I think it’s what it says: a way to encourage students to get their degree in 4 years with the help with an advisor. I know a few students who changed majors and raved about how the advisors helped them figure out what classes were needed and how to get out in time despite the change in degree.
I went to Temple in the late 80s (transferred from Penn State main campus) and I was struck by how many students were paying their own way through college by working at the same time, which led them to take more than 4 years to graduate. It was actually something I loved about Temple: students (and faculty) were in the “real world,” not in an ivory tower or on a campus in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know if that is still the case and if that is part of the graduation rate issue.
I’m not at all worried that most Temple students can get out in 4 years as long as they are not having to work full time. That said, Covid may make it harder for many. I know one very smart student at Temple who took last semester off because he didn’t do well learning remotely.
I think I remember reading that for the fly in 4 you had to meet with your advisor once a month (or something like that) to make sure you were on track and maybe a few other things but if you ended up not finishing on time, they would cover the time it took. I am not worried about their graduation rate as it’s not that low and I think could be reflective of them having a lot of commuters, part timers, people paying their own way etc. I think it’s an urban school with a large and diverse student body and not everyone has the same circumstances or support system. I don’t know for sure that this is the reason but I’m betting it has a lot to do with it.
Those well could be the reasons, but the 4 year grad rate average over the past 3 years is 57%. I think that’s pretty low. It’s 10 points lower than the next lowest rate for the schools my son’s considering and it can change things if nearly half the students you start with don’t finish with you. Their 6 year grad rate is more on par at 74%. That’s a large chunk of students taking extra time. If part of the reason for that low rate is that students are not getting or taking advantage of adequate advising, it seems like fly in 4 is one way Temple is trying to address that. Either way, I know my son will need very good advising as well as other supports at least in the beginning. It seems like a great idea, especially if the meetings really are once a month.
Test optional. 98 gpa. great extracurriculars (pre college at hunter & NYU, hospital volunteering, work experience, intern at engineering firm, started stem program for 5th graders at old elementary school), great common app and recs, 8 ap classes, honor society
Same for my D21. Accepted in December and has same message today about no applications. Everything looked normal yesterday. We were on the page because she did an in person tour yesterday morning and we checked the page before we went to see if it was still on.
Was this a guided in person tour or a self walking tour? I was on the website a few days ago and it was hard to tell if there were specific dates available for guided tour. I’ll probably wait until it’s warmer anyway, but we do want to visit the campus. I graduated from law school there in '92 but my experience was basically limited to one building on Broad Street and had no sense of undergrad feel never mind what it’s like now.
I also would like to hear about the tour! S21 was lucky enough to tour in September of 2019 and really liked Temple at the time but it seems like so long ago now! Are you in-state? I think S. has narrowed his choices to Temple or Northeastern (probably eliminating Pitt and Delaware) and possibly Drexel (for Engineering). Maybe S. should see Temple again. We are planning a trip to Boston in March over S.'s spring break to see NEU but we live in Philly so we have a lot of flexibility regarding visiting Temple.
The tour was in person and it was great. My D21 was lukewarm on the school before the tour and now it’s a real contender. I had to dig around the website a little to find where to sign up. I think technically it’s a group tour but we lucked out and were the only ones in our group. Our tour guide (Abby) was so knowledgeable and helpful with all of our questions. The school seems to be constantly updating their buildings while keeping some real city charm (there are some historical homes as a part of the campus that are beautiful). There is a state of the art brand new library at the center of campus that is really impressive. Lots of cool food trucks and other non dining hall food options. And, of course, plenty of coffee places - Starbucks and saxbys all around. Also, new(ish) suite style dorms that are right in the mix of campus.
We are instate… 30 minutes by car or train from the campus but still far enough that we won’t pop in on her.
Here is the link to the page that discusses the 60 minute walking tour:
Thank you! We are in the Philly burbs right on the train line so the location is perfect. The dorms seem the nicest of any colleges he is considering with the suite style layout.
Thanks for the update. We toured the week the Charles Library opened and it was amazing! I love the campus for S and we were very impressed with the Science building, the Business building and the Computer Center as well. H and I really hope S picks Temple over Northeastern. Maybe we will plan to tour Temple on a really nice day after we return from Boston (where there could still be snow on the ground in March…).
We lucked out with the weather. Even though the area got 12-18 inches earlier in the week, it was in the mid 40s during our visit. It almost felt warm - haha. It certainly helped her overall opinion.