how safe is it studying in detroit ?Urgent.......

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sonya22

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I have recently got an interview from Detroit Mercy and I was wondering about the safety issues. Seems like the school is right in the middle of the ghetto area. Would really appreciate feedback from those of you who are either studying there or have any relevant info. Is the school good in terms of clinical experience ? Is it safe to live there ?

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sonya22 said:
I have recently got an interview from Detroit Mercy and I was wondering about the safety issues. Seems like the school is right in the middle of the ghetto area. Would really appreciate feedback from those of you who are either studying there or have any relevant info. Is the school good in terms of clinical experience ? Is it safe to live there ?

Ive never been to the school but a good friend is doing his ER residency there. He has also said that it is a rough part of town. However, like my friend and many of your profs, you will not live next door to the school. He lives about 30 minutes away in a much nicer suburb. As far as the clinical experience I would not know, but judging on the location I bet you will have plenty of patients.
 
VERY safe. i am a typical white suburban person who grew up in the area. i lived many years in a shady part of detroit. if you have common sense and get a security guard to walk you to and from your car, you are very safe. if you don't, you are still likely very safe, but why play games.

detroit is a giant turdhole, but it isn't nearly as "dangerous" as common lore makes it out to be.
 
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I interviewed there a while back and the area where the school is didn't seem much rougher than some of the other big cities I interviewed in. However yes I'd be prepared to live a short drive away in a nicer part of town. they have a huge parking lot right next to the dental school so that nobody has trouble finding parking in the morning since most people do drive in. some kids that go to school there came to my predental club once and they said they really liked it there. also my friend's dad graduated from there a long time ago and he said he got tons of experience and patients there. I'd say it's worth going out and checking out the school and then you can decide what you think about the area. also keep in mind they are getting a new school and a new location in 2 years (but I think they are actually moving to an area even farther downtown.. probably not any better than where they are now).
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback. Surely gives me a better idea of the place.
 
Biogirl361 said:
I interviewed there a while back and the area where the school is didn't seem much rougher than some of the other big cities I interviewed in. However yes I'd be prepared to live a short drive away in a nicer part of town. they have a huge parking lot right next to the dental school so that nobody has trouble finding parking in the morning since most people do drive in. some kids that go to school there came to my predental club once and they said they really liked it there. also my friend's dad graduated from there a long time ago and he said he got tons of experience and patients there. I'd say it's worth going out and checking out the school and then you can decide what you think about the area. also keep in mind they are getting a new school and a new location in 2 years (but I think they are actually moving to an area even farther downtown.. probably not any better than where they are now).

Yes, they are moving but back to the main campus. The main campus is definately deeper into the ghetto area, whereas the Outer Drive campus is just off the Lodge freeway. It might be a little dangerous to travel in that section at night, but if you have a car and don't stop off for gas there or anything then you should be safe.
 
The Musketeer said:
Yes, they are moving but back to the main campus. The main campus is definately deeper into the ghetto area, whereas the Outer Drive campus is just off the Lodge freeway. It might be a little dangerous to travel in that section at night, but if you have a car and don't stop off for gas there or anything then you should be safe.

Musketeer, how do you feel about Cleveland and the area where Case is? when I interviewed at Case I was intimidated by the city/area and thought it was kind of ghetto but it could be just bc I'm not used to cities in general.
 
Biogirl361 said:
Musketeer, how do you feel about Cleveland and the area where Case is? when I interviewed at Case I was intimidated by the city/area and thought it was kind of ghetto but it could be just bc I'm not used to cities in general.


Don't be scared by Cleveland, I am doing my undergrad at John Carroll which is like 15 minutes from Case, its not bad at all, the big issue is parking, many times you have to park in little italy but other than that its fine, PM me if you have any other questions
dentalguy
 
I lived in Detroit for 2 years. It's not too bad but it's not a place you'd want to live. I saw a couple of drive by shootings, had my stuff stolen from my car and apartment, and my buddy was robbed at gun point. Now, granted, not all areas of Detroit are as bad. In areas where people from the 'burbs frequent, these experiences are much, much less. Specifically, the school is in a better part of the ghetto. I didn't apply to that school because I didn't want to go into Detroit everyday.

On the upside, if you go just a few blocks south of the school you get to a nice urban area where big corporations have their offices. The food is good and there is always something to do.

