<p>If you want to major in something like business or engineering, you will have to have better test scores and more ECs. Your “hooks” aren’t enough.</p>
<p>Harvard: Very High Reach
University of Chicago: High Reach
Emory: High Match
Brown: High Reach
Cornell: Reach
Georgetown: Low Reach</p>
<p>@CollegeBound: Now to be fair, if you are an immigrant from say Syria that came to the US in order to avoid warfare, you could still potentially be Caucasian, and it would still be as beneficial for you in College Admissions as if you applied from Ethopia, or better. This is most certainly a hook, if one was to leave his homeland due to warfare. </p>
<p>@Felix: You say being Asian is a disadvantage, and it is at times, but there are also many cases of exceptions. If you applied from New Delhi, India and attended one of the world’s best schools, then you would be overrepresented. But if you applied as a girl from the Red Lights District (Place with unbelievably high rates of rape imposed on young girls) in Calcultta, India, you’d be put at a higher advantage than a domestic. It all depends on the circumstances around you, because it’s not all the same in one nation. There’s rich kids that attend elite prep schools here, and at the opposite end of a spectrum you have a homeless girl who has to work as a school janitor after school.
Out of curiosity, are you Bosnian?</p>
<p>Thank you all for answering, and yes I’m Bosnian.</p>
<p>Actually international students have the most competitive process.</p>
<p>Eh yeah. I’d be VERY surprised if you got into any of Harvard, UChicago or Brown. You may have a small chance at GTown or Cornell, but don’t count on it. Emory is likely, but only because it’s easier than the other schools on your list.</p>
<p>All things being equal, being an immigrant would help, it’d be a little notch on the belt. But all things aren’t equal. You need great ECs to have a reasonable chance at those schools and since it seems you lack that I don’t think you have much of a chance.</p>
<p>Collegebound, if you actually read the thread you would know I’m a Bosnian immigrant living in America. Can people focus on my chances instead of what a hook is or is not</p>
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<p>No offense dude, but your style and attitude make you appear ignorant and narcissistic. That won’t help you in admissions.</p>
<p>for example:</p>
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<p>I spend a lot of time reading, and I have always been a good writer because of this. I have been winning writing contests since the fifth grade and it’s not hard to tell if you are good or bad at something.</p>
<p>A hook can be understood as something that gives you an edge over an equally qualified applicant. I listed some hooks that I have and I admitted that one might not be a hook, and other posters said the hooks I had listed are NOT hooks. I then had to go in depth and explain how each hook I had listed was indeed a hook. I said I have traveled the world and learned multiple languages because it makes me different than the average Joe. Stating this doesn’t make me ignorant or a narcissist.</p>
<p>I listed my EC’s and I even put not (not many) after the list. You would expect that the average Ivy applicant has good EC"s but I don’t so I felt the need to explain myself. I truthfully won’t go to a school that isn’t top because it is a waste of time considering my situation. My family owns several successful businesses and my parents have said that I can take over, so they can move back to where I came from. If I went to a top school I would have a good chance of getting recruited at a major firm or getting a very good job fresh out of college. This would better benefit me than running my family business.</p>
<p>Any logical person can think this out. A hook gives you an advantage over equally qualified applicants. X, y, and z fit the description of a hook therefore they are hooks. A person then comes along and says x,y, and z aren’t hooks. This person tries to argue against a true fact. They resort to personal attacks, like you are doing right now. I’m going to defend myself and my argument. View it however you want to view it.</p>
<p>People have stated their opinions on the chances of me going to some of the schools that I listed, and I respect that. People have also personally attacked me and debated about things known to be true. I don’t respect that. So either answer the original question I posted or go ahead and personally attack me like the others. Perhaps we can have a debate as to what a hook is or isn’t?</p>
<p>You can’t just choose a definition of a hook and stick to it as the only correct one. As you’ve already heard, there isn’t one specific definition of what a college hook is. Clearly, you think that a hook is something that will give you the edge over an otherwise equal applicant. Well, guess what? At Harvard, there will not be any equal applicants. People don’t get into Harvard with zero EC’s. They’ll have hundreds and thousands of applicants who have equal or higher stats, and much more impressive ECs. And most of those people will still get rejected. So your immigrant status will not make up for it.
Once you realize that, you might understand what we all consider as a “hook” - something that will make up for a weak spot of your app, something that will make the admission officers overlook that weakness and still admit you. And there are only few “hooks” that will do this, like URM and athletic recruitment. Being born in a different country isn’t on that list.
