<p>What exactly is a hook? Is there like a list of these 'hooks' somewhere?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Something that very few people have done that significantly set you apart from other applicants i.e. DI-DII-DIII level athlete, multi-published author, poet, musician, singer, curing cancer, world renowned ____, etc.</p>
<p>Hooks can also be something that you just have. For example, growing up in extreme poverty, URM status (especiall Native American), or first generation college student can be considered a hook.</p>
<p>do disabilities count?</p>
<p>what if a parent was unemployed for a long time during your high school career? does that help at all?</p>
<p>If my brother went to college as the 1st student to goto college in the family, can I still be considered a 'first generation college student' still?</p>
<p>Also, if you are from an under-represented state (like Montana and Alaska) that would be considered a hook.</p>
<p>Minwin: that still counts. 1st gen just means your parents didn't go to college.</p>
<p>Anti-hooks include being asian, international, or from the northeast US.</p>
<p>that 'living in exotic locale for a few months' was a hook. Is it still considered a hook if I lived Vietnam for 2 year under poverty, vacationed there for a month in 5th grade, or especially lived in a refugee camp in the Philippines for a year? :O</p>
<p>so would an unemployed parent be a hook?</p>
<p>looks like i've set a trend of asking if my personal situation is a hook!</p>
<p>To answer the question, although I'm not in college nor am I an admissions officer, it seemse like hooks are what you make them. For instance, although I am half deaf, I am still an accomplished musician, having received numerous awards on the district and state levels. I could also use my multiracial upbringing as a hook, or even my experiences volunteering at the hospital.</p>
<p>You're liek 50% Mozart!</p>
<p>I guess it's a hook if you emphasize on how screwed up it made your life in your essay (if it's something interesting in your background).</p>
<p>Hooks, I believe, are metal instruments used most often by fishermen. Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named them "hooks," which of course is Germans for "a whale's v...."</p>
<p>haha...it was Beethoven that was deaf.</p>
<p>Right now I can use a hearing aid and bring my hearing up to subpar but acceptable levels for hearing, but my right ear is losing steam (i've lost about 1/3 of my right ear hearing since i was 5, when it was discovered that i had an 85% hearing loss in my right ear), so I guess you could say my right ear is amongst the deaf and dying.</p>
<p>Man that's why music is not my hook.</p>
<p>Something to snag admission with</p>