Interviewed by two POIs of same program! Is it normal?

[HermoineG]

Hey,

 

I was contated by one faculty member for an interview (I had listed her as my choice of potential advisor). The interview went fine. Not great but didnt suck totally. She told me some other professors might contact me too.

 

A week later I was contacted by other faculty of same program and we talked for about 30minutes. It was a very good interview.

 

I am unsure why this another faculty contacted me? Does it mean the first one rejected me? Does it happen to a lot of people?

 

I didnt ask the other prof why she contacted me because I didnt want to accidently sound rude or something. Can somebody please help me out here? Do you guys get contacted by two POIs of same program?

 

Thanks!!

[iphi]

No, plenty of people work with more than one professor. Plus more than one person tends to interview prospectives. At one school I went to, I spoke to 4 professors and 3 out of 4 told me they wanted to work with me! I didn't even think I was a good match for one of them! You're choosing each other, remember.

[jakem]

Not unusual at all. I've interviewed at 5 schools so far (social psychology PhD) and each time I've been interviewed by multiple other faculty in addition to my POIs. UT Austin even had me interview with every single faculty member.... oy

[sparrowbirdie]

I'm in the same situation. I actually asked why I was contacted even though I only put one name down on my SoP, and I was given a very friendly answer.