My Trip of 2 On-site Interviews in The US - Part I

Having not heard of anything form the school phone-interviewing me two weeks ago, I begin to wonder whether I have been waitlisted or rejected already. I expected to receive an admission from school F and some rejections after I returned from the US two days ago but heard of nothing.

Anyway, speak about my trip to the US for the two on-site interviews. I have been in contact wih a professor, who asked me for an on-site visit, at school R for 6 months. I finanlly made the trip last week. I was interviewed by 4 professors separately, including the director of the PhD program, who mentioned that there are 28 applicants this year competing for 5-6 admissions and that 7 of them have conducted or are conducting on-site interviews. Luckily, I am one of them. I also asked about what qualifications the school is looking for in its doctoral students. The professor said that he would not allow this on-site interview if I am not qualified for entering the program.

He also asked several tricky questions, such as am I visiting the US only for the interview and why did I choose to switch to the academia as I am more like a businessman.

During the break of the interviews, I was invited to have a lunch with current doctoral students, speaking about the PhD life, the placement, the financial aids, and, of course, the professors. The lunch was on the department.

After I got home two days ago, I wrote thank-you letters to the professors separately and got a reply from the one I would like to work with. He said that I met all the requirements that he would like to see in the doctoral students and that there should be someone from the department in touch with me shortly. I take this as a positive sign but wouldn't like to expect too much for I haven't heard of anything from the professor at school F, who said the similar thing to me two weeks ago.