Ethan Kim and the Power of Sick Beats

You’ve never seen true college applications until you’ve seen Ethan Kim. When I was applying to college, I picked one school, applied to it, and got in. In hindsight,...

You’ve never seen true college applications until you’ve seen Ethan Kim.

When I was applying to college, I picked one school, applied to it, and got in. In hindsight, that was kind of boneheaded, and the fact that I even got in was exceptionally lucky. If I hadn’t gotten in to the single school I applied to, I genuinely wouldn’t have known what to do with myself. No sir, I am no Ethan Kim.

Who is Ethan Kim, you ask? Excellent question. Ethan Kim is a high schooler from Charlotte, North Carolina whose current desire in life is to attend Harvard University in Massachusetts. He applied early for entry into the prestigious school, but unfortunately, for unknown reasons, he was deferred. Now, obviously, being deferred is not the same thing as being rejected, but it is worrying when it occurs. I think most high schoolers would quietly stew, waiting for what they worry is inevitable bad news. Ethan Kim is not most high schoolers. As an appeal to the Harvard acceptance board, the young Mr. Kim did what he thought would best represent who he is, where he’s from, and what he stands for: make a sick rap video.

Harvard has not yet responded to Ethan, but the support from YouTube has been outstanding. As of writing, his video has nearly 5,000 likes on YouTube and has been picked up by local news stations in Charlotte. Representatives from record labels have even contacted Ethan, telling him that while they hope he does get into Harvard, in the event he doesn’t, they are ready and willing to offer him a record deal.

But as nice as a record deal sounds, this video was for one purpose and one purpose only: to get Ethan Kim into Harvard. So if you happen to work in Harvard’s admissions department, remember the name of Ethan Kim from Charlotte, North Carolina. He’s a treasure you can’t afford to pass up.