I started building this product on my own, and today Hack Admission is growing into an AI-powered ecosystem that brings together:

1. IELTS preparation
2. AI feedback for Writing and Speaking
3. Personalized learning roadmaps
4. A database of international universities
5. Tools for applying abroad

Our goal is simple: make IELTS preparation and international admissions more structured, affordable, and accessible — without forcing students to switch between dozens of websites, tutors, spreadsheets, and platforms.

This launch is not the finish line. It is the beginning of the next stage.

📱 Download Hack Admission on the App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/kz/app/hack-admission/id6789551768

I would really appreciate your support, feedback, and shares.

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#HackAdmission #IELTS #EdTech #AI #Startup

Hi everyone,
I’m an international applicant from Kazakhstan applying this cycle.

My university list includes:

Early Decision
• Amherst College
Regular Decision - United States
• Bowdoin College
• Williams College
• Pomona College
• Swarthmore College
• Grinnell College
• Berea College
• Denison University
• Macalester College
Hong Kong
• Lingnan University
• The University of Hong Kong
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Italy
• University of Trento
• University of Pavia
• University of Padua
• University of Bologna
Hungary
• Universities available through the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Programme
South Korea
• Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST)

My profile:
GPA: 3.89/4.0
Excellent (“red”) diploma
Founder of an education startup with paying customers and users from many countries
Applying for Brain & Cognitive Science / Computer Science
IELTS: currently 6.0 (aiming for 7.0–7.5)
Strong extracurriculars and honors

The biggest problem is time.
I’m honestly overwhelmed.

Besides university applications, I’m:
running my startup full-time,
working as a web developer,
preparing investor pitches,
writing application essays,
and trying to prepare for IELTS.

The problem is that I barely have enough time even for IELTS preparation.

If I also start preparing seriously for the SAT, I’m afraid that my IELTS score, essays, and even my startup progress will all suffer.
Because of that, I’m considering applying test-optional to the U.S. universities and possibly taking the SAT in December only if it could still help my Regular Decision or Hong Kong applications.

What would you do if you were in my position?
Would you apply test-optional?
Is taking the SAT in December worth it?
If you had to choose only one, would you prioritize improving IELTS from 6.0 to around 7.0–7.5 or preparing for the SAT?
As someone from Kazakhstan, how much would a strong SAT help admissions officers better understand my academic background?
I’d really appreciate advice, especially from international applicants or anyone familiar with admissions. Thanks!

I’m researching accelerator and investor programs that provide meaningful infrastructure support to early-stage AI startups.

Current traction:

• 1,600+ registered users
• Users from 70+ countries
• 10,000+ IELTS mock tests completed
• 5,000+ AI feature interactions
• 50 Early paying customers

I’m currently looking for:

• Pre-seed investors interested in AI, EdTech, or emerging markets
• Accelerators accepting international solo founders
• Startup programs offering AWS, Google Cloud, OpenAI, Anthropic, or other AI/cloud credits
• Partners that provide referral codes or portfolio access to programs such as AWS Activate

I’m not looking for generic lists of startup discounts. I’d like to hear from founders who personally applied, went through an interview or screening process, and actually received the credits.

I’m currently participating in an incubation program, but I’m comparing additional international options before our Demo Day.

I would appreciate firsthand experiences, including programs that rejected you or were not worth the time.

Kiro approved my startup for Pro+ credits and I can see the $960 promotional credit active in AWS Billing for months. Everything looks good on paper.

But when I try to add users in the Kiro console (through IAM Identity Center), it fails with AccessDeniedException on the backend. I literally cannot assign the subscription to anyone.

I opened a support case with AWS. After many days of back and forth, providing CloudTrail logs, screenshots, everything — the support team basically said: "We can't fix this on our side, please contact AWS Sales team / Account Manager, they might be able to escalate to Kiro service owners."

It feels completely absurd. AWS issues the credit for a specific product, but then the same AWS blocks the use of that product. Like Kiro and AWS Billing are completely separate companies that don't talk to each other.

Has anyone else faced this with Kiro for Startups / Amazon Q Pro+ credits recently?
Did you manage to get it resolved? Through Sales team or somehow else?

Really frustrating experience.

Kiro approved my credit but aws deniend me to add user for using. That's so funny and not make sense at all. They seems to be come from different company

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I was seriously considering moving my startup infrastructure to AWS, but my first real experience with AWS/Kiro startup support has been disappointing.

I’m building Hack Admission, an AI-powered education platform for IELTS learners and university applicants. Like many early-stage founders, I was looking at cloud providers not only by infrastructure quality, but also by how they support small teams before they become large customers.

Recently, I had a call related to Kiro/startup onboarding. After that, I checked my AWS Billing account and found an active Kiro-specific promotional credit: “AWS promotion - Kiro Pro Plus 2026”, $960, status Active, applicable product: Kiro.

