<p>Alright, so I recently posted a thread in the chance forum and got a few comments saying that my application looked strong but was lacking a hook. I understand that a hook is a selling point that is very important to your application, but I don't really understand what constitutes a hook. Is a hook something that I do or an activity I have been involved in? Is it a character trait that I focus on in my essays (ie is being self-motivating a strong hook?)? I would really appreciate it if someone would explain this to me. Thank you guys.</p>
<p>In the most semantically correct terms, a hook is an element of your application which significantly and definitively boosts your admissions chances but is (for the most part) OUT of your control. Unlike other elements of an application, hooked students are PROVEN to have a higher acceptance rate and are RECOGNIZED by both colleges and students as receiving special consideration from admissions committees. Examples of hooks would be legacy status, under-represented minority status, first generation to go to college, or low income (with the first two generally being the most influential). Now there are a few conscious achievements that would constitute a hook, but they are usually limited to being a nationally or internationally ranked athlete. Hooks are often misunderstood as simply being an appealing element of an application (a proven and dedicated interest in theatre, for example) but these accomplishments, while impressive, are NOT hooks.</p>
<p>Sorry to somewhat hijack this thread, but would suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome and doing research on the neuroscience of developmental disorders be considered a hook? I feel like it would be good for essays. I’m also first generation, so it’s an interesting combination. Again, I apologize for hijacking.</p>
<p>What the people who reviewed your app thought you lacked isn’t actually a “hook.” As the crazyfrog821 said, a hook is something that can be PROVEN to increase chances, and it is almost always something out of your control, like URM or legacy, or athletic recruitment.</p>
<p>What they really mean to refer to is something known occasionally as a “spike,” a quality that distinguishes you from your peers, a passion, or situation, etc.</p>
<p>IBObsessed, thats not really a HOOK, per se, but it does not mean it is not a fantastically interesting aspect of your application. If you manage to successfully complement the rest of your application with your accomplishments/life experience, you would be significantly more interesting to admissions committees, but that is NOT a hook.</p>
<p>A hook is something that gets your application placed in a separate pile in the Admissions Office. You are not competing with the enormous pool of all other applicants, only a smaller pool of similarly hooked students.</p>
<p>A hook typically means that you have a College Insider with clout advocating inside the Admissions Office on your behalf. This might be a coach, Development officer, Alumni director, Dean or similar University official who knows about you and your unique situation.</p>
<p>A hook is a characteristic the meets an institutional need of a college. Many colleges need significant donations; most colleges strive to increase their numbers of underrepresented minority students; many colleges try to keep their alumni happy; and most colleges like to field strong athletic teams; and many colleges would see a benefit in having the offspring of a powerful, influential politician attend.</p>
<p>As crazyfrog stated, most of these are accidents of luck and beyond the applicant’s control. That said, the most reliable of these hooks, being a recruited athlete, is also the one most within an applicant’s control. While few people have the genetic makeup to be top football or basketball players, the thousands of recruited runners, swimmers, rowers, squash players, fencers, tennis players and wrestlers all became recruitable through years of dedication and hard work.</p>
<p>Edit to add: Rmldad is right about having an advocate. In the case of the recruited athlete, the coaches have their processes to see that their applicants are given every consideration. In the case of a child of a donor, a college’s Development Office will pull their strings. URMs and legacies may have specific advocates, too, but those are probably not as direct and focused as for athletes and donors.</p>
<p>Also a significant talent can be a hook - being a nationally recognized pianist or Olympic bobsled team member or a broadway actress may be hooks but it may vary by school.</p>
<p>Sometimes just being talented at something the school needs can be a hook. A talented oboist is rare compared to violinists, drummers and sax players so that ismamtalent that may give you boost relative to all other applicants if the schools symphony is a point of pride and the conductor is telling admissions he needs an oboist.</p>
<p>RMLdad is exactly right. It’s something that separates you, literally, in terms of your application by putting you in a category they need. Being an athlete brings in money for the school, being a minority contributes to their diversity, etc.</p>
<p>Basically a hook is something that greatly increases your chances, by means of the college needing someone like you, and is usually out of your control.</p>
<p>First of all, most students do not have a hook. Most likely, you cannot create one if you don’t have it. A hook is something that would make the admission officer raise his eyebrow and pick up your application among the thousands. Because that student has something they really want. It could be a special talent or it may be related to some commitment that the school needs to fulfill. Having certain disease would not be a hook (and why would it be?), but help to find a cure to it would be one. Also, the hook preference may change year to year even in the same school.</p>
<p>^ I have to disagree billcsho. Although hooks do make an admissions officer pick up your application and take a closer look, they are rarely conscious accomplishments. I tend to stick to the definition that a hook is PROVEN to raise your admission chances. Although curing cancer would most definitely be a fantastic accomplishment, there are no statistics that show that people who cure diseases have a higher admit rate at universities (mostly because such applicants are few and far between).
EDIT: Oh and IBObsessed i didnt see your first generation status, THAT would be a hook!</p>