Exchanging emails with current students - you can reach out through the clubs. I'm very curious to read some reviews about the guides, good and bad.

I think you have your bases covered with the sources listed, plus talking to current students (which falls into the school/class visit, I assume). I can't really imagine that the paid consultant guides have too much info that you couldn't figure out on your own from the combined sources you listed.

Frankly, as much as schools want you to believe otherwise, many of them are very similar. Especially when you consider that applicants tend to gravitate toward similar schools (for instance, I am applying to schools known for collaboration/teamwork and not schools that are more on the competitive side). The general "feel" may be different, which is why the school visits are so helpful, IMO (though sometimes that's hard to articulate). You just need to try to pick out as many unique things as you can (specific classes, institutes, clubs, students/alums/profs etc.) to demonstrate you didn't just cut and paste from another school. But inevitably, some of it is going to be pretty similar among different schools.

@Random Wok - if you can visit schools you should do so, at least the schools on your short list. You would be surprised what you will find out about the culture after you visit. I've visited schools that say they're "collaborative" and all that, only to talk to the students and find out that it wasn't the case.

I personally do not write any essays until after I have visited each school.