Jeremy Iversen

Jeremy Watt Iversen is an American actor, author, and speaker from Manhattan, New York. He is known for his acting project of attending a California high school undercover pretending to be a teenager, about which experience he wrote the bestselling nonfiction book High School Confidential. Aside from acting and writing, he speaks to audiences ranging from corporate executives to teenage students about youth and the Millennial Generation.

Life As a child, Iversen attended the elite boarding school Phillips Exeter Academy, attaining cum laude with highest honors, and went on to gain dual degrees in international relations and political science from Stanford University, where he was graduated Phi Beta Kappa with distinction. At Stanford, he served as vice-president of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, and was in charge of fraternity rush for the entire university.

Iversen lived in Mexico and Chile and speaks Spanish with near-native proficiency. The undertaking was partly influenced by Cameron Crowe, who had himself returned to high school undercover one generation prior, to write the book and movie of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. But the site's carefully protected identity was nationally exposed by the Los Angeles Times. As Iversen appeared in media, he was identified by staff at Claremont High's newspaper, the Wolfpacket, which the L.A. Times gave an ad hoc student journalism award for its exposé, claiming it would be the first of many annual awards—although future awards never occurred. After the award had been given, the L.A. Times'''s Bob Sipchen, who opposed Iversen, then went on to extract quotes from precisely the five students his paper had awarded, even though none of those students had ever met Iversen, getting one ex-Wolfpacket staffer to say that Iversen was "exaggerating everything that happened and blatantly lying about his experience." Shortly thereafter, Sipchen was bought out by Times management to quit and departed to work at the Sierra Club newsletter, of which exit 39-year Times veteran Ken Reich wrote, “Not such a loss is Bob Sipchen, whose ill-informed educational column was the latest in a whole series of assignments he had filled unsuccessfully.”

ReceptionLibrary Journal found High School Confidential "personal, emotional, and well written." John Derbyshire in National Review felt the book had few surprises and its dominant theme was the mediocrity of everyone in the school. Salon acknowledged the book's similarity to Cameron Crowe's earlier work but noted that Iversen was more serious, discussing education policy. Stephanie Zvirin at Booklist wrote that readers "will find themselves wrapped up in the lives of [Iversen's] composite kids. He catches them at their very worst and their best as they rage, dream, and struggle to move on with their lives."

Barnes & Noble selected High School Confidential as one of its ten recommended new titles, and called the book "outrageously entertaining," saying, "We give High School Confidential a resounding A+ for its irresistible smarty-pants tone and its surprising revelations about students and teachers alike." A.J. Hammer of CNN's Showbiz Tonight praised the work, and said "really nothing could compare to Jeremy Iversen's experience of posing as a student," calling the book "a fascinating read." High School Confidential made the Top 50 at Barnes & Noble—and out of over 2.5 million titles at Amazon.com, it ranked among the Top 100, where customers voted it four out of five stars. A preliminary edition of the novel was released under the title 21. Simon & Schuster published rush in trade paperback and eBook editions.

To promote the book's release, Iversen went on a nationwide tour to each of the top 21 party schools on Playboy's annual listing, holding events at every college campus with media attention. Publishers Weekly found the plot had some "creative turns" but was also often heavy-handed and over-the-top. In contrast, Booklist chose the book as a recommended selection, noting its "of-the-minute cultural references" and writing that "the immediate, unvarnished view will speak directly to many college-bound readers." Likewise, Sharon Morrison at School Library Journal said "readers are given realistic and. . . moving insight into one young man's spiritual soul searching. Even though the setting is a college in California, the message is universal." Teenreads called rush "lyrical and introspective" and termed it "both a cautionary tale and one of self-discovery."

College students themselves responded favorably, with The Daily Pennsylvanian''—student paper of the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania—writing that "Iversen showed that fraternity parties can inspire art." Readers on Amazon have awarded the book four-and-a-half out of five stars.