egwynn

My advice: Contact the DGS at schools your interested in and ask if your research interests would fit.

Yes, some MA programs do allow students to fulfill undergrad course requirements at their universities. SF State, I believe, is one school that offers provisional acceptances. 
 
I would also suggest taking a literature course at a community college or local university next semester. Loving to read literature is different than loving to study literature. I imagine Classics and 19th century British literature have overlapping methodologies, but there are bound to be differences. Make sure you really know what you are getting yourself into before applying. Plus, it could help your application. In a class, you'll be introduced to critical and theoretical perspectives on Dickens, which you can incorporate into your writing sample.
 
Since you are unfamiliar with scholarship surrounding Dickens, I'd also suggest searching for articles on Dickens via Google Scholar and seeing what kind of work people are doing with his texts. For better or for worse, it isn't enough to love the literature; to succeed as a grad student, you also have to love (or at least be engaged in) the critical discussions that surround your period. 

Have you looked at McGill and UBC?  McGill, at least, is in a more affordable city (do your research, though... they're having huge budget cuts, so your resources may be disappearing and some of the faculty are as well).

I feel like I'm always Debbie Downer when I drag this into these conversations, but I'm going to do it anyways.  I highly (and repeatedly and fervently) recommend that you give yourself as many options as possible.  Here's why:
 
1) What you want right now might not be what you want in January.  The time between submitting apps and hearing from schools can be a strange and mystical part of your life: you might read Jamaica Kincaid for the first time and become obsessed, you might meet your POI at a conference and discover that he is the devil incarnate, you might realize that you wouldn't live in Chicago if it were the last place on earth, or many many other things.  Be a little flexible about what you can imagine yourself doing, because not only will you possibly change what you want between now and March, but you'll almost definitely change direction at least a little bit once you arrive at your program and start trying and learning new things.
 
2) This is obvious, but it's worth stating and considering again and again.  What you see online, what you get in emails, what you hear from students before going places, and what your POIs tell you is all marketing.  I was admitted to a program this past season that seemed really good on paper and online, but when I visited it, I was immediately put off by the attitude of the department.  Be critical.  You don't want to end up somewhere that doesn't work for you because you were starry-eyed.  Being negative and fastidiously evaluative is a bit of a drag and might make you unpopular at margarita Mondays for a few months, but it will also probably put you in a better position than just riding on what the program says it offers and is.
 
3) If you can produce (and afford) 15 applications of the same quality that you would achieve if you were only producing 3, I would recommend applying more places.  I know that people feel strongly in both directions about this, but my reasoning is pretty basic and mathematical.  Both times I have applied, I have had a 25% success rate.  Had I applied to 4 schools, this would give me 1 option. Because I applied to 16, I had 4.  You want options for reasons 1 and 2 and also because, when you have multiple offers, you can haggle.  This is not true everywhere, as some schools have a standard stipend and that's that, but there are many schools that will ask you what your other offers are, and if you can return that U of A has offered you $5,000 more than U of B and you'd really prefer U of B, then you might just get $7,500 more from U of B.  (This is looking way ahead, but I'm also going to recommend not feeling timid about haggling; don't haggle if they have a set stipend, but if you think you have leverage, do it.)
 
4) Unless you feel very strongly that you would be utterly miserable living somewhere or you are moving with a partner/kids and need to consider location more, don't eliminate schools because of where they are.  I'm not particularly keen on Texas, California, or NYC, but I applied to 6 schools in those locations and very seriously considered the offers I got from some of them.  The fact that I ended up in a program that is both highly-ranked and pretty much exactly where I want to be is pure chance (and this program only became my first choice after I visited all of the programs I'd been admitted to).  Weigh the pros (what the university is going to do for you) against the cons (horrible weather, in a city, not in a city), and the pros will very probably win.
 
5) Listen to advice and recommendations, but also don't feel timid about rejecting it.  My advisor at my last program suggested about 30 programs to me, and probably 15 of them made it on my list or were already there.  I was pretty dubious about one of those, but I decided to go for it even though I wasn't keen on the location and the program wasn't represented well on the website.  This program became my #2 and I very nearly ended up there.  Even though I did not choose to do my PhD there, I made very valuable connections with the faculty during my visit.  The program I chose is not the one he was pushing for, but I decided it was the best fit for me.
 
