Sequent

I've had the best luck when talking directly with professors. If you can explain why you need a decision urgently, I'd wager they'd try to expedite the process. I called one place and got a decision three hours later.

I got an extension that's giving me a few extra days to agonize. My advice for getting answers fast is talking directly with professors on the phone. They, like us, tend to have frustrations with bureaucracy and, in all of my experiences, were extremely good about demanding quick answers about funding and admissions.

Something else to consider: NYS isn't doing that great financially and I think the SUNY schools had some budget cuts recently. Albany might be alright, or your your department might be well-insulated, but it's something to investigate. Even though you don't need to worry about losing funding at SUNY, a general lack of money on campus could affect the quality of life there. I dunno, maybe WSU's in similar problems or maybe SUNY has recovered, but I'd be sure to look into it.

Trying to decide between Waterloo and another place for CS theory. The new math building there looks pretty awesome.