Naturally, I tried to activate Kiro Pro+. The subscription provisioning failed in AWS Console, Kiro IAM Identity Center showed “profileArn is required but could not be resolved”, and the backend returned: “Your account is not authorized to make this call.”

After multiple support interactions, AWS Support told me that my account “does not currently meet the eligibility requirements” to provision the Kiro Pro+ entitlement. That is exactly the part I still cannot understand: why does AWS Billing show an active Kiro-specific credit, applicable only to Kiro, if the same AWS account is blocked from activating the Kiro Pro+ subscription required to use it?

I am not asking for new credits. I am asking to use the credits already visible in my AWS account, or at least receive a clear explanation instead of generic support replies.

For an early-stage founder, this kind of support loop is painful. We are already building, shipping, fixing bugs, handling payments, and trying to survive. If a cloud provider offers startup support, founders need clear onboarding, transparent eligibility, and real answers.

Today, I decided to move my server plans to Microsoft Azure instead. My Microsoft for Startups / Azure request for around $5,000 in support was approved within hours, and the difference in founder experience was obvious.

AWS is technically an incredible platform, but trust is not only built through infrastructure. Trust is also built through how you treat founders when they are still small. Right now, Microsoft Azure has earned much more trust from me.

If anyone from AWS Startups, Kiro, or Amazon Q Developer can explain how an active Kiro-specific credit can remain unusable due to entitlement blocking, I would appreciate a real answer.

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Hi everyone. I want to ask people who have experience with military enlistment offices in Kazakhstan, especially in Karaganda, and people who had similar eyesight issues.

I am 19 years old and I am from Karaganda. In 2023, I already went through a medical commission at the military enlistment office. At that time, they directly told me that I was unfit for military service, and in my military registration certificate they wrote that on 15.02.2023 I passed the medical commission and was recognized as unfit for military service.
Now my situation is this: I am planning to take academic leave, so I am worried that in autumn they may call me again for clarification or another medical commission.

My health issue is not just “bad eyesight”. On 12.05.2026, I had a fresh eye examination at Astana Vision. According to the report, I have:
high-degree myopia in both eyes;
complex myopic astigmatism in both eyes;
around -7 diopters in both eyes;
visual acuity without correction around 0.04 in both eyes;

What worries me is that recently many people have been writing about military enlistment offices, especially in Karaganda, saying that they may pressure people, rush the medical commission, ignore documents, or say things like “this is old” or “this is not needed”. At the same time, I already have a previous “unfit” record from 2023, and now I have a fresh eye examination confirming the same serious vision problem.

My questions:
Has anyone had a similar case with eyesight around -7 diopters or worse? Did they recognize you as unfit, give you a temporary deferment, or send you for another examination?

If my military registration certificate already says I was recognized as “unfit” in 2023, how much does that help during a new commission?

Is it a good idea to go to my local polyclinic now and ask them to enter the Astana Vision results into my official medical record and give me an ophthalmologist’s statement?

What should I do if the military enlistment office says that a private clinic report “does not count” or that the old military registration record is “not needed”?
If they suddenly recognize me as fit, what is the correct procedure: ask for a copy of the decision, write that I disagree, and appeal to the regional commission or court?

Is it better to go with a parent/relative and submit copies of all medical documents with a written request to attach them to my personal file?
I am not looking for illegal ways to avoid service. I have real medical diagnoses and a previous decision from the enlistment office. I just want to understand how to act correctly and make sure my medical documents are not ignored.

I would especially appreciate real stories from Karaganda or from people with eyesight around -7 / -8 diopters.

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I’m basically just posting a lot on Threads, Reddit, and Telegram — wherever my main audience actually hangs out. Nothing fancy tbh, just trying to stay consistent and see what works.

The platform: https://hack-admission.com/

Hello guys, I know this subreddit has a lot of IELTS takers too so I wanted to share my experience a bit:)

About 1 year ago, my English was around A2. Not gonna lie, I was really weak. I could understand basic stuff, but when it came to speaking, writing, or even reading serious texts, I was basically dying lol.

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Then I started preparing seriously and somehow managed to jump from A2 to IELTS 6.0 in around 2-3 months. At that time, 6.0 was exactly the score I wanted, so I was happy with it.

But after 6 months, I decided to take IELTS more seriously again. This time my goal is not just “pass the exam”, but actually reach something like 7.0-7.5.

What helped me the most:

1. I stopped just “studying English” and started training for IELTS specifically.
Before that, I was just learning random grammar, random words, random YouTube videos. But IELTS is a system. You need to understand the format, timing, band descriptors, common traps, and how examiners actually think.

2. I started tracking my weak points.
For example, in Writing, I realized that my problem was not only grammar. It was also structure, task response, and the way I explained ideas. In Speaking, my problem was fluency and sounding natural, not using “fancy” words every second.

