In early January, long before any acceptances went out, a POI from one of the interdisciplinary humanities programs that I applied to called me to chat. He mentioned that my application was "very compelling," and wanted to know if I was still seriously interested in the program, if I had received any acceptances from other programs yet, and if I had any questions about the program "so as to be able to better recruit me." Sounds like a positive phone call. I mentioned that I was still certainly interested, hadn't heard back from other programs yet, and asked a couple of stupid-but-not-trivial rehearsed questions about the structure of the department. POI ended call saying "Well keep in touch, and I'll let you know if there are any updates to your application."
Six rejections later, I'm still interested in the program. I asked the chair of the MA program I graduated from if these phone calls are typical and how I should follow up, and he mentioned that they are very typical, might be used for a number of purposes, and that it's completely unnecessary to follow up. This week two acceptances were posted on the survey page. Historically, the program sends out personalized acceptance emails from POIs over the course of several days.
Is anyone familiar with phone calls of this nature? Out of curiosity, what could I have possibly said to make myself a more or less desirable applicant? Should I send a brief e-mail of continued interest?