Anyways, those are some of the more nuanced ways I made my list.  I'll also answer id quid's question a bit more directly with this bullet point:
• ask any helpful faculty
Your an advisor is, obviously, important in this process, but you have far more brains to pick than his or hers.  Ask profs you get along with in your department and in relevant departments.  If you're not a dick about it, people who are in radically different specialties than the one you want to enter will probably be willing to take the time and effort to think about it and even reach out to contacts they have on your behalf.  Be polite, friendly, and solicitous, and you will be inundated with helpful information.

First of all, I would say that it's a good idea in general to keep your personal finances (no matter where they come from) to yourself. No one needs to know that your parents pay for everything. If you remove this information from the equation, then much of the problem goes away and you might not feel so bad.
 
Second, don't feel guilty about going for a TA positions. TA spots are not need-based financial aid, they are merit based and awarded at the discretion of the university. If you really want to pursue a career in academia, then it is vital that you create a CV that reflects that. Without teaching experience (at least in my field) it is nearly impossible to get a job. Regardless of where your other financial support comes from, a TA position is important to your career and professional development. 
 
You have every right to seek a TA position and you should not feel bad about that. Throw your hat in the ring.

Apply to the programs you're most interested in—there's no reason to exclusively limit yourself to either Comp. Lit or English if you have the requirements for both. 

First off, most Comp Lit programs ask you to elect one or two principal foreign languages, in which you're more or less fluent. Since you're a native German speaker, and you would be able to attain Spanish fluency within a semester, you really shouldn't have a problem there. The other languages—one of which is often an ancient language (Latin in your case)—required only demonstration of reading knowledge, generally through a short translation exam. The University of Chicago has some practice exams here, which are pretty status quo, http://registrar.uchicago.edu/languge-exams. Based on what you've said though, I think that your language preparation is sufficient. At most you would need brush up on your Latin, so as to be able to pass a translation exam. 

Following that, because the language requirements are fairly rigorous for Comp Lit programs, they are considerably less competitive than English programs. The professor you spoke with was also correct, in that English graduates quite often hire Comp Lit graduates, particularly from the top departments. 

Though it would probably help to polish your Spanish/Latin a bit, I think the more important thing to think about how you would present your research interests to a Comp. Lit. department. If you're interested in 20th century American lit, find a way to convincingly articulate that interest in relation to your other languages. Is there a particular matrix through which you'd be interested in studying literatures in English, Spanish, and German? A particular genre or guiding question? I would go back to your thesis and see if you're able to apply the general questions addressed in it to a broader comparative field. Being able to present a compelling area of research is as important as language training; you could be fluent in 10 languages, but if you can't draw meaningful links between them a committee isn't going to be interested in your application. 

I would also say that 20th century American lit is a competitive field, but American lit/studies is also going through a pretty significant transnational turn. Based on that, a Comp Lit degree could be very helpful if you intend to apply for Americanist jobs. 

I wouldn't use Interfolio unless you have to. It gets expensive to have materials sent and, perhaps more importantly, you don't give your recommenders a chance to customize/tailor their letters for specific schools. That can hurt you, especially if other applicants do have those customized letters.

University of Phoenix.

I didn't mean to imply that or anything, since I honestly don't know, and don't want to make broad statements about the history of literary criticism or whatever. I was just wondering out loud whether there has been recent theoretical work in 'biography studies' or something. From my experience though (just undergrad), all of my professors treated biographical stuff as interesting and sometimes useful for articulating certain points, but never encouraged us to use it much. 

No such thing.

I feel like I'm always Debbie Downer when I drag this into these conversations, but I'm going to do it anyways.  I highly (and repeatedly and fervently) recommend that you give yourself as many options as possible.  Here's why:
 
1) What you want right now might not be what you want in January.  The time between submitting apps and hearing from schools can be a strange and mystical part of your life: you might read Jamaica Kincaid for the first time and become obsessed, you might meet your POI at a conference and discover that he is the devil incarnate, you might realize that you wouldn't live in Chicago if it were the last place on earth, or many many other things.  Be a little flexible about what you can imagine yourself doing, because not only will you possibly change what you want between now and March, but you'll almost definitely change direction at least a little bit once you arrive at your program and start trying and learning new things.
 
