So when you see people who received their "app complete" email after you get interview invites, should we start to worry? Or do schools regularly go back and send out interview invites to people from previous batches?
Depends on the school. But more than likely, yes, that means they passed over you. That does not mean they will not come back at a later time to review your application again (post-Dec vs. pre-Dec). Penn says they do rolling and the dates of completion for those who received invites support that. On the other hand, NYU seems to be the opposite.
I'm no expert, and I don't sit on a committee, but that is just my take on the whole rolling admissions process.
Yes and no. Someone made a call to Mich and gave us some amazing advice. The heaping piles of applications may get split up to different admissions officers, who may be reviewing them at different paces. So while you should see the dates go in order, some could be a couple days off. This is the only thing giving me hope for the schools Im still waiting on. Lol.