Overall, applicants ranked the school in the top 36% of interviews, indicating it is moderately regarded. They found the interview mixed with a moderate stress level, and felt they did well.
Most respondents felt positively about their interview.
What was the stress level of the interview?
Most respondents rated their interview as average stress.
How you think you did?
Most respondents thought they performed well at the interview.
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
Most respondents rank this school above all other schools.
How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?
Most respondents rank this school above other schools they applied to.
0 = Below, 10 = Above
💬 Interview Questions ▼
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
The most commonly asked interview questions at medical schools include inquiries about the candidate's motivation for pursuing medicine or podiatry, challenges faced in academics, preparation for standardized tests like the MCAT, experiences with research or extracurricular activities, and their ability to handle stress and manage time effectively. Additionally, respondents mentioned questions related to residency programs, reasons for choosing a specific school like NYCPM, and their familiarity with the field of podiatry, showcasing a focus on the candidate's goals, aspirations, and fit for the program.
Why did I do poorly on one of the sections of the MCAT
Residency shortage towards the end of the interview, they worded it “so after grad school and you begin residency, what have you heard about DPM residency?”
Considering you have never lived in a large city, what do you think you will like about New York City and why choose NYC over the other programs in smaller towns.
Students said the most interesting question asked at New York College of Podiatric Medicine discussed a wide range of topics including reasons for choosing podiatry, experiences in research, handling the curriculum, awareness of the residency shortage, and future career goals. The interview format may have been an MMI (Multiple Mini Interview) based on responses that mention nondisclosure agreements, but many questions centered around personal motivations, experiences, and goals related to podiatry and the medical field.
What is North Carolina like? (Interviewer wants to retire there, and I informed him that the cost of living is approx. three times less in NC than NYC)
Students said most difficult question asked at New York College of Podiatric Medicine discussed explaining low grades, handling rigorous curriculum, reasons for academic performance, adjustments to NYC, and preferences for podiatry over other healthcare fields. The interviews may have been in an MMI format as multiple responses mentioned nondisclosure agreements, with questions focusing on academic challenges, career choices, and personal preparation for podiatry school.
You haven't taken many science courses, how do you think you will be able to handle 5 at a time?
There really wasn’t one. Everything flowed smoothly and if you come in prepared none of their questions will seem “difficult” they do ask questions about specific grades and your MCAT so be prepared to handle those.
Why were your grades not that great your freshman year and better later on? What changed? How will you prevent the same mistakes (poor study habits etc.) from happening again? What would you do if you performed poorly here at NYCPM?
The questions weren't very difficult. It was very much just a conversation between two faculty and I. The student interview was very laid back and focused on my academic background and my own questions.
Most respondents rate the school location as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?
Most respondents rate the area’s cultural life as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What are your comments on where you stayed?
No responses
✅ Interview Preparation and Impressions ▼
How is the friendliness of the admissions office?
Most respondents said the admissions office was friendly.
How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?
Most respondents said the admissions office was responsive.
How did you prepare for the interview?
Most applicants prepared for the interview by utilizing resources like Student Doctor Network (SDN) for common interview questions and feedback, conducting mock interviews, researching the school, and practicing responses. Recommendations emphasized reviewing SDN interview questions, engaging with current students for insights, and preparing well-thought-out answers to potential questions to demonstrate interest and readiness for the interview.
Mainly SDN interview questions. I did mock interviews at the career center of my university along with my podiatrist that I shadowed. I also recorded my face/voice to catch and correct my interview habits and practiced in front of a mirror to practice being more casual/conversational and friendly. My interview for NYCPM turned out be a virtual interview over Zoom, so I had some notes posted in front of me in case I blanked out lol.
Read the questions here. Created a list of common questions with well thought out answers and practiced them over and over again for a couple weeks before the interview.
SDN and School Website. Read up about podiatry because they will first take you to the foot clinic and have you shadow some podiatrist there. Everyone is really friendly, so ask tons of questions. Be interested and be open minded. I had a great time shadowing the podiatrist and speaking to the third and fourth year students that were with him.
I had an interest for the school and had visited it a number of times before, attended open houses. Additionally, I researched the website and wrote down questions that I was curious about.
I went over NYCPM's website as well as my personal statements and resumes.
I worked through the exercise in The Medical School Interview.
Also, I e-mailed back and forth with current students.
Applicants were overwhelmingly impressed by the friendliness of the faculty, staff, and students, as well as the supportive and collaborative atmosphere at the school. The busy clinic, strong emphasis on academics, and the opportunities for extensive clinical training were also highlighted as positive aspects of the program.
