Shanza N. Khan

founder of Eye on Ivy

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Shanza N. Khan is the founder and head counselor of Eye on Ivy, an educational organization that offers college counseling. She has said she spent 22 years in the development sector, including work at the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. She has said her degree is in economics.

Early life and education

Khan attended high school at the Convent of Jesus and Mary. She started her undergraduate studies at age 17. She has said her degree is in economics. She graduated top of her class with summa cum laude. [1]

Career

Khan spent one year at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, working on the macroeconomic and fiscal side. She worked at the World Bank in Washington DC as a junior professional associate. After she got married, she asked the World Bank to transfer her from Washington DC to Islamabad. In Islamabad she worked on economic management at the World Bank, focusing on government expenditure. She moved to the Asian Development Bank, where her poverty work began. [1]

At the Asian Development Bank she looked at the key safety net programs of the government, such as the Zakat program. She has said the larger government programs included the Benazir Income Support program, which later became the Ehsaas program. She has said she spent 22 years in the development sector, and that her work covers education and health in the social sector. More recently she has worked on technical and vocational education (TVET). [1]

Eye on Ivy

Khan is the founder and head counselor of Eye on Ivy. She has said Eye on Ivy is an educational organization. She has said the need to create it arose when she moved back to Pakistan. She has said that, for her, making a difference in people's lives and having a fulfilling impact meant working with one family at a time. [1]

Eye on Ivy offers college counseling to help students find the best-fit college anywhere in the world. Khan has said it works with students from class 9 to class 11, helping them identify their academic passion through psychometric testing. She has said the first step at Eye on Ivy is online psychometric testing, before any meeting with her office. She has said the organization uses a global best-fit model for university applications, and that parents are a key part of the counseling conversation. [1]

Khan has said Eye on Ivy serves as in-school counselor for eight schools. She has said its counselors go into schools as needed and otherwise work remotely. She has said the organization has a national presence and has signed more than 60 MOUs with local and international organizations. [1]

Views on university admissions

Khan has said that for US applications, academics count from class 9. She has said universities will not withdraw an admission letter when a student asks for more money, and that universities do not want their yield rate affected. She has said Eye on Ivy teaches its students to negotiate their financial packages. She has said applicants should think of an application as marketing themselves, and that a compelling personal statement helped a student gain the attention of a university committee. [1]

Views on funding study abroad

Khan has said Scandinavian public university systems are completely free. She has said Germany asks Masters applicants, even those accepted into its free Masters program, to have a closed bank account. She has said Bocconi in Italy is ranked 16th in the world. She has said the US gives more undergraduate financial aid than the UK or Canada. [1]

Khan has said many Indian students study in the US on loans, and that Pakistani banks do not offer student loans in the way India's market does. She has said the Aga Khan scholarship is half loan and half grant. She has said many families avoid interest-bearing loans for Islamic reasons, which she respects. She has said many Pakistanis set up barriers in their own minds before looking at options. She advises students to look at on-campus work study options. [1]

Views on Pakistan's economy and governance

Khan has said that as an economist she sees economic growth as the bottom line. She has said she sees institutional failure across all sectors, and that corruption is a symptom of an inefficient economic system. She has said she sees each government passing reform on to the next. She has said Pakistani society has become so polarized that space for conversation is non-existent, and has cited an attempted curriculum change as an example of polarized debate. [1]

Khan has said Bangladesh is a useful comparison because it began at the same point as Pakistan. She has said she does not think Pakistan will implode. She has said Pakistan is more like a developing African nation than an East Asian tiger, and that she does not see Pakistan having progressed significantly by 2050. [1]

Personal life

Khan has three children. She has said her own daughter was accepted at several places, and that they played the universities against each other. She has said she tried different educational systems with each of her three children, and that she enrolled her third child in the Waldorf education system. She has said she is a big fan of the Kumon model. [1]

Appearances

Date	Title	Where
2023-07-12	The global degree most Pakistani students never consider	Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Shanza N. Khan?

Shanza N. Khan is the founder and head counselor of Eye on Ivy, an educational organization. She has said she spent 22 years in the development sector.[1]

What does Shanza N. Khan do?

Shanza N. Khan leads Eye on Ivy, which offers college counseling to help students find the best-fit college anywhere in the world. The organization works with students from class 9 to class 11, helping them identify their academic passion through psychometric testing. It uses a global best-fit model for university applications.[1]

What company did Shanza N. Khan found?

Shanza N. Khan is the founder of Eye on Ivy, an educational organization. She has said it serves as in-school counselor for eight schools and has signed more than 60 MOUs with local and international organizations.[1]

Where did Shanza N. Khan study?

Shanza N. Khan attended high school at the Convent of Jesus and Mary. She started her undergraduate studies at age 17 and has said her degree is in economics. She graduated top of her class with summa cum laude.[1]

Where has Shanza N. Khan worked?

Shanza N. Khan spent one year at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta and worked at the World Bank in Washington DC and Islamabad. She then moved to the Asian Development Bank, where her poverty work began. She has said she spent 22 years in the development sector.[1]

What does Shanza N. Khan advise about financial aid for university?

