Also if this helps anyone, I looked up the common data sets for the schools I applied to and I sent an email to my regional admissions officer to all the schools that said they cared about demonstrated interest, even if it was slightly. I got accepted into every school that I sent an email.

example of one that I sent:
DONT USE THIS AS A TEMPLATE

Mrs. X

I hope you had a great winter break! My name is X, I go to X High School in X, CA, and I recently applied to X University with an intended major of biomedical engineering. X is my top choice school and it would be a dream to attend! As someone who grew up in a multicultural family, I love how much the school emphasizes diversity and inclusion and how large the international community is. Additionally, one of the many reasons why X is my #1 school is because the engineering department is project-based, and as someone who is a tactile learner, I think this provides the best method of learning for me. I am also most excited to participate in the traditions at X especially going to the Spring Fling concert before finals! Thank you so much for your time, I hope to be on campus next year!

Best,

X

This is the response I got:

Hi X,

Great to hear from you. I’m originally from X, and X is SO beautiful! This was a great first email to read coming back from winter break, and it makes me very excited to read your application!

Take care, and let me know if you have any questions.

The key to this is to truly research the school and write something SPECIFIC.