<p>When colleges look for hooks, are they looking for really really unusual people (unusual as in rare, not as in purple spotted), or just unusual people? What exactly qualifies you as a hooked candidate?</p>
<p>I would think that the thing that would most likely make me a hook is that I studied a semester abroad in France with a program called AFS (one of the two very respected exchange programs). I lived with a host family and attended a real secondary French school for six months, and now am nearly fluent in French. Would that be considered a hook?</p>
<p>Possible hooks (doubt): Pianist for 11 years, and church youth leader of the high school division for two years.</p>
<p>the piano thing is overused, the France thing and trip to Europe or studying abroad is overused. The church thing is not really a hook. My hook is volunteering and I'm not even sure if it is a hook. My hook is volunteering by the way</p>
<p>Volunteering isn't a hook. Traveling and speaking fluent languages isn't a hook. Piano isn't a hook. Those things are overused and expected.</p>
<p>A hook = First generation URM that grew up in an orphanage, wrote a NY Times best seller, reformed his state's standarized testing requirements, and can sing underwater.</p>
<p>Maybe if you have a hook for a hand, like the guy in the urban legend, that's a hook. But honestly I think a hook is just being really accomplished at something like being an amazing musician, or a professional actor, or 7ft tall. But I agree about the Piano thing, it's almost a hook not to play the Piano.</p>
<p>Piano CAN be a hook. The only problem is you would have to be falt-out one of the best in the U.S. You would have to win International Piano competitions and win many.....</p>
<p>It is possible, but you are better off going to Julliard if you are good enough for piano to be considered a hook.</p>
<p>Rather than it being a hook, it is more realistically, a committed EC that someone does.</p>
<p>thisSHHHisBANANAs,
well i think volunteering can be a hook if it is displayed correctly. Anything could be a hook as long as it isn't overused like the piano or the trip to Europe. But volunteering could be hook no matter how many times the admission officers seen an essay about their volunteering experience because say a guy has a billion hours of community service and it helped end crime and poveryt in a certain area...that's a hook. </p>
<p>sorry if my english is bad right now, I am typing fast as I can and I'm at work.</p>
<p>People here often say hook when they are really referring to an EC. In general, an EC is something that you do: music, sports, community service, a job, art, etc.</p>
<p>By contrast a hook is something that you ARE (that the school wants): URM, legacy, famous, rich, son/daughter of someone rich or famous, you provide geographic diversity, etc. Some hooks a worth a lot more than others. Some ECs are worth as much or more than some hooks.</p>
<p>Sometimes you can be so good at certain ECs that they can be regarded as hooks, but in general a hook is not normally something you can create or develop. Either you are URM or you're not. Either your dad is a billionaire or he's not, etc. You can't do much to change that.</p>
<p>A hook is definitely anything in ur application that is so distinctive that only 2-10 / 15000 will have it..
This said .. i dont mean the obvious diff. but something u have achieved .. struggled at ..excelled at ....... Something in ur app. that makes it set aside frm others instantly.</p>
<p>"Sometimes you can be so good at certain ECs that they can be regarded as hooks...."</p>
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<p>Yo Yo Ma's hook was his music. He wasn't a URM, legacy, etc.<<</p>
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<p>Right, and how often does a Yo Yo Ma come along? Yo Yo Ma's hook was that he was a musical genius. A true genius. Again, something that he was rather than something that he did. Across the country there are hundreds of excellent cello players applying to college every year. They are not geniuses. For them being good at the cello is an EC - a good EC, but not a hook.</p>
<p>Kids are way too hung up on finding a "hook". A hook is nice if you have one, but you don't need one to get in. True hooks are actually fairly rare - URM or legacy perhaps being the most common. Most of the kids who get into the top schools each year have no hooks at all. What they do have is is a strong record of academic achievement combined with a couple of good ECs, some good essays, and excellent recs.</p>
<p>Athletics is probably the most reliable "plus" in a high school student's application. Many LACs and medium sized universities will favor the scholar/athlete over the scholar with no athletic interests. They need their teams filled.
If you have the scores, the courses, and the grades AND you can play on one of their teams, you're a valuable commodity. You don't even have to be that great at your sport...teams need depth, and athletes can improve in college. I think students think that playing a sport isn't valuable as an EC unless you're good enough to be recruited, and that isn't true. I believe being an scholar/athlete is a stronger "plus" than being either a URM or a legacy.</p>
<p>My DD's hook is her devotion to music. She plays the bass clarinet (for 6 years) and fully expects to join a music program in college as a non-major.</p>
<p>What do you mean "hooks?" Aren't most hooks made out of iron or steel? How do you make a hook out of a piano or community service? I'm so lost....</p>
<p>jk</p>
<p>Yeah not everyone that gets into some awesome university has a hook. I don't know if I have a hook even (it would be science and science research, if any).</p>