Diversity at AZPOD?

[texasgirl2010]

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Hello,
I interviewed at AZPOD last week, and I couldn't help but notice there wasn't much diversity among the students. I am a minority (Indian), and I'm not sure if I would fit in. Before going to the interview, AZPOD was one of my top choices for several reasons, but if I'm not going to be comfortable then I don't know if I should go there. I have already been accepted to OCPM and Temple. I have an interview next week at Western. I feel like Temple and Western will have the most diversity out of these 4 schools. I really don't want to offend anybody, but does anybody from AZPOD, or someone else who interviewed there have any advice for me? I am 22, female, single, and Indian....and I have read in multiple forums that AZPOD is majority male, married, mormon (this doesn't matter), and caucasian. I talked to a couple 2nd year students, and they said that out of a class size of ~35 people, about 25 are male, and 17 are married. I guess I am just saying I'm worried I won't fit in, and I just really want to make the right decision and choose the right school. If anyone has any insight....please reply! =)

 

[lets see]

Hello,
I interviewed at AZPOD last week, and I couldn't help but notice there wasn't much diversity among the students. I am a minority (Indian), and I'm not sure if I would fit in. Before going to the interview, AZPOD was one of my top choices for several reasons, but if I'm not going to be comfortable then I don't know if I should go there. I have already been accepted to OCPM and Temple. I have an interview next week at Western. I feel like Temple and Western will have the most diversity out of these 4 schools. I really don't want to offend anybody, but does anybody from AZPOD, or someone else who interviewed there have any advice for me? I am 22, female, single, and Indian....and I have read in multiple forums that AZPOD is majority male, married, mormon (this doesn't matter), and caucasian. I talked to a couple 2nd year students, and they said that out of a class size of ~35 people, about 25 are male, and 17 are married. I guess I am just saying I'm worried I won't fit in, and I just really want to make the right decision and choose the right school. If anyone has any insight....please reply! =)

You should go to Scholl college of podiatric medicine. Tons of Indian students are there both in Chicago Medical School and At Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine....Plus.....this is the best podiatry school in the country in my opinion.

 

[air bud]

you might not want to come to DMU then. The diversity coordinator's office is right by the main auditormium and I chuckle every time I walk by it.

 

[hyperpodia]

You will be fine at temple, plenty of Indian students here

 

[UW66]

If youre looking for diversity youll find lots of that at scholl. hundreds of kids of all flavors spread across the different colleges. Many clubs, interest groups, cultural organizations and all that stuff. If scholls on your interview hit list make sure to inquire about all that.

 

[spo01]

Barry is the most diverse.

 

[Paulywog]

Barry is the most diverse.

This is one reason why I came out here. Was kind of sick of the BYU-style diversity. Just wanted to get away.

 

[pieds]

When you say diversity... Do you mean other single Indian people? Or more females? or people who are more close in age to you?

I think in general Midwestern attracts an older applicant population. I believe the average age for podiatry school at MWU is 26.

I just turned 26, I'm married, and set to have my first child in 2 months. But I'm also Asian and my husband is a Caucasian cowboy. I think if you're looking for a more college environment, the larger schools would probably be more likely to provide it. I like MWU because of the small class size and I'm tired of the young college scene (I work at a community college). It's great that you have all these interviews, you'll definitely find one that fits you well.

 

[binh]

barry 2013. off the top of my head we have i think 6-7 indians in the class, a handful of asians (including me), and everybody in between. i wouldn't be worried about fitting in here since everybody gets along with everybody for the most part. Our class is pretty young too. seems like most of us are in our early to mid 20's.

every time i go out i see plenty of indians from the surrounding professional schools (nova and umiami) so unless you lock yourself in your room studying 24/7, its almost impossible to not run into other brown people. good luck deciding

 

[Shireiqiang]

When I was at AZPOD interviewing it did seem predominantly male and caucasian. The students did seem to be a little older. For me I felt right at home, but I could see how someone who did not fit into that category might feel a little out of place. In fact we had an Indian there that day interviewing. He mentioned this very idea when he and I were chatting during the interview, but he seemed ok with it though.

 

[ldsrmdude]

I'll chime in here with my opinion. I am a 2nd year student at AZPod, and I actually was one of the students giving the tour for the OP. I believe that your interview group was mostly female (4 female vs 2 male), and about half non-white interviewees. The interviewees we had yesterday were 2/3 non-white. Pieds, who is coming here for the c/o 2014, is an Asian female. All that being said, I would agree that AZPod is less diverse than other schools. A lot of that comes down to the general demographics of the area. I think the same probably applies to Des Moines. However, as far as I am aware, none of the students that are a minority in our class feel uncomfortable about it. There are minority male and female students in our class, and we all get along very well IMO. You should definitely go where you feel comfortable, but like I said, as far as I know, none of the students in our class feel uncomfortable. I can get you in touch with some students who don't come on SDN for some insight if you would like. Just PM me. Good luck!

