temple university or college of saint elizabeth?

Question

i have been accepted to temple university and college of saint elizabeth which is a women's college in NJ. I want to go to cse but my parents wants me to go to temple. i'm really in a dilemma! From what i've seen of cse on the website it seems like a good school. I've even talked to some students from there. Cse was on the US News and World Report too. On the other hand i didn't like temple at all..especially its location..my parents think that i should go to temple because it would be good for me in the long run. If anyone has heard of cse can you plz suggest what i should do?

Answer 1

As a Temple grad who absolutely loved my time there, I have a secret to tell you: no Temple student likes its location. But here is something else that you don't know: the location has next to zero effect on the quality of your college experience. The one thing it affects is your specific commute to campus. That's it. If you live off campus, changes are great that you'll approach the campus via the subway. You'll surface at a station that is surrounded by Temple buildings and everyone getting off are Temple students. If you live in a dorm, then you can spend 100% of your time on the campus (just like any other college student), or you can choose to take that same subway and be in Center City within minutes.

I grew up in Philly and, sorry, but I never heard of CSE. Meanwhile, Temple has a national reputation in many areas, so it's known well beyond Philly. What I find surprising is that you're supporting CSE when you haven't even visited it. How much time have you spent looking at Temple's website and talking to Temple students?

I wish I could be more objective, but after looking at CSE's website, myself, it's obvious that the two schools couldn't possibly be more different. I've rarely encountered such a galacticly vast difference, which is making me supremely biased. 1,858 students (with 160 freshmen) and 25 student organizations?! I would have been miserable there. If a tiny school with few choices is what attracts you most to a place, then I respect that. But the college years are supposed to be the best time of you life and a time of discovery. That's what Temple gave me - in spades. In contrast, it appears as though CSE is for people who might be looking to be more removed from the world and possibly considering a religious vocation. If that's what you want, it's not my place to say otherwise.