OFFICIAL Harvard HOOK site!!!

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621

<p>martinibluex, I don't think Jo.InC's comment was directed towards you. It was a speculation in general.</p>

<p>I do believe there are "hooks," but not in the liberal way people use the term here. A hook is something that the admissions committee doesn't see very often, that makes the student desirable for the student body. It just makes the person stand out. Now, I really, really need to come across well in the essays, because I don't have a "hook." I haven't done anything or lived anywhere that would make me a significant contribution to the college. Heck, I don't know if I'm typical or abnormal or anything inbetween; I'm just me. "Me" is all I could put in the application, so I did.</p>

622

<p>I would have liked it if it was; that would mean that he got the whole point of my app without even reading it - just by me mentioning it. I feel that way, but I didn't try to emphacise it. It is their decision if I did fall or rise.</p>

623

<p>I'm not sure there's a real "formula" for the best essay. One of my essays was about my parents divorce, a completely unoriginal theme that I'm sure many have had worse experiences with. I believe it is the passion with which I wrote it that made it good.</p>

624

<p>^^ SOrry I comnted on the posts from the previous page</p>

625

<p>martinibluex-great fight club reference</p>

626

<p>you can read me like a book :)</p>

627

<p>SEWcurious: I believe in passion too. I believe that it is the way you perceive things that makes you different not actually the things that you do; they can hardly be unique. Have you seen Prozac Nation? Elizabeth Wurtzel (Christina Ricci) wrote an essay about her paren't divorce that got her in. It is a topic that actually gets out a lot of emotions out of people.</p>

<p>In my essay I exibited quite a bit of passion, but I think I might have crossed a line. Now that I read it it sounds somewhat extreme and slightly arrogant. If you know me you'd know what I mean but if you don't you might get the wrong impression.
P.S. This second part is directed mostly towards future applicatnts, so they don't make the same mistake I did.</p>

628

<p>can I read it?</p>

629

<p>It is actually a reasons for transfer essay... I can e-mail it to you. PM me your e-mail.</p>

630

<p>i may have to transfer schools for senior year.....this is my current junior schedule...and also my senior schedule....</p>

<p>junior (projected)
APUS II
H french IV
H LA III
H precalc
H physics
AP chem </p>

<p>senior
AP physics AB
AP physics BC
AP calc BC
AP com sci AB
AP english lit
AP eco
AP world/european history </p>

<p>would a leap in schedule difficulty be a "hook"? a small one maybe?
or is transferring schools just bad.....and it doesnt matter what my schedule looks like?</p>

631

<p>If APs in those courses (physics, french, etc.) weren't available to you as a junior, then that won't even stand out, although of course taking all those APs (by the way, it's Physics B and Physics C :p) is very very impressive!!</p>

632

<p>oh right.
it might be good to clarify......that those courses arent availble to me as a junior......</p>

<p>and the following courses werent even offered to me as a senior at my old school:
AP calcBC
AP physics C (the second one. lol. im guessing the first physics is AP physics B)
AP eco
AP com sci AB
AP world history</p>

<p>soo.....yea. if i didnt transfer....this would be my schedule
AP physics A ..........(same)
AP bio .......... (replaces APphysB)
AP calc AB .......... (replaces APcalcBC)
AP com sci A .......... (replacesAP comsciAB)
AP english lit .......... (same)
AP eco .......... (replaces AP french)
AP world/european history .......... (replaces a free period)</p>

633

<p>Would writing a musical based on John Steinbeck's "Grapes Of Wrath", winning a scholarship for it and then having it be considered for professional production be considered a hook by you people?</p>

<p>Already applied, so I guess I can't have second thoughts about this one.</p>

634

<p>Pleonsan, sorry but grades are never a hook however impressive they may be (well, maybe if you took all of those in 6th grade or something). Grades are kind of the anti-hook. </p>

<p>Canaday, the play thing is definately a hook, and one of the stronger ones I've heard of.</p>

635

<p>100% Roma ("gypsy")....first-generation American
All-State percussion...and I'm female
Drumline captain
Varisty volleyball captain
President National Honor Society
lots of other ec's that everybody else probably has</p>

636

<p>SWEEEET!</p>

<p>Sorry, couldn't resist.</p>

637

<p>That must be one depressing musical.</p>

638

<p>Most of it, yes. However, there are some pretty upbeat numbers in the beginning, when the Joads haven't moved away yet.
Example: Preacher Casey's entrance solo when he meets Tom Joad. The chorus goes like this:
"You wanna get to heaven, boy,
I'll give you a few tips.
You gotta stay away from God
And in a woman's slips
The saints in all their holiness
Are just a bunch of drips
Who haven't got nuthin'
Between their hips."</p>

<p>So unless you think hedonism is depressing...:)</p>

639

<p>lol thats awesome. The rest of the play must be really, really depressing though. Are there any other upbeat numbers?</p>

640

<p>Yes, plenty others. For instance, there's "Hey Mister" at the very beginning, when Tom's asking for a ride.</p>

<p>"Hey Mister,
Hey Mister
How 'bout givin' me a ride
Just drop me off quickly
Up there at the next roadside.</p>

<p>TRUCKER
My sign says 'no riders',
So get off my ***, you swine</p>

<p>JOAD
Rich bastards
Just make you
Carry that goddamn sign.
It's not as if I'm somepin bad
I promise I won't make yeh sad
Yeh took me and I'd sure be glad!"</p>

<p>That's only part of it. There's also "You can't keep a Joad in Jail."</p>

<p>"What you do, bust out?
Well, there weren't no doubt
That you can't keep a Joad in jail
We are strong and coarse
Like a wild horse
And you can't keep a Joad in jail.
The walls are pottery,
The bars are watery
The guards are doddery
And always fail
To keep a Joad in jail!"</p>

<p>Again, only one version of the chorus. And then there's the one I always play for people when I tell them about the musical, which is Casey's prayer at the dinner table:</p>

<p>"Well, I was walkin' through the woods and thinkin'
I ain't doubtin'
But there must be more to God than what
A preacher's shoutin',
That's when I got to figurin'
The Lord, he needs us
Just like we need his mercy and the
Word of Jesus!
It seemed to make a lot of sense to me
Though it could be described as blasphemy
Either this was epiphany
Or it was Satan's infamy
That's when I started wonderin', wonderin', wonderin'
Oh, God in heaven, what is...</p>

<p>Holy, holy, holy
God almighty, what is
Holy, holy, holy
Oh my God
I was damn confused
And pretty rightly,
I'd say.
Holy, holy, holy,
What a word!
Like one man workin' together with the others
That's holy, holy, holy, holy
Not because he has to, but because they're like his brothers
That's holy, holy, holy
I reckon this is what the Lord told me
And I'll say it out here loud and boldly
I think I figured out what's holy
Looooord!"</p>

<p>That's the first verse. Other than that, I can't really think of anything too upbeat in the musical. Many of the tunes are quick and rhythmic, but most of them are in a minor key and sound more angry than upbeat (example: "Camp Hooverville," the big production number). Really, the upbeat stuff is sort of concentrated at the beginning. </p>

<p>Sorry this is so long, but I hope it answers your questions.</p>