My daughter didn’t receive any scholarships from Temple, but she thinks its out of the running for her. She received $25K from University of Colorado and $80K from Chapman University in California. She’s still waiting on a few California schools which will be next month so she hasn’t made a final decision. She’s leaning toward Colorado, she loves it there and her brother is a junior so that would be great to have them both at the same place. We are formerly from Philadelphia but have lived in Florida the last 20+ years. One of our main concerns about sending our daughter to Temple is the crime rate in the city. Does anyone have any insight on the safety of the campus if anyone lives nearby?
I think with her other options she’d be crazy to go to Temple. The neighborhood is unsafe - period. Philly is going through something right now and it’s not good. I lived there for 30 years and did all my schooling there and this is the worst I’ve seen it.
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I lived in Philly in the late 80s. It was rough. Crack was king and heroin was rampant. In my opinion it has come a long ways since then. The current murder rate is absurd, though.
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Anyone applied on Feb 1st and got admissions decision already?
My son applied in November and hasn’t heard anything yet.
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I would have him email the college. My daughter applied in Nov for early action and heard rather quickly.
Son didn’t do early action
I would strongly urge parents and students particularly OOS, looking at Temple to consider the safety issues around campus before deciding to attend. Philly is a disaster right now with law and order and temple students are unfortunately paying the price. We pay an eye popping amount for my son to live at Vantage - private apartments right by campus and across from the police station. Yesterday the CVS downstairs was held up at gun point in broad daylight. They shut cvs down by noon on a Sunday morning so cops could investigate.
My son cannot graduate fast enough and get the heck out of this city.
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Please see my post. Do not send your daughter here. She has better choices that are safer.
How do you talk kids out of it?
My kids were told from a very young age that they couldn’t apply to Temple.
Both would have received scholarships that would have saved us money, but it never mattered. Not applying saved us from even considering that conversation. And allows me to sleep better at night.
If you are funding your child’s education, you have a say in where they go.
I’d just make sure your child has all the information about the limitations of that campus.
As I’ve said before on this thread, I grew up in Philly and went to Temple. IMO it is not a great college experience.
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You should really go visit and see Temple for yourself if your child is interested in the school. Ask the administration about campus safety. There are lots of schools in city neighborhoods with high crime rates. Temple is not in a great neighborhood, but it can absolutely offer a great college experience for the right student!
Temple is a very good school with some great programs, but like all schools, it is not a good fit for everyone.
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If you’re paying for college you have veto.
My son attends and will graduate from Temple bc 1) he transferred specifically for a program that he didn’t get elsewhere and is thriving in it 2) we relocated to PA from our home state down south and live an hour from the city. He comes home a lot, is very risk averse and is focused on school and getting out. He has a great roommate so that has helped.
I go drop off food or meet him for lunch etc once or twice a month and see the campus and area around it. I’m not from Philly. I’m told it didn’t used to be this bad even 2-3 years back. It’s scary and depressing now. My younger senior son is so turned off he refused to apply to any schools in Philly and wants back down south.
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@ceramicmom - The Philly situation must be incredibly stressful for you and your son. Respectfully, and I ask this sincerely and innocently, do you think the crime/the risk might be perceived differently from families coming from other urban areas? We live in the heart of New York City. Shootings, stabbings, subway pushing onto tracks. Not that we are use to it but we live with it (for good and bad). Is your sense that Philly, especially the Temple area, is less safe than NYC? Unfortunately, all the larger cities seem to be suffering right now. Thx.
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That’s a good question and the answer is possibly yes - if you come from NYC then this maybe doesn’t feel too different. I’m from Houston and while there’s plenty of bad stuff going down there, I never felt unsafe attending a major university campus in the city or driving through some areas deemed less safe.
However, while all urban cities are going thru a bad crime phase, there is a problem in Philly that has escalated in recent years. It’s bleeding into campus in ways it didn’t used to. Car jackings and gun violence is at epidemic levels and the city is struggling to get a handle. Most people who are Philly area veterans have told me what they are seeing now is at another level. I can only comment on my experience.
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@ceramicmom - Thanks for your honest assessment. College is hard enough without having to worry about one’s (or one’s kid’s) personal safety; it’s certainly going to be a factor in the decision for many of us. Wishing your son well on his next pursuit!
My general impression - as a follower of Temple news (early top contender for my kid, from an urban high school not near Philly) and I’d really like @ceramicmom input here if comfortable - is that the crime around campus seems to be specifically targeting Temple students (car jackings etc). This is what I find especially troubling. I live in a relatively high crime small city with a big name university and that just doesn’t happen here. When there is a whiff of a problem it gets addressed quickly because the city and university work together and the university is very concerned about being good neighbors and maintaining a good relationship with the city (lots of work with the city schools etc). I wonder if some “town-gown” strain might be contributing to what I perceive as targeting students. Or I could be reading into this all wrong as a concerned potential future parent. I welcome all input.
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We live in the Philadelphia media market and know several current Temple students. There is absolutely no evidence or indication that Temple students are being targeted.
Due to the surrounding neighborhood Temple needs to prioritize campus safety and they do! Temple has several safety tools and resources in place for students, including walking escorts from 4 pm until 6 am, and free on demand shuttle transportation in the off-campus area around campus from 7 pm until 4 am. They also just launched a one touch personal safety app that provides direct connection with Temple police.
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Has anyone applied to Tyler RD and heard back about the Portfolio Scholarship?
My D applied early action and got an academic scholarship but no word yet on the portfolio scholarships. The due date was Feb 1st for portfolios so we are hoping to hear something soon.
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