Did I potentially open a door or is the professor just being nice?
I recently reached out to my top mentor for an REU, expressing my interest in her lab and asking if decisions were out yet. I mentioned I would be interested in meeting with her either way since her research would align with what I am looking to do in grad school, and she got back to me pretty quickly saying she didn’t know if decisions were out yet since it’s in the director’s hands but would love to meet with me.
The part I’m confused about is that I emailed the director a week prior and she said decisions were in the mentor’s hands, which is why I reached out to the mentor after. Is her wanting to meet with me a good sign? She asked for my CV (not submitted with the application) and a brief outline of my research interests, but I’m not sure if that indicates she might be considering me or just wants to talk about grad school. Either way I’m happy! Just a bit confused about the back and forth on who makes decisions, especially since I know from others on here that other mentors interviewed and selected their own students.