cruel optimism

I've heard from several adcomm members at various schools (not the one I'll be attending though) that they tend not to place so much weight on LORs since these testimonials are so often uniformly complimentary — after all, students wouldn't request an LOR from someone whom we don't think will write us a strong letter. Besides, as professors who write plenty of these letters themselves, they understand not just how tedious the process can be, but also the predilection for some faculty members to turn in standard, form letters replete with empty praise (in which case, the shortcomings of these letters don't really reflect on the applicants themselves). For this reason, the only LORs that adcomms usually take note of, at least in early rounds of selection anyway, are those that are overwhelmingly negative or positive, because these are the ones that mark the applicant as either a red-flag or someone to watch. Beyond that, unless your letter writer's name holds such credibility (i.e. they've studied/worked/are friends with/taught someone on the adcomm, or they're just that renowned in their fields but they're also not known for dishing out compliments), and unless the strength of their letter is consistent with your SOP/WS, I don't think this particular component of your application holds that much weight in the final admissions decision. Don’t worry too much about it.
With all that said, you might want to play it safer by having two PhD-holders write your LORs instead of one, seeing as places like Duke still "prefer to have academic references representing your major field." Specifically, Duke (English, not Lit though) states quite explicitly that "The Graduate School requires at least two letters from specialists in your field of study (for this purpose, that means English professors). One of these letters in your field should be from someone who knows your work well, and one (if possible the same letter) from someone who works in the historical field, or on the same main focus of interest, that you are claiming as a special interest in your application. If possible, avoid requesting all your letters from part-time, untenured, or emeritus professors, as letters from tenured scholars (or equivalent) actively engaged in mid- to senior career generally carry the most weight. If there is more than one professor outside the field of English who you'd like to write for you, then consider submitting four letters rather than the minimum three. The same would apply if you're currently working in a job related to your future career (say, teaching or publishing) and would like to submit a letter from your boss in addition to your academic letters."
To be clear, I don't know if this is a hard and fast rule, and I'm not sure if you'll be applying to Duke at all, but the "at least two strong, academic references" thing seems to also be the general, unspoken consensus amongst most GC-ers — with some exceptions, of course. I'm also not sure who your potential letter writers are and what sort of critical work they do (they may not do academic research, but do they engage rigorously with academic texts/perspectives/trends in their work?), so it remains quite uncertain how their recommendations might be viewed by adcomms. My best advice will probably be to contact the grad admissions assistant or the DGS of the programs to which you're applying to ask about their LOR requirements. 

Seconding these sentiments as we head into the latter half of January.
Best of luck to all of you, and just know that however your results turn out (hopefully for the better), you've already accomplished so much by making it through not only a tedious application process, but one made even more challenging by *gestures at everything* These Ridiculous Circumstances

Seconding these sentiments as we head into the latter half of January.
Best of luck to all of you, and just know that however your results turn out (hopefully for the better), you've already accomplished so much by making it through not only a tedious application process, but one made even more challenging by *gestures at everything* These Ridiculous Circumstances

Please remember that you are not your acceptances. You are not your writing sample nor are you your statement of purpose. You are not your grades. You are much more than that. Please don't let your acceptances define you.

Seconding these sentiments as we head into the latter half of January.
Best of luck to all of you, and just know that however your results turn out (hopefully for the better), you've already accomplished so much by making it through not only a tedious application process, but one made even more challenging by *gestures at everything* These Ridiculous Circumstances

Seconding these sentiments as we head into the latter half of January.
Best of luck to all of you, and just know that however your results turn out (hopefully for the better), you've already accomplished so much by making it through not only a tedious application process, but one made even more challenging by *gestures at everything* These Ridiculous Circumstances

Seconding these sentiments as we head into the latter half of January.
Best of luck to all of you, and just know that however your results turn out (hopefully for the better), you've already accomplished so much by making it through not only a tedious application process, but one made even more challenging by *gestures at everything* These Ridiculous Circumstances

Seconding these sentiments as we head into the latter half of January.
Best of luck to all of you, and just know that however your results turn out (hopefully for the better), you've already accomplished so much by making it through not only a tedious application process, but one made even more challenging by *gestures at everything* These Ridiculous Circumstances

Seconding these sentiments as we head into the latter half of January.
Best of luck to all of you, and just know that however your results turn out (hopefully for the better), you've already accomplished so much by making it through not only a tedious application process, but one made even more challenging by *gestures at everything* These Ridiculous Circumstances

Hi all! I've been pretty MIA on this site for a while after last year's cycle ended, but I just wanted to pop in and wish you all good luck. I can't even begin to imagine how stressful this process must have been this year, and each one of you smart, strong candidates deserves to make it into your first-choice programs. ?

