Just turned in my application a few hours ago (SCEA) to Stanford and I’m wondering what I can really consider “hooks.”
I’m a legacy (father and grandfather) and my father worked at the admissions office his senior year at Stanford.
I’m Asian, European and Hispanic. Could I really consider myself a URM if I’m white and asian too? (I’m Mexican and Spanish).
I also submitted an arts supplement with a glowing letter from my piano teacher and a really solid set of recordings/resume. My college counselor/dean said that it will help me…
Oh, my dad also has donated to Stanford nearly every year since graduating (not a /huge/ amount––think 5k)
Your hooks are legacy and URM. You are welcome to claim URM status if you identify culturally as Hispanic and that is your decision alone. Note that many Hispanics have some or even mostly European ancestry. (Some have Asian ancestry too.)
Art supplements, glowing recommendations, and all the rest are part of a strong submission but are not themselves hooks. Hooks are things that the university is specifically seeking out - recruited athletes have a hook, as do kids whose families can endow chairs, build facilities, etc…(an annual donation of a few hundred or few thousand dollars doesn’t by itself provide a hook.)