indicator that you don't plan to graduate from BYU-H. I have known people in the admissions department of BYU-H for 30+ years. My buddy's father was head of admissions for almost 2 decades at one point. I have talked extensively about this with many of them.

They get an enormous amount of turnover with US students who transfer elsewhere, primarily BYU. They don't want kids to come out to surf and have a life experience. Its not what the purpose of the campus is. They need and want graduates, therefore they look for things that indicate someone willing to graduate from BYU-H. Most of the time mainland US citizens do not fit that criteria.

Unless things have changed in the last few years the essay has more sway than you would expect. They care about ties to the islands, Polynesia and Asia, family that may have attended BYU-H particularly if they are graduates. They care if you say you actually want to graduate from there and why. If you don't have any of that you could have a 4.0 and 36 ACT and not get in. They are not looking for the top students per say but for good students who are committed to graduating from BYU-H.