<p>Hello,
I'm a bit confused as to how CC defines "Hooks". Obviously it seems that they are important aspects of a person that either happened by birth or by fate.
I've been trying to think if I had any of these so-called hooks and if they would even count as such.</p>
<p>Would these types of things be "Hooks" for College Admissions:
-Family with Low Income
-Suffer a Chronic inflammatory condition in 7th Grade that brought me into High School at 55 lbs. A continuing medical issue that often causes pain, stress, and anxiousness. Has influenced me to want to be a physician in the future so as to empathize with patients who have similar conditions.</p>
<p>Hooks are generally… nonacademic factors that can significantly impact admissions (as in, be make or break). Particularly, URM status, legacy, or athlete recruitment are considered “hooks.”</p>
<p>As for what you have, low income is not a hook, although it can help you qualify for very good aid (notably at need blind institutions, you will be admitted/rejected regardless of needing financial aid, and they will address your full need–so you are in a good position if you have stats to be competitive for those schools). Your condition is not a hook either, but it would possibly make a good essay topic as a problem that you’ve overcome and that has impacted who you are.</p>
<p>No. A hook is an advantage. By the nature of hooks, though, the majority of applicants don’t have them. You don’t need a hook to get in, but a hook can help someone who would have been rejected based on their application be admitted instead.</p>
<p>If you don’t have a hook, there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it, as they can’t just be created.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t having a very low income be some sort of a ‘hook’ since colleges are also looking for socioeconomic diversity as well as racial diversity? Not sure…</p>
<p>Not really. Part of the argument for AA is that it on average will bring the college some socioeconomic diversity, but being poor without URM status doesn’t really help. Socioeconomic diversity is supposed to be made possible by full need/need blind policies, but the admissions office at a need blind institution will have no financial information on you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the discussion, I know understand what “Need-Blind” is, as well as “Hook”.
A final thought…
If the Admissions Committee takes a look at 2 people, one without any form of a hook and one with a particular hook… which part of the application would be more appealing/more likely to be accepted:
Stats, EC’s, or the Hook that person B has?</p>
<p>@levinel: I think while hooks give advantages, they’re not necessarily shoo-ins to any university. And again, you have to remember that even if a student is a URM or athlete or something, that student would still be compared to all the OTHER URMs/atheletes/legacies out there. To answer your question, though, I think that if these people were ABSOLUTELY equal in every way, shape and form (stats, ecs, essay), the one with the hook would win. However, since it’s impossible to craft an identical application to anyone else (at the very least, I would hope that the essay is different!), I guess the question is kind of a moot point.</p>