Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to our Tigerway Community
A Happy Holidays note from our Founder
Note to Families: In case you missed one of our previous emails, we have partnered with Ernst & Young (EY-Parthenon) and their market research project to understand students’ desires for Graduate School Attendance. They’re offering a $50 gift card for your thoughtful responses in a 15-20 minute survey. All responses are aggregated. The survey closes on Monday, December 26th. Complete the survey today and instantly receive a gift card, complimentary by Ernst & Young (One of the Largest Big 4 Accounting Firms).
Tigerway Students and Families,
I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope everyone is excited about the New Year coming up in 2023.
I also wanted to talk about 2022 as a year in recap - things that worked well, and things that I believe will continue to enhance our program’s outcomes.
First, things that are going well:
Once again, in our program (Group + 1:1) we have helped nearly ~50 students cross the sought-after 1400+ score mark on the SAT in 2022. We had 14 students score into the elite 1500+ region on the exam. A 1500+ score on the SAT is an ace card in college admissions, in my opinion. Far fewer students have achieved this score in 2022 compared to 2021, due to the large opt-in for test optional policies. As a result, we view achieving over a 1500 on the SAT as a serious competitive advantage that can crack the Top 15 College Admissions.
The typical success story is represented by students who started in the SAT 1170-1320 range and grew their score into the 1420-1510 region.
We had several students get accepted into Ivy League schools, and plenty more at the Top 50 U.S. colleges ranked by U.S. News & Reports.
Students feel far more prepared for their existing coursework and are securing higher grades at school after strengthening their mathematics and english skills in our Program. Students let us know that their GPAs are improving at school as a result of becoming a stronger student in their coursework.
Now, in terms of items that I believe our Program will be adding in order to secure more outcomes:
We are now focused on making 1:1 coaching a bigger part of our Program’s educational offerings. In other words, when we speak with new parents interested in our program, we want to make clear the value of 1:1 coaching and its proven positive impact on students.
Our long-term goal is to make 1:1 coaching a bigger part of our overall educational model as students establish a deeper relationship with their coach.
Out of practicality, a few clear benefits from 1:1 coaching emerge (not an exhaustive list):
Customization of approach needed to improve outcomes (College-related or SAT/ACT)
Direct access to the Coach
More flexible scheduling
From what I just mentioned, this means that we welcome our successful Tigerway Alumni to reach out to me or Program Officer Jasmine Ngo if they’re interested in being a part of our 1:1 Coaching Staff.
Group Coaching continues to be what Tigerway is known for - but we believe our 1:1 Coaching Model is equally as strong.
In both formats that we offer, we look forward to continuing to serve the Tigerway community in the most effective way possible.
We wish all our students and parents a Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you back in our Online Sessions in 2023. For parents that have been asking us about in-person sessions, that is only available on a 1:1 private coaching basis and it’s extremely limited given that not all of our coaches are located in downtown Boston. It’s far better to call us if you are open to online 1:1 private coaching sessions. We cannot guarantee that we will have in-person availability - but check with us right away if this is important to you.
Our online Group Coaching resumes on Saturday January 7th. 1:1 Coaching Sessions are individually coordinated between students and their coaches.
For parents who are interested in securing more scholarships, and increasing the odds of acceptance into a Top 50 U.S. college with dedicated support from our Program, our Program Officer and successful Tigerway Alumni Jasmine Ngo is extremely helpful with a brainstorm strategy session.
Out of all people that in the world right now, we believe the LEAST stressful cohort in the U.S. population are High School students. They do not have to deal with the macroeconomic issues that adults (and even college students) are going through at the moment. They have one job, and one job only: to get good grades and set a solid foundation to later enter College (if that is their goal).
For this reason, they should capitalize on this period of their life to advance their skills so that their market value is sufficiently high to take advantage of the internship job market when the labor environment becomes more favorable after the next 18-24 months.
I am acutely aware of the environment that we are all in. As a Program, we are doing everything we can to help students reach their maximum potential.
I also sincerely believe that today’s challenging environment is an opportunity for the best people to get recognized in the context of their life cycle - whether that is getting a coveted College Acceptance as a HS teen, or an internship as a College kid, or a Young Professional getting promoted in spite of the stagflationary environment that we’re in.
HS Freshman, Sophomores, and Juniors who are not maximizing all learning opportunities available to them are leaving significant future prospects on the table, in my view.
We look forward to having 2023 be a tremendous year for you.
Happy Holidays,
Larry Cheung, CFA | Tigerway Founder
Jasmine Ngo | Tigerway Program Officer