According to last year's thread their first emails also went out December 10th, but they kept sending invites into the new year so I still have hope lol
Can't really help with your first question, but are those resources about how many interviewees get acceptances school specific? If they are, could you share? It would be really helpful to understand our relative chances at programs if we are offered an interview.
Based on the bio applicant threads from the past 2 years, I don't remember anyone getting accepted to a program (that does interviews) that they weren't offered an interview at.
You might want to get this thread moved to (or restarted in) the Biology sub-forum because that's where it was last year (and it was super helpful) and where I think most people would look for the neuro-specific thread.