13/08/2025
Admissions readers have hundreds of essays to get through in a day – and you have just a few seconds to make them want to keep reading. That’s why the hook is one of the most powerful tools in your college application arsenal.
We have just published a new blog post: *What is a “Hook” in College Admission Essays? (with 9 in-house examples)*
Inside, we break down what makes a great hook, share real examples from Epiphy Academy students — including the ones from successful applications to Stanford, Columbia, UPenn, and Dartmouth — and invite you to identify the different hook styles yourself.
Whether you are a student aiming to write a show-stopping essay or a parent, mentor, editor, or counselor helping them, this blog post will sharpen your eye for irresistible openings.
📄 Read the full blog post here:
The room buzzed with the sound of fingers pounding keyboards. My deadline was in two hours, and the only thing on my screen was a blinking cursor — taunting me. Then, almost without thinking, I typed the sentence that would change everything.That’s a hook – an opening line or paragraph that ca...
