I am a sophomore. I am deeply passionate about history and politics. I know how difficult it is to get into an Ivy League school, and I would like to maximize my chances by developing the strongest possible “spike” or “hook”.
There’s no such thing as a “hook” with these schools. The applications are so homogeneous that it really becomes a smart person lottery. The best hook is just to be yourself and not worry about getting in. If you’re desperate, you’re going to come across that way in the application, and the application will sound disingenuous. If you’re your calm self without the mountain of expectations, it’ll come across better. And…you probably won’t get in anyway. There are PLENTY of options for you!
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Also, real hooks are not something you can just drum up through (late) effort or interest. For example, these are hooks that you either are or aren’t by now:
- URM
- First-gen
- Development case
- Olympic-level athlete
- Prodigy of any type
Or you, the student, can write that tuition check from your wildly successful business/invention/service. For everyone else, you just need to put together the best application you can that highlights where and how you genuinely shine and let the chips fall where they may.
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That is awesome that you have found a passion for politics at your younger age! There are so many colleges outside the Ivy league that offer strong political science and history programs with all different acceptance rates.
I believe as you research more schools - you will see a broad list of strong colleges/universities in these areas. In my opinion, you are too young to be limiting your colleges right now. I imagine you high school or counselor office has a copy of the Princeton review of colleges and/or The Fiske Guide to colleges - you may enjoy reading and learning more about schools this way.
To continue to explore your passion - you can volunteer on a campaign (local and national) in your area, participate in student government, mock trial or any clubs offered at your school (or make a club) that reflects your interests and passion.
None of this will be a hook or spike for any school - but it will show a school that you have a true interest in studying these subjects, how you would add this interest to their university community and also allow you the opportunity to try out different things now while exploring these interests.
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If you look at Section C7 of the Common Data Set for the Ivies (or any school, if it is available), you will see a category for nonacademic admissions factors. Some of these factors might give you some ideas about what could be an admissions “hook” for you; although as @ChoatieMom has mentioned above, you’ve either got them by now or you don’t – whatever they may be.
(Here is a link to Princeton’s CDS, which thoughtfully provides links to the CDS of other schools: Common Data Set | The Office of Institutional Research)
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Do what you’re passionate about. Volunteer on a grassroots campaign and/ or a non profit organization that helps people. See if you could be a docent at your local museum.
Whatever you choose to do, be the best you can be.
Remember that finding dream colleges is easy but you need to find affordable good fits for you with a 50% admit rate, so try to find two of those. And to find them, you need to have an idea what matters to you: spectator sports? Lots of intrmural participation ? A college with a quidditch team? A House system for all 4 years? Special freshman housing? Housing guaranteed for 1 or 2 or 4 years? Quality of the food? Sunshine? Snow?
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That’s not really true in the experience of my kids and their friends. Admission into a particular selectivity tier was generally predictable in the sense that we could predict who would get into top 10, top 20 or top 40, but not any particular college.
@ChoatieMom defined the list of “hooks” so either you are one of them or you are not (child of faculty is one more). “Spike” is a different matter and there you may have a chance.
Given your interest in history, I recommend taking a look at The Concord Review. Those who get published tend to have great outcomes, and even those that don’t will learn a great deal about a topic that will come through their application.
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What aspect of politics interests you? You can get involved at the local level easily by attending meetings open to the public. You can also volunteer on a campaign at the local, state or national level.
What areas of history interest you? You can volunteer at a museum, historical organization, join some reenactments, teach kids…many possibilities.
But do these things for your own development and to help others. College admission may or may not be a by-product, but it is much healthier to do things because you genuinely are interested.
You are only a sophomore. You can delay thinking about colleges for a year, and when you do focus on admissions, make sure to learn about a wide range of schools. I always recommend the website for Colleges that Change Lives as a start. Also google “little Ivies.”
