Can you give examples of hooks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP: Would you all say a national first place award is a hook for sure? It wasn't a huge thing like Regeneron or YoungArts, but it was still a national competition with finalists being paid to travel to compete in the final round. I feel like it's not enough because she didn't cure cancer or save a species of wildlife or start a nonprofit -- shame on her! Hahaha. This game is insane.

Anyone willing to weigh in?

I have worked at two Tier 1 universities as a professor and I am friends with a few AO's at Tier 1/Ivy schools. Based on my experience (advising admitted students) and discussions with AO's, no, that is not a hook in the world of competitive schools (T20) admissions. However, it could help strengthen an application to a Tier 1 or earn merit aid at a Tier 2 school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP: Would you all say a national first place award is a hook for sure? It wasn't a huge thing like Regeneron or YoungArts, but it was still a national competition with finalists being paid to travel to compete in the final round. I feel like it's not enough because she didn't cure cancer or save a species of wildlife or start a nonprofit -- shame on her! Hahaha. This game is insane.

nothing is a sure thing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if my white kid is a child of divorce and I am effectively a low income single mom (well I have him 99% of the time) is this being a victim or not? I am also an immigrant.

50% of marriages end in divorce. So, no big deal there.

Only 10% of ivy students are from divorced families.

This is bad advice. Definitely mention that his mom is a single mom somewhere on the application. Also play up the immigrant thing, if possible.. like if it can be weaved into the essay.

Top schools already have many immigrants and children of immigrants. It is different if you were a refugee who came here because you were seeking political asylum. Mom’s story would really need to be both compelling and tell something specific about the child’s extraordinary abilities or resilience. Like the mom has PTSD from nearly drowning crossing the Mediterranean on a rubber raft and the DS created a biofeedback app to help her during flashbacks.

Immigrant mom here. The facts are as follows: we came on my spouse’s work visa, I didn’t have a right to work, power imbalance led to emotional and financial abuse. We both received green cards and my ex immediately left, I had to scramble for a job of any kind (but also had child support). The kid emerged relatively unscathed because unlike the tamale mom upthread I didn’t have a bunch of kids whom I then put in a precarious situation. So the kid really didn’t struggle much (so far) but it was harder for him to have the middle class opportunities (I had to scrimp and save for his needs).
I am not sure I can spin it.

The only thing missing is you should say your biggest mistake you made in your life was marrying an abusive immigrant from X (fill in the blank). Complete your story by saying you are now married to a Christian American.

Legal immigrants are actually strongly opposed to illegal immigration (but I digress so I stop there)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP: Would you all say a national first place award is a hook for sure? It wasn't a huge thing like Regeneron or YoungArts, but it was still a national competition with finalists being paid to travel to compete in the final round. I feel like it's not enough because she didn't cure cancer or save a species of wildlife or start a nonprofit -- shame on her! Hahaha. This game is insane.

Anyone willing to weigh in?

I have worked at two Tier 1 universities as a professor and I am friends with a few AO's at Tier 1/Ivy schools. Based on my experience (advising admitted students) and discussions with AO's, no, that is not a hook in the world of competitive schools (T20) admissions. However, it could help strengthen an application to a Tier 1 or earn merit aid at a Tier 2 school.

Thank you. This is helpful and what I suspected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hook number one: Parents who have it going on such as mom went to Stanford and graduated summa and dad went to Princeton and did the same. Neither had hooks themselves, just big brains and tons of resolve. They also paid their own way. Mom and dad also happen to be good parents and exposed kids to lots of things, including the value of hard work and self discipline. Kids of those folks are totally hooked!

Amen to that! That’s why this country is so great. It wasn’t the UMBC-quality students asking for free handouts that built this great country.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Is this a 10 year old? Some white supremacist in Idaho?

People with an actual education know that the unpaid labor of people stolen from their homes and enslaved on an industrial scale built this country, and the institutional factors like redlining and federally enforced segregation kept those people from accumulating the wealth that their hard work had earned 100 times over.

As a straight, white, cis male who has no fear of competing with people who have been oppressed by whites like me for 100s or years and no issue with programs designed to redress a tiny, minuscule fraction of the evil that we've done to pretty much everyone else. I'd pretty disgusted by the weakness of people in my demographic who are clearly too weak to live with the consequences of what we've done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if my white kid is a child of divorce and I am effectively a low income single mom (well I have him 99% of the time) is this being a victim or not? I am also an immigrant.

50% of marriages end in divorce. So, no big deal there.

Only 10% of ivy students are from divorced families.

This is bad advice. Definitely mention that his mom is a single mom somewhere on the application. Also play up the immigrant thing, if possible.. like if it can be weaved into the essay.

