Almaqah, for what it's worth, posting my CV would be meaningless because my CV has got almost nothing to do with Middle Eastern studies -- except for the MA program where I did really well, got great recs and connections, and made enough PhD candidate friends to slowly figure out what my SOP should look like. What got me into the MA program, God knows -- except possibly my writing sample, which was in a totally different field. My undergrad transcript is in a different field and covered in withdraws with a stint on academic probation. What I'm trying to say is: 1) there is no one size fits all candidate, 2) good writing will shine through many sins, and 3) the single best thing you can do to get into a PhD program is a related MA. The BA>PhD route is narrowing more and more every year. Plus, an MA gives you a chance to figure out if this is really the field for you -- many of my friends decided not to pursue their original PhD plans after the MA program, and that is incredibly valuable information to have.
I realize it's not financially feasable for everyone to do a terminal MA, and I realize you want to apply for PhDs this year, but it was probably the number one reason for my success. Unfortunate but true.
My results: accepted UChicago, UMichigan, Indiana; waitlisted Harvard; shortlisted Princeton (finding out those results this week). All fully funded except Indiana, which is only mostly funded.
also, Jebreel: to the best of my knowledge the last time one person did NOT get full tuition the second year at CMES was in 2011. If you've got half-tuition your first year (and especially if you get a FLAS second year) UChicago is going to give good bang for your buck.