I was accepted to Pace too and one of the partners in the firm where I work in Westchester is a Pace graduate. I think the schools reputation is getting better each year. I went to their admitted students open house, and I liked that they had small class sizes and the professors seemed very approachable. It personally wasn't the school for me, but I think that you really can't tell without visiting. As far as the commute, you can hop on the metro north from grand central station and be there in about 30 - 40 minutes. From there you would need to take a short shuttle bus ride. I don't know much about Albany. Good luck.