The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Stanford University (Stanford, CA) in Oct 2010
Interview
Sent out email and resume. PI contacted me over phone and did an initial chat and asked for references. PI spoke to references and called me back for an onsite interview . Put me up at a hotel in downtown Palo Alto. Did a Full day interview with his 20+ lab group.
The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Stanford University in Dec 2010
Interview
i flew out to the university and met with a wide variety of faculty. the interesting thing about being a phd at stanford is they require a faculty to choose you from a pile of names. if the faculty don't wish to go pull your file and then offer you a spot, you don't get a spot.