Far From Standard plans to grow staff, offerings in Ann Arbor

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 | Source: Concentrate

Lots of people and businesses offer tutoring tailored to certain subjects. Far From Standard tailors it to the specific class.

The 2-year-old start-up from Ann Arbor provides highly trained and specialized academic tutors for university science and business students. These are focused on the University of Michigan and Michigan State University classes.

"There is really no one else who caters to the actual classes," says Neel Chheda, president of Far From Standard. "We really want to get into the university community."

Chheda, a University of Michigan graduate, already knows what that means. He was inspired to start the company when he went to college and realized there were some classes he was naturally better at than others. Today he has two full-time employees, 18 part-time tutors and is looking for some interns.

Most of his services are based around college courses in math and science, along with preparation for AP tests and the ACT. He plans to expand to offering tutoring in things like foreign languages and music. He also wants to start tutoring classes of 8-10 students who are in the same class and looking to excel.

"That learning environment really becomes amazing," Chheda says.

Source: Neel Chheda, president of Far From Standard
Writer: Jon Zemke