“I Didn’t Come This Far to Stop”: Laiba Atif’s NUMS MDCAT Story
Laiba Atif didn’t aim for second place. But she didn’t really plan at first either. She just… worked. Quietly. Consistently. Some days obsessively. And somehow—198 out of 200.
“I got first position in NUMS MDCAT,” she says, still a little surprised. “But it didn’t feel like a straight line. Not at all.”
Her journey started the same way it does for many—a dream handed down from two parents who lived it. Both doctors. Both were passionate about what they did. For Laiba, medicine always felt like something more than just a career. It was a service – a purpose.
But purpose isn’t enough. You need a system. That’s where KIPS Khariyan Campus came in.
“KIPS Prep made things click,” she says. “Their lectures weren’t just lectures. They showed you how to think.”
And then there were the test sessions. Brutal at first. But strangely addictive once she found her rhythm. Every MCQ, every mock, every mistake—it sharpened her.
Still, things almost fell apart.
“It was the time. Always the time,” she sighs. “So much syllabus. One day to recall everything. You try not to panic. But it creeps in.”
She learned how to breathe through it. The supplementary books helped. Repeated practice helped. But more than that, it was her teachers. The way they’d say, “Laiba, don’t rush this,” or “Your pace will come.” That mattered.
By the time test day came, she wasn’t running on adrenaline. She was calm. Maybe too calm, she laughs.
“I didn’t even feel nervous, which was weird. I just wanted to get through it. Like—let’s finish this.”
Looking back, she doesn’t credit her success to just herself.
“I had support. From my parents. From KIPS. And from Allah, of course.”
But the biggest fight? It wasn’t academic.
“The mental part is what breaks most people. You reach a point where your brain says, ‘Enough.’ And you have to fight that voice. Every day.”
So what would she say to the next student? The one doubting themselves?
“Be consistent. Even when you feel like you’re failing. Especially then.”
And as for KIPS?
“KIPS gave me more than content. They gave me structure. Discipline. And belief. That matters more than people think.”