<p>um, unfortunately on applications it doesn’t ask what income level your parents are. </p>
<p>neither of my parents went to college… but my stepfather makes 120k+/yr. so it’s not really safe to assume that a first generation will be low income.</p>
<p>My personal opinion…
Super hooks: being famous, published paper/book (very renowned one)
Major hooks: athlete at D1 school, native-american, published paper (standard one), national award (Siemens, USAMO caliber)
Mid hooks: legacy, athlete at lower than d1 school, other minority, first generation, national award (SciOly caliber)
Minor hooks: research, national award (NMF or AP scholar caliber)</p>
<p>My list is probably incomplete. These are just the hooks that I thought of, but there are definitely more obscure ones.</p>
<p>I don’t think Native American is quite all it’s cracked up to be. As a Native American myself, and someone who got a likely letter from Cornell, I was flat out rejected from Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton, and Northwestern, and waitlisted at WUSTL and Vandy.</p>
<p>My only weakness was my GPA, a 3.61 UW (which I’m pretty sure is what did it). Just goes to show that no matter what “hook” you have, if you don’t fit their criteria, you won’t get in. Lol.</p>
<p>I"m not bitter about it, and I’m ecstatic to be going to Cornell, but I wouldn’t ever tell anyone to count on their URM status to get them into Harvard. </p>
<p>If being a Native was such a hook, Harvard would’ve admitted more than the 26 Natives I think it was, or something like that number.</p>
<p>Stephennn- I just suppose I mean financial aid. When you send your fafsa, obviously income is a factor. Schools often talk about making education affordable/available for all, and if they truly meant that, applying for finaid wouldn’t be a barb now would it?</p>
<p>And like I said: Major generalization- the income divide is a broad issue, not specific and not universal. Of course, people make wide assumptions all the time in college admissions. I could say that the richer you are, the more likely you are to score high on the SAT- which is mainly true, but negates the fact that people of lesser incomes can score just as high, or people of higher, just as low. See what I mean? It’s <em>mostly</em> true that an URM or non-college degree bearing person will make less than the rest of the population, but obviously not for your family in particular. Glad your parents make so much.</p>
<p>^The best hook there is is being famous. I do not think any school would reject a kid who came up with a valid proof for Fermat’s Last Theorem or wrote the next great American novel as a highschooler. Also, what about being famous? Will the Obama kids get in everywhere when they apply? Did Chelsea get in at all the top schools?</p>
<p>sub 4.4 40-yard dash</p>
<p>Being the president’s daughter :)</p>