3. I practiced with real IELTS-style tasks, not random exercises.
Especially for Reading and Listening. I noticed that the more I practiced real IELTS patterns, the more predictable the exam became.

4. I used AI feedback, but carefully.
AI can be useful, but sometimes it can be too harsh or weird with IELTS scoring. So I started comparing my answers with IELTS band descriptors and trying to understand WHY the score is low, not just looking at the number.

5. I built my own IELTS preparation system.
I’m also building Hack Admission, and now I use my own platform for IELTS practice:

hack-admission.com

It has IELTS tools, mock tests, writing/speaking feedback, score tracking, and other stuff that I personally wanted when I was preparing.

I’m not saying it’s some magic tool that will instantly give you 7.5. No tool can do that. But having everything in one place really helped me stay consistent and see what exactly I need to fix.

My biggest lesson: IELTS is not only about “knowing English”. It’s also about knowing the exam, practicing consistently, understanding your mistakes, and not lying to yourself about your level.

Right now I’m still trying to reach 7.5, so I’m not acting like I already mastered everything. I’m just sharing the journey because maybe someone here is also stuck around 5.5-6.0 and feels like it’s impossible to improve.

It’s not impossible, but you need a system

Would be interesting to hear from people who jumped from 6.0 to 7.0+ . What changed the most for you? I would like to hear your experience!

my saas is growing rapidly, and It is even getting better! -> hack-admission.com

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it isnt a big a victory, but it feels good for a solo founder of https://hack-admission.com/

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my startup project is consistently improving and I finally made my users come back to use new features here, eventually we hit 3000+ completed mock tests in 1-2 months!!!!

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Prepare for the IELTS WITH https://hack-admission.com

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I know $76 is not a lot, but for me this feels insane.

I’m 19, from Kazakhstan, and I’m building Hack Admission - an IELTS preparation + US admissions platform for international students.

The idea is simple: students who want to study in the US usually have to jump between IELTS websites, college search tools, Reddit posts, YouTube videos, Common App guides, financial aid pages, and random spreadsheets.

I wanted to build one place where students can prepare for IELTS and also understand the US admissions process step by step.

Right now Hack Admission has:

• IELTS mock tests
• instant band score feedback
• explanations for mistakes
• US Admissions Roadmap
• college list planning
• AI Admissions Brain
• student community/forum

In the last 40 days:

• 7 paid users
• $76 revenue
• almost 600 registered users
• 25k+ unique visits overall
• very little marketing spend

It is still very early, but getting the 7th paid user made me realize that people are actually willing to pay for this.

My goal is to make Hack Admission one of the best platforms for IELTS preparation and US admissions planning for international students.

Not just another AI wrapper or generic test prep website, but a real workspace for students applying to American universities:

IELTS prep → US Admissions Roadmap → college list → essays → financial aid → deadlines → submission

Still a long way to go, but this small milestone feels huge.

try it here: https://hack-admission.com

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Hi guys, I’m 19, from Kazakhstan, and I’ve been dreaming about applying to U.S. universities for the last four years.

This year, I’m finally preparing to submit my own applications. While learning about the process, I realized that U.S. admissions is not hard only because of essays, test scores, or competition. It is hard because the information is scattered everywhere.

Common App is in one place.
IELTS/SAT advice is somewhere else.
College lists are in random spreadsheets.
Financial aid rules are hidden on college websites.
Essay advice is spread across Reddit, YouTube, blogs, and counselor videos.
Deadlines are easy to miss.

And after reading all of that, many international students still ask:

“Okay, but what should I actually do next?”

So I started building Hack Admission — a platform for international students preparing for IELTS and U.S. university applications.

One of the biggest parts of it is the US Admissions Roadmap.

It breaks the application journey into clear stages:

• Admissions 101
• types of U.S. colleges
• application timeline
• academic rigor
• IELTS/SAT/TOEFL
• extracurriculars and awards
• personal narrative
• college list strategy
• reach/target/likely schools
• financial safety
• Common App essay
• supplements
• recommendation letters
• scholarships
• deadlines
• final submission

I’m also working on AI Admissions Brain, which is supposed to analyze a student’s profile and give useful next steps — not fake “you have 78% chance at Stanford” predictions.

More like:

• your college list is too risky
• your financial aid strategy is weak
• your essay angle sounds generic
• your profile needs stronger evidence
• your next step should be X, not Y

The goal is to make a practical workspace for international students applying to American universities:

IELTS prep → U.S. admissions roadmap → college list → essays → financial aid → deadlines → submission

I’m building this partly for myself, because I’m going through the same process this year, but also for other international students who feel lost in the same way.

What would you add to a roadmap like this?

Try it here: https://hack-admission.com/