2012-2013 Temple University Application Thread

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TW4L said:
To anyone who has already interviewed, do they have a space set aside to put your luggage during the interview?
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Yes, they keep it in a locked room.
 
Got my interview invite here this morning, so excited 🙂
 
Anybody know if Temple's receptive to LOI's?
 
Does anyone know a place to store a bag while I interview?
Thanks a bunch.
 
I am an OOS interviewing at Temple next week. Does anyone know how long it takes to gain residency in PA for tuition purposes? I know some schools will give you in-state tuition after a semester, which would pan out to about a $5k penalty for OOS students.
 
doorner said:
I am an OOS interviewing at Temple next week. Does anyone know how long it takes to gain residency in PA for tuition purposes? I know some schools will give you in-state tuition after a semester, which would pan out to about a $5k penalty for OOS students.
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They told us on interview day that OOS pays OOS tuition all 4 years no matter what.
 
punkedoutriffs said:
They told us on interview day that OOS pays OOS tuition all 4 years no matter what.
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Hmm... I thought I heard 3 years mentioned during the financial aid presentation?
 
kuntash said:
Hmm... I thought I heard 3 years mentioned during the financial aid presentation?
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Hm... I do not recall that, but any interested parties should definitely confirm during interview.
 
kuntash said:
Hmm... I thought I heard 3 years mentioned during the financial aid presentation?
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No it's all four. She said you can't gain PA residency if you're only there for the purposes of going to school.
 
Withdrew my interview here. Hope one of you can use it.
 
Fuska2012 said:
umm thank you ... but what made you do that? just too many interviews/money or something about the school?
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I've got infectious mono and I don't feel well enough to travel next week. Also money and number of interviews factor into my desicon. The school seems great though so its unfortunate I had to withdraw.
 
GrabSlamBoot said:
I've got infectious mono and I don't feel well enough to travel next week. Also money and number of interviews factor into my desicon. The school seems great though so its unfortunate I had to withdraw.
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I hope you feel better, boot! I'm glad to hear this interview season is going well for you though 👍
 
GrabSlamBoot said:
I've got infectious mono and I don't feel well enough to travel next week. Also money and number of interviews factor into my desicon. The school seems great though so its unfortunate I had to withdraw.
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oh no! 🙁 I'm so sorry to hear that! Hope you feel better soon
 
They just want to let you know that you're in their neighborhood, and they want your respect, which you show by not talking back to them. Don't ignore them, but don't talk back to them.

It's not really about race, but race is a convenient outlet for their feelings.
 
Clichebomb said:
No it's all four. She said you can't gain PA residency if you're only there for the purposes of going to school.
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Wow, isn't that fairly unusual? Most state schools will let you gain residency after a year of attending the school.
 
Forthefuture said:
Hello Everyone,

I just got back from the whole interview experience. (I am typing this at a nearby hotel actually.) Keep in mind, this is just my personal account with a lot of bias. The interview experience was excellent. They really are informative and explain more than just what the website has to offer. We even got to go into the anatomy lab with all the cadavers and gain a sense of the room you will be practicing your first year dissections in. My interviewers were extremely friendly, and I have nothing negative to really say once you enter the admissions building.

What I really want to focus on is more the environment that the school and its medical center is based in. There is a huge amount of history and culture in Philly. I stayed here one day before my interview and spent a couple hours to look around. I been to Philly once before many years ago, but this time I spent more time reading all the historical references in the Independence Historical Park and ate at a few restaurants in downtown. Be prepared to be surrounded by many African Americans. I grew up in really a suburban middle class community in California, and I have never seen so many African Americans concentrated in one location. The culture here surrounding civil rights and a lot of sociocultural implications associated with poverty and racial disparity can really be felt here.

