Bad response from interviewer?

So I had reapplied to a PE fund that had rejected me last year after just the first round. I had reached out to the MD who had interviewed me and he had linked me with his colleague (a partner) who is running the process this year. I guess I hadn’t done as bad.

The partner and I had a great convo over the phone and I sent him a thank you note afterwards to which he responded a few hours later:

“Thank you for the email and taking the time to discuss your background with me. Since we are very early in our recruiting, we will be screening additional candidates before moving forward to full interviews. Please reach out to me in early December for an update.”

Do you think they’re waitlisting me? Is this a bad sign that they’re just looking to buy time? I’ve moved on but unsure if I should write this off completely