Fact: Your SAT may be recycled.

31 Jul

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

Just a quick mention to get out this scary / funny word out: Our friends at ePrep wrote way back in February that SAT tests were being recycled, and no, I don’t mean the paper. FairTest Examiner wrote in April about the same issue:

The College Board cancelled the January 28, 2007 SAT scores [...]

0 Comments

Why I never took the ACT, despite liking it better than the SAT

25 Jul

Posted by Sam Jackson as Admissions, College Board, Teenagers, Testing

I was looking through my folder of old posts and I saw one from ePrep mentioning some Senate pressure last December for the ACT. I had a very interesting discussion about the SAT with some midwestern readers last year, and I thought I would just make a quick post for the record to explain why [...]

4 Comments

Gender in College Admissions: Why Women are Often Held to a Higher Standard than Men

28 Jun

Posted by Sam Jackson as Admissions, Campus, College, College Board, Gender, Ivy League, Student Life, Teenagers, education

U.S. News & World Report ran a story two weeks ago about the “drastically higher” rejection rates women face at many colleges compared to men. This well known fact comes as no shock to those who know the numbers– more females graduate from high school and more of them seek college degrees than do their male counterparts. Their percentage in colleges and universities continues to grow. Alex Kingsbury describes the stats, informing us that “From rough parity in 1980, women made up 57 percent of the 16.6 million American collegegoers in 2006. By 2010, the Department of Education expects the ratio to be around 60 to 40.” What’s the magic of that 60/40 number? According to Kingsbury, “anecdotal evidence suggests that once a campus reaches, say, a 60-to-40 split in favor of either gender, the college becomes less attractive to applicants of both sexes.”

5 Comments

Class of 2006 Senior SAT percentile scores number-crunching!

05 Nov

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

That’s right folks, watch and be amazed as I process and condense charts and figures for your consumption! Compiled score report data for 2006 seniors was released at the end of August but I’m only posting about it now. You might recall the hub-bub back then about the score decline–that information was included in the [...]

8 Comments

College Board is abusive; nothing newsworthy

29 Oct

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

[14:13:57] me: i’m so pissed i’m going to have to pay CB another 9.50 on thurs to send off my new scores
[14:14:09] Ned Bennett: I KNOW
[14:14:13] Ned Bennett: STUPID
[14:14:18] me: stupid or CAREFULLY PLANNED?
[14:14:25] me: i.e. BRILLIANTLY EXPLOITATIVE
[14:14:28] Ned Bennett: hahaha
[14:14:31] Ned Bennett: obnoxious
Hooray for College Board. I’ll be back posting more [...]

3 Comments

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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.”