Established in 2021, LGS Arkadaşım (My LGS Friend) is a project that aims to help 8th graders all around Turkey to reach their full potential in their LGS (High School Entrance Exam) journey by offering students one-to-one mentorship and lots of exam practice.
LGS Arkadaşım was founded in 2021 on the initiative of Koç High School students, with the aim of supporting students preparing for the LGS. Now in its sixth year, it continues its work as Turkey’s largest LGS project.
The idea behind the project rests on a simple belief: if young people who took the LGS a few years ago and now study at Turkey’s leading high schools share what they went through with students at the start of the same road, those students prepare in a more organised and less stressful way.
Today our program runs on a mentor for every student, weekly exams, learning-outcome analyses, question-solving classes and support during the selection period. All of this effort comes from volunteers; the program can be free thanks to the book support of our sponsors and the dedication of our volunteers. Throughout the year we also organize seminars on student psychology.
To bring one-to-one mentoring, free resources, question solving and much more to LGS students all over Turkey on a volunteer basis. To make sure every student, whatever city they live in and whatever resources they have, can follow a high-quality, well-planned and closely supported LGS preparation, and to accompany them as they reach their full potential on this journey.
We imagine a Turkey where every student preparing for the LGS has a friend by their side, ready to share what they have learned. By growing this network of solidarity, built on equal opportunity and volunteering, every year, we aim to become Turkey’s most comprehensive and most trusted LGS mentoring program, and to help our young volunteers grow into people who add value to society.
Quality preparation should not depend on the city a student lives in or on what their family can afford. That is why our program is completely free.
Everyone who works on LGS Arkadaşım is a volunteer. Nobody earns money from this work; our only goal is to support our students.
Our mentors went down this road only a few years ago and know the excitement and stress of the exam well. We speak the same language as our students and move forward side by side.
Weekly exams, learning-outcome analyses and homework keep every student’s work on track, so that no student is left alone on the way.
LGS Arkadaşım is a mentoring and support program, run entirely by volunteers, that prepares 8th grade students for the LGS over a full school year. We match every student with a mentor from one of Turkey’s leading high schools and, through weekly exams, learning-outcome analyses, homework and question-solving classes, make the work regular and measurable. We do not let go of our students after the exam either: we stay by their side during the high school selection period. Throughout the year we also organize seminars on student psychology. LGS Arkadaşım is not a private tutoring or cram-course program: our focus is one-to-one mentoring, free resources and question solving.
Each student has their own mentor. Mentors contact their students on a regular basis, answer their questions and give advice on how to organise their study.
Every week there is an exam taken from various publishers. This way students get to know different question styles and get used to the pace of the exam and to managing their time.
Our online system prepares a learning-outcome analysis for every exam. It shows clearly which topics a student is strong in and which ones need more support.
Mentors look at the analyses and give their students questions and homework on the topics they are missing. The work is shaped around each student’s needs.
A class is opened on WhatsApp for each subject, where our mentors help students by solving the questions they had a hard time with.
The LGS is a long and tiring journey. Mentors keep in touch with their students every week, giving them morale on hard days and motivation on good ones.
Throughout the school year we organize seminars on student psychology. We care about supporting students emotionally as well, on the long and tiring road to the LGS.
After the exam, mentors stay with their students during the high school selection period and guide them on which school to choose.
Thanks to the book support from our publisher sponsors, we help our students get access to study resources.
LGS Arkadaşım is designed for 8th grade students who are preparing for the LGS and are looking for support to prepare well.
Student applications are taken every year in September; the dates and the application link are announced on our Instagram account. See our schedule page for the current calendar.
Our program is for 8th graders who will take the LGS that year.
Students at state schools can apply, as can students at private schools who are there on a full scholarship.
Classes and exams are held online, so it does not matter which city you live in; we accept students from all over Turkey.
Neither our students nor their families are asked for any fee.
Mentors in our team are selected after a careful process of interviews from the most outstanding high schools of Turkey, such as Koç High School, Galatasaray High School, Robert College, Istanbul Erkek High School, Kabataş Erkek High School and Üsküdar American Academy.
Each student has their own mentor. Mentors contact their students on a regular basis, answer their questions and give them advice. Mentors also help their students outside of academics.
There is an exam every week, taken from various publishers, and the mentors give homework to their students based on the learning-outcome analysis of these exams.
A class is held on WhatsApp for each lesson, where our mentors help the students by solving the questions they had a hard time with.
Mentors keep supporting their students after the exam, during the high school selection period, and guide them on which school to choose.
Our mentors are students chosen through interviews from the most outstanding high schools in Turkey. Volunteers from the following schools are part of our team:
Every year, students from the major high schools in Istanbul can apply to be mentors. Candidates are chosen through interviews; our aim is to build a team of successful volunteers who can set time aside for their students and keep them motivated.
Our students join from all over Turkey, from state schools and from private schools where they study on a full scholarship. Because classes and exams are held online, there are no geographical limits.
2 of our students also got a perfect score.
LGS 2026, 146 of our students
Total book support
Our publisher sponsors provide books and study resources for the project. Thanks to this support, we help our students get access to the resources they need. We thank every publisher who has contributed.
See our sponsorsEveryone who works on LGS Arkadaşım is a volunteer. Our mentors are students chosen through interviews from the most outstanding high schools in Turkey. We do not charge our students or their families anything; the program runs on the work of volunteers and the support of our sponsors.
Here are the questions people ask us most about the program. If you cannot find what you are looking for, write to us.
LGS Arkadaşım (My LGS Friend) is an LGS mentoring program founded in 2021 and run entirely on a volunteer basis. It offers 8th grade students all over Turkey one-to-one mentoring, weekly exams, learning-outcome analyses, question-solving classes and support during the high school selection period. It also organizes seminars on student psychology throughout the year.
No. Because the program is run entirely by volunteers, we do not ask our students or their families for any fee.
No. LGS Arkadaşım does not provide private tutoring or a course. What we offer is one-to-one mentoring, free resources and question solving: every student has their own mentor, who guides them using the weekly exam analyses and helps by solving the questions the student cannot.
8th grade students who will take the LGS that year can apply. Applicants must be studying at a state school or at a private school on a full scholarship.
Student applications are taken every year in September. In 2026-2027 they were open from 20 September to 1 October 2026. We announce the next round on our Instagram account. The program officially starts at the end of October.
Our mentors are volunteer students from Turkey’s most outstanding high schools, such as Koç High School, Galatasaray High School, Robert College, Istanbul Erkek High School, Kabataş Erkek High School and Üsküdar American Academy. Mentors are selected through interviews.
A class is opened on WhatsApp for each lesson. Every week an online exam is taken from various publishers, and our online system prepares a learning-outcome analysis of each exam. Mentors look at these analyses and give their students homework.
You can get support in every subject included in the High School Entrance Exam: Turkish, Mathematics, Science, History of the Turkish Revolution and Kemalism, Religious Culture and Ethics, and English.
Yes. After the exam, mentors keep helping their students during the high school selection period and guide them on which school to choose.
Mentor applications are announced on our Instagram account during the summer. For sponsorship and other collaborations, you can fill out the message form or send us an email.
If you have any questions, you can fill out the message form.
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