Sooo I was wondering what makes a good college hook? Like if having an extreme talent in one area/ incredible passion is what makes a hook? If so, do colleges find a hook in writing attractive? Like if you have a real passion for it, you have insane writing scores on standardized tests, you’ve been published multiple times, and if you’ve published a book, is that a hook?
Depends on who is publishing your book. Is it self-published, is it small press, or is it one of the big names with a marketing campaign behind it? Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, spiritual advice? Which college are you thinking of hooking?
If the college you’re aiming at has fewer strong writers in their applicant pool you will stand out, if you’re competing against a bunch of other published authors, you won’t stand out.
A hook is an attribute that is so important to a college that they really want you to go there. The most common hooks are recruited athlete, URM, and legacy. Of those, recruited athlete is probably the most reliable.
A hook is something a person has that fulfills an institutional need/desire of the college. Typical examples are recruited athlete, child of a large donor, someone whose fame might bring positive publicity to the school. Very few people have hooks.
The things you are describing are not hooks but are ECs/talents which many applicants to top tier schools do have. If you have published a book with a major publisher that has been well reviewed in the press etc. that would likely be helpful in the admission process, if you self published a book that won’t do much as anyone who can pay the fee can self-publish a book.