2) This is obvious, but it's worth stating and considering again and again.  What you see online, what you get in emails, what you hear from students before going places, and what your POIs tell you is all marketing.  I was admitted to a program this past season that seemed really good on paper and online, but when I visited it, I was immediately put off by the attitude of the department.  Be critical.  You don't want to end up somewhere that doesn't work for you because you were starry-eyed.  Being negative and fastidiously evaluative is a bit of a drag and might make you unpopular at margarita Mondays for a few months, but it will also probably put you in a better position than just riding on what the program says it offers and is.
 
3) If you can produce (and afford) 15 applications of the same quality that you would achieve if you were only producing 3, I would recommend applying more places.  I know that people feel strongly in both directions about this, but my reasoning is pretty basic and mathematical.  Both times I have applied, I have had a 25% success rate.  Had I applied to 4 schools, this would give me 1 option. Because I applied to 16, I had 4.  You want options for reasons 1 and 2 and also because, when you have multiple offers, you can haggle.  This is not true everywhere, as some schools have a standard stipend and that's that, but there are many schools that will ask you what your other offers are, and if you can return that U of A has offered you $5,000 more than U of B and you'd really prefer U of B, then you might just get $7,500 more from U of B.  (This is looking way ahead, but I'm also going to recommend not feeling timid about haggling; don't haggle if they have a set stipend, but if you think you have leverage, do it.)
 
4) Unless you feel very strongly that you would be utterly miserable living somewhere or you are moving with a partner/kids and need to consider location more, don't eliminate schools because of where they are.  I'm not particularly keen on Texas, California, or NYC, but I applied to 6 schools in those locations and very seriously considered the offers I got from some of them.  The fact that I ended up in a program that is both highly-ranked and pretty much exactly where I want to be is pure chance (and this program only became my first choice after I visited all of the programs I'd been admitted to).  Weigh the pros (what the university is going to do for you) against the cons (horrible weather, in a city, not in a city), and the pros will very probably win.
 
5) Listen to advice and recommendations, but also don't feel timid about rejecting it.  My advisor at my last program suggested about 30 programs to me, and probably 15 of them made it on my list or were already there.  I was pretty dubious about one of those, but I decided to go for it even though I wasn't keen on the location and the program wasn't represented well on the website.  This program became my #2 and I very nearly ended up there.  Even though I did not choose to do my PhD there, I made very valuable connections with the faculty during my visit.  The program I chose is not the one he was pushing for, but I decided it was the best fit for me.
 
Anyways, those are some of the more nuanced ways I made my list.  I'll also answer id quid's question a bit more directly with this bullet point:
• ask any helpful faculty
Your an advisor is, obviously, important in this process, but you have far more brains to pick than his or hers.  Ask profs you get along with in your department and in relevant departments.  If you're not a dick about it, people who are in radically different specialties than the one you want to enter will probably be willing to take the time and effort to think about it and even reach out to contacts they have on your behalf.  Be polite, friendly, and solicitous, and you will be inundated with helpful information.

"Already Attending"

!!!

I feel like I'm always Debbie Downer when I drag this into these conversations, but I'm going to do it anyways.  I highly (and repeatedly and fervently) recommend that you give yourself as many options as possible.  Here's why:
 
1) What you want right now might not be what you want in January.  The time between submitting apps and hearing from schools can be a strange and mystical part of your life: you might read Jamaica Kincaid for the first time and become obsessed, you might meet your POI at a conference and discover that he is the devil incarnate, you might realize that you wouldn't live in Chicago if it were the last place on earth, or many many other things.  Be a little flexible about what you can imagine yourself doing, because not only will you possibly change what you want between now and March, but you'll almost definitely change direction at least a little bit once you arrive at your program and start trying and learning new things.
 
2) This is obvious, but it's worth stating and considering again and again.  What you see online, what you get in emails, what you hear from students before going places, and what your POIs tell you is all marketing.  I was admitted to a program this past season that seemed really good on paper and online, but when I visited it, I was immediately put off by the attitude of the department.  Be critical.  You don't want to end up somewhere that doesn't work for you because you were starry-eyed.  Being negative and fastidiously evaluative is a bit of a drag and might make you unpopular at margarita Mondays for a few months, but it will also probably put you in a better position than just riding on what the program says it offers and is.
 
