I’ve heard colleges look highly upon leadership such as being President of student council or the Editor-in-chief of your school newspaper/yearbook, to the point that the adcoms may put your application in a separate pile. How true is this? And would something like this serve as a potential hook?
<p>in a word, no. colleges get tons of Editors-in-chief... i mean tons. A hook is something unique. Editor in chief is not.</p>
<p>Depends on school. And in ivies, it's not going to be a hook. plenty of more unique things out there than editor in chief of your school newspaper (while perhaps failing to mention that there are only 70 students in your graduating class). <---- not much of an accomplishment.</p>
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<p>I disagree with the previous poster. Ed. in Chief is a very good highly desirable EC, no matter the size of your school. Pres of SC is all very good too. Leadership is an important quality at many schools and is essential at selective schools.</p>
<p>This, however, is not a hook. A hook is a very in-depth involvement in an area on multiple fronts.</p>
<p>editor and officerships and such are like "filler" almost expected things for applicants to the most competitive schools. however, if you write a book or something, editor-in-chief becomes a part of that "hook."</p>
<p>a "hook" is basically a unique passion for something. ur pursuit and achievement of this "hook" makes it a "hook." i.e. acting, writing, charity work,</p>
<p>other things such as dire circumstances and sad stories could be a "hook" as well.</p>
<p>its probably too late for you to develop a hook. most peopel dont have one (like me), so dont worry about it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments, guys! I'm really into journalism both in and out of school; like this summer, I'm interning at the Associated Press. I also went to a journalism camp last year, though it was semi low key. Would something like this be considered a hook? This entire application process has me really paranoid, haha.</p>
<p>Somewhat of a hook, yes. where are you applying?</p>
<p>the Ivies, mostly, and some safeties. too much of a reach?</p>
<p>need to know your other stats. Your ECs won't be anything to brag about in ivy admissions.</p>
<p>Keep with the whole journalism theme. That internship is amazing. Try writing for your local paper and become a regular reporter.</p>
<p>Thanks, Bananas. That's a good idea!</p>
<p>i used my karate upper cut as a hook</p>
<p>noel...swanson? blink twice if its you.</p>
<p>Is Eagle Scout a hook?</p>
<p>Of course your editor-in-chief status can be used as a hook. However, in my opinion, once you gloss over it in your EC list and never explain what you actually do...it just becomes filler. For example, as a staff member, section editor, and finally eic of my yearbook I've had to give up countless lunch hours and after school hours...I've also had to manage groups of people, micromanage, learn how to set effective deadlines, etc, etc. I could go on and on, and that's the best part. If your EIC status is really important to you, discuss it in your essay. Show your triumphs, hardships, and what you've done. For some, being an EIC may be filler, but for others it's a passion of theres. Just decide what it is for you.</p>
<p>i disagree with bige and anonymou5. while being editor-in-chief isn't exactly a hook, it definitely is an advantage.</p>
<p>my school makes a college planning handbook for juniors' parents every year. in it, they include some acceptance rates for students in certain high school activities. the handbook i have from my sister is a few years old, so the stats are from 2002. here's some of it:</p>
<p>format:
school:
-activity, acceptance rate, %points over average</p>
<p>georgetown
-squash, 35, +12
-newspaper/yearbook editor, 34, +11
-crew, 31, +8</p>
<p>upenn
-national/state fine arts award winner, 59, +30
-national/state debater, 51, +22
-olympic potential athlete, 50, +21</p>
<p>swarthmore
trumpet, 33, +14</p>
<p>oh yeah, i forgot to mention this:</p>
<p>the point of that was to show that, even though a certain quality may not exactly be critical enough to be dubbed a "hook," it definitely can help.</p>
<p>plus, what if university X was ranked worst college newspaper in the country and is looking to boost its journalism program? editor-in-chiefs would be in high demand. the same thing happens with instruments (as shown by the trumpet statistic from swarthmore). a classic example is the difference between a violinist and violaist. there are ALWAYS an an excess of the former, so the classic asian who plays piano and viola (let's face it, it happens often. don't worry. i'm asian too. kind of.) could have helped their chances by playing viola or bass.</p>
<p>just a thought.</p>
<p>agreed.</p>
<p>yeah 10 characters.</p>