Getting admissions to well-reputed international universities has always been an arduous task for Pakistani students mainly due to inadequate funding, low literacy rate and outdated curriculum, which has failed to meet modern challenges.
However, a platform — Scholar’s Den — headed by Faisal Khan is filling this vacuum by preparing students for the future.
You are an educationist, a scholar, an entrepreneur and the founder of Scholar’s Den. For the uninitiated, please explain to us what Scholar’s Den actually is?
Scholar’s Den is an online education technology startup created by me. It aims to make American graduate scholarships accessible to students worldwide. In 2016, I initiated this project to help students of developing countries avail scholarships in the United States for free. Initially, I created various Facebook groups to help and build a community. With the passage of time, I built a community of 20,000 members between 2016 and 2018. Later on, the platform grew and currently, it has 170,000 members on social media and already interacted with over 50,000 students globally. Currently, Scholar Den is helping students with an online GRE test and with USA scholarships for MS and PhD.
At the time when you were studying to apply abroad, what facilities did you have to help you prepare for academic and English language tests?
When applying for Fulbright Scholarship, I first prepared for the Graduate Records Examinations (GRE) in 2005. At that time, there were only local coaching centres and hard copy books for preparation, with a CD provided with the book. That CD contained just two mock tests. I figured out that the GRE platform was using outdated material and methods to help students prepare and those books were not updated over time. I prepared from those resources at home and it was not very helpful. There was no concept of online studying or group studies and one had to be committed to studying for such exams. Also, there was no help or support if someone needed help with some concepts.
Do you think it was easier for students to prepare before applying abroad for studies back then or is it much easier now?
In the past, preparing for standardised and US admissions or scholarships was never easy. US universities didn’t have much information available on their websites, so students used to know about foreign universities via brochures sent to their homes or information they sought via the yellow pages. Also, there was no guidance on how to apply and write university-related essays.
Tell us about the fee structure at Scholar’s Den. Please share a success story with us where you felt immense pride on the academic success of a student of yours.
We offer affordable pricing for GRE subscriptions. If they buy a yearly plan, the monthly subscription cost is $9. The scholarship services cost around $680, which is very affordable considering the outcome they will get out of the services. After you pay for the scholarship services, the experts will help students get scholarships worth $100,000 to $400,000. In addition, they get a monthly stipend of up to $2,000. In addition, they can find avenues to work and do research with top employers and universities in the US.
Let me share with you a few success stories which I’m really proud of.
A male student from the Lahore University of Management Sciences, whose Grade Point Average was less than 3 and whose teachers were unwilling to write a letter of recommendation, got a fully funded scholarship in his master’s programme in Computer Science. Currently, he is working for Google in California, US. A male student from Balochistan, whose father was a tailor and could not afford foreign education, was so poor that his house roof was broken and rainwater used to spill inside the home whenever it rained. He worked hard and today he is studying PhD in a prestigious university on a fully funded scholarship with all expenses covered. A recent male graduate engineer, who was unemployed, had his brother diagnosed with cancer, and the family had to face financial challenges. He had to earn a living for his family, so he became an Uber driver. I helped him with the scholarship process, and eventually, he became a Fulbright scholar and ended up studying for free in the US for his masters in the US’ most prestigious university. A female student from Punjab University was not offered a PhD admission at LUMS, ended up getting a scholarship from Oxford, Cambridge and a few other universities and ended up studying for an Oxford PhD on a fully funded scholarship. A female student from Balochistan, who was physically abused, was separated from her husband with her young daughter. He was mentally abused even after marriage and his husband used to send letters to her employer to fire her. She needed an escape from Quetta. He worked hard and eventually became successful with the GRE and eventually got the fully funded PhD scholarship in the US. Now, both mother and daughter are residing peacefully in the US. A male student from a Pakistani village, who was abused during childhood, thought of committing suicide many times, had one hope: to become successful in life. We helped him get the Fulbright scholarship and eventually a fully covered PhD studies with a monthly stipend from the US. Other examples include the Son of a farmer, mechanic or driver who got fully funded scholarships in the US.
What are AI-powered Edtech solutions and how do your incorporate those into your work?
My platform addresses three longstanding hurdles in standardized test preparation: cost, accessibility and personalisation. AI-powered approach dismantles the “one-size-fits-all” model by offering dynamic content tailored to each student’s strengths and weaknesses, creating a scalable solution that delivers measurable success – a guaranteed 20-point improvement in GRE scores at an affordable pricing. This model has allowed Scholar Den to extend its reach far beyond borders, serving over 150,000 students in 100+ countries. Its inclusive design has empowered learners from both developed and developing nations, equipping them with tools previously out of reach for many due to geographic or economic limitations.
What are you currently working on?
Currently, we are building Scholastic Aptitude Test and International English Language Testing System test prep solutions in addition to the GRE and scholarships services. We are also incorporating AI automations for our scholarship services.