I interviewed and was accepted to both schools. I liked Temple MUCH more (obvious since I chose it, LOL). To be brief, I don't think there was a single thing about Drexel that I liked more than Temple.
Just to offer a differing opinion: I'm more of a fan of Drexel because 1) it's in a quieter/safer location and 2) I think it has a much better curriculum. Walking around the Temple area makes me fear for my life.
We're in the hood, no doubt. I was MUCH more afraid of the area before I started here. The immediate area is patrolled by Temple cops and well-lit. The parking lot is pretty much around the corner from campus and I never have to venture beyond that. The area just north of Drexel isn't much better than the area around Temple. I forget if Drexel does block scheduling, but I LOVE it at Temple.
That's one of the few draws I'm considering about Temple, but at my interview I made sure to ask several female students if they felt safe walking around campus. Without fail, they all said they had their doubts before matriculating, but now as students they feel completely safe. The campus is very well lit at night, almost like it is bright daylight!
This is absolutely true for me as well, as I mentioned above.
I think you're just as likely to get mugged outside the Queen Lane SEPTA station as you are by the Temple stop. Just my personal experience, though.
Pretty much.
haha I can't disagree with you on that. Almost everything I've heard about either school's safety levels is hearsay in one way or another... but besides that, I do have a few friends who have attended Temple and been mugged or attacked. Philly in general is a trashpiece but whatcha gonna do
Temple main campus or the HSC? I've heard more stories from main campus. The area's a little worse there, IMO (not to say the area around HSC is much better) and since there are so many more students there it stands to reason there'd be more incidents. Point is, I've never felt unsafe on campus. I know some people that are renting a house a few blocks away have had a break-in, but I wouldn't recommend renting in the area, though I'm sure it's very convenient. I would recommend center city or manayunk, where most of my classmates live. I personally live in Montgomery County, but I'm a non-trad and have a husband and two kids. It's an easy (though sometimes congested) drive for me pretty much straight down 611).
How about Penn State? Jefferson? How do they compare to Drexel and Temple?
Location-wise, Jefferson is the best. There's no arguing it. It's in a nice part of Center City. I interviewed there but did not apply to Penn State (I only applied to the schools in Philly). Jefferson was my first choice going into this process and I LIKED it when I interviewed but I didn't love it. I kinda choked at my adcom interview, too, and wound up on the WL (I ultimately made no attempt to get off it and eventually withdrew). I honestly don't remember a great deal about their curriculum or anything, but I just felt like Temple was home. YMMV there, obviously.
I vote for Temple. Temple University Hospital is right on campus. Drexel campus is away from its hospital. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Drexel has its own hospital either. Instead, it is affiliated with Hahnemann University Hospital as well as some others.
Temple Hospital is right across the street from MERB (which is an awesome building, BTW), but you may end up sent elsewhere, even if you're accepted to main campus. You could be sent to Abington Memorial or Crozer Chester or a few other hospitals. I believe Abington Memorial is Drexel's primary rotation spot nowadays (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I actually hope to do most of my rotations there since it's really close to where I live.
Personally, I would vote Jefferson > Temple > PSU = Drexel. Jefferson is in the best location right in center city, and the students all love it there. It has a very good reputation in the Philadelphia area! Temple is also on its way up, and they are just starting to push for more research (as reported by a Temple-affiliated doc to me). I don't know too much about PSU, but it's basically in the middle of nowhere. Also, PSU and Drexel have horrible grading schemes for the preclinical years (H/HP/P/LP/F). What's nice about Drexel is that it has two curriculums to choose from, but Hahnemann is not close to the Queen Lane campus and shuttles can be annoying.
I've visited all of these schools besides PSU, and I'm very familiar with Drexel and Temple because I have close friends that are M1s at both. You'll get a great education at any of these schools, so you should ultimately choose the one that's the best "fit."
Really, I think this is the most important thing when you get down to it. You don't want to be miserable. Well, you'll still be miserable sometimes, but you at least want to like the people you're miserable with.
