How important is a hook?

[vonlost]

<p>An explanation of “hook”:

Most applicants compete not with the whole applicant pool but within specific categories, where the applicant-to-available-space ratio may be more, or less, favorable than in the pool at large. Categories can exist for athletics, ethnic diversity, international citizenship, institutional legacy and loyalty, musical and artistic needs, component schools or special academic programs, and in some cases, even gender. Students in the selected categories, which vary from institution to institution, have a “hook” because they help meet institutional needs. Books such as Elizabeth Duffy and Idana Goldberg’s Crafting a Class, former Stanford admission dean Jean Fetter’s Questions and Admissions, and former Santa Cruz, Vassar, and Bowdoin dean Richard Moll’s Playing the Private College Admissions Game peer into the hidden reality of category admission.

From [Reed</a> College Admission Office](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html]Reed”>http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html)</p>