Shanza N. Khan has said Eye on Ivy teaches its students to negotiate their financial packages. She has said universities will not withdraw an admission letter when a student asks for more money. She also advises students to look at on-campus work study options.[1]

References

The global degree most Pakistani students never consider . Thought Behind Things , 2023-07-12.

Show the source passages (72 statements)

She is the founder and head counselor of Eye on Ivy. Shanza N. Khan is the Founder and Head Counselor of Eye on Ivy.
She has said her degree is in economics. Um if I give the example of economics, which is what my degree in,
She started her undergraduate studies at age 17. So, I started undergrad when I was 17 years old.
She graduated top of her class with summa cum laude. I graduated top of my class with a Summa Cum Laude.
She attended high school at the Convent of Jesus and Mary. things had not changed when I went to high school, which was at the Convent of Jesus and Mary.
She has three children. Kyunki you know as Pakistani parents and I'm a mom of three, you know we tend to think
She has said the need to create Eye on Ivy arose when she moved back to Pakistan. the need to create Eye on IV actually stemmed when I moved back to Pakistan four, four and a half years ago.
She has said that, for her, making a difference in people's lives and having a fulfilling impact meant working with one family at a time. if you want to make a difference in people's lives, if you want to have that fulfilling impact, for me at least, it had to be that interaction, one family at a time.
She has said she spent 22 years in the development sector. So, I spent 22 years in the development sector, Muzamil, working with these institutes and I learned a lot.
She spent one year at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, working on the macroeconomic and fiscal side. after Emory, I spent uh one year at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta. I was working on the macroeconomic and fiscal side.
She worked at the World Bank in Washington DC as a junior professional associate. I continued this with the World Bank in Washington DC as a junior professional associate.
She asked the World Bank to transfer her from Washington DC to Islamabad after she got married. I asked them to transfer me from DC to Islamabad because I got married.
In Islamabad she worked on economic management at the World Bank, focusing on government expenditure. I continued working with the World Bank also in the field of uh economic management, uh primarily looking at expenditures and how the government spends
She moved to the Asian Development Bank, where her poverty work began. And then I shifted over to the Asian Development Bank, which is where my work really started on poverty.
At the Asian Development Bank she looked at the key safety net programs of the government, such as the Zakat program. looking at the key programs that the government has and the key safety net programs that the government has such as the Zakat program, the Bait-ul-Maal program
She has said the larger government programs included the Benazir Income Support program, which later became the Ehsaas program. some of the bigger programs were the Benazir Income Support program afterwards became the Ehsaas program.
She has said her work covers education and health in the social sector. So both related to education as well as to health. I've done a lot of work in this field.
She has said she has recently worked on technical and vocational education (TVET). More recently, uh I've been involved particularly in the technical education and vocational training space, the TVET space uh as we call it.
She has said Eye on Ivy is an educational organization. So ji, Eye on IV is an educational organization.
She has said Eye on Ivy offers college counseling to help students find the best-fit college anywhere in the world. We do college counseling, helping students identify the best fit college for them anywhere in the world.
She has said Eye on Ivy works with students from class 9 to class 11, helping them identify their academic passion through psychometric testing. We work with class 9 se leke class 11 ke bache, helping them identify their academic passion through psychometric testing
She has said Eye on Ivy has signed more than 60 MOUs with local and international organizations. Humne is lihaz se more than 60 MOU sign kiye hue hain with local local organizations but also international organizations as well.
She has said Eye on Ivy serves as in-school counselor for eight schools. We are the in-school counselors for eight schools, but we get private students from across Pakistan and increasingly internationally as well.
She has said Eye on Ivy has a national presence. So we have a national presence.
She has said Eye on Ivy counselors go into schools as needed and otherwise work remotely. They go in as needed, but otherwise we work remotely.
She has said the first step at Eye on Ivy is online psychometric testing, before any meeting with her office. But the first step that they will do is psychometric testing even before I will see the student or anybody from my office.
She has said parents are a key part of the counseling conversation. and the parents are a key part of this conversation.
She has said Eye on Ivy uses a global best-fit model for university applications. We have a best fit model and it's a global model.
She has said that for US applications, academics count from class 9. as far as America is concerned, the clock starts ticking in class 9. Your academics count from class 9.
She has said her own daughter was accepted at several places, and that they played the universities against each other. I went through this just this year with my own daughter. So, you know, she um Alhamdulillah got accepted in several places and we played the universities against each other.
She has said Eye on Ivy teaches its students to negotiate their financial packages. The first thing we teach our students, please negotiate your financial package.
She has said universities will not withdraw an admission letter when a student asks for more money. They are not going to retract your admission letter if you ask for for more money.
She has said universities do not want their yield rate affected. Universities don't want their yield rate to be affected
She has said a compelling personal statement helped a student gain the attention of a university committee. It was because of his voice, his personal statement where he told such a compelling narrative that it grabbed the, you know, grabbed the attention of the university committee.
She has said applicants should think of an application as marketing themselves. Think of it almost like a marketing uh marketing endeavor. You are marketing yourself.
