Phillips Exeter Doesn’t Report Rank… 95% of the time

15 Oct

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

My school, Phillips Exeter Academy, doesn’t report rank. I think this is a great thing–rank is an evil construct which only serves US News & World Report. Rank does not tell the true story of a person. It also leads to protracted legal battles over decimal points.
Yet there is an exception–one disgusting exception. PEA doles [...]

7 Comments

SAT Test Prep… the really fast way

20 Sep

Posted by Sam Jackson as College Board, personal

I’m registered to take the October 1st SAT, since I wasn’t totally thrilled with my leftover scores from my 10th grade year. A year and a half later, I think I can improve on that original score… After all, that was the first time I had ever taken the SAT.
I think it’s reasonably well established [...]

0 Comments

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, [...]

2 Comments

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. [...]

2 Comments

51 ways College Board can mis-score your SAT and ruin your life

08 Aug

Posted by Sam Jackson as College, College Board

I got 51 problems but a #2 pencil ain’t one.
Booz Allen Hamilton has a funny name but they’re all about serious business. The “global strategy and technology consulting firm” was contracted by the College Board in the fallout of the SAT scoring mistakes from last October. They audited the testing process and made [...]

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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.”