Hey,
I was wondering if being a 1st generation US student is a good hook?
In addition I was wondering if you put down that your parents didnt go to grad school is also a hook?
I guess I wanted to know how colleges perceive these small details…??
<p>"In addition I was wondering if you put down that your parents didnt go to grad school is also a hook? "</p>
<p>Not a hook at all.</p>
<p>what about the 1st generation US college student part..? I mean I am Asian. But I was wondering how colleges would treat it? I dont expect a significant or major hook just a small, "oh thats great, positive thing" kind of attitude from adcoms..? just curious..?</p>
<p>A hook can be being a recruited athlete, legacy, URM, from a very rare location, very rich and willing to donate millions to the college, or having an incredible (like nationally/ internationally acclaimed) talent or passion. Many would not consider the first four hooks since they don't guarantee admission. Nevertheless, "The Early Admissions Game" considered them hooks because a certain number of these people must be present in every class. </p>
<p>Being first generation to attend college or having parents that didn't attend any college is not a hook. However they might help close calls.</p>
<p>Emperor could you look at mhy last post..?</p>
<p>If two student have the same exact stats, but you are a first generation student while the second person's parents were Harvard grads, it'd probably help you. It won't "gain" you SAT points in the admissions office as real hooks supposedly do.</p>
<p>1st generation, meaning your family immigrated, so your the first generation to go to college in the US? Do you realize just exactly how many students are in this spot? </p>
<p>No, this is NOT a hook at ALL. </p>
<p>Also, its just grad school, right? Your parents DID go to college. Again, NOT A HOOK.</p>
<p>Yeah pretty much. I relize that there are a lot lot lot of students who are in my position. But all I am asking is if it helps. When it comes down to me and a Caucasion 4th generation US college student, I hope colleges will see who to choose. </p>
<p>Yes my family immigrated when I was age 5 and so I am first generation US college student..</p>
<p>thanks, any other replies..?</p>
<p>If you weren't born in the US, investigate and make sure they won't view your application as an international. I doubt they would, but being thrown in that pool makes life so much harder!</p>
<p>I wasnt born in the US too. But I lived in US all my life went to school here and went to boarding high school here too. Trust me its not international. But back to my mini-hook----1st generation US student.. good hoook?</p>
<p>You just stated yourself it was a mini-hook. I would state that its not really a hook at all.</p>
<p>But if it did somehow came down to deciding between you and some 4th generation caucasian student with a moderately rich family with both parents that went to modest schools, the scale might just BARELY, about a hair width, tip in your favor.
(And that hair width deal can't be described as big sarcasm.)</p>
<p>Not a hook at all.</p>
<p>Trust me, it's not a hook! Tons of people are first generation. I'm first generation and that status never pops into my head when im debating my chances. </p>
<p>Why do people get so anxious about finding a hook? Not all people have hooks, it's all right. Having one doesn't guarantee admission anyways. It just means that you're in a category that's more attractive since colleges need to fill those spots. Make your application stonger instead of trying to make up a hook.</p>
<p>nope, not a hook.</p>
<p>I think if you have only been in the US for like 2 or 3 years and get a lower SAT than other students who live in America for their whole lives, the college might choose you. But however, what is the difference between people who was born in the US and people who moved to the US when he/she was five??
