<p>U of C is my #1. I've already applied EA but I'm wondering if I talked about my intended major enough (I consider it my hook). I would like to major in economics and neuroscience and conduct research in neuroeconomics later on. I casually mentioned it but didn't elaborate as to avoid sounding conceited. My stats are on the higher side of the middle 50%. </p>
<p>Should I send a letter of intent explaining my major in depth?</p>
<p>I never got the entire "hook" thing and I really don't think any intended major would be considered as such.</p>
<p>If UofC is truly your 1st choice, I am sure you showed why in your "Why Chicago" essay and other parts of your application. </p>
<p>You sound like a solid applicant who wants to be at Chicago, there is no need to worry and I would strongly advise against sending in a letter.</p>
<p>I am sure everyone could go on for ages about what is a hook... But if you think about it there are ~1300 kids in each incoming class at Chicago, I can assure you not all of them have hooks, but they do have unique personalities/backgrounds/experiences and that in my opinion is far more important than a hook.</p>
<p>GL</p>
<p>I would say no, if only because your intended major is highly subject to change, and Chicago's old application didn't even ask you to list a major. (I think common app has you declare). Because we have a core curriculum that carries you through most of first and second year, it would be foolish for Chicago to admit people solely based on what major they said they wanted to do at the outset, because so many kids are going to change their minds.</p>
<p>However, say you are interested in this field for your four years, we <em>do</em> have a lot of research going on in behavioral economics, which sounds right up your alley.</p>
<p>You should know that we have a design-your-own-major program that would fit for you, I think:
<a href="http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/pdf_09/ISHU.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/pdf_09/ISHU.pdf</a></p>
<p>I have four friends who are doing it, and all of them are doing wildly different projects. The one pitfall they've found is that they have to explain their project every time somebody asks about their major, so they feel like a major in economics/ISHUM or poly sci/ISHUM is more intelligible to the cocktail party crowd.</p>
<p>An explanation of "hook":
[quote]
Most applicants compete not with the whole applicant pool but within specific categories, where the applicant-to-available-space ratio may be more, or less, favorable than in the pool at large. Categories can exist for athletics, ethnic diversity, international citizenship, institutional legacy and loyalty, musical and artistic needs, component schools or special academic programs, and in some cases, even gender. Students in the selected categories, which vary from institution to institution, have a "hook" because they help meet institutional needs. Books such as Elizabeth Duffy and Idana Goldberg's Crafting a Class, former Stanford admission dean Jean Fetter's Questions and Admissions, and former Santa Cruz, Vassar, and Bowdoin dean Richard Moll's Playing the Private College Admissions Game peer into the hidden reality of category admission.
[/quote]
From Reed</a> College Admission Office</p>