As mentioned in the title, I’m majoring in biology on a pre med track and I’m trying to decide between Case Western and Umn for this coming fall. I know that they’re very different schools, as Case is much smaller, more selective, and generally has a stronger academic focus. However, Minnesota is also a pretty strong science school and I know I would receive great opportunities there as well. I have a 35 ACT, 1450 SAT, and 4.3 weighted GPA.
My main concern is that I don’t want to end up drowning at Case and tanking my GPA (and med school chances) because I know that it is probably much more competitive there. I think that while Minnesota would still challenge me, I might have a better chance of standing out and doing better there.
Does anyone have any advice? Any input on either of these schools would be appreciated because I’m really struggling. Thanks!
Is there a significant difference in net price and debt between the two?
@ucbalumnus Not really, the price difference is almost insignificant so I’m not taking cost into account.
CWRU is hands down the best pre-med school in the best location for an aspiring physician. Cleveland will give you access to shadowing in some of the most diverse healthcare facilities in the US and the university has an amazing advisory system for pre med students. As for your concerns about GPA, you should be fine maintaining at least a 3.8 GPA at Case since they recently got rid of minuses and pluses and with your GPA and ACT score, you seem well prepared for the academic rigor. Additionally, UMN will not allow you to be exposed to as many healthcare facilities as Case. I agree that UMN is a very strong science program but the exposure to healthcare and research is what medical schools look for, both of which are unmatched at CWRU. I don’t know how much you care about ranking, but the AAMC just released statistics that show that a lot of medical schools take undergrad ranking into account for admissions. Also, CWRU classes have MCAT focuses so that will definitely help you be more prepared.
Which of these offers alternate majors in case you change your goals?
Is Minnesota in-state for you?
If there is another Coronavirus-type shut-down while you are in college, which place would be easier for you to get home from?
Do you feel a better “fit” at either school? Students tend to do better at schools at which they are comfortable.
Cost is the only hard fact you can rely on when choosing a college. Everything else is subjective and irrational. If you take away the cost, all you have is an irrational decision. That’s why we’re asking about cost. There’s a very BIG cost difference between UMN and CWU. One is private and the other is public. If UMN is out of state, it’s triple the tuition too. If I had a nickle for every teenager that says, “My parents can afford it,” I could retire next week on a tropical island. 9.9 times out of 10, that statement is wishful thinking. To get REAL sound advice, we need the whole story, otherwise all you’re going to get is people telling you what you’re already thinking…which is not advice at all.
The main difference is vibe, because both are strong academically.
Case is more evenly academically- minded and doesn’t have big spectator sports. If you love science and couldn’t care less about a winning football team, it’s hard to beat Case, and if your idea of a good time is tailgating then UMN will be hard to beat.
I’m not really big on sports so I don’t really care about that aspect, but I do love music and I would love to join musical ensembles in college, so I want to make sure that the school I go to allows me to do that as well, and not focus solely on my science studies. What I’m afraid of in Case is that everyone I know who goes there right now had a much higher high school GPA than me (4.5+) and I know they are more academically oriented so I guess I’m nervous that I won’t ‘fit in’ with the crowd there. I’m not really someone who is overwhelmingly academically oriented and I definitely need breaks in between.
Because of the current corona situation I wasn’t able to visit Minnesota, so I’ve never been able to directly explore the ‘vibe’ that has been brought up a couple times. That’s why I turned to advice from here in order to make an informed decision.