With over 120 higher education institutions in New York City, deciding which school to choose is quite daunting. Luckily you chose Pace! Pace is best known for its business, economics, liberal arts, and environmental law programs, producing productive members of the New York workforce since 1906. Despite the school’s prime location near some of the best hospitals in the country the STEM program is not highly vaunted. Instead, it is well known in the student body that STEM students have a disproportionately difficult time here. To get to the bottom of this I interviewed two pre-med Biology freshmen.  

Eric Jurakulov is a Biology major in the school’s Accelerated Optometry program and Fabian Carrillo is a Bio-Chem major. Both sat down for positive engaging interviews providing their honest opinions on the strength of their programs. Jurakulov is a born and raised New Yorker who came to Pace as a part of the Pforzheimer Honors College; he is one of three honors students in Pace’s accelerated honors program for optometry. Meanwhile, Carrillo is from Texas and has created a home away from home here at Pace. 

In spite of the negative reputation Pace’s science programs often combat, both students had glowing reviews when reflecting upon their first and beginning second semesters! When asked about their expectations for the difficult course load both responded earnestly saying that they were challenging but overall fair. Jurakulov stated “You definitely have to put work into them.” Carrillo learned the valuable lesson of taking “too big of a workload” by taking Biology, Chemistry, and Calculus; three of the most notoriously demanding college classes simultaneously.  

While responding to a question about the school’s resources the two gave similar remarks as well. Carrillo mentioned how accessible and available his professors were at the school; and the only downside he could mention was the learning common’s being “a little short-staffed, but overall really helpful at times for specific concepts.” Jurakulov spoke about his experience in the honors college praising his advisor and her “instant replies” to his inquiries. Both remarked on the size of their lecture hall classes with 90 students and the adjustment that class size demanded.  

“8 out of 10.” Both students gave rough ratings of their experience with the faculty in their specific departments and wholeheartedly agreed with one another. They also gave similar sentiments about the attention they receive from their professors along with their professors’ STEM-specific prowess.  

When asked about what they would change in their programs both boys responded with concern over Pace’s plans. Carrillo acknowledges that Pace provides the students with internship opportunities outside of the university but lacks opportunities for freshmen in lab or research facilities on campus. Jurakulov states his desire for more specific information about the “exact steps needed to get into the optometry program as a sophomore.” 

Both would recommend their majors to incoming freshmen! In Jurakulov’s perspective, not many people are optometry majors, and he reiterated the sentiment that it is an interesting path into the medical field. Carrillo bluntly puts it saying he is “not unhappy with the choice [he] made here” Pace so far is going “well” for him and he invites others to take up the challenge.  

This final question of the interview is where the biggest opposition between the student’s answers stems. When responding to “Is Pace the place for you?”  

Eric Juraklov responded by saying “It is the place for me specifically? I don’t think so” putting it plainly that the difficulties of commuting and the workload are tough to manage. He believes “there is a better school that can fit [him] somewhere” his decision came down to not his choice of major but the hardships in trying to find the right balance. 

Fabian Castillo without hesitation stated “Yes, I do think it was the place for me.” Due to all of his positive experiences here Carrillo is overall enjoying his time both in and out of the classroom. 

Both of these students provided valuable insight into the complexities of their program’s situations and outlooks on the school as a whole.