<p>I’m just curious as to what these are.</p>
<p>i was a cancer researcher; successfully demonstrated human serum binding of an experimental protein-based anti-leukemia drug, which is currently under development / undergoing worldwide clinicial trials</p>
<p>I am a hispanic immigrant from Bolivia. I have worked 40 hours a week throughout high school to support my family. Nobody in my family has ever attended college and neither of my parents speak English, yet I received a perfect score on the reading and writing sections of the SAT.</p>
<p>im a tibetan orthodox jew working in mainland china as a missionary secretly posing as a exchange student who feeds the poor every monday, wednesday, and sunday from 4-10.</p>
<p>I am a first generation Hispanic student who has raised over $14,000 for charity during high school with the help of just one other friend. I also auctioned off a one-of-kind book (took me two years to acquire) for charity to the tune of $5,400. The auction was publicized by the media, which I contacted. It was a hook for Wharton because I managed to successfully market and sell something for charity with a budget of 0 dollars.</p>
<p>i’m none of these, but here are some more examples:</p>
<p>1) first person in family to ever go to college</p>
<p>2) at least 1/8th native indian (i.e. sioux, cherokee, iroquois, first nation, etc.)</p>
<p>3) parents and/or grandparents have alumni status at the particular institution to which you are applying</p>
<p>4) you are an independent (aka self-sufficient)</p>
<p>basically a hook is some sort of very extraordinary circumstance that sets you apart from “normal” applicants (all expected to do well academically and socially through grades, tests, and extracurricular activities)</p>
<p>nah i feel like alumni status means less these days</p>
<p>e.g., friend who had good but not great sat scores, great everything else; applied early to wharton with legacy from one grandparent, both parents, and whatever a sibling counts for; rejected - and now as a rising senior, he’s got a goldman internship from stern</p>
<p>interesting. i’m doing an internship this summer with a top ranked business law firm in atlanta. is that a hook or just something nice to add to my list of activities?</p>
<p>Nowhere near a hook, but it should help. A hook means the college feels like it must have you.</p>
<p>@candygyrl</p>
<p>These ppl who posted I think are just rare. And not everyone has to do that.
You can still have a hook that’s great and noteworthy without all the going to a foreign country, making a scientific discovery gist. </p>
<p>If you are say an asian who’s really great at sports at the state/national level, that’s impressive. Or if you have your own company, making profits. Or if you wrote a book and love writing. Something that’s not as impossible…</p>
<p>If you’re doing an internship (I am too) show that you really love law and you started a club at your school or something like that.</p>
<p>i had the same questions you guys have now about a year ago. i applied ED and am going to penn in the fall. one of the really incredible things to keep in mind about penn is that they value you as a person, not just as a statistic or a list of extracurriculars. as cheesy as it sounds, be yourself, and that is what needs to shine through on your app</p>