A few days ago I was on the phone with an ivy league admissions officer. I typically will follow up with each school that my students have been deferred or denied to through the Early Decision deadline. This is so I can get any information they can provide as to why they came to the decision they did and if deferred, what can they do over the next couple months to help themselves and be a more attractive applicant. This ivy league admissions officer mentioned something that I have never heard before. She said, “for the unhooked, their chances of getting accepted are even less”. Now, I know what it means to have a “hook” when it comes to applying to a highly competitive university and I know what some good “hooks” are, but it was the first time I have heard an admissions counselor refer to the “unhooked”.
What are the top hooks that admission counselors refer to?
- Top committed recruited athletes
- Top legacy students
- Member of an unrepresented group
- Parents who have been philanthropic towards charities or colleges
This ivy league admissions counselor that I talked to said that the typical admission rate at their school is around 7-8% but for the “unhooked” it goes down to around 4%.
So who are the “unhooked”? Everyone else. You might say, “I am in the National Honors Society, top 10% in my class, take all the AP courses my school offers, am a three year varsity starter in two sports, play in the band and help construct our school Yearbook.” This is all great! It isn’t unique, however, to the most competitive admission colleges in the United States. I am not saying that you cannot get accepted to an ivy league school if you do the above things. I am saying that your chances of getting accepted are very slim.
What should I do then? 1) Do what you enjoy, 2) do it well, 3) grow in responsibility and 4) take risks.
What do you mean? 1) if you are going to do something because you think it will “help for college”, don’t do it. What you do on your own time should be things you are excited and passionate about and you would do them no matter what it meant for college. 2) if you do what you enjoy and are passionate about, you will do it well. Why? Because you will have a desire to improve and it will bug you if you do not do something well. You will want to be a continual learner. 3) You will enjoy what you are doing so much and love to learn more and more about it that you will naturally take more of a leadership role (editor, captain, president or even CEO!). 4) Taking risks is apart of learning and they will come naturally if you are doing the first three things listed above. You will want to start selling something not knowing if anyone will buy it, make something not knowing it will work, start a fundraiser that you are not sure how much you will raise, etc. These are great risks and if you fail, it’s okay, you learn and try again!
The overwhelming majority of us will fall into the “unhooked” category but we are all uniquely created by God and all have special gifts and talents that He has given us. There are hundreds of really good colleges in the United States and you can thrive and excel at many of them. Your “hook” may not be a fit for one school, but it can definitely be a “hook” that another great school is looking for. Find the one that is the best “fit” for you keeping in mind that it’s you that will make the school that you attend “better” and not the school making you “better” because you are there.
