You should know that this school is like a boot camp. Expect 2-3 exams a week. These are real exams. About 40 - 100 questions.
You will have 2-3 days between exams to study for the next exam. Do not fall behind, otherwise you will suffer.
If you fail a subject, you cannot continue with your class. In some cases, you have to wait up to a year until the course is offered again. This will mean that you graduate a year later than scheduled.
If you fail two subjects, you are kicked out and cannot re-apply. NYCPM is not shy about kicking people out because they can make up the numbers with the incoming January class.
The January class is the slow track. They give you 4 semesters to complete the workload for your first year. However, most of these students do not do well in their second year because they do not develop the proper study habits needed to survive.
The faculty do a good job of reaching out to struggling students, but if the student continues to suffer then they are pretty much left to their own fate.
Attendance is mandatory for every class. They have random attendance quizzes everyday. If you miss more than 25% of the classes for each subject, your grade can drop by 5 points.
The school is extremely anal about cheating. There are cameras everywhere. If you want to review an exam, you have to make an appointment to see it. You can review it with a teacher or by yourself. If you go by yourself, you have to empty your pockets and have 15 min to look it over. Afterwards, the exams are shredded.
Housing is not in the best of areas. It is Harlem after all. They are planning to move everyone into the Heritage eventually. Rent is anywhere from $800 to $1300 a month. I don't recommend going through the school because they charge you about $200 more than if you got a place in the same building through the super. Downside is that you will be living with all sorts of shady characters. If you plan to go through the super then do it in your second year with a couple of your classmates. This way you know exactly who you will be sharing an apartment with. You could do it in your second semester, but you would have to pay an early termination fee because NYCPM makes you sign a one year lease.
Every weekend, there were gunshots outside of the dorms and there was also a dead body found near the school. My message is to never walk anywhere alone at night. There have been instances where students were assaulted because they failed to follow this rule.
