ARisingSenior

Hooks for applying....are they only things that an institution would want or could they be something unique about you? Like, maybe being an identical twin? If somehow having that person next to me for my entire life and competing with them?

dfree124

Having an identical twin is not a hook.

Sikorsky

The way we use the term hook on this message board, it's rather narrowly defined. And being a twin doesn't qualify.

A hook is an attribute of an applicant that fulfills one of a college or university's institutional wants or needs. Colleges have football teams, and football teams need players. So if you're one of the most sought-after high-school running backs in Texas, that's a hook. Colleges need wealthy donors. If you come from a family that could (and would) make a seven-figure gift to the college, that's a hook. Colleges want alumni to feel kindly disposed to the college, so being a legacy can be a hook. Colleges want socioeconomic diversity, so coming from an underprivileged background or belonging to an underrepresented minority group is often a hook.

But I don't know of any college or university that has an institutional need or desire to enroll twins, so, no, being a twin wouldn't be a hook.

That doesn't mean it's completely worthless to you. Apart from the daily joy that you no doubt get from having a twin sibling, you may be able to find something in your twin story that makes you memorable to the people in admissions who read your application. You may find something in there that makes for a great essay. Being memorable is what gets your application moved from the "maybe" pile to the "yes" pile (as long as you're memorable in a good way, of course). But your being a twin won't be appealing to colleges and universities per se; you'd have to make it so.

Good luck.

tgsesq

My daughter is hearing impaired.
Would that be a "hook" as an underrepresented minority (the minority being handicapped).
Thanks.

cc123sb

No, that does not count as a hook. However, if she struggled to overcome it or it helps define "who" she is, it could potentially make a great essay topic.

tgsesq

Thanks for the reply.

Would a hook be, graduating from the #2 HS in your state as ranked by US News and World Reports, (#17 in the nation)? It's a charter school, Biotechology HS in NJ. It's 5 years old, and the first students just got into Princeton and Yale this year. The graduating class also got into a slew of other top 20 colleges, so I'm thinking these kids may be desirable?

Thanks again.

csdad

It's not a hook, but she will get more latitude as far as class rank goes from colleges. My guess is that these students would have achieved nearly the same stats at most schools, it's not typically the school they attend that gets them admitted.

Sikorsky

I think the basic issue here is that narrow definition I mentioned before.

Hook doesn't simply mean something that will catch readers' attention. It has a more precise meaning. I think you have identified a couple of things that might get your daughter's application noticed (in a good way). It's just that hook isn't the word we would apply.

csdad

My definition is ; "something that directly benifits the college in a non academic manner"