Speaking to faculty members of the university you want to attend is extremely important. You can either do it directly by sending an email to the professors working in the same field you would like to work in. Or, indirectly through a friend of yours working in this same group or through one of your recommenders/professors in the faculty.

Try to explicitly indicate your abilities to do research and your previous work so that the professor becomes interested in you. When this happens he can ask about your file in the graduate office and recommend your admission to the university. He will be also the source of your funding, so try to speak to professors who have a number of big projects running.