Alyanumbers

Research lab.

Copyright law.

Health care.

Tough love.

What's confusing is that you give us the names of schools you want to apply to, but you don't talk about your research interests. It should be the other way round: you'll choose schools based on finding people there who match your interests.

Hey, my grandmother was asking if I got in before I'd even submitted any apps!

22; I'm applying straight out of undergrad.

Bunny ears.

I wanted to 'dilute' my fit paragraph throughout the SoP, too, but I couldn't make it work, so I settled for the traditional way. I think the way you're doing it is fine. It all depends on how you structured your SoP.

Can't you do some kind of 'informal thesis'? Like, start writing a paper on your own, and talk about it to professors, have them help you, etc. Then you'd have a writing sample, you could mention this as a significant research experience, and the process will teach you lots about research.

Fairy lights.

Cuuuute!

Bad idea.

Aah, I thought I'd cut all mentions out! Yes, I chose the one for my top school because it's the longest and the one I put in the most effort.

Focus on your SoP. If you can show your mastery of the English language in there, the TOEFL score won't matter much. The one potential problem I can see with your score is that you usually need at least 26 in Speaking to get a TAship, so you might have problems finding funding, or you'll have to take special teacher training.

My original username is alya+string of numbers (the numbers stand for something in my childhood, but it's a long, boring story). On another forum, people started referring to me as Alyanumbers. I thought it was cute, so started using it as well. Alya's my first name. My avatar is from a painting by Alphonse Mucha, called 'Summer'. I completely fell in love with his stuff when I went to Prague and visited the Mucha Museum last year. I also love summer. It seemed fitting.

I like mine!

English garden.

I don't have perfect pitch either, but I'm a beginner violinist, and my teacher says I have a great ear, so I guess it does help!

Not so much what makes me unique, as much as "Random facts about Alyanumbers": My birthday is on Valentine's day. I always whine about it. I was named for a song. I'm Egyptian, but my first language is French. My wonderful brother taught me to read and write in it when I was 3. We didn't have TV when I was little. It was probably the biggest reason I read so much. Like many here, I am a synaesthete. I can belly-dance. My grandfather, all his brothers, my father and several other members of my family have gone to jail for political reasons. I grew up hearing stories about jail visits. My brother and father have recently been arrested in a protest. When I was 15, I spoke English with a British accent, because most of my spoken English came from Beatles songs. I've switched educational systems 3 times already (French to Egyptian, then back, then back again), and I haven't even graduated college yet! If I get into grad school, whether in the UK or US, it'll be the third system I experience. (Although, having taking the SAT 5 years ago, and now the GRE, I have had some experience with the American system, I guess.) I was among the top 10% in high school. My first year of college, I failed exactly half my classes. I still haven't really figured out why.

I can't honestly advise you to go on with applying. A lot of people can barely deal with the stress of grad school, and depression is quite common even among the very passionate--let alone if research is not really your thing. Anyway, for the SoP, you might want to narrow your interests a bit. Read journal articles, look through books, find out what exactly you want to study in signal processing, then focus your SoP on that. Show them you have a good idea of what you want to research and that you are focused. A word of warning: adcomms have seen a lot of people applying because they didn't know what else to do, especially given the current economy. They can probably tell if you're genuinely interested.

You sound rushed! I know, I'm one to talk, already applying to Comp Lit PhD programs straight out of undergrad, but there is no rush. Take up a language now, whether German or another language your college offers (French is pretty useful in literary fields, although not really any easier than German, AFAIK). Comp Lit programs want at least two foreign languages, at various degrees of proficiency, going in, yes, so you have to do that now. Then take a year or two off after college, and take Russian classes at a community college or cultural center, or whatever you might have access to. I want to stress the importance of starting as early as possible to learn a new language. I would also advise you to do your best to show you pick up languages easily, and in general learn quickly. In top PhD programs, you are required to demonstrate fluent reading ability in two foreign languages, plus basic reading knowledge in a third, after two years of coursework. If you apply with English, 5-7 semesters of German (assuming you take some time off after college), and a year or two of Russian, the adcom needs to believe you'll be able to better your two foreign languages and pick up a third while in the program. But even more importantly in your case, I suggest you build strength in a particular area of literary studies, like theory, to be able to compete. To gain admission into a Comp Lit program, you'll be in competition with people who speak 4 or 5 languages and know a handful more. You need to have something distinctive the adcoms will want. I don't mean to sound discouraging! I've heard of plenty of people who picked up foreign languages, difficult ones, in college or even later and achieved fluency quickly. You can do it; just start as soon as possible! PS: If you can take up Latin, I always recommend it. It's not particularly easy, but it counts as a foreign language, and is especially useful since it fulfills the requirement some schools have for a classical or cross-cultural language.

Space opera.