--- description: High school senior Ziad Ahmed wrote "#BlackLivesMatter" 100 times in a row on his Stanford University application and got in title: Teen Writes #BlackLivesMatter 100 Times on His Stanford Application. He Got In image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Education](/tag/education/) ## Education Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A High Schooler Wrote #BlackLivesMatter 100 Times on His Stanford Application. He Got In by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 6, 2017 12:26 AM CUT by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 6, 2017 12:26 AM CUT 18-year-old Ziad Ahmed gave an unusual answer for his [college application. ](http://time.com/4534891/how-to-fix-college-applications/ "undefined") When asked, “What matters to you, and why?” on his Stanford University application, which requested a response of 100 words or less, the high school senior wrote “[#BlackLivesMatter](http://time.com/4716860/dictionary-com-new-words-alt-right-black-lives-matter/ "undefined")” — 100 times in a row. On Saturday, Ahmed posted his Stanford acceptance letter on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/ziadtheactivist/status/848215642385895425) Ahmed, who is currently enrolled at Princeton Day School in Princeton, N.J., believed the hashtag, which has become a rallying cry for protests against violence and systematic racism against African-Americans, encapsulated his views on the application’s question. “When I thought about why, I realized that the insistence on explaining the meaning of the hashtag is inherently problematic and the ‘why’ is embodied in the words themselves,” Ahmed [told CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/teen-repeats-blacklivesmatter-100-times-on-stanford-application-gets-accepted/ "undefined") on Wednesday. “Declaring the humanity and value of black lives is necessitated by the painful reality that the collective humanity is frequently denied when perpetrators of violence enjoy impunity.” A Stanford spokesperson told CBS that the school reviews applications “holistically,” but Ahmed stands by his response. “Right now, there is a political climate that seeks to divide for political gain that emboldens xenophobic sentiments by propagating false narratives, and it is through actionable steps that we can hope to change that,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4728113/ziad-ahmed-stanford-black-lives-matter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4728113/ziad-ahmed-stanford-black-lives-matter/"},"headline":"A High Schooler Wrote #BlackLivesMatter 100 Times on His Stanford Application. He Got In","datePublished":"2017-04-06T00:26:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:14:43.544Z","description":"“I submitted this answer in my Stanford application, and yesterday, I was admitted\"","url":"https://time.com/4728113/ziad-ahmed-stanford-black-lives-matter/","keywords":["Education","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4728113/ziad-ahmed-stanford-black-lives-matter/","name":"A High Schooler Wrote #BlackLivesMatter 100 Times on His Stanford Application. He Got In"}}]}] ```