2012-2013 Temple University Application Thread

Don't mind me, just another applicant....

I just took my last test for MS-1 here and I have loved this year. I am totally sure I made the right choice coming here. I'll try to answer any questions about the school that I can for you guys.

Geekchick921 said:

I just took my last test for MS-1 here and I have loved this year. I am totally sure I made the right choice coming here. I'll try to answer any questions about the school that I can for you guys.

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What do you love about Temple?

I'll start out with the MERB. The new building is awesome. The anatomy lab barely smells and each station has a computer on a maneuverable arm that suspends from the ceiling with Netter's images and the outlines the professors provide on it. The library is really open and bright. I could do with out the price-jacking in the cafeteria but that's really the only thing about the MERB that bothers me. It's pretty easy to go across the street to the hospital cafeteria to get food for a better price if I cared, and there are food trucks, too.

For the most part, I like the integrated curriculum and the fact that we get small group stuff as well as lecture (the ratio of these two varies depending on which block you're on). I LOVE the block scheduling. I can't imagine having multiple tests on different subjects at this level. My brain would explode.

Many of the professors are truly great. The same holds true for the vast majority of the administration and even the people working the front desk in the lobby and library. Nice, nice people. I needed to ask for some accommodations this year when I had my son. I don't think I asked for much but every one was more than willing to help me out and that meant a lot to me.

And on that note, my classmates. The cooperative nature of the student body was something they stressed at my interview day and it's really been the case. The grades being based on class performance and not on a curve really helps. People upload links to outlines they've made, videos they found, and PDFs of textbooks to our FB group all the time. Some of my classmates could stand to unclench, but I personally can't think of anyone that's a gunner in the true malicious sense. There are plenty of people I don't really know, but of those I do, there's no one I dislike.

I had more but I forgot it. My brain's on vacation.

According to this:
http://www.temple.edu/medicine/2013_usnews.htm

they got $125M in NIH grants in 2011 while this

http://report.nih.gov/award/index.cfm?ot=&fy=2011&state=&ic=&fm=&orgid=#tab2

reports them as getting $51M.

Why the discrepancy?

I really hope you don't expect me to have an answer to that question, because you're going to be disappointed. I'm not particularly interested in research so I've never really paid much attention to those figures. That's the first time I've seen that NIH report website. Sorry that I can't help you there.

Applying. Geekchick, it would be so cool if I got to be your schoolmate.

Procyon said:

Applying. Geekchick, it would be so cool if I got to be your schoolmate.

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I like it! Too bad I'll be neck deep in third year when you guys would start.

Submitted my primary today. What essay prompts did Temple give out last year?


What should I know about Temple's application procedure?

Another applicant here too...submitted AMCAS last week sent in my final transcript today.

I'm currently a USP, and I really would like to stay in Philly. I'm applying to Temple along with all the other Philly schools, though Penn is kind of a long shot for me. I absolutely love the city.

Unidentified1 said:

Submitted my primary today. What essay prompts did Temple give out last year?

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They only had one essay on their secondary last year and it was just a simple "Why Temple?"

does temple med favor temple ugrads? or is there just no connection?

fluoropHore said:

does temple med favor temple ugrads? or is there just no connection?

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either through increased number of applicants or acceptance bias, i think ~all medical schools have their ug institution as the most represented among matriculated students. unless you've pissed off the wrong people, it can only help.

No idea how to answer this secondary prompt.

MedPR said:

No idea how to answer this secondary prompt.

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Huh? I thought secondaries didn't come out until June 29 the earliest? Or are you talking about last year's?

hey guys, does anyone know if temple is friendly to OOS'ers? their website says that 45% of the class is OOS but doesn't show how many applied/interviewed/accepted

akw42 said:

hey guys, does anyone know if temple is friendly to OOS'ers? their website says that 45% of the class is OOS but doesn't show how many applied/interviewed/accepted

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I'm not sure where to get those numbers (MSAR, maybe?... it's been awhile). Most of the clas is from PA and nearby in the mid-Atlantic, but there is definitely a large number of OOS people, especially from California. IIRC from my interview day, it felt like 40% PA, 40% Cali, 20% anywhere else.

akw42 said:

hey guys, does anyone know if temple is friendly to OOS'ers? their website says that 45% of the class is OOS but doesn't show how many applied/interviewed/accepted

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Last year's class was half OOS (~100). However, there were about 9,000 OOS applicants and 1,000 in-state applicants. I like Temple but it seems extremely competitive if you are OOS.

just received this secondary application!

