Five Before College

Asalaam alaykum!

First of all, I want to congratulate you on this momentous step. Applying to college is a big decision, and the fact that you're here shows that you're taking this process seriously!

Furthermore, you're clearly a person who plans ahead. This will serve you well both in preparing your college applications and in life, insha'Allah.

I founded Five Before College to help Muslim high schoolers and their families get access top-quality information and advice on how applying to college REALLY works, so that you can make the best decisions for your deen and dunya, for this life and the next.

Over my career, I’ve gotten a really good understanding of college admissions. More specifically, over the past decade, I’ve advised hundreds of Muslim students through the college admissions process. 

This experience has given me a unique, high-level understanding of how college admissions works for Muslims specifically. 

And that’s what I want to share with you.

Believe it or not, Muslims actually have some big advantages applying to college. This certainly doesn’t mean that any Muslim can get into any college he or she wants. But it does mean that you can put your best foot forward.

So I want to start off by sharing five of the secrets I've learned that can help Muslim high schoolers succeed beyond anyone's expectations.

Here goes:

Secret #1: You have five minutes

The first secret to applying to college is simple:

BE MEMORABLE.

Admissions officers read up to 100 applications PER DAY. If you do the math, that means you have only 5 minutes to make an unforgettable impression.

The fact is that you ARE unique. The special combination of your background, your ambition, your accomplishments, and your faith make you a person who naturally stands out from the crowd.

But as you can imagine, when admissions officers have to read hundreds of applications back to back, after a while they all start to look the same! 

To be successful, you need to make sure that your unique gifts shine through on your college application.

When you do that, the admissions officer who reads your application will come into their next meeting - the one where decisions are made - talking about YOU.

Secret #2: Apply early (the right way)

Over the past couple of decades, many of my students have gotten into their first choice college. Many have gone to the Ivy League. Many more have gone to prestigious, competitive schools with very low acceptance rates. 

Some of my students have even gotten accepted to colleges that, frankly, surprised me. From my experience, I knew they had a low chance of getting in. But they did.

Most of these outliers had something in common:

THEY APPLIED EARLY.

Applying early is the single best way to increase your chances of admission to a particular school. Competitive colleges often fill a third or more of their freshman class with early decision and early action applicants. This simple arithmetic means that if you know where you want to go to school, you should apply early.

But that’s a big “if.” 

There’s a right way and a wrong way to go about applying early. Do it right, and you’ll have a great chance of getting in, and probably a much more fulfilling, more intentional, and less stressful experience of applying to college overall.

Secret #3: Enjoy the process

There are a lot of misconceptions about applying to college. There’s a lot of uncertainty, a lot of anxiety, a lot of pressure. 

Some of that is natural.

But a little goes a long way.

The truth is that a lot of the stress and difficulty of applying to college can be avoided if you have good advice, if you really understand the process, and you know what to expect every step of the way. You’ll also have an experienced advocate in your corner, someone who you can turn to with questions when you need help or reassurance.

When you know what to expect, when you have an advocate on your side, you’ll feel more confident, so you can actually start to appreciate the beautiful and beneficial aspects of this unique phase of your life.

Yes, you heard that right.

YOU CAN ACTUALLY START TO ENJOY THE PROCESS!

As Muslims, we know that God’s decree encompasses everything. When we remember this, and also do the work - to tie our camels, so to speak - applying to college can actually be a joyful experience.

I always encourage my students to shift their mindset and to treat applying to college as a process of self discovery. I sometimes refer to that as “finding your qibla.”

Secret #4: Share your faith

It’s okay to be unapologetically Muslim.

Now, there are different ways to talk about our faith, and we have to know our audience. It may not be wise to talk about certain highly controversial, hot-button topics if you don’t need to.

But remember, you have only five minutes to make an impression. Among hundreds and hundreds of applications, you have to stand out.

AS A MUSLIM, YOU NATURALLY STAND OUT.

Remember that the Prophet, peace be upon him, told us:

“Islam began as something strange and will go back to being strange, so glad tidings to the strangers.” (Ibn Majah)

Colleges are looking for people who are different, who have strong character, who will contribute to the wider community. All of those things come very naturally to us.

Believe it or not, many colleges actually look for Muslims specifically. I know of one prestigious school that has a stated goal of tripling the number of Muslims in their student body over the next three years!

Secret #5: Make du’a

This one brings it all together.

We do our work to the best of our ability, then we turn the results over to God. As a brother told me when I first took shahada: “Do your best, and surrender the rest.”

Allah tells us in the Qur’an:

“Success is surely achieved by those who purify themselves” (87:14)

If we approach our work properly, no matter what happens,  WE’VE ALREADY WON.

When we trust in that, it frees us to benefit from this unique time in our lives, and to treat it as a period of growth and opportunity, without unnecessary stress or difficulty.

My goal is to help you get there.

Here's how:

Since you’re here, you’re probably planning to apply early.

The Five Before College Early Application Masterclass is designed to give you an inside understanding of the college application process, with a special focus on early decision and early action applications. Over five weeks, I’ll walk you through a step-by-step formula to help you craft an application that makes an unforgettable impression.

Here's how the class will go:

Week 1 

An "inside look" at how admissions works, why admissions officers are looking for reasons to reject every application, and how not to let that happen to you! We'll cover the key elements that MUST be present for your application to be truly memorable, and how the different parts of your application work together.

Week 2

Deep dive into the components of your application, including your transcript, activities section, personal statement, and supplemental essays. You'll learn how to present what you've done in a compelling way, so that your accomplishments truly pop off the page.

Week 3 

For seniors, the personal statement is the single most important part of your application that you can still control. When you're applying early, this goes double! And the most important part of the essay itself is the topic. You DON'T want to just go with the first idea that comes to mind. We'll go through various exercises for topic selection, so you can find a winner.

Week 4 

Now it's time to actually write your essay! This session will help you narrow down your ideas and choose the one that works. We'll look at a number of successful essay examples to give you a better idea of what is possible. You might be surprised what a truly great essay can do!

Week 5 

The best essays are the ones that are refined and polished, until every word is in place. This session is about helping you hone your rough draft into a final essay that you can be proud of. We’ll also look at supplemental essays and how to approach them for each school.

Remember, admissions officers are scanning for truly interesting candidates - students whose personalities, character, and unique strengths are almost oozing from the pages of their application.

That's you!

And by the end of the FBC Early Application Masterclass, you'll have an application that will show it. 

If you join the FBC Early Application Masterclass, and you do the work, you’ll have a standout college application finished well before the early application deadline.

Done. Complete.

That’s my promise to you. 

You can find out more details below.

Bismillah.