taacc

Things have really slowed down on here... hope everyone's doing well

I was invited to an interview for 2/28 on 2/10. 

I got 2 interview invites, one of which gave me a 1.5 week notice and the other a 2 week notice. But they also gave me alternative dates to be on campus (i.e., any friday in february).

I received an interview invite exactly one week before, so it really fluctuates!

Mine have been anywhere from a month and half to just a couple weeks. I think it depends on the program.

there's research on how your advisor is THE most important determinant of your success in grad school. If the school is very collaborative and you have interests in common with multiple faculty, then even with a bad POI, you can maybe work with other professors and make up for the bad POI. But if he's the only one whose research aligns with yours and he is really as terrible as the students tell him to be, DON'T (especially if you have other offers where your POI and others are more friendly and collegial). 
Also, by terrible, what do they mean? If they simply mean he's hands off and if you are confident in pursuing your research ideas independently without your POI's guidance, then that's fine. But if by terrible, they mean he demoralizes, demeans, or sabotages his students' careers, heck no!
Another thing to look into would be how his ex-students are fairing. Are there students who have successful jobs (Academic or otherwise)? If yes, reach out and see if they have a different perspective on this POI. I say this because people sometimes love to blame everyone/everything (except themselves) for their failure but the experience could be very different for someone who's more self-driven and motivated.

If his attitude is making students leave the program (which has to be a very very difficult decision), then that definitely seems like a big red flag. :-(.

Things have really slowed down on here... hope everyone's doing well

Things have really slowed down on here... hope everyone's doing well

Things have really slowed down on here... hope everyone's doing well

I carefully read over all of the application instructions & suggestions and that wasn't on there. I've applied to a Masters of Environmental Management program and two Masters of Development Practice programs, all focused on renewable energy & sustainable development--definitely not research-focused, though it might be a component. Sounds like I'm ok, which I pretty much knew anyway... the jitters just got the best of me. 
Thanks for your response

I'm not in clinical psych so my comment may not be very valuable or accurate, but from my understanding of clinical interviews, the idea of anywhere from 5-10 other people being interviewed isn't that uncommon given how competitive clinical is. However, this is a little on the higher end of applicants being interviewed. Additionally, it is worrying that you know this is not the norm for this school/this PI is a special case. Do you happen to know if the POI is admitting more than 1 applicant to their lab this year? Are they maybe early on in their career and more eager to admit multiple students in a cycle?  
In any case, while it's frustrating, I would try not to take it personally (which I know is easy to say and hard to do). Instead, think about this interview offer along with other offers you may have at the moment and evaluate whether or not it's worth doing. Because you're right that you'll need to compete with 13 others for a spot, so you'll want to think about how much resources/effort/time you want to invest in this opportunity. 

Is it just me or does it feel like some schools are doing the process at a later timeline than previous years? Either that or people are using the gradcafe results survey less maybe... There are a few schools (UIUC, Colorado, UW) that I'm surprised I don't see or hear any interview invitations for yet. But given how competitive these schools are (and based on the previous cycles' interview timelines), I wonder if I've just been passed up without knowing...

It would be great if applicants could get some more official information about the rough timeline of things so they can feel comfortable weighing decisions about their present offers, or even to get a head start on searching for opportunities to improve their application next cycle. At the same time, I understand it's hard to coordinate on the school's end too...

Is it just me or does it feel like some schools are doing the process at a later timeline than previous years? Either that or people are using the gradcafe results survey less maybe... There are a few schools (UIUC, Colorado, UW) that I'm surprised I don't see or hear any interview invitations for yet. But given how competitive these schools are (and based on the previous cycles' interview timelines), I wonder if I've just been passed up without knowing...

It would be great if applicants could get some more official information about the rough timeline of things so they can feel comfortable weighing decisions about their present offers, or even to get a head start on searching for opportunities to improve their application next cycle. At the same time, I understand it's hard to coordinate on the school's end too...

Is it just me or does it feel like some schools are doing the process at a later timeline than previous years? Either that or people are using the gradcafe results survey less maybe... There are a few schools (UIUC, Colorado, UW) that I'm surprised I don't see or hear any interview invitations for yet. But given how competitive these schools are (and based on the previous cycles' interview timelines), I wonder if I've just been passed up without knowing...

It would be great if applicants could get some more official information about the rough timeline of things so they can feel comfortable weighing decisions about their present offers, or even to get a head start on searching for opportunities to improve their application next cycle. At the same time, I understand it's hard to coordinate on the school's end too...