Teen thinks Twitter helped UCLA admission

LOS ANGELES, May 8 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts teen said he thinks his Twitter campaign helped him get accepted to the University of California, Los Angeles, but school officials disagreed.

Bernie Zak, 18, of Brookline said UCLA told him in April he had been placed on a wait list and would hear a final decision by June 1, so he started his "#ACCEPTBERNIEUCLA" on the advice of his sister, Elena Zak, a social media producer at the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

Zak said he updated Twitter each day with a different reason he believed the school should accept him, including his abilities as a baseball pitcher and the fact that he was "Born and raised #BostonStrong," which he posted the day after the Boston Marathon bombings.

Zak said he received notice of his acceptance April 29. He said he believes his Twitter campaign, which was reported on by UCLA student newspaper the Daily Bruin, helped influence his admission.

UCLA spokesman Ricardo Vazquez said officials were aware of the campaign, but they were unlikely to have been influenced by it.

"A Twitter campaign by any student would have absolutely no influence on our admittance decision," he said.