<p>I agree with mukster and julliet. . . maybe the admissions officers see potential for success in a sub par applicant</p>
<p>@hmom: I am very interested to read this (not being sarcastic).</p>
<p>When I read the anecdotal claims of a friend who got in with sub par stats my gaze turns to the left, where is the poster from? Often there is no clue but as in the above there often is. A friend from Israel may well be looked at with a different lens. Are random unhooked kids in the US getting in with 1900’s? No.</p>
<p>Digger, the book is an interesting read. Caution (spoiler) you’ll never again be able to be optimistic about the unhooked getting into HYPS without amazingly stellar stats.</p>
<p>I was also going to mention to mukster the fact that being Israeli is a hook. But, my cousin was a US citizen living in Egypt (which fails in comparison to being Israeli).</p>
<p>what constitutes a hook?</p>