Temple University Top Questions

Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?

Savannah

Everyone fulfills some type of stereotype, but a main goal of the diverse Temple campus is to break down stereotypes and learn from each others diverse backgrounds.

Briannon

The stereotype of many students at my school would probably be "hipster". Hipsters are typically characterized by city-bike riders, ragged clothes (on purpose), and a love for liberal politics. This stereotype is definitely accurate to some extent. When crossing the streets around campus, one must be careful to avoid bikers!

Mary

Which one? There's so many different kinds of people at Temple there's at least one kid who fulfills every imaginable stereotype. You may hear that we have a lot of hipsters, frat boys/frat rats, and jocks, and that's true. But the majority of people can't be categorized like that.

Jesse

The safety issue is something that is generally brought up by people who have never visited the campus, especially at night. The school is in North Philadelphia, but Temple has one of the largest police forces in the state. At night the entire campus is lit up like a football stadium. Temple and it's surrounding areas are very safe, especially because students live all around North Philly. But if you compare it to an urban college campus, of course it will seem dangerous. Temple is relatively easy to get into, but depending on what your major is, the workload is challenging.

Robin

There is a ghetto subculture with all the underlying problems such as drugs, muggings, even car theft.

Peter

Yes and No

Sara

A freshman discusses Temple stereotypes.

Ainsley

No, though diversity is big at temple, I never had any ethnic majority in any of my classes. Temple's been embarking on a recruit of people from outside of Philadelphia and the rest of the country. I'm a homegrown philly girl who felt like a minority in my classes cause the majority of people were from outside of philly. it made for a pretty interesting mix of people. i peeps from my class who were from the boonies, ghetto, suburbs, Manhattan, Paris, Xian, etc.

Vick

I don't believe so. It all falls down to what program they look at just like any school. One school may be known more for it's Film Production, leading to a difficulty getting in, but they may be lenient towards their Business School. It happens everywhere, but for some reason they base Temple's location and state school status to include everything and everyone.

Alex

sort of.

Jamie

No... Temple is in a really sketchy neighborhood, but I feel like that doesn't hold true to the few blocks that is truly TU.

Janna

Temple is not in the best area and sometimes I wish the campus was gated.

Harrison

Somewhat. The neighborhood isn't that great, but it is improving. There is also a lot of diversity on campus, thus the student body has a wide range of quality people in it.

joe

not even close

Amanda

No, the area in which Temple is located is not so great, but the campus itself is completely safe.

Meg

Yes and No. Temple is in a rough neighborhood, but from my experiences the campus is safe. Temple is a great school for higher learning, and has come a long way from it's reputation as a night school for locals.

Janine

not really

Jody

somewhat, the school is not ghetto, the surround neighborhoods (several blocks off campus) are bad. the students are diverse, but for themost part well behaved

Jordan

for the most part.

Liz

No.

Brett

n/a

Colin

No, unless you live off campus. The campus is very safe with tight security and very well-lit.

Barry

In order: Temple's not as academically respected as some of the other schools in the area, but it's by no means a safety school or anything. Depending on your major, Temple has some world class programs. Though temple claims they have students from all 50 states, the student body is definitely overwhelmingly local. I think something like 75 percent of students live within 30 miles of the school. I'm from New York, and everyone asked me why I came all the way to Philadelphia to go to Temple. More depressingly, Temple students tend not to leave the area once they graduate. It is a commuter school, but only in the sense that there aren't nearly enough dorms. Housing is guaranteed your first two years, but many people leave campus after freshman year. Thankfully Philadelphia is a cheap place to live, and there's a subway stop right on campus. As for safety, it's a mixed bag. Campus itself is completely safe, but wander off campus and you're on your own. North Philly is a rough neighborhood. I wasn't too freaked out, but there are a lot of kids from the suburbs who don't know how to handle it.

Ryan

Only half of us are ghetto, and there's probably more Asians than anything else.

Jackie

Unfortunately, yes, the northern area surrounding Temple is awful. Temple's campus however, is the complete opposite. It's beautiful, clean and definitely welcoming. During nice weather, the campus is packed full of Temple's diverse student-body, most of who are either enjoying some of the best vendor food you'll ever find if not in New York, or simply hanging out in groups of friends on many of the campus's "grassy knolls".