 

[dtrack22]

Our interview at AZPOD had 5 guys and one girl, it was really early in the admission cycle. Regardless, the students giving the tour were great people and I think you're gonna have to visit the school to get a good feel of were you'll fit in. I still hold the opinion that you can get a quality education wherever you go so "fitting in" and feeling comfortable should be taken into serious consideration.

 

[Sig Savant]

I'd be curious to see if Miami is more diverse than NYC. I doubt that the school is more diverse; if anything, they are probably close to equal. First year we take a class on all of the different religions, and I think we had almost all seven of the major religions covered in my class. Miami and New York are known for diversity though. Arizona state, not so much; well not at all.

 

[splingo13]

I was concerned about diversity at AZPOD as well, but when you consider that there seems to be a lot of diversity within the other programs (D.O., optometry, pharm, etc.), it's actually not that bad. I'm Asian, female, 22, and actually felt really safe and comfortable at MWU when I interviewed recently. I decided that AZPOD was going to be the best place for me, and would provide me with a strong education.

Best of luck with your decision!

 

[ldsrmdude]

I was concerned about diversity at AZPOD as well, but when you consider that there seems to be a lot of diversity within the other programs (D.O., optometry, pharm, etc.), it's actually not that bad. I'm Asian, female, 22, and actually felt really safe and comfortable at MWU when I interviewed recently. I decided that AZPOD was going to be the best place for me, and would provide me with a strong education.

Best of luck with your decision!

This is a good point that I meant to bring up in my last post. We take all of our basic science classes with the DO students, so there is an additional 250 students that come from all different backgrounds. It's hard to tell from just half of a day at the school how you would feel actually taking classes there, but it is important to go where you think is best for you. Hope that helps!

 

[Royal Rooters]

This is a good point that I meant to bring up in my last post. We take all of our basic science classes with the DO students, so there is an additional 250 students that come from all different backgrounds. It's hard to tell from just half of a day at the school how you would feel actually taking classes there, but it is important to go where you think is best for you. Hope that helps!

Great points here. Integrating with other professions really adds an element of diversity that no one program can provide on its own. I saw this at DMU and Scholl as well as AZpod. However, I agree with Pieds that MWU was the most attractive option to me because of the small class size, students being bit older on average, and thus the college scene did not appear to be quite so prevalent. Also, while I am married and male, I actually was the only male in my interview group. Definitely go where you feel the most comfortable, though. Trust your gut feeling!🙂

 

[texasgirl2010]

Thank you for all of the responses. When I say diversity, I don't necessarily just mean indian...I meant any minorities in general. I know podiatry as a field is male-dominated so AZPOD having majority male students is not such a big issue. I am still considering AZPOD for other reasons that I like about the school, but I have to take everything into consideration when making my final decision. If anyone else has any more feedback, I would love to hear it. Anybody from Western or who has interviewed there have a comment about diversity?

 

[dtrack22]

Diversity wise Western is fine. Sort of a melting pot from what I saw on interview day. They also have some new facilities, an outsanding faculty, and a very influental administration (Harkless and Co). As long as you are ok with 35-40 hours of lecture/lab every week, then you should be impressed with Western. Pomona, and the class schedule were what turned me away from the program. I'm curious to see what kind of financial and academic incentives they are offering other people, they made it very hard for me to say no.

 

[ldsrmdude]

I'm curious to see what kind of financial and academic incentives they are offering other people, they made it very hard for me to say no.

Not to hijack the thread totally, but Dr. Harkless was on the Meet the Masters podcast last week and said that his biggest problem right now was getting funding for student scholarships, so I would have to guess that the financial incentives they offer in terms of scholarships would be fairly minimal.

 

[catchburns]

I was concerned about diversity at AZPOD as well, but when you consider that there seems to be a lot of diversity within the other programs (D.O., optometry, pharm, etc.), it's actually not that bad. I'm Asian, female, 22, and actually felt really safe and comfortable at MWU when I interviewed recently. I decided that AZPOD was going to be the best place for me, and would provide me with a strong education.

Best of luck with your decision!

These are good points.

I'm not going to AZPod but lived in the Phoenix Valley for years. Although I understand that a good portion of your time will be spent with the other pod students, keep in mind that Arizona is an extremely diverse state so you won't be alone in a sea of white males. Besides, statistically I'm not sure you could expect an extremely high amount of diversity from a class of only 35 people no matter where the school is.

 

[Shireiqiang]

When I interviewed at Western the student ambassadors that took us around were very diverse. There were two males, one caucasian canadian, the other was asian. The female student was african american, I can't remember where she was originally from. There was a lot of diversity at the school. Just walking around campus I saw people from every background. As far as diversity goes I think Western has that well covered.

 

[damhsoir]

As long as you are ok with 35-40 hours of lecture/lab every week, then you should be impressed with Western.

Holy c&^*! If you study about 40 hours/week, you will only have 12 hours of "free time" each day to sleep, eat, workout, commute etc. I honestly could not imagine being in class 40 hours in a single week....25 is enough for me (and I skip half of those)!