There will be people who swear and talk loudly to themselves in the middle of the subway. Right after I finished my interview and made my way back to the subway station on the Broad Street line, I was waiting to cross the intersection to go Southbound back to my hotel in Downtown Philly. A kid threw an open water bottle at me behind my back and was laughing at me. I then hear the sound one makes when they are about to unleash a huge wad of saliva at you. I quickly turned around and looked the boy in the eye. He hesitated for a bit and even muttered under his breath "What you looking at?" I guess it's a lot harder to spit at someone if you see someone looking at you and recognizing that you are a person and not some animal. I suppose he felt like I did not belong in this area with my formal business attire, shiny shoes, and being yellow-skinned instead of dark-skinned. It could even be possible that it's just some silly antics that happens with any kid, but I would like to speculate and say that it's much more than that. It may be something really deeply rooted throughout history and a part of African American culture regarding racial discrimination. In any case, everything I learned in history textbooks really came alive that day. I realized if I really want to go here and work with this population, I will probably have to get past this tall cultural barrier and help them realize that I really just care about them. That's just my two cents. Oh yeah, in case anyone was wondering...I'm perfectly okay. I'm a little shaken, but I was honestly worried more about my suit to see if it was ruined. Fortunately, it was just some water and should dry soon.

On a side note, the subway system really needs some renovating. I wasted so much money on it because I went into the wrong station. There is a Southbound train and a Northbound train on the Broad Street line. You have to make sure you are on the side going in the right direction, because once you enter on one side you won't get your money back. I lost 20 bucks because I got no change and didn't want to go back and discuss with the ticket exchanger guy what happened. Instead I just jammed my $20 bill into the machine and got back like 10 tokens (which are basically one-way tickets on the subway). Since I don't know feel like holding onto these tokens for a long period of time (through the airport back home and back into Philly for perhaps a future interview), I just handed it to some kid who looked like he needed them more than I do.

Whether or not I get accepted here, this was definitely a memorable experience.
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sounds like a shtty experience. im changing into jeans and a hoodie if i go to temple.
 
.
 
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zilef said:
You have to honestly be kidding me. Are you serious? It makes me incredibly sad to see these types of posts on SDN. Who ARE you?
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+1 Starting with forthefuture's unnecessary recap of his adventure in a poor neighborhood, this thread's racism has escalated. Really disappointing.
 
doorner said:
+1 Starting with forthefuture's unnecessary recap of his adventure in a poor neighborhood, this thread's racism has escalated. Really disappointing.
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I know. I just don't even know where to begin.

"Some poor black people laughed at me on the bus. If anyone is worried, don't be, I am okay from the experience. I gave a poor guy my tokens and I still want to work with black people after this horrible experience in the city."

Do you guys realize how you sound? I am hoping Temple adcoms actively view this thread and figure out who you guys are. This tone of this whole thread scares me.
 
zilef said:
You have to honestly be kidding me. Are you serious? It makes me incredibly sad to see these types of posts on SDN. Who ARE you?
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Holy crap, touched a nerve. Sorry.
 
zilef said:
I know. I just don't even know where to begin.

"Some poor black people laughed at me on the bus. If anyone is worried, don't be, I am okay from the experience. I gave a poor guy my tokens and I still want to work with black people after this horrible experience in the city."

Do you guys realize how you sound? I am hoping Temple adcoms actively view this thread and figure out who you guys are. This tone of this whole thread scares me.
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It was too dramatic, but he makes a good point. The patients that go to Temple are sometimes hostile, and its important to understand why.
 
I feel like Randall in Clerks II, I seriously did not think my comment was racist. The gravity of the reaction is kind of shocking to me actually.
 
punkedoutriffs said:
I feel like Randall in Clerks II, I seriously did not think my comment was racist. The gravity of the reaction is kind of shocking to me actually.
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Okay dude, there comes a time where you should just STOP TALKING.
 
zilef said:
Okay dude, there comes a time where you should just STOP TALKING.
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Hey man, I did apologize didn't I? It's not like I'm being flippant or glib. If I was being racist, I didn't know I was. Let me apologize again.
 
I've noticed a lot of the comments in this thread (even before today's series of comments) have discussed Temple's neighborhood, but theres been no mention of the sort in the Jefferson thread. Does anyone know if theres some huge disparity between the two areas even though they're only 4 miles apart?

Edit: Sorry to derail the conversation, but it didn't sound like it was going in a good direction anyhow.
 
Goobs said:
I've noticed a lot of the comments in this thread (even before today's series of comments) have discussed Temple's neighborhood, but theres been no mention of the sort in the Jefferson thread. Does anyone know if theres some huge disparity between the two areas even though they're only 4 miles apart?

Edit: Sorry to derail the conversation, but it didn't sound like it was going in a good direction anyhow.
Click to expand...

