I think the most important things that schools watch out for in international students are ties with wherever you came from, and potential to contribute to issues surrounding diversity in the school.
Schools dont want to just fill their quota: they want a student who will use that diversity quota well.
Just gleaning from the experiences of several of my friends who were very successful, I would give the following advise:
a) Reflect on how your background gives you a different point of view in your essays. With an increasingly diverse population, especially in the North East and the South of the US, there is an impetus for schools to really push the multi-cultural compettence factor
b) You better have a solid plan for paying your tuition if you dont have a green card. At Hopkins and Stanford (those two are the ones Im sure of), you would have to pay ALL FOUR YEARS TUITION into an escrow fund (yikes!)
c) If you have previous experience volunteering abroad, or you transferred from a foreign college to a US college, high light that as well
d) Hopefully show evidence of leadership on campus. If you dont, plan on doing so.
e) Be prepared to answer dumb questions like: "what is your support system in the US like?", "are you planning on migrating to the US?", "what would you do if you dont get accepted here - go back home?", without showing the slightest trace of irritation
f) never be apologetic about the fact that you are an international student.
I'm using much of this advise myself right now, so we'll see how it will go.
BTW, Some of the Texan Schools have a great system where if you've lived in the state for a couple of years, you are considered a resident for all purposes including tuition and admissions. Maybe this will help if you live in Texas.
