#ted fiske
Show Notes
My guest for this episode is Edward B. Fiske (known to most as “Ted”). Ted served as Education Editor for the New York Times from 1974 until 1991, and is well-known to college bound students and their parents as the editor of the Fiske Guide to Colleges, a staple of any high school counselor library and the nation’s best-selling college guide. He has co-authored a range of other books on college admissions with Bruce G. Hammond, including the Fiske Guide to Getting Into the Right College, What to Do When for College, Real College Essays that WorkandAcing the New SAT.
Ted’s book has been a go-to reference for me (and many other counselors) in our work with students and I loved getting a chance to go behind the scenes and hearing how the sausage is made. We discuss, among other things:
- Why did the Fiske Guide happen in the first place?
- How does Ted avoid sounding generally positive about all schools?
- How the Fiske Guide ratings systems differs from that of US News and World Report
- Who actually writes all 882 pages of the Fiske Guide
- The best approach for students who have no idea what they want
- Some of the biggest mistakes students and parents make when searching for a school
- The dangers of narrowing your college choices too early on.
- One quality Ted finds essential to having an amazing college experience
