<p>@StanfordCS- not necessarily. A hook is essentially anything that is special about your app that could make the college want you. If you read the Stanford Daily article on their college admission process (in the SCEA thread) you’ll see that the kid with decent grades but with a passion for compsci was admitted over two other candidates who were more well rounded. OP’s description makes it seem like he really cares about comp sci, and will further explore his passion. Granted, for a school like Stanford, it will be a good hook, but not something that they haven’t seen before.</p>