Temple

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How is Temple....just got an invitation for an interview, but I kind of know where I want to go already, should I go to this interview?? Damn, why didn't they just give it to me when I was in Philly already.


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IT IS A GOOD SCHOOL, BUT IF YOU KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING ALREADY THEN YOU SHOULD PROBABLY CONSIDER DECLINING, UNLESS YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO PHILLY AND CHILL OUT. THAT'S YOUR DECISION THOUGH. DID YOU RECIEVE THE INVITATION EMAIL OR REGULAR?
 
yeah i just got an interview invite the other day too

kinda feels like, oh yes, noooow that you're having accreditation problems and are afraid people won't want to attend your school, you want to interview me? so that you can leave me to wait on the CCL all summer? thanks, but no thanks.

i definitely would have been psyched about the school if they'd asked a few months ago. heck, i couldn't care less if they're on probation. but, i'm afraid it's just too little, too late.

i'm declining the interview.
 
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Came regular mail.
Well I was thinking that if go back to philly I can take another look at Drexel (got accepted there). But wondering if that is even worth it, I am planning on staying in state.
How are their facilities? Is this why they got on probation. Facilities are very important to me, can someone give me details about their facilities.

thanks

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X,

I thought USC was your #1? Why would you interview at Temple when you've been accepted at your top choice?
 
There's a thread that talks about Temple's facilities as not being an issue anymore, but that they can't get off of probation because they made their improvements too late.

If you click here you can read what the Temple students have written.
 
You got into USC already, are you sick in the head? Leave sunny so cal for cold philly? I know both schools are in the hood, but temple is on probation, cuz facilities suck, and class size is 200+. Do you want to come back to Cali for a res? If so stay in Cali, if not go to temple and stay out of state for 8-10 years.
 
Just FYI, the class size *used* to be over 200 but was reduced to approximately 190 for my class and is supposed to go down to 180 for this fall.

As far as the facilities go...no, they're not great and if that's really important to you, you'll likely be disappointed (Drexel is nicer). OTOH I honestly don't think they're so awful as to merit probation status. In the end I think it came down to having the too-large class size a couple of years ago. The debt issue which was also cited is kinda ridiculous when you consider how many private med schools (including Drexel and Creighton where I interviewed) have very similar tuition fees.

I think the major issue here is whether you'd really want to leave California for med school. It doesn't shut the door for future residency (I recall a number of Temple students from the 2002 class matched at USC), but it probably does reduce your chances somewhat. If you still think you might give Philly a chance (or want peace of mind with your decision) and have the cash to spare, only then would I encourage you to come and check out both schools.

btw, for what it's worth I received my Temple invite late January and my Drexel one as soon as I returned from Temple :p Got into both whereas Creighton (my first interview) placed me on the waiting list. Point is, these schools can request interviews late so it's not an insult. :) And I doubt Temple needs more interviews to fill their class, though they'll probably be going further down on the waiting list this year.
 
I think I got my question answered. Thanks guys. So no Temple for me...I will send them a letter to withdraw tomorrow.

X
 
Well, it's not like it hasn't been said before and X wanted an honest assessment. California's a special case and from what's been said, he/she'd really be unlikely to attend given the USC acceptance. There's no point in wasting a trip and the adcoms consideration.

But I can absolutely say that as far as I'm concerned, the facilities (which again aren't that bad and I'm sure are comparable to a number of med schools) have done absolutely nothing to affect the education I'm receiving. I have a great class with nice people (I've yet to run into anyone who I'd call a jerk), the teaching can be excellent and I feel I'll be very well prepared come Step One. Plus the best is supposedly to come once we start clinicals - you get everything in North Philly after all! That's the real strength of the school and it has an excellent regional reputation.

Of course I'm disappointed over the probation (though I'm hopeful it will be lifted sometime in the next year), but Temple is totally still a great, relatively low-pressure place to learn medicine and become a good clinician. :) To me that's worth forgoing a fancy place for the time being, but it's something you have to decide for yourself. I hope this helps those considering Temple (and please *do* go for the most part if you received an interview invite!)
 
Lara, you're right, facilities don't mean a damn thing in choice of med school. It's probably about the least important thing when it really comes down to it, because it has no effect on your actual education in terms of quality (only if the facilities are somehow lacking, like no anatomy lab or something...). Besides, to the USC applicant...sure Keck looks nice, but have you been into LA County yet? :)
 
Actually facilities do mean a lot. It's not only if the anatomy lab is lacking something that it matters. The ease of finding stuff and the access to material is a key thing. For this reason, I thought Drexel was excellent. We will have enough to worry about, having everything at your fingertips makes life a bit easier. But I guess that depends on your learning style. It seems to fit well with mine, I think it will effect the quality of education for me.

