Mercy College

Mercy College has the resources of a major University with individual attention being a primary source of learning. Mercy has given many opportunities not only to myself but to my peers. The school is what you make of it. If you go in with the intention of learning, you will do so. If you go with the intention of being lazy or complaining about others then go to a community college where such immaturity seems to be common. (I’m not downing community colleges). Attend. Learn. Succeed.

Mercy College is disgusting. In general it would appear they make absolutely no effort to help students/​people paying them tens of thousands of dollars for their services. Minimum hold time of 20 minutes any time you call (any extension/​office).
On a more personal level, the first major issue I had with them was when they expected me to risk my life by driving an hour to class during a blizzard or else fail my class for not taking the final (which was worth 50% of my grade). I actually tried to drive there and my car started swerving off the road as the snow had already accumulated several inches, not to mention there were warnings for hours before that telling people to stay home. Almost everything else was closed that day. I decided my life was worth more than the few thousand dollars I paid for the class, turned around and went home. They failed me for the semester for that class and refused to let me make up the final, even after I explained how I almost got into a car accident due to hazardous weather conditions.
Then, due to an accounting error on THEIR end, I was stuck with a $ 1000 bill which I’ve been trying to pay off for the past few years (it’s hard to finance when you have student loans you actually do owe to pay off). I missed literally one payment and they added a $ 100 late fee charge. I really don’t know who they think they are, I’ve never heard of such a high late fee for anything.
On top of that, I’m fairly certain my personal information was compromised here. Shortly after attending, my social security number was stolen and this is the only place I’ve given it to.
Horrible administration.

School is a joke and can’t wait to transfer out!!! Online professors are no help, and forget about emailing or calling to ask a question

Been going here since Fall 2012. Will graduate fall 2015. Should have graduated earlier but the student services/​financial aid office loses paperwork/​messes up and most of the people who work there do not know what they are doing.
The plus side is that there are small classes here, so the professors can give you more attention. I’ve had many awesome professors who really want to help you. Also, Mercy is the perfect place to raise your grades because the General Education requirements are super easy.
A word about the Social Work department: I just dropped out after my first semester of Senior year (changed my major to Behavioral Science)… it’s necessary to inform everyone that they will ask you where you want to intern– then will assign you places that you DIDN’T want.
Plus, this school resembles a High School, especially Mercy Hall. I transferred here from Adelphi University (a much more prestigious school) and honestly never wanted to come here.
Also, the parking isn’t great. The Bronx campus has AWESOME parking though.

I am a freshman here at Mercy College, and as my first semester comes to a close, I can tell you that I am a huge fan of the school, the community, and the programs within it. Each of my professors has expressed interest in my goals, and doing whatever they can to help me achieve them. I have learned more about myself as a person, a student, and a future professional in the past semester that I ever could have expected.
Go Mavericks.

My son is just starting his Sophmore year so I can’t say too much about the academics, so far no complaints. However I can say there is great room for improvement with communication, and student services! They sent a bill for his tuition, room and meals. I attempted to call 4 times to ask questions about the bill. What are we being charged for? A double? A quad? 4 times I was placed on hold for Residential Life. After holding for 20 mins each time I hung up. They gave me a direct # to call, and again I left 4 msgs, no call back. The Friday of Labor Day Weekend my son gets an email that he is not cleared for housing! Meanwhile he had already received his room assignment, confirmed he was with his roommate from last year. There were two forms he completed late. One was for financial aid and student loans, which didn’t apply to him. I called on Monday, Labor Day and did reach a person who told me we had to speak with the Dean of Student Services. I emailed him and gave him 3 #‘s to call, my cell being the last one. Guess which one he called? Of course I was on the phone and missed his call, he left me a # to call back. Of course he did not answer. Instead I get an email saying my son (19 yrs) received emails about these forms and was late in sending them back. Funny I received 4 bills in the mail for the $ 14,000+ tuition! but not one written notice or a phone call that there was a problem with his housing! We went to the school on Tuesday (the day before classes were to start), met with the Dean who said my son is an adult and should learn to be more responsible! While in the office waiting for him, there was a steady stream if parents and students with similar problems. With something as important as the roof over our children’s (yes at 19 they are still children) heads I think a phone call or letter isn’t too much to ask for. Instead they suggested he commute (1 hr drive without traffic), go to their NYC campus and commute or take classes online. Really? We ended up getting help from a young person at the school who had received an email from a family looking to rent out a couple of rooms in their home. All of this stress and aggravation could so easily have been avoided with one simple phone call or letter! My son luckily now has a place to live, but what about the other 30+ «kids» that don’t?!

