<p>I read about many people saying that if you have low scores, it is important to have a "hook," what does that mean? Could a unique EC count as a hook?</p>
<p>you have hook if you are: urm(aa/na/hispanic) , legacy, athletic recruit, parent work at college</p>
<p>there are other factors that can boost your chances like if you speak fluent chinese and you are white or something like that… something that college rarely see</p>
<p>To me, a hook can also be a first generation college student, a high achiever at a typically underperforming area…but also unusual ECs/volunteer work. I don’t mean like “Oh I have like 50 hours at a hospital” but something really out there (especially if it relates to what you want to study and you also show it off in your essays).</p>
<p>Okay so I want to study communications and political science. Would being the youngest member of my local Republican Committee/videographer/teen correspondent, and also youngest intern newsreporter and videographer for our City Newspaper be a “hook?”</p>
<p>I’m not in the adcom at wherever you want to apply, but I certainly think those ECs are awesome. I’m not sure if they’d count it as a hook. I would call it one.</p>
<p>Thanks… I plan on applying to some private schools like GWU and NYU, some reaches like Harvard and Stanford, and then 2 state schools for my safety. My SATs are in the 2000+ range and GPA 3.9 so I feel like my grades are good but not top range for these schools… That’s why I am trying to figure out how to strengthen my app/what to focus on, and if these activities qualify as a hook…</p>
<p>No, those aren’t hooks.</p>
<p>You will have legacy where your parents went to school. If you are a minority or if no one in your family has gone to college, you have a hook. If you are a recruited athlete, won a national level award of some kind, those are hooks.</p>
<p>My working definition of “hook” is: something which will get you admitted that has little or nothing to do with your academic qualifications (recruited athlete, first generation, political/social connections, celebrity, Olympic gold medalist, Daddy has given or will give a million bucks, etc.) Although a hook might in rare cases be related to intellectual abilities (doing graduate-level original research, published author, founder of extremely successful business). But all hooks are rare; that’s what makes them hooks.</p>
<p>More commonly, students have “tips” – something which will make you stand out among other qualified applicants, and these are typically ECs. State debate champ, unusual volunteer work, involvement in a political campaign (not simply joining the Young Republicans Club at school), interning at the local newspaper (especially if you have some pieces to show for it), youth leader at church, long-term involvement in a performing art. </p>
<p>Adcoms really don’t much care exactly what your EC is. What they’re looking for is how it has made you the person you are. What have you learned? How have you grown? Have you demonstrated leadership, passion, commitment? Has it made you interesting? Can you connect it to other areas of your life?</p>
<p>Thanks but I didn’t join the Republican club at school… It is the official party club in our community, and then I started my own teen club outside of school so I’m like the creator of that… But I feel like I have a lot of ECs and it’s hard for me to pick one to focus on. Do you have to talk about them in your essay, or can you just kind of let them speak for themselves? Like most of them either have to do with writing/communications or politics… but then I also have cheerleading, the debate team, starting my own supply drive, and starting my own business… But my business has to do with history which I feel is a little connected to politics in its own way… Also it might be considered “communications” because it’s a multimedia production company so that’s kind of like “telling a story.”</p>
<p>It’s a unique feature about your application – that’s all. Not a hook where practically anyone who reads it will smack their forehead and say: “I’ve got to have this one!”</p>
<p>Since hooks are rare (and you don’t have any), interesting features are a definite plus. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>LoveEdu: You don’t have to talk about your ECs in your essay(s) but many times it does give a student the opportunity to show what is important to them. Usually, a main essay is pretty open ended so you could write about an EC that is important to you and why it is. As an example you could tie the teen Rep. club together with your future desire to be in politics and/or how it ties to your business. This isn’t exactly a “hook” but you would certainly be giving adcoms a window into who you are and what makes you tick.</p>
<p>OP, sorry, I know you didn’t join the school club. I added that part so that other students would know there’s a difference between what you’re doing and joining a school club. Personally, I like your ECs and if I were a college adcom, I think I’d be impressed by your work for the GOP and also your work at the newspaper. I’d be really impressed by the way they mesh – they’re not the same but they both indicate a person who’s interested in communications.</p>
<p>“Hooks” are usually associated with very selective schools. The majority of applicants to these schools are highly qualified. A “hook” is something about who you are or what you do that may be desirable to this school, this year, to build the kind of class it wants. It has little or nothing to do with how well you do what you do.</p>
<p>It could be the fact that you are an under-represented minority, in which case it does not much matter whether you are more or less black, yellow, red or purple than anyone else. It could be the fact that you play the bassoon passingly well, just because the orchestra needs a bassoonist (or soccer goalie). It could be your interest in Russian if they need more Russian majors. It could also be something about your personal “story” that could attract positive attention to the school (e.g. the fact that you are European royalty or that your family floated over from Liberia on a wooden raft).</p>
<p>Oh okay I get it. So there really isn’t a said definition of a “hook” for every university then, it differs from school to school?</p>
<p>Wirefox, I like your idea of tying together my political activity and business. Maybe I could somehow fit my media experience in as well to sort of mesh it into the type of political activity I hope to pursue… Or would that be trying to squeeze to much into one essay? I don’t want to come across as “hey look at all this stuff I’ve done…” but rather genuinely describe why all of it is so important to me… It’s hard though because I feel like I could have so many different essay topics! For example my family lived in England for a year and I did a lot of volunteering for an international mission located there, and I loved it there and hope to enter a study abroad program so I can go back to study in London during college… So could I talk about that? Also I’ve been in like 4 different schools including community college throughout HS because my family moved around so much and only really settled down for like the last year and a half so I feel like I could talk about that too… It’s tough to pin-point exactly one thing that I want to talk about!</p>
<p>Typically, CC defines a hook not as something you do but as something you are, ie a legacy, developmental admit, URM, or recruited athlete. </p>
<p>I have, however, heard adcoms use it in a broader sense, where a hook is anything a school wants or needs and that an applicant is remarkably strong in. Your best bet is to do something–anything–that interests you at a high level.</p>
<p>when u guys say first generation do u mean somebody who was born out of the US but came to the US at a young age and learned here? cause i was born in pakistan and moved here when i was 2:P</p>
<p>No. First-generation college student is typically someone whose parents did not attend college.</p>
<p>It might count for something that you’re originally an international, though (even if you’ve already gotten US citizenship).</p>
<p>If both parents teach at a California State University is this a “hook” or an advantage for UC admission?</p>
<p>Ok, I kinda have my own question…
How do you indicate that you are a First-generation college student on an application?
And also, how much does it help in the admission process if you have two hooks?
Say you are an AA born in Africa and also a first gen?
Any input?</p>