dnberkeley

I had an interview request at a top-10 school, and had been emailing back and forth to set up a time in mid-March, which would involve me flying across the country. We finally confirmed a date last week for Mar. 10. Then today I got an email saying that the faculty wanted to wrap up interviews by the end of the month, so instead of an in-person interview, would I be available for a phone or skype chat next week? I would do half-hour interviews with faculty, and it could be spread out over a couple of days. Is this a good sign or bad sign? I know I should take phone interviews as seriously as in-person interviews. But 'm wondering if this is just the new trend for interviewing given budgetary constraints and short timetables, or if I should be worried about what this means about my chances of an offer. Is the phone interview just a first-round interview and a campus visit comes later, or in this day and age is the phone interview customary for distant applicants? I got a phone interview for a nearby school too, but I figured that they couldn't favor local applicants over distant ones and there's definitely budget constraints for the local school.