SourD21 said:

just received this secondary application!

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Me too!

me three

received the secondary link!!...having trouble accessing it though

MedicalName said:

They only had one essay on their secondary last year and it was just a simple "Why Temple?"

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Essays
The following questions will help us identify your particular interest in TUSM. There is no character limit for the questions. It is not recommended that you paste the essay responses from a MAC word program. Do not select the save button below more than once or each essay will appear multiple times. If this occurs, please contact our office at 215-707-3656.

What is the nature of your special interest in Temple University School of Medicine?

How do you anticipate contributing to the TUSM community?

If you indicated St. Luke's Regional Campus or one of our clinical campuses (Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Geisinger Health System, or West Penn Allegheny Health System) as your first choice, please describe the nature of your special interest. Otherwise, please type N/A to continue.

What are your plans for the current year- June 2012 until June 2013?

jshei0625 said:

received the secondary link!!...having trouble accessing it though

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Same. Trying to get in with IE from work, and it's not loading. Maybe it's just the initial rush on the server. I'll try again later.

Sent from my X10i using SDN Mobile

Secondary link not working :/

Nevermind. It works, just really really slowly.

Slooooooooooow. One at a time folks.

What's up with the different clinical campuses? Any current students have any input?

MedPR said:

What's up with the different clinical campuses? Any current students have any input?

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Same question. If you go to their website you can see brief overviews, the biggest differences seem to be (to me) location and timing. Some involve only Years 3 and 4, one is for Years 2, 3, and 4. Hard to tell pros and cons of the actual clinical settings though..?

In clinical campuses it states...

When responding to the third essay question about your interest in Temple, please indicate your special interest in your first ranked clinical campus. To learn more about the regional and clinical campuses, click on the name of the campus below.

But in the essay section it states...

If you indicated St. Luke's Regional Campus or one of our clinical campuses (Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Geisinger Health System, or West Penn Allegheny Health System) as your first choice, please describe the nature of your special interest. Otherwise, please type N/A to continue.

So if we choose Temple University and Affiliates as first choice do we have to write about why in the essay section? It says to do so in Clinical Campuses but not to in the essay section???

i have that same question...

my thought is we still have to. it'll be a "Why Temple?" question, but pertaining more to the clinical rotation years in med school. this is just my assumption though, so if any one actually knows, please let us know!

submitted this secondary! this seems like a great place to go to school. i hope i get an interview

Hey everyone,

Does anyone have access to the institutional action directions as far as the letter that needs to be sent to the dean's office? If so, can you paste it in here? I saw it once before I clicked yes and now I can't seem to go back to that specific page. Thanks!

website is so slow...feels like i'm on dial-up

jgalt42 said:

Hey everyone,

Does anyone have access to the institutional action directions as far as the letter that needs to be sent to the dean's office? If so, can you paste it in here? I saw it once before I clicked yes and now I can't seem to go back to that specific page. Thanks!

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I have the same question

AllIn416 said:

In clinical campuses it states...

When responding to the third essay question about your interest in Temple, please indicate your special interest in your first ranked clinical campus. To learn more about the regional and clinical campuses, click on the name of the campus below.

But in the essay section it states...

If you indicated St. Luke's Regional Campus or one of our clinical campuses (Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Geisinger Health System, or West Penn Allegheny Health System) as your first choice, please describe the nature of your special interest. Otherwise, please type N/A to continue.

So if we choose Temple University and Affiliates as first choice do we have to write about why in the essay section? It says to do so in Clinical Campuses but not to in the essay section???

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Good question, and a pretty glaring contradiction on their website...

We need to get confirmation from our dean regarding academic probation? Great. MCW requires the same thing, but my dean said he would do it because I graduated >1 year ago. I guess I can't apply to Temple.

Does Temple require that you complete all prereqs by the time you apply? That's what I read in another thread.

MedPR said:

What's up with the different clinical campuses? Any current students have any input?

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Well...

jrut73 said:

Same question. If you go to their website you can see brief overviews, the biggest differences seem to be (to me) location and timing. Some involve only Years 3 and 4, one is for Years 2, 3, and 4. Hard to tell pros and cons of the actual clinical settings though..?