You can live just outside the city in town like: Livonia, Westland, Farmington Hills, Mt. Clemens, Garden City, and others. Lots of commuters live in these 'border' towns and commute into the city everyday. Rent is decent. And, the night life is pretty good. Suburban Detroit has lots to do.

All around, Detroit is a decent place if you play it right. But, don't let anyone fool you into thinking there are no problems. There's a reason Detroit was ranked as #1 in the country for a number of years (and is still in the top 3) for heinous crimes (murder, rape, etc.).

The school will have lots of patients since there a well over a million people (I think close to 2 million) in the city. Most of these people are too poor to travel outside of the city, and most are on some type of government assistance.
 
The Musketeer said:
Yes, they are moving but back to the main campus. The main campus is definately deeper into the ghetto area, whereas the Outer Drive campus is just off the Lodge freeway. It might be a little dangerous to travel in that section at night, but if you have a car and don't stop off for gas there or anything then you should be safe.

The school is actually not moving to the main McNichols campus, but rather moving downtown to the Detroit Medical Center (where Wayne State's med school is, and all the PA and RN programs run). This has its advantages and disadvantages. First, it is deeper into detroit, so it is a longer drive from the suburbs that many people live in. however, from a safety standpoint it may actually be considered more safe because of the DMC and all of the downtown activities nearby. from a clinical standpoint, they are getting brand new facilities, so that will be tight. and being at the DMC will lend itself to seeing a HUGE variety of cases, making UDM an even stronger clinical school than it already is.
 
I really dont know Detroit that well...but to sum it up:

The worse the neighborhood, the better your clinical experience will be. Most major medical centers are located in these areas. How often do you see hospital shows (ie ER), movies, documentaries, etc about medical branches in the suburbs? Yes most of you who go to schools that arent in the worst neigborhoods will get good experience, but I think (and its why I applied to UDM, UIC although it is my state school, etc) the worse the neighborhood the more patients you will have (and not to mention more diverse cases).
 
JavadiCavity said:
I lived in Detroit for 2 years. It's not too bad but it's not a place you'd want to live. I saw a couple of drive by shootings, had my stuff stolen from my car and apartment, and my buddy was robbed at gun point.

man javadi. you're not making me any less scared about livin in a large/poor city next year :scared:

does anyone know where i can buy a flak jacket :scared:
 
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You could always carry a gun. :thumbup:
 
Biogirl361 said:
Musketeer, how do you feel about Cleveland and the area where Case is? when I interviewed at Case I was intimidated by the city/area and thought it was kind of ghetto but it could be just bc I'm not used to cities in general.

Case is located in a very diverse area within the University Circle, as it has many museums, concert hall for the Cleveland Orchestra, and Botanical Garden, all located within the campus. Yes, there is a ghetto area further down, but it is a driving distance away and usually people will not need to venture to that area.

As for safety, it is very good. They actually have 3 divisions of security that monitors on campus: Case security, Cleveland Police, and also University Circle Police. I feel pretty save on campus that I have done many times walking home from dental school at 3 am and felt completely safe about it.

I have even walked home couple times alone from pubs in Coventry (about 30 min walk from Case) around 2 am and it was okay...though not highly recommended! :D
 
JavadiCavity said:
I lived in Detroit for 2 years. It's not too bad but it's not a place you'd want to live. I saw a couple of drive by shootings, had my stuff stolen from my car and apartment, and my buddy was robbed at gun point. Now, granted, not all areas of Detroit are as bad. In areas where people from the 'burbs frequent, these experiences are much, much less. Specifically, the school is in a better part of the ghetto. I didn't apply to that school because I didn't want to go into Detroit everyday.

Javidi, funny thing is that I've experienced all the same stuff in San Francisco too. I guess there's no way to really avoid it in any urban area. UOP's in probably one of the nicest parts of town, but SF is so small, we're only gonna be 10 blocks from the projects...though that area is slowly being gentrified and replaced by white collar criminals.
 
Detroit? Make sure you bring AK47 or Glock7 or Desert Eagle. I heard it was smack damn in the middle of the drug-trafficking, gangbanging area.

I don't know for sure but I would assume Detroit to be not safe in general.

Do you know why there is no CSI:Detroit while there are CSI:Miami (Miami? Give me a break.) & CSI:NY? Because it would be impossible to re-create the s hit that goes down there. There would be no plot line but shooting sprees and the unimaginable.
 
Pikeyman you must be from the sticks...and have one of those nifty gunracks and a sweet pickup truck complete with a confederate flag. Yeehaw!