As far as I can remember, only places like Chicago, Columbia, Duke, Stanford, and Emory have historically conducted interviews (there might have been more, but you'll have to trawl through the respective applicants threads for the previous years to find out which ones they are). Also, do note that each program has their own rationale for selecting interviewees: Columbia and Stanford tend to interview only within select subfields, while Chicago and Duke Lit interview all their shortlisted candidates. Given the schools to which you're applying though, it seems like you don't have to worry about interviews. But in case any program decides to introduce it as part of their admissions process this year, just make sure that you're still familiar with your work (and especially your application materials) come Jan/Feb. 

Good luck and good vibes to everyone submitting applications! 

I don't suppose it'll be an issue if you simply extract your strongest analyses from your thesis for your writing sample, though you might have to include an additional paragraph (or a few lines) at the start of the document to contextualise your excerpt. (This is just for readers to situate/follow your argument.) 
However, seeing as you still have months till your first application deadlines, why not rework your thesis into a 15-20 page writing sample? Can you condense your arguments? And are there analyses that could be extraneous? If you're still in a BA/MA program at the moment, then you could perhaps even work with your supervisor or your mentors to turn your thesis into something publishable? (Journal articles are usually the same length as writing sample length requirements anyway, and they also tend to be the "standard" for which grad applicants strive.) 

Good luck to all of this year's applicants! 
It was a grueling set of months for me last year, and I can only imagine that covid is making it even more chaotic and uncertain for you. However, I'm very glad I took the chance and applied. And I hope you're all in a similar place come next year.  
If anyone has any questions about JHU, feel free to let me know.

Honestly, the best round to apply was last year's round. And I mean that in the sense that with the current covid/economic/political situation, the next few years are going to be completely unpredictable and range from "weird" to "total shitstorm", but we don't know which will be which. So at this point, the best decision you can make is going to depend entirely on your own financial and mental resources, and not at all on any kind of strategy or statistical game. Do you personally feel like you need to try to get in with the soonest possible cycle? Do you have the resources to deal with it (from figuring out how schools have been affected by Covid to your application/test expenses)? And if you strike out this time, will you no longer be in a position to try again with the next cycle and wish you had waited? Or will you have enough of a cushion (of whatever kind) to try again? 

Most, if not all respectable English PhD programs in the US are "fully funded", but I must add that "full funding" does not always equate to sufficient funding. This is especially so if you have dependents to support, have additional/emergency needs, reside in a more expensive state, or are simply awarded a smaller-than-usual stipend, though most funding packages should just be enough for a grad student to live on. @Warelin has very helpfully collated in another thread the funding packages of different schools/programs, but here's a link to the spreadsheet anyway: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XNJR4IhOJ56zd7zLuVSUK7h054dBRNvyiC7iStCOsxo/edit#gid=0 

Most, if not all respectable English PhD programs in the US are "fully funded", but I must add that "full funding" does not always equate to sufficient funding. This is especially so if you have dependents to support, have additional/emergency needs, reside in a more expensive state, or are simply awarded a smaller-than-usual stipend, though most funding packages should just be enough for a grad student to live on. @Warelin has very helpfully collated in another thread the funding packages of different schools/programs, but here's a link to the spreadsheet anyway: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XNJR4IhOJ56zd7zLuVSUK7h054dBRNvyiC7iStCOsxo/edit#gid=0 

This really depends on the programs to which you're applying, as well as the sort of work you're hoping to do:
1. Does your proposed research require any understanding of Spanish/English literature? (If so, some evidence of academic work — this doesn't have to be a language class, it could also be coursework completed in a particular language — in either/both literatures would be good.)
2. Are the comp lit programs in which you're interested more traditional ones, where you're expected to engage with/specialise in some national literatures, or are they more interdisciplinary and theoretically-oriented? (In the former case, you should be prepared to work relatively independently with literary and scholarly materials in your chosen foreign languages. But in the latter case, there is usually more leeway for you to pick up languages as required — this is usually French, German, or Italian — throughout the course of your program.)
Of course, it never hurts to have any additional foreign-language experience, since it means that you'll be able to read and draw from a wider range of scholarship. But within the context of comp lit admissions, it would be helpful if your language background (even if it isn't strictly academic) is related to your research interests. Above all, however, I think that you should check with the individual departments that you're considering to find out more about their respective stances on foreign-language experience. Some schools can be particularly strict about such requirements, but other programs like Duke Lit wouldn't badger you to certify your language skills (as another student in my program said, the professors probably have much better things to do than to check if you've passed all your language tests.)

