What is a Hook?

<p>Despite the question in my title I know what a hook is....but I would like you all to list things that you believe are hooks, significant or not. Any responses are welcome. Just looking for personal opinions.</p>

<p>I copied this from a college admissions handbook given to 9-10 graders at a private school. It has some items on there that you wouldn't necessarily think are hooks (like being full-pay), but can tip the scales come admissions time.</p>

<p>• Male applicants. Male applicants in general are
favored over females in many selective
coeducational admission pools, simply because
they are now a demographic minority in the
United States.</p>

<p>• Females interested in engineering, computer
science, and technical fields. Some coed
institutions have made it an “institutional priority”
to recruit young women interested in these
areas, in the interest of improving gender equity
in technical professions.</p>

<p>• Student- athletes of real talent, who are strongly supported
by coaches, and who truly desire to
compete at the college or university level</p>

<p>• African- American students.</p>

<p>• Hispanic- American students.</p>

<p>• Native- American students, especially those who
can prove tribal roll status, and who are
conversant with a tribal culture.</p>

<p>• “Full- pay” students. At many institutions,
students who can “pay full freight,” and who do
not apply for financial aid, have an edge.</p>

<p>• “Legacies”—children of financially generous
parents. More distant relations have less of an
advantage.</p>

<p>• Applicants who are well- known to powerful
alumni in the personal and academic sense.
Alumni assistance of this kind weakens
considerably if the “alum” is acquainted with the
applicant’s parents, but not the applicant.</p>

<p>• In- state residential applicants to state
universities.</p>

<p>• Applicants with evidence of substantial creative,
artistic, or academic talent, particularly those
who plan to major or contribute in the area of
their special talents or accomplishments in their
college or university. Successful “special talent”
applicants should be able to supply evidence of
that talent in the form of honors, recognition, or
awards at the state or national level.</p>

<p>• Applicants with evidence of very substantial
contributions to school or community service. In
the latter case, the applicant’s commitment to
community service would have to go far beyond
the community service IB diploma
requirement.</p>

<p>• National Merit, National Achievement, or National
Hispanic Semifinalist or Finalist status.</p>

<p>Great list Ellen. Thanks so much for sharing that!</p>

<p>The biggest hook is the institutional mission the the college is trying to accomplish. The mission changes from year to year. Ever since Princeton adopted a no-loan philosophy, an institutional mission at Princeton's peer schools have been low income students . Many schools are really offering attractive packages, reduced EFC, reduced/no loans for families with certain thresholds.</p>

<p>Recently PR has put out a ranking of colleges with a conscience. Some colleges are looking to have both an administration committed to social responsibility and a student body actively engaged in serving society. Their philosophy is that education isn't only about private gain: it's about the public good.</p>

<p>You guys are amazing, thanks for your contributions.</p>

<p>I wouldn't call any of those things hooks- they are scale tippers, perhaps, but in elite college admissions you need much more than fitting into any of those categories. </p>

<p>Hooks are something special that is actually unique to you. A passion for something that you can express individually, be it for a sport, an academic competition, an art form, or community service. </p>

<p>From the Stanford Report's announcement about the class of 2008: </p>

<p>"However, Mamlet noted that once again the most successful applicants were those who realize their impressive SAT scores or GPAs alone cannot define them. "These are students who find their greatest joy through both a high level of excellence and excitement. They have implemented recycling programs for their schools, won poetry slams, led anti-tobacco efforts in their communities and worked to foster peace and understanding in such global hot spots as the Middle East, Afghanistan and Cyprus. Our inventors have developed groundbreaking software in face recognition and have designed tools to increase online security. One student created her own written and spoken language, while another works as one of 80 worldwide maintainers of the Linux operating system. Several students have produced award-winning documentaries and one hosted her own show on Jamaican television. One admit has a patent for his innovative pen design, while another has discovered how to construct microchips using a molecular pencil. Clearly, these students already exhibit the initiative, entrepreneurial spirit and curiosity that have come to define the Stanford community.""</p>

<p>Those are hooks, to an extreme... but hooks, no doubt.</p>

<p>hook n.
1. A curved or sharply bent device, usually of metal, used to catch, drag, suspend, or fasten something else.</p>

<p>I agree. or you can get into a fight and say... Man, I will hook that kid.</p>

<p>"implemented recycling programs for their schools"</p>

<p>Hey, I've done that!</p>

<p>Thanks for the Webster references..... adds a new dimension to the thread.</p>

<p>im lookin at that "creative talent" hook, and i wish i could say i fit that because i am really into creative writing, but i dont know how i can show "evidence" of this by winning awards at a state or national level. I won 3rd place in English at this academic competition called WYSE, but i donno if that counts. I also took a creative writing class at northwestern one summer and got an A as well as a positive teacher evaluation (i got a copy of it) which is on file at the northwestern admissions office. Is this, plus my essays which will definitely be creative in some way, enough "evidence" to support my creative talent?</p>

<p>If not, and this is the big question, what can i quickly do to provide more evidence of my talent? lol.</p>

<p>grateful bhikku...ME TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO</p>

<p>Do you know of any writing competitions that you can enter that can go from the county, to the state state, and then to the national levels?</p>

<p>Every year, Stanford always writes a paragraph about the amazing things the entering freshmen have done in their lives. When I started law school at Stanford in the early 80's, I remember reading such a paragraph about the incoming freshmen: that one freshman that year was a sculptor; another had worked with Mother Theresa. </p>

<p>Yet when you stood behind them in the line at the ATM, they talked just like "Valley Kids" and needed help operating the ATM machine. They're just kids.</p>