Is my list too top-heavy?

Graduate School
1

<p>I'm currently applying to PhD programs in English Languages & Literature, and I'm having a hard time making a "well rounded" list of schools. After months of research I have about twelve schools I'm interested in, but I'm not sure if this list is still too "top heavy." Any input would be helpful.</p>

<p>My stats:
Senior at University of Massachusetts Amherst, an okay state school with an underrated English program
3.7 GPA
rec letters from very well established professors, including one from the department head of my specialization (American Studies)
Haven't taken either GRE yet, but i know Quant score will be low, ~550, and Verbal is a toss up(I don't test well).
Extremely rigorous course-load (English GPA is 3.7 as well), including three 400-level independent author seminars, resulting in excellent research</p>

<p>So here's the list
University of Virginia
University of Illinois.
NYU
Brown
Northwestern
Boston University
Columbia
University of Maryland
University of Massachusetts
Penn State
Tufts
Rutgers</p>

<p>Obviously Columbia and Brown are the "reaches," but am i generally reaching too high?</p>

2

<p>I’d suggest doing deep research on the departments to make sure that their approaches and philosophies match yours. Some can be dominated by an ideology or methodology that may not match with what you enjoy about studying Lit. You also need to identify individual faculty members with whom you can work, based on their specialties and your specific interests and potential dissertation topics. You might also want to find out if you will be expected to be a teaching fellow, and if this is something you do or do not want to do.</p>