Jefferson's in downtown Philly. The huge disparity is not unlike a lot of other cities, some of which have their Park Avenues only a couple blocks from their Comptons. 4 miles is actually a pretty long distance considering you're talking about an urban location.
 
punkedoutriffs said:
Jefferson's in downtown Philly. The huge disparity is not unlike a lot of other cities, some of which have their Park Avenues only a couple blocks from their Comptons. 4 miles is actually a pretty long distance considering you're talking about an urban location.
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Oh good point. Sorry I'm from suburbia where 4 miles barely takes you to the closest Starbucks.
 
DrAndy said:
But there is never a reason to be racist like that.
Click to expand...

First of all, I would like to apologize if I did offend anyone here. I probably typed the post in a manner that was implying the wrong thing. I met plenty of African Americans in Philly who were quite friendly and respectful too. I am just wondering why someone would go out of their way to chuck something at someone they don't know in broad daylight in front of many other people. There's got to be a reason. You wouldn't go out of your way to do this unless it meant something to you. Perhaps I did read too much into this. I visited Independence Park and there was a lot of references to the civil rights movement, so it may have influenced my thinking when I was typing this. If you wish, I can take down the entire post if you find it is not appropriate for this discussion.

zilef said:
Okay dude, there comes a time where you should just STOP TALKING.
Click to expand...

Again I apologize.

Goobs said:
I've noticed a lot of the comments in this thread (even before today's series of comments) have discussed Temple's neighborhood, but theres been no mention of the sort in the Jefferson thread. Does anyone know if theres some huge disparity between the two areas even though they're only 4 miles apart?

Edit: Sorry to derail the conversation, but it didn't sound like it was going in a good direction anyhow.
Click to expand...

They are indeed quite close to each other. Jefferson is located more in "Center City". I think that's the term most people in Philly use. It's basically downtown with a lot of neat restaurants and close to the Independence Park (which is actually protected by the National Park Service). Basically the neighborhood is a bit nicer, and you can get to both places in around 15 minutes by subway if you like. I'm sure the education is top-notch for both schools though, even though I have not had the chance to interview at Jefferson. Someone who lives here frequently can probably add some more details.
 
Forthefuture said:
Hello Everyone,

I just got back from the whole interview experience. (I am typing this at a nearby hotel actually.) Keep in mind, this is just my personal account with a lot of bias. The interview experience was excellent. They really are informative and explain more than just what the website has to offer. We even got to go into the anatomy lab with all the cadavers and gain a sense of the room you will be practicing your first year dissections in. My interviewers were extremely friendly, and I have nothing negative to really say once you enter the admissions building.

What I really want to focus on is more the environment that the school and its medical center is based in. There is a huge amount of history and culture in Philly. I stayed here one day before my interview and spent a couple hours to look around. I been to Philly once before many years ago, but this time I spent more time reading all the historical references in the Independence Historical Park and ate at a few restaurants in downtown. Be prepared to be surrounded by many African Americans. I grew up in really a suburban middle class community in California, and I have never seen so many African Americans concentrated in one location. The culture here surrounding civil rights and a lot of sociocultural implications associated with poverty and racial disparity can really be felt here.

There will be people who swear and talk loudly to themselves in the middle of the subway. Right after I finished my interview and made my way back to the subway station on the Broad Street line, I was waiting to cross the intersection to go Southbound back to my hotel in Downtown Philly. A kid threw an open water bottle at me behind my back and was laughing at me. I then hear the sound one makes when they are about to unleash a huge wad of saliva at you. I quickly turned around and looked the boy in the eye. He hesitated for a bit and even muttered under his breath "What you looking at?" I guess it's a lot harder to spit at someone if you see someone looking at you and recognizing that you are a person and not some animal. I suppose he felt like I did not belong in this area with my formal business attire, shiny shoes, and being yellow-skinned instead of dark-skinned. It could even be possible that it's just some silly antics that happens with any kid, but I would like to speculate and say that it's much more than that. It may be something really deeply rooted throughout history and a part of African American culture regarding racial discrimination. In any case, everything I learned in history textbooks really came alive that day. I realized if I really want to go here and work with this population, I will probably have to get past this tall cultural barrier and help them realize that I really just care about them. That's just my two cents. Oh yeah, in case anyone was wondering...I'm perfectly okay. I'm a little shaken, but I was honestly worried more about my suit to see if it was ruined. Fortunately, it was just some water and should dry soon.

