New York University (NYU) School of Medicine Interview Questions

General Interview Information
​Interview Format
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New York University (NYU) School of Medicine combines an eight-station MMI (Multiple Mini Interview) with a traditional interview format. During the MMI, applicants move through the eight scenario-based interview stations, each of which is five minutes long. Candidates are given two minutes to prepare their answer before each station. There is also a scheduled rest station. There is also one “open-station interview”, similar to a traditional one-on-one interview which lasts 12 minutes, during which time you can ask questions of the interviewer.  Interviewers are members of the medical faculty, staff, and student body who are trained in the multiple mini interview format.  The entire process takes approximately one hour and evaluates the non-cognitive attributes considered essential to becoming an effective physician including:

  • Critical thinking,
  • Moral reasoning and ethical grounding,
  • Open-mindedness,
  • Ability to collaborate, and
  • Communication and interpersonal skills.


Key Dates
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Interviews generally take place between September and December.


Recent Interview Questions

General/Personal Statement – These stations aim to delve into your application and personal history. Expect interviewers to seek clarification of any vague statements or unusual activities, pre-med study or life events in your application. These stations often require you to reflect on your personal attributes in relation to various life events or experiences. Questions make include:
  • Tell me about yourself.
  • What makes you stand out from the rest of the applicants? Why should you be admitted?
  • What is something you regret?
  • What is your strongest quality?
  • What is your biggest fault?
  • Explain a stressful situation in your life and how you dealt with it
  • How do you plan on managing your school requirements and your social life?
  • How do you deal with forming and maintaining interpersonal relationships?
  • Are you a big picture person or a detail-oriented person?
  • What is one thing about you that most people perceive incorrectly?
  • What was one of your greatest challenges and how did you overcome it?
  • What qualities of your parents do you want to emulate/not want to emulate?
  • What do you think is weak about your application?
  • Tell me something about yourself that is not on the application already?
  • What research experience have you done?
  • Can you tell me more about your research?
  • How do you learn best?
  • Why did you pick your undergraduate institution?
  • What was my favourite undergrad class?
  • How did you study for the MCAT?
  • Tell me about your thesis project.
  • What do you think about your MCAT score?
  • Has the article you worked on been published yet? Tell me why you reached the conclusions you did in your research.
  • What's the most interesting class that you've taken at your undergraduate institution?
  • Tell me about [extracurricular activity]. We went through my activities.
  • Tell me about your music.
  • Do you play any sports?
  • What do you do to relax?
  • What do you like to do for fun?
  • What experiences as an EMT have changed your outlook on life?
  • Tell me about your volunteer/extracurricular activity experiences
  • Tell me about your previous school curriculum and clinical experiences
 
Motivation and Insight into Medicine - These questions examine both your desire to study medicine as well as your general interest in the issues facing the medical community. While an in-depth knowledge is not expected, an awareness of topical issues, particularly those in the media is highly recommended. Questions may include:
  • Tell me about the progression of your decision to enter medicine
  • When did you know you wanted to be a doctor?
  • What role models/people inspired you to go to medical school?
  • What experiences reaffirmed your decision to pursue medicine?
  • Do you know what speciality you want to go into?
  • Why do you want to go into that field of medicine?
  • Can you think of a patient who stood out to you in particular over the summer you spent in X's practice? Why did they stand out, and how did your experience with them reinforce your desire to be a doctor?
  • Why do you want to go into paediatrics as opposed to another field?
  • What role did your parents play in your decision to practice medicine?
  • If you didn't get into medical school, what would you do?
  • Why not MD/PhD?
  • How will you judge your success as a doctor?
  • What about you will make a good doctor?
  • How do you think medicine will be different in the future?
  • What do you think you will like most about medicine? Dislike?
  • If you went before Congress now, what would you tell them about the state of medicine and how would you advise them to correct their mistakes?
  • How will you cope with the stresses of med school and residency?
  • If you could stand in front of Congress and argue that one thing should be funded...
  • What do you expect to be one of the greatest challenges of being a doctor?
  • "Where will the government get the money to pay for national health care? By cutting back on spending where? Iraq? "
  • What do you think of doctors who hardly spend 5 minutes with their patients, and are always running in and out of the door before the patient gets to ask any questions?
  • What about the health care at your undergrad intuition would you want to be changed?
  • What will you bring to NYU?
  • What do you know about NYU?
  • Have you been accepted anywhere yet? How do you know what school you want to go to (i.e. what criteria do you use in deciding which school you ultimately will attend) Which school would you actually go to if you got into all the ones you applied to?
  • What do you think NYU can offer you?
  • What are you looking for in a medical school?
  • Why NYC and also what I had been asked at other interviews that I wanted to talk about
  • If you were in charge of a medical school, what would you change?
  • What do you think medical school will be like? 
 
Communication Stations - These questions may utilise information from your application or may come in the form of a scenario where you need to explain how you would handle the situation. Ensure that you utilise the 7 Stages of MMI Communication Stations to excel in these tasks. 
  • Examples of Communication Stations with model answers can be found in the MMI Question Bank
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Additional Medical School Interview Questions
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