Would being a good chess player be a good "hook"?

DwightEisenhower
Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:06:03 +0000

Posting a number gives a better idea of whether or not it will help you significantly. Just from anecdotal experience, probably not. A friend of mine in high school sat at around 1900 and his acceptances/rejections were probably what they would have been if you substituted in some other activity. However, chess is a legitimate EC and it shows you’ve been committed to something. Don’t undervalue that.

I don’t know what year you are in high school, but if you have time left before you start applying, have you considered starting/developing further your school’s chess club? That’s one way to use your skill in chess to help your application, without necessarily requiring you to be exceptional. Try to get some new players to join, help them out, bring them to those high school tournaments of which you’re so disdainful. It might help you more than your victories themselves, especially if you can get a good recommendation out of it.