Marielle is another one of Firat Education’s shining stars.

In 2015, she worked one-on-one with Ibrahim to find the best fit school for her personality and interests. Our College and Career Assessment analyzes and deduces which schools around the country are best suited for you.

It provides a list of potential majors and programs and their perspective schools. Our assessment of Marielle showed she’d enjoy a city environment on the west coast. Marielle liked the possibility of studying at USC. She followed Ibrahim’s plan and worked on improving her ACT score.

Currently, Marielle is in her junior year at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles She is majoring in Business Administration and recently completed an internship with Binder Dijker Otte, working with their Management Advisory Services Team.

She’s excited to graduate next spring and remembers how she “studied for [her] AP US History exams with Ibrahim, and they would get distracted and continue talking about the topics because they both enjoyed the subject so much.”

Marielle truly believes “Firat Education granted [her] the opportunity to attend an amazing university” which makes us feel truly special. Marielle continued by stating that she “genuinely felt like everyone there believed in [her] and wanted [her] to succeed.”

 

 

For our 10 year anniversary, we highlighted 10 student’s accomplishments and asked about the impact Firat Education had on them. 

Ryan was one of the first students at Firat Education in 2009. When he was at Firat Education, Ryan showed his intelligence and willingness to learn and grow.

He came to Firat Education specifically to help get him prepared to take the SAT/ACT. Ryan labeled himself as a “bad test taker,” which many of students classify themselves as. Ryan proved to be extremely smart but needed help with test taking strategies and time management.

Practice makes perfect, and as Ryan continued to practice his test taking, he became more comfortable with the tests and his scores continued to increase.

Ryan graduated from University of Georgetown in 2014 with a major in Finance, minoring in Economics and took a number of classes in Computer Science.

After graduation, Ryan moved to San Francisco and began working at Uber Elevate. Ryan adds, “Basically, we’re building out a network of flying cars to move people around the city much faster to avoid massively congested areas.”

Ryan believes Firat Education helped him most with his test preparation and helped mold a “new mental framework for the SAT.”

Since it was early in the Firat days, Ibrahim tutored Ryan in all subjects and “helped him break it down into its core components.”

“I far exceeded my own expectations. By unlocking the test, he set me on the path to where I am today. I’ll always be grateful for that.”

It’s amazing to help these students meet their college and career goals, but it is extremely rewarding to hear they exceeded their own expectations.

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No #admissions events this week! Take this time to reflect on the events you’ve attended and the schools you’ve liked so far. Lists are your friend! Make lists of what you liked about each and concerns or questions that were left to answer to research. This week’s focus is on those taking the #ISEE on Saturday. We wish you all the best of luck! If you’ve yet to take it and are planning to for a different school, be sure to contact us for #testprep to help you get ready for it.

Hello everyone! 

We hope you all had fantastic spring breaks and were able to narrow down your college picks!

This past week, we had a great opportunity to team up with The Mommie Series and The Motherhood Center to bring awareness to private school admissions. If you weren’t able to attend the event, we thought it’d be great to recap the highlights in this week’s blog.

Our event was led by President Ibrahim Firat and panelists Beth Schneider (The Regis School of the Sacred Heart), Vivian Blum (The Post Oak School), and Carol Wasden (Episcopal High School). The panelists provide the most diverse representation of private schools in the Houston area.

 

Their main objective was to tackle what to do if you were waitlisted, denied, or accepted into multiple schools. But it was also an opportunity for those that attended the event to have an in-depth highly interactive discussion with the panelists about finding the best fit school and more.

Each of the panelists were asked, “What do I do if I am denied? If I am waitlisted?”

The panelists agreed that parents should hug their child. They also said to take a step back. Once they receive their decisions, they should take a day or two to themselves. Then, come back to it with an open and positive mind.

Beth added that parents should reach out to their top picks and try to see why the decision was not in their favor.

Carol suggested the child or parent write a letter to the school if they were placed in the wait pool or list expressing their interest in that school.

And Vivian explained that anything can happen. In July, they will all be filling spots due to some unforeseen events.

We had someone in the audience with a 3 year old. She asked… “My child is only 3… and now- I am little worried. Should I be doing something now? How competitive is it?”

“Be prepared… it’s a long commitment. You’re essentially choosing the school where your child will be potentially study until high school or college.”

“Get informed… do your homework like you’re doing now. If it’s too much, use your resources. Use Ibrahim. Consult with him, he can help.”

After the discussion, we opened the floor to parents if they had specific questions to ask.

 

Q: I have twins! How’s that going to work?

A: Applications are on an individual basis. It depends on the fit of that child. Sometimes they need to go to different schools. It depends on the fit.

Q: My child is on a waitpool  for kindergarten. What do I do? What can I do?

A: Don’t stress. There are openings at school. Visit Houston private schools.org to see other potential options. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Have backups.

Q: How do you decide who to accept?

A: Depends on the grade level… High School there are a lot of factors but for toddlers- I’m parent commitment. Parent commitment is a partnership  with the school to assist in your child’s education.

Q: Does reapplying to the same school again and again help their chances?

A: Not necessarily help their chances. But we start fresh.

Q: The million dollar question for me is how do I figure out what school is the right fit? I can’t really tell based on the open house and website.

A: On Firat Education’s new website, there will an online assessment that will measure your child’s personality and character and at the end will give you a scorecard with possible schools. Another is the newest edition of The Firat Guide. It dives in the process and how to determine the best fit considering multiple factors such religion, academics, athletics, etc.

We are so happy to have been able help parents, and we hope this blog helps you as well.

Please Watch The Highlights of the Event Below:

 

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This week’s focus is on #testing and #admissionsprocesses. Did you know that some schools not only encourage you to attend a #CampusTour or #OpenHouse, but some even require it? It’s important to get familiar with a school’s #admissions and #application process during your research in #findingthebestfit for your child. #PreviewNights and a #DayTours are great ways of getting to know an #admissionsteam to make sure you get everything submitted by the deadline.