<p>Well, there was an example of an RSI attendee in last year’s Harvard applicant pool who didn’t get accepted by Harvard–he did get accepted at some other very cool schools–so even that VERY PRESTIGIOUS summer program can sometimes be not enough for getting into Harvard. That’s about as fine a manufactured characteristic a student can have, and it still isn’t always enough. I will agree with you that those ECs are not routine nationwide, not at all, but Harvard gets enough of each of those ECs in its applicant pool that any one of them doesn’t make for a lock on admission.</p>
<p>dont worry about hooks. do what you love to do, as long as iys productive. having been through that phase, ive learned that if you stick to your heart, the rest will work itself out. i know its cliche, but that doesnt make it untrue.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=80289[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=80289</a></p>
<p>Simply put, a hook is something that sets one apart from the mass of applicants. This could include anything extraordinary that would add to the diversity of the student body. Having an interesting hobby or passion would be a small hook; being a urm or from a state with few applicants would be a medium hook; winning the Olympics/winning a large international or national competition (e.g. Intel, Siemens)/participating in RSI would be large hooks.</p>