<p>Heys guys! I thought we could all share something interesting about ourselves or what we are using as our hooks just to pass time :) This wait is excruciatingly painful so I thought that this could veer our attention away from the thought of March 10th. </p>
<p>My hook at exeter tabor and govs is legacy, at Milton I don’t really have one lol</p>
<p>I also have some interesting hobbies that may catch the schools’ eyes. Horseback riding and speech team aren’t things that a lot of applicants do! At least I don’t think so…</p>
<p>@exeterbunny There you go! I like it.</p>
<p>I’m doing the House of Delegates Page Program in Virginia, and I’m on honor council at my school</p>
<p>I’m extremely well rounded (2 sports, instrument/concert band, community service, and other extracurriculars; don’t know if that is good or bad), I’m a URM, and I’m a legacy at one of the schools I’m applying to.</p>
<p>I’m a writer! I’ve never been righter! (And I crack bad puns all day and all night long.)</p>
<p>@stargirl3 same!! I “specialize” in creative nonfiction (essays, poetry). Writers are never wrong. #doyougetit 
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<p>I do fiction, but that’s just because I enjoy it more. </p>
<p>Is being part of the national team for a sport that is not offered at any boarding school a hook? </p>
<p>Whyami: It certainly sets you apart from the crowd… And that is something to be proud of!!</p>
<p>I do speech and I have placed and finaled in Prose reading. I swim, and I am interested in Foreign trade because it integrates Finance (math) and Cultural knowledge (SS), my two favorite subjects</p>
<p>I said this on another thread, but here’s my awesome quote:</p>
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<p>Hooks do help, though. But its possible to get into any school without a hook. Right @GMTPlus7 ? GMT knows their stuff.</p>
<p>FWIW, I don’t think being “well rounded” is a hook at all. So many of the applicants are well-rounded…honor roll soccer players who can play the viola and do so regularly at old folks homes (volunteer work), etc. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that to some extent the AOs are building a class. And while there is room for the run of the mill well-rounded kid…I think being “hooked” means that you are more of an angular or “t-shaped” student. Meaning that you have one thing that you are AMAZEBALLS at/SUPER PASSIONATE about and have achieved something in that realm. You build a class with the right mix of angular students and you’ll have a well-rounded class and not just a class of well rounded students. Does that make sense?</p>
<p>Being a URM is a hook, but of course not one that just anyone can work toward.</p>
<p>I think being on the national team/nationally ranked for anything is a good hook. So say, you’re one of the best youth speed skaters in the country…even if a school does not have a team, I think you’d be attractive to that school because you have excelled at something. You can bet that when your folder goes through the Admissions Department you will no doubt be known as “the speed skater”.</p>
<p>@whyamievenhere: The only caveat I’d throw out there is that if you intend to continue in the sport at which you excel, make sure the school is flexible enough to accommodate your training and competition schedule. Many schools discussed here have Saturday classes and/or mandatory chapels or other requirements that can prove challenging to elite athletes in unsupported sports. Hopefully the schools to which you’ve applied allow you the time/flex to pursue your sport — if in fact you plan on continuing in high school.</p>
<p>@SevenDad what does FWIW mean?</p>
<p>I figured being well rounded wasn’t a hook, but I made it clear at all of my schools that if I am admitted I will be able to discover my passion (due to a backstory that is too revealing). Thank you for putting that into perspective for me. I think I’m pretty angular, it just doesn’t look like that when I give a brief input (but I guess that’s why they have interviews, school visits, and essays!)</p>
<p>FWIW=For What It’s Worth</p>
<p>No worries, I just wanted to clarify that merely being an above average well-rounded smart kid will not set you apart in the applicant pool. I think MANY people underestimate the competition to the most selective and even the more selective schools.</p>
<p>You are totally true. I understand and respect CC veterans.</p>
<p>“AMAZEBALLS”. I may have to borrow that one someday… </p>
<p>@PhotographerMom: Caution…Amazeballs might be out date already. I’m sure one of the kids on the forum will let us know.</p>
<p>@needtoboard: We are no legacy family or anything, but I have now gone through it twice (fingers crossed for M10 2014) with my kids. I have seen plenty of people end up with nothing but thin envelopes on M10, many of them people who have focused exclusively on the most selective schools because they (or their parents) felt these are “the only ones worth going to”. </p>
<p>I have shared my first daughter’s application process story from start to finish, partly to show that even a smart kid with good stats (including two 800s on the SSAT and one question shy of a third) can get flat out rejected from schools. But still that doesn’t seem to resonate with some…and honestly, I’ve mostly given up trying to convince them otherwise.</p>