How Can I avoid Being Killed in North Philly, and other such questions?

[Percocet]

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Okay- Just a little question for all you all. My interview at Temple is Monday, and I want to know what is the best way to get to the school that would be safe and affordable (at 8 am)? Also, would anyone advise renting a car? And when they say you can be safe if you are vigilant, what exactly do they mean?
Anyhow, any opinion would be greatly appreciated and remember, good deeds feed good Karma.......

Perc--

PS. I will be staying in Center City

 

[xc1999]

Perc:

I interviewed at Temple already, and according to Mark, the area that temple is in is an economically depressed area, not so much of an area with a high crime rate. During the day, it should'n't be a problem according to him, because the people there are rather helpful. You might want to be careful at night though. Also, Mark had said that the crimes that were committed against Temple students were mostly petty crimes that could've been prevented had the person been a bit more careful (ie, leaving a notebook on a table while at a McDonald's, and then coming back to find that it's gone).

I took the El train (the Philly subway system) to get to temple from my hotel (Comfort Inn). I would advise you to take a taxi from the airport to the hotel (if you're staying in one), unless of course you'd like to ask someone instead how to get there using the subway. The hotel I was at was really helpful in directing me to Temple.

If you're really worried though, I guess you could rent a car....I don't know about Philly, but I know in CA (and maybe a lot of other states as well), they only let people 25 or older rent cars.

LIke I said, it's not as bad as it might seem. The school's definitely realy nice though! Good luck in your interview!

 

[yosemitesam]

lol Can you say "concealed carry permit"? No, really I've heard from those who've attended that it isn't bad during the day and there are armed guards to escort to your car at night - seriously. So you should be safe, at least on campus. Good Luck

 

[DesiDentist]

Perc-

I would not advise renting a car. First of all where the are you gonna park it in Center City? Also, parking is very limited at the Dental School. The best advise I can give you is to get your hotel to call a bullet proof cab and take you to Temple. Like Mark said, most of the crimes that happen there are due to negligence on the victim's part like the whole note book scenario. If you give a theif an opportunity what do you expect. Also, I walked back from Temple Dental to Temple's main campus to meet my girlfriend in my suit. That was a 2.5 mile walk (one of the dental students said it was less than a mile and I missed my bus) so I walked. So it took me over 45 minutes in the hot sun and yeah people stared at me (it was 85 degrees and I was in a suit) walking on North Broad street but I didn't encounter any problems. I think that was before the "Bad people came out at night" like Mark says.

Anyways, you will have a lot of fun. Another note, I did notice the McDonalds next to Temple had a bullet proof shield in the drive through window.

DesiDentist

PS: I'm kidding about getting a bullet proof cab. But make sure the driver takes you to Temple Dental school and not drops you off at Temple main campus which is 2.5 miles away. Good luck.

 

[type-s]

i drove to philly for temple interview. i believe renting a car is a good idea. the temple parking garage is about 2min walking distance to dental clinic. parking fee is somewhat high but temple will pay that for you. just get a voucher from mark lombard. this way you can get rid of minor worries about subway or bus timing etc. after the interview drive around the area to get a better idea of the neighborhood. (very depressing tho) but students there said they live in nice quiet apartments somewhat far from the school. good luck.

 

[tinker bell]

Desi,

Now that i get accepted to Temple, my dilema seems to be big. Do you know what kind of cars have bullet proof windows? So that i can buy one and drive myself to school everyday?
Bullet proof to temple? You are so funny. i'm gonna go to temple and come out in 1 piece after 4 years. Whether bigger piece or smaller piece i don't know. But hopefully with wings and pixie intact...
Tinker Bell

 

[tinker bell]

Still like this thread a lot
Very funny indeed, u should be a comedian or a writer, desi
😛

 

[Percocet]

Thanks Desi, I feel better already. So do the bullet proof cabs also double as Pope-Mobiles?
If so, those things are pretty cool....You can always hope.
Thanks all, your thoughts are much appreciated

Perc--

 

[SloppyJoe]

Mercedes S600 have bullet-proof windows, but i guess that's only affordable a few years out of dental school...

 

[tinker bell]

Can anyone pls do a search for me? An affordable bullet proof car for a poor underserved dental student at a dental school in an underserved area?
Any volunteer driver?
It wouldn't look appropriate to drive my own bullet proof car though
😀

 

[DesiDentist]

Yeah, when I was in my girls apt i looked out of her window and I saw this huge, I mean huge advertisment of a hummer. I was confused why people would want to advertise a hummer in Philly. Then I looked closely and saw the actual advertisment and it said : "Drive in Armor."

The next day at Temple I realized why.

So tink to answer your question: Get a Hummer.

DesiDentist

 

[tinker bell]

Hummer?

Tinker Bell-Temple Dental 007😎

 

[AcidETCH]

I plan to get a hummer (H2) when I'm done specializing in the LoanRepayment program. A hummer would be great to tackle these Canadian winters. 🙂

 

[tinker bell]

I'm not sure if I'm tall enough to climb into the H2.
Another suggestion, please

Tinker Bell-TEMPLE DENTAL 007 😎

 

[tinker bell]

Monster truck lift is way too slow. You'll get all the bullets there possibly be just by driving to school.

Tinker Bell-TEMPLE DENTAL 007😎

 

[Percocet]

Hey, I found a used BMW 750IL PROTECTION model. It has stock armour straight from the factory in Bavaria. New, it would run over 100K, but used, you can find one for about 60K (for temple students, we can see about taking out a collective educational loan for the purpose of buying this car and we can hire a chauffer to drive each one of us to and from school). Now, thats what I am talking about. Now.....about McDonalds....................

 

[tinker bell]

What is collective educational loan? I'm new to the loan stuff, so you need to educate me on this. But the 60K bullet proof bimmer sounds cool. Even it's an old bimmer. If we lived in the same apartment complex, we can share the chauffer for sure.
Thanks for the info.

Tinker Bell-TEMPLE DENTAL 007😎

 

[DesiDentist]

Mark would love to be the chauffer. Ask him.

I think he could get you a better price than 60,000 too.

DesiDentist

 

[tinker bell]

Desi,
Are u out of your mind? Does my school admissions director looks like a chauffeur?
Forget about asking, I don't want to get expelled before I even matriculate...

I'll ask about the loan . Guess that I'll be honest. Tell him I need to buy a bullet proof since the Mc Donald near by has bullet proof window, it might make my reason sounds more legit.

Tinker Bell-TEMPLE DENTAL 007😎

 

[Percocet]

I made up the term cellective loan to refer to the type of loan that we, as a collective group of Temple Dental students, could obtain if we all cosigned, and it would definately be for an educational purpose--(read: staying ALIVE!!!!).😱

PS. A guy who I work with went to the Temple nursing school and is from Philly- He told me tonight that the people there (in that section of town, by the school) would knock you off in a second, for any reason, like if you were too slow giving them your wallet when they ask for it with a stolen .357 to your cabeza, so that they could go the the McDonalds with bullet-proof glass to buy Big 'n Tasty's. But, then he said, that if they killed all of the students who went there, there would be no one applying to Temple's anything....

But--he still didn't tell me how to avoid being killed, unless he was trying to tell me to practice my quick-wallet-removal skills.

 

[tinker bell]

We should write to U.S. government to see if they have the jacket like the one that Jackie Chen wears in the movie (after he putS the tux on, he kungfu likes Arnold). And we all get that tux, wear the suit to school every day, get ready to kung fu at any time. . We might even get a chance to go to hollywood. 😛 😛

Tinker Bell-TEMPLE DENTAL 007😎