[Bucknell vs CASE] How is it for minorities, how are the dorms?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Case Western Reserve University
1

<p>Hello, I am deciding between Case Western and Bucknell. I'm getting similar money from both schools. I had the chance of visitng Bucknell but not for Case.</p>

<p>Bucknell's campus was nice. The dorms could have been better. How is Case's dorm for freshmen? for upperclassmen?</p>

<p>It seems like more people are happy at Bucknell than at Case. But I am an Asian guy and I think that it can be that only the whites are happy in that place as it is a fairly homogeneous school (87%white, 5% asian). I don't know if I will be happy there. Case however is more diverse (and it's bigger). But then Case has less female and too many "geeks".....of course this is only from what i've heard from others...</p>

<p>I am currently admitted as undecided in the arts and sciences schools of both Case and Bucknell. At this point, my possible majors are (ranked in probablity) :
1. Chemistry or Chemical Engineering
2. Business
3. Other engineering
4. International relations</p>

<p>Please help me decide which college I should go to. I don't care about size or location. First priority is academical fitness/superiority, and the second is happiness. And it would be nice if the dorm was nice.</p>

<p>Thank you</p>

2

<p>I have to confess that I've never heard of Bucknell.</p>

<p>However, Case is really good at all types of engineering (as you probably know).</p>

<p>Case's dorms for freshman are average to below average. Case's dorms for upperclassmen suck. However, these are getting torn down this summer. Case will be providing apartment-style housing in the north side of campus (near the freshman dorms in fact). I think those will be nice. However, they're building a football field behind the dorms. So that might be bad.</p>

<p>I think you're going to see all kinds of guys at Case. Prospective students were diverse in terms of personality (not just ethnicity). No one case student that I talked to was similar to another Case student. There are some wierd kids at Case (one of the guys, an engineer student, who roomed with my host had built a pediment/gate to his room out of chinese food menus). It was cool stuff. </p>

<p>I didn't see a lot of girls though.</p>

3

<p>We visited both Case and Bucknell. </p>

<p>Case's undergrad dorms are in sort of '70's styles buildings. They are not architectural masterpieces, but they were quite nice inside. Spacious, practical and well set up. When you enter there is a lounge and then (as I recall) you head upstairs to the rooms. I thought that was sort of nice because if you were hanging out in the lounge you'd see who was coming or going. Some photos can be seen at inurl:<a href="http://www.case.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.case.edu/&lt;/a>. Also, it looked like the undergrad dorms were all in one place. There is open, grassy space around them. There is a shuttle bus that goes all over campus, including right past the dorms. They are also building new upper level dorm/apartments in a different part of the campus..</p>

<p>The two campuses feel very different. Case feels much more "serious" - truly university like. Way more student and faculty diversity evident. Seems like a better place for a self-motivated, mature student. Because there is a graduate school present I'm sure it also totally changes the playing field for opportunities to do research etc.</p>

<p>The frats at Case actually seemed to be quite service-oriented instead of just party houses.</p>

<p>Bucknell's campus is beautiful in a liberal arts college kind of way. You can't beat it. I know what you mean about the dorms, but I think perhaps the fact that they have tried to designate them for various interests maybe would make up for their sort of dismal feeling. </p>

<p>My understanding at Bucknell is that you have to be accepted into the Engineering program in order to major in it. One thing I liked about Case is their "open door" admissions. You can enter any of the schools (engineering, business, etc) withour applying seperately for them. </p>

<p>Of course the locations are very different. Case has a lot of interesting things in the vicinity - the Cleveland performing hall (they have a great orchestra), an art museum, a botanical graden, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. I suppose kids take advantage of being in a city too. Old Lewisburg is quaint and cute, new Lewisburg is typical American sprawl Wal-Mart land (with a huge prison thrown in).</p>

<p>I would think you may have received better financial aid/scholarship money from Case perhaps? Also, if you are even leaning slightly towards engineering, but you haven't been accepted into engineering at Bucknell that may be the deciding factor for you right there. </p>

<p>Good luck. Two good choices!</p>

4

<p>To be "happy", Case is the kind of place that you need to know if it's a fit for you up front, that you decide you really want to go to, and want to jump into with both feet. A visit before committing is highly advisable... to any school. Have you read the college guides on the 2 schools? Student behavior is quite different: Bucknell is known as a huge drinking school in the middle of deer hunting country (ie, no where) with a beautiful campus and beautiful people who do not get along with the town and lots of sports; Case is largely the opposite. Here's some interesting reading for you:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=31716%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=31716&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.studentsreview.com/OH/CWRU_c.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.studentsreview.com/OH/CWRU_c.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.studentsreview.com/PA/BUU_c.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.studentsreview.com/PA/BUU_c.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

5

<p>Speaking as a person typing this from her Case frosh dorm... all told they're pretty standard for a freshman dorm but some rooms are bigger then others because most dorm layouts are slightly different. You get a decent amount of closet space though which is awesome and starting next year the new dorms for upperclassmen will be open- all singles, double beds in the rooms, common rooms/ dining rooms in the apartments...
This is all, for the record, about a mile from the Main Quad where most of the classes are held (some humanities/ buisness further up but not really other then that). So you have to walk 15-20 min to class (or bike weather permitting) and keep in mind that lake effect thing is gonna make that walk slightly unpleasant in the winter.</p>