<p>I'm an international hoping to get into Wellesley next year. I've been working as a nurses aide (full time) for the past 3 years and I work part time for a music magazine's website (shooting interviews and re-editing old videos and doing the festivals circuit). Is this a hook, especially if I want to do a media related course within Wellesley? Also, can it be considered a hook if you're related to someone influential within your country? Plus, my Dad left school at 12 and my mum at 15, is this a decent 1st generation hook?</p>
<p>Will you be a full freight payer or will you need FA? </p>
<p>As an international student, Wellesley will still look at your abiltity to pay in the admissions process as FA is very limited for international students.</p>
<p>My mum is on disability after a car accident a few years ago and my dad works but he probably won't be working by the time I graduate, due to his age and his work, but he's also losing his hearing. I don't want to take money from them, so I'll have roughly $10K to put toward my tuition/year from my own personal savings. I checked with OACAC and they sent me a list of FA made available to Int'ls, and Wellesley gave 115 of their 176 Int'ls an average of $36,500 per student last year. I'm applying to smaller colleges aswell like Bay Path and Chatham, but I'd really love to get into Wellesley.</p>
<p>Redsexton, Just keep in mind that US colleges will still consider your parents income and assets when making financial aid awards. That is true even if they won't be contributing a dime for your education, and it also is true for international students. If you haven't already done so, I'd suggest you email the financial aid office at Wellesley and the other schools you're considering, and ask for specifics of how they will consider your family's situation, and what they may or may not take into account. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thank you so much, Carolyn. I've seen some of your posts before and you really dish out the advuce to Int'ls! I really appreciate this. I've already been in contact with Wellesley and they've been helpful, but I guess I'm just a super worrier! There is one question though that I haven't seen an answer for or an alternative to; regarding student loans, Int'ls must get an American Citizen to co-sign. Are there loans available that do not carry this requirement??</p>
<p>I've had numerous surgeries since 6th grade and was homeschooled 10th and 11th grade because of missing so much school. Now I'm doing my senior year at a boarding school.. do you think overcoming a major illness and getting into a boarding school for my senior year could be a hook or no??
Thanks! :)</p>
<p>David Lesesne, Sewanee's dean of admissions, comments upon legacies and other "hooks":</p>
<p>
[quote]
We start by identifying legacy students at the inquiry stage, and encode them as legacy students at the applicant stage, just as we code students who have other "hooks," such as artistic talent, athletic talent, geographic diversity, minority status, and eagle scout.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>source: The</a> Chronicle of Higher Education: Live Discussions</p>
<p>I think that even broadly defined, a "hook" is having a quality that the college is looking for. There is a benefit to colleges to give a nod to legacies because families who feel loyalty and appreciation toward a particular college are likely to donate money. Colleges need athletes and musicians and an adequate number of students to fill their departments. They may need gender balance or be looking to build geographic diversity; and most want to maximize ethnic and cultural diversity. Being rich or famous -or the offspring of someone rich or famous -- is good p.r. for the college. </p>
<p>So whether you call it a hook or a tip factor, the idea is to figure out what the college's agenda and goals are and if you are giving the college something it wants and needs, then that can be a hook of sorts.</p>
<p>However, it seems to me that a lot of posters in this thread have confused the idea of a "hook" with personal qualities that may strengthen the application -- but certainly don't fill some niche that is important to the college. Having good grades in spite of a serious illness is an admirable quality - not a hook -- how does it help the college to have a student who has recovered from a serious illness? Participation in most ECs is not a hook, unless it is something that would be continued in college and the student is exceptionally good at it. </p>
<p>That doesn't mean that those things aren't viewed favorably -- they are -- but the idea of a "hook" is something that would get the ad com to say, "we ought to accept this student we need more ______" (Or in the case of legacies, "because we need to respect our loyal donor base.") The blank for non-legacies could be "basoonist" or it could be "gymnast" or "classic major" or "native american" -- it could vary considerably from one year to the next -- but if what the student is offering can't be used to complete a sentence like the one above -- then it isn't a "hook". </p>
<p>You don't necessarily need a "hook" to get admitted -- a "hook" is just something that might increase chances at a competitive college.</p>
<p>Exactly, Calmom. Few students have true hooks. But most students do have attributes, activities, interests, that can boost their basic profile.</p>
<p>It would be quite interesting to find out if indeed certain perceived hooks are actual hooks when the admission decisions come out. That is, if an applicant thinks they have this exceptional hook and felt it played a major role in the favorable decision. But then again, one will never truly know what went on behind the admission doors.</p>
<p>I have seen a number of admission advice books lately that really play on showing your "hook" and how everyone has one. Although I agree presentation is ever important in an app, I do not agree that everyone has a "hook" and many of those "hooks" mentioned are attributes that an adcom will just reduce to an activity.</p>
<p>is not applying for any sort of financial aid a hook? </p>
<p>i guess that means i am applying as a "full freight payer"...</p>
<p>With all my respect, I think that it would be more impressive if your daughter had studied Chinese in the US but became fluent. I would not call studying the language abroad for a year as a special language skill. I might be wrong but that's just the way I feel about it.</p>
<p>cook him a good meal</p>
<p>I am an ivy-league hopeful with a severe disability. I have a rare genetic skin disorder called Epidermolysis Bullosa. In essence, I don't have the protein that holds my layers of skin together. I have blisters and sores everywhere and wear bandages. My fingers are fused together from all the scar tissue. </p>
<p>With that being said...</p>
<p>I've never let such hardships interfere with my goals and dreams. Most who have EB are wheelchair bound, yet I took dance classes for three years. I'm #2 in my class and have taken 8 AP's and am taking 7 during my senior year. I'm an Obama campaign intern and have worked at the library of Congress. I am also a camp counselor for kids with severe skin disorders.</p>
<p>As you can see...Nothing stops me :)</p>
<p>My question is, is having such a severe disorder and still accomplishing so much constitute as a hook? My mom thinks I shouldn't even mention I have a disorder, that it may either do nothing to help me or even hurt my chances. Any advice? I was planning on writing my essay on overcoming such obstacles...why should a slip up in my DNA prevent me from living the life I always intended to? </p>
<p>Any help would be great.</p>
<p>Personally, I don't see much of a downside to writing your essay about your disorder. It is obviously very much a part of who you are. If a school would NOT admit you because of it, I would guess that would be a school you wouldn't want to attend anyway. A lot of schools are looking to add to their diversity. You represent one kind of diversity and more college students need to be exposed to students with disabilities so that they understand how much differently abled people can really do. I wish you the best of luck in your applications!</p>
<p>Not the same, but you might want to post your question here...I don't think posting it on a hook thread will get the right audience.</p>