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As a Sophomore, start thinking about what things you are looking for in a college (Ivy League isn’t anything more than an athletic conference). You can start with the Ivys but look to find what makes each one unique, which ones align to your academic interests…
Once you figure out why you might prefer Brown over Princeton, then look for other schools that have similar characteristics to Brown (Skidmore, Hamilton, University of Rochester…). Look at some of the other suggestions posted here (colleges that change lives…)
You’re only a sophomore now and you will likely change your mind 10 times between now and senior year but think about what you want to do. You like history, would you like to become a teacher, go to law school, etc. You are interested in Politics, what schools give you access to internships in DC? or New York?..
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You should understand that you don’t have to have a spike. A “spike” is simply another way of saying “clearly defined area of interest.” There are many students who get into tippy top colleges without showing one particular well defined interest. Maybe they show genuine interest in a number of things.
Successful applicants to tippy top colleges (barring hooked students) usually show who they really are. The things they do and what they say in their essays shows the college what they look for and that the student will be a good fit. There is no one way to demonstrate this. One accepted kid might be a computer wiz, another might be great at track AND computers.
Please abandon the thinking that all your energy needs to be directed towards one “spike” and that there is a formula for success. You need to especially not focus on the Ivy League, or Stanford or MIT. Inevitably, we see sad posts each April from students who pinned everything on a dream and wind up disappointed.
Having been around for a while, I can tell you honestly that a majority of kids who end up at HYPSM and the like have often been pursuing their interests for a much longer time than sophomore year. I do not agree, at all, with an earlier comment that successful applicants are homogenous and a smart person’s lottery. Undoubtedly, most are intelligent and hard working, but that might be where their commonalities end. It’s not a lottery and you don’t improve your chances of winning by submitting a bunch of applications.
Spend the next 18 months maintaining high grades in the hardest classes you can manage, and in doing what interests you. Spend time researching the many excellent colleges that might work as safety or match schools when it’s time to apply. Steering yourself in just one direction, Ivy or bust, is not the road to happiness. Having choices is a more realistic goal that will lead to better outcomes. Maybe some of your choices will be tippy top colleges, but when a college denies 90%+ of its applicants, you can’t count on that.
ETA: To address your question, the best way to develop your spike is to find opportunities which align with your interest. You’re into politics? Get involved with a local legislator and volunteer. Write postcards to voters. Here is a useful link. 7 Ways for Teens to Get Involved in Politics - Bridge Alliance
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History, English, Psychology, Comp Sci, Economics are all great subjects to major in, but are also among the most popular in in the Ivy League and in the liberal arts and sciences generally. Short of being published in a major law journal or something at that level of spikiness, it’s going to be hard to establish your bona fides in the soft sciences. Do well in all your subjects, manage your standardized testing (practice, retake, if necessary), and cross your fingers.
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As with other students intent on getting the best education possible, your chances of achieving this will improve dramatically with thoughtful college selection. Ivies such as Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Brown would be excellent for the study of history. However, so too would be colleges such as Williams, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Haverford, Colgate, Bates, Holy Cross, Trinity, Georgetown, UVA, Grinnell, Kenyon and Oberlin. By researching a range of colleges at the appropriate time, you will be likely to achieve more, and perhaps find a better fit, than by focusing on a limited set of schools.
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I wasn’t aware that a hook is different from a spike. I was talking about a spike.
History and English have known a huge decrease in applicants at top schools so that alone may help you if you show academic strength in Humanities and Social Sciences. It means taking at least one foreign language through AP level, trying to take APUSH AND another AP History, all or some of AP Gov (both US and Comp if you can) and AP Econ, English Lang AND Lit + if you’re allowed to dual enroll, Cultural Anthropology and Intro to Philosophy as well as intro history courses that are NOT the same as the APs you’ve taken, would be good additions…
Then, if you make the cut academically, your activities at school AND outside of school => impact on your community would be what matters.
Also, seriously consider the colleges listed by @merc81. Get on the mailing list (“request info”, “join the mailing list”) and click on what they send.
I think people are being overly technical. You’re basically trying to make yourself a highly desirable candidate based on a talent or proven achievement in an academic field you think the college may be on the lookout for. That’s a hard thing to predict or even research as a high school sophomore. These things are not always advertised as “hooks” per se. But, I know what you mean. 