<p>people talk about how a hook helps a lot when trying to get into selective colleges, can you give me some examples of "hooks".</p>
<p>Under-represented minority, legacy, recruited athlete, 1st generation (not sure how much this one actually helps though)</p>
<p>^Yep. Basically, things you don’t have control over.</p>
<p>Olympic gold medalist…</p>
<p>^^^ How about Junior olympic silver medalist??? </p>
<p>… Serious question. My volleyball team took 2nd last year at junior olympics, how helpful will this be on applications?</p>
<p>^You can talk to the coaches at the different schools and see if they can help you out at all</p>
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Why do people keep repeating this silly statement? Do you really think athletes have no control over their athletic training, results, and recruitability?
Sure, JO medalists are often recuited by colleges. In the individual sport I’m most familiar with, most medalists go on to be recruited collegiate athletes. Team sports will vary, of course. The team star and the bench warmer will have different experiences.</p>
<p>I know first generation college student holds a TON of weight at some places.</p>
<p>Other hooks: being a major celebrity (Jodie Foster), or the the child of a very connected political family (GW Bush), or the child of the college president’s best friend.</p>
<p>Or if your parents donated a 7-figure sum to the school.</p>
<p>@Tomaras That is a hook! You should contact the coach at the colleges you want to apply…</p>
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<p>I beg to differ. Just being on a team that won the JO silver medal isn’t a hook, that’s just another EC award, and those are a dime a dozen. If on the other hand you were a star player on the team that took the silver, and that’s enough to get the college volleyball coach to actively recruit you, THAT could be a hook. But it’s being a recruited athlete, not the awards your team won in HS, that’s the hook. By itself the silver medal won’t do all that much for your application.</p>