Student writes #BlackLivesMatter 100 times for his essay and gets admitted to Stanford. Also admitted to Yale and Princeton.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-39492187
Can’t help but feel this country has serious problems.
Hint: The serious problems facing this country do NOT include this audacious admit to Stanford, Yale and Princeton. I expect he’ll do well wherever he chooses to matriculate. Here’s hoping he’ll be the change he wants to see in the world.
Shows how ridiculous college admissions have become. I wonder what would have happened if he had written “Make America Great Again”?
I’m sure some other schools would appreciate that very much. Know your audience.
The essay was his response to ONE of the four required by Stanford.
There’s much more to this kid, in terms of accomplishment, that the news isn’t reporting.
I will note, however, that he did NOT answer the prompt fully.
But is was creative. Congrats to him.
This is really over-simplying it. This kid didn’t get into Stanford because he wrote Black Lives Matter on one of the essay prompts…he got in because he has an extraordinary academic & social background and this essay felt authentic within the context of his achievements. With the schools he applied to, he would have also written a number of other essays…from the Common App essay itself to questions specific to the various universities where he was accepted.
Its kind of funny to read people on CC “defending” Stanford. That application should have been tossed in the trash.
Well since he also got into Yale and Princeton, I’m positive his acceptance in Stanford was warranted. There are more than one question that needed to be answered and his overall application must have been worth him getting into these great schools.
@HYPSPlease Have you seen his application? (I have not…just wondering if you had access to it and what you’re basing your opinion on). He was also admitted to Yale and Princeton…he is likely a stellar candidate in every way. And, again, please understand that the application to elite colleges is very complex with multiple questions & essays as well as requests for resumes & additional recommendations…this was one part of that larger application.
@SydLoveWes , well if you are “positive”, then I should rethink my opinion.
Very creative and shows his laser dedication to a cause. Good for him getting accepted. It is not easy. But I do wonder how they can reward an essay that never answered the “why” question. To me that is a larger part than what matters to you.
Does anyone think Stanford is pleased with this publicity? Real question. What do you think?
@STEM2017, well many people on CC don’t care about conservative opinion. But I can tell you that on some conservative websites, this matter is receiving coverage.
Some comments include: “This cheapens the value of a Stanford Degree”, “Another university becomes a joke.” and “Nothing new here, just more affirmative action in action.” Just to copy a few quotes.
The websites also show pictures of the student photographed in the White House with Obama and another picture with Hillary Clinton.
I don’t care about conservative opinion, nor do I care about liberal opinion. It’s all noise.
I’m just curious what the folks at Stanford think of this publicity.
According to another article, he actually started 2 non-profit organizations in high school (one of which was commended by Obama), and also gave a TEDxTalk. It seems like he was a very strong student overall. He took a risk, and I guess Stanford liked it.
Ziad Ahmed is a very accomplished young activist, so I think Stanford is just fine with the publicity. He wrote an article that was published on the front page of the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-muslim-brothers-open-letter-to-his-baby-sister_us_582635c4e4b02b1f5257a189
This kid could get into the same Ivies w/o the whole BLM trick… he has written plenty and presented in various talks. He is definitely worthy for the admission. The whole BLM thing is a distraction. JMHO
@SouthernHope what is his ‘extraordinary academic’ background you referenced? Is there another article describing that?
I feel bad if there were a kid who wrote blacklivesmatter only 99 times and didn’t get admitted
@STEM2017 I think they probably like the attention. It shows they care about “hot topics” in todays society.
I’m also of the opinion that I don’t think I would’ve accepted the student as he/she did not answer the question, nor write an essay. Using a # is a cop out.
According to his huff post article he cried when he realized that no matter how hard his 2 year old sister works, she won’t get the opportunity in the near term that he had to intern at the White House.