 

[dtrack22]

Holy c&^*! If you study about 40 hours/week, you will only have 12 hours of "free time" each day to sleep, eat, workout, commute etc. I honestly could not imagine being in class 40 hours in a single week....25 is enough for me (and I skip half of those)!

I think I asked (as politely as I could) what the need was for all the lecture/lab time about 10 times throughout the interview day, especially since other programs I visited were around that 25 hour limit. What were those students doing/learning that no other program seemed the need for? Never really got a straight answer. The students didn't seem to mind but it never really sat well with me.

Not to hijack the thread totally, but Dr. Harkless was on the Meet the Masters podcast last week and said that his biggest problem right now was getting funding for student scholarships, so I would have to guess that the financial incentives they offer in terms of scholarships would be fairly minimal.

I don't doubt it, I remember getting an offer and Dr Harkless said they were trying to secure more funds. I got a call back about a month later saying that they had some additional money but it still may not have been enough to provide every incoming student with aid. I do know that there are at least a handful of incoming students that will receive a good chunk of scholarship money (a very good chunk). And those that don't are still in the same situation (financially) as incoming AZPOD students. They are also hand selecting a few individuals to come early and participate in an "intensive" gross anatomy course that will allow them to TA for their fellow first year students once the year officially starts. May or may not be a bonus for those couple of students who participate.

 

[Podfather]

Diversity and will I fit in? I am amazed that this issue is even brought up. Is the school providing the type of education you desire? How do the students do on the NBPME 1 and 2? Where do their students get selected for residency? How do their students do on board qualification after residency. Is their location a place that I and (if applicable) my family could spend four years?

If being around a certain racial, religious, or gender group is important perhaps research the city for organizations that may fulfill that need. Is there a concern that white married males who may be Latter Day Saints would somehow discriminate against you or alienate you? Hardly. We have one of the most diverse residency programs in the country not by design but we take the best of our applicants. If there is a year that only white males or asian females are the best then that is who we rank. I laugh when we have a year where we take a certain demographic ( say Indian females) and the next year that demographic doubles in size for applicants.

Focus on the education and the geographic locale. You will be fine.

 

[jonwill]

Diversity and will I fit in? I am amazed that this issue is even brought up. Is the school providing the type of education you desire? How do the students do on the NBPME 1 and 2? Where do their students get selected for residency? How do their students do on board qualification after residency. Is their location a place that I and (if applicable) my family could spend four years?

If being around a certain racial, religious, or gender group is important perhaps research the city for organizations that may fulfill that need. Is there a concern that white married males who may be Latter Day Saints would somehow discriminate against you or alienate you? Hardly. We have one of the most diverse residency programs in the country not by design but we take the best of our applicants. If there is a year that only white males or asian females are the best then that is who we rank. I laugh when we have a year where we take a certain demographic ( say Indian females) and the next year that demographic doubles in size for applicants.

Focus on the education and the geographic locale. You will be fine.

👍👍👍👍👍

 

[texasgirl2010]

Podfather, I'm sorry that you are so amazed by my original post. But the minimal diversity at AZPOD has been a concern for many applicants, not just myself. The other questions you brought up, such as: Is the school providing the type of education you desire? How do the students do on the NBPME 1 and 2? Where do their students get selected for residency?, you can be assured I have thought of. "Fitting in" is important because if you feel uncomfortable in your environment then you will not succeed. The fact is that if half of the already small class is married, what do you think they do when they get a minute of free time? Go home to their familes. That is exactly what I would do, too. But I am not in that place in my life yet, so yes maybe I did not have that "Omg I fit right in!" feeling when I left AZPOD on interview day. This is not about anybody alienating me...I was just simply asking everybody's opinion. I know Phoenix is diverse as a city, but in reality, I will be spending the majority of my time on-campus. AZPOD impressed me in MANY ways, and I am still strongly considering going there.

 

[hyperpodia]

If you are a white male it does not. why, because Podiatry is full of them.
I think you should go to the school that gives you the best advantage to succeed. If you don't go to AZPOD how will that school ever be diverse?

Remember just because people are of your race does not necessarily mean that you "fit right in " .

I did not interview at AZPOD, because their admissions was kind of slow, so by the time they gave me the invite I had already received admission to Temple. What I know however, is that you won't have a problem "fitting in" @Temple.

 

[chober]

I'm the only Asian in my class @ AZPOD. The diversity isn't such a huge factor when you're integrated in with the larger population of DO students. Theres definitely more than enough opportunities for interaction with them since the first 2 years you will be taking 75-80% of your classes with them. Also, you will definitely meet students from the other disciplines, dental, pharm, opto, etc.

I chose this school because it had the nicest campus at which I interviewed, and its true you will spend most of your time on campus so that was important to me.

 

[SkipeeB]

I also think that you may not want to guage your view of diversity based on who is in your interview group that day. Most of the students you interview with most likely will go elsewhere as they are interviewing at multiple places, etc. I'd look more towards the other students you see around campus that day.