<p>Im new to CC and i just want to know what a "hook" is. i have a rough idea but i want an accurate representaion of what a "good hook" is and/or what a hook even is. thanks.</p>
<p>A "hook" is something that distinguishes your application from others', and that makes the university want you.</p>
<p>A "good hook" is Olympic athlete, published author, son/daughter of a U.S. President, etc.</p>
<p>beign a URM is a pretty common hook. Generally, a hook is something that boosts your chances considerably</p>
<p>URM? what is that effrum?</p>
<p>Under Represented Minority</p>
<p>Black, Hispanic, but not Asian, lol</p>
<p>and native american. I know an hispanic kid who got into MIT with a 2010, while a white kid from my school, with better credentials overall, and a 2370, got rejected</p>
<p>yea screw AA</p>
<p>^^^oh quit whining; urm status doen't help as much as people think it does, anyway...</p>
<p>of course it does- it always does</p>
<p>this is what ticks me off- im all for helping other people who have not been as as fortunate as myself</p>
<p>however, they shouldn't base it on race- they should base it on income</p>
<p>cause if somebody's black and is rich just like me, and has had every oppurtunity that i have had, why should they get more points?</p>
<p>however, if it was somebody from a really poor area,where the schools suck and they can't afford tutors, etc. then i think they should be helped out</p>
<p>if they're poor, give them some help- if they just happen to have a unique ancestry, i could care less</p>
<p>it's nice to see a black person who has the right idea about AA :).</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>michaeljackson, Azn_Helljumper, prospectiveMD</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>You guys really are clueless</p>
<p>Too</a> Sense: Maybe Clarence Thomas Should Ask Dubya How He Feels About His Yale Degree</p>
<p>More proof that 3800 SAT or whatever doesn't have anything to do with real knowledge. Especially you prospectiveMD what does that mean? As if black people all have the wrong ideas? Typical</p>
<p>Hook</p>
<p>is also a cool movie</p>
<p>geez y does every thread have to turn into an AA debate?
i dont think race qualifies as a hook unless the student is really disadvantaged--- here's when socioeconomic factors come in.
it is rare for poor minorities to even apply to top schools (b/c their schools are so mis-informed about college in general)</p>
<p>Heheh, I can vouch for Vicky, my school is full of minorities and no one like, ever goes anywhere but Texas, and even then it's just public schools/CCs.</p>
<p>Hell, I didn't even know Penn existed until like the beginning of the year. Oh well, c'est la vie =/</p>
<p>what about if say you recorded a song you wrote and sent it to the school you were applying to? would that be a hook if it was a pretty good song?</p>
<p>no, just a good EC</p>
<p>"I dont think race qualifies as a hook unless the student is really disadvantaged--- here's when socioeconomic factors come in."</p>
<p>This is absolutely, positively false. It would be nice if that were true. Even nicer if they looked ONLY at socioeconomic factors and ignored race. But that's not how it works at all, unfortunately. Being an URM gives you a boost even if your father is a surgeon. The problem they have is this - black SAT's are low across the board - the average black SAT in a family of $100k plus income is about the same as white SAT in a below $10,000 income family. There are only around 600 blacks in the entire US who score above 2100 SAT in any year. You split those up among the top 20 schools and you only have around 30 black people/school. So if the Ivies applied the same standards to blacks as to whites/asians they'd have essentially no black students (Cal Tech does just this and they have like 1% black enrollment). But they want to have 8% or more, so they only way to do it is to reduce the standards for black students. All black students, rich or poor. Roughly speaking, being black will spot you around 100 SAT pts/ section at most schools - they have to either do this or end up with essentially no black students.</p>
<p>See this article:</p>
<p>The</a> Widening Racial Scoring Gap on the SAT College Admissions Test</p>
<p>which is written in a legitimate scholarly journal, not some kind of white power site. If we are ever going to deal honestly with the whole race issue in this country (and I don't know if we ever will), we will never be able to do so as long as people operate on wishful thinking instead of the facts as they really are.</p>
<p>The big 3 "hook" categories are (in this order) 1. recruited athlete , 2. URM and 3. "development admit" (child of someone who gave a LOT of $ to school. Being a legacy is a plus. Being the child of a movie star or other prominent person is a plus. Being a movie star yourself is a plus. Singing a song into your computer and sending it in is NOT a hook - it is lame. Being the president of your school's computer programming club is not a hook. Playing the violin in the county youth orchestra is not a hook. Doing anything that every other Asian kid in America does is not a hook.</p>
<p>What about a letter of rec from a professor with whom you want to study with?</p>
<p>Is that a hook?</p>