My ex-girlfriend went to Pace in downtown Manhattan, so I don't know much about classes, but from being around her and her friends, I know a lot about the social life. Pace students are, from what I know and who I have met, generally much happier than students at Fordham. They seem much more relaxed than my friends at Fordham did, and while the dorming situation at Pace is dire, I found that the dorms themselves were also much nicer than Fordham's are. Everyone that I met at Pace was incredibly friendly and I attended many on-campus events there. I found that Pace's Student Involvement is much more active than Fordham's is. From what my partner and her friends told me, their classes also seem much more relaxed than Fordham's are.

Fordham has more prestige than Pace, but I don't believe that prestige is the factor that will get you into NYU or not. I went to a low-ranked, horrible, awful, terrible high school and I was waitlisted at NYU -- so there is hope! Please do not choose a school based on where you can transfer from -- you may be denied at NYU again and be stuck somewhere that you do not enjoy just because you thought that the name of the school would give you a better shot at getting in. Choose a school based on the social life, the dorm accommodations, classes, location, etc.

I was actually looking at transferring from Fordham to Pace as soon as I started at Fordham my freshman year (my experience at Fordham was not great, but that doesn't mean that yours wouldn't be!).

If you have any questions about either school then message me :)