Alright, lets begin this. I actually created an account for this post. I want to give future students the information that I wish I had. (Heres some background on me, skip to pros and cons of Case if you would like). Case Western Reserve University (referred to as “Case”) was not my dream school. Frankly, it was not even on my radar. I received a note in the mail saying that it was free to apply to. Many people urged me to apply to Case/Carnegie as good ENGR schools, but I thought they’d be too “nerdy” for my tastes. Anyway, I applied because it was free and on the common app. My college list was OSU, Case bc it was free, then a few schools that I thought I would get into; however, the “easiest” one to get into was Columbia so I was rejected across the board. I really did not want to go to OSU, and as a valedictorian with near perfect test scores and some insane ECs, Case was cheaper, giving me a nice excuse to not end up at a state school. However, it was a pretty rude awakening to learn that i was going to Case and not Stanford. Upon arrival I realized I was not alone though.
Anyway, without further delay, here are the pros and cons of Case:
CONS:
Not much school spirit. There’s a general path that most students follow to get to Case:
- Here about a good college in Cleveland named “Case,” see it is free to apply, google it then choose to apply bc why not
- Forget about Case then go about the college process
- Find out you did not get into your dream school/it is expensive af
- Realize Case gave you a ton of finaid and is a surprisingly good school, and try and ignore that its in Cleveland
- aaaaaaand you’re at Case Western!
So, the good thing about this process is that the average Case kid is as smart as any ivy league student. One of my professors actually confirmed this to us, saying (given her teaching experience at and education at Yale) that there’s no difference so far as intelligence goes. Kids like me, who’s “stats” fall way above average Harvard kids find themselves at Case. The bad thing is these kids are usually less organized, have a worse work-ethic, or simply are not very confident. I will admit, I did very little work in the actual college admissions process. I thought Bama was better than Vanderbilt till quite recently. Most people I meet are ridiculously smart kids who just don’t prioritize school as much as others, or they don’t realize how smart they are. Also, it leads to a lack of University pride. No one goes to football games, let alone any other sport. If that is a big deal to you, THEN DO NOT COME HERE. you will be miserable. I am a huge sports fan, and I went to most HS football games, but I really do not miss it much. I just live vicariously through OSU’s team. The athletics are terrible. I didn’t play basketball in HS, and I’ve played varsity players here worse than me. However, the good thing is the athletes are chill af bc of it. I’m friends with a lot of football players, basketball players, tennis players, and swimmers. That just doesn’t happen at state schools.
This campus is long. There are a variety of resources to get around this: regular campus shuttles, saferides, etc. but you will learn very quickly, this campus is shaped like a crescent. To get from where the engineering classes are to freshman dorms, its a solid 15minute walk (I’ve done it in 3 before, nailed that presentation). To get to my fraternity house, its like 25 minutes.
THIS CAMPUS IS SPLIT. I’d say its about fifty-fifty for my class (Im a freshman), and its trending upwards (I’ve heard horror stories from older alumni). This is where Case gets its infamous reputation. To be fair, a solid ten percent of this campus is weird af. You cannot really even talk to them. Another ten percent are just recluses, then another thirty percent are kinda chill, but they don’t get out much/are kinda awkward. Either way (more on this in “pros”) you will find friends easily still. If you do fall into this less socially inclined 50% then you do you. The two sides do not really interact or bother each other very often, its not like theres a constant fight, it just feels like theres two different schools.
If you’re a guy: there aren’t a ton of crazy hot chicks…but it doesn’t matter.
if you’re a girl: theres definitely a lack of attractive guys here.
Contrary to the previous points, I do not think this should change your decision on Case. Throughout HS, I was in longterm relationships fairly constantly, but I definitely never had “game”. The girls I dated were awesome, but they weren’t ridiculously hot, solid 7s and 8s by most non-thirsty people. Anyway, since I have been single at Case it has been ridiculous. I am a guy and have been able to get with multiple girls each week. Most of them have been pretty damn attractive as well. Most of my friends have had similar experiences. NONE OF MY FRIENDS HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT A LACK OF ATTRACTIVE INDIVIDUALS. If you walk around a state school, you will see hotter girls, not even a question, but if you go here, you will get with more attractive girls. There seems to be more of a lack of guys, but I have never heard a girl complain about the lack of guys here. But, that may be because of my next con:
Most first-years are sexually inexperienced, and even “prude” sometimes. What this amounts to is a surprisingly high amount of virgins. Why this sucks sometimes is a lot of people want to “hookup” but not go back and especially not have full out sex. However, its been kinda funny to see so many people come out of their shell so to speak. But yeah, this one reaaaaaaaaaaly sucks sometimes.
The parties are closed. Very very closed. Most parties you have to be on the list, a few it goes by do you know the owners. Either way, its not like Butler where you can just stroll into most parties. However, more and more colleges are getting more closed. At one of my fraternities parties, I tried for like 15 minutes to get this guy who i forgot to put on the list in, but it just didn’t happen. However, the campus is very connected. As a freshman, if theres a party on campus Ik about it, and I’m usually invited. People are nice about that stuff. But again, very stern risk management, because…
Case police bust up parties like none other. Ive been at countless parties that got shut down. Even worked door at one. The good thing is, as an individual you are fine. Case police aren’t mean, and Ive never heard of anyone getting in trouble for public intoxication. What does happen is…
Frats get sanctioned to hell from alc. Yep, fraternities get shit on if they get caught for underage drinking, which is fairly frequently… which is why…
Case has no top-dog frat. ZBT, Zeta Psi, Phi Psi, Delta Sig, Delt are all pretty cool, but you can’t say Case has a top dog frat… mainly bc if there is one it gets shut down and sanctioned. ZBT, Phi Delt, SigEp, Zeta, Phi Psi, Delta Sig, and Delt all got sanctioned last semester. But greek life at case definitely isn’t out of control. (more on this later)
The work is hard. Really fucking hard. The workload is pretty insane. But we load ourselves up. Whats cool tho is that at the end of the struggle, you realize how much you truly learned and its kinda mind blowing. Any who, 4.0 isn’t hard. I’m pretty sure I got one and I have many fraternity brothers that have one.
If you do chill in east cleveland, you gotta stay on your toes.
Weather sucks, but it does pretty much anywhere North.
Well thats it for cons… lets get to the good parts of case:
PROS:
Surprisingly accessible athletic stuff. Pretty much any time of day, theres a free ball court, swimming pool, track, and weight room, and cardio stuff. A new, nice af place just opened on north side, so no matter where you live, you’re a five minute walk away from a weight room. Also, Case kids aren’t the most athletically inclined, so you never have to wait. Always open racks/equipment.
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