Hey Ashlee, thanks for getting the thread started this year. It's never too early to stress out about grad apps!
I thought I might be able to help you out a bit with some of your questions. I'm currently finishing an MA and getting ready to reapply to PhD programs. I have some contacts in the departments that you are interested in, so I may be able to give you an idea of what to expect. I'm not in the same period/area, so you will have to take this with a giant grain of salt. Still, the more information the better, right!
My impression is that the Chinese side of Harvard EALC isn't particularly interested in working cross-culturally. Stephen Owen is very, very good at what he does, but the direct quote from one of my friends there is "they are predisposed just to generally ignore your program." That said, the department as a whole has produced some amazing scholars that work across cultures, one of whom (though working in the modern period) is still in the department, Karen Thornber.
I know less about Ronald Egan, but do know some of his students personally, and I get a similar impression from their work. They focus on a narrow period, but the research they do is fantastic.
If you are really focused on working cross-culturally--which I think you should be, because that looks like the direction that the field is moving more generally--Columbia may be a better fit, though I'm not sure who specifically you are looking to work with. Another option that you may look at is UCLA. Jack Chen works in a slightly different period, but I've heard good things about him--although I also hear his most recent book wasn't so well received by some of the "ranking" members in the field. Shu-mei Shih edited a book called "Minor Transnationalism" which is fantastic and has been used regularly in my graduate seminars. There is a large and well-respected Korean studies department and John Duncan may have produced works that would interest you. On the Japanese side is Michael Emmerich, who seems to have his hand in every area of Japanese studies and also has wide-ranging interests.
Again, all of these are impressions that I have heard from former classmates/department-mates which are now being recounted third-hand. I know that past gradcafe posters are now in these programs, so if they are still hanging around they may be able to put a clearer perspective on it.
Something that I can talk about from personal experience is funding: Get it. It can be really alluring to go to Harvard/Columbia/Stanford etc etc because of the draw that their faculty and name have, but don't pass up a funded MA because of it. Funded MAs exist out there, sometimes at smaller schools that you haven't thought of before. Talk to people in your department, especially grad students, about where those programs are and which ones fit with what you want to do. So many PhD applicants are already going to have one, three, five, ten years of graduate training or professional experience already (I'm almost to double digits, and I'm one of the young ones in my department. I'm still clinging to a 2 for a first digit, hahaha!) That can be hard to compete against. It's not impossible to get a fully-funded PhD offer straight out of undergrad, but always try to have a few back-up plans. I ended up at a back-up plan the first go around, and I couldn't be happier.
Hope that helps!
