No problem about the number of questions! I'm happy to answer them.
1) There was no interview when I applied - I did call and talk to Dr. Lerea, the Traditional Track Program Director, but it was mainly to find out more about the program rather than to have an "interview". My AMCAS undergrad cGPA is 3.1 (I can explain if you have further questions about this) and my MCAT was the same, and I had no problems getting in. Dr. Lerea is really big on giving people a second chance.
2) It is definitely easy to find volunteering opportunities. The hospital is a 5-10 minute walk away from campus, and the volunteering department there is WONDERFUL. Unfortunately, they don't do any shadowing through the volunteering department, so you would have to contact doctors on your own to get shadowing experience (I did this). Those of my friends who wanted to do research on campus were able to find opportunities (I know at least 6 of us who chose to do so) - however, I wouldn't say that NYMC has a lot of high powered research. Some departments are relatively well-funded while others aren't. This is a great question for Dr. Lerea - he's really helpful in setting up good students with volunteering opportunities.
3) I can't speak about this personally yet, as I am applying to medical school in the 2013-2014 cycle. For those of my friends (5) who applied in the 2012-2013 cycle, 3/5 got accepted into US MD schools. 1/5 didn't do well on the MCAT (sub 30) and chose to go to Carib, and 1/5 didn't do well in the program and chose to go to Carib. Dr. Lerea recommends schools to you that tend to accept students from our program. As a result, I don't think every adcom out there knows and understands our program, but there are definitely a few that have good experience with it. With respect to is a strong performance enough to offset a bad undergrad - I can't speak about this personally because I haven't applied yet.
4) I have only spoken about med school applications with 9 of the ~20 students currently set to graduate from my year. Of those 9, 1 is applying to nursing/PT school instead of medical school(?), 3 are applying to schools for the first time this cycle, and 4 of the other 5 applied to NYMC. All those who applied got interviews at NYMC (the sub-30 MCAT student didn't apply because of MCAT cutoff), 2/4 got accepted right away, 1/4 got waitlisted at NYMC (I think this was because of poor grades in the 2nd year of the program) but got accepted into other MD schools, and 1/4 got waitlisted/rejected (didn't ask and he didn't specify; same situation as the other student who got waitlisted).
5) From what I remember from orientation, there were about 30 of us at the beginning (but this 30 includes some non-BMS students who came to the BMS-only orientation by mistake). By the beginning of the second year, there were about 20 of us left in the program (some did poorly in first year classes and had to retake them, others had to leave the program due to life circumstances). I think currently 19 of us are set to graduate. Overall the program has felt incredibly small in a good way - we all know each other, we all share information (old exams, study materials, lecture recordings, etc). There is some competition in that we all try to do our best, but there's no denigrating each other if someone did poorly.
6) I know students from Florida, California, and New Jersey in the program. But the majority is NY residents. You can survive without a car, but it will be hard. If you CAN bring a car, I'd recommend bringing one. IF not, you can always carpool with friends/roommates or take a taxi. If you're living off-campus, which is likely since you're a masters student (preference goes to med students and PhDs), you will need a car unless you are okay with using public transportation (the bus system in Westchester isn't great).
Other comments: I don't know what effect the program will have on my application, but it has been a WONDERFUL experience for me. I started off not knowing whether I could handle medical school, and am ending knowing that I will survive. The classes are challenging, and you have to make a dedication to study hard - keep in mind that your goal for being in this program is to get into medical school.
Hope that's been helpful! Good luck!
