What types of hooks can you develop to have a competitive edge in college apps as an international Indian student in the following areas:
Competition
Employment
Community Service
Leadership
Hobbies
Visual Arts/Music
Honor Societies
I also had a specific concern. I will be receiving a Silver-level community service award at the international HOSA leadership conference for completing 175+ community healthcare service hours during the 2019-20 school yr. This is awarded to approximately 160 students from around the world at the annual conference. I don’t know if this is all that competitive but definitely requires a lot of dedication (which explains the low number of award recipients). Would this be something worthwhile to mention in my application just because it was earned at the international level. There was no competition for it, it was awarded to those who met the service hour requirements. I don’t know how prestigious this is…
HOSA award would be an EC, and a very good one. The rest of your list would also be ECs.
Hooks are defined by each college…characteristics they are actively looking for students to possess. Some typical hooks include URMs, Low-SES, First gen, athletes, legacies, and big money donors.
Thanks for letting me know! Would mentioning my HOSA recognition award be worth including in my honors section, or should I rather describe what I did to receive this award in my ECs/service section?
What you list are EC’s. A hook is something you are born with, or something that your parents did like being a wealthy donor.
The only “hook” I can think of is MONEY for international students, as mentioned by @TomSrOfBoston. ^^^^^^
I agree that your awards are extracurriculars and may get you noticed, but wont get you in as a “hook”.
175 hours of community service is very good, but not unusual and not a hook - but it could demonstrate character. Just to give an example of what you’re up against… gold-level American Congressional Award winners do a minimum of 400 hours. Coke Scholarship winners often do 1,000 to 1,500. The impact you make, however, is more impressive than sheer number of hours.
You should mention both your activities and awards in your application, but, outside of becoming tops in a sport for which the college recruits you to play for them, there are few ways to create a hook.
The strongest hooks are being a legacy or large donor. Being full pay is advantageous, and could be considered a hook for international applicants. Being an underrepresented but high-performing minority is a great hook, but India’s applicants are plentiful and thus rarely qualify for that status. As you can see, most hooks are beyond the applicant’s control.
I don’t think you quite understand what a hook is. A hook is when a particular person fulfills an institutional need of a college – it is a reason why a college would choose to accept one applicant over other similarly (and perhaps somewhat better) qualified candidates. Very few people have hooks.
Some common examples of hooks include: a recruited athlete, someone who would bring positive press to the school (ex. an Olympic athlete, Malala, a celebrity etc.), the child of a huge donor (the college would be hoping to get more donations) or something along those lines. If you had a “hook” you would know it.
Your community service is a nice EC but it is not a hook. You can mention the award in your application. FWIW doing significant community service, even with number of the hours you put in, is not all that unusual in the US.
Thanks for the clarity everyone! I will soon be posting a “Chance me” once I have my college list finalized and please do make sure to check that out as well!