colormelovely

Audition for the part of town drunk.

161v/154q/5.0aw
 
That's about 89th percentile in verbal, which almost certainly eliminated me from consideration for some programs I applied to. I'm a horrible test taker, so I didn't think retaking was going to improve my scores much. I studied 500 vocab words over and over whenever I could for about 3 months. I also took as many practice tests as I could. Vocabulary really is the key to the verbal section.
 
In the end, it was my writing sample (according to my advisor) and interdisciplinary background that got me into Northwestern. Who the faculty are at a given program and how much they weigh the GRE obviously matters a great deal.

Oh, it totally doesn't HURT your chances, but it definitely DOES help - if you know what I mean, lol (I'll even go as far as to say that HDS LOVES Muslim students - regardless of what they want to concentrate in - and are always looking for more). Great job on the classes - and in all honesty, I wouldn't go out of my way to learn Persian/Farsi, Urdu, etc in a study abroad program unless you absolutely WANT to do it... knowing Arabic (and those other languages as well) should be enough. I know plenty of Islamic study concentrations that came in here with no languages under their belt (and usually ended up in Arabic classes) - and then you can definitely pick up another language while you're here (yes, they do have Persian, Urdu, etc etc etc... a wide variety!). I came here with Urdu under my belt, but that's because I'm Pakistani and it's the language spoken in my parents' home.

True enough. Though I think the number is still infinitely lower than the number of white Christians interested in studying some aspect of Judaism/Christianity. In short, Sarah is right on. Just let them assume you're Muslim and it likely will not hurt you (and may help)!

Islamic Studies student here.  I can tell you a lot more specific things about my experience, just PM me.  As other posters have said, languages languages languages.  Start learning Arabic right now.  Most programs will want you to specify your Arabic background in your application, and having even a little will set you apart from the others.  It's a tough language - you simply cannot be learning Arabic from scratch and trying to do research in the language at the same time, so most programs are going to want to see applicants who are already at at least an intermediate level.  Don't bother with German or French now, you'll have plenty of time to tackle those later.  Work on your Arabic.  Having another Islamic/ate language like Persian, Urdu, Turkish, etc. will be necessary depending on your subfield.  I can give you lots of advice on summer/study abroad programs for all of these languages, like I said, just PM me.  
 
Being Muslim is an interesting balance in this field.  I think that it will largely depend on who you want to end up working with.  For some people, the "insider" perspective is a necessary factor in the study of religion.  Others think that it is in fact a huge hindrance to critical scholarship.  If you're going to be working as a theologian, then great, but if not, then you're at some point going to have to prove that being Muslim is not going to be an issue when it comes time to examine whatever aspects of Islamic thought, history, literature, politics etc. you're studying from an objective or critical perspective.    

I know this may sound like a very crude question, but are you Muslim? (There is definite reasoning behind this that does not involve discrimination, I swear!)
 
Arabic definitely helps - so does knowing other Middle Eastern/South Asain languages (such as Persian/Farsi, Urdu, etc). Does your school offer many classes on Islam? If so, take them!
 
With a GPA like that and your languages (and that fact that you're a RS undergrad), you are actually very competitive.
 
I'm concentrating in Islamic Studies at HDS (and hope to go on to it for a PhD), so please don't hesitate to message/PM me.

It depends on your specific subfield, of course, but as many have told me in my field (ancient Judaism): languages, languages, and languages. You clearly have started early, which will serve you well in the future. You should have a pretty competitive application, I imagine (GPA great, ect). You might consider starting earlish to study for the GRE. With a good score I see no reason why you wouldn't be competitive for places likes HDS.
 
cheers