3) If you can produce (and afford) 15 applications of the same quality that you would achieve if you were only producing 3, I would recommend applying more places.  I know that people feel strongly in both directions about this, but my reasoning is pretty basic and mathematical.  Both times I have applied, I have had a 25% success rate.  Had I applied to 4 schools, this would give me 1 option. Because I applied to 16, I had 4.  You want options for reasons 1 and 2 and also because, when you have multiple offers, you can haggle.  This is not true everywhere, as some schools have a standard stipend and that's that, but there are many schools that will ask you what your other offers are, and if you can return that U of A has offered you $5,000 more than U of B and you'd really prefer U of B, then you might just get $7,500 more from U of B.  (This is looking way ahead, but I'm also going to recommend not feeling timid about haggling; don't haggle if they have a set stipend, but if you think you have leverage, do it.)
 
4) Unless you feel very strongly that you would be utterly miserable living somewhere or you are moving with a partner/kids and need to consider location more, don't eliminate schools because of where they are.  I'm not particularly keen on Texas, California, or NYC, but I applied to 6 schools in those locations and very seriously considered the offers I got from some of them.  The fact that I ended up in a program that is both highly-ranked and pretty much exactly where I want to be is pure chance (and this program only became my first choice after I visited all of the programs I'd been admitted to).  Weigh the pros (what the university is going to do for you) against the cons (horrible weather, in a city, not in a city), and the pros will very probably win.
 
5) Listen to advice and recommendations, but also don't feel timid about rejecting it.  My advisor at my last program suggested about 30 programs to me, and probably 15 of them made it on my list or were already there.  I was pretty dubious about one of those, but I decided to go for it even though I wasn't keen on the location and the program wasn't represented well on the website.  This program became my #2 and I very nearly ended up there.  Even though I did not choose to do my PhD there, I made very valuable connections with the faculty during my visit.  The program I chose is not the one he was pushing for, but I decided it was the best fit for me.
 
Anyways, those are some of the more nuanced ways I made my list.  I'll also answer id quid's question a bit more directly with this bullet point:
• ask any helpful faculty
Your an advisor is, obviously, important in this process, but you have far more brains to pick than his or hers.  Ask profs you get along with in your department and in relevant departments.  If you're not a dick about it, people who are in radically different specialties than the one you want to enter will probably be willing to take the time and effort to think about it and even reach out to contacts they have on your behalf.  Be polite, friendly, and solicitous, and you will be inundated with helpful information.

I second everything Lons said and I'll say, had I compiled my list alone I would not have applied to half the schools I applied to and would probably not be going where I'm going now. I would have applied to fewer schools, almost no prestigious programs and/or would've overlooked great programs that in my mind didn't seem strong because I was unfamiliar with the university.
 
Sometimes I think people get hung up too much on fit. Being limited by financial resources (or family/employment etc.) is one thing. But if someone honestly cannot see themselves fitting into more than 4-5 schools,they may need to reevaluate their criteria - unless they're so set on just those schools that they would rather face total rejection in the spring than a choice of schools that maybe weren't at the top of the list (at that moment in time; visiting a school and speaking with professors there personally can change a lot). Which some people are and that's A-OK!
 
To me, fit is less about finding a professor or professors who encompass every aspect of your research interests and more about finding a program and faculty list with enough pieces for you to pull together during graduate study. Maybe Professor X has the theoretical framework you like, but Professor X does Victorian and you're an early Americanist. Professor Y does early American, but their focus is on poetry instead of novels. However, there's also Professor Z who's an expert on the American novel. As a grad student you could possibly use Professor X's guidance on laying out your theory, Professor Y for historical/cultural research, and Professor Z for form analysis.
 
Tbh, the above is something I've discussed with professors after receiving offers and going visits, but the initial school-choosing process was much simpler. It was basically: "Which schools will allow me to pursue research in this, this, and this from a creative perspective with a reasonable (comparatively) possibility of employment after graduation?" From there I eventually got 19 strong programs. If I didn't get into any of those programs, the plan was to apply to a similar (probably reduced) list. As it was, I got into 5. And the rest is history - a very short history of me picking Chicago and twiddling my thumbs since we still haven't started classes yet ugh.

I feel like I'm always Debbie Downer when I drag this into these conversations, but I'm going to do it anyways.  I highly (and repeatedly and fervently) recommend that you give yourself as many options as possible.  Here's why:
 
1) What you want right now might not be what you want in January.  The time between submitting apps and hearing from schools can be a strange and mystical part of your life: you might read Jamaica Kincaid for the first time and become obsessed, you might meet your POI at a conference and discover that he is the devil incarnate, you might realize that you wouldn't live in Chicago if it were the last place on earth, or many many other things.  Be a little flexible about what you can imagine yourself doing, because not only will you possibly change what you want between now and March, but you'll almost definitely change direction at least a little bit once you arrive at your program and start trying and learning new things.
 
