<p>Im an international from Pakistan and i want to apply to Harvard, I wanted to ask wether this counts as a hook: I have been one of the security personell at a local mosque. this mosque is of a minority sect (of islam) and we have been the victims of terrorism for a long time and there have been numerous bomb blasts in our mosques. My job was to check people entering the mosques, in case they were terrorists and carrying a bomb or ammunition.</p>
<p>And my Physics teacher at school is also a head of department at a big university here, will his recommendation have extra weight?</p>
<p>If this is a hook(hopefully) do I stand a chance of getting into Harvard with these 2100/1450 on my sat. And whre should i mention it? on the ec's section or write the supplement essay about it?</p>
<p>Not a “hook” per se. When Benazir Bhutto applied to Harvard and her father was President, THAT was a hook. What you have is some really interesting personal experiences, and the advantage of coming from a country that, right now, looks very, very geopolitically important. I would bet that Harvard (and everyone else) is interested in having more Pakistani students. But you are still in competition with all of the other applicants it has from there for a lot fewer places than there are applicants. The question is whether you can use your unique experiences in your essays to complement your academic qualifications and set yourself apart from the pack.</p>
<p>What person X and person Y define as a “hook” can be completely different things. I would argue that a hook is some characteristic of your application that can secure admission despite deficiencies in your application, like uncompetitive scores or a lack of ECs.</p>
<p>Under this definition, I don’t think this qualifies as a hook, but I would be terribly surprised if an admissions officer doesn’t consider your case extremely interesting and something that would definitely make you a great addition to the community. However, you still need to have competitive scores, competitive grades, competitive accomplishments, etc. But this, I’m guessing, will help you.</p>
<p>Oh and to answer your question about where you should mention it, I’d say mention it in your list of ECs and then write your supplemental essay about it. It’s really an interesting topic.</p>
<p>this wouldn’t be a hook, would it?
I mean, personally I felt writing anything about the current situation here (Pakistan, that is) might be kind of what everyone is doing anyway? so yes, since I actually live here, I don’t think in the context of pakistani applicants it would be something unique. In fact, a lot of us who wrote such essays went back to the drawing board and came up with something that was more… us, you know?
And no, I don’t think your Physics teacher’s rec will carry that much more weight as I don’t think they would take the teacher’s qualifications/reputation into account as much as what they say about you?
it IS an EC for sure though.
trouble is, there are a lot of harvard applicants in pakistan, a handful in my school alone with really high scores, so I really hope you’re able to stand out!</p>
<p>ALIMurtaza, I would write an essay about your experiences guarding the mosque, your experiences and your feelings. There are a lot of books out there on how to write an essay for American Universities. Maybe you should look at the book entitled 50 successful Harvard Application essays. The reason I suggest this is that I have heard that often international students will be afraid to write so personal of an essay but for an American University I think you need to convey who you are and what makes you tick, how you feel about the world around you and how you have thrived. These adcoms read tons of essays, make yours stand out, give your essay your voice. Be real, its all you can do! Good luck.</p>
<p>I will agree by saying that it is not a hook in the purest sense, but I still think it will help you get into college (which many people would still call a hook).</p>
<p>Definitely write about it in your ec section, and write an essay about it. It should almost write itself as it is so interesting, but don’t let that hamper you. It is easiest to write a horrible essay on a horrible topic, 2nd easiest to write a horrible essay on a fantastic topic because one might rely on the interest of the topic, rather than the quality of the essay, to explain one’s circumstances.</p>