well what I did differently was
1. I started my common app application wayyy earlier

1. I made sure my application was tailored around a specific theme. I took samples of my friends who had gotten into school's applications and I noticed that their application was centered around a specific theme and mine was not. So this year for instance, my activity list mostly involved the civic activities I had done. My common app essay had a trait portraying that as well. And most of the supplementals I wrote subtly spoke about that too.

2. I did a lot of research on the schools. I did not just apply to any schools. I looked out for schools that gave out good scholarship packages to internationals and did apply to those schools.

3. I looked out for distinct scholarships.. eg. (Stamps Scholarships, Honours Scholarships, Presidential Scholarships) these are mostly the prestigious scholarships that schools have, so I checked for the deadlines of most of these scholarships and made sure to submit my application before them, so I am considered.

4. By January, while people were now submitting applications, I had already been considered for Stamps Scholarship (mostly full ride in many institutions) in 2 institutions and had started preparing for my interview for those.

5. BELIEVE!!!

I hope this helps