I went to Mercy College for my graduate degree. First, I barely cracked a book and maintained a near perfect GPA. I attended an Ivy League school for my undergrad and I was used to professors that were experts in their fields. I didn’t expect quite the same challenge at Mercy but I also did no expect professors that were completely unprofessional and inept. I had one teacher who showed up a total of three times and later left a vm telling me that we would all get As. She explained that she was paid by the number of students and there weren’t enough of us to make it worth her while to come over the bridge. Another professor explained to us that ebonics was a product of «me tooism». The blacks in California had seen the mexicans go on welfare and they were all saying me too me too. A racist and disgusting sentiment at best and a severe display of ignorance at worst. Im still confused as to what welfare had to do with language. I had another professor who read from the text for the entire hour and would not even look up at us. For the final, she told us that she did not condone cheating, however, she would not be present during our exam as she needed to make some calls. Wink/​wink. The Dean will give false information in order to have you enroll and then suddenly, out of the blue, inform you that you need several more classes. I use the pronoun you to indicate a collective set of students of which I have spoken to who all suffered the same terrible deception. I have had so many bad experiences at Mercy that I began to tape record conversations with administrators and/​or to require agreement to my confirmation emails whereby I repeat all the important information discussed at our face to face meetings.
This behavior discredits the value of our degrees. Id like to see Mercy College place some new and competent people in charge and make Mercy College a challenging and competitive school.

Mercy College literally saved my life. When I started there in 2006, I was a confused 18 year old high school dropout. When I graduated in 2010, I was on my way to grad school and was actually an adult.
I agree that the school can be disorganized – but I went to Hunter College for grad school and they were worse. Furthermore, we’re adults (or supposed to be) if we’re in college, so we can fight the system to get what we need.
I had some professors who didn’t care – but I had that in one of the top ranked graduate programs in the country too. I also had some AMAZING professors; James Towey and Ori Shinar come to mind. Furthermore, I was paying $ 9000 a semester (heavily subsidized by scholarships) and never had a class more than 25 students. My friends who were paying $ 40,000 a year often never had classes UNDER 100 students.
Perhaps what differentiated me from my classmates, and people who had a negative experience, is that I jumped in head first. I went to every class. I did my homework. I paid attention and didn’t play on the internet the entire class. I worked my ass off, and stayed up many MANY late nights. I also graduated with a 3.97 GPA.
What I saw a lot of at Mercy was students who wanted to graduate from college without doing any work. With some professors at the school, it was actually possible – but don’t complain when you don’t learn if you won’t work for it. I literally had a classmate say that she should be able to get an A in an upper level psychology course by just showing up to class, not studying, and never doing the readings. That’s not how it worked.
With that said, I did spend one year in the dorms and wouldn’t wish that on anyone who is as introverted as I am. It’s a small school, and there were only 200 students in the dorms the year I lived there; everyone knew EVERYONE, and everyone’s business, at that. It was unpleasant, difficult to make friends, and a bit creepy to be living in a former convent. I have heard that they have remodeled however, so that may have changed.

Mercy college is a great school with potential professors who really want you to get by. I transferred in, and have had nothing but great professors. As for the negative reviews on here about unorganized administration, it is no better at any other college. My last college was much worse. It is the same everywhere. This school is great for commuting and I have met and made great friends here. I saw professors at my last college that want to fail you. I have not seen that here

I would have to agree with all the reviews I have read. I have had the same experience with this institution. I was told many different stories on different occasions. No one knows what the other one is doing. i feel like this college is a joke and all to take your money. i am also in the graduate education program and I have learned absolutely nothing all my years here. I really should have went to another graduate school. I am half way through now and going elsewhere I will lose credits that I have earned and payed a pretty penny for. Some professors are great and they have left an impression on me but those are few in between. Upon entering into the grad program I was told after had earned my bachelor degree that I needed another math and a science. That is just absurd then why was I awarded my degree! This is just another way for them to take money from people. I will not make up 2 courses just because they say so. This school is way too costly to be having to deal with this nonsense. If your looking to just earn a degree for the hell of it and you want it fast and easy than mercy is the way to go.

