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Thank you both! I sent it in a PM.

I am looking for someone to read my personal statement for the Beinecke scholarship (a scholarship that supports graduate study in the humanities, social sciences, or arts). You do not have to offer extensive comments; I just want a sense of how I will be perceived by someone that does not know me. I'll be happy to read your SOP, personal statement, etc as well.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am just starting to look at graduate programs so I'm not sure how it all works yet. I am definitely not ready for graduate school now, but I probably will not be applying until fall 2013 because I plan to take a year off. hairlesscat -- Thanks for the suggestions. I am aware that pretty much all graduate programs include a lot of theory. I am just wondering if some are more known for it than others ( I have heard people talking about more and less "traditional" programs, where traditional means not theory focused.) I also am also more interested in post-structuralism, for example,than New Historicism, psychoanalysis etc. (although I know they all overlap at times and my interests will probably shift by the time I am applying). I also might have some interest in post-colonial studies, which I realize is quite different. I am also more interested in comparative literature than English literature alone. As for the ancient language, Harvard requires either an ancient or cross-cultural language (non-European). None of the languages I know or plan to learn meet this requirement. Yale states that one language is usually an ancient language.

Thank you for the replies. I am not against learning ancient languages, but don't think I will have time for it by the time I am applying to graduate school, and it seems at some schools they want you to know the language at least to some extent by the time you apply (I might be wrong about this, but that was my impression). I would like to learn German first and improve my other languages first.

I have been reading these message boards, which have been very helpful, for a while and finally decided to post. I just finished my sophomore year of college and am thinking about graduate school in Comparative Literature. I am interested in literary theory. I don't have very specific research interests yet, but I know I like Foucault, Derrida, and Levinas. I have been looking at schools and noticed some programs like Harvard and Yale require an ancient language to get a PhD and I don't think that is something I am interested in. Does anyone have suggestions for good schools that are very theory oriented and interdisciplinary? Other information about me that might be important: I'm an English major at a liberal arts college, have a 3.8 GPA, and know some French (can take lit classes) and Russian (can't read very well and have not done coursework, but can speak it).