Full list of what "hooks" are, please?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So basically no one really knows.

I think it was answered earlier:

Anonymous wrote:A hook is a "need" the college has. An athlete, URM, legacy, viola players, female engineers to balance out the majority males in the e-school. If you think of it that way, it's easy. And no, DECA Nationals is not a hook.

There is no way to provide a full list of hooks because every school is going to have different institutional needs for an incoming class. And a school might have different institutional needs every year.

Also, a hook is not a magical key that opens every door. It is just something that a particular school might be on the lookout for in a particular year. It might break ties or give second readings.

Yes to all of this. When you have thousands of kids who have similar stats, these become the differentiators. It's different every year.

+1. The concept of a "hook" is so varied that it is really not even worth getting hung up on. In one of these discussions, I gave an example where, over two app cycles, the school my daughter attended was "over-applied" in the STEM majors but "under-applied" in the School of Social Work. So for that 2 year cycle, kids in the "qualified" range were getting a "bump" if they wanted to apply to the SSW. So you had kids with higher "measurables" getting rejected because they wanted to go STEM while kids with lower measurables were getting in because they wanted to do SW. Now the SSW kids tended to come from lower SES backgrounds and many of them were minorities and I think that was the "blood in the water" for many folks. Many of us tried to give the same explanation that you did - but people were not having it.

It is like people here in DCUM focus on hooks not as a measure of how unique their own kid is, but as a way to disparage other kids and whine about how other kids are "more advantaged."

Not sure this is an example of a "hook". UC schools for example plainly state that there are certain majors that are "capped". These majors are popular or have limited spots. Naturally, these majors are more competitive, have high stats applicants who invariably are rejected because it's a numbers game.

[Anonymous]

Geographical diversity

[Anonymous]

I am glad jeff cleaned up this thread.

As for hooks, a hook is bringing something to the school that they think they need.

Some do it with sports -- For example, if you are 6'11" and can hit a three, Duke will take you.

There are other ways...who you know, parents, etc.

Donald got into Warton based on his father's money. Barrack got into Columbia based on the need for more minorities.

My daughter won a national academic contest, which looks good.

I imagine kids that win the jeopardy teen tourney do well.

Charley Young (fictional) got into Georgetown based on a recommendation from the POTUS.

But, many kids can market themselves with a narrative to get into a good college. I have a friend who was a c+/B- student, not an athlete, who got into duke -- his hook: very good SAT's coupled with creating a business in HS that did very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am glad jeff cleaned up this thread.

As for hooks, a hook is bringing something to the school that they think they need.

Some do it with sports -- For example, if you are 6'11" and can hit a three, Duke will take you.

There are other ways...who you know, parents, etc.

Donald got into Warton based on his father's money. Barrack got into Columbia based on the need for more minorities.

My daughter won a national academic contest, which looks good.

I imagine kids that win the jeopardy teen tourney do well.

Charley Young (fictional) got into Georgetown based on a recommendation from the POTUS.

But, many kids can market themselves with a narrative to get into a good college. I have a friend who was a c+/B- student, not an athlete, who got into duke -- his hook: very good SAT's coupled with creating a business in HS that did very well.

Most of these are not hooks. The word does not encompass everything that could boost an application.

20:11 on the first page listed everything that people commonly mean when they refer to hooks. Only addition to that list is 1st generation in family to go to college and/or very low income. Also, the sports category includes all recruited athletes, regardless of whether they are anywhere close to Olympic level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So basically no one really knows.

I think it was answered earlier:

Anonymous wrote:A hook is a "need" the college has. An athlete, URM, legacy, viola players, female engineers to balance out the majority males in the e-school. If you think of it that way, it's easy. And no, DECA Nationals is not a hook.

There is no way to provide a full list of hooks because every school is going to have different institutional needs for an incoming class. And a school might have different institutional needs every year.

Also, a hook is not a magical key that opens every door. It is just something that a particular school might be on the lookout for in a particular year. It might break ties or give second readings.

Yes to all of this. When you have thousands of kids who have similar stats, these become the differentiators. It's different every year.

+1. The concept of a "hook" is so varied that it is really not even worth getting hung up on. In one of these discussions, I gave an example where, over two app cycles, the school my daughter attended was "over-applied" in the STEM majors but "under-applied" in the School of Social Work. So for that 2 year cycle, kids in the "qualified" range were getting a "bump" if they wanted to apply to the SSW. So you had kids with higher "measurables" getting rejected because they wanted to go STEM while kids with lower measurables were getting in because they wanted to do SW. Now the SSW kids tended to come from lower SES backgrounds and many of them were minorities and I think that was the "blood in the water" for many folks. Many of us tried to give the same explanation that you did - but people were not having it.

It is like people here in DCUM focus on hooks not as a measure of how unique their own kid is, but as a way to disparage other kids and whine about how other kids are "more advantaged."

Not sure this is an example of a "hook". UC schools for example plainly state that there are certain majors that are "capped". These majors are popular or have limited spots. Naturally, these majors are more competitive, have high stats applicants who invariably are rejected because it's a numbers game.

Ok...I guess you did not read the first sentence of my post.

[Anonymous]

Legacies, wealth, athletic talent, science competition victories