'Alexandra Robbins' (born in 1976) is an investigative
journalist,
lecturer, and
author. Her books focus on young adults, education, and modern
college life and its more sordid aspects that are often overlooked or ignored by college administrators . At least two of her five books, ''Quarterlife Crisis'' and ''Pledged'', have been on the
New York Times Best Seller list.
She graduated from
Walt Whitman High School in 1994, the school profiled in ''The Overachievers''; and summa cum laude from
Yale University in 1998. She was editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper, the ''Black & White''.
She has also written for a variety of publications, including ''
The New Yorker'', ''
The Atlantic Monthly'', ''
The Washington Post'', ''
USA Today'', ''
Cosmopolitan'', and
Salon.com. Robbins has appeared in the national media, on shows such as ''
The Smart Woman Survival Guide'', ''
The O'Reilly Factor'', ''
60 Minutes'', ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show'', ''
The Today Show'', ''
Paula Zahn Now'', ''
The View'', ''
The Colbert Report'', and ''
Anderson Cooper 360°'', and networks including
CNN,
NPR, the
BBC,
MSNBC,
CNBC,
C-SPAN, and the
History Channel.
Along with co-author
Jane Mayer, she broke the story about President Bush's unimpressive college grades and
SATs in
The New Yorker. The article got such media attention that reporters called to interview her and asked what her SAT scores were. She has not made her scores known publicly.
[1]
Robbins was a guest on the satirical program ''
The Colbert Report'' on August 9, 2006, during which Colbert challenged several claims Robbins makes in ''The Overachievers'', citing a number of observations about Robbins' own experience.
References
How nosy political reporters measure up
Books
★ (2006)
★ Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities (2004)
★ Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis: Advice from Twentysomethings who Have Been There and Survived (2004)
★ Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League and the Hidden Paths of Power (2003)