Hooks

Prep School Admissions
21

<p>Noted. :)</p>

22

<p>In my estimation, a "hook: is an attribute that:</p>

<p>1) fills an immediate need the school has identified
examples:

  • a musician who plays an instrument for which there is a vacancy in the school band. I.e. “Our only tuba player is graduating this year”
  • a skilled athlete in a sport in which the school does not have enough players for its team (water polo and crew comes to mind, since not many kids have competed at the middle school level)
  • URM (i.e. not white or asian race)
  • development case. Your parents pledge to fund the construction of a $20 million dollar new science building. (We actually witnessed the admissions staff fawn over one of these families while we were waiting in the Admissions Office reception area at one very popular school)</p>

<p>**2) or, gives the school bragging rights **
examples:

  • a recruited athlete, meaning an ultra-elite athlete. A school has enough swimmers or soccer players, but you are so awesome that you would enable the team to bring home the championship.
  • geographic diversity. If you enroll, the school can brag on its website that they have kids from 42 states instead of 41 states, or from 17 countries instead of 16 countries.
  • celebrity parents: old money, high political leader, movie star, CEO (i.e., “Wow, the son on the Prime Minister of Elbonia is in my algebra class!)
  • celebrity yourself: Malia Obama</p>

<p>“Legacy” without previous significant development contributions isn’t what it used to be. “Sibling” isn’t so much a hook as it is a higher yield likelihood-- I’ve seen so many of S1’s friends’ younger sibs WL’d. </p>

<p>A “hook” may might cut you some slack for lower academic credentials, but it will not guarantee admission.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your clarification @GMTplus7 I can always rely on you for accurate responses. </p>

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<p>@GMTplus7- At least now when you write about “sexy low admit rates” you have the right profile pic. </p>

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<p>Hi,</p>

<p>My hook is that I live in a certain Caribbean country. I’ve also lived in Guam as well as Illinois and play rugby which is quite rare in the states. I also was 5th in debate nationals when I was in 7th grade. Thoughts? Thanks.</p>

26

<p>

I don’t know about “accurate”. As I said in the post, that’s just my personal guess about what attributes will make an AO give your application priority. I’m just a parent, not an AO.</p>

<p>Like SevenDad said, being a BWRK does not make an applicant stand out from the crowd of applicants who are all pretty much BWRKs.</p>

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<p>7Dad - fingers in my ears and saying “LALALALALA.” </p>

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<p>theduke: I’ve posted these stats before, but it might be helpful to list them again for others wondering about those 40-something countries represented at BS. These are current Choate stats, country followed by number of students. There are also 13 students from Illinois at Choate right now and, as you can see, a few from Caribbean countries. If your country is not listed here, I would consider that a hook.</p>

<p>Afghanistan 1
Bahamas 2
Bahrain 2
Bermuda 1
Brazil 1
Canada 16
China 31
Colombia 1
Croatia 1
Egypt 2
England 3
France 2
Germany 3
Hong Kong 13
India 3
Indonesia 1
Iran 1
Italy 2
Jamaica 3
Japan 4
Kazakhstan 1
Kenya 5
Malyasia 1
Mexico 5
Monaco 2
Nigeria 4
Phillipines 1
Russia 1
Rwanda 1
Saudi Arabia 8
Singapore 1
South Korea 31
St Johns, Antigua & Barbuda 1
Sweden 2
Switzerland 2
Taiwan 1
Thailand 9
Turkey 1
Ukraine 2
United Arab Emirates 1
Vietnam 3
Zimbabwe 1</p>

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<p>Are there stats for the states?</p>

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<p>I have previously posted these:</p>

<p>Most Represented States: #
CT 322
NY 105
NJ 36
MA 32
CA 27
TX 19
Total: 541</p>

<p>I haven’t done a breakdown for the rest.</p>

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<p>Wow! That Connecticut number is crazy even though the school is in Connecticut! Is this an accurate reflection of all TSAO schools?</p>

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<p>

Day students…</p>

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<p>

The school only counts where u live now</p>

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<p>@ ChoatieMom,
Some interesting observations about your Choate numbers: </p>

<p>As as many students come from China 31 as MA 32, and pretty much as many come from Canada 16 as TX 19. </p>

<p>The students from China+HongKong+SKorea (31+13+31) make up 9% of the student body.</p>

<p>A huge number of students come from CT+NY, because that is where the money is.</p>

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<p>@theduke9999: I play rugby in the United States. Also, I am the captain of my schools debate club, and my team recently earned a trip to nationals. What schools are you applying to?</p>

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<p>@shadow70: Hi, The schools I’m applying to are:</p>

<p>Andover
Deerfield
Middlesex
Lawrenceville
Lake Forest Academy (I’m from Lake Forest)
The Hill School
Loomis Chaffee</p>

<p>@GMTplus7:</p>

<p>Do you think since I told my AO’s that I lived in Guam, that it’ll add another dimension to my application?</p>

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<p>Yes, that CT number is heavily day students: 205 day vs. 118 boarders (for 323 total, not 322).</p>

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<p>@duke,
The AO’s at some of the schools we visited said emphatically that they value the cosmopolitan world-experiences that expat kids bring. Then at other schools, the AO’s didn’t seem to care.</p>

<p>Simply mentioning that u used to live in Guam is not a big deal; lots of people move. However, describing in some depth in the interview or essay, how living in Guam changed you, makes u a more interesting candidate. </p>

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<p>@GMTplus7</p>

<p>Thanks. I definitely did elaborate on it during interviews.</p>

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<p>Does this count as a hook? I’m the president and founder of my school’s student-led creative writing club, and I’ve been acting at a dinner theater for a year and a half, making $30 a show and saving most of it for BS related costs. </p>