The interview I had with my POI at Rutgers was a very informal phone interview, which resulted in him urging me to apply to the program, so I did. I established contact with the POI early on during my application process to see if we were a good match and it turned out that we were a great match. Even knowing my relatively unimpressive stats he still urged me to apply. He said the biggest stand-out feature that I had was that I was already trained in relevant techniques that he wouldn't have to spend a year or so teaching me. I also had a lot to offer to the lab that they do not have too much expertise on.
However, I have still yet to be excepted and I do not have high hopes. But the wait is killing me because I would like to get plan B rolling as soon as possible.