well, I'm afraid that I could not agree with some follows. First, application means competition. For example, they may pick 10 candidates out of 50 applicants. The choice would be harder and harder when the process continues, such as 10 out of 14 or 15. Therefore, do not give them any weakness to drop you.
Second, you surely have enough time. And you know, scores are more objective than experience, such as intern or lab work.
Besides, you could not conclude that you would get an offer with an certain score, say IELTS 6.0, only because somebody else with that score got admission before. You two could not be totally the same. And situation changes a lot each year.