Professors were both so friendly and welcoming. The entire interview felt conversational and they were very open to sharing their own NYCPM memories as students and how the program has improved along the years.
Everyone at the campus including faculty and students were extremely nice. It felt like a big family. Everyone knew each other and seemed like they wanted to help each other out.
The friendly environment of the school. Everything including the interview was relaxed and easy going. The interview is more of a friendly conversation, than a one-on-one question/answer session.
The foot clinic on campus, the clinical professors, the cafeteria food, the Harlem area, and the students around campus. Harlem was much nicer and safer than I was expecting. The students all seemed happy to be there and were excellent sources of information.
VERY busy clinic, super friendly staff, all students seemed very enthusiastic and happy to be there, students seemed cooperative as well, tons of research opportunities in many fields not just podiatry (just need to find a manifestation in the lower limb), computer testing (good to prepare for boards), high board pass rates/residency placement
The school has a yearbook and a student literary magazine as well and a journal of student research publications. The school also has immense diversity within the student population (students from their Quebec program were there) and their patient population (apparently one of the hospitals third years rotate at is an entirely spanish speaking hospital). The school also pays for one night at a nice hotel (Aloft Harlem) and they will pick you up from the hotel the morning of the interview. They are also opening a new student housing complex very close to the school.
The closeness of the foot clinic, the fact that everything is located in between two buildings, the residence area (Heritage, looks over central park), the friendliness of the staff/students/doctors, the board rates!
Friendliness of staff and students. The admissions staff. Most professional tour/interview day of all the places I visited. The clinic. People bad mouth Harlem all the time, but walking around afterward, I actually enjoyed the area.
The on-site clinic def provides students an opportunity to get extensive real life clinical training. The professional manner in which the day was organized. Meeting with current students and being able to ask them questions as well.
The friendliness of admission staff, faculty, and students. Student ambassadors were very helpful and honest. New labs. Renovations in process. Small school, so you will have more time to study and less time walking from building to building. Clinic is mesmerizing.
The admissions staff, faculty, and students were extremely friendly and helpful. Everyone was willing to answer questions and were delightful to shadow. The clinic is exceptional and a great opportunity for students.
The very friendly admissions staff, students and faculty members. The genuine responses about the school from everyone. Ms. Lisa Lee has no problem referring DPMs to me from even my small town, which impressed me. Everyone has many connections.
Clinic quite busy with a lot of diversity, 2 month senior surgical rotation in Israel, relatively close (subway ride) away from the cool hangouts of New York City, diverse student body
The opportunities you have at NYCPM and the fact that the area of Harlem that it is in is not what people make it out to be! I really liked the school!
how kind and outgoing the students/faculty/staff are, how involved the students are in the community, the pathology seen in the clinic, housing available
Applicants commonly expressed concerns about the outdated facilities, cramped and old building, lack of modern amenities, and the school's location in Harlem. Suggestions included renovating facilities, providing more study spaces, improving the overall appearance, and addressing the negative perceptions of the neighborhood.
Facilities are dated, building is dated and ugly, everything seems compacted into one building, mandatory attendance, students did not seem to be as outgoing and positive
The facility is a little run down and cramped. The students did not seem to really have anything super positive to say about the school and repeatedly mentioned how hard the curriculum was. Harlem is a little scary.
The school is pretty cramped as it's all contained within one building. The facilities leave something to be desired. Two exam a week testing schedule for the entire first year.
The area is the ONLY thing that has me worried. But there is a shuttle service provided at night time for those that want to go back to their apartments.
distance between housing complex and school is >15min if you live at the heritage, and you have to have at least 2 roommates if you stay in the school's housing complexes
I am not going to lie I do not like Harlem. The facilities are kind of old BUT they have renovated a lot in the past couple of years. This school has everything you need to learn and become a good student...but nothing more. Their GYM sucks big time!
No kosher food in 3 miles (I'll just bring lunch with me) Gym/weight room is not the best I have seen. These are minor things that do not matter. If you look at the big picture, your here to get a good education, not lift weights all day.
Not really seeing the "crappy, old" facilities that everyone was talking about. (maybe a good thing- because the lab was being renovated) and I was being ignorant?
Facility was a dump. You would think they would at least spend some money updating the appearance/outside of the school but it really looks like a depressing place. You could say that this is NYC and that makes it worthwhile, but still, the place looks terrible. Students bashed on other schools (it seems like Barry is their crappy half brother pod school who they rank on the most). The only positives I could get out of students was the location in new york city and busy clinic.
