when choosing a major
By: Aminah Omer
As a counselor, one of the most common mistakes I see students make is choosing a major because it is popular, considered “safe”, or because of pressure from family members who believe certain careers are more respectable, stable, or successful than others.
The SAT Is Secretly Teaching You Vocab — If You Know Where to Look
By: Shazra Raza
After a few years of tutoring the SAT, I’ve noticed something students almost never do: read the test as a vocabulary source, not just a vocabulary test.
On Writer’s Block or What To Do When You Forget How To Write
By: Maahliqa Qureshi
It happens to the best of us. One minute you’re typing away, a mile a minute, the next, you’re ready to tear the hair from your head.
On Asking for Help
By: Hadi Khatri
How many times in your life have you dreamt of something and actually set a foot forward to go capture it? How many times have you helped someone else do the same?
The work behind the dream
By: Nishe Jami
Counselling was a happy accident for me. I started out at a school as an events coordinator. A few months in, the counsellor left, and I was asked to step in and work alongside the head counsellor. I was skeptical at first. I did not know then that one unexpected opportunity would completely change the direction of my career.
On Discovering the Writer in You
By: Aisha Esbhani
I often tell people that writing is my do-or-die. I cannot live without it – in a sticky spiritual sense, and now literally as well. It has become my source of income and sustenance, allowing me to become a financially independent woman in 2022 at the mere age of nineteen.
CommonApp Essays: Getting to Know the Subject
By: Hiba Ali Chishti
شہ بے خودی نے عطا کیا مجھے اب لباس برہنگی
نہ خرد کی بخیہ گری رہی نہ جنوں کی پردہ دری رہی
the kingdom of ecstacy has granted me a robe of nakedness
my intellect no longer weaves a covering, my fervor no longer tears it off
On writing from the heart on college essays
By: Airas Qadir/Rao
I was introduced to college counselling in A2. By this point I had upgraded schools, and my new school was full of incredibly smart, incredibly ambitious girls. It felt like everyone was applying to the Ivy Leagues. As a self-assured smart girl myself, I wondered, “Is this actually possible?”
Why Did We Build Dream 3?
By: Shameen Tariq
It all began with a first phone call with Ayesha Hasan.
I was still in the throes of Pakistan’s fragmented and templated consulting system, working over-time at a job that required a barrage of fake activities to be drafted from scratch on the daily. Students came in hordes, with long resumes and a burning will to make it to the top.
Transforming the College Counselling Landscape in Pakistan
By: Zara Suhail Mannan
In 2016, I first interacted with the Pakistani industry of educational consultancy while applying for my undergraduate studies to the U.S. as an A-level student from a private school in Lahore. More resourced than others, my school was able to provide us with the necessary fundamental guidance and counselor to assist us with our admission journeys.