The Future of Afghan Applicants to US Colleges

This summer I worked with Kabul Educational Advising Center (KEAC), the only SAT testing center in Afghanistan, to create a standard and reusable preparation program for the Afghan high school students and school graduates who are interested in applying to US colleges and universities. We also developed an online application for the students to be able to have a chance at entering the program from all over the country. We worked with the students selected through this application in two categories, those planning to apply to US colleges and those planning to apply to universities in other countries, mainly Turkey. We administered weekly practice tests, under the actual exam’s conditions, assigning the students material and exercises based on the weaknesses and strengths that they showed in the practice tests. Despite the fact that Kabul Educational Advising Center is closed for now, due to threats from Taliban, I am still working unofficially with my students, assisting them not only with their essays but also with their SAT preparation. The most important lessons that I learned in my work over this summer are to avoid tunnel vision and to commit to long-term goals. Therefore, if KEAC does not reopen this year, we are planning to create a fund for those students with the highest scores in the practice tests to take their SAT in the neighboring countries.