So, to sum up, those “hooks” will not get you into Harvard, or U of C, or any other similarly competitive school. They will not overlook your lack of ECs. You might have a shot at some slightly less competitive schools, but don’t put all your hopes into it. There’s no guarantee.</p>
<p>Wow, surprising yet another post about hooks. You are entitled to your opinion so go ahead and believe whatever you want. Multiple people have agreed with me so my opinion is obviously prevalent. You are also having some difficulty understating my post. I listed multiple good hooks that I have and stats. If you think that I think my immigrant status makes up for the lack of my EC’s you should re read my original post and maybe go over your reading/logic skills. Considering that I live in a state with less people than Alaska, that I am a first generation college student, and my background I think I have a good shot at many colleges. Please fill this thread with more posts about how one of my minor hooks isn’t a hook at all.</p>
<p>That’s funny, because I can’t find a single person on this thread who has agreed that being an immigrant is a significant hook. You do have a shot at many colleges. Just not at Harvard and the likes.</p>
<p>Ok so seeing your aversion to it, I won’t mention the validity of your hooks. I’ll just say that you have very little chance of getting into top 20 schools with the paucity of ECs that you’re showing even with the hooks, major and minor, that you’ve mentioned. You have a decent shot at Emory and maybe Georgetown as a reach, but I would look at some less selective schools if you’re willing to do so.</p>
<p>-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</p>
<p>The only part of this that is a hook is the war part and only if you mention it in your essay.</p>
<p>-I am fluent in my native tongue and visit my home country every summer along with other parts of the world</p>
<p>That is not a hook. Come on seriously? I speak chinese fluently and spanish decently and travel a lot. Just cause I have money to travel doesn’t create a hook.</p>
<p>-I live in North Dakota</p>
<p>There’s one but it isn’t a dealmaker</p>
<p>-I am a religious minority(not sure if hook)</p>
<p>As you’ve said before, not a hook</p>
<p>-I will be the first in my family to attend college</p>
<p>Yes that is a hook and a better one at that</p>
<p>@Felix Ignore this top part of the post since I see your opinion cannot be changed but it is mainly for other people questioning hooks. </p>
<p>“You are also having some difficulty understating my post. I listed multiple good hooks that I have and stats.” - We are not minsunderstanding it. We are questioning the legitamacy of certain hooks. If they are not real hooks, then we have to reconsider our chances.</p>
<p>My Chances for you.
<p>Dmart thank you for your post. I think Ivies and the like look at applicants on an individual basis. You aren’t automatically disqualified or something if you are missing a part like EC"s but it does lower your chances. The admissions are known to be sort of wild. I have seen stories of people with a 3.6 GPA get into Harvard with no donations from their families. Why? The admissions officials thought the applicants fit the school and were good/likable people with decent grades. A poster here even said he got into Cornell with no EC’s to speak of. I know if I retake my ACT with preparation I can get a 33 or higher. Personally I think some of the hooks I have lessen the damage that no EC"s does. Also feel free to post about which hooks you think I have aren’t hooks. I won’t debate I promise.</p>
<p>Thank you for your post pieguy. I really appreciate the fact that you respect my opinions and state yours in a nice manner.</p>
<p>you’re welcome best of luck to you!</p>
<p>I agree with pieguy321.</p>
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<p>War = It can be considered as a hook if you mentioned it in your essay.</p>
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<p>Not a hook at all. </p>
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<p>Not a hook as well…</p>
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<p>Now this is a hook.</p>
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<p>Not a hook.</p>
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<p>It is a hook but I personally don’t consider it as a hook. Why? Because SO MANY other applicants have this hook as well.</p>
<p>Harvard - Out Of Reach
University of Chicago - High Reach
Emory - ???
Brown - High Reach
Cornell - Reach
Georgetown - Reach</p>
<p>You are not getting into any of these colleges if you can’t fix your attitude.</p>
<p>Hooks won’t replace your ECs, especially when you had opportunities to do so.
Your excuse was that you didn’t like the school. So what? ECs aren’t just limited to the school. You could have volunteered at a local hospital, senior assisted living center, or church.
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<p>So what? He’s not you. You shouldn’t be getting this assumption that your lack of ECs will be compensated by your so-called “hooks”. Maybe he captured his adcom with his essay/story. </p>
<p>What’s your class rank? Your 4.0 GPA isn’t going to help you when you are top 25%/50%.</p>
<p><strong>Edit</strong> Imo, your 4.0 GPA is not really going to help you out when your classes weren’t challenging, but it’s not going to hurt you since you didn’t have an opportunity to take challenging courses.</p>
<p>Felix your only hook is your first generation status. My family comes from Pakistan and i have traveled to over 15 different countries, but none of that is worth mentioning in a college essay or resume because it doesn’t mean much. Im sorry but i don’t think you have a shot at any of the listed schools because of your complete lack of ECs. Each of those schools has thousands of applicants with your scores or better applying every year and they reject many of them. Although you gpa is stellar, your act score is nothing special for these schools. You seem to be so confident that these “hooks” of yours will give you a chance but these schools receive applications with similar backgrounds and thousands of apps from international students (ex. harvard). These “hooks” are only worthy to be mentioned in an interview, but won’t change your chances much.
Your package is actually the complete opposite of mine. I had a lousy 3.48 GPA and 2080 sat but managed to get into my number one school, Wesleyan Unversity despite the fact that I was far below their median 3.8 gpa and 2150 sat. I got in because i had a fantastic interview, great essays and recs, and a ton of ECs. For elite schools, character carries a ton of weight, and is reflected through mainly your ECs and also through your essays.
Good luck at your schools!</p>
<p>Harvard/Chicago - out of reach
Emory - high match
Brown - high reach
Georgetown/Cornell - reach</p>
<p>Are you Bosnian? I was just there in March</p>
<p>As for hooks… The only one I see is geographical but as others said, it’s not a dealmaker hook</p>