By the way, I've heard that if your first language is not English and you have been in the US for a short time, you can consider yourself as "international". And since you get grades and everything from an American high school, it won't be hard for you to get into school as an international student.</p>
<p>If there were a first-generation college student that was from the U.S. and his/her family had lived here for a long time, then yes, that'd be a real hook... Usually because this can be infered as you also being from a low income family. I hope that makes some sense.</p>
<p>You must be desperate to resort to this...by the context of your post, you probably meant that your parents when to college in a foreign college. MINE TOO! It's not uncommon at all. I immigrated to Canada when I was 8, so i guess i got you beat</p>
<p>It depends on the school. At most colleges (especially select schools, first-generation college students as those students whose parents have had no college or university experience. These students have been defined as being from blue-collar backgrounds containing lower levels of formal education). When compared to the "traditional student", first-generation college students had lower pre-college critical thinking abilities, and were more likely to come from low income families, and to have been encouraged by teachers (not parents) to attend college.</p>
<p>According to the National center for Educational Statistics, </p>
<p><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/98082.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/98082.pdf</a></p>
<p>First-Generation Students: Undergraduates Whose Parents Never
Enrolled in Postsecondary Education </p>
<p>If your fammily immigrated to the U.S. and attended college in another country, you are not a first generation college student in the U.S. </p>
<p>Cooltej16, sorry you have no hook.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I wasnt born in the US too. But I lived in US all my life went to school here and went to boarding high school here too. Trust me its not international. But back to my mini-hook----1st generation US student.. good hook?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Unless you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you will be treated as an international student in the admissions process as k-12 education in the U.S. does not require citizenship or permanent residency.</p>
<p>From the Article: How Admission Decisions Are Made</p>
<p>A hook, in admission parlance, is any additional advantage that makes a candidate attractive to a particular college. This will vary from school to school and from year to year. Some candidates may try to hide their hooks, preferring to be admitted on only merit (parents tend to discourage this) while others will fight furiously to exploit even the most inconsequential connections. Such hooks may include athletic ability, minority status, veteran status, alumni connections, special talent (e.g., art, music, theater, writing, etc.), under represented socioeconomic background (e.g., first-generation college), geography, gender, VIP status, ability to pay full tuition, or miscellaneous institutional needs.</p>
<p>Having a hook can give a candidate a higher rating from the get-go or can pull an application from the deny pile and put it into the admit (or wait list) stack. Hooks come into play most often when judging equally qualified candidates. For example, if a college has to select one of two students who look the same on paper, and one is the daughter of an alumnus and the other is not, the daughter is probably going to get in over the non-connected student.</p>
<p>However, no matter how well connected or how gifted a student is outside of the classroom, if he doesnt have the grades or the ability, he wontor shouldntbe admitted. And, if he does get admitted for special reasons, those connections wont guarantee that he will succeed. One college even had to turn down its own presidents son!</p>
<p>The hooks below are the ones discussed most oftenand most passionately in admission committee meetings:</p>
<p>Alumni Connections
Athletes
Students of Color
Talent in the Arts</p>
<p>The Invisible HookInstitutional Needs</p>
<p>One reason that an applicant is admitted to a particular college while a similar- seeming (or even less able) applicant is not can be due to a fuzzy factor known as "institutional needs." These needs, explains Amherst Colleges Katharine Fretwell, are likely to vary from college to college, andeven within a single schoolfrom year to year. One season, says Fretwell, an institution may be after more women, Midwesterners, or hockey goalies; the next time around it could be scientists or string musicians. "Applicants do not have control over these needs and are rarely aware of them," she notes. "And, according to outside observers (candidates, their counselors, parents, or classmates), the influence of these priorities may create some mysterious admission decisions."</p>
<p>Guys, I am not trying to seek out any major hook from this. Trust me, I do not even have what people define as a 'hook.' Yes I am a US citizen, yes my parents have come from impoverished regions and attended college in another country for undergrad. But as for me, I am the first person in my family to attend a US college. I am not an international student but have been educated here all my life. I guess when it comes to some Asian whose parents have been educated here and when it comes to a 1st generation Asian like myself attending college, I am curious as to if college take that into account at all. These are just minute small detail/hooks. And I mean very small hooks that I know many people have. But I am just curious if college take this into account.</p>
<p>By the way, since my parents are international, out of curiousity wiht poeple in this situation, but cant you just lie and say that your parents never attended college, since how are they going to check internationally? I mean I would never lie about my personal accomplishments, grades, etcc.. in my app. But for this small detail, would it emphasize a decent hook..??</p>