@CatherineF - His stats; 4.0 UW; 4.5 W GPA. 1510 SAT; SATII Math 800; Biology 760; 34 ACT. NMF, ECs are all band related. First Chair for his instrument all 4 years, honor bands, awards etc. He has completed 5 APs; taking 4 more this year. No real ‘hook’ though.
@usma87 keep us posted 
My son’s are comparable but “baseball and football” would be exchanged for your son’s band involvement. My son’s ACT was 33 but 34 superscored. BEST OF LUCK
@CatherineF - same to you. I just want them to pull off the band-aid.
@usma87 !!! LOL I know the feeling. My S told me to stay off this site as its making me “tweak.” Can’t wait to hear your final outcome.
Taking about stress, I have bunch of shingles around my arms and neck now! two weeks to go!
@hooverhoo I just joined college confidential a few weeks ago. I feel exactly how you feel. I was very happy in my bubble until I started reading posts (which most have been enlightening). I don’t want to forget how proud I am that I have such a high achieving student. Whether or not they get “in” doesn’t take that away. Who knew they needed a “hook.”
Thoughts to CC readers: I never really looked for a “hook” when assisting my S in his college applications. He is our first to go to college so I am grateful to be part of this forum for feedback. However, if I really thought about it…I guess my S does perhaps have a “hook.” His General College Essay would be considered “one of a kind.” Not to get too personal, however my S was jumped by a fellow football teammate that resulted in 92 stitches and 2 titanium plates in his cheek. The AD asked him to look the other way so the senior could play. It was a true test to his character as my S stood his ground against a football institution and went on to play his Varsity Season. I guess “strength of character” could be a hook. Yes or No?
@catherineF The strength of character might make the admissions committee just have a positive attitude towards your son, however, in terms of admission that will strongly tip their decision to admitting your son, it will not do. Hook is something that will give an applicant a significant advantage towards admission. The following are hooks: recruited athletes, URM’s, first generation college student, native americans, to some degree legacies and major donors.
@noanswers You should change your name to “answers” as you are very helpful! Based on your definition of “hook” – he does NOT have one then. I will be sure to post the status of his candidacy in the next few weeks.
It must be a great essay that demonstrates your DS’s strength of character, AO will definitely value it in favor of his application, but I would not categorize that as a “hook”. IMHO, a hook is something that provides monetary and/or political benefits to the school itself and to the society in the long run, sort of in some quota or obligation within academic tolerance.
Native American is a subset of URM. I’d also add celebrities in their own right and to a much.lesser extent, children of celebrities.
@hooverhoo Thank you for the explanation. It took a lot for my S to share his story. But when the prompt says “Discuss a situation where you had to overcome a challenge…” well it was a story he had to share. I would think showing strength of character at such a high level would be considered more of a “social” benefit to the school and society in the long rung which is still different than the explanation that you provided.
@CatherineF Is your son an Illinois State AP scholar, as in most APs in the state w/ highest average score or am I reading that wrong?
@FreePariah My S in an Illinois State Scholar and also an AP Scholar with Honors. Separate awards. He received 5’s on all of his AP exams.
My apologies - I did know that Harvard was Div 1 sports - of course it’s the Ivy League. Us Big Ten alums sometimes forget that.
@usma87 - I assume you are a WP grad - what company were you in? My DH is '90 grad.
@Choski94 sent you a PM
@jzducol, do you mean figure skater Nathan Chen? If so, when and where did you hear he had applied and was deferred? Certainly, he would count in @skieurope 's hooked category of “celebrity in [his] own right.”
@EastGrad Sorry, I misspelled the figure skater Nathan Chen’s last name. I heard of the rumor from my daughter who has been in the class 2022 admits facebook group since Dec. Nathan has made it clear that he wanted to go to Harvard and in the interviews he gave last Nov he stated that “I finished the application for Harvard. I’m doing some applications for University of California schools now”. Since Harvard REA was due in Nov. 1 and UCs were due Nov. 30th the timelines seem consistent. So far, Nathan has not shown up in 2022 admit facebook group which consists of REA and LLs. If kids gossips are to be believed–and quite often they turn out to be true, and they were consistent with Nathan’s own words, then chances are he applied REA and was not accepted.
Apparently, celebrity in itself was not enough. If Harvard had a figure skating coach or team it would have been a different story and Nathan would already have learned he was in Harvard by Sept.
My D is not stressed either. I remain foolishly hopeful.
I just want the decisions to be in already.
@jzducol Very true, celebrity statue itself is not enough, or even worth considered as a hook. If a famous person aka celebrity can not bring monetary and/or political benefits TO Harvard, why would Harvard treat he/she special? I don’t think Harvard needs extra publicity just because someone is famous. Celebrities won their celebrity statue by their special talents, that side of the truth is often overlooked.
Even for special talent such as in this figure skater’s case, if Harvard can not make good use of the talent, it is more harm to the applicants than to Harvard.