YouTube video gets student past U-M wait list

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ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 21 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles teenager who was put on the University of Michigan's wait list said a YouTube video of him singing a Jackson 5 tune got him into the school.

Lawrence Yong said he decided the video of him singing "I Want You Back" would do a better job than a letter of helping him become one of the 42 out of 14,600 wait-listed students to be accepted into the university, AnnArbor.com reported Thursday.

"In all honesty I only expected it to get maybe 100 or 200 views. Maybe from a couple of my school friends and then some people at church," Yong said. "It was really incredible. I am not entirely sure how it spread so quickly but that's exactly what happened."

Yong said the video has now garnered more than 35,000 views and gotten him accepted into the school.

Bernadette Lis, assistant admissions director for the University of Michigan, said the school takes "demonstrated interest into account" when deciding who will make it past the wait list. She said Yong's video was one of the more unique efforts made by a wait-listed student.

"I'm a student on your waiting list and I am dying to get in and I was initially planning to write the traditional letter saying like, 'Oh I really want to be a part of your school,'" Yong said in the video. "But I thought, 'You know what, talk is cheap and this is a great opportunity for me to show some of my strengths.'"