I wish you the best of luck MityaK and hope you get in somewhere! But, I'm really glad to hear someone is in the same boat as me. I've been lucky enough to have applied to a "backup" program for an MLS which I've been accepted to with a bit of a scholarship. I've actually been rethinking the English Phd route and am so grateful that I had a crazy day where I decided to apply to the MLS program. I think, regardless of what I decide to do, having the MLS will give me a marketable set of skills in a way that an English Phd cannot. I am not by any means saying that an English Phd does not produce incredible scholars with incredible skills, just that I'm not sure how marketable they are outside of the academic world.
Anyway, if I decide to eventually reapply (assuming I will be rejected this round which I'm fully anticipating) my work is going to be on the writing sample. Sigh, this was a bit of a ramble!