2) This is obvious, but it's worth stating and considering again and again.  What you see online, what you get in emails, what you hear from students before going places, and what your POIs tell you is all marketing.  I was admitted to a program this past season that seemed really good on paper and online, but when I visited it, I was immediately put off by the attitude of the department.  Be critical.  You don't want to end up somewhere that doesn't work for you because you were starry-eyed.  Being negative and fastidiously evaluative is a bit of a drag and might make you unpopular at margarita Mondays for a few months, but it will also probably put you in a better position than just riding on what the program says it offers and is.
 
3) If you can produce (and afford) 15 applications of the same quality that you would achieve if you were only producing 3, I would recommend applying more places.  I know that people feel strongly in both directions about this, but my reasoning is pretty basic and mathematical.  Both times I have applied, I have had a 25% success rate.  Had I applied to 4 schools, this would give me 1 option. Because I applied to 16, I had 4.  You want options for reasons 1 and 2 and also because, when you have multiple offers, you can haggle.  This is not true everywhere, as some schools have a standard stipend and that's that, but there are many schools that will ask you what your other offers are, and if you can return that U of A has offered you $5,000 more than U of B and you'd really prefer U of B, then you might just get $7,500 more from U of B.  (This is looking way ahead, but I'm also going to recommend not feeling timid about haggling; don't haggle if they have a set stipend, but if you think you have leverage, do it.)
 
4) Unless you feel very strongly that you would be utterly miserable living somewhere or you are moving with a partner/kids and need to consider location more, don't eliminate schools because of where they are.  I'm not particularly keen on Texas, California, or NYC, but I applied to 6 schools in those locations and very seriously considered the offers I got from some of them.  The fact that I ended up in a program that is both highly-ranked and pretty much exactly where I want to be is pure chance (and this program only became my first choice after I visited all of the programs I'd been admitted to).  Weigh the pros (what the university is going to do for you) against the cons (horrible weather, in a city, not in a city), and the pros will very probably win.
 
5) Listen to advice and recommendations, but also don't feel timid about rejecting it.  My advisor at my last program suggested about 30 programs to me, and probably 15 of them made it on my list or were already there.  I was pretty dubious about one of those, but I decided to go for it even though I wasn't keen on the location and the program wasn't represented well on the website.  This program became my #2 and I very nearly ended up there.  Even though I did not choose to do my PhD there, I made very valuable connections with the faculty during my visit.  The program I chose is not the one he was pushing for, but I decided it was the best fit for me.
 
Anyways, those are some of the more nuanced ways I made my list.  I'll also answer id quid's question a bit more directly with this bullet point:
• ask any helpful faculty
Your an advisor is, obviously, important in this process, but you have far more brains to pick than his or hers.  Ask profs you get along with in your department and in relevant departments.  If you're not a dick about it, people who are in radically different specialties than the one you want to enter will probably be willing to take the time and effort to think about it and even reach out to contacts they have on your behalf.  Be polite, friendly, and solicitous, and you will be inundated with helpful information.

I feel like I'm always Debbie Downer when I drag this into these conversations, but I'm going to do it anyways.  I highly (and repeatedly and fervently) recommend that you give yourself as many options as possible.  Here's why:
 
1) What you want right now might not be what you want in January.  The time between submitting apps and hearing from schools can be a strange and mystical part of your life: you might read Jamaica Kincaid for the first time and become obsessed, you might meet your POI at a conference and discover that he is the devil incarnate, you might realize that you wouldn't live in Chicago if it were the last place on earth, or many many other things.  Be a little flexible about what you can imagine yourself doing, because not only will you possibly change what you want between now and March, but you'll almost definitely change direction at least a little bit once you arrive at your program and start trying and learning new things.
 
2) This is obvious, but it's worth stating and considering again and again.  What you see online, what you get in emails, what you hear from students before going places, and what your POIs tell you is all marketing.  I was admitted to a program this past season that seemed really good on paper and online, but when I visited it, I was immediately put off by the attitude of the department.  Be critical.  You don't want to end up somewhere that doesn't work for you because you were starry-eyed.  Being negative and fastidiously evaluative is a bit of a drag and might make you unpopular at margarita Mondays for a few months, but it will also probably put you in a better position than just riding on what the program says it offers and is.
 
