1280 SAT → 1530
Four months of testing, then the essay of his life.
Arrived in Grade 11 with a 1280 and a college list built from rankings. Left with a 1530, an Early Decision strategy, and an essay about his grandfather's shop in Jeddah.
Our students' results
Acceptances to every Ivy.
Himmah Prep students have earned admission to the most selective universities in the world: every Ivy League institution, the top 20 universities in the United States, and Oxford and Cambridge. Since 2020, every student who completed the programme has been admitted to a university on their list.
- 0%
- College acceptance track record
- 0/8
- Ivy League schools with Himmah admits
- 0/20
- Top-20 US universities with Himmah admits
- 0+
- Average SAT gain, diagnostic to final sitting
01The Ivy League
All eight.
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, and Cornell. Every one of them has admitted a Himmah Prep student.
02Beyond the Ivies
And the rest of the top twenty.
MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Duke, and the strongest public universities in the country. Plus Oxford and Cambridge in the UK.
03How it happened
Six students. Six different plans.
No two roadmaps are the same. These are the turning points that made the difference, in the words of the families themselves.
6 activities → 1 spike
Dropped two activities. Doubled down on one.
A 'fine' profile with six scattered activities. We cut two, built one into a regional debate initiative, and the application finally had a story.
Riyadh → Princeton
Eighteen months, every step rehearsed.
Started in Grade 10 with a clear diagnostic. Two summers of research placements, three SAT sittings, and every interview practised before it happened.
Tutor → Strategy
Came in for a tutor. Left with a plan.
Expected SAT help. Got a two-year roadmap, two competitive summer programs, and a leadership cohort she still talks to weekly.
Draft 1 → Draft 7
Seven drafts, each one more her.
The Common App essay was rewritten seven times. Not to polish it, but to find the version only she could have written.
Not ready → Logical step
Honest about the gap, then closed it.
Told plainly what the profile was missing in Grade 10. By senior year, Duke was a logical next step rather than a leap.
04Test scores
Where our students start, and where they finish.
Most students arrive scoring in the 1200s on their diagnostic. After a twelve-week plan and three sittings, most finish at 1500 or above, which places them in the 98th percentile or higher.
Typical SAT trajectory
+250 to +300Median scores across Himmah Prep students who completed the full SAT programme. Individual results vary.
05From parents
In their own words.
My son went from a 1280 SAT to a 1530 in four months, then wrote the best essay of his life. He's at Cornell. We're still in disbelief.
My daughter's Common App essay was rewritten seven times. Each draft made it more her. The day Harvard's letter came, we cried — then we read the essay again.
From Riyadh to Princeton in 18 months — and not by accident. Every deadline, every essay, every interview was rehearsed.
06Your student
Tell us where the student is today.
A thirty-minute call with a senior counselor. You'll get a candid read on the student's profile, a realistic school list, and a clear next step.
Photograph: Nassau Hall by Smallbones, Wikimedia Commons (CC0).