Great teachers and a great school academically. The teachers here really help you. Residential life is a bit of a let down

I would give a 0 if I could.
I attended Mercy College for my graduate degree in education. It seemed like a good choice at the time, but as the credits went by I was left wondering where my education was. There is no consistancy in the education department. One teacher tells you to do things one way and the next says something completely different. I was lucky enough to have classroom experience before starting this program, because if I didn’t I would be graduating completely untrained and unable to manage a classroom. Each teacher tells you their philosophy and throws the new educational buzz words at you, but no one helps develop you as a teacher. The only classes that I learned anything in were the special education classes and that was because of the teacher, not the curriculum.
This is also the same for the advisors. Each advisor you speak to has a different idea, intreprets NYS certification laws differently and directs your education in a different way. It’s their jobs to understand the NYS certification laws and help you as the student navigate them to complete the program and yet they can’t even do that. What’s even worse is that they act like they’re doing you a favor to see you and speak to you. They seem bothered to do their job, and they aren’t even doing it well.
Save your money on Mercy and get a real education else where.

Beware of the Education Masters Degree Programs!
This review is in response to recent Mercy Ads misrepresenting how supportive they are. I encouraged my wife to take their Online/​Campus Masters Degree Program. We thought that Mercy was well organized and had a good reputation, but we’ve had nothing but problems from the beginning. The Professors rarely try to accommodate working professionals, and often leave early from scheduled office hours.
They create course schedules that force Graduate Students to be absent over 20 days during the academic school year rather than during the Summer Break. Twenty Days off will get you fired as a public school teacher. The Professors tend to ignore critical e-​mails for weeks at a time, the program lacks structured student development, and they are unable to coordinate classes that allow a logical progression to graduation.
Mentors are indifferent to basic student needs. They are a part time staff with a part time mentality. «Out of sight, means out of mind,» was one student’s comment. Heads of departments some times refuse to meet with students (even after already scheduling with them); using the excuse that they are just «…too busy.» In one particular case as the Professor ran out, we noticed that she did have the time for casual conversations in the parking lot on her way to the car.
Once you’re in the Graduate Program plagued with bureaucracy, it’s difficult to work your way out. The only good part of Mercy College is the beautiful 300 year old trees that you will be sitting under; as you wait for the Professors to show up and show some «Mercy» in letting you graduate. For a College with such an old Academic Tradition, I sadly expect that this college will go out of business when others decided to review the same disappointing experiences as ours.

The school grew too fast. How a school did not know they were taking in more students than they could house comfortably is beyond us. How can these people be trusted to educated the next generation if they can not even run their own business well. Even the construction workers in Aug could not say anything good about the administration personal they had met. Being from a utility family I listened carefully to the workers comments, but did not really think it could be that way come move-​in day… but hell came true.
Communications was pretty non existent. Letters are sent to students that tell you to call and sign up by a specific date with a specific person who is on vacation for the month, and no one else in that office can help you because they have no idea what the letter is about. or my favorite «that information is available at the counseling office stop in for a copy», yea right I’ll get right over that on my next 450 mile visit, could you mail it to me. Never got it, even though I repeated my address twice.
Information that should be on the Web is lacking or poorly presented. Basic calendar information like move-​in date and time is not there. Student/​home Phone numbers change, you should be able to do it on-​line. Parents need access to bill paying! Paying a bill should be upfront and easy to find, not hidden 8 layers down. SUNY does it simple why not Mercy. Our accountant had a fit trying to figure it out .
The polite student inmates run the place. We spent the summer getting cursory incomplete voice mail replies from students from housing, admissions, registration for any of our emails, faxes or federal expressed requests. The school lost papers, lost checks, answered our basic questions with mis-​information. On move-​in day our daughter requested to leave after being assigned to a very overloaded makeshift dorm room of 5, This was not what we were shown on the spring visits or the late Aug. visit and was never mentioned all summer on our inquires. The room stress along with the schedule problems that we were told as a freshman to live with it. At $ 2000 a course I don’t think so. This type of an environment does not lead to a good study environment, nor a positive college experience.

Open Admissions college where the ambitious and hardworking can succeed.
Excellent English Department, among others.