Top schools already have many immigrants and children of immigrants. It is different if you were a refugee who came here because you were seeking political asylum. Mom’s story would really need to be both compelling and tell something specific about the child’s extraordinary abilities or resilience. Like the mom has PTSD from nearly drowning crossing the Mediterranean on a rubber raft and the DS created a biofeedback app to help her during flashbacks.

Immigrant mom here. The facts are as follows: we came on my spouse’s work visa, I didn’t have a right to work, power imbalance led to emotional and financial abuse. We both received green cards and my ex immediately left, I had to scramble for a job of any kind (but also had child support). The kid emerged relatively unscathed because unlike the tamale mom upthread I didn’t have a bunch of kids whom I then put in a precarious situation. So the kid really didn’t struggle much (so far) but it was harder for him to have the middle class opportunities (I had to scrimp and save for his needs).
I am not sure I can spin it.

The only thing missing is you should say your biggest mistake you made in your life was marrying an abusive immigrant from X (fill in the blank). Complete your story by saying you are now married to a Christian American.

racist trolling

[Anonymous]

On the Common Application where it asks parents profession write Large Donor Fundraising for the DNC.

[Anonymous]

DD is a junior and I guess has some hooks. URM, plays high level club soccer. Captain for 3 years. But she just tore her ACL so she will not be a recruited athlete. She wants to write her essay on finding her identity outside of soccer. Her friends think this is overdone and “cringey”, but she is pretty passionate about it.
What do you think? Should I try to change her mind?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is a junior and I guess has some hooks. URM, plays high level club soccer. Captain for 3 years. But she just tore her ACL so she will not be a recruited athlete. She wants to write her essay on finding her identity outside of soccer. Her friends think this is overdone and “cringey”, but she is pretty passionate about it.
What do you think? Should I try to change her mind?

Not trying to be snarky, please review the rest of the posts where folks are trying to discourage parents from “gaming” the hook (essay as well). Unless you are that app reader reading your DD’s essay, no one can give you a definitive answer, let along another 17 year old. While one AO may find the topic “cringey”, another may absolutely love it given the circumstances. If your daughter is passionate about the topic, then let her do her thing. This is not your ride but her first foray into charting her own path. Don’t micromanage it. If the schools don’t want to admit her because of essay, guess what, that really isn’t the school for her. She will not be happy there as their values and priorities aren’t aligned.

Let the humanity and personality come through the essays and not worry so much about what makes for a “right”essay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is a junior and I guess has some hooks. URM, plays high level club soccer. Captain for 3 years. But she just tore her ACL so she will not be a recruited athlete. She wants to write her essay on finding her identity outside of soccer. Her friends think this is overdone and “cringey”, but she is pretty passionate about it.
What do you think? Should I try to change her mind?

Not trying to be snarky, please review the rest of the posts where folks are trying to discourage parents from “gaming” the hook (essay as well). Unless you are that app reader reading your DD’s essay, no one can give you a definitive answer, let along another 17 year old. While one AO may find the topic “cringey”, another may absolutely love it given the circumstances. If your daughter is passionate about the topic, then let her do her thing. This is not your ride but her first foray into charting her own path. Don’t micromanage it. If the schools don’t want to admit her because of essay, guess what, that really isn’t the school for her. She will not be happy there as their values and priorities aren’t aligned.

Let the humanity and personality come through the essays and not worry so much about what makes for a “right”essay.

Fair enough but be sure she has an editor re-read for quality, error-free writing regardless of the subject matter. You can have the most amazing idea in the world for an essay and if the writing is poor, it will not help at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is a junior and I guess has some hooks. URM, plays high level club soccer. Captain for 3 years. But she just tore her ACL so she will not be a recruited athlete. She wants to write her essay on finding her identity outside of soccer. Her friends think this is overdone and “cringey”, but she is pretty passionate about it.
What do you think? Should I try to change her mind?

Not trying to be snarky, please review the rest of the posts where folks are trying to discourage parents from “gaming” the hook (essay as well). Unless you are that app reader reading your DD’s essay, no one can give you a definitive answer, let along another 17 year old. While one AO may find the topic “cringey”, another may absolutely love it given the circumstances. If your daughter is passionate about the topic, then let her do her thing. This is not your ride but her first foray into charting her own path. Don’t micromanage it. If the schools don’t want to admit her because of essay, guess what, that really isn’t the school for her. She will not be happy there as their values and priorities aren’t aligned.

Let the humanity and personality come through the essays and not worry so much about what makes for a “right”essay.

Fair enough but be sure she has an editor re-read for quality, error-free writing regardless of the subject matter. You can have the most amazing idea in the world for an essay and if the writing is poor, it will not help at all.

PP here, agree. Passion may get lost in bad grammar and poorly executed "voice".