Keck actually doesn't look extraordinarily nice, neither does county USC. However, County USC is what made USC my number one choice. We always take patients in there so I have been there quite a bit. The population here will be very beneficial during clinical training. I think USC has to offer a lot in terms of this. Now if they can just become hi-tech like Drexel ;) .

Lara - The probation thing doesn't concern me at all. It is just a technicality. They will take care of that real soon. I do like USC, but don't like LA as much (I guess I will learn to love it). That is why in the back of my mind Drexel is still there (I really liked that school). However, USC has County, a good reputation, and is close to family and friends; so I think it wins. So I guess no Temple for me. I wish I would have swung by there at least when I was in philly, stupid me.


X
 
I would not bother to interview at Temple if you have already been accepted to Drexel. Philadelphia is a great city from the times I visited. I toured all the medical schools in Philadelphia and I did not like the area around Temple, there was graffiti, lots of garbage, and the area looked dangerous. Drexel on the other hand is in a nice area. I have a family, which is why the area around the school is important to me; however, it may not be a factor in your decision.
 
I agree it's not a nice neighborhood. As far as safety goes however, it's just a question of following common sense. Broad Street during the daytime is fine, and I've never had any reason to stay late (but I'm more a study-at-home person than in the library). There's a lot of campus security (including escort services) and the place gets well-lit at dark.

btw, almost all students commute to school from either center city or the suburbs, so you could easily live in the exact same place you would be going to Drexel, and only be 10-15 minutes away from school by car. :) There are a *lot* of options in terms of neighborhoods, depending on your price range and how far away you're willing to be.

Also, since X mentioned technology - Temple doesn't have the wireless internet option of Drexel, but the library does have tons of computers (waiting is almost never a problem) connected to high speed internet. You can also bring your own laptop and connect to the system if you have an ethernet card. A fair amount of people brought them when we had histo labs.

One last thing I should mention is that Temple has a fairly traditional curriculum in that we go by subject rather than organ system (with H/HP/P/F grading). It works for me, but is another factor to consider. :)
 
Originally posted by Lara
I agree it's not a nice neighborhood. As far as safety goes however, it's just a question of following common sense. Broad Street during the daytime is fine, and I've never had any reason to stay late (but I'm more a study-at-home person than in the library). There's a lot of campus security (including escort services) and the place gets well-lit at dark.

btw, almost all students commute to school from either center city or the suburbs, so you could easily live in the exact same place you would be going to Drexel, and only be 10-15 minutes away from school by car. :) There are a *lot* of options in terms of neighborhoods, depending on your price range and how far away you're willing to be.

Also, since X mentioned technology - Temple doesn't have the wireless internet option of Drexel, but the library does have tons of computers (waiting is almost never a problem) connected to high speed internet. You can also bring your own laptop and connect to the system if you have an ethernet card. A fair amount of people brought them when we had histo labs.

One last thing I should mention is that Temple has a fairly traditional curriculum in that we go by subject rather than organ system (with H/HP/P/F grading). It works for me, but is another factor to consider. :)

Some more to add on lara's excellent post:

The neighborhood is EXACTLY what makes the clinical education available at temple as solid as it is. You aren't going to see the kinds of disease states in a hospital not exposed to this type of urban population. The clinical reputation of temple has ALWAYS been its strong suit. Id much rather receive a great clinical education in a nasty neighborhood than a mediocre one in a nice suburban or rural area. And that is not to criticize the education of Drexel students to any degree. And as Lara said, security at Temple is extremely tight, its brighter there at night than it is during the day ;)

As far as connectivity and computing, they do, as Lara pointed out, have a quite large computer lab and ethernet jacks for those with laptops elsewhere. Im also pretty sure I saw some IT guys testing out a WAN in the SFC... I was going to approach them and ask but they were busy walking around and taking connectivity measurements, didn't want to disturb them. Guess we will find out if that is true soon enough ;)

frank
 
anybody check out the lastest interview feedback for temple. somebody put up some stupid stuff, and my guess is that this person was waitlisted, and is trying (stupidly i might add) to deter people from applying there. i just think it was dumb of someone to clutter up the feedback site with that stuff since i think more people use that stuff, more than they use sdn forums.
 
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