Informal email from prof that's not listed in my SoP. Had a 30-min interview and talked about my motivation, research experience, and my questions.

Application focused on intersection of HCI and AI ethics. Email from prof asking to schedule interview. Previous Masters in comp ling + 7 industry YOE

informal meeting from POI

Email to check status in portal. Acceptance via portal. Field is NLP.

Got email from PI for an interview.

Security & Privacy

informal interview with PI

Security & Privacy

No GRE, No publications, masters degree from descent university

Security and Privacy

Informal interview

I was hanging out with my wife and her boyfriend when I got the email! I'm really excited, I hope they'll allow me to attend. (They being my wife and her boyfriend)

I spent 15 minutes of our 30-minute Zoom interview talking about Garfield, particularly my extensive knowledge of Garfield lore spanning 10 years of consuming Garfield media, including comics, video games, and films. The professor seemed really confused and tried to redirect the conversation, but I told him he was talking over me and mansplaining, which shut him up for a while. At the end of the interview he said there might have been a misunderstanding and that these topics "weren't appropriate" for a PhD interview. I started screeching into my headset mic and punching my webcam. He hung up and I received a rejection email a few hours later.