Monody

To throw in one more piece of advice....

For the love of God, once you've submitted your applications, DO NOT READ ANY OF YOUR APPLICATION MATERIALS. That way lies madness. Seal those things away in a dark little corner of your hard drive, and only look at them if you decide to apply again in the next cycle. 

Let's not kid ourselves. Everyone knows that the C in CHYMPS stays for Columbia, just as much as the P stands for PSU.

I agree with @VMcJ. Although I would also say that within the Top 5 or 7 (basically, CHYMPS + Berkeley, etc.) your personal fit with the faculty matters much more than the subfield rankings. This is especially true for comparative politics, I think, where some programs are really strong in some regions but not in others (Stanford, for example, has only one Latin Americanist that I know of. Columbia, much further down the rankings, has 2 or 3.)

On 2., Yale may be an option. Slovik is there as far as I can remember. 

I'll be accepting my offer at Columbia too, but I wont be at the visit day. D:

Yeah, I did. Best offer and best fit arguably, and the stipend suffices for everything I will need, so who am I to wait or to complain. Also closure.

Yeah, I did. Best offer and best fit arguably, and the stipend suffices for everything I will need, so who am I to wait or to complain. Also closure.

No distortion intended. The tone, however, drawing attention to all one's hard work in a "reputable" program, does in fact sound a little resentful and by extension disparaging of others who ostensibly have not spent as much time burnishing their "reputable-ness".... Of course it's probably only my poor reading that gave me that impression, in which case, I apologize for the distortion.

I think that it is important to note that given the low number of admitted students, 4% turns out to be about 1 spot. Of course, it can be the difference between an acceptance and a rejection, but the chances do not become that much smaller.

I don't remember any but given the limited variation I would not give it too much thought.

In March according to what I read on PSR.

Let's be real...whatever program I end up going to is number one. The rest are all fine enough...I guess 

Very nice.  The chance to work with Gelman is one in a lifetime.  I wish you the best.

Going to Columbia. I am quite certain that I haven't misclicked anything.

Going to Columbia. I am quite certain that I haven't misclicked anything.

Going to Columbia. I am quite certain that I haven't misclicked anything.

Going to Columbia. I am quite certain that I haven't misclicked anything.

Going to Columbia. I am quite certain that I haven't misclicked anything.

Going to Columbia. I am quite certain that I haven't misclicked anything.

Going to Columbia. I am quite certain that I haven't misclicked anything.

Going to Columbia. I am quite certain that I haven't misclicked anything.

1) I can only partially speak for Columbia as it is the school I am going to, but it seems to me like funding after the fifth year is pretty certain given how regularly it is alluded to in the material they provide on the website.
2) I guess whether you feel overworked depends on what kind of person you are, how you work, and how fast and efficient you are at it and maybe less on the program. Personally, I wake up every morning at 6 and work from 8AM (10AM on the weekends) to 17:30+PM and then go to bed at 10 PM. Some would say that this is excessive (my grand-mother), others would consider it as normal. I would be bored if I wouldn't do it and if I were to only focus on the courses I am taking now, I would only do stuff on two days a week which would feel frustrating. In sum, in your place I would ask myself what kind of person I am and then contact current graduate students at the departments to ask about their experience to do some comparisons.
3) Given their rank, I would say that they may be both generally good. But again, it depends on what you are actually interested in. I do IR and for example didn't apply at Havard because they quasi-literally have nobody who is working in my field of interest. Columbia on the other hand is practically a dream come true.

Yale isn't that good. It really isn't.

Yale isn't that good. It really isn't.

So, I just declined my admission offer at PennState and hope that one of you who are still waiting out receives a very nice email in the next few days. Good luck.