@rk1587 how can you assert that “we’ll never know for sure how this essay response played into his acceptance” and then conclude that it was “an important element in his acceptance”?
@JBStillFlying He was not one of the main characters. In the book he is referred to as the brain behind the auto trading computer program that made a lot of money for Morgan Stanley and that was also responsible for huge losses that triggered the collapse.
It is possible that being the son of a wealthy Wall Street insider could have played a HUGE part too.
You are off base here. Racism tends to be directed at URM candidates.This is an ORM kid, and also one of extreme privilege.
Wrong again. You might want to recalibrate your rush to judgment.
@hebegebe
Yes of course you are correct! Money does wash away any racism. People of color who are wealthy never experience racism…how silly of me to not realize that.
And my response is not a rush to judgement. If the shoe fits? If it doesn’t apply to you then all is well. Didn’t say it was all folks here but I suspect a few. Jealously, as others have mentioned, does rear its ugly head when the stakes are high.
Let me make it simpler for you. Would the same criticism be leveled at a white kid who wrote BLM 100 times? I think the answer is clearly yes, and because of that it is not racism.
My posts on this thread have said nothing about the merits of Ziad Ahmed’s application to Stanford. I simply believe others should be allowed to discuss it without being tainted as racists.
No, not the same criticism. Most likely a different criticism would be leveled against a white kid who wrote BLM 100X for an essay.
“Yes of course you are correct! Money does wash away any racism. People of color who are wealthy never experience racism…how silly of me to not realize that.”
@tonymom why are you assuming that Ziad Ahmed is a person of color? Does he refer to himself this way?
Now I am genuinely curious. What criticism do you think would be different? I am wondering if I missed something or if we just read things differently.
And if I answer I fear it will lead to an accusation of some sort, so I’ll let you answer your own question.
@CA94309 at #181 - Thanks. Turns out this kid’s dad had salary that exceeded the top executives at Morgan Stanley, including the CEO, while he was there. Managing directorships at Morgan and Citi before founding his own firm. Bailed out of Morgan and took the Citi job right before the crash in 2008. Having relatives who are also financial gurus and who did quite well during the financial chaos, I realize this may not mean much. But still, it doesn’t exactly suggest that son Ziad has been an oppressed member of a minority group or anything.
By the way, dad graduated from Yale (M. Phi, MS, Phd) and Cal Berkeley (AB) all in computer science. Son may have benefitted from legacy/donor status (esp. given the wealth of his family) for that admission. Also, his being able to meet Obama and work on the Clinton campaign could easily have had as much to do with campaign donations as his own unique talent. Just sayin’.
@jbstillflying why are you trying to minimize what this kid is doing? What difference does it make what his dad does. There are some people of wealth who are actually concerned about the well being of this country rather than how their hotel brand is doing
@collegedad13 if it made no difference then you wouldn’t be so upset at the posting of it. 
BTW, the 2008 collapse destroyed the savings and ruined the employment of a whole lotta people, not the least of whom would be African Americans, who saw their unemployment rates more than double between 2007 and 2010. If young Ziad were truly concerned about the well being of this country and it’s vulnerable groups, then hopefully he reflected on the role that his own family might have (inadvertently) played in contributing to the collapse and resulting misery. Hopefully he even wrote these reflections into his main essays, and his #BlackLivesMatter statement was a supplement to that overall point. Perhaps he meant that Black Lives Matter because so many black lives didn’t seem to matter during the recession and long, ho-hum economic malaise that followed. Sure, it’s speculation. But no more outrageous than some of the other things that have been said here. And this at least provides a reasonable narrative for why young Ziad would suddenly be so adamant about #BlackLivesMatter.
^^^ jumped the shark
@JBStillFlying now you think his family contributed to the misery of this country? That makes me almost speechless. Why don’t we just praise him for the good he is trying to accomplish rather than attempting to minimize his accomplishments?
I wonder what advices he would have received if he asked CC parents to read his essay last year?
@collegedad - whether his father might have contributed to the financial collapse is a matter of investigative journalism which has, at least to some extent, already been pursued and written about.
Whether we like it or not, young Ziad, as an unapologetic activist, is in the same business as Occupy Wall Street and other similar resistance groups formed for the specific purpose of protesting some of the horrendous financial abuses that occurred on Wall St. In fact, he’s all for resistance! So do we politely skirt around the awkward issue of this very public young activist avoiding some types of activism while embracing others? Why would we do that? He himself has broadened his focus and includes all sorts of advocacy on his twitter feed and website. He loves discussion of the topics. THAT’S what he’s about, and you find that out if you read his stuff (which I actually did - has anyone else on this thread?).
@tonymom - sorry, you are late to the party. We jumped the shark when posters started asserting “Racism”.
@rk1587 there is something said about being well-rounded. I would hire a well-rounded candidate with experience in the job with the ability to learn, then someone who is an “expert” who cannot work in a collaborative environment. My well-rounded D got into early at Stanford. She is not an expert or a super star in anything much except working hard and always giving 110%. She does exceptionally well in the language arts and does well in the sciences bc she works hard. I truly don’t think she is gifted in anything particularly. Kids who are well-rounded can adjust better bc in the real world they will face many facets of co-workers and bosses. Getting into an ivy or selective colleges is crap shoot and a bit of luck, but I will say this, whether rich or poor, schools want kids who are curious about their surroundings and can convey this is an essay. My D hates it when people ask her what do you want to do with your life when you grow up. She says she is only 18, how in the heck can she figure that out now! Lol She says good for those kids who have their life mapped out. She just wants to do her best and enjoy being at Stanford. Her mental health would be crazy if all she did was school.
@rk1587 Yes, I don’t like how and the way he publicized himself. I see both sides. I doubt Stanford is pleased with the attention brought on by this self-publicizing.
This kid seems to be all talk and no action, well qualified to become a politician. Strangely his “Twitter-activism” has gone silent just after admission decisions were released.
Anyway, he likely got in because of his parents wealth and Wall Street connections. Universities saw him as a bank. He could have submitted a blank application with only the family section filled out and be admitted anywhere he wanted.