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Holistic Review & Interview Process

Holistic Review

With more than 12,000 applications received per year, the NYMC School of Medicine has one of the largest applicant pools among all private medical schools in the country. Approximately 1000 applicants are interviewed for admission each application cycle.

The Admissions Committee utilizes the principles of holistic review to screen, assess, and select applicants.  As defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), holistic review is a flexible, individualized way of assessing an applicant’s capabilities by which balanced consideration is given to experiences, attributes and academic metrics (E-A-M).

As part of this holistic review process, we ask applicants to complete an on-line situational judgment test known as CASPer (Computer-based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics) – a screening tool used to assess personal attributes such as ethics, empathy, cultural sensitivity, collaboration, resiliency, and adaptability – all of which are considered essential traits of a compassionate and capable physician. We also use the MMI (Multiple Mini Interview) format. During the MMI, applicants move through a circuit of short, carefully-timed scenario-based interview stations designed to evaluate non-cognitive attributes considered critical to becoming an effective physician. These include critical thinking, moral reasoning and ethical grounding, open-mindedness, ability to collaborate, and communication and interpersonal skills.

 

Interview Process

Interviews are generally conducted from mid-September through March. Applicants may be invited to interview at any time during this period as applications are reviewed throughout the application cycle. 

NYMC utilizes the multiple-mini interview (MMI) format.  During the MMI, applicants move through a circuit of short, carefully-timed scenario-based interview stations. The scenarios are neither knowledge-based nor necessarily clinically-oriented. They are designed to evaluate personal attributes of applicants based on the inter- and intra-personal core competencies for entering medical students endorsed by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).