what would your instinct say if a ph.d. student in a program you applied to contacted you to ask how your application process was going? ...if you had talked to that person previously, but not for several months. 1. it is entirely possible the person is just incredibly nice and thoughtful, which is great. 2. it is an informal way of the department to see what's up with somebody they're interested in, so to speak.
any thoughts? i don't want to read anything into it without cause... thanks.