hi everyone!
I was just wondering if there are any specific hooks that get uchicago’s attention. I am a swimmer and have been contacting the coach. We have conversed over email a little but I am not being recruited.
Thank you!
If you are not a recruited swimmer then swimming is not a hook.
There are very few real hooks – meaning why a particular college would want you instead of others with a similar profile. They are generally things like being a recruited athlete, having parents who are alumni that have put up a building on campus etc.
Most applicants have no hooks.
A hook is an attribute that fulfills a school’s specific institutional need. If Chicago needs swimmers and you’re fast enough to help them, then it’s a hook.
Chicago has the same kind of hooks as every other school: recruited-athlete, URM, and Legacy. First-generation is also a hook to some extent.
Perhaps a qualified student from an exotic country such as Equatorial Guinea?
This is totally anecdotal and definitely isn’t a “hook” per se, but I noticed a disproportionate number of accepted students who were active on their high school quiz bowl/scholastic bow/academic bowl teams. I’d figure it has something to do with the fact that being active on a high school trivia team is likely indicative of broader intellectual curiosity, a characteristic that UChicago seems to pride in its students. That being said, I’m sure plenty of students who were on their high school teams didn’t get in as well.
@artloversplus We had a qualified student from Rwanda in my dorm this past year. First ever in the history of the university from there, so I’m sure that had something to do with it.
I’m not sure if this would be considered a “hook,” but an actor with a couple of principle starring or supporting roles in tv/ film or stage can give a university or college some bragging rights (if you want to call it that) in the art & entertainment sector. Top institutions are always looking to expand their “notable alumni” list, and given that tv/film pays well if you’re established there’s a chance of future donations beyond $500. An added plus is that once they graduate, they don’t actually add to the unemployed alumni statistic since an established actors’ work schedule greatly depends on whether or not they accept a role, or whatever project (being “the face” of a particular luxury brand, they may direct a film/short/music video etc.).
Captain of my kid’s quiz bowl team did not get in… But my kid, top scorer on the team did. BUT, she had a variety of other intellectual-type activities and great test scores. I don’t see the actor angle as a hook unless you are someone like Emma Watson…
Brook Shield went to Princeton and there are others, she was in my cousin’s class, not sure if she did well or not.
When she was accepted at Princeton, Brooke Shield was both a wealthy legacy and a famous (if controversial) teen actress and model with leading roles in several big-budget films on her resume. No-brainer for Princeton.
In the past, at least, you didn’t have to be Emma Watson (or Natalie Portman, or Jodie Foster) to have your acting career make a difference. Ivy League actors with pre-college professional credits include people like Julia Stiles, Jennifer Beals, Mira Sorvino, Jordana Brewster, Anna Paquin, Christopher Reeve. (Of course, there are lots more whose careers began post-college.) Anna Chlumsky went to the University of Chicago. She gets name-checked plenty in official University promotional materials; I’m sure they would love to have a few more child stars pass through.
Those Ivy League actors you list may have been highly qualified otherwise (GPA, test score), we have no way to know. You don’t have to have a “hook” to get in, but you better hit all the marks on GPA, test scores, solid ECs, recommendations, and essays. That is what my kid did, and she got in EA.
@JHS:
I was going to mention Chlumsky is a U of C alumnus! Besides My Girl and couple of other movies, her filmography was rather short - and leading up to her college years she didn’t do any film/tv and re-entered acting in at 25. I tend to wonder how many kid actors - say the Watsons of the worlds - would apply to U of C.
I read up on Brewster and her family and upbringing basically had her on the path towards the Ivies (top private/independent schools in NYC etc.). Apparently her grandfather, Kingman Brewster, Jr., was one of Yale’s presidents.
Anyways, I apologize to the OP for derailing the thread.