Student Successes

What participants have said about HackBAC:

  • “This was an event with the highest amount of intellectual capacity I've ever been a part of."

  • "I liked brainstorming our idea and watching it all come together. I also loved seeing the awkwardness between us fade away as we gained more confidence in what we were creating."

  • "I loved everything! I especially loved making a family that you were able to grow with throughout this experience. And everything flowed nicely between the speakers and the work."

  • "I enjoyed the keynote speakers introducing new ideas. They gave me the vocabulary and deeper insight into the things I have consciously or unconsciously felt on my PWI campus."

  • "I feel like I made a connection with all of the people in my group and the administrators who ran the HackBAC, so it would be easier to launch ideas off of the ground because of the network of connections I've now established. Lastly, I feel confident in creating new solutions to these types of problems, especially in a group, because coming up with these solutions in a group is, in my mind, more valuable than it is coming up with them alone."

  • "I have specific tools and language to use to create my own solutions. This has also helped with my confidence in my own speaking skills and abilities to be a leader which I know will help me in the future overall."

  • "I feel as if HackBAC has been instrumental in helping me formulate a business idea. I've always loved entrepreneurship and wanted to solve a problem but had been frightened by the vast amount of avenues to pursue. The direct nature of the field of entrepreneurship aimed towards a specific cause was lovely. This event will result in me making a social impact through entrepreneurship in some way undoubtedly."

“HackBAC introduced me to the limitless opportunity within entrepreneurship. HackBAC gave me a platform to express my creativity and collaborate with other passionate peers on business ideas that were both practical and problem-solving.

As I was looking at colleges, I knew that I wanted to pursue an education where my creativity would be encouraged, and I would find peers who were just as determined to innovate and create as me.

When I stumbled upon the Lovine and Young Academy at USC, it immediately became my first choice and remained so throughout my application process.

It embodies the same core values of problem solving and creativity that HackBAC promotes, which makes it somewhat of a continuation of the work I have done at HackBAC—except with advanced technology, real-world experience, and resources only available to that specific school. I am very grateful for participating in HackBAC because had I not, I would not have found a program where I can pursue my passion and express my creativity.”

— Zain S., SAES ‘26