Do I need a car at Temple?

[simone]

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I have gotten very mixed responses and I really need to make a deciscion soon!!! Please let me know what you think.

 

[lushmd]

As long as you don't mind living in the city (in fact, many seem to prefer it; there are decent options in West Philly near Penn, pricier/nicer digs near Center City...look around as reasonable places abound if you're willing to do the legwork), a car is not needed for the first two years (the subway works fine and a monthly trans-pass costs about the same as parking at school). However, it is likely that a car will come in handy during the clinical years, as you will almost certainly have to do rotations at non-Temple sites (i.e. barring some bizarre exception, Med 2 cannot be done at Temple). All the best. Enjoy Temple!

PS If you decide not to have a car, do yourself a favor and live near a subway station (best not to be at the mercy of SEPTA buses).

PPS Feel free to PM if you have any other questions re Temple.

 

[cdql]

Do most med schools send their students to sites other than the main hospital during the clinical years??

 

[Airzonk]

I have gotten very mixed responses and I really need to make a deciscion soon!!! Please let me know what you think.

I wondered the same about Temple students. I ride the Broad Street Subway all the time. It's pretty sketchy at night. I saw some dude crap himself. Another time some dude was beating up a girl. Oh and the time the cops kept trying to shoot a dude was ridiculous. After 8:00pm you get like 1 train every 20-30 minutes. Septa is garbage. Get a car.

 

[Taurus]

Don't skimp on the bullet proof vest either. 😀 Sorry, I couldn't help it. I interviewed there and the experience scared me $hitless.

 

[lushmd]

OK, FWIW, of course Temple is not in the safest of areas. Having said that, I have been there during all sorts of odd hours (11-6 AM, coming or going) and have never had a problem. In the past year, I do know of two incidents on the Broad Street subway line (one professor was attacked and injured pretty badly and another was attacked but managed to get away). As long as buying a car isn't prohibitively expensive for you and you don't mind not living in the city (parking in the city is often a hassle and a paid parking spot will cost ~$100-200/month, in addition to the ~$70/month you will pay at Temple for parking...not to mention gas/insurance...), that is certainly an option with some advantages (i.e. increased mobility and safety). However, it is certainly not necessary to have a car (at least during the first two years) and many students (and some profs) do just fine with public transportation.

Re the comment about safety at Temple: just be careful/watchful (although the area as a whole isn't safe, they do a pretty good job of keeping the campus itself safe).

Re the comment about med schools sending students off-site: I believe that this is fairly common (not necessarily a bad thing: when you are choosing clerkship sites/blocks for the third year, you may well find that upper classmen recommend non home sites, at least for certain rotations).

EDIT: Just to clarify, the incidents on the Broad Street line occured at its northern extremity (not near campus) and, although they both occurred within the past year (actually, within a couple of months IIRC), these are the only such incidents that I am aware of. Personally, I have never been afraid while on campus.