Behemoth

Also claiming a Penn acceptance for theory!

Hi all! I have been admitted to a couple of public schools (UCSD and Michigan to be exact), I'm wondering if fundings provided by these schools are enough to cover the cost of living in wherever they are located. Or generally how does it feel to live on a 20K+ funding? Input and experience from other schools are equally welcome as I think a many people share the same concern with regards to funding/life as a PhD. Thank you in advance!

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/02/us/groundhog-day-2018-shadow-trnd/index.html
looks like there's going to be another six weeks of pending applications...

Please no. Create a new thread.

Wow what a great detective, impressive reasoning!

Interviews are a part of our typical process, but the POIs have considerable leeway when it comes to whether or not to reach out. Sometimes they find everything they need in the file, either to offer an enthusiastic thumbs-up or to say that we should probably pass. A fair number of people have been interviewed. A fair number who haven't will make the short list anyway. So not getting a call is not a very informative signal.
As to how far along we are: pretty far. People who are being admitted should hear something by the end of the week. Because financial aid is allocated centrally (don't get me started...), financial aid decisions won't be out for another month or so. (The "or so" is because the Dean of the Graduate School left abruptly a couple of weeks ago, and I really don't know how that's going to affect their turnaround time.)
One more thing: I've read over 160 files in the past few weeks, and I have to say, I'm immensely impressed with you people. You're smart as hell, and you're a lot more interesting than I was when I applied for graduate school. It's a real honor to get applications from people of your caliber, and I'm grateful to those of you who went to the time and trouble to send them in.
Best of luck to all of you.

In my experience, funding packages were sent out 2-3 weeks after formal notice of admission. I would wait to send an e-mail, as they probably don't even have details to give you at this point. If you're curious about the stipend, this is usually pretty easy to figure out - many programs list it on their website, and there is also a database that you can search.

One friendly suggestion: can you guys start a new thread to talk about the "top 10" topic?
I'm not saying it's not important but you are really adding on my anxiety of not hearing back from any of the schools when I open this page once every 30 minutes expecting updates from people...considering it's still pretty early in the waiting period. Maybe let's return to the conversation later when people start to struggle to make decisions - which I hope I can experience because it means I have been accepted to at least two schools.

Really?
It's well documented across all major disciplines, including political science, in all of US academia:
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2015/02/university_hiring_if_you_didn_t_get_your_ph_d_at_an_elite_university_good.html
https://chroniclevitae.com/news/929-academia-s-1-percent
https://www.chronicle.com/article/PhDs-From-Top/136113
http://gppreview.com/2012/12/03/superpowers-the-american-academic-elite/
^^ Quote from above:
"Our research confirms that there is a direct correlation between institutional prestige and candidate placement. If we consider the highest ranked programs, the three tied at #1, we find that Harvard University has successfully placed 239 political scientists at 75 institutions—including twelve at Harvard. Princeton has successfully placed 108 political scientists at 62 institutions—including five at Princeton. Stanford has successfully placed 128 political scientists at 51 institutions—including three at Stanford. The highest ranked public university, The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (ranked number four overall), has successfully placed 141 political scientists in 61 institutions—including seven at Michigan. These four schools contribute 616 political scientists; roughly twenty percent of the total tenure-track lines in the discipline at research-intensive programs. The median institutional ranking for the 116 institutions covered is eleven, which implies that eleven schools contribute 50 percent of the political science academics to research-intensive universities in the United States. Over 100 political science PhD programs are graduating students that will contest the remaining 50 percent of openings." 
There's plenty more of this evidence, btw, and it's not hard to find.

Guys and girls...the rankings thing is straight-forward:
Ideally, you want to go to a CHYMPS. A top 10 is good. A top 20 is fine. Outside top 20? Not advisable. 
That's it. 
Are there caveats? Sure. For example, the big publics in the 7-20 range are pretty hit or miss. The privates in the same range fund and place their students better. Does Emory place their superstars well? Certainly. Are there some very highly ranked programs that don't really punch their weight in terms of placement (*cough* Duke *cough*)? Yes. 
But all of this is to say that these exceptions are relatively minor and inconsequential.
I strongly, strongly advise you to not try to 'buck' the rankings/prestige trend. It's hierarchical for a reason. As you move up the ladder the training is better, the faculties are better, the methods are better, the funding is better, the resources are better, and the networking is better. All of these factors are going to help you, maybe, get a job. And you can sit there and say, 'but what really matters is what you publish'...okay...but that doesn't change the fact that you should try to go to the best institution you possibly can, and if you cannot get into a certain threshold of program, you should seriously consider (and that's really a nice way of saying: don't fucking do it) not attending and trying again. 

I just received an acceptance e-mail from UW-Madison (for all those who applied there).