Could I use professional gaming(Top 0.1%) as a hook to explain my bad grades (3.2 UW gpa,3.7 GPA)? I have 1510 SAT(800M 710R) decent ECs and have won several local math competitions(AIME level). What colleges could I realistically get in with this?
I think that even mentioning it will imply that your gaming is more important to you than your education… not exactly what a college is hoping to hear.
It’s not a hook but an interesting part of the story of who you are. But don’t use it to "explain " your grades. It seems to fit with your other accomplishments, so use it in that context.
But I think schools will want to see that you value your education (at least in the areas that are part of your passion), so you should give thought to what you want to study in college and why and explain it. Your achievements and your grades are likely to be interpreted at first glance in z way that makes you look like an underachiever. You probably are going to want to tackle that one head-on, showing improvement (even in your senior year - finish strong!) and recognition of not having made your best effort.
It sounds like, before picking colleges, you need to let us know what you would like to study and what kind of environment you prefer. It sounds like you may not be a good candidate for schools with lots of distribution requirements. You may do better where admissions are done holistically. Do you want a big party scene? Preferably in one part of the country.? There are definitely schools that would be happy to have you.
Perhaps look for a college that has an eSports team - google “National Association of Collegiate eSports”
If you’d like an example of how using gaming as a hook worked for a recent college applicant, there was a lengthy thread not too long ago that might give you some insight. Yes, I know MTG isn’t quite the same as the gaming you’re referencing, but IMO they’ll be viewed similarly by colleges.
A hook is someone with an attribute or skill that meets an institutional need of a college. Examples might be a recruited athlete (ex. a quarterback for the football team) , the child of a huge donor (hoping for more donations), a person who might bring positive notoriety to a college (ex. Malala). Colleges have no institutional need for a gamer (especially one who seems to put gaming in front of academics) so it cannot be considered a hook. It is fine to mention your accomplishments in gaming as part of your applications, but don’t use it as an excuse for your grades.
Apply to a range of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable and match your academic profile (including GPA).
For colleges with eSports teams (especially those that has a team that plays your game), it is a hook, the same way as a quarterback for the football team.
Yes, but I don’t think any universities is going to admit anyone based on eSports capabilities.
On the other hand, schools like UT-Dallas and Webster do specifically recruit for and offer scholarships for chess players.
I enjoy gaming because it makes me think fast under pressure and solve problems, which ties in to my math ability. Can I use gaming to complement my math skills?
^ that’s an interesting topic that you could possibly turn into an essay, if you could find or do some correlation research. It certainly would be a unique topic I would think. I’m a bit ambivalent though as to whether it would be a good idea or not.
I want to show that my passion for gaming made me so good at it, so I can show that I can excel as a math major due to my love for problem solving
@bogeyorpar Where can I find out which colleges have esports teams?
Sorry but gaming is the opposite of a hook.
- Do not write an essay about gaming. My gut feeling is admission staff reading and evaluating are not STEM oriented and think gaming is a waste of time. They want an interesting class, and gaming in your room for many many hours per day, is just not interesting.
The only exception is if you created a game and turned it into a real business. There was a guy who did this with some kind of gaming minecraft server and is at Stanford. His business had thousands of players and he employed a full time adult developer all while he was still in high school.I can’t remember his name, but he put his essay and resume online.
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Target schools that value high SAT scores plus your state schools. Any of the good tech schools might like that 800 Math and the AIME awards.
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If you are truly top .1%, you probably won some money in tournaments. I would put that on the list of ECs.
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If you are a pro in Esports (the guys I see on TV who make a $50K salary) in the league controlled by a number of NFL owners, ignore everything I said above and go all in. I think an essay about competing all over the world could make a good essay if done right.
what the poster in #12 said is correct. For most college admissions, it will likely be viewed as a big negative and it will land your application in the trash bin instead of being seriously considered.
However, according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESports), there are a small handful of colleges who actually recruit based on participation in esports.
i heard a story about something getting into an ivy with some crazy gaming profile…
If you’re good in math, your math grades should tell that story for you. Otherwise, this essay will only serve to highlight the discrepancy between what you say and the reality.
I still vote for another essay.
I did a little googling and found this list of colleges with varsity esports programs:
I suspect that gaming is a negative for many older people and for many majors, but it can be portrayed as a net positive for other majors.
However your grades are going to bite you. If you had achieved top .1% rank while keeping your GPA at stellar levels, the colleges would be more likely to believe that you would be able to succeed at their institutions while keeping up your gaming.
Are your grades just uniformly B’s, or do you get A’s in math and science and C’s and D’s in humanities classes where you just don’t have the same raw ability? You can spin that sort of distribution more easily than you can spin getting poor grades because you just don’t care.
There are several threads on this website about students with 3.0-3.4 GPA who have had success with admissions (and even some merit money). You’re not getting into a top 10 school with your grades, you probably knew that, but there are plenty of schools out there who will look at you as a catch.