Fatima Faisal
Book a free call with FatimaFatima’s intro
I study Integrative Biology and Political Science at UC Berkeley – but if you had asked me a few years ago where I’d end up, I probably would have given you a completely different answer. For most of high school, I was set on pre-med. Then I joined competitive speech and debate my junior year, and somewhere between writing speeches, competing nationally, winning regional tournaments, and eventually placing 11th at the National Speech & Debate Tournament, I fell in love with advocacy. I went from thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to do to realizing that maybe I didn’t — and that was okay. That experience transformed the way I approached college applications. Everyone talks about the internships they’ve landed, the awards they’ve won, and the “perfect” applicant they think colleges are looking for — but your résumé is only half the story. The real question is: what makes all of those things yours? That’s what I love helping students figure out. Through Audacity Academy, a nonprofit I’ve helped grow to serve 200+ students, as a tutor and speech & debate captain, and through my research experience with ThinkNeuro, I’ve learned how to work with students with very different strengths, personalities, and goals. Whether you’re a freshman with four years ahead of you or a senior thinking, “wait... am I already too late?” — you’re not. You don’t need to be your class’s valedictorian to stand out. You just need to know how to tell your story, and I’d love to help you find it.
Common questions
Before you book
What does this cost?
We are flexible, and there is a plan here that fits your family. You hear your number on the first call, before anything is agreed. What changes between plans is the kind of experience in the room: a current undergraduate at a school your student is applying to, someone who interviewed applicants for a university as an alumni volunteer, or a former admissions officer who read files and sat in committee. Every one of them is somebody we would put in front of our own family.
Do we need to know what we want before the call?
No, and most families book before they have decided anything. That is the useful time to talk. An hour, no charge, and you will come off the call knowing what we can do for your student.
How many students does one counselor take?
Few enough that the person you meet is the person who reads the drafts. Every counselor sets their own cap and prints it on their page, so you know exactly how much of their year you are getting. If your first choice is full we will introduce you to someone on the roster who suits your student just as well.
Our student is already a senior. Is it too late?
It is not too late. Several counselors here run compressed engagements and take seniors into the autumn, and there is usually more still open in a file than a family expects. Tell us where your student is on the call and we will tell you what we can do with it.
Book a call
How the call is booked.
Fatima books the call, and it runs an hour on the phone.
Book a free call with FatimaFatima works from what you tell us about your student, so the call starts there rather than at the beginning.
If something changes
The agreement is held by The Scholar’s Bureau rather than by Fatima personally. If Fatima cannot finish the cycle we move your student to another counselor on this roster at the price you were already quoted, and everything written down so far moves with them.
The Scholar’s Bureau is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by UC Berkeley or any other institution named on this page. Fatima Faisal is an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, speaking only as an individual, with no role in its admissions office and no influence over any admissions decision.