.jpg)
My name is Tanish Savla and at the time of my writing, I am a high school junior at Cupertino High School. I was first introduced to PACT the summer before my 9th grade in 2023. Initially, I was hesitant about joining the program and, quite frankly, intimidated. The mere idea of attending these daily lectures and learning about discrete mathematics concepts that seemed so distant at the time, especially alongside students much older and likely more intelligent than me, was scary. I felt I wouldn’t be good enough and would end up not getting anything out of the program because I would fall behind. However, this idea couldn’t have been further from the truth. PACT Group 1 was an enlightening experience for me. As someone on the West Coast, I would wake up early every morning to attend a lecture that was difficult, but I wasn’t there because it was going to be easy. Following this lecture, I’d get on calls with Samvar, someone I became close to that summer, among a few of the other 100+ students, to review the lecture material and do a deeper dive into certain concepts. One great thing about PACT is that it lays foundational concepts for you very well, allowing students to learn more about related concepts themselves. Following these calls (some with my assigned mentor, Ruhan, who was also of great help to me), and a lunch break, I’d begin to work on the daily homeworks that switched between counting and probability and proofs. This block schedule-like pattern of having lessons on counting/probability topics every other day with lectures on proofs (between set theory and graph theory) in between them was extremely helpful because it gave me much more time to digest lecture content. These homeworks were challenging, but every problem solved felt deeply satisfying. One lesson I’ve learned from PACT is the best learning comes from doing. Reviewing lectures can be great, but to really understand something, you have to apply it. Finally, in the evenings, there would be recitations led by past PACT alums and Group 2 mentors. This was helpful for those who wanted questions answered or simply wanted to review lecture content that had been taught earlier in the morning. I found these recitations helpful because they applied what we’d learned in the morning and gave us additional time to practice in a group setting. Additionally, the idea that even these individuals who taught the recitations came from the same position I was in now was comforting and motivated me to keep going. Here’s the thing: PACT Group 1 is not easy and it does take time and effort, but to make the most of it, you don’t have to be the smartest person in the world. If you focus and do your best, you’ll learn more than from most experiences in your life. It doesn’t matter if you want to go into something that isn’t even related to Computer Science or if you have other interests; the curiosity and problem-solving skills you build in this program will take you extremely far and set you up for success no matter what you end up choosing to pursue.
I also participated in the year-round program that PACT has to offer during my freshman year of high school (2023-2024). This group tends to be smaller than the summer batch but conceptually covers some of the most interesting content PACT has to offer, diving into specific classes of algorithms and NP-completeness. I was worried that this program would be hard to manage with school and other activities which I was involved in, given the intensity of the summer program. However, the bi-weekly system for classes that was set in place made it easier to stay on track with the class. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend that students try to conduct their conceptual revisions in that first week in case the second week before class gets busy. The year-round program also has homeworks, which are a bit more difficult than the ones in Group 1, but you are given more time to complete them, which is helpful. Again, to make the most out of this program, I do recommend actually doing these homeworks. This is because when you do the work yourself, you find gaps in your knowledge which you wouldn’t have had the chance to figure out by not attempting it.
Finally, I also participated in the Group 2 program twice (first in the summer of 2024, and then again in the summer of 2025) and acted as a mentor for a small batch of students each time. Group 2 covers some difficult concepts that build off of the material covered in the year-round program. This includes randomization and approximation algorithms, which are typically taught to graduate students at most universities. This can definitely be challenging, and I do recommend that people take the year-round program before taking this program, as the lectures build off of each other. Although the material is difficult, this program is less intense than Group 1, and this is intended. The material taught here reaffirms fundamentals and gives students an introduction to different cutting-edge theoretical computer science research areas. It also gives time to students so that they can act as actual helpful mentors for their Group I students by grading homeworks, providing feedback, and getting on calls to answer questions. Group 2 students also get a chance to lead recitations. I enjoyed recitations as they allowed me to review fundamentals I had learned from Group 1 and teach them to those who were just getting started in their PACT journey. Additionally, one more thing that is done to ensure that mentors are doing their job and that students from Group 1 that they are paired with are truly learning is weekly reviews. This is when a mentor sends a review of how they think each of their students is doing to Dr. Gandhi, which keeps the mentor accountable for being involved with their students while also providing mentors a better idea of which students they should be giving more attention to.
All in all, PACT is definitely one of the best things that’s happened to me. Even now, I find myself looking at past lectures and watching YouTube videos on related concepts just because I want to. Dr. Gandhi is the best teacher I’ve had, and his teachings have taught me a lot about discrete math concepts but, more importantly, about myself. These experiences, if taken advantage of in the right manner, can instill skills and unlock an innate curiosity to learn that is hidden in every student out there. Wish you all the best of luck and hope you guys enjoy PACT!