Mark Zuckerberg is coming to town (literally) : submit questions for me to ask him

20 Dec

Posted by Sam Jackson as College, Esoterotica, Exeter, Internets, odd & fun

Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, is coming to my school to give an assembly on January 26th. This is because he was an alum, ‘02. Phillips Exeter Academy is running some year-long assembly series for the 75th anniversary of the Harkness method at Exeter–the discussion-based teaching around a table that was made possible through the [...]

5 Comments

What’s in the ‘fat envelope’? (What Yale sent me)

20 Dec

Posted by Sam Jackson as Admissions, College, marketing, odd & fun, personal

Put this one down under ‘practical and boring.’ Still, I thought someone or someones out there might be curious as to what exactly Yale sent me and the 700 other early admits. So here is what came in that ‘fat envelope’ packet on Monday, accompanying the official letter of admission. Clockwise from top:

YALE banner.
‘Reply’ card [...]

3 Comments

Yalies = the happiest, most interesting people in the world?

19 Dec

Posted by Sam Jackson as College, Internets, Teenagers, odd & fun

That’s the title of a discussion thread created on Facebook by Eddie Fishman, a fellow Yale pre-frosh from Harriton Senior High School. Eddie is aware that the degree to which we early admits of yale 2011 seem to be communicating with one another online is unusual and noteworthy. He asked:
I have a bunch of friends [...]

6 Comments

A brief reflection on the common application

19 Dec

Posted by Sam Jackson as Admissions, College, Internets, Teenagers, personal

First, a two-sentence long post that I wrote on November 1st, after I had sent in my common application, but kept private.
Well, that was easy: I just applied to college.
I just applied Single-Choice Early Action to Yale. The Common App online really does make things very easy–too easy, in fact, but that’s the point.
That impression [...]

0 Comments

Yale College, Class of 2011

15 Dec

Posted by Sam Jackson as Admissions, College, odd & fun, personal

So at 4:25 today I called my golden retriever (not bulldog) Cozmo over to me, for support, and loaded up Yale.edu/Admit … and, as the headline suggests, I had AWESOME news. The past few days have been the most nerve wracking and stressful time of my entire life. I have a lot more to say [...]

15 Comments

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Who is Sam Jackson?

I'm currently a freshman at Yale University and I've been blogging about college admissions and higher education marketing trends since I began my college application process in 2005. I now also write about my experience here at Yale, and am an official Yale blogger. Click here to read my 'about' page.

Kind words about my blog:

Andrew Careaga calls it “a service to all of us in the higher ed marketing business.”

Christian Long says it has “dramatically inspired college admissions folks to take notice”

Bob Johnson says “I like [it] because I agree with so much of what he says.” and that “Paying attention what Sam writes will let you focus more closely on students who will actually attend your school.”

Karine Joly says my witty and fresh style “offers a rare glimpse at the mind of our elusive prospective students”

and TargetX calls my blog “good reading” and me “wise-beyond-my-years.”