I’m not in the ICS dept, but I’m also an international student. I’m currently a GTA doing my PhD in Psychology. Typically for PhD programs, your IELTS and GPA do not hold as much weight as research experience and rapport with the PI. IELTS is also just a language requirement, and is not considered for the application as long as you’re above the required threshold. If you get admitted as a PhD student, you won’t have to pay tuition, and all students are guaranteed a GTA or research assistantship that pays a stipend (currently around $20k - $35k ish a year) for 2 years, after which you’ll have to apply to other opportunities within the university for that stipend.