3) If you can produce (and afford) 15 applications of the same quality that you would achieve if you were only producing 3, I would recommend applying more places.  I know that people feel strongly in both directions about this, but my reasoning is pretty basic and mathematical.  Both times I have applied, I have had a 25% success rate.  Had I applied to 4 schools, this would give me 1 option. Because I applied to 16, I had 4.  You want options for reasons 1 and 2 and also because, when you have multiple offers, you can haggle.  This is not true everywhere, as some schools have a standard stipend and that's that, but there are many schools that will ask you what your other offers are, and if you can return that U of A has offered you $5,000 more than U of B and you'd really prefer U of B, then you might just get $7,500 more from U of B.  (This is looking way ahead, but I'm also going to recommend not feeling timid about haggling; don't haggle if they have a set stipend, but if you think you have leverage, do it.)
 
4) Unless you feel very strongly that you would be utterly miserable living somewhere or you are moving with a partner/kids and need to consider location more, don't eliminate schools because of where they are.  I'm not particularly keen on Texas, California, or NYC, but I applied to 6 schools in those locations and very seriously considered the offers I got from some of them.  The fact that I ended up in a program that is both highly-ranked and pretty much exactly where I want to be is pure chance (and this program only became my first choice after I visited all of the programs I'd been admitted to).  Weigh the pros (what the university is going to do for you) against the cons (horrible weather, in a city, not in a city), and the pros will very probably win.
 
5) Listen to advice and recommendations, but also don't feel timid about rejecting it.  My advisor at my last program suggested about 30 programs to me, and probably 15 of them made it on my list or were already there.  I was pretty dubious about one of those, but I decided to go for it even though I wasn't keen on the location and the program wasn't represented well on the website.  This program became my #2 and I very nearly ended up there.  Even though I did not choose to do my PhD there, I made very valuable connections with the faculty during my visit.  The program I chose is not the one he was pushing for, but I decided it was the best fit for me.
 
Anyways, those are some of the more nuanced ways I made my list.  I'll also answer id quid's question a bit more directly with this bullet point:
• ask any helpful faculty
Your an advisor is, obviously, important in this process, but you have far more brains to pick than his or hers.  Ask profs you get along with in your department and in relevant departments.  If you're not a dick about it, people who are in radically different specialties than the one you want to enter will probably be willing to take the time and effort to think about it and even reach out to contacts they have on your behalf.  Be polite, friendly, and solicitous, and you will be inundated with helpful information.

I feel like I'm always Debbie Downer when I drag this into these conversations, but I'm going to do it anyways.  I highly (and repeatedly and fervently) recommend that you give yourself as many options as possible.  Here's why:
 
1) What you want right now might not be what you want in January.  The time between submitting apps and hearing from schools can be a strange and mystical part of your life: you might read Jamaica Kincaid for the first time and become obsessed, you might meet your POI at a conference and discover that he is the devil incarnate, you might realize that you wouldn't live in Chicago if it were the last place on earth, or many many other things.  Be a little flexible about what you can imagine yourself doing, because not only will you possibly change what you want between now and March, but you'll almost definitely change direction at least a little bit once you arrive at your program and start trying and learning new things.
 
2) This is obvious, but it's worth stating and considering again and again.  What you see online, what you get in emails, what you hear from students before going places, and what your POIs tell you is all marketing.  I was admitted to a program this past season that seemed really good on paper and online, but when I visited it, I was immediately put off by the attitude of the department.  Be critical.  You don't want to end up somewhere that doesn't work for you because you were starry-eyed.  Being negative and fastidiously evaluative is a bit of a drag and might make you unpopular at margarita Mondays for a few months, but it will also probably put you in a better position than just riding on what the program says it offers and is.
 
