University City/Drexel questions (Philadelphia, York: crime rate, credit card, dorm)

[Sarah211]

I am a current student (junior). Those pictures are fairly accurate. I don't think anyone comes to Drexel for the "prettyness" of it, almost everyone comes for the co-op, scholarships, or being in Philadelphia. Drexel has a good 7 year BS/MD program, I'm not sure if we even have geography, most people I know are Engineers, Nurses, Business, Bio/Chem/Physics, and there are a few graphic design and artsy majors.
Penn has a gorgeous campus, but like Drexel, it's urban, so if you are looking for forests and trails, go to Lehigh. (Got in there, probably stronger academically than Drexel, but I couldn't stand living in the middle of nowhere much longer).
It really depends on what you are looking for, but I love Drexel and wouldn't have gone anywhere else.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by orrmobl

And Rain, my friend was mugged at gunpoint when he went to St. Joe's ...is that the kind of exciting, vibrant and challenging part of college life you were talking about

You definitely have to be more vigilant in the city but crime happens everywhere. A kid was shot at Cabrini(Radnor) last semester, a kid was mugged and killed at bucolic Rowan U (Glassboro) There has been 1 campus related homicide in University City in the past 20 years, a professor about 15 years ago.

Theres about 25,000 students between Drexel and Penn and over the course of the year probably 25 of them will be a victim of an armed robbery. Probably on par with any other urban campus in the usa. U Penn has 150 police officers and I'm not sure how much security Drexel has but its substantial.

If you are street smart, if you are vigilant, if you arent stumbling around drunk at 40th + Spring Garden at 2 am you're chances of being a victim of an armed robbery are pretty slim.

[Sarah211]

And, this link: Untitled Document
must be at least 5 years old. All that construction had been completely, and our quad has been redone.

[jessemh431]

Yes, I agree about the different campus environments. I love cities and would never even think about living in the country.

[CHIP72]

Just to disagree with Sarah211 about something, Lehigh University (which is in the city of Bethlehem, about 55 miles north of Philadelphia) is not in the middle of nowhere. (Where I went to school as an undergraduate, Juniata College, now THAT is in the middle of nowhere.) Actually, Lehigh IMO has a pretty good campus, right in the middle of the south side of Bethlehem on the north side of South Mountain. As was noted, Lehigh is an excellent school, probably a notch above Drexel (and perhaps Villanova, which is also a very good school). Bethlehem's not a bad place to be if you are a college student but I think you are looking for a larger city Jesse, so Lehigh probably wouldn't fit what you are looking for.

If you are with other people when you go out and about, I really, really don't think you'll have a problem on Drexel's campus or in the immediate environs, provided (as was stated above) you don't venture too far north or west. You can venture further west on Penn's campus. If you attend Drexel, want to play things safe, and know where you'll be alright and not alright, take part of a day and check out various areas on foot (or in a car) during daylight hours. The areas that look rough and/or look trashy are the areas you'll know you need to avoid at night, and you may want to have a night time 1-2 block buffer from those areas to be on the safe side.

[orrmobl]

Oh Rain,
Please don't try to use these one-off incidents to bolster you point...I did a super quick google search and came up with an article form 11/14/07..my 37th birthday <sigh>:

"Nearly a dozen Drexel University students have been robbed just north of the school's campus over the last month.
There have been a total of 11 robberies between Market and Spring Garden streets and between 31st and 36th streets since October, Philadelphia Police Sgt. Charles Layton said. Seven victims were robbed at gunpoint and the other four were robbed at knife point."

Now if I were to really search you know I'd come up with tons more muggings and rapes...let's be honest here...one shooting at Cabrini does not equal the violence and vandalism that occurs on a regular basis in U City...Here's a few, just a few for illustration purpose...btw 52nd and Market was voted deadliest corner in the city as well...

April 07:
"Penn Police shot an alleged carjacker twice at about 11:00 a.m. today. He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and died from the gunshot wounds at about 12:40 p.m"

Nov 06:
"Folks, As some of you may have read in the Crime and Security issues thread, there has been a man in the area robbing people with a screwdriver. "

[jessemh431]

The thing is, I have no purpose in venturing north or west, so why would I? In fact, I have no purpose venturing anywhere but the Drexel campus, UPenn campus, and Center City and I don't like being alone anywhere as I am a very social person so I would definitely have someone with me at all times. Just to make sure, I wouldn't bring a car so nothing would get stolen in my car and my car will be safe at home until I need it.

[jessemh431]

Just to give you an idea of the type of universities I like:
American University
ASU
BU
George Washington University
NYU
Pace University
San Diego State
SUNY Geneseo
a couple U of California's
UConn
U Denver
U Miami
U Pittsburgh
U Washington

So, after that list, does Drexel seem to fit in?

[Tone509]

Drexel is probably Philly's answer to George Washington and Boston University (BU) albeit with a little less money floating around. All three are essentially "concrete campuses" in the heart of a large older urban city.

[CHIP72]

I concur with Drexel having a strong degree of similarity to George Washington, both academically and setting-wise.

I haven't spent much time in the Foggy Bottom area (yet), but from what I saw I liked the GW area, FWIW.

Pitt is a much, much larger university than either Drexel or GW, and from the limited time I was in the Oakland area (that's the name of the neighborhood in Pittsburgh where Pitt is located), I like it there too; it's probably one of the best areas in the Steel City. That campus is NOT that close to downtown however, unlike Drexel in Philly or GW in DC. Pittsburgh also won't offer you as much as either Philadelphia or Washington, and a car will be more of a necessity.