Some questions about the school for those who may know the answer(s):
- Are lectures mandatory? Are they video recorded? If not, are they recorded in any other way?
Some are. You have to sign in for the DOctoring lecture on Monday afternoon and in small group, and conferences for anatomy are more or less required as well. You can miss a few without the attendance affecting your grade but a lot of questions on the quizzes come STRAIGHT out of conference and you'd be a fool to skip them.
We just started the next block and most of it is class captured, but some parts aren't. There are also a few labs that are mandatory.
- Is there a dress code on campus grounds?
There is a business casual dress code during orientation and for some Doctoring things like all standardized patient settings. For class, though, the dress code is pretty lenient. Lots of people in shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops.
- If you are a current med student (or just live near Temple), where would you recommend living, and how much would it cost (just rent)?
Most Temple students live in Center City or Manayunk. I've never rented in either of those places so I can't comment on the prices specifically.
- Soccer club/ways to play soccer? Any nearby lakes for fishing? How about grounds for camping? I know I could look at a map but I just want to get real-person perspective...
I think there's an intramural soccer team or something along those lines. For fishing and camping and whatnot, you'd have to venture out of the county, but there are places outside of the city, some farther away than others.
- If you are a current med student, how are you paying/planning to pay for the cost, other than the loans? If just loans, then have you thought about how best to pay it back?
Loans and I have a scholarship as well. How best to pay it back? I'm planning on paying it down pretty aggressively. I'm married so my husband's income will hopefully allow me to dedicate more of my income to paying off my debt than I could otherwise.
- How conducive is Temple's environment to students with families?
In my short-lived experience, they've been very supportive. I may have more of an opinion on that in the next few weeks. FWIW, I was told before students with children can bypass the lottery for clerkship location assignments in 3rd and 4th year and just pick locations that are most convenient for them.
- How long does it take Temple to make a decision? If not soon after the interview, when do they start making decisions?
A few weeks, but it depends on if the adcom meets right away and if your interviewer shows up. It took me about a month to hear back. I interviewed in late October and heard back the day before Thanksgiving.
- Research opportunities? Paid fellowships? If so, how selective are they?
I've heard some people in my class talk about research but I don't know exactly what they're doing. I know there's some study or another going on pertaining to MRSA, but beyond that, I got nothing. I believe most of the upper floors in the new building are research labs but as a first year, I haven't
looked into any of it yet, really.
- How competitive is the environment at Temple?
Personally, I think our class is very collaborative and supportive of each other, but we have only been together for about 2 months. They changed their grading system to H/P/F during preclinical years in the last few years, and they also changed their grades from curve-based to class performance, and I think both of those things lead to less gunning. Hypothetically, the entire class could get honors if everyone got a 92+ average.
- How up to date are the facilities/resources?
The MERB isn't even 3 years old yet and it's a great building. It's definitely one of the school's most attractive features.
- I heard that Temple was once on probation for some problem with students being in debt (or some other reason, I don't know)? What's this about, and even though Temple got off of probation, are there any lasting ramifications?
It was about 8 years ago. I know some of the problems were class size (which they reduced, but it's going back up since they have clinical rotation sites like St. Luke's and the upcoming Pittsburgh campus), old facilities (which they fixed with the new building), and student debt. They supposedly have been rallying for more scholarship money to offer lately, and I personally benefited from it. That said, I believe Temple had some of its funding cut from the state recently, but I don't know how much it's affected the availability of scholarship money. I get the impression Temple tried hard to remedy those problems in the recent years and they've come out the better for it.
Here's an article from when the probation was lifted a year after it was placed: http://articles.philly.com/2004-02-...full-accreditation-medical-school-student-aid
Hope that all helps.
for you! Trust me, I was hella annoyed around this time last year waiting to hear back. I feel your pain.
