Temple University

I am a freshman who is transferring after only one semester here at Temple. I am in the Global Studies major. I am from rural PA and I believe that Temple did everything they could to pull the wool over the eyes of prospective students about many things.

First, I want to speak about the positives of Temple.
1) Philadelphia is a cool city and there is something for everyone to do/see.
2) The students at Temple are mostly really nice people.
3) The academic side of Temple isn't bad really, I did learn some valuable things during my time here.

Now on to the negatives of Temple.
When I went to the "Experience Temple Day" I didn't know it then but I was being fed a huge crock of sh*t. All they talked about was how safe Temple was and how big the police force is. Bull. In my time here, I have witnessed the infamous riot of 200 juveniles on Broad St and the horse punching incident. I know multiple people who have been robbed. There have also been countless assaults of Temple students simply walking close to or on campus. I recall one girl who was beaten with a rock by Anderson Hall. Temple is not a safe campus. Yeah it is lit up but that didn't seem to help the armed robberies and reports of gun shots that plastered my phone from the TU alerts all semester long.

Next is the problem that would be easiest to solve. Temple has the worst bureaucracy in the world! I recall reading on this website about Temple's staff and faculty being terrible and boy are they right. I had a horrible time trying to get my bill paid and I would sit on hold with the financial aid office for HOURS. This isn't just in the faculty at Temple, it goes down to the RAs and residential life directors of the dorms. I had a problem with my roommate doing pills in my room and all he received was a slap on the wrist. My friend down the hall has a similar problem with his roommate and nothing was done. Temple punishes the victims in cases like these and nobody cares about you. Another example, my good friend had his guest card taken away because he had alcohol on Halloween night. OK, fine. Do the crime, do the time. He waits the 10 days for the violation then after the 10 days were up he went to retrieve his card back from the front desk. But, the card somehow disappeared in those 10 days. They couldn't find it anywhere. My friend was sent all over to different offices to try and find this card and nobody could find it. So, even with him asking every week he had to wait until December to get his card back.

With that being said, I am glad that I could experience life in North Philadelphia. I made a few really good friends here and I am grateful for that. Also I don't believe Temple is representative of all of Philly. I feel that if somehow magically Temple could be picked up and physically moved to south philly or really anywhere out of North Philly it would be exponentially better.

I truly feel that Temple was riding off of their good football season in 2015-16 to pull more students in and get their money. They know how to market well. I'm happy to leave and I look forward to not feeling unsafe in walking around outside.

1st Year Male -- Class 1920

Faculty Accessibility: A, University Resource Use/ spending: F

This university is simply awful. It employs the most incompetent and disrespectful people I have ever met. There have been a total of three professors throughout my whole college career here that were good at their jobs and were helpful. Temple frequently messes up on financial issues and then makes you feel guilty for their mistakes and makes you wait until they eventually fix it after calling and waiting on hold 6 times. The food staff is just horrible. They are rude and ignorant. I could not be more dissatisfied with my last four years of an educational experience. I feel that the work I have done will be worthwhile, but the cost at which to get my degree has been unnecessarily difficult. The surrounding area is unbelievable unsafe. I have witnessed gun shots in front of my apartment not too far off of campus as well as hearing about sexual assaults and robberies at gunpoint around my home.

4th Year Female -- Class 2017

Surrounding City: A-, Faculty Accessibility: F

I attended the Japan Campus, and I hope students considering the Japan Campus please read this and take this into consideration. Temple University Japan Campus is not even a real college, but a diploma mill.

This college has several law suits against them for how they treat students with disabilities, particularly those with psychological problems. I was denied accommodations for my disability. TUJ has a terrible ableist attitude.

Yes, all schools have problems. Yes, college is expensive. But at the Japan Campus you get little back for what you pay for. Like most private institutions, their top priority is making as much money as possible, while getting away with providing as little as possible.

The "campus" consists of no more than an office building. Since they accept everyone who can pay, it is cramped, noisy, and smelly. Good luck trying to find a study space or a computer to work at.

The professors are of poor quality and are poorly paid, which means they have no interest in the students.

The student body is there only because of the Tokyo location. That is the only good thing they have going for them. But please remember, there are other options if you really want a visa to study in Tokyo. For example, you could go to Japanese language school. My friends who went to language schools ended up having a better experience in Japan than I did. Please look into other options before wasting your money at TUJ!!!!!

You could go to a better school for a lot less money.
Also, I was attacked by a student and the administration only laughed at me.The people at Student Services are no help. They outright lied to me on a few occasions and ultimately cost me my visa.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2017