YouNeverKnow

I wrote to UW Madison's PhD program coordinator to know if all interviews took place on 01/15 and his response was: "We did have a visiting day last Friday but it was not required that all faculty participate. That being said, I noticed you applied with [PI's name]. He normally receives somewhere around 150 applicants. I just want to be honest about the competitiveness of his lab." I knew that it was a very competitive lab and that my chances were very low, and maybe he's giving me a hint that invites might have gone out already for this PI? Not sure what to think but I think I can cross this one out ?

I saw that some people posted about being invited to a virtual visit/formal interview day on 01/15 for UW-Madison - does that mean that all formal interviews have been conducted already? Seems early but I don't want to keep my hopes up for nothing ?

I have also applied to UW-Madison for clinical and I haven't heard anything yet. From what I've seen from previous years' results, invites tend to be sent in January and the formal interviews held at the very end of January. Would't be surprised if that's pushed back to February this year though. And since there's not admission committee, I feel like when candidates are contacted really depends on the PI.