On a side note, the subway system really needs some renovating. I wasted so much money on it because I went into the wrong station. There is a Southbound train and a Northbound train on the Broad Street line. You have to make sure you are on the side going in the right direction, because once you enter on one side you won't get your money back. I lost 20 bucks because I got no change and didn't want to go back and discuss with the ticket exchanger guy what happened. Instead I just jammed my $20 bill into the machine and got back like 10 tokens (which are basically one-way tickets on the subway). Since I don't know feel like holding onto these tokens for a long period of time (through the airport back home and back into Philly for perhaps a future interview), I just handed it to some kid who looked like he needed them more than I do.

Whether or not I get accepted here, this was definitely a memorable experience.
Click to expand...


I think that you're putting a generalization out there about North Philly that just isn't always true (yes it sometimes is...) and it is being unfair to them. Yes, there is crime and violence and lots of it, and yes, they will make you feel uncomfortable and put you in strange situations, but if you're dressed in interview attire, they probably did that to you because you were in interview attire.
I am also from a small town in the middle of PA, and this environment was a shock for me too, but you absolutely cannot make generalizations about this population. You know nothing about them, where they came from, or what their current situations are like. Honestly, if you did, your jaw would drop with the amount of honesty they will tell you if you ask and the amount of intelligence they convey. While a lot of North Philly is undereducated to an extreme, there are lots and lots of people who understand you and understand their own situations and understand why these cycles continue for generations. There are these exceptions, good and bad, in every population and North Philly is absolutely no different in that way, so please do not chalk this one up to race. It is certainly a factor, but there are other things surrounding that.

Maybe I am just being defensive and biased about it, but it is really hard to say these things about these people when you're spent a total of six hours in their neighborhood.
 
cer26 said:
I think that you're putting a generalization out there about North Philly that just isn't always true (yes it sometimes is...) and it is being unfair to them. Yes, there is crime and violence and lots of it, and yes, they will make you feel uncomfortable and put you in strange situations, but if you're dressed in interview attire, they probably did that to you because you were in interview attire.
I am also from a small town in the middle of PA, and this environment was a shock for me too, but you absolutely cannot make generalizations about this population. You know nothing about them, where they came from, or what their current situations are like. Honestly, if you did, your jaw would drop with the amount of honesty they will tell you if you ask and the amount of intelligence they convey. While a lot of North Philly is undereducated to an extreme, there are lots and lots of people who understand you and understand their own situations and understand why these cycles continue for generations. There are these exceptions, good and bad, in every population and North Philly is absolutely no different in that way, so please do not chalk this one up to race. It is certainly a factor, but there are other things surrounding that.

Maybe I am just being defensive and biased about it, but it is really hard to say these things about these people when you're spent a total of six hours in their neighborhood.
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Not at all. I totally agree with you. Read my above post. There has been so much previous emphasis on an unsafe neighborhood that I think it's important for medical students who attend this school or any other person who actually has worked in North Philly to give their opinions too on the other side of the coin. I think if more Temple medical students would just raise more awareness about this then interviewers would not experience such a huge culture shock when coming here. You even mentioned how you initially experienced it here too when you interviewed. Not everyone lives nearby Temple. Many have not even been in Philadelphia. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to post here. If there's anything else you would like to add about this neighborhood, please let us know. Part of why I applied to Temple was because they had a strong emphasis on community. I guess I got a little too curious and made some statements that were supported by too little experience here.
 
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Also please remember this is a public forum. If you are accepted and decide to come to Temple, you will be associated with Temple and representing our student body, alumni, faculty and physicians from day one. Everything you say and do, professionally, academically, and publicly will be reflected on Temple whether you like it or not. (And if you do join us, I guarantee this will not be the last time you hear this spiele)
 
I just want reiterate this to let you all know that I genuinely did meet some excellent people in Philly. There was more than one person who has helped me navigate my way to get to the Health Science Center. A gentlemen told me how the subway fare works and how you only need one token to go one-way. He also made sure I knew that I would be taking the train nearing the back wall so that I wouldn't accidentally get on the express train. Also, another young man was nice enough to help a lady carry her baby stroller up the subway stairs. The hotel clerks and airport shuttle driver both gave me some good tips about some places nearby to visit and the traffic at certain hours, respectively.

