<p>what are some examples of hooks that help get people in? i'd appreciate any comments.</p>
<p>1) Superior athletic skill (contact a coach to see if you have it).
2) URM status. Discussion <a href="http://www.ephblog.com/archives/002748.html">here</a>.
3) Sigificant wealth (your family donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to charity).</p>
<p>Legacy status helps a bit but not nearly as much as these three.</p>
<p>how potent are academic hooks, for instance im a pretty good debater? will that help me get in or is that just considered a cool ec?</p>
<p>My guess is just a cool EC.</p>
<p>In addition to obvious advantages given to athletes, legacies and URMs, achievement in the arts is also a significant hook at Williams. </p>
<p>In order to maintain their lively and well funded arts scene Williams needs to attract and admit a fair percentage of artists, dancers, musicians, writers, actors. There are performance and extra-curricular opportunities in all of these areas and not just for kids who major in the arts. The combination of academic excellence + arts accomplishment + involvement in sports or some kind of physical activity is quite common and I think the best hook of all.</p>
<p>This is an aspect of Williams’ character that is often misunderstood or overlooked, but in fact Williams puts a lot more emphasis on the arts than most other LACs of comparable selectivity and academic rigor. For example, there are three world class art museums on or near campus, they just built a $50million performing arts center, there are many music performance venues – classical, jazz and popular, the English department employs several acclaimed writers and poets, Williamstown is the home of one of the foremost summer theater programs in the country. </p>
<p>Chillax, As I wrote separately, your accomplishments in the debate arena can be a positive for admissions: “In a more general sense debate is an EC that develops many characteristics that lead to success at a school like Williams: i.e., communication, analysis, self-confidence. You don’t want to SAY this directly, but you can imply it indirectly by focusing on your debate experience in your essays and recommendations.”</p>