An 18-year-old Bangladeshi-American Muslim student has won a place at the prestigious Stanford University after writing ‘#BlacklivesMatter’ a 100 times in the essay section of his application.
Ziad Ahmed said he was “stunned” when his innovative approach to the application process, which he described as “unapologetic activism”, paid off. On his Stanford University application, Ahmed was posed the question, “What matters to you, and whyIJ”
The activist from Princeton, New Jersey, decided to use the opportunity to write “#BlacklivesMatter” a 100 times.
To his surprise, the answer caught the attention of the California school’s admissions office and Ahmed received his acceptance letter on Friday. He proudly tweeted his answer and his acceptance letter to the prestigious American university, which boasts 20 applications per place. “I was actually stunned when I opened the update and saw that I was admitted,” Ahmed told Mic.