<p>hey guys,</p>
<p>i honestly dont know what a hook is, i only know one and it is recruited athletes.</p>
<p>to all those kind, helpful people out there, please post ALL the hooks you know of?</p>
<p>i see people giving a hook saying 1/2 mexican blah blah, how does that become a hook?</p>
<p>and what if you 1/2 mexican 1/2 <em>insert a good nationality here for a hook</em> but your not a citizen, will it still help?</p>
<p>Addressing the 1/2 Mexican thing…I am genetically 1/2, but legally I’ve been marked down as Hispanic all my life, and certainly won’t be changing it now, so I am an URM. </p>
<p>I don’t know that non-citizen is a hook, however.</p>
<p>A “hook” is any quality about you that stands out on your college application and separates you from other applicants. Usually a good GPA would not help you, since most students applying to a college have similar GPA’s, but something such as race would. Colleges are looking to have a wide distribution of students from each state, race, country, etc. Other things such as sports could be a hook. Being a recruited athlete is one, but playing a very interesting and rare sport, such as water polo, pole vaulting, surfing, and others, could help you get noticed. Other E.C.'s, such as playing a musical instrument, are the same way.</p>
<p>The thing to remember about hooks is that they are only good if your “hook” is what the college you are applying to is looking for. It doesn’t matter if you are one of three people in the whole U.S. that plays the panpipes if the other two are at that college because the college does not need that talent. If you are a stellar soccer player, this ability may not help you if hundreds of soccer players are applying to the same college.</p>
<p>Do not be discouraged if you think that your “hook” is not good enough. No one lists a specific “hook” when they apply to college; the admissions officers notice something about your application that grabs their attentions, and that is your hook. I know someone who was 1/16th Native American who listed it as one of her nationalities, so nearly anything could count (just don’t lie!).</p>
<p>Good luck on your applications!</p>
<p>P.S. I don’t think that not being a U.S. citizen is considered a hook, but being a citizen of another country IS a hook.</p>
<p>^how about if i’m not a U.S citizen,but a citizen of OTHER country?is it a hook?</p>
<p>Depends. England? Not really. Sri Lanka? Definitely.</p>
<p>This question has been asked in one shape or form abundant times, please use the Search function to find related threads. Here are two examples of recent threads that appear on the first 2 pages of this forum:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/710235-examples-hook.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/710235-examples-hook.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/767976-any-things-i-have-here-considered-hook.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/767976-any-things-i-have-here-considered-hook.html</a></p>
<p>Note this from the second thread:</p>
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<p>That’s it, and I’d even put legacy in the tip rather than hook category for many colleges. </p>
<p>There’s a difference between things that “get you noticed” and a hook. A hook is a quality in a candidate that all colleges are interested in because they directly benefit the school in some way (eg. URM diversity, potential $$, skilled athlete). </p>
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<p>If you’re “not a citizen”, then you’re an Intl. applicant, which is not a hook. AGAIN, while being from a poorly represented country might make you stand out, it is NOT a hook. While Intl. students add diversity to a campus, this is not in the same category as increasing the percentage of URMs.</p>
<p>I know a kid that was accepted into RPI with basement GPA and average SATs based on being from an underrepresented state. The school was very upfront about saying they were interested in him because of where he was from. Different hooks for different schools.</p>
<p>Yeah and even if you aren’t a citizen you can still be a permanent resident which would not make you an international student but still contribute to diversity.</p>
<p>Hey guys, is it somehow a hook or something that will make me stand out/get noticed if im form the philippines? im 1/4 spanish by the way…</p>