So the POI told me via Skype that I am basically admitted but they are still in the process of applying fundings for me since I am a international student. But he is really optimistic about it and said that they have admitted some international students successfully in the past few years and my TOEFL score is high enough to be a TA. So yes I am also very optimistic and excited about it as well :)

Invited for campus visit and interview! Excited!

Invited to the Graduate Recruitment Visit.

Received a phone call from department chair inviting me to on-campus interview

To the people who received rejects from UCI. How did you get to know about this? Via mail or on application page?

1.5 work ex in major US-based investment bank, lots of open-source contribution, 1 publication in a peer-reviewed conference. Friends had warned against UCI given their low selectivity :(

I was contacted by my POI and just had the interview today. He stated that he will recommend me to the committee.

Scheduled a phone interview later this week with two members of the admissions committee

Had informational interview, then received acceptance :)

I received a personal email from a professor at the department whom I have a good relationship with. In the email she let me know that I had not been accepted as I was not perceived as a potential competitive anthropology student. I have a BA in Comparative Literature and am doing my MA in Cultural Theory so I see why they might prefer someone else, given that there are so many great students out there with a background in Anthropology. It should be noted, that I have had my work published as peer reviewed articles and I have also been presenting this at conferences, so I am confident that the level of my work (i.e. writing sample) had nothing to do with it. Congratulations to those of you who will receive an acceptance letter soon!