<p>Hey guys,
I am an immigrant from a 3rd world country whose parents did not attend college; I will be considered a first-generation college attendee, but not the first person to go to college because my older brother already has that title. ;) Anyway, would this be considered a hook? My brother did not discuss this in either of his essays, but I plan to discuss my life back home in my essay.</p>
<p>Let me know!</p>
<p>anything can be a hook
its all depends on how it’s worded</p>
<p>Also, would this hook alleviate the damage done by my somewhat low GPA? I go to an extremely competitive school (and when I say competitive, I mean competitive–at least 15 students out of ~100 students attend Ivy’s and the majority attend top 50 universities), and A’s are not handed out like lollipops. My average is around a B+/A-, but I have stellar SAT scores (2270 SAT I, 730+ on 3 SAT II’s). I’m looking at places such as Duke, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown.</p>
<p>@mysweetwawa, could you please elaborate?</p>
<p>your rank should put your gpa into context.</p>
<p>My school does not rank nor provide a GPA due to the extreme competitiveness. Eyeballing it, I’m about ~20 due to the scholarship kids who have been conditioned all of their lives to perform well in school (although I have higher SAT scores than most of them).</p>
<p>This is not a hook. A hook is something like this: a recruited athlete, your family donated millions of dollars to the school (a developmental case), you are an Olympic medal winning athlete, the son or daughter of a President, you cured cancer, etc. But you are still considered first generation if both of your parents did not attend college so that is good. It will give you a slight bump, but it is definitely not a guarantee by any means.</p>
<p>Ohio mom is clueless, 1st generation is a hook. Just a word of thought stellar SAT II scores are generally 800s since so many people get them lol, and anything below 750 would almost be non reportable</p>
<p>Bernie, my man, do you think a 730 in Literature will really hurt me if I got a 5 on the AP English Language exam? I also got an 750 on Math I and an 800 on Math II.</p>
<p>BernieMadoff~
You are incorrect. First Generation is not a hook. A bump or tip, yes. A hook, no.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/493792-first-gen-college-student-hook.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/493792-first-gen-college-student-hook.html</a></p>
<p>This one’s fiesty.</p>
<p>What do you mean a hook? like for an essay right? Then you can talk about your home not only in an anecdote but throughout you story as it is rare.</p>
<p>but if you mean an edge in admissions, then only your first generation status will, which is not much sadly</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You’re thinking more along the lines of a theme or an essay topic.</p>
<p>A hook as used in college admissions and as used in this context means something independent of the components of the application that provides a significant edge in admissions. It’s usually demographic (whether race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, parents’ education, etc.) unless it’s recruited athlete status.</p>
<p>Bernie: you are incorrect. 1st Generation may be a “considered item” by some schools. By definition, a “hook” is a MUST HAVE. Whenever someone with a genuine hook appears in the stack, it gets propelled to the top of the consideration pile.</p>
<p>First generation – plenty of them. Recruited athletes? Very few.</p>
<p>Follow up question: Wondering if it’s tip, bump or hook . . . how about a national caliber athlete in a sport that is unconventional where the athlete represents country but will not play for the school? It represents the qualities that go into acheiving that level of performance (transferable to academic acheivment, passion over time in non-scholarship sport, perseverence, etc) and some lower level marketing/branding benefit when schools are listed in press materials for athlete, but no competative edge to school.</p>
<p>^ Athletic accomplishment is always a plus, but this won’t rise to the level of being a recruited athlete. Probably just a strong EC.</p>
<p>could a unique family situation be a hook? for example, being orphaned recently?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not exactly. I’m cutting and pasting (with minor modifications) something I posted about a month ago in another thread:</p>
<p>When people on CC talk about “hooks,” they are usually talking about a characteristic of an applicant that meets a college’s wants or needs.</p>
<p>Many colleges and universities want racial and socioeconomic diversity. A student who is a member of an underrepresented minority group, or who comes from a disadvantaged background, meets this want.</p>
<p>Most colleges and universities have basketball teams, swim teams, volleyball teams, etc. A student who is a talented athlete meets an institutional need for players. The same principle may apply, to a lesser extent, to a student who can play in an orchestra or do a lighting design for a play.</p>
<p>All colleges depend on generous donors. A student whose family can and will make a generous monetary gift to a college or university is unquestionably “hooked.”</p>
<p>But I don’t think a lot of colleges feel a particular desire or a need to enroll orphans–at least, not in the way they want and need linebackers and sprinters. Your own family situation may or may not make you interesting to the admissions committee, but I don’t think it qualifies as a “hook.” </p>
<p>And, btw, if you, Hailey, are recently orphaned, I am very sorry for your loss.</p>
<p>Hooks don’t have to be the most amazing characteristics on the planet, OhioMom2. Providing a CollegeConfidential link as a source is not going to validate anything. </p>
<p>I spoke with the admissions director at UPenn when she did a conference down here, and being a first generation college student is certainly a hook… I definitely would put more faith in her answer than forum threads. Along with this, being a URM, fighting/fought cancer, etc… are hooks as well. Yes, being the president’s daughter is a hook, but that’s just ridiculous. Hooks aren’t found in .001% of the population during admissions.</p>
<p>^ Uh, no. I wasn’t there when the admissions director spoke to you but being first gen at UPenn is only “considered” just like geographic residence and is weighted less than ECs. <a href=“http://www.upenn.edu/ir/Common%20Data%20Set/UPenn%20Common%20Data%20Set%202010-11.pdf[/url]”>http://www.upenn.edu/ir/Common%20Data%20Set/UPenn%20Common%20Data%20Set%202010-11.pdf</a> That makes it a tip. Ohiomom has the correct definition of a hook.</p>