When This 22-Year-Old Graduated From MIT, He Thought He'd Be a Software Engineer. Instead, He Launched a Company That’s Shaking up the College-Admissions Game.

As accusations of inequality and test-center closures threaten the SAT's stronghold on college admissions, Next Admit CEO and co-founder Gohar Khan says 'intangibles' like essays and interviews are more likely to make or break an application

Courtesy of Next Admit

By Amanda Breen 

For decades now, the competition for spots at prestigious U.S. colleges has been fierce, and the odds are not in most applicants’ favor: In 2014, The New York Times reported that elite colleges reject up to 95 percent of the applications they receive. And according to recent reporting by AP News, the percentage of admitted students has continued to plummet, reaching staggering new lows last year due to the pandemic as many schools adopted test-optional policies and some students deferred their 2020 acceptances.

Despite the disheartening statistics, droves of American teenagers spend years shaping themselves into ideal candidates by padding their resumes with extracurricular activities, taking the most challenging classes, and studying for standardized tests like the SAT and ACT.