- Hafeez Lakhani runs the admissions firm Lakhani Coaching, which he started eight years ago.
- Its customers pay an average of $ 35,000 for its services, which include test preparation and application assistance.
- He has to tell clients regularly that they can not cheat the system and that people have to fly to NY to work with him.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Hafeez Lakhani, 38, who runs the elite admissions firm Lakhani Coaching, describes his clients as “the 0.1% of the 1%” – which sometimes even includes Saudi royals.
Families spend an average of $ 35,000 with the firm, he told Insider in hopes of having an excellent perch. Each year, he said, the company works with about 100 of the richest teens in the world.
Lakhani himself ended up at Yale as an undergraduate student after achieving a perfect score on the SAT and ACT. He consequently devoted himself to tutoring for SATs, while also working summers as a camp counselor.
After graduation, he chose a trading career in Wall Street before quickly leaving the field to return to his passion: education. Lakhani formally established his company eight years ago.
The company’s focus is on rounding up senior students in three areas: academics, or raw degrees, problem-solving ability, such as how to tackle challenges and character, otherwise their personality and interests. Each program is tailored to the specific needs of a student and includes tasks they must follow, as well as regular one-on-one coaching by the group of tutors, remotely or in person.
It’s like a typical day for Lakhani, who lives in Brooklyn Heights, NY, but whose clients span the globe.