She has said Canada has a GPA requirement before an application is considered. Canada, for instance, has a GPA requirement even in order to apply.
She has said US admissions consider the whole application, not only grades. US in this regard does look at your application holistically.
She has said a good GRE score can partly offset a low GPA. because a good score in your GRE can offset somewhat the damage done by your GPA.
She has said a candidate's final degree is what matters most for future employment. whichever is your last degree, that is what's really going to carry you in terms of your future employment.
She has said the cutting edge of technology and engineering work is currently in the Far East. Right now, the cutting edge of work being done in technology and engineering is actually the Far East.
She has said Scandinavian public university systems are completely free. why are Scandinavian countries so attractive is because their public university system is completely free.
She has said Germany asks Masters applicants, even those accepted into its free Masters program, to have a closed bank account. Germany for instance have said that even if you get accepted into our masters program, which is free, we just want you to have um uh a closed bank account
She has said Bocconi in Italy is ranked 16th in the world. there is a university in Italy by the name of Bocconi, which is ranked 16th in the world.
She has said the US gives more undergraduate financial aid than the UK or Canada. the US gives a lot of financial aid to undergraduates, you know, the UK does not, Canada does not.
She advises students to take a global approach rather than focus on one target country. rather than keeping any one country as, you know, your target country, keep a global approach once again.
She has said many Indian students study in the US on loans. Indians don't do that. Yes. And you find a lot of them actually going to the US, studying on loans.
She has said Pakistani banks do not offer student loans in the way India's market does. But our banks do not uh give student loans uh the way that the Indians have actually created an entire market around this
She has said the Aga Khan scholarship is half loan and half grant. the Aga Khan scholarship, which is half loan, half grant.
She has said many families avoid interest-bearing loans for Islamic reasons, which she respects. we don't want to take interest loans because of Islamic reasons and so on. Which I as I said, I respect that narrative.
She has said many Pakistanis set up barriers in their own minds before looking at options. A lot of Pakistanis, the way that I see it, they shut down on unhone na apne dimagh mein already barriers banaye hue hain.
She advises students to look at on-campus work study options. So look at on campus work study opportunities.
She has said the Montessori model is not available in Pakistan in its true form. So I'm I'm a big fan of the Montessori model, but it's not available here in its true form in in in Pakistan.
She has said she is a big fan of the Kumon model. big fan of the Kumon model, which is a Japanese uh way of teaching children
She has said she enrolled her third child in the Waldorf education system. And my third child, I think by the by the time a parent's energy kind of also wavers off, I I was more experimental. So I enrolled him in the Waldorf education system, which is a German way of learning
She has said she tried different educational systems with each of her three children. I've experimented with different educational systems with all three of mine
She has said she is a fan of the International Baccalaureate system. I'm frankly a big fan of the IB system, the International Baccalaureate system.
She has said Waldorf graduates have done phenomenally better at the college level. the graduates of the Waldorf system have done phenomenally better at the college level.
She has said homeschooling is an excellent option when children also take part in social activities. as long as there is a mix of social activities uh for the child, um you know, particularly revolving around sports or performing arts, then homeschooling is an excellent option as well.
She has said Pakistan's curriculum is nowhere near where it ought to be. Let's let's uh let me just say that the curriculum is nowhere where it ought to be.
She has cited a figure from the HEC of 4,000 PhD graduates who are unemployed. this is by the HEC in fact, there are 4,000 PhDs that are unemployed just who graduated last year.
She has said she thinks skills training is best left to the private sector. I frankly think that this is a space best left off to the private sector because there is a need.
She has said Bangladesh is a useful comparison because it began at the same point as Pakistan. Bangladesh is a good country to compare ourselves with because we were at the exact same spot
She has said Pakistani society has become so polarized that space for conversation is non-existent. I think our society has become so polarized that that space for conversation despite where we stand economically is non-existent.
She has cited an attempted curriculum change as an example of polarized debate. Uh the SNC is an example of that when curriculum change was tried to be brought about
She has said she sees each government passing reform on to the next. So I actually see each successive government kicking the can down the road, passing the buck on to the next person to just pick up.
She has said that as an economist she sees economic growth as the bottom line. the bottom line for that for me as a as an economist is economic growth.
She has said she sees institutional failure across all sectors. because I see institutional failure and I see it across the board and I see it across sectors.
She has said the access that Nearpeer has had to students is phenomenal. You look at people like Nearpeer, you look at people like the Noon Academy, even in terms of prepping students for civil service examinations and so on. I think the access that they've had is phenomenal.
She has said corruption is a symptom of an inefficient economic system. Corruption I feel like is a symptom of an inefficient economic system.
She has said she does not think Pakistan will implode. I don't think we are frankly going to implode.
She has said Pakistan is more like a developing African nation than an East Asian tiger. rather than aspiring or becoming an East Asian tiger, more like a developing African nation, unfortunately.
She has said she does not see Pakistan having progressed significantly by 2050. I see Pakistan where we are today. I don't see a Pakistan which has progressed significantly, unfortunately.