I guess I will take my original post down because it has raised a whole can of worms and will probably continue to do so for a long while afterwards. Sorry about that.
 
cer26 said:
Also please remember this is a public forum. If you are accepted and decide to come to Temple, you will be associated with Temple and representing our student body, alumni, faculty and physicians from day one. Everything you say and do, professionally, academically, and publicly will be reflected on Temple whether you like it or not. (And if you do join us, I guarantee this will not be the last time you hear this spiele)
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👍 👍
 
Wow I really feel like everyone overreacted to those comments. At the end of the day, Temples environment may not be for everyone. For some (not all!) people who grew up in an upper/middle class predominantly society with little diversity, being in an area like north Philly can be truly uncomfortable, and you can't attack someone for feeling this way. On top of the fact that the poster probably was on edge to begin with, they then had a bad experience that confirmed their concerns -- of course that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Now, should you actually post something like that? I would actually say yes because there are other people who share those sentiments and perhaps temple is not the best choice for them either, and now they have an idea about that. A spade is a spade, it's not the safest neighborhood -- some people can handle that and will even enjoy working there and giving back to the community, and some people will have a miserable four years. To each their own, live and let live.
 
^ agreed... how would you feel if some random guy threw a bottle at ur best suit.....smile and thank them? how about if someone were to spit on you?

some people obsess too much about being "politically correct"; no the comment wasn't racist...it was just his point of view, specially after being shaken up like that. I'm hispanic, and I've experienced much of that, having gone to public middle and high-school; it's not pleasant when people let u know u're in their "hood"
 
It's one thing to say you felt uncomfortable in the neighborhood. It's another to say "brace yourselves guys, there are lots of black people in Philly." And to top off this racially insensitive rambling about his experience in philadelphia, someone goes
and makes a Blackface comment and doesn't understand why that's racist? I'm sorry, but it makes you guys look like idiots.
 
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follicle said:
It's one thing to say you felt uncomfortable in the neighborhood. It's another to say "brace yourselves guys, there are lots of black people in Philly." And to top off this racially insensitive rambling about his experience at Temple, someone goes
and makes a Blackface comment and doesn't understand why that's racist? I'm sorry, but it makes you guys look like idiots.
Click to expand...

I guess I'm more disturbed by the latter comment, and though that poster has apologized, even if it was a joke it was in poor taste and reflects an inacceptable level of immaturity from someone who aspires to be a doctor.

But for the original poster, I can't help but think that their feelings are rooted in an extremely sheltered upbringing -- to many of us, the comments are just plain racist. But not everyone has the same mindset as "many of us." For those people who feel the same way as the poster, it may really have opened their eyes to whether or not they want to attend Temple.

I'll end on a friendly note -- as someone who hasn't been extended an interview, I wouldn't mind some people dropping out because North Philly isn't their cup of tea to make room for me 😀
 
Just withdrew my application and gave up my interview at Temple. Bottom line, I just wasn't thrilled about the school and they were being really uncooperative about scheduling the interview. Best of luck to you all.
 
I just wanted to thank those who considered my perspective. I do acknowledge that there may have been some emotional investment when I wrote the original post. If I ever encounter something like this again, I will wait perhaps a day or two before posting in order to assess the experience more calmly. I already apologized in a previous post. It's all I can really do on here. I will apologize again if it helps. I am sorry. I am human and make mistakes like everyone else. The original post wasn't really meant to belittle any cultural group or pity them. If anything, it was just curiosity about the motivations behind the actions. It's true. I have never really worked within a population such as North Philly's, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't either. The world is vast and full of many kinds of people. If anything, it's important to work with as many kinds of people as possible in order to become culturally competent. I am sure the integrated curriculum also covers this aspect of medicine too. Whole courses are probably devoted to this topic alone, so I guess I will wait patiently for these classes to have this kind of discussion. There will probably be less misinterpretation too. I actually try to refrain posting too much on here because of how easily posts can be misread in ways that are offensive, such as this one.

This experience is something to consider, but it has no way really deterred me from Temple. I am still strongly considering this school.
 
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