It depends on the school, depth of their applicant pool, their resources, their competition. Ideally they'd tell you where you stand, but sometimes they have an incentive to hold back.
If you get into another school but are really interested in the one where you are waiting, you should contact them to see if the new information moves you off the list.
Agree with other posters. If you have an MA or are transferring from another program, and you have the outlines of a dissertation already, then it might be possible. You'd also have to be very disciplined. Otherwise, not realistic.
If I had seen this post several years ago, I would have reacted differently. As it stands, I agree that Amherst has been doing some hiring that could pay off.
I echo the last post. OSU has lost a lot of faculty in American/methods. For political psych, think about some others too: Stony Brook, Florida State, Illinois.