Baruch has a good reputation these days – not a top school, but very good. I would generally think of it as equivalent to Rutgers (although BusinessWeek ranked Rutgers higher), but well above Pace. It certainly is nationally recognized and if, as you say, you do exceptionally well, you stand a good chance of getting into a top grad school. The disadvantage to Baruch for many, though, is its size. The business school is absolutely enormous, so it will be difficult to stand out and to be known well by your professors there. If you are a REALLY strong student (or a very average one without any major ambitions) that may work for you, but it would be very difficult to be a star there.