College Coach Mentionables: News & Events College Coach Partners with Bloomberg Philanthropies to Reach NYC High School Students Written by Ian Brook Fisheron September 24th, 2020 I began my career in admissions by walking backwards as a student intern, giving guided tours, interviewing students, and reading applications for my alma mater, Reed College. After graduating, I began full-time work in admissions, reading thousands of applications primarily from the Western United States, especially Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. (I got to eat the best food on my travel!) In my last three years at Reed, I directed admissions for the entire continent of Asia and served as the director of marketing and communications for the admission office, honing our official voice for web, print, and social media. This helped me to develop a sharp eye for what works (and what doesn’t) in college essays. While Reed is not known (at all!) for sports, I was able to find my competitive outlet with the ultimate Frisbee team as a player and, when I graduated, a coach. After nine wonderful years at Reed, I left Portland to pursue a M.A. at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. When I graduated and joined College Coach, I was living in Palo Alto, California, an experience that helped me learn so much about the UC and CSU system and high school programs all around the Bay Area. In the end, I missed the rain too much, and moved back to Portland in the summer of 2016. Learn More About Ian admissions, college admissions consulting, paying for college, by Ian Fisher, former admissions officer at Reed College Earlier this month, the team at Bright Horizons College Coach® partnered with the Studio Institute in New York City to bring college admissions and finance expertise to a group of talented high school students. These students are participants in the Bloomberg Arts Internship, which aims to provide meaningful professional experience, increase students’ exposure to the arts, improve their communication skills, and assist with the college application process. That’s where College Coach stepped in. We delivered a pair of workshops to interns in two separate cohorts. Our team put together a curriculum that was modified to fit the needs of this particular population of students who come from diverse backgrounds throughout New York City and are interested in careers in the performing and visual arts. Preparing College Applications introduced participants to the components of the college application, while Paying for College highlighted many approaches to funding higher education. Perhaps our favorite part of this program was our small group “hangouts.” In the era of COVID-19, we were unable to be on the ground with students, so we brought our experts right to them: five of our team members connected with a group of five students each, talking them through their specific questions and helping to support their higher education goals. As the program came to a close, College Coach offered a complementary Q&A session for the students and their parents, bringing the whole family into the conversation and helping them to navigate the challenges that will be presented this coming fall. While COVID-19 certainly challenged our ability to get this program delivered, it also gave us the opportunity to bring more than half a dozen experts right to this population of students, a win for the Bloomberg Arts Institute and for College Coach. We are thankful to Bloomberg Philanthropies for their contribution to this programming and for their ongoing support of the Studio Institute. Related Resources Read | Posted on September 3rd, 2019 Our Day with PeerForward Read | Posted on May 14th, 2019 Introducing the College Coach Alexa Skill! Read | Posted on September 17th, 2016 Ivy League Admissions: What You Need to Know
