Pace University - New York

Date: Feb 27 2014
Major: Psychology (This Major's Salary over time)
I?ve been reading these reviews for over a year, and decided to give myself sometime to have the whole, ?Pace experience? before venturing to share my thoughts.

Let me start off by saying that I?m a transfer student. I?m a junior, which is one of the reasons why I?m not going to bother transferring out. Like most of the students here, I came to Pace because it is in New York City and a $19,000 scholarship.

Interestingly, right after I enrolled, they decreased my scholarship to $10,000 and didn?t specify why.

When it comes to New York City, I love it and it?s one of the very few things that makes Pace a great place.

Recently, we have learned that there?s a great transfer/ dropout rate at the school, and they are trying to find out ways to make the students want to stay? I think this is a hard one.

I think Pace is great convincing upcoming students that they are the perfect match. During the transfer orientation they?ll talk about the great security, resources, and other wonders, when the reality is that the only good and accurate thing is the location.

Cost:

Pace University is expensive. To put things into perspective, Pace University is only $283 dollars cheaper than Brown University? Brown is an ivy league.

In my experience, the institution finds every little way and reason possible to charge you money, yet I don?t see where this money is going, or how it?s contributing to my well-being (simply read others' reviews).

Cafeteria:

Pace forces students to purchase a somewhat expensive meal plan (unless you are a commuter. In this case you?ll only have to purchase around $130 or so). The food in the cafeteria is expensive. The staff is very rude, but the reality is that you?re not here to be babied, and neither does it bother me as long they do their job right. Recently, I found a bug in my food, and not long ago my friend found a staple in her sushi? now I try to purchase items that come sealed from a branded factory rather than made or served by the cafeteria.

Social life:

When it comes to social life? no, there?s no social life, or school spirit. Believe it or not, that was one of the aspects that really attracted me to Pace. I didn?t want to sit in a crowd like a high school kid screaming, ?yay Pace!? I?m a grown up and for instance, I want to study, do internships, join the work force, and network. If you?re here to do the same, you?ll like this aspect of the social life. Like others have mentioned, it can be a bit hard to make friends because people are not engaged in school, but it is not a big deal. If you are here to get down to business, you?ll meet people outside of school (the real world).

Dorming:

Dorming is a nightmare, no wonder why most of the students commute. The room selection process is total bullshit; they won?t bother pairing you with people you have things in common with, which makes the living rearrangements quite difficult. I would have more respect for the school if they eliminated the preferences selection and straight up say that they won?t even bother looking at it. I could say that I was lucky to be placed with my current roommates because it could be worse. One aspect that is truly challenging is the cleanliness. I?m a very neat person, yet they haven?t cleaned this place once. Our bathroom is disgusting and if I try to clean it, they?ll get offended. After coming here, I drink every single day; I?m not sure if it?s the environment or the influences, but I?m been controlling my drinking. We are allowed to have visitors stay overnight; a good feature I would say, but I have encountered my roommates bringing random men to have sex with and constantly partying, which is a very uncomfortable situation if you?re in the shower or trying to study. Most of the people here do drugs. My roommate snorts all types of powdery pills and drugs while mixing a bunch of strong alcohol? I try to mind my own business, but considering that I?m paying almost $8,000 for my room is truly frustrating. I must say that most students here are very approachable (regardless of their behavior or motives).

Professors:

Most professors are very nice and respectful. Like any other place in the world, you?ll also find people that will make you wonder where they counterfeited their college diploma. A feature that has helped me with my professors? selection has been ratemyprofessors.com. I have encountered professors that don?t give out much work because, ?more work for you means more work for me.? While most base class on making you watch a bunch of old videos to later write essays on them. I have encountered a few great professors, and I may say that I have actually learned a lot. At the same time, I do worry that I won?t be competent enough to be a great input in the workforce. The competition out there is huge, and I feel Pace could do a better job with the education. Once again, there are great professors in there, you just have to search.

I could go on and on about the aspects that truly frustrate me about Pace, but I will proceed about the good.

The city:

No matter how you put it, New York City is New York City. After encountering much frustration with both the school and my experiences in the dorms, the fact that I?m here makes me feel relieved. I?m happy to say that there are unimaginable and endless resources, as well many internship opportunities. I already tried the school?s site to find internships and it is not a big deal. I have found the same types of internships on my own using monster and other similar sites.

If you?re ambitious and you?re willing to work hard, you?ll be rewarded with great things. It?s all about networking, assisting professional workshops, being a linkedin guru, keeping your grades up, and understanding that Pace is an institution where you?re working for your education rather than viewing it as a place within your life.

Final point:

I would completely avoid coming to Pace. For the cost, you could get an amazing education elsewhere. I made the mistake of thinking that the previous reviews were done by a bunch of immature and over exaggerating kids, when the reality is exactly as they describe it; the fact that New York have great resources, and that the dorms are located in a great area makes the experience less painful.