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It's always seemed pretty much just this to me. St. Luke's will have you start up there 2nd year. West Penn Allegheny and Geisinger are just MS-3 and MS-4. At least this is what we were told when I was applying, and I don't believe it's changed, though I do know the Pittsburgh location is supposed to become a full four-year school eventually.

AllIn416 said:

In clinical campuses it states...

When responding to the third essay question about your interest in Temple, please indicate your special interest in your first ranked clinical campus. To learn more about the regional and clinical campuses, click on the name of the campus below.

But in the essay section it states...

If you indicated St. Luke's Regional Campus or one of our clinical campuses (Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Geisinger Health System, or West Penn Allegheny Health System) as your first choice, please describe the nature of your special interest. Otherwise, please type N/A to continue.

So if we choose Temple University and Affiliates as first choice do we have to write about why in the essay section? It says to do so in Clinical Campuses but not to in the essay section???

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Huh, I don't think Crozer-Chester was listed as its own clinical campus for us when I applied, it was just main campus (which encompasses TUH as well as the other associated hospitals in the Philadelphia area), St. Luke's, Geisinger and West Penn. I really think it comes down to what kind of setting you prefer. Main campus and West Penn are in the cities, St. Luke's in Bethlehem is a smaller city. Geisinger is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but it is the major health system for a large part of more rural PA. All of the locations are major medical centers and I believe you'll see a comparable number of interesting cases at each, though the type may vary (as I just told someone in a PM, not so many gang violence cases in Danville).

I don't know anything about the institutional action or the status of prereqs at time of application. Sorry guys!

Jeebus, the no character limit thing is driving me insane, though I will admit it's nice to be able to write whatever without having to budget your words...

Are you guys able to open the "supplemental" tab today? I'm trying to submit and it wont open it up.

GrabSlamBoot said:

Are you guys able to open the "supplemental" tab today? I'm trying to submit and it wont open it up.

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it worked for me but is very slow. just saved my essays and submitted the application.

How far are these regional campuses (other than pittsburgh)? Would I need to move during 3rd and 4th year? How many people leave the TUH area?

kestralray said:

How far are these regional campuses (other than pittsburgh)? Would I need to move during 3rd and 4th year? How many people leave the TUH area?

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Yes, you will, especially Geisinger. Danville is about 3 hours away. You could potentially stay in the same place for all 4 years in St. Luke's if, say, you lived somewhere like Montgomery County (where I live). It takes me about 30 minutes to get to school and would take me about an hour going in the opposite direction to get to St. Luke's. That would be much more trouble than it's worth though, if you ask me. I am main campus but I'm planning on doing most of my rotations at the associated hospital rotation site (not TUH) that is closest to my house.

I am not sure how many people are in the Geisinger or Pitt programs, but we had 211 people in our class and about 30 are in the St. Luke's program. Those people are starting up there this year, for MS-2.

Submitted yesterday...and the waiting game begins

Oh, and BTW, LONG pre-interview review times can be expected. I was complete for something like 2 1/2 months before I got an interview invite. Gah!

So if my priorities are city/urban and not having to commute much, is this the correct priority list?

1. Temple
2. West Penn
3. St. Lukes
4. Crozer-Chester
5. Geisinger

??

MedPR said:

So if my priorities are city/urban and not having to commute much, is this the correct priority list?

1. Temple
2. West Penn
3. St. Lukes
4. Crozer-Chester
5. Geisinger

??

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If you'd rather stay in Philly and commute to Crozer (which is a bit past the airport) then switch St. Luke's and Crozer. If you'd rather live in a smaller city (Bethlehem has under 100,000 people) with the hospital closer by, then keep it as is. 1, 2 and 5 are where you want them, IMO.

Geekchick921 said:

If you'd rather stay in Philly and commute to Crozer (which is a bit past the airport) then switch St. Luke's and Crozer. If you'd rather live in a smaller city (Bethlehem has under 100,000 people) with the hospital closer by, then keep it as is. 1, 2 and 5 are where you want them, IMO.

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Ok thanks for the input. I don't know much about the area, but I'm probably going to try and live as close to campus as possible. How far is Crozer from the pre-clinical campus? And how far is Bethlehem from Philly?

Edit: Did a somewhat blind googlemaps and it looks like TUSM is 30-40 minutes from Crozer and 90 minutes from St. Lukes. If accepted, at what point do they tell you which clinical site you are assigned to? And can you trade or request to switch? If assigned to Crozer, would it be worthwhile to live near TUSM for the first 2 years, then move closer to Crozer for clinicals?