Real Life “Hook” examples

[Anonymous]

Homeschooling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:refugee from war-torn African nation while being one of the better students in the class

What about being a victim more generally?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Traditionally, in admissions world, hook refers to recruited athlete, URM, legacy, development case. Hook does not refer to interest.



OP, what you are referring to is sometimes referred to as a "spike" though there may be other terms as well.

This, op seems not to understand what a hook is.

It’s no wonder these people say you have to have a hook to be admitted. Everything under the sun is a hook.

[Anonymous]

ROTC for elite private schools where most of their students are wealthy with little or no interest in a military career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:refugee from war-torn African nation while being one of the better students in the class

What about being a victim more generally?

Well if you believe people on this board, their kids are all victims.

[Anonymous]

Dustin Hoffman is my favorite real life Hook!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ROTC for elite private schools where most of their students are wealthy with little or no interest in a military career.

Very underrated hook. I mean extremely underrated. Elite schools that choose to do ROTC - MIT, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Duke, Cornell, Berkeley, Georgetown - need to fill those spaces. And those are generally four year scholarships. The US military is dropping $300,000 on these kids. And they often go on to big time things - from consulting to IB to national security. And all the business and graduate schools love them. It's a big time hook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be forewarned that you have about 6 hours before your thread turns into a gripe fest.

Anything that is seen as both uncommon and generally beneficial could be a hook. So being a great chess player is good but being a famous chess YouTube vlogger is probably better.

To this point, College Vine has a list of items rated by importance. Having a YouTube channel was one thing. Having a YouYube channel with X views was quite another.

College Vine lists out what’s considered meh versus outstanding.

[Anonymous]

I consider full pay a hook.

[Anonymous]

Having an actual hook for a hand — and writing a Halloween-themed essay about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I consider full pay a hook.

At highly selective schools, full pay is not a hook. Not even close. Most of them are need-blind to begin with. Full pay really only comes into play for the waitlist and recent years see few waitlist admits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a special talent isn’t a hook. It’s legacy, large donor, athletic recruit, urm, first Gen, and pell eligible

What about faculty kids?

Yes. And they often get a significant reduction in tuition. Several applications asked if a family member worked at the university.

[Anonymous]

As other posters have said, know the difference between “hook” and “spike.”

Intense, quirky, longtime interest with big awards is a SPIKE.

Being a recruited athlete, development case, etc, is a HOOK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ROTC for elite private schools where most of their students are wealthy with little or no interest in a military career.

Very underrated hook. I mean extremely underrated. Elite schools that choose to do ROTC - MIT, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Duke, Cornell, Berkeley, Georgetown - need to fill those spaces. And those are generally four year scholarships. The US military is dropping $300,000 on these kids. And they often go on to big time things - from consulting to IB to national security. And all the business and graduate schools love them. It's a big time hook.

Pffffft - claim vet status - 3 months later, claim disability. Done and done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As other posters have said, know the difference between “hook” and “spike.”

Intense, quirky, longtime interest with big awards is a SPIKE.

Being a recruited athlete, development case, etc, is a HOOK.

Well yeah, big donation plus a "sport" = biggest hook known (but not publicized).

You are welcome.