[Those who have received interviews, what made you stand out?]

the way I did it is by sending an email to someone I am interested in working with. If I get a reply, I request for an informal skype or phone call. I had one phone call interview with one professor before I applied. During the phone call I asked him if I can visit in person and maybe deliver an in-person powerpoint presentation of my previous research work. He agreed and I attended one of his group meetings and delivered a presentation. I did all this before I even applied to the school. 

Note that have external financial support so maybe this helped.
 

[Having funding influence admission?]

By external fudning I mean, my employer will pay tuitions and a monthly stipend for the entire duration, so basically I will work for a professor without costing him anything except for research equipments.

[Having funding influence admission?]

I have external funding  for Ph.D up to 5 years (tuitions+stipend), but I have low GPA (3.3 undergrad) and (3.5 Master's) GRE (157 Q and 147 V). In your opinion, how would admission committees  view such scanario where there is a good side and a bad side. I do, however, have good Master's research experience which impressed the POI during an interview.

 

[Let’s just TALK about it...]

I did two interviews and they went ok, both professors seemed interested and are impressed with my Master's research but they still don't know all the details about my academic history, so I am still soo worried. I have very good research experience during my Master's degree and I'm submitting a first author paper soon, but my GPA and GRE are very low its embarrassing to mention. I have external funding  for Ph.D up to 5 years (tuitions+stipend), which is my only hope to get admitted.

[What I'm looking at when I review applications]

How about international students who are externally funded to pursue their Ph.D by their employer. If I find a potential advisor who agrees to have me, and If my Ph.D is fully supported financially for the entire duration (5 years) but  GPA and GRE are on the lower end. How does the admission commitee view this?