Does being an expat (American living abroad) help in college applications in any way? My reasoning is that it could potentially. I understand just being abroad isn’t great, but developing an international perspective / culture, bringing it back to home for good / diversity (besides knowing 6 languages) be a considered as a hook in college apps? Where does one actually mentions their hooks BTW?
There are tons of Americans living overseas wanting to go to US unis, I expect many like you are in India.
This seems like another thread about the same stuff.
It isn’t another thread about the ‘same stuff’. It’s a question I haven’t asked before. All of my threads are unique, 1-2 did get over lapped due to complex situation. I don’t see any advantage in starting new threads about the stuff I got answered. Don’t assume.
There isn’t any place to mention “hooks” because most people don’t have any. Hooks are things like being a recruited athlete. I don’t know if geographic location would count, especially when it’s a place many prospective students are from, but colleges will know where you’re from when you complete the address portion of your app.
The essay would be a place to discuss the pros of living abroad. Schools will also know by your transcript and address as well.
It’s not a hook.
One doesn’t. It is what it is.
There is no box on any application that says “Check here if you are first gen/URM/legacy, etc…” The applicant simply fills out the biographical data for themselves and the parents, including their education, and each college will decide what (if anything) it will do with that information.
If there are non-hooks that one wants to highlight, the essay may be the best place.
My kids were expats and definitely used that in their essays etc. But I don’t think it is enough a differentiator to be a “hook”. But it is part of you and your experience.
A hook is when a particular person has a trait which fills a specific institutional need of a college – typical examples are being a recruited athlete or a child of a huge donor. Being an expat is part of your life experience – you might talk about this in your essay, colleges will see from your transcript that you live overseas etc. However, it is not a hook. Many citizens live (or have lived) overseas and many international students apply to US colleges so there will be a multitude of opportunities for colleges to get students who have that international perspective.