Just be sure to let this be an exercise in these kids finding and expressing their own "voice". I have to admit, DS grew leaps and bounds from end of Junior year to the end of the app . He learned to self reflect deeply and to project his thoughts. We saw this experience not as "getting into college", but as finding out who he was and where he would thrive. He has no regrets at the end of the journey and we are proud of him for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is a junior and I guess has some hooks. URM, plays high level club soccer. Captain for 3 years. But she just tore her ACL so she will not be a recruited athlete. She wants to write her essay on finding her identity outside of soccer. Her friends think this is overdone and “cringey”, but she is pretty passionate about it.
What do you think? Should I try to change her mind?

She's passionate about working on something that will help her self-reflect and overcome adversity. Why on earth would you try to change her mind?

Application readers are pretty good at spotting parent- or paid coach-directed essays. We know that most kids have not dealt with major life-or-death circumstances or had to swim across a crocodile-filled swap to escape oppression or cured cancer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is a junior and I guess has some hooks. URM, plays high level club soccer. Captain for 3 years. But she just tore her ACL so she will not be a recruited athlete. She wants to write her essay on finding her identity outside of soccer. Her friends think this is overdone and “cringey”, but she is pretty passionate about it.
What do you think? Should I try to change her mind?

Not trying to be snarky, please review the rest of the posts where folks are trying to discourage parents from “gaming” the hook (essay as well). Unless you are that app reader reading your DD’s essay, no one can give you a definitive answer, let along another 17 year old. While one AO may find the topic “cringey”, another may absolutely love it given the circumstances. If your daughter is passionate about the topic, then let her do her thing. This is not your ride but her first foray into charting her own path. Don’t micromanage it. If the schools don’t want to admit her because of essay, guess what, that really isn’t the school for her. She will not be happy there as their values and priorities aren’t aligned.

Let the humanity and personality come through the essays and not worry so much about what makes for a “right”essay.

Fair enough but be sure she has an editor re-read for quality, error-free writing regardless of the subject matter. You can have the most amazing idea in the world for an essay and if the writing is poor, it will not help at all.

PP here, agree. Passion may get lost in bad grammar and poorly executed "voice".

Just be sure to let this be an exercise in these kids finding and expressing their own "voice". I have to admit, DS grew leaps and bounds from end of Junior year to the end of the app . He learned to self reflect deeply and to project his thoughts. We saw this experience not as "getting into college", but as finding out who he was and where he would thrive. He has no regrets at the end of the journey and we are proud of him for that.

How did he work on his Voice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is a junior and I guess has some hooks. URM, plays high level club soccer. Captain for 3 years. But she just tore her ACL so she will not be a recruited athlete. She wants to write her essay on finding her identity outside of soccer. Her friends think this is overdone and “cringey”, but she is pretty passionate about it.
What do you think? Should I try to change her mind?

Not trying to be snarky, please review the rest of the posts where folks are trying to discourage parents from “gaming” the hook (essay as well). Unless you are that app reader reading your DD’s essay, no one can give you a definitive answer, let along another 17 year old. While one AO may find the topic “cringey”, another may absolutely love it given the circumstances. If your daughter is passionate about the topic, then let her do her thing. This is not your ride but her first foray into charting her own path. Don’t micromanage it. If the schools don’t want to admit her because of essay, guess what, that really isn’t the school for her. She will not be happy there as their values and priorities aren’t aligned.

Let the humanity and personality come through the essays and not worry so much about what makes for a “right”essay.

Fair enough but be sure she has an editor re-read for quality, error-free writing regardless of the subject matter. You can have the most amazing idea in the world for an essay and if the writing is poor, it will not help at all.

PP here, agree. Passion may get lost in bad grammar and poorly executed "voice".

Just be sure to let this be an exercise in these kids finding and expressing their own "voice". I have to admit, DS grew leaps and bounds from end of Junior year to the end of the app . He learned to self reflect deeply and to project his thoughts. We saw this experience not as "getting into college", but as finding out who he was and where he would thrive. He has no regrets at the end of the journey and we are proud of him for that.

How did he work on his Voice?

He wrote his essays and "forgot" about them for 2 weeks. When he went back to them, he realized that they didn't "sound" like the authentic him. The authentic him has not master the art of using big words, long sophisticated sentence structures and cool analogies. So whatever he had put down sounded "wooden" (his words exactly) and rigid. The authentic him loves his field of study and can talk about it for days on end. So he rewrote them and stayed true to what that field meant to him and why. He found that rewarding, not trying to fit the square-self into a "round" hole.

[Anonymous]

Not trolling here, but how hooked do you think my DC is as a full-pay, Latino, Legacy at an HYPS school? Definitely in?