Even if you manage professors beforehand, still you have to go through the application process.

Just follow the intended university website to keep yourself updated with the requirements. If you are confused about anything, just send email to grad coordinator. It is important to fillup the requirements otherwise your application may get rejection.

If you can not get green signals before application then you may want to keep 5-10 universities (or more) in your application list based on your profile. A combination of few high ambitious universities, sure shot universities etc. In my case, I applied to only two universities for the Spring 2024 term after receiving positive feedback from professors.

• Keep yourself updated with all the requirements for the program
• While applying keep separate folders with necessary documents for each of the university.
• Send out the LoR invitations to your desired profs with ample time
• Prepare your SOP carefully. Invest time for this. It’s important. DO NOT JUST COPY PASTE TEMPLATES FROM SENIORS. Read a few SOPs if you are not confident then start writing and update it regularly. Through this process, you will be able to understand research interests more clearly.

Resource

• CS PhD SOP