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<blockquote> <p>so no use arguing over semantics<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>It's not just semantics. A hook and an EC are different concepts, not just different names for the same thing. Many people on CC confuse them.</p>
<p>An EC is something you do and hopefully do well. You might win glorious awards in your EC. You might even be best in the country. You can (and should) seek to improve in your ECs</p>
<p>A hook is something that you are that gets you classified into a different category of applicants. You are not considered in the same light as other applicants. You could be rich, or a URM, or a grandchild of the university founder, or a Bush, or a Kennedy. With the possibility of somehow getting rich as a teenager. There isn't much you can do about hooks.</p>