My DH’s colleague’s daughter went to Temple Honors program. Loved it and is doing her grad study at an Ivy. It’s not exactly in Timbuktu, you know. Philly is a big east coast city. You are at a great school.
Can’t help how you feel. That’s the rush of emotion. Work hard, find things to do, look for the pluses there. You are at a major national research university in a major city. You’ll find plenty of opportunities and hopefully they’ll take up enough of your gray cells so that the feelings you are suffering will get pushed back and fade. There’s no stigma about TEmple.
I am having some of the same issues with my D, only in our case I am the one having the hard time with Temple. She loves it! Never thought in a million years she would even be applying there, but she did a summer art camp there last summer and totally fell in love with it. And she got a Dean’s scholarship and Honors program admittance, which will giver her money to study abroad. But even though it is a prestigious and competitive art school, I had hoped she would apply for and get into a better academic school such as UMichigan. But she would not even apply there or CMU or Penn. She did get into Drexel, with a large merit scholarship, but it will cost us $50k + more over 4 years for her to go there and she doesn’t think it’s worth it. She might have to go to grad school if she goes to Temple, because it doesn’t offer her exact major (Drexel does), but she won’t have any debt so she can take out loans for that if and when the time comes, and she is fine with that. I just have to get over my own snobbery and focus on what she really wants and what she can do after college. It takes some work, but you can do it.
I know a LOT of Temple families, and none have regretted going there. Many of them have kids who are very smart and got into “better” schools but chose Temple for its affordability and some for its programs such as business, art, and, music. Its reputation is rapidly improving. The alumni network in Philly and NYC is pretty amazing. It’s becoming a trendy pick for a lot of kids from the DC area. My best friend’s S (from VA, did not get into his dream school of Va. Tech) is graduating with honors in May in architecture, and although Temple is not considered a top-tier architecture school he got a great education for a good price, had an amazing internship for two summers and has two job offers already, and has been accepted to UVA for grad school if he decides to do that.
We are going to the Experience Temple day on Feb. 21. I highly recommend you do this. It might really help you fall in love with the place. My S was accepted there in 2011, never visited beforehand other than his music audition day, but we went that day and it was exceptional. Almost made him decide to go there even though he was not accepted into the program he wanted. If he had gotten into that program he would have gone there, no question, even though that program is also not nationally well known. It’s a really great campus with some amazing facilities - the Tech Center is hands down the BEST I have seen anywhere, and it is about to build a fabulous new library that is going to be a Philly landmark. We’ve been to a ton of shows at the Liacouras Center and the Performing Arts Center at Temple. There is always something going on there that is fun. My friend’s S got very involved with the Ski and Snowboard Club and is President this year, they have done some amazing ski trips and he made a ton of friends.
I went to my state U. and lived at home all 4 years. Parents paid next to nothing. I never regretted it. Got into Harvard for grad school and took out loans to pay for it, which I paid off in 5 years. Nobody ever cared where I did my undergrad study, and I have been an active member of the alumni association which has been very rewarding.
I also wanted to add, after re-reading your initial post, do NOT worry about not going to college in NYC or LA. You really are not going to miss out on that much. For example, if you look at the colleges that current Broadway stars or famous film directors attended, few if any graduated from NYU. It is not necessary to go to college in New York and pay the ridiculous prices for tuition and housing, to have a good career there. School is school, and college is time-consuming; it keeps you busy and you don’t have a ton of time for “networking”. You can always apply for internships in New York if you really want to be there that badly. I am sure Temple’s broadcasting program will help you with that. If you want to get away from home, Temple has a lot of study abroad programs and a whole campus in Japan!
And don’t forget that Philly is home to Comcast! Temple students probably have a leg up in getting internships and jobs there. Cable and Internet are the future of broadcasting, not the old TV networks.
Temple has a long history of sending its graduates to successful careers in journalism. I had a relative who was a music critic for a major US newspaper back when people actually read newspapers.
And Temple has gotten much more difficult to gain admission to, so be grateful you were admitted, try not to worry what others think, and make the most of a wonderful opportunity to study in a terrific city, which it was just announced today will host the Democratic National Convention in 2016. The city has a world-class museum and orchestra, major sports teams, and is the home of Comcast (love 'em or hate 'em).
My son has a dear friend who was admitted to Carnegie Mellon for architecture but chose Temple for the terrific merit scholarships, so I think you’ll be surprised by the caliber of the student body there today.
(And I don’t care what anybody says, Drexel is not more “prestigious” than Temple for anything but applied STEM fields.)
I’m a little bit confused because you’re upset that you won’t be attending a school in manhattan but at the same didn’t seem to like any of the schools here in the first place? I think there is a bigger underlying problem here since Temple seems to fulfill all of your wants, needs and then some.I live in NYC, I grew up here, I was born here…it’s a great city but Philly is only 2 hours away by train… if you want to be so close to NY is it too late for you to apply to schools maybe in Westchester or some other boroughs of the city, maybe consider a CUNY?
It’s funny in my perspective that you have such a stigma towards Temple. Across the river in NJ, it’s considered a really really good school. I understand that Philly and Temple may seem unexciting and bland because you’re used to it, but you have to be realistic. You said your EFC is 0. You don’t like the schools in NYC. Going out of state will cost coin and you’re going to be a young student. Temple is a great school and you should be grateful that you have been accepted there.
Start small and then work big. Network in Philly (which by the way, is no small city.) and possibly get internships at one of the major news stations. Work hard, make a name for yourself, and get yourself out there. That’s the most important thing. Then, in the future, you can reach out, expand your influence and head up to the big city. You never know, you might end up being transferred to the Big Apple from Philly. Don’t put all your hopes and dreams in one city. I know that NYC seems like the city where dreams happen, but dreams can happen anywhere.
There’s no stigma inherent in attending a public university. It seems like Temple is a perfect fit for you - it appeals to most of the things on your list plus it has a lot of bonuses you didn’t expect. I think Temple is a great school!
If you are a traditional-aged high school studnet, then you’re probably 17 or 18 and will be around 22 when you graduate from college. There is plenty of time in life to move to New York, and it’ll be more fun if you are over 21 anyway Besides, as others have pointed out, Philadelphia is a great big East Coast city; New York is easily accessible (the Megabus to New York is, no joke, $5 - I’ve taken it a couple times in the other direction) and Philadelphia is way cheaper and thus probably more fun for the average broke college student.
You know you can move wherever you want once you graduate, right? College is for a limited amount of time, after which you are free to go wherever you want! I know that 4 years seems like a long time, but you are young and have decades ahead of you to live all sorts of places!
Besides, as others have pointed out, Philadelphia is a great big East Coast city; New York is easily accessible (the Megabus to New York is, no joke, $5 - I’ve taken it a couple times in the other direction) and Philadelphia is way cheaper and thus probably more fun for the average broke college student.