I'm curious about the final part: make an appointment with the director. I'm wondering if most directors would spare that much time for applicants. If this method pays off, then there would be tons of applicants in the US want to do so, and the adcom probably could not handle this.
I did. However, I admit that it is not easy to get the feedback from the professor, I sent tons of emails and got little feedback. but u have to find ways to get through. The last choice is to visit without appointment, this is risky but as long as u r confident and can show ur achievements, u might impress the professor and it could be very positive though