Anonymous wrote:my unhooked kids got into HYP by building a compelling narrative. I'm assuming your extremely smart kid didn't sit home every summer. what's the common thread. lean into that this summer.

then your kid is as compelling as any other.

hooked kids have a nice bump, but the fact remains that most kids get in aren't an athlete or legacy or first gen.

Yes, my extremely smart kid basically stayed home all summer. Capable and unambitious can coexist. Obviously, if I was an admissions officer, I don't want unambitious, and my kid isn't going to bother applying to a HYPS type school. But I think that's what the original question is about: very capable students who don't want to "build a compelling narrative"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the smart kids have hooks. That is what makes them smart.

My child has straight As, 13 APs (almost all 5s), strong test scores, and for fun reads about politics and does math. But he's never won any competitions, written anything outside of class, played sports, entered a science contest, or led anything, and he comes from a well-educated family. I think that's what people mean by smart but without hooks.

The other responses have been helpful.

You are describing a kid who appears to have done nothing other than go to school and read books in their free time. I don't think this is what without hooks means.

UVA

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the smart kids have hooks. That is what makes them smart.

My child has straight As, 13 APs (almost all 5s), strong test scores, and for fun reads about politics and does math. But he's never won any competitions, written anything outside of class, played sports, entered a science contest, or led anything, and he comes from a well-educated family. I think that's what people mean by smart but without hooks.

The other responses have been helpful.

You are describing a kid who appears to have done nothing other than go to school and read books in their free time. I don't think this is what without hooks means.

This. What are your kids interests? Kids in college are only in class for a very short period of time daily. AOs don’t want to have college students sitting in their dorm all day. What would your kid be doing?

Anonymous wrote:I second honors programs at state flagships.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the smart kids have hooks. That is what makes them smart.

My child has straight As, 13 APs (almost all 5s), strong test scores, and for fun reads about politics and does math. But he's never won any competitions, written anything outside of class, played sports, entered a science contest, or led anything, and he comes from a well-educated family. I think that's what people mean by smart but without hooks.

The other responses have been helpful.

You are describing a kid who appears to have done nothing other than go to school and read books in their free time. I don't think this is what without hooks means.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my unhooked kids got into HYP by building a compelling narrative. I'm assuming your extremely smart kid didn't sit home every summer. what's the common thread. lean into that this summer.

then your kid is as compelling as any other.

hooked kids have a nice bump, but the fact remains that most kids get in aren't an athlete or legacy or first gen.

You may have gotten lucky. But in very competitive areas like NYC & DMV, it often takes more than a couple of summers of the same activity. I know kids with amazing narratives and truly deep ECs (not to mention top grades + scores) who still got rejected from every Ivy.

Well we're in NY. And I didn't say the same activity - although I know kids who have done that and also had good results.

There's luck for sure, but there's also skill in moving any amazing narrative from real life to application. A lot of kids fumble the ball here.

Np. Agree with you.
And of course it’s more than a few summers in the same activity. Kid needs to show more ooomph than that - but it doesn’t have to be the crazy things people here and elsewhere think.
Many people don’t have the basic understanding on how to explore the threads that are there and tie them together.
Understanding the competition from your HS is important as well in ED/REA strategy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my unhooked kids got into HYP by building a compelling narrative. I'm assuming your extremely smart kid didn't sit home every summer. what's the common thread. lean into that this summer.

then your kid is as compelling as any other.

hooked kids have a nice bump, but the fact remains that most kids get in aren't an athlete or legacy or first gen.

You may have gotten lucky. But in very competitive areas like NYC & DMV, it often takes more than a couple of summers of the same activity. I know kids with amazing narratives and truly deep ECs (not to mention top grades + scores) who still got rejected from every Ivy.

Well we're in NY. And I didn't say the same activity - although I know kids who have done that and also had good results.

There's luck for sure, but there's also skill in moving any amazing narrative from real life to application. A lot of kids fumble the ball here.

If they have good scores, look for merit at UAlabama

NMS, look at UT Dallas and Ole Miss

"normal" and "extremely smart" are mutually exclusive. Being extremely smart is not normal.

Anonymous wrote:Schools like Northwestern, UChicago, JHU, CMU, Rice, Vanderbilt, WashU, Emory

Naw, I think OP wants schools with smart students, but you don’t have to get lucky if you have no hook. More like in the range of Michigan, Wisconsin, Rochester, Boston College, Tufts, NYU, Lehigh.