I applied through university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Emory University (Atlanta, GA) in Jan 2014
Interview
Very simple, professors want to know you have good grade in course, must be friendly and willing work hard and devote time. Most professors already have a student in mind they want to have to if you want to be considered really make an attempt to be very friendly and show you understand the material.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Would you be available to hold sessions two times a week?