Top schools PhD interviews necessarily?

[kbab]

So I applied to several places, Already got accepted to a couple of places but I haven't heard anything from others (no interviews, no informal chats). is it always the case that schools interview candidates before accepting them? in other words, is the lack of an interview a clear indication of a rejection? (I am talking about UTAustin, WashU, Caltech and CMU). My applications are focused on Formal Verification and PL

[toxicdevil]

No. Not necessary. It depends on things in your application and also the professor who found your application interesting.

e.g. I had two interviews (not top 20 places). Both of them were about asking me to join the university and the lab. Basically telling me that I was admitted.

[gogogousa]

I've been interviewed from UTAustin (international applicant). But I think it depends on specific schools and programs.

[Icydubloon]

CMU, UT Austin, and Washington do not do interviews. They send out acceptances directly in the last week of January/first week of February.

[gogogousa]

1 hour ago, Icydubloon said:

CMU, UT Austin, and Washington do not do interviews. They send out acceptances directly in the last week of January/first week of February.

See my answer above. I've been interviewed from UT Austin.

[George123]

I had an interview with a professor at CMU. He said that all top applicants are interviewed by a faculty member.

Finally, I got an offer.

[gogogousa]

On 2/7/2016 at 9:41 AM, George123 said:

I had an interview with a professor at CMU. He said that all top applicants are interviewed by a faculty member.

Finally, I got an offer.

Good for you! I'm waiting for WashU for good news.

[emmm]

I think that even schools that don't *require* interviews may do SOME interviews to decide between students or to ensure that the fit with research interests is as good as it appears on paper (or just to get the sense of the person they may be potentially working with for x years). Judging from the results section of this site, there are at least "spotty" interviews taking place at some of the schools on this list:  CMU, UT Austin, and Washington.