al_chimista

Apologies if this is the wrong subforum for my question. So, as the title says, I was accepted to the City University of NY PhD program in chemistry, for the 2016 fall semester. They do things a bit different from most other schools because there are 7 campuses all over NYC that offer graduate courses and research labs, so during the first year (3 courses plus 3 lab rotations) I could be in any of those 7 campuses, but once I decide on a PI I would spend most of my time at one campus. Anyway, just wondering if anybody on here is a current or former chemistry PhD student at CUNY. How is the research environment and overall culture, the students, the professors, etc? Would it be possible to hold a side job or part-time job while doing this or is it super intense and time-consuming? I ask because the stipend would be about half of what I'm making at my job right now (I live/work in Suffolk county in Long Island NY) and NYC metro area is stupidly expensive. I'm not an extravagant person but I have to weigh all the pros and cons of this, including financial. For what it's worth I went to the open house last week and everyone seemed like genuinely good people, though it was just a handful of the faculty members there. I was even surprised that one of the professors there remembered my application and personal statement.