Alright people....Im gonna give you the real low down on getting residency at Temple.....
Here are some common misconceptions about getting residency at Temple:
1. You have to be married to get residency.
This is by far the most common misconception around the school......if any students told you that during their interview, they are WRONG. Being married certainly does help, but I know students in my class who are married and never got it and students who are not married and did get it
Personally, I DID get residency and no I am not married, I have no kids....heck Im not even an American citizen (although I do have a greencard).
2. You have to own property to get residency.
Although I do own a condo, this is also not true. A student in my class does NOT own any property, but he is married and his wife does work as a hygenist in Philadelphia. And yes, he did get residency.
3. You have to have a job to get residency.
Ummm, I dont work and I find it hard how people can work while going to dental school at the same time. This is absolutely not true.
4. Getting residency is impossible.
Hellzzzz no! If anyone tells you that, they obviously dont know whats going on. I have proven that it is not impossible and attainable with the right approach.
People in my school who know very little about the residency process will say anything they've heard "through the grapevine" and treat it as lore, consequently passing this information to unsuspecting interviewers when visiting the school.
So the question everyone is dying to know then. HOW THE FUK DO YOU GET RESIDENCY?????
There is one simple answer to this question. Stability. The residency committee wants to know that you have a stable life in pennsylvania and that you are not going to easily move away right after you graduate. This could mean being married and having your kids goto school....this could mean owning property and telling them that you absolutely love skiing in the Poconos, or this could possibly mean having your wife work a steady job here.
How do you prove this? Beats me. Ive asked this question directly with the lady who makes the decision and she couldnt give me a straight answer.
Residency at Temple is not easy to get, but its also not impossible. Something that you'll hear a lot of is that it varies from case to case, and that is exactly right.
Personally I think the entire system is a load of BS and riddled with inconsistencies, and if anyone had the guts, they could easily sue Temple and win based on discrimination. If I had gotten rejected, the next stop for me would have been the lawyers office. Why do you say?
Stability is such a subjective term to use to form a basis for residency. Who is to say that someone is more stable than someone else based on something such as marriage????
For instance, students in my class got rejected because technically they did not live in PA for 1 year prior to the start of school (which is stated in their residency rules)....However, neither did any of us who did get residency....so why was the exception made for us? Because some of us are married??? because some of us have wives that work???? BULL$HIT!!! Being married or owning a property are not stated as necessities in Temple's residency rules. So its blatant discrimination and I really hope one day, someone takes Temple to court about this.
Honestly, the whole process is just ridiculous. However, with persistance, it is DEFINITELY worth it. It has been a financial relief for me NOT to pay an extra $40K for my education. I highly recommend everyone applying and if you get rejected, do not do what most of my class did and just give up. Keep on applying and keep on fighting. Its a lot of money if you really think about it.
I know it was a long post, but Hopefully this helped and cleared anything up.
P.S. With serious issues like this, I wouldnt rely on what people in the office say.....they'll give you the basics of it, but with something as complicated as this, I would rely on better sources....such as students like myself who have gone through the process or better yet, Temple main campus....cause they are the ones who actually deal and make the decisions on residency. The dental school has nothing to do with it.
