New to APC, and I decided to jump in here since my experience may shed light for some of you.
I've been applying to F9 for 1.5 years. Got a phone interview last January (2014), but was in my last semester at college, so was only available in May '14. Never heard back.
Fast forward to last month, and a friend who offered his silver bullet has been trying diligently to help me get on with no luck. I finally went to a job fair a few weeks ago in LAS. Still no interview. Finally, yesterday, I get the TBNT. Bummed and disappointed!
Then, at 3:30pm today I get the interview invite!
Moral of the story is, stick with it long enough and you'll get a crack at it. And go to a job fair. And the TBNT is totally meaningless at this point in time. Don't know how long that will last.
Hope this helps.