If my parents are both immigrants to the USA and they are now official us citizens but they went to college in the US and both have PHDs to their name, is there any possible hook I can list on my college app or in my essays?
I am just curious and would like to hear what you all have to say. Is there anything I can put in the information section (hooks) or list something in my essays that is valuable?
Were you born in the US or did you immigrate with them? The latter may have some interesting experience angle of your own you can talk about, assuming youâre old enough to have lived experience of both countries. The former, I canât really see anything.
Born in US unfortunately. Is there no hook that fits this standard?
Not that Iâm aware of.
anything that comes close to it?
It sounds like you had all the advantages of a US education. Did you speak a different language at home? Did you travel to your parentsâ home country in the summers or for extended periods? That might make for an interesting essay on your adapting to a different culture.
Honestly, the âhookâ of parents being immigrants and not having college degrees was never a big hook. If you were in elementary school while your parents were getting their PhDs, you may have been in a good school system in a college town. Why would you need a hook? Talk about how lucky you have been in your educational opportunities, getting to go to events at the college, meeting professors (if that happened), or ways their being in school influenced you.
I grew up in a college town, went to the university lab school and it was great. We got to go to a lot of lectures, musical performances, go to the planetarium, go to plays and use the athletic facilities. My mother never went to college but I donât think my education suffered because of it. I was able to navigate college apps without her help.
Thank you.
I define a âhookâ as the applicant being a member of a group which as a matter of established admissions policy gets special consideration in the admissions process. I am not aware of any colleges which have such a policy that would identify applicants like you are describing as members of such a group on the basis of what you described.
Of course you might have some interesting related stories to tell in essays, particularly any that ask questions about diversity or community. But that would not be a âhookâ as I would define it, just an interesting individual story.
No related to your parent status.
A âhookâ , in my opinion, should be something YOU have done.
That would be a âspikeâ, IMO. A hook (other than for recruited athletes) is an inherent quality that an applicant possesses by virtue of who they are. Examples include being a first generation college student, low income, from an underrepresented demographic, or coming from an under resourced school.
In any case, none of this seems to apply to OP, as multiple posters have already mentioned.
Few applicants have a hook. If you were a hooked applicant you would know.
Additionally, if you have a hook, which the OP doesnât, you follow the first rule of Fight Club insofar as nowhere in your application do you say "Here are my hooks "
Except for high enough athletic skill to be recruited, most of what are normally called âhooksâ are inherited and not affected by the studentâs own achievements (legacy, donor relation, VIP relation, faculty/staff relation), although the colleges considering hooks still want to see some baseline level of student achievement among âhookâ candidates (such baseline level of student achievement may be significantly lower than what non-âhookâ candidates need to show to be admitted).
Nonetheless, the OP (like most applicants) has no hook.
Hmmm. Thatâs fortunate, not unfortunate IMHO.
From a life and admissions pov
Guess youâll have to get into college on your own merits !!
OP, a hook is something that meets an institution priority. You donât have one. BUT you probably have the fodder for a great essay. Being the child of parents from one country while growing up in another gives you some interesting insights into both cultures that likely impacted who you are and how you see the world.
There is nothing unfortunate for you about your birthplace. The hook you have is that youâre a US citizen with highly educated parents. Thatâs a hook many will never have in life.
Youâre unhooked, in terms of college admissions. You do your best with what you have. By the sounds of it, you have plenty other advantages that will be useful in your application process.
Your application will be judged based upon your academic record, your test scores, your ECs, and your recommendations. The fact that everyone is scrambling to somehow put themselves into some special favored category having nothing to do with their own achievement is kind of distasteful.
Of course. You can list your impressive achievements. When I taught at a private school, many parents were MD, JD, and PhD, and many of their children had state and/or national rankings in various fields - sports, arts, speech and debate, writing, math, science, business, etc. Some parents were faculty members in some colleges that offered special consideration to their children during the admission process.
Having capable and supportive parents donât automatically set the kids up for success. Many former students of mine put in all their effort to achieve what they did, be it fencing medalist, speech champion, solo pianist, etc. I had a student who scored 1520 on PSAT and 1600 on SAT and was worried about not having any hook to put on the application. I told him he didnât need any hook. His work ethic and achievements qualified him for anywhere he applied to. He was rejected by Harvard, currently attending Stanford. Parentsâ support provides more opportunities, but does not devalue the hard work their children put towards their achievements.
You can apply to the colleges they went to and check the box of having a relative have graduated there.
You will find a college to accept you if your parents can pay. No hook needed.