The Power of the Hook : Part 3

The College Hook: Packaging Yourself to Win the College Admissions Game
By Pam Proctor

(Page 3 of 4)

But this was no ordinary résumé. Unlike one he might have written for a job search, this résumé showcased his Hook and other talents. To this end, Josh arranged his activities in categories that communicated his strengths - beginning with photography. The categories had clear subheads that an admissions reader could scan in a few seconds and understand instantly: Photographer, School Leader, Community Volunteer.

Under each category, Josh included specific accomplishments, such as "Photography Intern," "Freelance Photographer," "Photography Course," and "Personal Darkroom," which he described in detail to flesh out his expertise.

But Josh's efforts to market his Hook didn't stop with his application and résumé. To reinforce his photographic expertise, he asked his mentor to write a recommendation.

The photographer not only wrote a letter, but he also went a step further: He invited Josh to help him in the studio the day he was shooting a portrait of a leading photography professor at one of the schools to which Josh was applying. On a visit to the school, Josh met with the professor, thereby cementing his relationship. Finally, on his application, he referred to the professor by name in answer to the question, "Why are you applying?"

A "Genius" at Photography

The pièce de résistance of Josh's application was his portfolio. By the end of December, he had completed more than two dozen photographs, and, by all accounts, they were magnificent.

"Brilliant," said his mentor.

"Amazing," said his headmaster.

As it turned out, Josh was a budding genius at photography. His starkly lit portraits had such a professional quality that everyone who saw them wanted one. The headmaster of Josh's school was so enthralled that he immediately commissioned Josh to shoot a portrait of his family. Next, he hired him to do individual portraits of each member of the faculty, which he promptly displayed in the school's foyer. One commission followed another, and before long, Josh had a backlog of clients waiting for professional photo shoots.

Josh's parents were dumbfounded. "Have you seen Josh's work?" they told friends. "He's remarkable. Maybe he has a shot at one of his favorite colleges after all."

For his college application portfolio, Josh selected twelve photos of his classmates and had them reproduced by laser printer for each school. As Christmas break approached, he assembled his applications, essays, résumé, and portfolio, and dropped them in the mail. Then he waited.

The good news started coming in even before April 1. In early March, he received a letter from one liberal arts college in Vermont offering him a $5,000-a-year merit scholarship - solely on the strength of his photographs and essays.

A month later, Josh came home from school to discover that he had been accepted at his first choice, Bard, which was ranked that year among the top thirty liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News & World Report. He was put on the waiting list at another of his top schools, Hampshire College, which eventually accepted him after reviewing his senior grades.

But the good news for Josh went far beyond college admissions. At his high school graduation, he was awarded the Writing Prize for his work in English. And as president of the student body, he was one of the featured speakers.

Recounting the ups and downs of his high school career, Josh thanked the school administration for giving him a chance - a chance to discover who he was and who he could be. As he stood on the podium, speaking before a crowd that included leading New Yorkers whose children were in his class, he oozed confidence - the confidence of someone who was ready to take on the world.

And he has. Josh earned straight As his freshman year in college, and he continued on that track for the next three years. Majoring in creative writing with a minor in photography, he pursued freelance photography on the side, publishing a series of photographs of hip-hop artists in a national magazine. By his senior year, he had plunged into the world of professional photography as an assistant to a top international photographer, whom he accompanied on photo shoots to Brazil, Spain, and Rome.

But Josh didn't stop there. Within two years of graduating from Bard, he was being hailed by the New York art world as an emerging artist for his use of still and video imagery. His first coup was at a group show at a prominent gallery in Manhattan, where his work garnered praise from New York Times art critic Holland Cotter. Next came a monthlong solo exhibition at Sarah Lawrence College's new Heimbold Visual Arts Center, where he was invited to give the inaugural lecture to students and professors.

The accolades kept coming. Two museum directors snapped up his work at the Miami Art Fair, a prominent dealer took him on as her client, and ARTnews featured him in an interview and photo as one of the leading young artists in the country.

Josh had arrived - by the time he was twenty-four.

And it had all started with his Hook.

"Pulling my portfolio together for my college applications and forcing myself to think and write about my work was the first time I started taking photography seriously," said Josh.

© 2007 by Pam Proctor

About the Author

Pam Proctor, a former senior editor of Parade, is the author of seven non-fiction books, including: Love, Miracles and Animal Healing, with Allen M. Schoen, D.V.M; Looking Good at Any Age, with dermatologist Amy E. Newburger, M.D; and The Joy of Living, with "Today Show" personality Willard Scott. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and holds a Master's degree in government from Claremont Graduate University. Pam Proctor lives in Vero Beach, Florida.