It’s been revealed to fans that AJ of U-Kiss has recently been accepted into the prestigious Columbia University in New York. With such notable alumni, such as Barack Obama ’83 and Lena Park ’10, of course the Korean media (and fans alike) are happily congratulating the boy band member. After the disbanding of AJ’s old group Paran, he studied for the much-dreaded SATs and received perfect scores on both the subject tests and the reasoning tests.  AJ was ready for college, but was unexpectedly chosen as a new member of U-Kiss and chose to take a leave of absence.

Unfortunately, AJ will be extending his leave of absence due to U-Kiss being in the middle of promotions for Neverland.  He agency NH Media has stated:

“AJ is passionate about studying and is ready for college is the situation and climate is right“

Here’s the dilemma: AJ is extending his leave of absence, but one can only take a leave of absence for so long before the university reconsiders your admission. Even though AJ has his commitments to U-Kiss and I love him in this group, I think the smarter choice is to take school over idol-ship. I know the KissMe fangirls will kill me for saying this and U-Kiss has been paying their dues, but they still haven’t achieved the same kind of stardom as their fellow male counterparts like SHINee, Beast, MBLAQ, or even Infinite. They have more fans internationally then they do in their home country, Korea. They also lost some fans after the Xander and Kibum debacle.

Unless U-Kiss achieves some great shot into super stardom, I don’t think it’s worth it. I think having a back-up plan like having a degree from a very well-known university is a great opportunity, because boy-band fame isn’t going to last forever and fame in particular from a boy band that has a fairly small fan base is fleeting. I think AJ should be looking more at his future.

But hey, this is only what I would do if I were AJ. I don’t think he should wait until the circumstances are right. He has an opportunity here and he should jump on it. He got into Columbia University, a university that has one of the toughest admission rates in the world. Their admission rate for the class of 2014 was a measly 9%. It’s a big deal. AJ needs to think seriously himself, “Can I make my fame last beyond the U-Kiss era?” “Do I need a back-up plan?”

What do you guys think? An ivy-league education, or stardom?

(Nate)