Mesrobian School yields top applicants

While hundreds of thousands of students across the nation await word from admissions offices of the colleges and universities to which they applied, some high school Seniors at Armenian Mesrobian School have a nice dilemma.

Despite most campuses of the University of California not informing applicants of their acceptance until late March, Poghos Iskajyan, who has attended Mesrobian since second grade, has already been accepted to the University of California, Irvine’s Honor’s Program, which accepts only the highest achieving students.

He has also been invited to the University of California, Santa Barbara as one of the top applicants that they have this year. Other universities showing an interest in him or which have asked him for an interview include Harvard, Brown, Columbia, and Georgetown.

Richard Agajanian, who has attended Mesrobian since Pre-Kindergarten, also has an interesting dilemma. Having been accepted to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, UC Irvine, Cal Lutheran University, St. John’s University (New York), and DePaul University (Chicago), he was just named a John Greenleaf Whittier Scholar at Whittier College (where President Richard Nixon attended and was Student Body President). As a John Greenleaf Whittier Scholar, Richard has been offered a $25,000 per year scholarship for all four years of his undergraduate work. He is the fourth Mesrobian graduate to earn such a distinction.

Of those who preceded him, one is a published author who teaches English at Whittier College, one is a full-time college math instructor, and one is a physician specializing in internal medicine. Richard, rather than playing the waiting game, is fully engaged in the choosing game to find the right fit for him even as he awaits for word from other colleges and universities to which he has applied.

“We are very proud of our seniors,” said Principal David Ghoogasian, himself a proud Mesrobian alumnus, who attended from Kindergarten and graduated high school in 1982. “Besides their academic and other achievements, they are just amazing human beings.”

Armenian Mesrobian School, established in 1965, is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has Nursery School (2 years old) through High School (12th Grade) on the same campus. Besides this being a major convenience for parents, who may have children at multiple ages, it offers a unique perspective and opportunity for students, teachers, and parents to grow together, and for students to get the attention and nurturing they need to be successful in school and in life. Mesrobian alumni have distinguished themselves in fields as diverse as education, business, medicine, music, law, dentistry, chiropractic, politics, engineering, and psychology. Mesrobian School will be holding an Open House on March 29.