The school probably has the worst "campus" of the 8 podiatry schools. It is one run-down building and that's it. Basement anatomy lab and dorm-room sized gym. It is not located in a nice part of New York but neither is Columbia Med/Dental school either. Students did not seem very impressive and the large majority I met went to NYCPM just because its located in new york city. There is no true vision for the podiatry program unlike DMU and AZPOD. The school is independent and not affiliated with a university...same with OCPM. People can say they are affiliated with columbia and NYU but having a few teachers come to nycpm does not count. I mean TRUE affiliations like Temple University with Temple pod, des moines university with CPMS, scholl with rosalind franklin, etc. The president/CEO is just some old businessman with no relation to podiatry. Very few externships (just increased to 4 THIS year) and it seems they keep you working at the nycpm clinics for much of your clinical years. Overall, I think out of the schools I visited - all 8 - NYCPM was the least impressive. Only Barry came close to taking the cake.
VERY POOR facilities - old and classrooms are all located in the basement of the building. No windows. Parking in less than safe neighborhood (i.e. old mattresses and tires piled 10 ft high in the corner of the parking lot). Tiny cafeteria and below standard "gym"
During the campus tour, my guide ran into a student he knew. Just finishing an exam, the student said that he hadn't received a grade that low since kindergarten.
Many applicants wished they had known ahead of time that the interviews were very conversational and not as intimidating as expected. They also commonly mentioned wanting more preparation for specific types of questions, such as being ready to discuss grades and scores, as well as being aware of the need to write an on-the-spot essay.
It was very conversational. I definitely didn’t need to be as nervous as I was.
I wish I knew that the interview was going to be right away in the morning. It didn't make much of a difference, but I would have been a little more mentally prepared. I was the first one in the group to be interviewed so when they said ok we're doing interviews now, I was surprised that they were happening so soon since I thought they would be happening a little later in the day after shadowing etc.
I was pretty well prepared for this interview. Nothing took me by surprise. FYI you get FREE lunch during your interview day so don't worry about paying for it.
I wish I would have relaxed a little more and packed more layers. NYC was freezing; my interview was the day after the massive snow storm that closed schools.
poor facilities, not being able to see the lab being renovated, anatomy lab will be taken at a neighbor school (Touro?) for the time being, should've looked over NYCPM website more closely before interview
1. to wear flats and not high heels (ironically, the feet were hurting), the shiny floors were slippery and I was sliding all over the place. FYI: this is just a personal note, ladies please continue to dress appropriately for your interviews.
2. to shadow a little more in the field before my interview. that was the only thing I didn't have enough exposure to to be able to speak about.
Applicants commonly praised the friendly and welcoming environment at the school, noting the supportive staff and students, as well as the emphasis on clinical experience and academic rigor. Some expressed concerns about the school's facilities and location, but overall, many applicants seemed positive about the interview experience and potential acceptance.
Overall it was a very smooth process. The interview wasn’t intimidating and they give you a tour, some shadowing, and a free lunch. Don’t get too nervous, just focus on showing off your best “you”
Everyone at this school was so nice. I felt right at home and I was impressed by how kind everyone was and how the whole place felt like a big family. I was also pleased to learn from students that research is easy to get involved in if you make an effort.
The day went by so fast! Everything was scheduled really tightly so I didn't get to speak with the students as much as I would have liked, but it was nice that everything was planned so well for us (I spent the day with two other applicants, although the interviews were individual).
There were two different interviews. One was with the head of admissions and a podiatrist and the other was with a student. The student was incredibly friendly and helpful!!!
There seemed to be great emphasis on transitioning to new york and handling the stress of school. Those two things kept coming up in the interview and throughout the day. All the current students seemed very nice
If you are staying at Hotel Newton, be prepared to know that the room is really small. However, don't forget you are there for business (to get into this school), I utilized my night by going over practice questions and having an outline of points I would like to cover. You should go in with an open mind to this school because it's not about if the school accepts you as much as do you accept this career choice and what the school can provide you. It made the experience fun for me! Enjoy yourself.
I was stunned by the clinic and by the students' enthusiasm about attending NYCPM. The students were honest and it didn't feel like they were trying to sell us the school. Sure the building isn't brand new and shiny, but to me that's not what matters. Ultimately, I want to go to a school that can provide me with a strong academic curriculum and sound clinical skills - I believe NYCPM will do that for me.
