<p>First things first, congrats to all of those accepted in the early decision and early action rounds! Case Western is an amazing school and it should be an honor for us to be invited to join :)</p>
<p>I visited their campus yesterday I was very impressed but left with a few questions that were lost while I was soaking up the campus:</p>
<p>1: I've taken many APs and quite a bit of Post-secondary at the University of Cincinnati with not much of a problem and a 3.8 unweighted GPA, so after reading a bit on Case's difficult classes, what should I expect in terms of my current experience? Also, I'm very comfortable seeking help from professors so are they usually helpful at Case? </p>
<p>2: How is the Pre-med track at Case? Are other pre-med students like the cut-throat horror stories I've read about from other schools or is it more of a cooperative competition? (My tour guide said that cooperation was aplenty in the engineering department and also with Pre-med students) Is there any support for Pre-med students in the administration (counselors etc) to prepare for the MCAT and applying for med school? How helpful is it?</p>
<p>3: While touring, Case's aesthetic quality surpassed my expectations but left me a bit confused. The campus is a hodgepodge of extremely modern architecture, old gothic structures and everything in-between. I had a hard time finding how the campus tied itself together and where the "center" of the campus was. This and what I've been reading on how Case's students are all "Reserved" leads me to wonder how the social life at Case really is. Where do students go to meet others and hang out? Is there like a main green space that everyone goes to or does the lack thereof and randomness of the campus result in most boarding up in their rooms after classes? I couldn't care less about how the parties are so how is the social life outside of that? </p>
<p>4: (Just for fun) What's the best place to study? Is there only one main library that all students use? </p>
<p>Thanks for the help all you guys and I hope that the answers to these questions help others in their college hunt! ;) </p>
<ol>
<li><p>It really depends on your major, but generally, the classes are a lot of work. If you’ve had no problem with your APs and post-secondary work, you shouldn’t encounter much of a problem during your first year. Just be prepared to experience a large workload again. Professors are usually helpful, though there are definitely ones that are more helpful than others. There’s also a lot of other sources if you need help, such as tutors, supplemental instructions, and of course, your peers.</p></li>
<li><p>Some people are cut-throat but I’d say most people really aren’t. There are a bunch of pre-med organizations that I’m sure will help with the medical track.</p></li>
<li><p>Social life is what you make of it, just be aware that you’ll probably have to actively seek it out yourself. People mostly hang out in dorms, often The Village (nicer, upperclass housing) or whatever dorm they’re in. Greek life is also big so a lot of people would hang out in the Greek housing.</p></li>
<li><p>There’s only one library on campus and it’s a popular place to study. A lot of people also just study in their dorms. It’s really just a preference.</p></li>
</ol>
It depends on the class, professor, and of course your work ethic. Professors try to be as helpful and available as possible. In the large classes there will be TAs, but many profs do hold office hours too. Most are available before and after class. The young professors, who are trying to get tenure, are extremely busy and can be hard to reach sometimes. Full professors are hit or miss but most, I have found to be accommodating.
I am not an expert on pre-mad at Case, however I have heard from people who are that Case does encourage collaboration. I have heard that the horror stories that occur at some schools do not at Case.
Western Reserve moved from Hudson to Cleveland. Its campus was set up on donated land. Later a woman's college and several other colleges were added. This constitutes the Gothic (Adelbert hall) buildings and many of the houses on the Severance Hall Side. During the second half of the 20th century, many buildings were razed- both Case and Western Reserve buildings. This is when most of the current engineering buildings were built. Unfortunately, they didn't do a good job of preserving the School's past-which has hurt them. THe eclectic mix is a result of having two independent schools merge and building buildings while considering function over form. Now, there is a push to preserve historic buildings, build coherent building plans and to use more noted architects to build buildings (Llord Foster for the health science building, Frank Gehry). They are currently working on their new master plan. http://case.edu/masterplan/
There is a Law Library, Medical Library, Social Work Library, Astronomy Library, and KSL (the main library). I study at KSL some. I also study in a number of different labs (which I prefer because even the KSL is noisy at times).
Thank you cle4life! The history on Case’s campus is very interesting and I appreciate being able to learn more about the history behind the architecture. The master plan looks great!
APs change school to school. My chem was harder than Case's, my physics didn't even compare. Cincy is easy af tho, if you're smart you're good. Also professors are reallllllly helpful. They will schedule times to meet with you and no classes are taught by TAs.
2.Shit tons of premeds. All my premed friends study together, they want to help each other, not cut throat, but most ugrad places aren't.
people chill in common rooms, go to Jolly etc. You may be surprised about not liking parties. otherwise, you're likely to find a group of friends and do stuff in downtown CLE, or coventry. both r pretty nice.
Yeah, theres a place called KSL. IDK how fun it is tho lol... not gonna lie, sometimes people do stupid stuff there, kinda funny.
I just posted a huge thing on Case, you should read it. I mainly talked about social stuff tho, which doesn’t seem to be a huge thing to you. Some of what CHiguy said is pretty wrong… he just doesn’t seem like the most experienced student.