College Fair time! Lots of schools to meet today…

20 Sep

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

Later today there is a “mini college fair” where lots of schools will be showcasing their promotional wares and generally offering up interesting information. I’m looking forward to it, because it will be fun. Sadly I have a class which will limit my time at the fair to only about 50 minutes; darn calculus.
Here are [...]

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Quick look at National Merit semifinalists from Phillips Exeter Academy

19 Sep

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

Forgoing any discussion of the PSAT itself, methodology, accessibility, so forth and so on, let’s just take a quick look at the other people from Phillips Exeter who qualified for semifinalist status…
Timothy Abbott, Dixon K. Bross, Phillip R. Brunner, Ryan M. Caro, Edward Casserley, Christopher J. Coco, Charles S. Dameron, Delphine I. Damora, Justin deBenedictis-Kessner, [...]

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I make National Merit Semifinalist round, have another essay to write

18 Sep

Posted by Sam Jackson as College, College Board, personal

Back to the highly relevant topic of me, it is worth mentioning that my 228 on the PSAT / NMSQT qualified me for National Merit Semifinalist status. Myself and 15,999 or so others were chosen by skimming off the top something-percentage on a state-by-state basis from the many high school juniors who took the test. [...]

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Harvard Drops EA, class of 2012 panics

17 Sep

Posted by Sam Jackson as Admissions, College, Teenagers, marketing

This is quite significant news which is why I made sure to wait a little while before publishing on it. Not that there’s anything wrong with “riding the wave” of coverage on the topic; I just like having some time to let my thoughts evolve and multiply before spitting them out.
Sorry about the hiccups in [...]

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Facebook “features” modified; problems remain

09 Sep

Posted by Sam Jackson as College, Internets

I am back at school now, and will try to be writing as much as I can without unduly jeopardizing my college process for lack of studying. Thanks for your continued readership. (At this rate, my Google Ads will buy me half a textbook by the time I’m a sophomore in college, which is better [...]

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Who is Sam Jackson?

I'm currently a sophomore 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.”