3) If you can produce (and afford) 15 applications of the same quality that you would achieve if you were only producing 3, I would recommend applying more places.  I know that people feel strongly in both directions about this, but my reasoning is pretty basic and mathematical.  Both times I have applied, I have had a 25% success rate.  Had I applied to 4 schools, this would give me 1 option. Because I applied to 16, I had 4.  You want options for reasons 1 and 2 and also because, when you have multiple offers, you can haggle.  This is not true everywhere, as some schools have a standard stipend and that's that, but there are many schools that will ask you what your other offers are, and if you can return that U of A has offered you $5,000 more than U of B and you'd really prefer U of B, then you might just get $7,500 more from U of B.  (This is looking way ahead, but I'm also going to recommend not feeling timid about haggling; don't haggle if they have a set stipend, but if you think you have leverage, do it.)
 
4) Unless you feel very strongly that you would be utterly miserable living somewhere or you are moving with a partner/kids and need to consider location more, don't eliminate schools because of where they are.  I'm not particularly keen on Texas, California, or NYC, but I applied to 6 schools in those locations and very seriously considered the offers I got from some of them.  The fact that I ended up in a program that is both highly-ranked and pretty much exactly where I want to be is pure chance (and this program only became my first choice after I visited all of the programs I'd been admitted to).  Weigh the pros (what the university is going to do for you) against the cons (horrible weather, in a city, not in a city), and the pros will very probably win.
 
5) Listen to advice and recommendations, but also don't feel timid about rejecting it.  My advisor at my last program suggested about 30 programs to me, and probably 15 of them made it on my list or were already there.  I was pretty dubious about one of those, but I decided to go for it even though I wasn't keen on the location and the program wasn't represented well on the website.  This program became my #2 and I very nearly ended up there.  Even though I did not choose to do my PhD there, I made very valuable connections with the faculty during my visit.  The program I chose is not the one he was pushing for, but I decided it was the best fit for me.
 
Anyways, those are some of the more nuanced ways I made my list.  I'll also answer id quid's question a bit more directly with this bullet point:
• ask any helpful faculty
Your an advisor is, obviously, important in this process, but you have far more brains to pick than his or hers.  Ask profs you get along with in your department and in relevant departments.  If you're not a dick about it, people who are in radically different specialties than the one you want to enter will probably be willing to take the time and effort to think about it and even reach out to contacts they have on your behalf.  Be polite, friendly, and solicitous, and you will be inundated with helpful information.

While I am an avid reader of YA novels, I am not a scholar of children's or YA lit. However, I remember the last MLA convention I attended had a handful of children's lit panels. I just checked on their website, and it seems like there are three to five panels relevant to children's lit each year (although, I did notice that there was quite the boom 2006-2008, so you may investigate why there were fewer panels these past few years). I searched "children's literature" here: http://www.mla.org/conv_listings_res. From there, you can see with what schools presenters are affiliated, and go from there. 

The departments I applied to had very specific methods about how to submit materials ranging from snail mail only to their own online forms with document upload features. Interfolio would not have been helpful for me. Frankly, just applying to grad school is expensive enough already. An added expense for this kind of service would not have been welcomed news. Budgetary constraints dictated how many schools I could apply to, so interfolio would have reduced the number. I suppose I could have had an interfolio thing set up and gave them access in addition to everything they asked for, but why the redundancy?
 
Just to add: people should not submit their applications and associated documents in any way other than the school's requested format. The school and the department both have a system in place for selecting people, and things that alter that system tend to be frustrating rather than helpful. Everyone else's paperwork is located in specific places where they don't have to be tracked, just processed. The Didn't Follow Directions Applicant's paperwork is someplace else where it has to be tracked (meaning someone has to be responsible for remembering where it is and then shifting the application to where it's supposed to be, which might be frustratingly difficult if it's all submitted electronically to an incompatible platform). Since they're not the DMV (who has to deal with someone whether they want to or not), they can just send a rejection without actually processing applicant materials. Bucking the paperwork system can be a good thing in the right context, but not when trying to get accepted into a program or hired from a large pool of candidates. There are better ways to stand out.
 
I do think that some graduate schools will adopt things like interfolio as their application system, particularly smaller ones that don't have the resources to develop and maintain their own online application system and want to use one. It appears that some schools already have.

with prime shipping and the used options, i find amazon to usually be my best bet

This is going to be me on Amazon in two weeks.  I am stoked to start class.
 

This is going to be me on Amazon in two weeks.  I am stoked to start class.
 

This is going to be me on Amazon in two weeks.  I am stoked to start class.
 

This is going to be me on Amazon in two weeks.  I am stoked to start class.
 

This is going to be me on Amazon in two weeks.  I am stoked to start class.