College Admissions Consulting Parent Support; Engineering Nuts & Bolts; Financial Aid Awareness Written by Ian Brook Fisheron February 7th, 2024 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 engineering, getting in, financial aid, resources for parents, Parents, do you have a high achieving student and are concerned about how to best support them in high school and the college process? Listen in as our host, Ian Fisher, will be talking with college admissions counselor DJ Meehan about what to do. In addition, Ian will be joined by admissions counselor Joy Biscornet, who in a previous life was an engineering major and worked in admissions at top engineering school the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, to discuss engineering nuts and bolts (yes, pun intended!) And, of course, you all know that February is Financial Aid Awareness month, but maybe you don’t know exactly what financial aid is and how families can access it. Laurie Peltier, college finance expert at College Coach and former financial aid officer, will be reviewing the above with Ian. To listen to other episodes, visit Getting In: A College Coach Conversation on VoiceAmerica or search for us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. While you’re there, please leave us a rating or review! We appreciate your feedback. Related Resources Read | Posted on April 22nd, 2025 Demystifying Liberal Arts: What They Are and Aren't Read | Posted on March 11th, 2025 Does a Teen Need to File a Tax Return? Read | Posted on March 5th, 2025 Mastering the Final Round: How to Ace Your College Scholarship Interview and Stand Out