<p>I am a future Stanford applicant, and I would like to know what kinds of things are good hooks. </p>
<p>I am already an adept programmer (I know Python, Ruby, C, C++, and Java), have written an interpreter for the programming language FORTH, am in the process of building a autonomous quadrotor aircraft aprox. 16" across, and help organize and have presented at a major open source software convention in the Pacific Northwest, Linuxfest Northwest, and am the first person to present there while in high school.</p>
<p>Hi Sinestro. Take a look at the other recent thread about what constitutes a “hook”. Basically, a hook is something that, in and of itself, is valuable to the college because it meets the college’s needs. What you are describing is a well-developed EC, but that isn’t the same thing as a hook. Sometimes an applicant’s EC might be a hook–e.g., someone might be an amazing oboe player and the orchestra happens to need one. Being an adept programmer and a presenter in your open source community are good for showing your interests and leadership, but that’s not the same thing as a hook, which is more about what the college thinks it needs to fulfill its institutional objectives, both immediately and in the long term. Good luck.</p>
<p>Hi Sinestro, Looking at the accepted thread, I think Stanford is looking for that “personal” quality. If you are just a techie programmer, that isn’t going to cut it. Now a techie programmer + community service impact (or a varsity captain athlete or band leader)…that may provide a hook. And yes, if you are asian you better be good in something that is non-academic. And more than that, your essays should show your other side not just the geeky programmer :)</p>
<p>State or national level athlete is the best possible hook at Stanford. Stanford is all about athletes – who do you think populates the bottom 25% of the admitted class? It ain’t Asians.</p>
<p>I just wanted to add …
At the end of the day, they are going to only take so many people (single digit acceptance…)
So they will compare you to the other kids from your region and school. So from my school, say 15 people apply to Stanford and only 2 may get in, that person is probably not only the 2300+ scorer (but has varsity athlete or music or dance or olympiad medal or a super community service person), not necessarily the #1 person.
So the other thing that may help is if you are from a non-competitive region/school. Else they have too many to pick from (even if you meet the student/athlete/band scenario ).
So in some ways, it is your essay that may set you apart from the other student in your school who has the same “hooks” as you.
(and not to be a damper, but there are plenty of other inexpensive colleges that will get people to what they want and where they want to be in their life. Sorry …had to put in that…:))</p>
<p>Being a recruited athlete is an obvious example of a hook–if you are being recruited, Stanford has a definite need for your skills. But no, Stanford isn’t all about athletes by any means, even though we have awesome sports here. There are academic hooks as well, such as medaling in a national or international math or science Olympiad, winning Siemens, Intel, etc. Every top school wants these applicants, and though even these achievements don’t guarantee admission, they improve chances a great deal, which makes them a hook. (Of course, winners of those kinds of awards tend to be very high-caliber students already, but the awards give them an advantage over all the other applicants with amazing stats.) The closest thing to a slam-dunk hook is the “developmental” applicant, i.e., one whose family has given, or very probably will soon give, a big boatload of money, like seven figures, to the college. This is true everywhere, but then again, there aren’t a whole lot of applicants in that category, so.</p>
<p>Hooke that you cannot control are like URM, first generation, legacy, etc…</p>
<p>Being a recruited athlete does help you BIG TIME. Last year, only one senior got to accepted to Stanford out of 11 (according to Naviance). I personally knew 5 of the applicants, and I can tell you they were smart. They had like 4.0 uw and like 2 or 3 kids (can’t remember) were taking all ap classes. I remember one of them having his lowest grade being a 94%. The downside? They had NO life at all. No sports, no band, NADA (well except doing 25 service hours - School required). The one applicant that got in was a recruited athlete (football). He was not that smart but was average. He scored a 1510 on the SAT and I think he had a 3.3 or a 3.4 gpa (can’t remember). But yeah, being recruited is a major hook IMO.</p>
you better be good in something that is non-academic. And more than that, your essays should show your other side not just the geeky programmer :)</p>