<p>I've been considering colleges, and I want to aim high. There are some things that I think will give me an advantage over others. I am pretty confident in my chances, but I may be wrong. So to avoid being crushed by rejection letters I want you to chance me.</p>
<p>Some hooks:
-I was born in Europe and my family immigrated to America when I was 4 because my home country was messed up after a war
-I am fluent in my native tongue and visit my home country every summer along with other parts of the world
-I live in North Dakota
-I am a religious minority(not sure if hook)
-I will be the first in my family to attend college</p>
<p>Stats:
-4.3 weighted GPA and 4.0 unweighted GPA
-31 ACT
- Honors Sophomore English, AP U.S History, AP Biology, AP Senior English, and AP Government I have gotten 5's on all of the AP tests</p>
<p>E.C: (not many)
-220 volunteer hours
-NHS
-Robotics Club</p>
<p>My top choices:
1. Harvard
2. University of Chicago
3. Emory
4. Brown
5. Cornell
6. Georgetown</p>
<p>I plan to major in something business or technology related.</p>
<p>I think I am good with scores and grades, but E.C's are my weak spot. I'm hoping that my hooks will make the E.C's irrelevant and help me out a lot. My school isn't really competitive or well funded so I the only advanced class I could take in grades 9-10 was Honors Sophomore English.</p>
<p>Sorry, but none of those things are hooks at all, except for the first-generation college student status. And that’s nowhere near enough to make up for your lack of ECs. Your grades are good, and your ACT is okay, but the ECs will most likely be a deal breaker. I’d suggest looking for slightly less selective colleges, ones that don’t value ECs as much as the top 20 do.</p>
<p>Your only hook is first generation. You need a higher ACT score too. I’d say 34+ since I have a 33 and I feel hella iffy.</p>
<p>Being born in Europe and immigrating to America gives me an advantage because that is not average and it adds cultural diversity to the campus. Also my counselor told me immigrants add diversity to colleges making them sought after.</p>
<p>I admit being a religious minority isn’t a hook</p>
<p>The fact that I visited the world and go to my home country during the summer also makes me different from the common applicant. I have seen the world and I am fluent in multiple languages. I plan to write my essays on this and how it shapes me as a person</p>
<p>Living in North Dakota helps me because colleges look for geographic diversity, and there are not many people from North Dakota applying for the top 20. I have not heard of anyone from here going to Harvard and there are no Ivy grads here. I live in the largest city so I’m sure this is the same for the whole state.</p>
<p>I didn’t study at all for my ACT and I am planning on retaking it with preparation. The reason my EC’s are bad is because I don’t really enjoy school. I have debated on not going to college at all and running the family business. I came to the conclusion that going to a top 20 school would be a good use of 4 years instead of some lesser school.</p>
<p>There are tons of applicants who’ve been born outside of the US… I only moved here four years ago, and I don’t consider that a major hook. And yes, I also visit it over the summer and all that. It’s still not enough to make up for your ECs. There are only a few real hooks, and the most important ones are academic recruitment, legacy, URM. Being an immigrant isn’t among them, unfortunately. And once again, I don’t think you can get into a top 20 with a complete lack of ECs. I don’t get what you not liking school has to do with that. That’s the point of ECs - they’re not for school, it’s just something that you enjoy doing.</p>
<p>If someone had the same stats and same everything as me but they were a native born American I think I would be chosen over that person. Colleges love diversity and a student from a faraway country adds more diversity than a native. My counselor is the one who told me this and I believe it to be a hook.</p>
<p>In some cases being an immigrant might not be a hook. Take the case of Asians. Asians are over represented at the Ivies therefore being Asian gives you a disadvantage. I am not Asian, but from Eastern Europe so I think that gives me an advantage.</p>
<p>So it looks like you’re already convinced you have hooks, when everyone else says otherwise. Did you just want people to praise you and tell you how special you are?</p>
<p>To be fair being from ND is a pretty big hook.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure the only reason I got accepted anywhere was because of regional affirmative action.</p>
<p>Menacing, I wasn’t posting this to ask if the things I put up are hooks I KNOW they are hooks. When people say the truth is a lie I give my arguments as to why it is the truth and you call me a braggart looking for praise. My original question is do I have a chance at the top 20 considering the hooks I have and my stats. If you can’t answer please don’t post on this thread. I also wouldn’t consider two people “everyone”.</p>