But seriously, "I hear" doesnt constitute for what really is. Funny thing is a lot of people on here havent been outside of their rural area or small town...when I went to the Temple area everyone was curious about the neighborhood, but I didnt see anything unusual about Philly...maybe its because I go to class in downtown Chicago and they have 4-5 neighborhoods that "arent so good" compared to the 1-2 in Philly. Ride the city train once and you get street smart quickly. Before all of you pass judgement on a location go see a place for yourself...this is like the which dental school is better debate...pointless. You wanna see a scary situation...go to a 3rd world country..."ghetto" neighborhoods pale in comparison.
 
Bullfan16 said:
Pikeyman you must be from the sticks...and have one of those nifty gunracks and a sweet pickup truck complete with a confederate flag. Yeehaw!

But seriously, "I hear" doesnt constitute for what really is. Funny thing is a lot of people on here havent been outside of their rural area or small town...when I went to the Temple area everyone was curious about the neighborhood, but I didnt see anything unusual about Philly...maybe its because I go to class in downtown Chicago and they have 4-5 neighborhoods that "arent so good" compared to the 1-2 in Philly. Ride the city train once and you get street smart quickly. Before all of you pass judgement on a location go see a place for yourself...this is like the which dental school is better debate...pointless. You wanna see a scary situation...go to a 3rd world country..."ghetto" neighborhoods pale in comparison.


I visited Detroit and loved it.......I don't think its in a god awful bullet ducking type atmosphere .....like gavin said, use common sense and you will be fine.....
 
Dentalguy...in case you didnt notice...I agree with Gavin and others who say to use your head.
 
Bulls---, good one.
 
I realize this is just my perspective, but Detroit is 90% slums and 10% otherwise. I've been to other big cities (Boston, New York, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, etc), but I've never seen anything like Detroit. The other cities had their bad areas that you stayed out of, but Detroit is different. Instead of saying "You'll be fine if you just avoid that one part of town," you say "You'll be fine if you can just make it to that one part of town."

I enjoyed Detroit, despite the occasional problem. It's not a war zone. It's just not that nice. Anybody attending there will be fine and should feel safe. I generally had to work in the less nice areas of town which is where the bulk of my experiences occurred. However, I will also add that I lived there more than 10 years ago. And, I've heard that the city has made some great improvements. I visited with my family about 3 years ago, but I didn't take them into the heart of the city. We stayed on the outskirts.

I wish I could sugar-coat it better than that, but that is just the way I see it.
 
A helpful tip from a Women's Self-Defense class at a Texas YMCA:

If someone tries to attack you, shout "That's my purse! I don't know you!" and then crush his balls with a kick.
 
Didn't you people watch that Detroit-Indiana game a while back? That's Detroit when you have security around. Now, imagine Detroit with no police close by watching the situation. Holy hell.
 
Pikeyman said:
A helpful tip from a Women's Self-Defense class at a Texas YMCA:

If someone tries to attack you, shout "That's my purse! I don't know you!" and then crush his balls with a kick.


Ah, that was from a great episode of King of the Hill. But I might have to use it as I'll be attending Detroit in the fall.
 
EMORYswim said:
The school is actually not moving to the main McNichols campus, but rather moving downtown to the Detroit Medical Center (where Wayne State's med school is, and all the PA and RN programs run). This has its advantages and disadvantages. First, it is deeper into detroit, so it is a longer drive from the suburbs that many people live in. however, from a safety standpoint it may actually be considered more safe because of the DMC and all of the downtown activities nearby. from a clinical standpoint, they are getting brand new facilities, so that will be tight. and being at the DMC will lend itself to seeing a HUGE variety of cases, making UDM an even stronger clinical school than it already is.

I don't know where you are getting the information from, but this is what they have on the UDM website:

School of Dentistry
The School of Dentistry and Clinic will remain fully operational on the Outer Drive Campus until a scheduled move to the McNichols Campus by August 2007. The University is currently in negotiation on the sale of the Outer Drive Campus to Wayne County Community College.
 
i know dt's a pretty rough area but not as much as philly, imo... well, yeah, i've heard many choose to live quite far away from the campus.
 
toony said:
i lived in michigan for close to 10 years now. i know dt's a pretty rough area but not as much as philly, imo... well, yeah, i've heard many choose to live quite far away from the campus.

In fact, most Canadians who study there even stay across the border in Windsor, not just because it is safer but the rents are cheaper! :)
 
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