If you are a serious athlete - and the OP sounds like they are - here are some additional tips that worked for Golfkiddo.
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Make early contact with the AO and the coache(s) for your sports.
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Review highlight and game films on the school websites - get to know the team.
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Figure out which school teams need certain positions - this worked for us, but maybe not everyone. My kid knew the rosters of every school applying to that year - who was graduating, where they needed help, what could someone bring to the team, etc. Know how you might contribute to their team(s) For example: “Oh - DreamSchool is graduating 4 Seniors on their Curling Team this year - they may be looking for someone like me who is really good at being the Lead. Maybe I should send a quick email to the DreamSchool coach and the AO I met with my short, one-minute, highlight reel of me at the district curling championships”
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Performing arts are big draws to many schools. Visual arts, also. A couple of the schools we applied to had a dedicated portal for submitting visual arts portfolios. For dance at some schools there may be an opportunity to audition, attend a dance class, and/or submit a video.