I don't post very often, but have lurked for a long time and read a lot of things - both good and bad - written about NYMC on these forums, so I figured I'd try to address some of these concerns for current applicants...Caution - very long post ahead:
Location: Yes, there really is a prison near our campus. Actualy two - one for men, and one for women. If this bothers you, you should be aware that there also is a juvenile delinquent center, a homeless shelter, a home for run-away teens, a home for homeless AIDS patients, a chronic care facility, three hospitals (University, Children's, and Behavioral Health), a crime lab, and a small hidden cemetery where "Typhoid Mary" is supposedly buried. And geese. Lots of geese. NYMC's main campus is on a state-own property that contains all of these facilities. For some reason this turns some people off. Why anyone would think living near criminals in prison and homeless people in a shelter is somehow more dangerous than living near criminals or homeless people on the street is beyond me, but to each their own. These facilities can actually be a great resource for students who want to volunteer, and campus has a 24hr security service....The campus itself is in the suburbs, and is actually very pretty - lots of grass and open spaces. There are multiple grills scattered about for barbeques, a playground for kids, a full size basketball court, huge fields for football, soccer, and ultimate frisbee, and nearby softball fields. The housing is dorm-like and can be good or bad - I think our classes are very cohesive and closer than many in other schools, but living on campus definitely makes your world a lot smaller. If you have a car - bring it! Parking is basically free, and anything you need is within 10-15 minutes away. Valhalla is not a college town - you can walk to the bars/stores - but it isn't in the middle of some wasteland like some would have you think, everything you need is very close. If you'd rather drive to school and walk to bars/shops, white plains, tarrytown and sleepyhollow are all nice places within 15min of campus. If you don't have a car, it never seems to be a problem catching rides...Valhalla is 30-45min away from manhattan by train or car, and some people even live in the city and commute up. Half of the class will move to the city for 3/4th year, and most people rotate down here at least once and sublet a place. Manhattan is an amazing place to train and live, and I'm sure I don't have to go into why...
Reputation: This seems to be more important on SDN than in the real world, but it's an understandable concern. New York Med is not a research powerhouse to say the least, and the money that follows research is what builds national reputation (in the form of US news types of reports, at least). This is not Harvard, but then again - it doesn't try to be either. Most of your non-med school friends will think you go to NYU when you say New York Med, however NYMC grads seem to have a very good reputation in the medical community from my experience. The avg MCAT and grades for the accepted classes are always about the avg for those who matriculate across the nation (30/3.5ish), but board scores 2 years later are above the avg for those in allopathic schools (225 step 1 this year), so you could use that as a very non-scientific way to say the students are taught well. Our match list has been excellent - but make sure you interpret match lists the right way. NYMC has a ton of students form cali (more than 50%), so our match list is more west-coast heavy than big east coast name heavy. You will find that location means a lot more to people than rep when it comes to residency...
The catholic tradition thing: Very rarely impacts the students (no more than schools like albert einstein are affected by their religious affiliation, so far as I know) The GLBT issue from a couple years ago, if anything, demonstrated to me how the students voice was more important than the affiliation (By the way, oddly enough NYMC may be one of the best places in the country to train regarding GLBT patients - St Vincent's Hospital is in the west village and probably treats, and is staffed by, more GLBT individuals than anywhere I can think of)
The students: I was pleasantly surprised when i began school here at how interesting everyone was - this school is full of californian"s, ex-medics/EMS/firefighters, people with significant international experience, etc. The classes are pretty cohesive and social. I haven't experienced a ton of competitiveness - but I think no matter where you go that is more a product of the people you surround yourself with...
Con's: I realize this sounds pretty biased so far, and I don't want anyone to think I'm blind to the fault's of NYMC. The biggest one is cost. It's very, very expensive, and the cost of living couldn't be higher than NYC/Westchester. It's a fact of life for many of us in med school...Although campus is wireless, our IT dept leaves a lot to be desired. If you really want to work with famous researchers, this is probably not the place for you.
Overall, I'm very happy I decided to come here - no regrets. Like everything, med school is what you make of it - the most important thing is finding somewhere you'll be comfortable, and then following your instinct. Hope this helps, remember it's all just 1 person's opinion (like everything else on this board)