I'll add my $0.02.
CSPM's location in Oakland is fine - far from the bad part, but really nothing special. The same thing can be said for their campus. It is fine, at best. They have all the amenities you need to go to class, study, etc. I was not impressed in the least but I would be a lot happier in the Bay Area with aging or non-redeeming facilities than outside Cleveland with everything new. The clinical sites are great and though Temple says "We're the best," a lot of their arguments as to why were pretty subjective. A student can only see so many patients a day (6-8) and surgical rotation should always be 1 on 1. Nice thing about Oakland is it's in the East Bay close to Berkeley. BART into the city for rotations from Oakland is @$6 each way, I believe. Pro: Bay Area location, if you like it, clinical experience. Con: cost of living, commuting to clinic, facilities pretty lackluster.
Temple - I am a big fan of Philly and have spent a lot of time there. Luckily, TUSPM is in a much better part of the city than the med campus is. The med campus isn't in the hood as much as people say it is, but there is no doubting that TUSPM's location, both for centrality and security's sake, is far, far, better. Still, as a female, walking alone at night in Philly is a no-no. It's still a big city, on the edge of Chinatown, but still central to just about everything with a 10-15 minute walk. Facility's even worse than CSPM, and they're going to need to put some money in (they're working on trying to secure funding, apparently) to attract some of the best, IMHO.
AZPod - If you've been in a desert and like it, you'll love Arizona! It's October and 96 during the day. It's outside metro Phoenix downtown area, and there really isn't much around - lots of motels and fast food. While the facility is "new," it's new in a "this could be a really nice suburban high school or community college" new. I was far from impressed and the amount of money spent on the building didn't show in design - the classrooms and hallways are not warm - they're sterile, and every building is the same combination of tacky tile and blue and white for miles inside. Also, the majority of the recent classes are married and at most, the class would be 1/3 female, if lucky. Some classes are as few as 1/7 recently. Also, the vast majority of students are married, and it seems to me that a lot are Mormon, which includes the Dean. Interesting at the least. You'd have to decide for yourself if you'd be comfortable here - the didactic education, I'm sure, is top-notch, but the clinic was empty when we saw it and interviewers shied away from questions. Students like it, but then again if you're caucasian and married, you'd be comfortable here. Pros: Crime? What crime? , good residency placement thus far, cost of living, warm-blazing hot all year, able to stay outdoors, good recreation, good patient population, integrated curriculum, small program within a larger institution Cons: hot as crap a lot of the year, geography (yes, I'm contradicting myself), little culture at all close to the school. Depressing to me. A lot of the students seemed not have experienced much of the world and wanted to stay in a more isolated situation, also judged by other people's cultural sensitivities and other comments on my interview day. People attend higher education institutions to escape from places like AZPod's location. It's not that bad, it's just, bleh.
Even preferring to attend a school with a nice physical plant, I would caution those who are blown away by schools like DMU to get your questions answered. If you only see 2-3 patients a day in clinic where you already see less pathology, do the awesome facilities make up for the fact that CSPM and Temple pod students see at around 6 most days? To me, the quality of education and residency placement matters first and foremost, with location, age of facilities, and other factors taking a back seat. I'm just saying to get your questions answered, talk to students, and understand to whom you're talking and what their life experience is. I haven't been to a "bad" school so far, but there are clearly distinct differences between them. Know what's important for you in a school and go from there.