Summary of the day:
1) Answer an EASY essay
2) Presentation on NYCPM
3) Faculty interview
4) Student interview
5) Tour of school and foot clinic
6) Lunch with first year students
7) Interview with Dean of Admissions
The day started with Mr Douglas McNabb introducing himself with a friendly smile. There was one other candidate interviewing with me. Then they called both of us in to two separate rooms to interview with a faculty member; next, each of us interviewed with a student ambassador. Then we toured the college together, including the clinic. Had lunch together, spoke a lot about everything. We then met with Mr McNabb again give us final comments and were on our way home after a long lasting day.
Overall, I was a little intimidated by the city at first. However, this diminished once I had the opportunity to talk to students attending NYCPM. I found that student, faculty, and staff were very enthusiastic about this institution. While the school is an older facility, the admission's staff informed me that the school is continuing to renovate various classrooms. Eventually the clinic will also be updated as well.
4th years are hard to talk to for the moment, as they are preparing for exams and their own application process into residency programs; don't get turned off by their rushed manners. 3rd years are easier to talk to at this time.
Overall, no complaints. Nothing I haven't already known about the school facilities, staff, location, curriculum, etc. Everyone shared their perspective about NYCPM. It might be in a "scary ghetto" place, but I want a DPM from NYCPM, and nothing's going to stop me, if accepted.
I think it is a good school. They don't have many full time faculty though but they are getting more. They get MD teachers to come over and teach, which is interesting.
My first interview and glad it is done and over with. Only good thing is it prepared me for other school interviews. Really did not like NYCPM! The kicker was the acceptance letter which said "MACT" scores instead of "MCAT."
Very quick day which was a good thing (less than 3 hours). I was really glad to get out of that dump. I did not feel comfortable at NYCPM and could never see myself as a student there.
it was a good day, not too long...spent a little time in the clinic downstairs, watched a video, faculty interview, student interview, ate lunch with some students, tour the building, wrap-up
I enjoyed my interview experience and my time in NY. The buildings were definitely run down, but they are constantly updating their faciilities. Moreover when you look at the core of it, with their they are helping a population that would have otherwise been never reached. Interviewers were all very nice and laid back.
It was quite good. It was kinda long. First, I had an interview with a faculty member. Then, I got to meet student president and had an interview with him. It was very relaxed though. After that, we went to clinic and shadow a podiatrist for a while. After that, we had lunch and met housing rep. I took a tour with a student right after that. Finished the whole process by seeing admission head.
You get interviewed by three people (a podiatrist, a faculty member, a 3rd year student). They all have the SAME list of questions that they are required to ask you. So you repeat your answers with each of them. Just be honest about it and it should be good.
I arrived early and so had breakfast with other interviewees. Then we watched a brief video about the school, and then I had an interview with a 3rd year student then the director of admissions. After that, I toured the on-site foot clinic, and was then showed around the campus by two students. We had lunch, and then I had another brief interview with another admissions counselor.
The faculty, staff and students were very friendly. Lunch with the students was helpful. The commute to NY city and to Harlem is confusing if you're not familiar with it. There were 3 interviews, 2 by faculty and one student, followed by a tour and chance to shadow a student at the foot clinic.
The only positive aspects of this school were the diverse patient base and friendlyness of the students and staff. Everything else was dissapointing. I definitely could not see myself as a student there, but some people like it, so it depends upon you.
3 Interviews: The 1st with a DPM (clinical), the 2nd with a phD (pre-clinical) and the last with a Junior or Senior student (only one if u're lucky... most of the time u have 3 of them interviewing you <based on student comments>).
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
Applicants commonly suggest that the admissions office should strive to be more organized during the interview day, provide clearer communication and structure, and ensure a smooth and efficient process for applicants, such as providing agendas and notes. Additionally, applicants appreciate friendly and responsive admissions staff and suggest maintaining this positive interaction throughout the application cycle.
To be a little more organized. The interview day only lasted from 10:00-2:30, but it definitely felt long because of how unorganized it was. There was a lot of just waiting around and at one point there was a lot of confusion with the admissions staff of who had had both of their interviews (a student interview and a faculty/dean interview). Also the student interview didn't seem necessary.
The admission staff is really friendly! If you stay at Hotel Newton they may even come to pick you up. They make every part of your day go by real smoothly. They remember the names of most current podiatry students, that shows the level of involvement they have not only during the admission process but after as well.