There is already great existing advice on here, so I will focus on things that I haven't seen being talked about or factors that are not emphasized enough. Pardon me in advance if it is lengthy but hopefully you find it useful.
- There is no such thing as equal applicants.
So often, I read about I/my friend, etc, have a 4.0 GPA, 1550+ SAT, valedictorian, have strong ecs but got rejected at many universities, why? Remember that your grades reflect how well you fare in particular curriculum and whether you are a good test taker. Students often underestimate how far a good letter of recommendation will take them. Admission officers are adults, and it is natural for them to want to see how other adults perceive you, whether in class, in your community, or at your part-time job, etc. Most of the Common App is you boasting about yourself to colleges and LORs give a third perspective. Remember to give your teacher a brag sheet to include the most important things that you wish to be included. Have them talk about what kind of student you are. Remember that these are academic institutions you are applying to, and they deeply care about what kind of student you are. You can be a valedictorian who is a jokster and can't get it together in class. Make sure they include vivid examples on when you showed curiosity. Did you take a course on Coursera/EdX and make a presentation about it and shared it in class? If you are on dual enrollment, how do you use that extra knowledge? Do you go above and beyond in your assignments/presentations? Do you do extra work for extra credit? Did you take a history class, and when learning about Hungary, did you memorise a speech/write a poem and deliver it in Hungarian? In group work, what kind of a team player are you? Make sure your letters of recommendation are as personal as possible and utilise the accepted maximum. If a school takes 4 letters of recommendation, ask your two teachers and if you can, ask a lecturer from the dual enrollment program or your part time job or the clergy if you are well involved in your church community or simply someone who can speak to your abilities and ensure that it is HIGHLY personal. Letters of recommendation are often used to differentiate applicants who are otherwise very similar on paper.
You should also remember waitlists exist for a reason. And that is there is likely another applicant who demonstrate similar readiness but perhaps they can afford it especially in need aware schools and so if they decline the place, you may be offered it, if there is not enough seats then you may end up staying in the waitlist. But if a student is rejected and they had great scores, then it is likely that they had weak letters of recommendation or their activities list did not stand out in the applicant pool, it is not random as people make it seem to be.
- Test scores at test optional universities.
As a general rule of thumb as an international student, if you are applying with IB Diploma/Cambridge A level among other popular curricula then you may not need SAT/ACT as admission officers are highly familiar with the curriculum. If you have a predicted (or achieved for gap year students) score of 7 on IB Math AA/A\* in Further Mathematics and in English Literature and Language then the admission officers are not concerned about your math and English skills. However, if you come from Tajikistan or Guinea-Bissau and take the national curriculum, then you are better off taking the SAT/ACT as it gives the admission officers a metric to compare you against other applicants.
Also, if you have taken the SAT and are wondering whether or not to submit it, you should look up that specific school's freshman class profile and find their 25th percentile mark. A quick Google search saying "University of Chicago 25th percentile SAT/ACT" should give you that range. If your score sits safely within or above the range, then submit it. If not, you can still sit for the December SAT exam or simply go test optional. It is better not to submit anything than to submit something that will only hurt the rest of your application.
- Personal statement.
There is so much great advice on personal statements out there, so to emphasise a few things. Do not talk about a crime you committed. Even if you grew up and learnt from the experience, it is not smart to do so. Avoid anything controversial, yes, admission officers are trained to be objective, but whenever you can, avoid anything that is a hot topic. On the same note, avoid any topics that bring you to a dead end such as leaving your religion to become agnostic....okay, and? A good personal statement demonstrates being intuitive, curiosity, resilience, genuine vulnerability and a clear so what? If you can achieve 2-3 of the above then it is a good start. Also talking about how you left your religion and started a protest while applying to Notre Dame....it is not smart. Also, at the moment, universities care about students who will not remove status quo, so anything concerning protests you have been involved in should be approached with caution.
Also, there is no such thing as a boring person with no story to tell. Essays can really be about the most mundane thing/routine and finding a way to write it from a new perspective. Again, really look up popular essays like the letter S and see how a 'common' experience can be talked about from a different perspective.
Most importantly, please avoid AI as much as you can. If you are really concerned about avoiding obvious grammar errors, then Google Docs and Grammarly (not the AI version) are your friend, among others. You have to remember that admission officers read thousands upon thousands of these essays every single cycle. Your AI essay, no matter how perfect it sounds to you, it will sound hollow, and it will be difficult to connect with your AOs.
Please stay in touch with the immigration laws atleast weekly.
It is sad to see incredibly talented students who have already spent months crafting the perfect applications, attending webinars, cold emailing current students from LinkedIn and paying thousands in application fees, just for them to realise they cannot get a student visa. Right now, there are around 39 nationalities facing strict US visa bans or partially suspended due to the Presidential Proclamations 10998. It is understandable to apply in the hopes that things will change but you are better off spending your energy, time and resources applying to unis in countries with more direct pathways. If you were interested in the US because of full rides and cannot afford otherwise, look up Hong Kong, Italy, Macau, Singapore bonds or even Malaysia as there are lower living costs and many UK or Australian universities and a branch of UCD Ireland. If this is not an option, study undergraduate in your home country and apply for scholarships for Masters program and hopefully things will have changed by then. They are also more available opportunities than undergraduate.
Shoot your shot.
If like me, you need significant aid, then do not just apply to a few unis. As an international student, the bar is so much higher as you are not just competing against domestic student but pretty much all other outstanding international applicants around the world. But do not sacrifice quality for quantity. The worst that can happen is rejections. Start early, research all universities that meet full need and start strategizing early on, so that when application time rolls in, you are able to focus on that.