<p>I'm just wondering about this.
When people say they have "Hooks", are they saying that they have a characteristic that will be favorable for them that is in their application.
Or is a "Hook" a characteristic that you write about in your college essay?</p>
<p>I'm wondering because theres a couple of hooks, out there, like first generation college goer, immigrant, URM, disabled, etc - but do people need to write about them in an essay, or just point them out in your application (because we all know Adcoms have hawk eyes and look through to find all your hooks >_>)</p>
<p>Hooks can also be your passion- like starting a charity organization or making movies. The essay could be about your passion, or the characteristics that you channel through your passion, i.e. initiative, leadership, courage. </p>
<p>If being a first generation college student is really important to you and it has shaped your character, then you would write your essay on that. </p>
<p>The hook is all about who you are- filmmaker, global citizen, first gen. college student, etc. Hopefully in the essay, you can pick an incident in which you show your true colors.</p>
<p>Adcoms at the top 20 or so Universities, and at least the top 50 LACs notice lots of details about the applicant, including hooks, as part of their effort to get to know the applicant apart from GPA/test scores.</p>
<p>I read a book about Wesleyan's admission process. They really do try to get to know the nuances of each applicant.</p>
<p>is there a section to put down your hooks or is it just the essay? does immigrant to another country count as a hook? how about living under persecution cause my cousin had to go through that and he's applying intl. this year.</p>
<p>Give your app to someone who ahs never seen it before and have them tell
you what jumps out....usually works better if you do not give
them hints...write down the first 3 things they say....if these are not your
hooks go back and work on your app</p>
<p>Just use the common app pdf preview option and print out your complete app.</p>
<p>whether or not the main points you are trying to convey jump out will
be pretty obvious if you give it the 3 minute or less top 3 things treatment.
This is the packaging part- as important as the content possibly.</p>