Some people aren’t happy about this.
In the meantime Ziad goes on CNN and gives a new reason as to why he wrote that essay.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/05/us/stanford-application-black-lives-matter-trnd/
I am sure Stanford Admissions committee folks are wishing he would stop talking and making a fool of himself and the university.
Shocked that Stanford would admit such an inarticulate individual. One thing to go on CNN, who are undoubtedly sympathetic to his youth and activism so won’t give him the hardball questions. Quite another to get your thoughts organized and translated into a coherent essay that explains 1) what is important to you and 2) why. After all, that’s what the essay prompt asked. Not to dump on this ambitious young man, but copying a hashtag 100 times isn’t particularly distinctive or original. Those aren’t even his own words fercryinoutloud.
@CA94309 Pretty sure Stanford is very happy with the press they are getting. They admitted an irreverent, ballsy, defiant and actually brilliant (he is actually a very accomplished young man). I think this pretty much sums up the Stanford culture so no wonder they admitted him.
@HYPSPlease Dude, what is wrong with you? Based on your username, you want to get into Stanford, so why are you hating it all of a sudden??
For starters, this wasn’t his essay! It was a response to an essay promp! He has interned at the white house, published his work on huffington post, gave multiple ted conferences, etc. He wasn’t admitted because he wrote #BlackLivesMatter, that’s just a portion of his transcript! He also got inti Yale and Princeton, so I’m sure he’s an excellent candidate.
ikr @HYPSPlease, no need to sound so bitter!! lmao while people are arguing about this guy’s worth, he’s probably off contributing to his activism XD
Stanford is being forced to respond and downplay the essay. They went from no comments to this
The What Matters essay was not part of the short answers in the Stanford supplement, it was one of the 3 short essay (max 250 words). In the PR world, if you have explain using nuances, its probably not going good.
Certain folks - do not be negative and see the merit in the young gentleman. Just going off a few titbits in news/social media and scandalizing Stanford or the young man does NOT seem fitting of us. He is indeed a very accomplished person and brave to speak out his thoughts everywhere… a trait that not many of us could boast of!
"Quite a privileged Muslim activist, as it turns out. Annual tuition for his private high school (Princeton Day) just under $34,000 "
- Don't surmise that he is "privileged..." just because he goes to the private school. I know many good private schools that give need-based scholarships to meritorious students who can't afford the tuition. He could be one of them.
KEEP AN OPEN MIND AND DON’T BE PREJUDICED BECAUSE HE IS OF A DIFFERENT ETHNICITY (The reaction would have been quite the opposite if he was white). Race seems to be a very common denominator these recent sad times…
CC always has had, for the most part, many forward thinking, erudite and intelligent people who care for a good future for themselves and the world. Let us PLEASE be open-minded and accepting and not let our our backward insane leaders at the White House and their mindless supporters influence our thinking.
@anonstem, the part you are missing is that a white or asian student would not have been accepted to Stanford if he wrote an essay that said #BlackLivesMatter / #WhiteLivesMatter / #AsianLivesMatter / #AllLivesMatter 100 times for his essay on What Matters and Why.
@HYPSPlease We don’t know that for a fact. The student is, in fact, ASIAN AMERICAN (not african american) who took a stand for what he believes in a creative (not to mention risky) way to a short question prompt and admissions liked it in addition to the other parts of his application. But yeah, for future repeats, this will not work. But, with all due respect, you are totally missing the point. Let’s give credit when it is deserved.
I applaud this kid. He is very very accomplished. Princeton and Yale agreed with Stanford that he was worthy of admission to their institutions. My white children have never had to worry if their lives matter. They can wear hoodies walking through my town in the middle of the night and not have to fear for their safety. It takes courage and conviction to make a stand for something you believe in. All causes need allies. For all he knew, his response to the question would not have been appreciated by Admission officers and he might have lost the opportunity to go to Stanford. When my daughter heard this story, she immediately said I want to be friends with that kid. So, congrats to him on his acceptances to 3 fabulous schools. Let’s see where he chooses to go.
@bwaygirl1, he should have lost his opportunity to go to Stanford.
@anonstem, I do give credit when it is deserved, but not when it isn’t.
And to those who have said he interned in the White House, that isn’t true. He was invited to the White House for a muslim dinner.
@HYPSPlease Throwing out someone’s application without taking into account their accomplishments, other essays, and recommendations is not what the holistic admissions process is about. As we only have a tiny fraction of his application to go by, it’s impossible to judge whether his admission was merited. It is possible that he got in despite his “What matters to you and why” essay, but it’s also possible that his answer somehow complemented his other essays to create a more compelling candidate. The adcoms ultimately make decisions based on the impression essays make, not on if a student answered a question in the “proper” way.
Having said that, I’m not a fan of the way he broadcast his essay to the public. While BLM is a just cause to champion, I do wonder if the decision was made partially to brag. It creates the image that he got in with barely any work, but while he is probably very active and busy in real life, many people have undoubtedly poured their heart and soul into applying and were rejected.
Until I saw the post talking about his CNN appearance, I thought this kid was a put-on. Since it appears to be true, I got to wonder about his application reader’s attention to detail or even worse his judgment. Maybe I have unreasonable expectations of decorum, but I find it bizarre to admit a kid who gives part of your application a flippant middle finger.
Agree. Stanford sounds defensive here. Lol
@fragbot Exactly. Not just the reader, the entire Adcom’s judgement is in question.
@HYPSPlease I understand your (and 38,000 other students’) frustration, you have put in a sincere effort writing the essay and got flat out rejected. A lot of the alumni and current students are not happy with Stanford and feel that Stanford should not have admitted him in spite of his long resume.
He’s a concrete poet. He wrote a creative essay. I will only be worried about the direction of Stanford
if they admit ANOTHER prospective student who also writes the same thing.
It would be kind of funny if someone sent in an essay with Black Lives Matter 99 times.
For what it’s worth, my view is:
- Because I don't have his application in front of me, I have no idea if the applicant was otherwise very well qualified.
- For me, the essay was not creative -- although I can see that it was a gutsy decision by the applicant.
- The essay was not responsive to the "why" question. I do not agree with the applicant's comment that answering "why" is dehumanizing. Not answering is flippant imo.
- The way the applicant brought attention to this matter has not done Stanford any favor imo. Yes, it brought attention, and people can argue any kind of attention is good for schools, but if I were Stanford, I would not want this kind of attention.
- Will this change my kid's decision to attend Stanford? Heck no.
- Did this incident lower my (as a parent) high estimation of Stanford's admission review process? It raises questions but I don't have enough facts.
It seems that some people overlook that Stanford is a very liberal university, so if you have a conservative viewpoint why would you be upset about this? Why would you want your child to go to a liberal university? This kid is where he belongs.
Should have read this thread after spending 2 hours with a student on an essay. Guess essays don’t matter (SMH)