This really depends on the programs to which you're applying, as well as the sort of work you're hoping to do:
1. Does your proposed research require any understanding of Spanish/English literature? (If so, some evidence of academic work — this doesn't have to be a language class, it could also be coursework completed in a particular language — in either/both literatures would be good.)
2. Are the comp lit programs in which you're interested more traditional ones, where you're expected to engage with/specialise in some national literatures, or are they more interdisciplinary and theoretically-oriented? (In the former case, you should be prepared to work relatively independently with literary and scholarly materials in your chosen foreign languages. But in the latter case, there is usually more leeway for you to pick up languages as required — this is usually French, German, or Italian — throughout the course of your program.)
Of course, it never hurts to have any additional foreign-language experience, since it means that you'll be able to read and draw from a wider range of scholarship. But within the context of comp lit admissions, it would be helpful if your language background (even if it isn't strictly academic) is related to your research interests. Above all, however, I think that you should check with the individual departments that you're considering to find out more about their respective stances on foreign-language experience. Some schools can be particularly strict about such requirements, but other programs like Duke Lit wouldn't badger you to certify your language skills (as another student in my program said, the professors probably have much better things to do than to check if you've passed all your language tests.)

For comp lit programs, it goes without saying that foreign language proficiency is by and large mandatory. But what differs between each program, and what you should note quite carefully, is how many languages they require upon admission (the information should be detailed on their admissions page, or else you could email the department to find out). Most would ask for at least two — though many applicants would have more, and they would probably also have completed some coursework in those languages — but some schools like Johns Hopkins would be willing to admit a student with only one. 
As for other English programs (I don't know about media studies or linguistics), I'd say that the same might apply even if the department doesn't explicitly require foreign language proficiency upon admission. Because most programs would demand that students acquire at least a reading knowledge of two non-English languages before they sit for their quals — and because prior knowledge of languages would reduce one's need to take on extra language classes (and consequently one's course load or even time to degree) — an applicant with more language skills would likely be preferable. Of course, this is not to suggest that knowledge of foreign languages is the most important factor in admissions for such programs (it's far from it), but language skills might just make a difference when adcomms are deciding between two closely-matched candidates. (One could make the case, for instance, for a candidate being potentially more hireable in non-US academia if they're familiar with other languages.)
Anyway, I'd say that unless you're applying to programs for which you have to meet certain language requirements at admission, don't worry so much about picking up languages now. It might give you just a slight edge over other applicants, but not any more than a good SOP/WS would. 

I'm starting online this semester and I'm hoping things get better by the Spring. I'm just afraid of flying and catching the virus en route or something. Also, the embassy here isn't issuing F1 visas yet so I'm stuck here. Good luck to everyone starting in person, please keep this thread updated with any significant changes that might help the rest of us.

will be headed (hopefully this spring, if not next fall) to a state where the number of cases are rising exponentially and, ngl, i'm terrified. am currently waiting to see how school reopenings play out over the next few months and how my uni plans to adapt to these changes to decide when exactly i'll be moving to the us. 

I just want to know where y'all are getting the courage to travel to the US in this pandemic in time for fall semester. I need some of that courage for Spring semester. 

I don't know if this applies to your school/state, since different schools would have different policies, but here's Duke's stance on a remote first semester/year: 
"An incoming international student who has not secured a valid visa or does not enter the U.S. is not subject to U.S. immigration law and thus may take a full set of online Duke classes while residing abroad."

I don't know if this applies to your school/state, since different schools would have different policies, but here's Duke's stance on a remote first semester/year: 
"An incoming international student who has not secured a valid visa or does not enter the U.S. is not subject to U.S. immigration law and thus may take a full set of online Duke classes while residing abroad."