Stanford Imposter

by Robert Koehler on May 25, 2007

Yeah, well, who doesn’t want to go to Stanford? (HT to reader)

{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }

1 kimchikowboy May 25, 2007 at 8:26 pm

Book and movie deal. She’s set for life.

2 seouldout May 25, 2007 at 11:08 pm

If it had been a real Asian-themed dorm it would have had grannies squatting in the hallways spying and gossiping about everyone. Ms. Kim wouldn’t have lasted a week.

3 WangKon936 May 26, 2007 at 12:48 am

This is sad. I bet she got pressured a lot by her parents. All so her vain parents can tell their richer, more accomplished friends that their daughter goes to “St-Ahn-Poh-Du.”

4 wrenchbender May 26, 2007 at 1:02 am

Damn, I would let her squat with me, or on me. Hahaha! Who needs the dorms? I was the only freshman at Auburn I knew that lived off campus (it was hard but they relented so I didn’t have to live in the dorms).

5 mondoo May 26, 2007 at 1:45 am

Truly, this is some very telling and sad commentary on the current condition of academic ‘prestige’ that young koreans are pressured to fufill.

Nonetheless, the ROK Intelligence services should hire Ms. Kim to infiltrate and ‘squat’ in Kim Jong Il’s Presidential Palace. She seems to be quite adept at deception, disguise, creating false identities, blending in and communique-intercept.

6 Netizen Kim May 26, 2007 at 2:07 am

If she had stated on her application that she was an underprivileged minority (ie, not Asian-American), scored several standard deviations below the average for Asian-Americans, and had mentioned nothing about playing the piano, violin, or cello in her essay, then she would have gotten accepted and there would have been no need for all this.

Oh well…at least there was no shooting rampage or anything like that.

7 slim May 26, 2007 at 2:24 am

She probably fakes a mean orgasm!

8 mondoo May 26, 2007 at 3:31 am

“She probably fakes a mean orgasm!”

Yeah, but the problem is getting her to leave your pad once the deed is done.

9 wjk May 26, 2007 at 5:21 am

what a story. I think it would have been pretty difficult to sneak into meals, follow someone inside the residential hall all the time, sleep in the lounge half the time, be a room guest for months and months.

I would have given up and went back home. Too much work. Then, again, I have a hard time with deceiving anyone in general.

Cho and Kim are now inducted into the unofficial hall of young US Koreans gone mad.

it’s okay not to go to the best school, have the best job, etc. That’s life.

10 wjk May 26, 2007 at 5:24 am

pity, out of troy high, she must have gotten into some uc’s and cal states before she pulled the gig

11 Netizen Kim May 26, 2007 at 5:28 am

it’s okay not to go to the best school, have the best job, etc. That’s life.

Young Korean-Americans are under heavy pressure from their parents to get into the best schools and be doctors and lawyers. Not every kid can be doctors or lawyers, contrary to what many education-obsessed Korean parents seem to believe. It’s just not how the natural law of distribution works. Many were meant to be blue-collar workers, menial laborers, lowly clerks, trash removers, or English teachers in Korea.

12 SomeguyinKorea May 26, 2007 at 8:14 am

“Friends aren’t sure of her motive for sneaking onto campus and living a lie, but many speculate that she felt pressure from overbearing parents to attend Stanford — regardless of whether she was admitted.”

Life immitating the ‘arts’?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384793/

13 MigukNamja May 26, 2007 at 10:31 am

It’s not just the career itself, but the school you graduate from. Is it better to graduate from a name-brand school with a useless degree or to graduate from a not-so-famous school with a useful degree ? Also, it’s well-known (in the states, at least) there are plenty of not-so-famous schools that are on par or better than name-brand schools for many majors.

Unfortunately, the pressure to succeed in education unfortunately means there are only a small number of “acceptable” schools – major or quality of education aside.

14 Janus May 27, 2007 at 9:55 pm

On one hand, this is terrible.

On the other hand, I absolutely love that people in Korea think I am a demigod because I went to an Ivy League school.

15 Janus May 28, 2007 at 11:45 am

On one hand this prestige obsession is terrible for Korean youth and society. On the other hand, I DO love being treated as a demigod because I happened to go to an Ivy League school

16 chiamattt May 31, 2007 at 4:17 pm

On _THE_ one hand, Janus. And don’t say typo, you did it twice with two different nationalities! Ivy League my ass!

17 seoulmilk May 31, 2007 at 4:32 pm

“She probably fakes a mean orgasm!”

“Yeah, but the problem is getting her to leave your pad once the deed is done.”

lmao!!!

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