I'm posting my background here...
MA in Linguistics from a well-known university in Taiwan.
GPA: 90.29% (3.91/4.0) for MA, 86.43% (3.82/4.0) for BA
GRE: 660 (94%) 790 (91%) 4.5 (67%)
TOEFL: 107
Writing sample: MA thesis (inner aspect), working paper (applicatives), term paper (Austronesian languages)
Two linguistics related awards, 2-yr RA and 1-yr TA experiences
Applied: UMich, Mich State, UT Austin, Arizona, UPenn, NYU, Georgetown, Ohio State, McGill, Toronto, UBC, Delaware, Maryland
Accepted (by order): Georgetown (declined), UPenn (interviewed by Embick and Legate, Benjamin Franklin Fellowship), Ohio State (5-yr full funding, declined),
Interviewed: NYU (Kayne and Harves), Delaware (withdrawled), UMichigan (withdrawled)
Rejected: Maryland (I guess cuz I haven't heard anything from them)
You may wonder why I threw so many applications. Well, thats because my friend applied to 6 programs last year, all rejected. So I thought this was tough and was kinda worried in the beginning. But, things have been going far more smoothly than I thought. And I regreted that I didn't even tried MIT and UCLA...
I'll choose between UPenn and NYU.
Good luck to everyone.