How did the interview impress you?

Positively

What was the stress level of the interview?

2 out of 10

How you think you did?

10 out of 10

How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?

9 out of 10

How long was the interview?

15 minutes

Where did the interview take place?

At another location

How many people interviewed you?

2

What was the style of the interview?

One-on-one

What type of interview was it?

Open file

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 1)?

"Why come to school on the west coast when you are from the east coast and have a number of pod schools nearby?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What is one of the specific questions they asked you (question 2)?

"Why CSPM?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most interesting question?

"Why did you delay your MCAT?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

What was the most difficult question?

"Why did you delay your MCAT?" Report Response | I was asked this question too

How did you prepare for the interview?

"Just made up questions for the interviewers and got decent sleep the night before." Report Response

What impressed you positively?

"Small class sizes (capped at 48 students), earliest clinical exposure compared to the other 7 pod schools (start after first year), St. Mary's and its pod clinic is very nice, on-campus housing, great weather, bay area location, interesting research opportunities ie combining AIDS and podiatry. The area where the school itself was located was not bad at all (like a medical center complex) unlike what a lot of people complain about on the pod forums. The BART train is very good and you can walk or take a shuttle to the station from campus (which gets you to san fran, berkeley, etc)." Report Response

What impressed you negatively?

"Maybe the travelling between San Francisco / Oakland clinics and the main campus. It seems like you definitely need a car. The good thing is that you have FULL days of clinic/class which is definitely more doable. Some of the students I talked to did not look at other schools and mainly picked this place cause it was close to home." Report Response

What did you wish you had known ahead of time?

"I did not realize that I was going to like CSPM as much as I did. It seems they made tons of changes/improvements after CSPM merged with Samuel Merritt College in 2001. It really seems like a great school with a lot to offer but gets a lot of flak for its past (The bad part of it) on the SDN forums. Also, I expected the college to have crappy facilities and be in a bad area (as per SDN forums). However, the area seemed quite nice and part of a medical center complex. It is not "inner city" oakland as people make it out to be. Furthermore, the facilities are pretty nice as well including the academic building, which had a very "open air" design. It may be a lot of concrete but still functional and adequate. One of the game rooms even had glass ceilings and wall that were opened on nice days, complete with plants and everything. Def look at the year and a half old patient simulation center. Long story short, don't believe all the hype and BS on these forums. Check everything out for yourself and come to your own impressions of the school. I was very surprised with many things on my interview day as I previously listened to all the negative comments on the interview feedback and forums. " Report Response

What are your general comments?

"First off, it's a very long day. You arrange a cab to go to St. Mary's medical center in San Fran (arrive about 9am). The 3rd year students are rotating through a mainly surgical private practice at these facilities. You get to shadow and ask them questions. After this is lunch at the very good mexican restaurant on Haight Street. Following you have an interview with 2 of the private practice pods. Then you are provided with a cab to samuel merritt in oakland in which you go to the anatomy lab, tour, fin aid + housing presentation, etc. At the end of the day (about 3:30pm) I met up with the Tranman and the director of admissions who said I was accepted to the podiatry program. I def enjoyed my day at CSPM and St. Mary's." Report Response

Who was the tour given by?

Admissions staff

How did the tourguide seem?

Enthusiastic

How do you rank the facilities?

7 out of 10

What is your in-state status?

Out of state

What was your total time spent traveling?

4-6 hours

What was your primary mode of travel?

Airplane

About how much did you spend on room, food, and travel?

$401-$500

What airport did you use?

SFO

Where did you stay?

Hotel

How would you rate the hotel?

10 out of 10

What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?

Castle Inn

Would you recommend the hotel?

yes

On what date did the interview take place?

10/17/2007

How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?

9 out of 10

What is your ranking of this school's location?

7 out of 10

What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?

10 out of 10