<p>Petersuu would you mind telling me what colleges you applied to and if you got accepted or not? What state are you from? Were you more qualified as me or on the same level grade and EC wise?</p>
<p>See, I’m not denying that being an immigrant can give you the edge over an applicant who’s equal at everything else. But it will not make up for missing ECs. And, to be completely honest, the other parts of your app aren’t the best either. A 4.0 is good, but extremely common among other applicants. Plus, your school isn’t very competitive, so that 4.0 won’t account for too much. Your ACT is only around the bottom 25-50% at those schools, and also won’t help you. Your essays <em>could</em> be very impressive, since you have an interesting story to tell, but that all depends on your ability. Having a story isn’t enough - you have to express it properly without being overly generic or cliche. And once again, your only real hook is that you’re first-gen. That’s not enough to get into an Ivy, or even into a top 20. Go on the specific forums, look at the stats of those people who got accepted. ECs are absolutely crucial, and you do not have any. That’s what it comes down to.</p>
<p>State: AZ
SAT: 1600/1600
ECs: Non existent
Accepted: Cornell, CMU - nothing else worth mentioning
Rejected: Stanford, Harvard, Columbia</p>
<p>Ivanov, a hook is something that gives you an edge over someone else who is as qualified as you. You destroyed your own argument. a 4.0 unweighted GPA means straight A’s and it’s extremely common because it’s the best of the best and that’s what the Ivies want. I don’t know my weighted GPA but I’m estimating it to be 4.3 or higher. Being from a noncompetitive high school and having straight A’s helps me because there is no push to do good or better than other students so therefore those grades show my willingness to work hard to stand out. I don’t believe that the ACT should be as important as it is so I took it without studying or preparing. I got a 31 which is usually higher than the students who hired tutors to help them prepare for the ACT. I know my score is on the low side, but considering the ACT is highly coach able I can be confident on getting a 33+ with preparing. As you can see I am a pretty good writer, and that skill combined with the interesting story I have makes for some good essays. Petersuu had no EC’s and he got into Cornell. As I told you I don’t like school so I don’t participate in many EC’s. A big thing I do outside of school is helping my parents with the family business so that eats up time. I posted my hooks and stats asking people to chance me. I did not ask you to argue about what a hook is and what it isn’t because you clearly don’t know yourself. I know my ACT is low but 31 with no coaching is more than 10 points above average and it can easily be improved. Thank you for your input.</p>
<p>Petersuu, do you think your perfect SAT score had any factor in determining your acceptance? haha
What do you think my chances are at Harvard?</p>
<p>There are multiple ways to look at hooks. If you want something that will make up for a weak spot on your app - like missing ECs - then simply being an immigrant won’t cut it. You need to be a URM, a recruited athlete, legacy, etc… Being born in a different country is nothing compared to that. And please, there’s no need to tell me how difficult it is to get a 4.0 or a 31 with no studying… I’ve been there as well.
My answer still stands. If your application is exactly what you posted, with absolutely no ECs except one club and community service, you won’t get into a top 20 school. But you’re probably omitting a bunch of ECs, like helping your family run their business.</p>
<p>Honestly, being an immigrant from Europe isn’t going to help you much. Being a URM is a hook. You’re Caucasian, that’s the majority here. If you had an identical application to a hispanic or black student, the other student would be chosen. Being from ND will appeal to admissions committees that are looking for regional diversity though.</p>
<p>I know it doesn’t hold as much weight as someone from an African country or something but it still holds weight. Every little bit helps haha. Honestly I just think I have a good combo of hooks and stats to get me into a top college.</p>
<p>Thank you guys for your help but I have to go to sleep for now.</p>
<p>I see a lot of criticisms about your hooks (and I’m sorry, but I agree with all of them), but I don’t see any actual chances. So here are mine for you.</p>
<p>Harvard - no chance with those ECs, sorry
University of Chicago - high reach/no chance
Emory - match
Brown - reach (average UW GPA is a 3.98 and average ACT is a 33, but most other applicants have much better ECs)
Cornell - reach (same thing as brown)
Georgetown - low reach</p>